05-15-2022 Ephesians 1:16-21 (ESV)
16 I do not cease to give thanks for you,
remembering you in my prayers,
17 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,
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,
19 And what is the immeasurable Greatness of His
Power toward us who believe, according to the working of His Great Might
20 That He worked in Christ when He Raised Him
from the dead and seated Him at His Right Hand in the heavenly places,
21 Far above all rule and authority and power and
dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in
the one to come.
Question:
Do You Believe This?
Do You Understand This?
What About the Line:
18 having the Eyes of Your Hearts Enlightened,
Does Your
o Heart,
§ Actually, Have Eyes?
·
Does Your Shoes Have Eyes?
·
Do Sewing Needles Have Eyes?
·
Does A Hurricane Have an Eye?
·
But What About Mikey? Does He Have an Eye?
·
And Potatoes. They Also have Eyes!
·
But What About Your Heart?
§ Does Your Heart Have Eyes?
You See
· I Did Not Know
o That My Heart Had Eyes
o That is -
§ Until God Told Me – That It Did.
In This Prayer of Paul’s,
· He is Praying That We Might Have
o Open The Eyes of Our Heart –
(Or as the Scriptures Say – ‘ENLIGHTENED’)
Yes, It Is True!
You Have Eyes in Your Heart.
And You Know What?
· These Eyes
o Are Just as Important As,
o Or Even More Important Than, The Eyes Which We Have on Our Faces
§ In Which We Use
· To View the World Around Us.
You See –
· The Eyes of The Heart
o Are For Seeing Deeper,
§ Wider And Much Further
· Then the Eyes That Are on Our Face
o Can Possibly See.
TODAY
· We Live in A World
o Where Our “Heart‑Vision”
§ Has Largely Been Lost.
Just Look at The People What Are Around Us.
Or Even Better –
· Look Back in The Most Recent Past.
There Is No Area within Our Lives
· Where You Can Live
o And Not Have the Evil
§ Come Into Your Lives.
The News Is Just Full of
· Those Who Have Started Out
o Having the Proper Ambition
§ And Worthwhile Motives.
But Soon, They Became Misguided
·
Somewhere Along the Way
o And Now – They Are Paying Dearly for It.
You Know –
·
We Do Not Need to Mention Names
o
Because – This Can Happen
§ To Any and Every One Of us.
All It Takes is to
· BLINK
o Remove and Close Our Eyes
§ Loose Our Vision Upon the Lord
§ And The Eyes of Their Hearts
· Will Be Closed
· And We Will Fall
· From Our Respectful Positions.
All It Takes Is A BLINK!
With Having All of the:
· Training,
· Education,
· Equipping
· And Even Be Full of Enthusiasm,
o
That Is Not Even Enough
§ To Assure Victory Within Living
· A Life of Purity.
Bob Zuppke Was A Great Football Coach At The University
Of Illinois.
(July 2, 1879 – December 22, 1957)
He served as the head coach
· At the University of Illinois
o From 1913 until 1941,
Compiling a career college football record of 131–81–12.
Inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame
In 1951.
Zuppke coached his teams to national titles in
· 1914, 1919, 1923, and 1927.
Once He Gave His Team
· A Tremendous HALFTIME SPEECH,
o And at the End of It,
§ He Pointed to A Door
· Which Exited the Locker Room
And He Said:
“You Go Through That Door
And You Win the Game!”
And the Team All Stood Up,
And Ran from The Room
Through ‘That Door’
And They Fell in the Swimming Pool.
Coach Zuppke Pointed to the Wrong Door!
But The Team
· Also - All Ran Forward
o Without Watching
§ Where They Were Going.
You See, We Must Be Careful
· When Listening to Someone
o And We Must Always
§ Keep The Eyes
· Of Our Hearts Open!
Now - As You Graduate In A Few Days,
· You Will Then Go Forward
o Into A World of
§ NEWER
· And BIGGER Responsibilities.
Some Of You Have
· May Already Have
o HIGH GOALS
§ And GREAT AMBITIONS.
Even Those of You Whose Goals
· May Seem Like a Little Less Motivated
o Then Others,
§ But You All Have A
·
Hope Of Success
·
And Happiness.
