Paul's Praise and Prayer for the Ephesians part 2

I think most of you know that old hymn, "Still Be My Vision." I like that phrase. It really speaks to where we're going this morning, "Be Thou My Wisdom." We're gonna talk about spiritual wisdom, and this is a wisdom that comes from His true word. I tell you what, folks, when you really get into the Scriptures and you start examining many of these old hymns, you're gonna see they come right out of the Scriptures. These old timers that wrote these hymns were in the Word, so I appreciate Brother Keith singing some of those old ones and those new ones that are rich as well. So I appreciate that worship.

Well, let's take our Bibles and let's turn back to Ephesians chapter 1. I said earlier that we're only gonna cover a couple of verses. Last week we looked at verse 15 and verse 16. And this morning we're gonna look at verse 17 and verse 18. Now, I will reference 1 Peter 5 like I did last week. I do that on purpose. And we're gonna come back to 1 Peter 5 next week as well. But this morning we're gonna be right here in verse 17 and in verse 18. Now, last week I think most everyone here knows that we made a transition from the first part of the chapter to the second part of the chapter.

We transitioned from the bountiful blessings of God's grace, to all that he gave his people and is giving his people. That was found in verse 3 to verse 14. And we transitioned into what I'm calling Paul's praise and prayer for the Ephesians. This is all in verse 15 on down to verse 23. Now, last week I tried to help us see something that some don't point out. I wanted us to see Paul's heart in all of these verses, in all of this chapter. In verse 3 to 14 I showed you Paul's heart of praise. He was worshiping, he was praising, and he was praising and worshiping from the knowledge that he had of these bountiful blessings from God.

And then starting in verse 15 on down to verse 23, I showed you Paul's heart as he worked hard to minister to these saints that were there in the church at Ephesus. I said that we see a pastor's heart here. And we're gonna talk about this more this morning. And we're gonna talk about that a little more next week as well. But more specifically, in verse 15 we saw that Paul received a report about this church. Some four years removed from the Ephesian church. And while in this Roman prison he received this good report about the church. And as a result, Paul basically did two things. First we saw that Paul offered praise to the Ephesians.

We could say it in our language like this. He bragged on them and he praised them for possessing two of the most important basic characteristics of true Christianity. First they possessed a true faith. They possessed a true and living love for God. And then they possessed a true and a living love for all of the saints. I like how Sinclair Ferguson describes these two Christian characteristics. He says, and I'm quoting, "Authentic Christianity always transforms both the God-word and the man-word dimensions of life." You need to hear that again. That's good insight.

Authentic Christianity, true and genuine Christianity always transforms, notice, both the God-word, that would be the vertical, and the man-word, that would be the horizontal dimensions of life. He's right. Sinclair Ferguson goes on to say, "Otherwise, our professions of faith are hollow." I say they're empty. Sinclair Ferguson is right. And I believe that many have a hollow. They have an empty profession of faith. Why? Because they do not possess, number one, a true love for God, and they do not possess, number two, a true love for all of the saints. See, the love for the saints flows out of the love for God.

But then second last week, we saw that Paul offered a great and wonderful prayer to God on their behalf. Now, this was really more of a general prayer, but it's very powerful. We saw that there were three aspects to Paul's prayer. First, Paul, he prays continuous. He says that he never ceased to pray. And that means that he prayed before the report, and then this means that he prayed because of the report, you see? And then second, this prayer was a simple but yet powerful prayer of thanksgiving. He was truly thankful for them. And then we see that he was thankful for the positive spiritual things that he heard about them.

He named those things. And he remembered them. He remembered them. He might have even remembered their names and remembered their faces. And church, listen, this should be a big example specifically for me. Let me say that again. This should be a big example for me. And I didn't emphasize this last week like I should. And we should see this right off. Let me show you what I mean. As your pastor, I should pray without ceasing for you. Just like Paul, I should pray with thanksgiving and in thanksgiving for you. And I should pray for you remembering you as Paul remembered these Ephesians. Some commentators say that he remembered them by name.

And I should be remembering you, remembering your needs, remembering your name as I see you in the life of this church. And listen, if Paul prayed for the church there in Ephesus like this, shouldn't I pray for you as your pastor? Yes. But I'll go a step further here. This also applies for those of you who teach and help teach the Word of God in the life of this church. From our little bitty ones all the way up, you see. This applies to any of you who teach God's Word and help teach God's Word. You should be praying for those that you teach. Paul prayed for the church there in Ephesus while he was so far removed.

