You cannot live what you do not what? Understand. You can't live it. You cannot function on principles you don't know. No Christian has ever yet lived the Christian life who didn't know what it was.
Welcome to Grace to You, the Bible teaching ministry of John MacArthur. I'm your host, Phil Johnson. How could you have just a few dollars in the bank, yet have riches beyond compare? Find out today on Grace to You as John MacArthur looks at unfathomable treasures that are yours right now if you're a Christian. We're continuing John's study called Richer Than You Think.
But before we get started, perhaps you're having trouble identifying with the title of John's current series right now. You don't feel rich spiritually because trials have taken their toll.
Well, John had some encouragement for believers who are struggling to rejoice and be thankful for the riches available to them in Christ. John's words are helpful for us today, so let's hear them now. You know, if you're a believer, you don't want to doubt the love of God. He loves you with a perfect love You don't want to doubt the Promise of God that all things are working together for good to those that love Him and are called according to His purpose. You don't even want to doubt the plan of God.
Maybe you wonder: wow, did it have to be this? You don't want to doubt the plan of God. The Lord has a plan that you want to submit to. Because that plan may involve suffering, it may involve humiliation, it may involve a time of sort of breaking. Um some of the things that you depended upon.
You don't want to doubt the process of God. The end result is to give you blessing and to glorify His name. His best work is done in our hearts through hard times. His best work is done when we can't control all the circumstances. And that's what Paul says, you know, and he says, I.
You know, I'm content in everything. I'm content to be abased. I'm content to abound. Because he supplies all my needs through Christ Jesus and everything. And Paul says, I'm even content with suffering, told the Corinthians.
I'm content with pain and affliction and all those things, because when I'm weak, he said, then I'm strong.
So just know this: that God is through all the struggles and all the issues and all the trials. Perfecting you. Peter says, After you've suffered a while, the Lord makes you perfect. And that's what he's in the process of doing. That's right, and those are some encouraging reminders about God's faithfulness to give us what we need when we experience trials.
And friend, for even more encouragement from God's Word, stay here as John continues his study called Richer Than You Think with a look at the blessings that are yours in Christ. And now here's John with today's message. Ephesians 1.15. Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and love unto all the saints, ceased not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers. That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him.
The eyes of your understanding being enlightened, that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, which he wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead and set him at his own right hand in the heavenlies, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in that which is to come. and hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him that filleth all in all.
Well, that scripture is so loaded with great truth that we're not going to be able by any means to exhaust its content. But it introduces to us a very important portion of the first chapter. This is a prayer by the Apostle Paul. It is a prayer in response to the great statement of theology in verses 3 to 14.
Now from verse 3 through 14 is one long sentence. And it is a sentence designed to tell us what it is that God has done for us in Christ. In other words, what we possess in Christ. It discusses the great concept of election. The great concept of Redemption and the great truth of inheritance.
In the past, God elected us, He redeems us, and in the future gives us an inheritance.
Now, the truths in verses 3 to 14 are really beyond the possibility of the human mind to grasp. Frankly, our human mind cannot reach that deep into the truth of God. That is something we cannot do. We cannot mine that kind of truth out of our humanness. In 1 Corinthians There is a very important text in this regard, chapter 2, verse 10.
Verse 9 we could start with, I hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. In other words, empiricism or experiment can't see it, eye or ear. And intuition and rationalism can't see it, neither has it entered into the heart of man. It can't be known externally. It can't be really known internally.
The things that God has prepared for them that love Him. But God has revealed them unto us by His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, watch the next line, yes, even the deep things of God. You see, in order for us to even understand this incredible legacy that's ours in Christ, we must depend upon the Holy Spirit. For what, says Paul in 1 Corinthians 2:11, for what knoweth the things of a man except the Spirit of man which is in him?
Even so, the things of God knoweth no man but the Spirit of God. In other words, we must depend upon the Spirit of God for an understanding of the deep things of God. And believe me, Ephesians 1:3 to 14 are the deep things of God. Tremendous truths. Deep truths.
that our human mind cannot conceive.
