Ephesians 1:16-18 (NIV) Compliment answer: A Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation, and A Heart of Enlightenment and Hope.

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Wendy McLaughlin
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1 Knowing Jesus and Making Him Known Ephesians 1:16-18 (NIV) NT page 16 I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. 17 I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. 18 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, Subject Question: What two characteristics does the Apostle Paul pray for believers to possess in order that they may know Jesus Christ better? Compliment answer: A Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation, and A Heart of Enlightenment and Hope. Big Idea: The two characteristics that the Apostle Paul prays that believers will possess in order to know Jesus Christ better are: A Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation and a Heart of Enlightenment and Hope. Homiletical Idea: A Treasure worth Sharing Purpose: I want the congregation to know that knowing Jesus is better than knowing about Jesus and to truly know Jesus is to love Jesus and to love Jesus is to share Jesus. Introduction: We live to worship Christ, We worship by loving Christ, We grow by following Christ, and We serve by Sharing Christ. Or to boil it down, To know Jesus and to make Him known. Good statement of purpose and good church motto. The real question is not, do we understand all that we say we as a church stand for. The question is do we have the heart to pull it off, to live it out, and to make if more of a life motto and not just a church motto. Paul says that if we can truly understand and have the wisdom to comprehend the magnanimous revelation of Christ coming to us and for us, our hearts can t help but be simply overwhelmed and slain by Christ s great sword of Divine love. And knowing Christ will be life. And sharing Christ will be joy.

2 Groundwork: Hippocratic Oath: I swear to fulfill, to the best of my ability and judgment, this covenant: I will respect the hard- won scientific gains of those physicians in whose steps I walk, and gladly share such knowledge as is mine with those who are to follow. I will apply, for the benefit of the sick, all measures which are required, avoiding those twin traps of overtreatment and therapeutic nihilism. I will remember that there is art to medicine as well as science, and that warmth, sympathy, and understanding may outweigh the surgeon's knife or the chemist's drug. I will not be ashamed to say "I know not," nor will I fail to call in my colleagues when the skills of another are needed for a patient's recovery. I will respect the privacy of my patients, for their problems are not disclosed to me that the world may know. Most especially must I tread with care in matters of life and death? If it is given me to save a life, all thanks. But it may also be within my power to take a life; this awesome responsibility must be faced with great humbleness and awareness of my own frailty. Above all, I must not play at God. I will remember that I do not treat a fever chart, a cancerous growth, but a sick human being, whose illness may affect the person's family and economic stability. My responsibility includes these related problems, if I am to care adequately for the sick. I will prevent disease whenever I can, for prevention is preferable to cure. I will remember that I remain a member of society, with special obligations to all my fellow human beings, those sound of mind and body as well as the infirm. If I do not violate this oath, may I enjoy life and art, respected while I live and remembered with affection thereafter. May I always act so as to preserve the finest traditions of my calling and may I long experience the joy of healing those who seek my help. Written in 1964 by Louis Lasagna, Academic Dean of the School of Medicine at Tufts University If Jesus could have a Christian take an oath of fealty and fidelity, of faithfulness and commitment, I believe the underlined statement above could be one which each called, claimed, changed and converted Christian would be called to adhere to with all of their minds, all of their hearts and all of their strength A. A Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation 16 I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. 17 I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. Notice that the end result is not to know about Christ it s to know him better, more fully, more personally, more intimately. Scripture reminds us John 15, 15 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit fruit that will last and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. 17 This is my command: Love each other. B. Scripture tells us that we did not come to Christ, but Christ came to us. Why? Simple answer is that before time began, God had you on his mind and in his heart. Before the world began your name was destined to be written in the Lambs book of life. Before you were born, He claimed you for

3 his own. He has always and will always love you: So much so, that when the counsel was held for Jesus to come to this earth to die for sins, God the Father stated it was for these, these chosen ones, these cherished ones, in each generation, whom He would draw to himself, whose sins would be forgiven and a place in heaven reserved. And the these included your name if you ve come to know Him not merely know about him. C. (Contra) The Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation is the as the Pulpit Commentary states: "Spirit" here is neither exclusively the Holy Spirit nor the spirit of man, but the complex idea of the spirit of man dwelt in and moved by the Spirit of God (Alford). Wisdom seems to denote the general gift of spiritual illumination; revelation, capacity of apprehending the revealed - of perceiving the drift and meaning of what God makes known, so that it may be a real revelation to us. There is no greater thrill in life as coming to the understanding that somehow, in some way this may be true. We may not understand how it works, may not comprehend how we got in on the deal, and may not be able to figure out the finer points of theology or even understand fully where God exists, why things go the way they go, but inside, o in our hearts, we know that we know D. Experience not theory is how we approach everyone who says, that there is no God, or asks, why are you a Christian, or states that you re a fool for going to church. Say what you may, but it s with a spirit of wisdom that we understand that a special revelation has come our way. It s the spirit of wisdom that cries out, for I know in whom I have beleiveth, and it s the spirit of wisdom that says, I need, desperately need to get to know this One who has not only changed me, but even now, is present with me. Knowing Jesus. A. A Heart of Enlightenment and Hope. so that you may know him better. 18 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, As the Pulpit commentary points out: "The eyes of your heart" is an unusual expression, but it denotes that to see things clearly there is needed, not merely lumen siccum, but lumen madidum (to borrow terms of Lord Bacon), not merely intellectual clearness, but moral susceptibility and warmth - a movement of the heart as well as the head (compare the opposite state, "blindness of the

4 heart," Ephesians 4:18). Ye may know what is the hope of his calling; the hope which he calls you to cherish. The glory which he invites you to look forward to, when Christ shall come again, how sure it is and how excellent! How infinitely it surpasses all earthly glory! How it at once ravishes and satisfies the heart! B. And an enlightened heart always looks for a way to express itself: in worship, in prayers of gratitude, in holy devotion to the One who loved us and comes to us and satisfies us and makes our lives doable and delightful. C. (Contra) But even this is not enough for the converted soul for as the eyes of our hearts begin to gaze at the world of our friends and family, we begin to feel the weight of an unredeemed love; a person who needs to know, has to know, deserves to know what we have found in Christ. O Lord they need the hope that I have found in this oft times hopeless world. D. O Lord, open their hearts to yourself. Precious Jesus help me to say the right things to them, act the right way that will draw them to yourself, be the kind of person who has pointed them past the present of this world to consider the eternal realms where you not only are but where you can be found. Knowing Jesus is one thing, making Him known is not just a command, not really just an opportunity, not even really just a privilege as much as it is an invitation to start being and acting and feeling like Jesus: Take My Life Take my life, and let it be Consecrated, Lord, to Thee; Take my moments and my days, Let them flow in ceaseless praise, Let them flow in ceaseless praise. Take my hands, and let them move At the impulse of Thy love; Take my feet and let them be Swift and beautiful for Thee, Swift and beautiful for Thee. Take my voice, and let me sing Always, only, for my King; Take my lips, and let them be Filled with messages from Thee, Filled with messages from Thee. Take my silver and my gold; Not a mite would I withhold; Take my intellect, and use Every power as Thou shalt choose, Every power as Thou shalt choose.

5 Take my will, and make it Thine; It shall be no longer mine. Take my heart; it is Thine own; It shall be Thy royal throne, It shall be Thy royal throne. Take my love; my Lord, I pour At Thy feet its treasure-store. Take myself, and I will be Ever, only, all for Thee, Ever, only, all for Thee. Knowing Jesus and Making Him Known

Altar Call. Mark Norman

Altar Call. Mark Norman Altar Call Mark Norman I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be