Shouldn't you teach the little ones, the teenagers, vacation Bible school, any that are in front of you? Shouldn't you pray for those that you teach like Paul did? And then I'll go one step further. If you are a part of the life of this church, shouldn't you pray for one another? You know, one of the things about small group ministry is we get to know one another. Yes, we study God's Word, but we should be connected in life as we assemble under God's Word. And see, as you get to know one another, shouldn't you be praying for one another as you minister to one another?

See, Paul is our great example of how we ought to pray for the people in the life of the church. All the saints, not just these saints, in verse 15 and 16, should motivate us to pray like Paul. He is our example, and he should be our motivation. Now, I want us to continue in Paul's prayer by showing you how his prayer changes. Starting in verse 17, Paul gets very specific in his prayer. He gets into specifics, the specifics of his spiritual burden for them. You can say it like this. Starting in verse 17, we begin to see Paul's heart as he begins to unfold the specifics of this prayer. Now, notice something here.

These specifics are not prayers of deliverance from persecution. They were not. These specifics, they were not prayers about physical blessings. These specifics, they were not physical in nature at all. This was all spiritual. So notice the heart of Paul's prayer was more spiritual than physical. And in these verses, Paul prays that these believers would come to a spiritual understanding and a spiritual knowledge of who they are in Christ so that they may understand and see more of the blessings that are theirs in Christ Jesus. He prays and he writes that they may come to an experiential understanding and knowledge of who they are in Christ.

Paul is wanting them to get to a place where they spiritually experience the blessings that they do have in Christ in a very practical and real way in life. Now, before we get into the content of the prayer, I want us to see the source of this prayer, the source of this work from this prayer. So we're going to look at two major truths this morning. I want us to see first, or number one, the source of this prayer. And then we're going to look at the content. We're going to start to look at the content of this prayer. Now, before we jump into our first major truth, let's go back and look at these two verses.

And then I'm sure we will look at the verses and some words and phrases as we progress through the message. I'm going to go back to verse 15. We'll stop at verse 18. Paul says, "For this reason, because I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ and the Father of glory may give you the spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which He has called you, what are the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints." So number one, I want us to look at what I'm calling the source of this answered prayer.

Now, note this fact, and you might not realize you need to note it. Paul wasn't the source of this prayer or this work. It was God. God was the source of it all, although it was Paul praying the prayer and writing to these Ephesians. So notice, God was the subject of Paul's prayer, and God was the source of the work that he would do through Paul's prayer and through Paul's writing in the lives of the believers. And we see this reality, really this fact in two places. They're at the beginning of verse 17 and the beginning of verse 18.

Go back and look at the verse, "That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you." And then the beginning of verse 18, "Having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope." So we see where this work comes from. It comes from God. Now, there are two things that I want us to see about the source of this prayer. First, we need to see who Paul is praying to. We need to see who Paul is praying to. Now, at first glance, it seems that Paul is having trouble in how he may address God. Did you see that? I mean, he uses a lot of words there.

But Paul is showing us a few things here in how he approaches God. Paul is addressing God as revealed through the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. And Paul knows that God appointed Jesus, His Son, as the one mediator between Himself and God. But Paul is also addressing God as the Father of glory. See, Paul knows God as a close, a near, loving, heavenly Father. And also, he knows God as the high and glorious one. So Paul is coming to God. We see that. He is coming to God, the high and holy, the glorious one. He is coming to God as this loving, heavenly Father.

And he is coming to God the only way that a man can come to God through the one mediator between God and man. That is the Lord Jesus Christ. God as revealed through His Son. And Paul knows that this God is the only God that is capable of answering His prayer and meeting those spiritual needs for the Ephesians. You see? Now, there's a lesson here. First of all, we can come to God, but only through Jesus the Son. Now, let me say this. In our culture, we have this tag we put on the end of our prayer, in Jesus' name. Just because you pray your prayer and pray it in Jesus' name does not mean you come as Paul did.

When I say that we can come to God only through Jesus the Son, it means that we must know Jesus the Son. We don't just slap His name or tag His name on our prayer. See, Paul came to God through Jesus the Son because he knew Christ Jesus. He was born again on the road to Damascus, and he had a personal relationship with God. He knew the one mediator between God and man. So we can come to God only through Jesus, but only when we know Jesus. And then also we may come to God as a loving Heavenly Father. He is a loving Heavenly Father.

