have a Bible, there's one in the pews, and I always want to encourage you to turn in those with me. We have in our youth group, through we try to go through a book of the Bible whether it's on Sunday mornings or on Wednesday nights and this right now we're going through the book of Ephesians now I don't know if you if you've ever really dove into the book of Ephesians but basically it's Romans 16 chapters and Duffed into six and and it is so rich in theology and what we believe I would encourage anyone that if you're like I want a snapshot of what I believe to dive into Ephesians It's been a fun study so far. We've gotten through half of chapter all the way to half of chapter 2 and In what I love and want to encourage you with and I said this the last time I preached I I know that in this day and age it's really easy to get cynical and pessimistic, especially with what you see and read and hear. I want you to know that there are things happening, especially in our younger generation, that's extremely encouraging. If you're like, what is going on? You could talk to any of our volunteers. We had 31 high school students in that, over there. We've been averaging around 50. It's amazing what God's doing, counting 50 as in like high school and junior high. In Awana, I'm amazed at what's happening in Oana, the amount of kids that are coming. Not only that, but the amount of parents that are bringing their kids, because that's a testimony to what you're doing. And so I want you to understand that what's happening right now in our world, be encouraged. God's doing stuff. And what I love is the phone calls and the text messages that I'm receiving from the young people, that they're eager to know more. I recently just met with Corbin and Caleb last Tuesday to talk about Ephesians. They wanted to go deeper in Ephesians. They were like, what's happening here? How awesome is that? And so I want you to be encouraged. It isn't because I'm special. It isn't because Grace Bible Church is special. It's because God's incredible and he's just happening to use those that are being faithful. And so I want, I want you to be encouraged. God's not changing. He's still moving. All right? With that being said, I want to dive into this part of Ephesians, and the title is, A Faith in Courage. And the reason why is this part of the chapter is Paul does this thing in most of his letters where he basically gives his, it's me who's writing, and then a doxology of some nature that looks like the gospel, and then he thanks the Lord for this group of people, and that's where we're at. And as he's thanking them, I want to take some key takeaways from here that I hope will both encourage you and spur you forward in the gospel. In this passage, just to give you some background, the book of Ephesians is written to the local churches in the area of Ephesus. which is now modern-day Turkey. Ephesus itself was a hub of commerce. It was actually, at its time, was like second only to Rome in culture and commerce. It was a port city, had a lot of money going through there, was a really fought-after city, going from Babylon to Greece to Egypt to Rome, and then it really thrived under Rome. a myriad of beliefs, but the main one was to Artemis. They built what looked like the Parthenon, but a temple to Artemis. It was four times bigger than the Parthenon. If you don't know what the Parthenon is, Google it. There's a two-scale model in Nashville. It's just incredible. Four times bigger than that to a false god. If you read in Acts 19, it's Paul's second missionary journey, and he visits Ephesus, and there's a whole uproar about it, where people chant the name Artemis for like three hours, until finally the riots calm down, but the gospel is shared, and the people in Ephesus are so scared, because this is becoming a hub for Christianity. People are like spreading out. They're going there and they're spreading out. It's kind of a centralized area. So much so that the gospel is just like missionaries are coming to Ephesus to be served. It's important to know that because what's going to be read here is the Ephesians are doing good things. Really good things. Great things, actually. If you go to Revelation, where Ephesus has talked about a little more letter, quick letter to them, was, they're complimenting, John's complimenting, God's complimenting them for doing good things. But it says, but you've forgotten your first love. And so when we look at this passage, I wanna highlight some things. Grace Bible Church. I'm looking around, I'm seeing what's going on. God's using Grace Bible Church. Praise the Lord. Let's not forget our first love. Let's not get caught up so much in the work that we forget who Christ is. And so with that being said, I want to read this passage with you. Pray and then we'll jump into it. Verse 15. For this reason, because I have 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, 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, according to the working of his great might, that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, 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. He put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church Which is his body the fullness of him who fills all in all let's pray God we thank you for this time together And we thank you for all those little feet that were running out of here earlier God. I pray that you would be blessing them downstairs Sanctifying them as well and be with our teachers down there God, I pray that you would be with us as we lean into your word, that it would be your words that speak to our hearts, and we ask this in Jesus' name, amen. Recently, so my dad served during the time of Vietnam. He was drafted into the military, into the army, and recently he got selected to go to do the honor flight. And if you don't know what that is, it is an organization where a doctor who had his pilot's license was working at a VA, and he was seeing all these World War II vets that were coming in. And they had just built the World War II memorial in Washington DC, and he