And Still - Some of You
· May Really Want
o To Serve God and Others
§ With Your Lives.
But Waiting Out There
·
For YOU ALL
o Are Many Pits
o And Stumbling Stones?
BUT - How Can You Go Through
· This Maze of Life
o And Not Fall Into At Least
§ One Of the Many Traps
· Which Satan Has Set for You?
You Must Have
· The Eyes of Your Hearts
o Opened And That Is
§ What I Would Like for Us
· To Talk to You About Today.
Open The Eyes of Your Heart So ...
(1) THAT YOU MAY KNOW (SEE) THE PERSON OF GOD
There was a mom
· Who overheard her teenage son
o Praying, and he said:
"Good-bye God, I'm going to college."
Far Too Many Church-Going Young Men and Women
· Seem To Have This Type of Attitude
o When You Graduation
§ From Your Last Classes.
It Is Our Prayer Today
· That You May Keep
o The Eyes of Your Heart - Open
§ So That You Can See
· That God Is Real!
· That He Is Near!
· And That He Loves You!
In Full Truth,
· No Matter Where You Go,
o God Is Always There.
He Is the Unchanging Lord.
Our Savior - Jesus Christ
· Is The Same,
o Yesterday,
o Today
o And Forever.
Do Not Close the Eyes of Your Heart To Him.
Stay Close to Him,
·
For If You Do Otherwise
o It Brings Great Sorrow
§ Upon Your Life
§ And To Your Future.
A Father Once
· Told A Boy to Drive a Nail
o In A Board
§ Every Time He Did Something
§ For Which He Had to Be Corrected.
He Also Told Him to Pull Out a Nail
· Every Time He Did Something
o For Which He Was Commended.
Soon The Board Had Several Nails
· In It Representing His Mistakes.
The Boy Got Busy
· And Won the Praises
o Of His Father, His Mother,
§ His Teachers and Others.
He Proudly Began to Pull Out
· The Nails from The Board.
His Dad Came to Him and Said,
"Son, I See There Are No Nails in The
Board.
You Have Done Well.
But, Son, What Are Those Holes Left in The
Board?"
The Boy Replied,
"Why, Father, They Are the Holes Left by
The Nails When They Were Removed."
The Father Said,
"Yes, Son, And That Is the Way It Is with
Sin.
You Do Things That Displease God
and They Can Be Forgiven.
Jesus Died So That You Could Know His Forgiveness.
But, Son, God's Forgiveness Does Not Remove the
Consequences of Your Sins.
The Holes of Pain and Hardship
May Well Be Left in Your Life
And In the Lives of Others for Your Sins.
Be Careful, Son, To Be True to God in Your
Life."
As You Grow Up Even More
· You May Think That You Can Do Whatever You
Want.
After All, Doesn’t God Forgive You of Your Sins?
Believe Me,
· The Sorrows That Will Come on Your Life,
· And Of Those You Hurt,
· They May Never End in Your Entire Lifetime.
Be Careful to Keep Your Eyes Open
· To The Lord Who Loves
o And Will Keep You
§ From Many Days of Sorrow.
Open The Eyes of Your Heart So ...
(2) THAT YOU MAY KNOW (SEE) THE PURPOSE OF GOD
A young man,
· Was Valedictorian of his graduating class
o At an Ivy League college,
§ And He Stunned the entire student body
· During His Commencement Speech.
He Admitted This:
"I have been at this university four
years.
I have studied my courses.
I have done all I could.
But in these four years
I have not found out what life is all about.
I don't know why I am here.
I don't know why I exist
and if anybody knows,
I wish you would please come and tell me."
The Greatest Awareness in This World
· Is to know the Purpose
o For and Of Your Existence.
That purpose is only known ‘In Christ!”
For Us to Know This Answer,
· We Must Be Able to Hear
o The call from above.
A mother bird built her nest
· Very close to the ground.
Soon Little Eggs Appeared in The Nest.
Then Little Birds Came with Their Youthful
Chirping.
Then A Snake Came and Devoured the Little
Birds.
That Is What Happens
· When You Build Your Nest
o Too Close to The Ground.