You know, there are certain people that have a hard time believing and understanding that God is a loving Heavenly Father. Years ago, I remember a lady gave a verbal testimony in a Sunday school setting, and she said she grew up with a "tiret of a father," a mean, oppressive, strong-fisted father. And she said she struggled with seeing God as a mean policeman in the sky, with a big stick ready to just hit her anytime she did something wrong. But that's not God the Father, as we see in the Scripture. And so we can come to God as a loving Heavenly Father. But also we should come to God as the high and holy, the glorious one.

He is the high and holy, the one and only, the great God above all gods, above all things. So there are some lessons here about how we approach God and how we view God, you see? But then second, we need to see how Paul asks God to work. First, I wanted us to see who Paul is praying to. Second, we need to see how Paul asks God to work. In verse 17, we see that Paul asks God to give certain things to the believers. You see it right there in your copy of God's Word. This word "give" is simple. It means to give something. It means to give something to someone. It means to bestow a gift to someone.

Paul is simply asking God to give certain things to these believers. But there's more and it gets deeper. At the beginning of verse 18, we see that Paul asks God to enlighten the eyes of their hearts. The English Standard Version reads, "Having the eyes of your hearts enlightened," the New American reads, "I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened," very similar. And I think that we would all agree that this is an unusual expression. But we do not need to overlook what Paul is saying here. This is very, very, very important for us to understand at this point in the message and throughout our study of the rest of the verses.

This means that Paul was asking God to give these believers an inner spiritual awareness. He was asking God to give them an inner spiritual sight or an inner spiritual understanding. This would be a spiritual illumination, just like a man sees with his physical eyes. Here Paul uses this figurative expression to show that a man sees spiritual things with the eyes of his heart. And with the eyes of his heart, he can be given spiritual understanding. Paul knows that God, God is the only one that is capable of giving spiritual things.

He knows that God is the only one that can give a man spiritual illumination, spiritual insight, inner and inner understanding. It must come from God to a man. Now, there are a few lessons here that I want us to see. First of all, it is God who gives or grants spiritual things to us. Now, it's easy for us to look around and look at our physical blessings. You know, the book of James tells us that all good things come from him. And you know, it's nothing wrong with us looking around and seeing our material possessions, our jobs, our families, the money that we have, our health, all of the physical blessings that we have. They come from God.

They are a gift from God. And you know, God is so good, he even gives those things to pagans, does he not? Sure. So we need to see that God is the one who grants things to us, but we're talking about spiritual things here. Spiritual things are granted, given by God to us. But second in these lessons here, I want us to see that it is God who gives spiritual, inner illumination, spiritual understanding. And get this. This spiritual illumination and understanding is given to those who know him and love him. You need to see that, folks. This spiritual illumination, this understanding is given to those who know him and love him.

Lost people do not have spiritual illumination and understanding. Now, you need to see this fact. Lost people, people who don't know Christ, do not have spiritual illumination and understanding. Now, I want to add to that. Follow me here. When someone is striving to live for God through the externals, lots of people try to do that. When folks are trying to live for God through external religion, the closer they get to the scriptures and spiritual matters, the more blinded they become. That which gives a true believer spiritual illumination and understanding, it blinds the religious.

When they are exposed to the scriptures, taught under the leadership of the Holy Spirit, and spiritual matters are brought before them, they become increasingly blinded. They will even get frustrated. They will even get angry at those who are presenting those things or bringing those things upon them. And they almost always embrace more empty religion as a result. Exhibit A, the religious leaders. Yeah, they fleshed all this out. Before Jesus. They lived that out. Now, there's another detail you need to see. You, we, we do not get spiritual illumination and understanding from our intellect.

We do not get spiritual understanding even from scriptural knowledge. Now, let me finish. It comes from God. Of course, the Spirit of God does use the Word of God. Yes, He does use the Word of God. But the scriptures without the work of the Spirit do not bring spiritual illumination and understanding. Did not the religious leaders know the scriptures? Yes. But they did not have spiritual illumination. The scriptures without the work and the indwelling work of the Holy Spirit, they bring about empty religion and more spiritual blindness, you see. So, number one, I wanted us to see the source of this answer prayer.

I wanted us to see the only one who could answer this prayer was God. It is God who does this work. And this is a very, very important work because we need to see how this work is done. And understanding how God gives and grants spiritual understanding is key with all that He wants to teach us here. We must remember this, how to gain spiritual illumination and understanding. It applies to the rest of what we're going to study. And I'm sure we'll pick this up as we continue through the book. So, let's move on. I want us to see, number two, the content of this prayer.