says, have you seen your memorial yet? And they kept saying no. So finally he says, let's do it. So he gets, he's in this club and he calls all these other pilots and he gets them together and they fly a bunch of World War II vets out to Washington DC where they do the first honor flight where they go and they get to see a memorial and then they just shower them with gratitude. It's really cool. Years later, my dad is one of the individuals selected to go on this honor flight. It's like April of this year and he gets a phone call and we find out that someone can go with him as a guardian because my dad needs protection. I said, Dad, I'll do it. Okay, don't worry. No, it was really cool. He calls me and we looked it up and he said, do you want to go? And I said, absolutely. I need protection, Dad, and I can't leave you. So we go, we get there, and it's amazing what they've done. We get there early o'clock. I mean, I don't remember the time because it's so early. And we get there. And immediately, we're walking in and we're like, the guardians had blue shirts, the veterans, so there was Vietnam, Korean, and World War II vets there. We had two World War II vets and I got to talk to them and they were sharp, man. It was so fun talking to them. But Korean War vets had red shirts on and then Vietnam had green. And so it was obvious who the veterans were. So when we walk in, I mean people are coming up to them. I want to thank you for your service. And what was so fun was standing, I'm just standing there like, and I'm watching this happen. complimentary breakfast, we get instructions, we get on the plane, which was a dream, by the way, because we didn't have to take off shoes. It was a charter flight. They told us, you're going to get spoiled on this. And I was like, I don't know if I want to fly again. That was so great. And so we get on, and we fly all the way to Washington, DC. We get off of the flight. By the way, during this time they have active service members that are going around thanking them, talking with them. They're getting these different presents and it just was so great. We get there, we get off and they're announcing it. The honor flight, people are clapping, we get on the bus, and we go right to the Lincoln Memorial. And so then there's the Washington Monument behind us, and getting a picture taken. And then we get to go to the Vietnam Memorial, the Korean War Memorial. And then we go World War II, and we go to the Air Force, and then we go to the Marines. It was just packed. One of the coolest things was, is I'm watching when we got to the Lincoln Memorial, and they're taking the picture, the amount of South Koreans that are there, sharing the gospel, by the way. Like, I mean, unapologetically handing us tracts. And I'm like, hey, I'm a pastor. And he goes, give it to someone else. And I was like, golly, all right, calm down. It was so awesome. But what I loved the most was watching the South Koreans go up to those people in the red shirts thanking them for their service. Those that were in the Korean War. And I was like, this is the funnest thing to watch. We get finally at the end of the day, it's a long day of seeing all these memorials and we get back on the plane. We're headed home, exhausted. We get off and then there's bagpipes and there's like all of the fanfare that's welcoming them home. Families there. By the way, they don't know a lot of this. There's a lot of organization behind it. And so, I was so, it was so fun to just see the gratitude being poured out. And it made me think of something. When I read this passage, we read it, there's a, the very first verse talks about thankfulness for service. I'm so grateful for those that have served and are serving. I'm also extremely grateful for those that are pioneers of the faith. The fact that we can be up here as both a group, as we should be grateful to both, like we can do this freely, which is incredible, but that we're doing it because there have been pioneers of the faith that have carried the faith to where we are doing this now. Amen. That's awesome. That is by the power and grace of God that he's pushed forward in his church, used his church, so we can do this. The fact that we have the Bible so freely, incredible. So let's jump into this point number one, the admiration of their faith. He says this, and what's, by the way, what's funny about Ephesians is there's so much in, like, a verse. So we're gonna go through this and you may be like, you got a lot of time. We're gonna take it, alright? The thing is, is when we did this in youth group, we spent, we spent an entire 45 minute period on verses 1 and 2. So, like, there's a lot in here, but we're gonna, we're gonna get through it, alright? The admiration of their faith. For this reason, because I have 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. So he sets this up. He says this line, for this reason, what's the reason that he's giving thanks and remembering them? Because he's heard of their faith in Christ Jesus. Now let's just stop there. When you think of that phrase, when I've heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, that means something's being talked about. So often, and I'll get this question of, like, what separates us from other beliefs? And I think about this in this sense. If I never talk about my faith, then what separates me from some other belief that never talks about theirs? Does that make sense? So there's something about the church of Ephesus that is doing good things and talking about it. And so right here we see, because I've heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints. So this is They're actively serving. And what I love about this is it says, love for all the saints. It's not preconceived ones, it's not anyone with prejudice, it is not, it's all the brothers and sisters in Christ. What's beautiful about this is that the body of Christ really does bring people together. like Christ himself brings a body of believers together I've said this before that if ever you're in a situation especially in a church that you're like