Illumination

Sermon Series: Ephesians

Sermon Title:  “Illumination”

Pastor Chris O’Brien

This morning our text is Ephesians 1:15–18. This isn’t the whole prayer — we’re just getting started. But there’s such a richness to this prayer that I’ve purposely decided to take our time through it, so that we might benefit all the more.

The Holy Spirit’s Work of Inspiration

Before we read it, let me highlight something. Here’s how Peter the apostle describes how everything in our Bible is the very word of God. Inspired of God, no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

Now here’s Paul, in his prayer in Ephesians 1: “For this reason, because I’ve 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, 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.” This is the word of God.

How Good We Have It

For about the first ten or fifteen or maybe twenty years of my ministry, even as I was a solo pastor, I gave my time to the ministry of the youth in the church. The young people now feel like they got a raw deal, because they got a really, really old guy to be their youth guy. All I can say is, sorry, my bad. Nothing I can do about it.

But when I did the ministry full time, we would often go on mission trips. I found one mission trip in particular to be very helpful to our young people — whether this was my church in the Washington D.C. area, the church in Northeast Philadelphia, or any of those other churches I’ve ministered to. For the most part, the people in our church had a home to live in. They had all their basic needs met. What I’m saying is, they didn’t know how good they had it.

Then we would go visit New City Fellowship Church, a sister PCA church in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The church was in the inner city of downtown Chattanooga — not the kind of place you normally want to be at night. Maybe not North Philly, but still could be a rough area. We lived there for a week in the YMCA and did Bible clubs in the mornings with the kids in the housing projects. These upstanding suburban kids had probably never walked into a neighborhood that looked like the ones we went to. In the afternoon, we were painting a widow’s home.

I remember one time we weren’t painting a home — we were trying to rebuild a porch for this dear lady. This was at my church in Huntsville, Alabama, and one of the adult leaders worked for one of the engineer groups that helped build rockets. He was a rocket scientist, you might say. But whoever heard of a rocket scientist and a pastor trying to rebuild a porch — it couldn’t be done. Eventually they gave up on us and just let us paint a house. That happens sometimes.

But the point was taking those kids to an area in the country — it didn’t have to be ten or twelve hours away. It could have been Atlantic City, or parts of Richmond, or Millville. For some reason it’s more glamorous if you travel very far to do this. But what inevitably happened is these kids came home realizing what they had that so many other people didn’t have. They had maybe a better sense — because what’s the nature of young people? The world revolves around them. But they got to see the world that revolves around other people very different than them. That’s a good thing.

I wonder if we know here at Fairfield Church how good we have it. Now don’t get nervous — I’m not threatening to take you to the Atlantic City version this summer to do ministry. Although that would be a good thing. Maybe the elders will decide to send you. I’ll stay here and preach. I can’t get any signal from the elders if they’re for or against. But anyway, I digress.

Let me tell you how good you have it to be at Fairfield Presbyterian Church. This is one of the oldest churches existing in America today — almost 350 years, since 1680. And about thirty years before that, at Westminster Abbey in London, there was a confession of faith of the Protestant church that was formulated. That’s our confession, the one this church has held to for these many 300 years.

When the Lord took Pastor Mike home to heaven, and then I started — Pastor Gary was here for about a month, and then I’ve been here since — none of the elders or the church, even though we all have different personalities, had to worry, “I wonder what this guy’s going to preach. Is he going to teach us new doctrines? Are there going to be new things?” They all knew that couldn’t be the case. Why? Because we’re a confessional church.

You see, what do people like to say today? They like to say, “We’re transparent.” Sometimes that just means you bleed all over people — it’s kind of gross. Not talking about that.

Folks that don’t have that benefit in their churches — either they have a very superficial creed, or the creed is the creed of the pastor who says, “My creed is Jesus.” That sounds pretty cool, sounds kind of spiritual. But yeah — now tell us who Jesus is. Tell us, is he fully God, fully man? What did it mean when he died on the cross? Did he die just to be a martyr, or did he die, as the Bible teaches, as a sin substitute? It’s impossible to say your creed is just Jesus. You’ve got more creed than that.

What Our Confession Teaches About Scripture

Now if you’ll turn to the back side of your insert, we have a great benefit as a church. The first chapter of our confession isn’t about what Presbyterians look like, how they dress, whether they talk about the five points of Calvinism or only four, or the end of times. The priority of the writers — the godly men who wrote our confession, that I hold to, these elders in this church hold to, and many of you as congregants hold to — the longest chapter in the confession is about God’s written word. What is the Bible? That’s of paramount importance.

You say, well, isn’t God more important? Well, yeah, in a sense he’s God and he’s most important. But where do we learn about God? Where has God revealed himself? And is that revelation preserved for us for all time until Jesus comes? Of course the answer is yes — not because John Calvin said it, not because some other great theologian said it, but God says it in His word. The Bible is the word of God, and it’s been preserved for God’s people for all these ages.