Starting in verse 17 and going on down to the end of this section, we see what I'm calling the content of this prayer. Now, as we begin to examine the heart of this prayer, remember this, folks. Paul was wanting these believers to know experientially and practically these great spiritual truths, these realities. He was wanting them to live this out in their daily life. Maybe you have a better way of saying it. I kind of think about it like this. Paul wasn't giving them bookshelf Christianity. He wasn't giving them bookshelf Christianity. He wasn't even giving them Sunday school Christianity.

He was giving them what I call tennis shoe Christianity. Let me explain what I mean by that. He wanted what he was praying about and what he was writing about. He wanted that to be lived out in their everyday life. You see, he wanted them to walk it out Monday through Friday in everyday life. So, let's look at what Paul prays here. Let's begin to look at what Paul prays here. First, I want us to see that Paul asks for a wise working knowledge of God. This comes from the second part of verse 17. Paul asks God to give them, these Ephesians, a wise working knowledge of God. Go back to the verse.

That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, here we go, may give you the spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him. Now, right away, we need to see that Paul is not talking about the giving of the Holy Spirit. Believers already have the Holy Spirit, and he's already pointed out that these were faithful believers. But Paul is asking for a work of the Holy Spirit, a work of the Holy Spirit in them. Paul is asking that the Spirit would work into them certain things that pertain to God. Now, a question. What's going on in this work? Paul was praying that the Holy Spirit would impart wisdom.

Paul is praying that the Holy Spirit would impart wisdom and knowledge to these believers. Paul was praying that the Holy Spirit would reveal a new knowledge of God to them, therefore producing spiritual wisdom in them. Now, a basic question, an obvious question. What is this wisdom? What is this revelation? What is this knowledge that's in the verse? Revelation has to do with this knowledge. And this knowledge Paul is talking about is for a deep spiritual, experiential knowledge of God. This is a personal experiential knowledge of God in life, in the life of the believer. And this wisdom has to do with the proper use of that knowledge.

This wisdom has to do with living out that knowledge, therefore becoming wise. Now, notice how all this fits together. Paul is praying that the Holy Spirit works to reveal a knowledge of God to these believers. That they would be given the Spirit of wisdom, which is applying that new knowledge of God in the right way in the life. And the result of the work? The believer who receives this work knows God in a new way. And they have allowed the Holy Spirit of God to work in the life, therefore producing a spiritual wisdom.

The result of this new knowledge of God, it becomes this new disposition, a new spiritual attitude, a new spiritual countenance. They possess a new knowledge of God, yes, but more. They have been changed, therefore they have a wise attitude and disposition. They have a spiritual ability because they have a wise working knowledge of God. So Paul prays that God would reveal himself to these Ephesian Christians in a new way. And he prays that the Spirit of God would work that knowledge out so as to produce a spiritual wisdom as a result. Therefore, they would have a new spiritual disposition, this new countenance as a result of this work.

Now, as I work to help you understand these things, as I work to understand these things in my life, I want to flesh this out. I want to make application with some examples that I think might shed some light on to what is being taught here. For me, I have a knowledge of God in my life as a pastor because of certain experiences in ministry. Let me say that again. Me as a pastor, I have a knowledge of God in my life because of certain God-ordained experiences within ministry. I give you a specific one, and I bring this one out because I used it this week, an application in someone else's life. More specific church discipline.

We have worked through a few difficult cases of church discipline. And through those trials, they're very hard trials, many times extremely difficult trials. God worked in me to reveal himself to me in a unique new way. He took his word, yes. He took the Spirit of God and brought the meaning of the word to bear in those circumstances. And he worked in me to reveal himself to me in a new and a unique way. Well, what was the result? That work, that difficult work produced spiritual wisdom. It produced a spiritual disposition and a work that I did not have before.

It is a knowledge of God, his word, and circumstances that he ordained for me coming together to produce a new spiritual work and wisdom that I did not have before, but I had to walk with God through it, and I had to allow God to work it out in me. Now, practically, notice what all that is for. For me to step up here and preach and kind of brag on myself? No, no. First of all, that is for preparation for the future. There might be other trials coming our way. That prepares me for tomorrow, you see. That knowledge of God and that spiritual wisdom that is given, it is to acquit me to pastor better tomorrow.

But second, and I think this is why this was on my mind during my study, I have been able to pastor other pastors through these same circumstances. This week I had an anchored in truth pastor call me. He had some church difficulties dealing with the church discipline case. He needed my advice and all I did was open my mouth and speak out of my own personal experience. A knowledge of God that I have because of where I have walked, a wisdom that I did not have before, this new disposition that is within me because of a work of God in me, I just gave it to him. I just shared that with him.