I don't have anything in common with him yes you do you have Christ in common and on that builds a whole world of things here he says I'm I'm so grateful for your that the things I've heard that you're doing and your love for all the saints now Paul was a recipient of this the hospitality When we look at 1 John, we can see this element of, if you say you're a lover of Christ, you'll be hospitable to the saints. That's a thing. And so he's so encouraged by them. And by the way, Paul right now is on house arrest in Rome. And he had to be the most frustrating guy, right? You go, don't share the gospel, and he shares the gospel. All right, we're gonna beat you. He shares the gospel. Fine. We're gonna put you on house arrest. Sharing the gospel. Still encouraging the saints, which I think is fascinating. We could take, we can take note of that. That even, even whether our world is crumbling, because what does he say in Philippians? That he learned to be content in all things. In all, in all types of things. And he says this, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. So while on house arrest, he's content and he's still encouraging the church. What can happen, and I think this is what turns into Christianity, is we can easily go from that to this, I'm in a really bad place, I need you to help me. Now that's not always bad, but when we become so self-focused and never outward focused, That's not Christ. Christ is, what does he say on the cross? Forgive them for they know not what they do. Paul recognizes this in the book of Ephesians. For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints. The other thing here is faith precedes action. When we look at our Christian life, if you look at even chapter one, verse two, it says, grace to you and peace from God our Father and Lord Jesus Christ. We notice that grace precedes peace. Christ precedes this stuff. We cannot do the will of the Lord unless we have bowed the knee to Christ. And so this action, love toward all the saints, is a testimony of their faith. And it drives Paul to do this, to give thanks to them, for them, and remembering them in his prayers. The thing that I thought was really intriguing is he says, I do not cease. This is a constant remembrance of them. And this is what actually hit me, because I thought, how often am I praying for my brothers and sisters in Christ? And I think I do, but I'm thankful for what you guys are doing. So when I think of you, I do pray. But Paul here is going, I don't quit. I love you guys, and I'm praying for you, and I think of you often, I thought, how often can we be encouraging one another in that sense? And we have this beautiful thing, technology, that I want to encourage you. If you think of someone, text them. It's so simple. And you don't even need to ask a question at the end. You can literally be like, hey, prayed for you this morning. Love you, brother or sister. Send. Usually you'll get the THX back. And to me, what happens is when I think of somebody and I'm praying for them and I send them that text, it hits at a time that they really need it. Whether they feel unappreciated, I don't know if you've ever felt that before, but someone sends a text, I just want to thank you for all you do. Man, that hit me when I needed it. I was on empty. That just put wind in my sails. Paul gives thanks for them. Thank you is just a show of gratitude, and he's praying for them. What is he praying for? Next point, the prayer for their faith. What I think can happen so often is good Christians, and I'd say that as maturing Christians. Sometimes maturing Christians can be very low maintenance. Like they don't need someone that's on top of them all the time. And so what can happen is that person, it's like the kids in class that like you can remember certain names because they're high maintenance and they really need the Lord And then you have this other kid that's got it all together and they're very low maintenance. And sometimes you can be thankful for them, but you can forget them. They perform well, they get good grades, they can do all that. What I think is really interesting about this is Paul doesn't let off the gas with these individuals. He's like, no, we're gonna stay on you on this one. I know you're doing all these great things and that's really great. But what those things are doing is reminding me to pray for you even more. And he prays for a couple things here. He says this, the first thing, 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. Now why would a people that are doing so great in the gospel need to know more about Christ? Because if you notice in Revelation, it says this, that they forgot their first love. This is a prayer that was necessary. He desires for them to grow deeper in the relationship with Christ. Deeper in the relationship. So there's two things that he mentions here. The spirit of wisdom, which is the experience and action that's there and of revelation in the knowledge of him. So it's knowing who God is and the ability to carry it out. It is in when we are doing good things, we can forget this portion. We get so caught up in the action that we start forgetting in the morning to sit down and learn and grow in our relationship with God. Or late at night. Whatever your rhythm is. It can happen. The busyness of life happens. And Paul's prayer for them is that they would not stop learning. But he doesn't say that you would, it would be that the spirit of wisdom, and they would get that. That God would spur them on. I love that, that it's a reminder that God is chasing me. It's that he's there. That he pulls, like if you look at chapter two, and you were dead in your trespasses, he pulled me on the boat when I was dead. He came after me. And He wants you to grow in your relationship with Him. Why? Because as I grow deeper with God, in my relationship, which is based off of the knowledge that I learn about Him, it's like, in your marriage, with friendships, that in doing that, I learn more about myself, because I'm made in His image. I learn more about His will. in all that, I