1 00:00:00,720 --> 00:00:05,320 Father in heaven we come. We come boldly because of the 2 00:00:05,320 --> 00:00:09,520 Holy Spirit who lives inside us, because of what our Lord and 3 00:00:09,520 --> 00:00:12,560 Savior Jesus has accomplished, we come. 4 00:00:12,560 --> 00:00:16,520 Lifting our prayers to you for the preached word that it would 5 00:00:16,520 --> 00:00:22,480 indeed go out and plant itself in deep, good soil. 6 00:00:23,000 --> 00:00:27,480 I simply pray, as Paul prayed for the church at Ephesus, that 7 00:00:27,480 --> 00:00:31,680 you, the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may 8 00:00:31,680 --> 00:00:35,600 give us the spirit of wisdom and of revelation and the knowledge 9 00:00:35,600 --> 00:00:39,400 of Him. You are the only one who can do 10 00:00:39,400 --> 00:00:41,680 that. We pray that you would for your 11 00:00:41,680 --> 00:00:45,320 glory and our good in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. 12 00:00:45,760 --> 00:00:48,240 Amen. This morning I'm going to be 13 00:00:48,240 --> 00:00:51,920 reading from Ephesians chapter 115 through 18. 14 00:00:52,520 --> 00:00:56,720 Last Sunday I focused on verses 15 and 16. 15 00:00:57,280 --> 00:01:03,080 This morning I'm going to focus on 17 in the first part of verse 16 00:01:03,080 --> 00:01:05,880 18. Then after Easter, we'll be 17 00:01:05,880 --> 00:01:09,840 right back here at verse 18 picking up this petition that 18 00:01:09,840 --> 00:01:13,040 Paul is making for the church at Ephesus. 19 00:01:13,760 --> 00:01:17,080 As Paul has just written, carried along by the Holy 20 00:01:17,080 --> 00:01:20,400 Spirit, inspired by the Holy Spirit, one of the greatest 21 00:01:20,400 --> 00:01:24,520 sentences ever penned about the glory of God, the grace of God, 22 00:01:24,640 --> 00:01:28,640 his sovereignty. He now moves towards a prayer I 23 00:01:28,640 --> 00:01:31,320 preached last week and how this prayer was centered on 24 00:01:31,320 --> 00:01:34,280 Thanksgiving. In fact, it was said or Paul 25 00:01:34,280 --> 00:01:38,360 says, I pray without ceasing, giving thanks to God for your 26 00:01:38,360 --> 00:01:42,080 faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the Saints. 27 00:01:42,840 --> 00:01:45,920 And now he moves forward with his first petition. 28 00:01:46,440 --> 00:01:48,400 And this petition is so important. 29 00:01:48,400 --> 00:01:51,920 So listen now as I read what Paul said about his prayer, 30 00:01:52,480 --> 00:01:56,400 verse 15, chapter 1. For this reason, because I've 31 00:01:56,400 --> 00:01:59,240 heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all 32 00:01:59,240 --> 00:02:03,800 the Saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering 33 00:02:03,800 --> 00:02:07,880 you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the 34 00:02:07,880 --> 00:02:11,960 Father of glory, may give you the spirit of wisdom and of 35 00:02:11,960 --> 00:02:15,600 revelation in the knowledge of Him, having the eyes of your 36 00:02:15,600 --> 00:02:19,160 hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which 37 00:02:19,160 --> 00:02:22,560 He has called you, what are the riches of His glorious 38 00:02:22,560 --> 00:02:26,560 inheritance in the Saints. This is the word of the Lord. 39 00:02:27,560 --> 00:02:30,240 Thanks be to God. Please be seated. 40 00:02:36,420 --> 00:02:44,460 Paul moves from a prayer of Thanksgiving for the faith in 41 00:02:44,460 --> 00:02:47,780 the Lord Jesus that he's heard about at the church in Ephesus 42 00:02:48,060 --> 00:02:50,180 and the love that they have for all the Saints. 