But listen church, you, you must see that in your life God ordains circumstances whereby he wants to work to reveal himself to you in a new way. And through that circumstance or difficulty or tragedy or positive opportunity, you are given spiritual wisdom. You are given a new spiritual disposition or a new demeanor. Now why would he do that in you? Because you have a responsibility. Listen folks, this is what we call testimony living. This is what we call testimony living. And through a work of God in you, you gain a new working knowledge of God that you did not have before.

And by walking with God in that circumstance, whether it's positive or negative, you gain a working wisdom that you did not have before. It changes you. You have something you didn't have before. You have a new spiritual disposition. And that knowledge and that wisdom is meant to be used where? Right here. In the life of this local church. He gives that to you to minister to other brothers and sisters. If anything, it might be just to be a trophy of grace over there for everybody to look out and worship God through. See, one of the biggest mistakes is this.

So many Christians in our country think that God gives them gifts and spiritual gifts and circumstances and abilities to just use everywhere else in the world. You miss it. Imagine a baseball player playing outside of the diamond. A football player does not play off of the gridiron. Now let's get back to the Ephesians. This knowledge of him and the spiritual wisdom that is given and developed in them is applied to the rest of these requests. It's all in here, folks. Second, I want us to see Paul asks for a working knowledge of God's plan. Paul asks God to work and to give these Ephesians what I call a working knowledge of God's plan for them.

Now, if we pay attention to the second part of verse 18, we will see some similar ideas, some similar teaching, some similar thoughts. Paul is actually referencing what he taught back in verse three to verse 14. Look back at verse 18. "Having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you. What are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints?" See this hope to which he has called you, these riches, this glorious inheritance. This is a reference to what he taught back in verses three to 14. Now, question what is going on here in this work.

Paul is praying that the Holy Spirit would give these Ephesian believers an inner spiritual awareness. He is praying that they would be given a spiritual understanding with the eyes of their hearts. Remember that Paul is using figurative language. No man has an eye on their hearts. Children, you might think your parents do, but they don't even have eyes on the back of their heads. But what is he saying? He is speaking of an inner spiritual insight and understanding, right? Now question, what is this hope? What is this calling? What are this riches and this inheritance?

This hope and this calling is a reference to God's great plan of the salvation of man that Paul explained back in verses three to 14. This is just a brief way of expressing the great realities, the great truths with God's great plan for the salvation of man. And the riches of his glorious inheritance is a reference to the inheritance that are theirs and ours in Christ Jesus in the heavenlies. This is a reference to that inheritance that is already obtained in Christ. It is stored up with Christ in the future. We spent quite a bit of time there. Now what is the result of this work?

The believer who experiences this spiritual illumination, this work of the Holy Spirit in their life, sees and understands and more fully grasps these realities. The believer that has allowed the Holy Spirit to work in their life, they experience a spiritual understanding relating to what? Their hope and their calling in Christ as well as the riches of the inheritance that is in Christ in the heavenlies. So Paul prays that God would enable these Ephesian believers to have their hearts enlightened to the hope in Christ that they have in which they were called to live.

And he was praying that God would cause these believers to have a spiritual insight and understanding of God's great salvation plan for man and how they fit into that plan. He was praying that God would give them spiritual insight, spiritual illumination to the great riches that they have, listen, in the glorious inheritance that is stored up for them which they have already obtained. You see? And listen folks, church, this is one of the ways we must see our personal salvation. This applies to you more than you know. Paul wanted these Ephesians to have an experiential work of God in their lives pertaining to what?

Their hope in Christ and their future in Christ. You see? This applies to us. We must have a work of the Spirit of God in us whereby our spiritual eyes are opened and we see experientially the hope that we have in Christ. First, we hoped in Christ when we were converted to Christ. I pray that you, see? Years ago, maybe last week, maybe when you were 9 or 19 or 39, you hoped in Christ when you were converted to Christ. Isn't that what we studied in verse 12 and 13? If you were in Christ sometime in our lives, we heard the word of truth, the gospel. And as a result, we believed in Christ for our salvation.