So Having delineated something of these truths that are ours in Christ, Paul then moves to pray for us that we would understand these truths. It doesn't do any good to know them if we don't understand them. Because if we don't understand them, we can't live them. See?
So In chapter 1, Paul begins with describing our position in Christ. Then he prays that we'll understand it. In chapter 2, Paul describes our position in Christ. Then in chapter 3 again, he prays that we'll understand it. Finally, in chapter 4, he says, Now that you've got it and you understand it, here's how to live it.
So twice he describes the believer's position. Chapter 1, chapter 2. Twice he prays that we'll understand it. Chapter 1 and chapter 3. Finally in chapter 4 he says, now that you've got a grip on it, live it.
Now the point is this people, you cannot live what you do not what? Understand. Understand. You can't live it. You cannot function on principles you don't know.
No Christian has ever yet lived the Christian life who didn't know what it was. You gotta have it.
Now let's look at his prayer then. Wherefore I also After I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and love unto all the saints, Cease not to give thanks for you. making mention of you in my prayers. Stop there.
Now, in this, he just introduces to us the idea that he is praying. Wherefore, it takes us back on the basis of this tremendous inheritance that we have in Christ. I pray for you. And he says, I pray for you because I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and love unto all saints.
Now, how did Paul hear this?
Well, It had been four years about since he had ministered in Ephesus. But sea travel was relatively easy in those days. Because of the ships and so forth. And so there was great accessibility to that little small part of the world around the north and west part of the Mediterranean. And additionally, there was a liberty that Paul enjoyed even while he was a prisoner, and that was that they allowed people to come and visit him.
So there was a constant flow of Christians, no doubt, coming in and out of Paul's life. And they would be bringing him reports. And as I told you when we first studied the beginning of Ephesians, this letter was not only written to Ephesians, but no doubt all the churches of Asia Minor. And so it's probably that he has in his mind. He says, Of all of you churches in Asia Minor, I have been hearing about you.
People visiting, coming by ship, perhaps walking on some of the great Roman highways that would give them access to Paul's location. And so Paul says, I've been hearing good things. In fact, I hear two things. I hear about your faith in the Lord Jesus and love unto all the saints. And those, beloved, are the cardinal things.
Those are the basic aspects of a true Christian. A true Christian is marked by faith in the Lord Jesus, which gives evidence of itself in love toward all saints. In fact, in 1 John chapter 2 and verses 9 to 11, it says: There, if you claim to have saving faith and hate your brother, you're a liar. Those two go together. By this will all men know you're my disciples, John 13 says, if you have love one for another.
And love, as we've defined it so many times, is sacrificial selflessness. Serving others sacrificially, unselfishly. True faith always springs. into love. And so he says, I've heard about it.
It's genuine. I see it.
Now, I want you to see these two things because they're very important. First of all, your faith in the Lord Jesus. The Lord Jesus. You see, salvation begins with believing Jesus is Lord. You see that?
I was speaking in Miami tonight. Pastor came up to me afterwards and he says, well, he said he was kind of I don't know what kind of On edge, I think. He said, Well, he said, I suppose you're one of those lordship salvationists. I said, what is that? He says, you don't know about Lordship salvationism.
I said, no, I don't. He says, well, You probably believe that in order to be saved, you have to receive Jesus as Lord. I said, as a matter of fact, I don't know any other way. He said, Yeah, I thought so. I said, you're not a lordship salvationist?
Sounds like I s he said, no. No. I said, uh let me ask you a question. I said, is Jesus Lord?
Well, he didn't really want to answer, I guess, because he said, well, well. There is a sense in which he is. I said, Well, is Jesus Lord? Yes or no? Yes.
Well, yes, it's right. He's Lord.
So if you receive him, does he come as who he is? Yes, he you'd have to. Right. Let me ask you this, I said, does Philippians 2 say that every knee should bow and confess Jesus as Lord to the glory of God? And I said, does Romans 10 say that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth Jesus as Lord, thou shalt be saved?