can give him more glory. And we see that here in a second. It says this in verse 18. So he wants them to know wisdom and revelation of the knowledge of him. And the next one, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened. The eyes of your hearts, so the Greek word here is kardia, and so we get the heart from that. There were two body parts that are referenced in the Bible when it comes to this sort of stuff, and that is the bowels and the heart. The bowels were like this idea of feelings. It was like, I want you to feel it. It's like the butterflies you get. That's the thing. But the heart was the center most part of a human, and that was where your intelligence was, your knowledge. And so we had, so in this sense, it was, he wants them to grow in knowledge of what? That you may know what is the hope to which he has called you. When we get saved, we have hope. Romans talks about this. Those that aren't saved have no hope. We do. And so in this, we now have a job to do. hope to which we we've been called to so often in our world today I see more Christians with scowls on their face than smiles I'm not saying fake it's not a fake it till you make it here but that genuine joy is coming from the Lord he saved you You had no chance before him. That should be something that you're shouting from the rooftops. That should be something that you're leaning on every day. And what happens, you look at Facebook, you look at all the social media, and you'll just see Christians like, another day, I had to get out of bed today. Life's hard. Life is hard. We get that. But the point here is that even in the midst of a hard life, we'd have joy. When we look at the book of Galatians, the fruit of the Spirit is love. Thank you! It's incredible! And what happens is we get saved, we get the Spirit, and then we go... That's not hope-filled. I use this illustration in youth group. If I had a plate here of food, And I walked up, and we are going to share this plate of food. Some of you guys are like, I'm out already. And I'll take the first bite. And I make a face that took out two-thirds of this room, if not more. I said that in youth group, and one dude was like, I'll still try it. And I was like, OK, so this illustration doesn't work. Foolproof, OK? But you think about that. As believers in Christ, when we show a face that is like, life's not fair, and what hope is there? That's not contagious at all. If all people ever see is a scowl on your face and you say you're a believer, I wouldn't want it. Because that's not what Christ brings. Christ brings joy and peace into your life in the midst of very tough times. Now I'm not saying that you have to be down, but that you could never be down. But that we would rely on Christ, and that when someone sees you, man, there's a lot of stuff happening in your life. Here, let me tell you the hope to which I've been called. That's what Paul desires for them. Paul wants them to be the hope In fact, later in the book of Ephesians, he says that you will live a life worthy of the calling to which you've been called. The next part of this, so knowing, knowing the hope to which he's called you, and this, knowing the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints. Now, before we get any further, we have to do a disclaimer. Sometimes what people do is when they see that word inheritance, they're like, yes, that's me. It's not what he's talking about. Look at the words here. What are the riches of his glorious, of his glorious inheritance in the saints? Who does this inheritance belong to? Him. His glorious inheritance. So Christ, God the Father, is inheriting something. This is when, do you know that God is glorified and blessed when we are doing his will? When we're sitting on our hands, that's not what he wants. When we're not doing stuff, when we're not praying for the believers, when we're not showing hospitality towards the saints, when we're not living in community and unity with one another, furthering the kingdom of God, When we are doing those things, God is honored, and He likes it. This is His glorious inheritance. And He wants us to recognize that. So when we're not doing it, we would go, man, I'm letting God down. I don't know how often we ever really think that way. It's like we had a bad day and we're like, oh God, we had a bad day. Praise the Lord that later he talks about the immense riches of like the boundless pool of grace. It's just so phenomenal. I love my wife and I want to serve her and I want to make her happy. So I'm gonna try to remember to pick up the socks that I pull off my feet. Because when I don't, it doesn't make her happy. So, in our relationship with God, why wouldn't we have this mentality? Why wouldn't we have this mentality? We want to make God glorified. We want to satisfy Him. We should want to do these things. Because of our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. So up to this point, here are his prayers for, by the way, again, for a church that is doing good things, that he commends their faith and their actions. He wants them to continue, that God would give them the spirit of wisdom and revelation and knowledge of him, that they would know what's the hope to which they've been called, and the riches of his glorious inheritance in them. The next thing that they need to know is what is the immeasurable greatness of His power toward us who believe. When I'm studying this and I'm looking at in their faith being laid out for the gospel, I pray this for the teens, and you'll hear me pray it, like, at men's breakfast, because I really want this. That God would give us opportunities to share the gospel. I think it's a great thing. Not only that, but give us the resources and the desire to disciple. I don't think it just ends with sharing the gospel and someone coming to faith, it's that there's discipleship happening, that that person would continue to grow in their faith. As parents, that we would share the gospel to our children and disciple them, bringing them up in the admonition of the Lord, like these are things that I