Like we read in Peter, it is the Holy Spirit that enabled the writers of the Bible to give us not their mere godly wisdom, but the very word of God. But as a bonus in this first chapter of the confession, we’re told about the role of the Holy Spirit in applying that word of God to you and me in everyday life. I’ve just given you three examples from that first chapter — the rest of my time today, and I promise I’ll be done before 1:30, we’re going to focus on that work of the Spirit in our hearts about the word of God and the gospel.

In paragraph five of our confession, it says we may be moved and induced by the testimony of the church to a high and reverent esteem of the Scriptures. In this paragraph, all these wonderful arguments for why the Bible is the word of God are given — arguments about how the Bible has a consistent message. We’re sinners and we need a savior. That’s basically the message, and it’s throughout the Bible, and it’s consistent.

For instance, Isaiah the prophet, some over 700 years before Jesus was born, promises that a child will be born of a virgin, and he’ll be none other than the Son of God, mighty God. Then in Isaiah 53, he tells us that he is the suffering servant and he’ll die. It doesn’t tell us a cross, but it makes clear it’s an excruciating death to pay for our sins. And then Jesus fulfills that. Why did God go through all that trouble? To impress upon us, his people, that this is none other than the word of God.

But notice what it says in the rest of the paragraph. Even though you’ve got all these wonderful arguments in Scripture itself that should impress us — the wisdom of the writers of this confession, the practical help it gives — look at what’s underlined: “Yet notwithstanding, our full persuasion and assurance of the infallible truth and divine authority thereof is from the inward work of the Holy Spirit bearing witness by and with the word in our hearts.”

Ultimately, you who are resting in Christ and Christ alone for your salvation today are not resting ultimately on a rational argument — though rational arguments make sense, because God is rational. That’s the work of the Holy Spirit.

But now look at what comes after that: “The whole counsel of God concerning all things necessary for man’s salvation is either expressly set down in Scripture, or by good inference it can be understood.” The Bible’s a big book, and some of it’s hard to understand, but what needs to be known about God and our relationship to him through Christ is plain to see.

But then again, notice what is said afterward: “Nevertheless, we acknowledge the inward illumination of the Spirit of God to be necessary for the saving understanding of such things revealed in the word.” You can have two people in the same church — they could be twins, brother and sister, from two different families — and they sit under the preaching of the word week after week. They’re taught the Bible, maybe at home in their family life, they even read it on their own. And to one, it’s just another book with stories and a lot of boring chronologies. And to the other, it’s the living, breathing word of God, sharper, as the writer of Hebrews says, than any two-edged sword, able to divide spirit and soul. Why the difference? For the one, the word does a work in his heart. For the other, it’s just another dumb book with a bunch of stories. It’s the Spirit’s work in the lives of his people.

Paul’s Prayer for the Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation

Now, come back to my outline. Notice what Paul says here in our prayer, after he gives thanks for his fellow Christians at Ephesus, for their faith and their love to all the saints — we talked about that last week. Why is Paul so thankful for these Christians in all these various churches for their faith and their love for the saints? Because it proves they’re real. They’re not just talkers. They don’t just say, “I walked an aisle, I signed a card, I’m a member of a church, I’ve had these experiences.” No — they evidence genuine faith by loving the brothers and sisters. Paul gives thanks because that’s evidence of the grace of God.

Now Paul has three distinct blessings he wants to pray for the Ephesians. But before he gets to those, he has this preliminary prayer — because those things he wants impressed upon the people of God at Ephesus, and us here today, won’t happen unless the Spirit is at work. So notice what he says: that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation.

It’s obvious Paul’s emphasizing the Trinity here — just like in the first section of the letter, verses 3 through 14. Though God is one God and three distinct persons, same in substance, equal in power and glory. God the Father is not more God than God the Son. God the Son is not more God than God the Holy Spirit. God the Father and God the Son are not more God than the other. They are equal in divinity.

Some of you might be going, “I don’t understand that.” I don’t either. That shows how incredibly incomprehensible the God of the Bible is. From all eternity he’s been a God in relationship with himself. If we talk to ourselves, we get a little concerned. But God talks to himself — that’s the most natural thing to do. And yet in time, in creation and in salvation, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit have different roles. In verses 3 through 14, we saw how the Father sovereignly chooses his people, the Son accomplishes salvation on the cross, and then the Spirit applies that salvation to his people.

Now as we move on from that section to Paul’s prayer, he’s praying to the Father, who is the Father of the Lord Jesus. And though Paul doesn’t say it explicitly here, Paul prays to the Father through the Son’s salvation work. Then he prays for the Holy Spirit’s work upon the people at Ephesus, and us — that the Father would give the spirit of wisdom and revelation, that is, the Holy Spirit.

But here’s an important thing to know. Good Bible doctrine sometimes makes us wrestle with different portions of Scripture. The Ephesians already have the Holy Spirit indwelling in them. All of us who are in Christ today, in this room, have the Holy Spirit living, indwelling in us. Paul, in his letter to the Romans, puts it in an astounding way — in Romans 8:9, he bluntly says, if you do not have the Spirit of God, you are not Christ’s. To be a Christian, to trust in Christ, is to have the Holy Spirit indwelling us.