Well, he says, but it doesn't appear in the Gospel of John. Yeah. I said, what doesn't appear in the Gospel of John? Jesus is Lord? No, it says the idea of board ship salvationism.
I said, I don't know what you're saying. I said, I don't know what you just tell me what you're going to do with Romans 10:9. That if thou shalt confess Jesus as Lord, thou shalt be saved. And then he just said, yes.
Well, you're a s Lordship Salvationist, and he walked off. I still don't know where he was. How you get salvation minus the lordship of Jesus Christ is a problem. I think what he was trying to say was that you can receive him as just as Jesus. Just as the Savior, without acknowledging him as Lord.
but he'd have a tough time handling a couple of passages. In the New Testament. The point here is, Paul says, I know you're genuine. Because your faith is in the what? The Lord Jesus.
You don't receive him as Savior, and then later as Lord, you get him who he is.
Now, whether you respond to his lordship or not is another issue. But he's Lord.
Now, the second thing he says: not only is your salvation evident by the faith in the Lord Jesus, but your love unto all the saints. Do you notice that this love is indiscriminate? You notice that a true Christian doesn't pick and choose, he loves, and by virtue of that, whoever gets in front gets loved. We used to say this little phrase, well. I love him in the Lord.
Which means personally he can't stand them. Remember that one?
Well, I love them in the Lord. It's if you had a little pipe coming out of you, you could squirt them with God's love, you know. You can't unscramble the egg, folks. If you love them, you love them, and the Lord loves them. And if you don't love them, then the Lord doesn't love them through your not loving them.
You love them, all the saints. You can't be discriminate. The world picks and chooses. Paul says in Philippians 2: I pray that you would have the same love. What that means is to love everybody, what?
The same. And in 1 John 3, he says, Love in word, not in word and tongue, but in deed and in truth, anybody who has a need, and don't shut up your heart of mercy. when you see them with a need. You can learn all the theology you want and spin off all of the Dogma you want, but if you don't love, then you are nothing but sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal. And true salvation goes from the head to the heart and reaches right out to touch other people.
And he says, I'm so thankful to God. That I've heard about you, that you have faith in the Lord Jesus, and that you love the saints.
Now you know something's kind of sad. That Ephesian church, man, they started out right. When you get to chapter 2 of Revelation and verse 4, the Lord Jesus writes them a letter. And the Lord Jesus says to the church at Ephesus, I have something against you. Because you have left your what?
First love. Sad to think about it. But the history of the Ephesian church is they left their first love and they went out of existence as a church. They went out of existence. There's got to be faith and love and balance.
You know, the monks and the hermits. Had a loyalty to Christ. Which separated them from men to live alone in a desert place contemplating faith. It was Loveless faith. It never touched anybody.
The heresy hunters of the Spanish Inquisition and other ages had a loyalty to their faith. Which caused them to literally persecute anybody with a difference. Levels faith. And I'm afraid there are some Christians in the churches. Today, who are hateful and bitter and resentful of other Christians and its loveless faith, and I question in as I would the cases I just illustrated whether it's even genuine saving faith.
The genuine is marked by love. In fact, I'll tell you something, folks. You can't love the Lord Jesus Christ. Put your faith in him without loving. The people But he loves.
Do you get that? You can't love the Lord Jesus. Without loving the people he loves. I'll never forget my son one time was driving in a car. And he leaned over to me, and it was about a certain person.
He said to me, I love so-and-so. And I did a double tick. I didn't even know I knew it. I said to him. What do you mean you love so-and-so?
He says, I love so-and-so. I said, why do you love so-and-so? He said, because I always hear you say you love him. And I love him too, then.
Well, that's right. If I love the Lord Jesus Christ, 1 John 5:1 and 2 says, If I love the Lord Jesus Christ, I will love those begotten by the Lord Jesus Christ. That's part of it.