And through a work of God, we were sealed with a promise, the Holy Spirit of God. Isn't that what we learned? So there was a day when we were converted to Christ and we hoped in Christ, we trusted in Christ. And then second, we have a continued, we continue to hope in Christ throughout the life. Remember verse 15? What does Paul say? The Ephesians possessed a faith in Christ, meaning that it was ongoing. And it is the same for us today if we're in Christ. Our faith, our hope began when we came to faith in Christ and it continues as we live for the Lord. You see?

And listen, folks, we either have the Holy Spirit of God giving us a spiritual illumination, an understanding that we do have a hope in Christ or we have the Holy Spirit of God bringing conviction of our sin, His righteousness and the judgment that is to come. You see? And my question for you is this. Do you live in this spiritual understanding that you have a hope? Do you possess this spiritual knowledge and understanding that you possess this hope in Christ? But you know, sometimes those of us who are truly converted to Christ, we need a fresh enlightenment. We do. We need a fresh understanding.

We certainly need to have a fresh understanding of our hope in Christ. And we need to see that there are things that can diminish this understanding. There are things that could diminish our seeing and understanding this hope. I jotted a quick list down that can diminish our vision here. First of all, sin can diminish this understanding. Listen, Christian, I'm speaking to you, believer, if you're embracing sin, it could diminish how you see your hope. Just cloud your judgment, cloud your vision. I see some heads nodding. Second, disobedience can diminish this understanding.

If you're walking in willful disobedience, it can cloud your spiritual understanding. Just how sharp you see your hope and your faith in Christ. Another thing, third, trials can diminish this understanding. Trials. Now, I'm not talking about when you sin and there are ramifications for your sin. That's not what I'm talking about. Spiritual trials, biblical trials are circumstances that come your way, difficulties that God ordains. And sometimes people will wallow in their trials and they can't see up, down, left or right. And they lack this spiritual understanding because they're being swamped by the trial.

Then the fourth one is this, a lack of being in the Word and prayer could diminish this understanding. You're not praying as you should. You're not in the Word as you should. See, all of these things cloud our vision, folks. They cloud our ability to see this understanding. Now, we have to cover two more to finish out. If we progress in the verses, we see that Paul asks for God to give them an understanding of God's power. He wants God to give them this understanding of God's power first for them and first in him. As it pertains to Christ. And then Paul asks for God to give them an understanding of God the Son. But we don't have time.

We just don't have time. Now, I want to begin to conclude by adding to what I shared last week. We are seeing the Apostle Paul, yes. The great Apostle to the Gentiles, yes. The Apostle that came to Ephesus and he did this great work with the help of the Spirit. And he evangelized the region and built this great church. We know the story. But we see more than the Apostle Paul. We see the heart of a pastor. Remember, I referenced 1 Peter 5, verses 1, 2, and 3 there. This is Peter writing. The Apostle Peter. Peter was the Apostle to the Jews. Paul was the Apostle to the Gentiles. And what does Peter say? He's writing to elders.

And he says, "You fellow elders, I have functioned as an elder." What is he saying? Although he was an Apostle, he functioned as an elder just like they did. And he's saying, "Now, you elders, you shepherd the flock of God among you." And Paul is doing that. He is shepherding this flock of God that he has a care for, that he loves, that he is separated from. You see? And notice what Paul is doing here. Yes, he's writing. And he's ministering from a great distance. And he's in a great trial in life. He is in a Roman prison. And he's writing to these believers. But I want to add to that. He is pastoring them concerning big things here. Notice.

First, he is concerned with the theological. He is giving them some of the greatest, deepest, most mysterious doctrines found in the Scriptures. I'm referencing verse 3 on down to verse 14. You know that. He was concerned with some of the greatest, deepest, most mysterious theological truths known to man. He was concerned for them. And he gave them this great and deep theology. But second, he is concerned with the experiential and the practical. He is calling them to identify with and relate to the theological in an experiential and practical way. You see? And there's a big lesson here too we need to get.

The theological must be understood in the experiential. The Holy Spirit of God must take these deep theological truths and work them out in their lives in a spiritual and experiential way. And the experiential part of the Christian life must not be connected from the truth of God's Word. You see? If you do, it becomes extra-biblical. It becomes something other than Biblical Christianity. And we will see this further as we finish up the rest of the verses and the rest of this prayer. So what have we looked at this morning? This is Paul's praise and prayer for the Ephesians.

I have full confidence that the Lord has ministered to you just like he ministered to them in that day and time. And I look forward to unfolding and unpacking the rest of this prayer. So as we always do, let's take what we've studied this morning. Let's commit it to the Lord and let's ask God to seal it in our minds and hearts and work according to His will and plan for our life. So let's pray.