I ask that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you may know the hope of His calling, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints,having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope of his calling, and what are the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,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,having the eyes of your heart enlightened, that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,
8 sermons cite this verse
… inheritance to entitlement. Look at this that Paul prayed in Ephesians chapter 1. Put it on the screen, please. He said, 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. So Ephesians is telling us spiritually what Joshua is showing us physically, that you have an inheritance. But notice the verse again, put it on the screen for another moment, where he says, I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened to know the riches of the inheritance you already have. Here is what Paul did not pray. Check the scripture. He did not pray that God would give you an inheritance because you already have one. What he prayed instead was so specific. He said, I pray that you would be able to see clearly what God has already given you freely. So this is the shift. Inheritance says, God gave me this. …
… You were introduced into the world of wisdom. In verse 18, Paul says, I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, that you will know what is the hope of His calling and what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints. How would you know that? Verse 17, I pray that God will give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him. Well, you have the Holy Spirit. Paul is saying, I'm hoping, I'm praying that you will respond to the work of the Holy Spirit on your human spirit so that you can literally live in the wisdom that is yours by the work of Christ, the presence of Christ, the presence of the Spirit, and through the Word of God. Now for a moment over to Colossians chapter 1, and just a couple of verses, verse 9 and 10. For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. …
… and the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your heart 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, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe. I've been praying for this. I'm saying, God, this is something you just hand someone. You just give it to them. You give them this spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him. Like, this isn't something I can teach you right now. Hey, you guys know him, love him, enjoy him, understand his hope. It's not something that you can write on a screen or a PowerPoint and good, good, I explained it to you. Paul says, no, something, a divine interaction has to happen where he, God, on his throne, gives you, he hands you, he imputes, puts into you this spirit of wisdom and revelation where the eyes of your heart now suddenly the lights come on. …
… this. I want you to know it. And then he says, this is difficult for some of us, and that you may know what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints. Man, we sang a song about that earlier. That's the first time I've heard a song about his inheritance. Not our inheritance. His inheritance. The riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints. That's us. It's not our inheritance in Him. It's His inheritance in us. Gosh, do you understand this? I mean, for some of you, it's going to take a miracle for you to really believe this in your heart. It takes a miracle for all of us. but I'm saying for some of you you've got so much garbage to think that God looks at me as his inheritance wait the God I just described in Revelation 4 and 5 he's got the angels the smoke, everything's going on are you telling me that God is looking at me on this stage and going I can't wait I can't wait for Francis I love him. …
… I keep asking that God, 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. I pray also 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 the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age, but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way. …
… you, remembering you in my prayers. 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. I pray also 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 the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms. Far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age, but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way. …
… remembering you in my prayers. 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. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age, but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way. …
… And he says here that Jesus Christ is the head of the church. He states here in this first chapter that God the Father raised him from the dead, seated him in his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and powers and dominions, and every name is beneath his name and everything is beneath him. You recall in Colossians chapter 1 when he spoke of the creation, he says that Jesus Christ has created all things for himself. He's the head of all things. He's above all things. He takes preeminence over everything that is presently in existence. That is including the church. So what I want us to look at for just a few moments is this. That is what is implied in saying that Jesus Christ is the head of the church. What does that really mean? All right. Let's look at several things here. First of all, it means that he is the sovereign authority over the body of Christ. That is, all of us who live in this earth, who are indwelt by the Holy Spirit, we are a part of the body of Christ. …