So he says I commend you. And I pray for you, verse 16. I cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers. And then his prayer of thanks turns to a petition. And I pray, he says, verse 17, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation and the knowledge of him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened.
And stop right there. He says, Man, I'm praying for you that you'll understand your riches in Christ. Warren Weirsby has written a little book called Be Rich, and in there he gives an interesting illustration. about William Randolph Hearst. who was the late newspaper publisher.
Hearst, at one point in his life, decided to invest a veritable fortune in the collecting of great pieces of art. And he was collecting them all over the world and storing them in warehouses in different places. And one day he read a description in one of his art. books or magazines or whatever. A description of an incredibly valuable piece of art.
And he determined that he had to have that piece of art.
So he got his agent and he sent him all over the world to find it. No one knew where it was. That guy went all over the world to find that art treasure for William Randolph Hearst. Months and months went by, and finally the man came back and reported. Mr.
Hearst, I found it. And with great joy, he said, Where? Where was it? He said, It was in your warehouse. You bought it years ago.
Frantically searching for what he already possessed. Paul is praying here, Lord, deliver those Christians from frantically searching for what they already possess. Give them the spirit of wisdom and revelation and the knowledge of Him so that they will know what is theirs and that they will be able to use it in the living of life. See?
Let's face it, people, we do spend a lot of time messing around, chasing stuff we've got. We say, Lord, I need strength. And the Bible says, You can do all things through Christ who already strengthens you. Lord, I need love. The love of Christ is shed abroad in your heart.
Lord, I need grace. My grace is sufficient for you. Lord, I need peace in the situation. I already left you all my peace that passes understanding. What else is there?
You see Christians scrambling around begging for what they've got. What a waste. And the Bible says you should just ask for wisdom. If you lack wisdom, ask it. And wisdom is the sense not to keep asking for what you've got.
See, the point is this. Paul says God, the human mind cannot conceive of the riches of our position in Christ, so please God grant to them this understanding. Only the Spirit can search the deep things and reveal them to us. Such understanding is beyond the human mind, and God must enable us. to understand.
So he says that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ The Father of glory. I love those titles. The God of our Lord Jesus Christ. That identifies it with Him. After all, we're in Christ, right?
And if we're in Christ, then he's our God too. And he's the father of glory. That means the one who possesses all things, all glory is his. And so he prays to that God that he may give us the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him.
Now, notice the word spirit. God grants us a spirit. It is an anarthris construction, the Greek, no article, a spirit of wisdom and revelation.
Now people have discussed what spirit is this?
Some people say it's the Holy Spirit, that God would grant us the Holy Spirit. But I don't think that's Paul's prayer because every Christian already has a Holy Spirit, right? I don't think that's it. And besides that, it's not the Holy Spirit, it's a spirit.
So, I don't think it's the Holy Spirit. We don't need to ask for the Holy Spirit. We already have the Holy Spirit. Our body is a temple of the Holy Spirit. 1 Corinthians 6 says, and Romans 8:9 says, all Christians have the Holy Spirit.
So, that wouldn't be it. And others have said, no, it's the human spirit, that he would give us a spirit of wisdom and revelation. And he's talking about the human spirit. I don't think that's right either, because we already have a human spirit. The word pneuma In which we get breath and air and pneumatic pneumonia, it's the Greek word.
It can be translated in a lot of ways. And I think the way it should be translated here is as a disposition, an influence, or an attitude which governs the soul of someone. Let me illustrate this. It doesn't have to be the Holy Spirit or the human spirit. It can just be an attitude.
For example, Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount said, Blessed are the poor in what? Spirit. He wasn't talking about the Holy Spirit or the human spirit. He was talking about an attitude. Those are humble people.
Now, when we see somebody who's sad, we say, oh, their spirits sad. Or we see somebody really playing hard at some game, we say that is spirited play. Or we see somebody really happy, and we say, Boy, he's in high spirits. And all we mean is an attitude. An attitude, a disposition.