President Woodrow Wilson Once Said,
"Our Civilization Cannot Be Redeemed
Materially
Unless - It Is Redeemed Spiritually."
Seek and Find God's Plan for You.
· AND - Don't Just Do What Everyone Else Is
Doing.
Someone Once Said,
"Every Person Is Born as An Original
and Dies A Copy."
That Simply Means
· That We Listen to Our Society
o Until We Become Just Like Everyone
Else ‑
This is Especially True
· Within the Mistakes That We Make.
Listen – Listen to God!
Find His ‘Unquestionable Plan’
That Plan Just for Your Life and Then, Live It!
Here is Something to Hang on To.
You Will Never Find a Man or Woman
· Who Regrets Living A Life
o Of Total Devotion to God,
o But You Will Find Many
§ Who Have Bitter Tears
· Of The Sorrow
· And Sadness
· And Regrets
o Of Having Thrown Away the One Life
o Which God Had Given Them.
For They Have Exchanged It For
·
A Life of Sinful Pleasures
o And Worthless Worldly Pursuits.
Do Not Become
· A Part of That Weeping Crowd
o Who Throws Away
§ The Chance of Serving God Faithfully.
Open The Eyes of Your Heart So ...
(3) THAT YOU MAY KNOW (SEE)
& THE Power OF GOD
There Is a Power Available
· To Help One Realize Life's Purpose.
This Power Is the Same
· As That Which Raised Jesus from The Dead.
This Is a Spiritual Power
· Which Is Available Only to Christians,
o And It Is Available to All Christians
§ Who Open Themselves To It.
Margaret Sangster Once
· Told A Story to A Large Gathering of People
o Many Years Ago.
She was Explaining that She Worked
· In An Inner-City Day School.
There was a Little Boy
· Who Had a Twisted Body,
o Hand And Right Leg injury.
With the help of a Doctor and a Banker
· Together they helped him Through
o His Many Operations
§ Which Helped Him to Walk,
§ Run And Play.
During this gathering,
· She Asked the Group
o If They Could Guess
§ Where He Was at That Very Moment.
Now Some Guessed
· That He Was a Doctor!
· Others said A Lawyer!
· And still others said Maybe a Preacher.
She Then Replied, You Are All Wrong.
· He Was In Prison For A Terrible Crime.
She Said, "We Taught Him How to Walk,
But Not Where to Walk."
My Dear Young People,
· You Are Growing Up.
· You Have Graduated
o From this Class
§ And Now You Are Moving Up.
And You Have All of
Your Life Before You!
Only God Can Give You the Power
·
To Walk Where You Are
Supposed to Walk!
Keep The Eyes of Your Heart
· On The Lord
o And Follow His Will for
Your Lives!
Bud Was a Faithful Christian.
One Day at Work,
·
Bud Told Another Man
o That He Would Pray for
Him
§
Because Of His Awful Language.
The Cursing Man
·
Informed Bud That
o He Did Not Need His
Prayers.
A Few Days Later
· the Vile Man
o Had An Accident.
His Supervisor Asked
·
If There Was Anything
o He Could Do for Him.
He Answered "Yes,"
"Please Ask Bud to Pray for Me."
Today we heard St. Paul
·
Praying A Great Prayer for The Ephesians,
o And He Is Also
Praying
§
For You and Me.
Oh,
·
That We Might Have Our Eyes Opened
o To See
the Lord,
o To Love
the Lord
o And To Follow
the Lord
§
All Our Days.
That Is My Prayer
· For You All as Graduates,
o And For All of
Us
§ As We Live Out
· Our Own
Witness to Him in This World.
This World
Will Lead You:
· To The Pleasures,
· To Pride,
· To Power,
· To Position
· And It Will Try to Use You
o To Influence Your Peers
§
To Follow You into Its Snares.
It Will Try To
·
Strip You of The Eyes of Your Heart.
DON'T BE BLINDED
· By The Dazzle Of the World.
Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus!
If You Don’t Know Him,
· You Can Know Him Starting at This Very Moment.
For Those of You Who Are Christians,
·
Make A New Commitment
o To Keep the Eyes of
Your Hearts
§ Upon The One Who Saved You
§ And He Will Guide You
§
Through All of Life
§ Until You See Him