So how can Paul now pray that we get the Holy Spirit? Well, later on in Ephesians 5, Paul says, “Go on continually being filled with the Holy Spirit.” Essentially the issue is this: if you’re in Christ, you have the Holy Spirit. But Paul says you must also go on being filled with the Spirit — it’s a passive verb. How do I do that? How do I have the Holy Spirit have greater influence on me? Paul’s got a formula: sing to God, sing to one another, mutually submit to one another in Christ, and the Spirit will work even greater upon us.

So even though you have the Holy Spirit indwelling in you, Paul says, “I must pray for you” — and therefore for us, and therefore we must pray for each other, one another — that God’s Holy Spirit who lives within us will give us greater wisdom and greater revelation. Now, this book is complete. Since the death of the apostles two thousand years ago, there’s no more need for any added revelation. Later on in Ephesians 2, Paul will say that the apostles — that’s Paul and the other apostles and the New Testament prophets — are the foundation of the church. Where’s the foundation? On the tenth floor? No, of course not — it’s laid at the bottom. The foundation of the church has been laid: this Bible. It’s complete.

So what is Paul praying for? He’s not praying for more revelation, more messages from God, but rather that we, as God’s people, will have a better understanding of that word.

The Holy Spirit’s Work in the Knowledge of God

Now, most of the things that go on in this church that I teach seven, eight times a week, I’m involved in. And one of the greatest encouragements to me — whether it’s the men at Chick-fil-A, or down in the fellowship hall, or the ladies in the fellowship hall, or the prayer meeting group — is when we read a passage and discuss it, or read something at a Tabletalk study and focus on part of it, and we see the light come on in different people’s minds and hearts, about a scripture they’ve been familiar with for years, but now on this day it dawns on them in a slightly different way. And then we begin to share that with each other.

Really, it’s a lie when I say I teach all these lessons — I don’t. I read something out of one of our books or read a scripture and I might get it started by asking a profound question. Yeah, they taught me that in seminary. That’s why I passed. But as you’re interacting about the word of God, the Holy Spirit is working, impressing that word upon our hearts, our lives, and our consciences. And as we have that desire to truly understand it — not in some bare academic, intellectual way, but in such a way that we can apply it to our lives and to our brothers and sisters — I’m struggling to give you a flavor of what goes on in these various meetings throughout the week, but to ask, in a backdoor way: does this go on in your life? Does this happen on a regular basis? How do you know the Holy Spirit’s at work as you read his word, as you hear it taught and preached?

Well, if it’s truly being taught the way it ought to be, there are certain truths which should just keep coming back and coming back. One of them is our utter sinfulness.

You can go to other churches where they just want to tickle your ears and make you feel good. But God is so honest in his word — he tells you how rotten you are, he tells you how hopeless you are.

But it’s like yesterday, in the memorial service, when we were talking about Carol Barker and how she struggled and survived cancer not once but five times over the course of thirty-five years. Every time she went to the doctor and he said, “Yeah, you’ve got cancer again,” she didn’t enjoy hearing that. And yet that led to a new treatment plan, and more fervent prayer, and more work to be done. You’ve got to do the work. Okay, well — do the work. And the work is, you’re convinced through the Bible of your sin, but you’re also convinced of the Savior, Jesus, who saves his people from their sins.

But here Paul goes beyond that. Now you’re in a right relationship with God — you’re trusting in him, you’re sitting under the teaching of the word of God, you’re reading the word. What’s supposed to go on? Here’s what Jesus says, and notice how it parallels Paul’s words about having the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him. Jesus, praying to the Father just hours before his death on the cross, says, “Father, this is eternal life, that they” — that is, God’s people — “may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” Brother or sister who’s been naming the name of Christ for ten, twenty, thirty, forty years — are you getting to know the eternal God more and more through his word?

Now, what if you’re here today and most of my ranting and raving, you’re just thinking, that guy’s a lunatic? Okay, that’s fair, I get that. But what if also, when I’ve referred to the gospel — that God saves sinners, to Christ’s cross, to turning from sin, trusting in Christ, to having the Bible make a difference in the way you live and your knowledge of God — what if that all just sounds to you like a foreign language? You pick up your Instagram account and it’s in German or Chinese — it makes no sense.

Well, you need to cry out to God, and we need to cry out to God for you: Father, open their eyes, unstop their ears, so that when they hear the Bible, they see the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ as he’s proclaimed in the gospel. But that’s just the beginning, because then we go on living the Christian life, serving one another, continually growing in his word.

May we pray: God, give Fairfield Church and her lovely people who are sons and daughters of the living God through faith in Christ — give them your Spirit to impress upon them more the glory of Jesus, the mercy and kindness of Jesus. Father, help us. Be pleased to pour out your Spirit mightily upon the reading, the teaching, and the preaching of the word of God. May it be all for your glory. We pray it in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Illumination

Fairfield Church, PCA