An influence in thinking. And I believe that what Paul is saying is this, give them the fullness of an attitude of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him. Oh God, he says, let them know in their mind how much they possess in Christ. Give them a deep, rich, keen, strong, full understanding.
Now, I would add to that that I think the Holy Spirit and the human spirit are also both implied. And what Paul is praying is this: watch. God sends the Holy Spirit to work on the human spirit to create the right spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him. Because it's the work of the Spirit. Only the Spirit can search the deep things of God.
And by the way, the word revelation deals with the imparting of knowledge, and the word wisdom deals with the use of it.
So he's saying, God, I'm just praying that the Holy Spirit will work on the human spirit to produce the spirit of wisdom and revelation. That is, that they will know their position and their resource, and that they will use it. See?
Step out and use it.
So he wants the believer to have a full, deep knowledge of God. Not intellectual, but something deeper than that, something far deeper. And I'm telling you, people, I've said this for years and years, and I'll say it till I drop over. The Christian life is predicated on what you know. It's got to be revelation before it can be wisdom.
You've got to receive it before you can use it. And that's why we spend our time teaching the Word of God. Pat O'Brien, that CBS reporter, said to me, I think I've seen the difference between the true Christians and the false Christians. He said, the true Christians are those who are really heavy into studying the Bible.
Well, what he was really seeing was that when somebody is heavy into studying the Bible, he gains the revelation of God that is applied in wisdom, and his life is what it ought to be. See?
That's what he sees.
So he prays that we would have the divine mind, that we would be able to do what he said to the Colossians, to set our affections on things above and not on things of the earth, to get our mind out of the gutter and onto the great, grandiose, marvelous magnificencies of God. And so Paul prays, God, it's not enough. It's not enough that I just tell them the facts, I pray for them. But they would understand. The imparting of truth and the use of it.
in the knowledge of him. You know, you have Christ. Do you know Christ? If you know Christ, do you really have this attitude of Wisdom and revelation. This deep sense Of knowing God's heart and God's mind.
Now Paul goes on To bring three specific things that he wants us to grasp, and we'll study those next time. Let's pray. It's so great, Father, to know that all the resources that are in Christ. are granted to us by faith. Thank you, Father, for those who have come to faith in Jesus Christ, for those who know and love Him.
every one a part of your eternal plan. And some, Father, who haven't yet said yes. But you're calling them by your spirit. They're part of the plan too. There's some of your people yet unborn.
Bring them to yourself today. For those who are in the family, Father, help us to have a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, a spirit produced as the Holy Spirit works on our human spirit to give us comprehension beyond what is possible in the normal human mind. To know the deep things of God and knowing them to be able to. Use them. that our position may be known.
Understood? and lived at. And we'll thank you in Jesus' name. Amen. You're listening to Grace to You, the Bible teaching ministry of John MacArthur.
John's lesson today is from his study titled Richer Than You Think.
Now keep in mind, we're able to air only a portion of this study. There's actually a lot of content that we don't have time to put on the radio, but you can own it all. Eight sermons on MP3 and in transcript format. To download the entire Richer Than You Think series free of charge, get in touch with us today. You'll find our website at gty.org.
Richer Than You Think is a series that you'll probably turn to again and again for help in taking hold of the blessings that are yours in Christ. Our website again, gty.org. Also, keep in mind that there are thousands of other free resources available at gty.org. If you're wondering what Scripture says about how to serve your church faithfully, Or you want to know how to interpret a particular passage of God's Word, or there's another biblical topic that you want to know more about. Search for it on our website.
you are sure to find a sermon or an article that will answer your question. Take advantage of all those free Bible study tools today. Go to gty.org.
Now, for the entire Grace to You staff, I'm Phil Johnson. Thanks for starting your week with us. Join us again tomorrow as John MacArthur continues showing you all the spiritual resources that God gives to you. when you become a Christian. There are so many more than you may have realized.
So don't miss the next 30 minutes of Unleashing God's Truth. one verse at a time on grace to you.