43 00:02:51,060 --> 00:02:55,520 You need to know that Paul knew this church really well in his 44 00:02:55,520 --> 00:02:58,080 second missionary journey. This is recorded in the book of 45 00:02:58,080 --> 00:03:01,400 Acts, chapter 18. He was used by God to plant the 46 00:03:01,400 --> 00:03:04,440 church. He spent years at this church. 47 00:03:04,920 --> 00:03:08,680 And so as he moves from this petition or from this praise to 48 00:03:08,680 --> 00:03:13,360 petition, what he is praying is very significant. 49 00:03:14,040 --> 00:03:18,400 The way I want to approach the text this morning is to look at 50 00:03:18,920 --> 00:03:23,680 the prayer, this petition that Paul made, a prayer that would 51 00:03:23,680 --> 00:03:28,880 grow their knowledge of him. Paul could have prayed for 52 00:03:28,880 --> 00:03:31,560 anything. Secondly, I want to look at how 53 00:03:31,560 --> 00:03:33,640 can we expect God to answer this prayer? 54 00:03:34,080 --> 00:03:36,680 And then we'll have time for some practical application 55 00:03:36,680 --> 00:03:38,440 that's really important for all of us. 56 00:03:39,040 --> 00:03:40,640 But here's the way I'd like to begin. 57 00:03:41,520 --> 00:03:46,720 If you were to list what you consider to be the pressing 58 00:03:46,720 --> 00:03:50,880 needs in the church today, what would you say? 59 00:03:51,600 --> 00:03:54,320 Not just for our church, but the church in general? 60 00:03:55,000 --> 00:03:58,200 Tomorrow night our session will be we meet twice a month and I 61 00:03:58,200 --> 00:04:01,400 can ask each elder, what do you think the pressing needs are in 62 00:04:01,400 --> 00:04:03,960 our church? And there would be a lot of 63 00:04:03,960 --> 00:04:05,840 agreement. And then there would be some 64 00:04:06,440 --> 00:04:08,720 some thoughts about other things that maybe we're not thinking as 65 00:04:08,720 --> 00:04:11,000 much about. If I did the same thing in this 66 00:04:11,000 --> 00:04:14,520 church right now, just ask you to write down what do you think 67 00:04:14,520 --> 00:04:18,839 are the most pressing needs? That would be a massive list, 68 00:04:19,200 --> 00:04:22,360 and whatever you sense to be the most pressing need, it's likely 69 00:04:22,360 --> 00:04:25,800 what you've been praying for. When we see the prayers in the 70 00:04:25,800 --> 00:04:29,800 Bible, they're there to help us pray first. 71 00:04:29,800 --> 00:04:31,760 They show us how important prayer is. 72 00:04:32,240 --> 00:04:35,440 They also inform the way we should be praying. 73 00:04:35,440 --> 00:04:38,880 And they act as a wonderful guide to help us evaluate the 74 00:04:38,880 --> 00:04:42,480 way we're praying individually or in our small groups or as a 75 00:04:42,480 --> 00:04:46,640 family. Richard Phillips, one of many 76 00:04:46,640 --> 00:04:49,920 commentaries that is deeply blessing my soul during this 77 00:04:49,920 --> 00:04:52,200 study, says this at the beginning. 78 00:04:52,600 --> 00:04:56,000 And speaking about this verse, he says if we were to make a 79 00:04:56,000 --> 00:04:59,360 list of the pressing needs of the church today, it would not 80 00:04:59,360 --> 00:05:02,560 take much thought to add quite a few added items. 81 00:05:03,160 --> 00:05:07,040 We live in a godless, unbelieving culture, so we have 82 00:05:07,040 --> 00:05:10,080 a great need for evangelism and apologetics. 83 00:05:10,640 --> 00:05:14,040 Furthermore, there is gross ignorance within the church, so 84 00:05:14,040 --> 00:05:16,320 we need sound Bible preaching and teaching. 85 00:05:16,680 --> 00:05:19,240 Because of the mounting worldliness evident in the 86 00:05:19,240 --> 00:05:24,200 church, we need more holiness. Furthermore, as Pagan ideals 87 00:05:24,200 --> 00:05:27,480 impact the government and culture, we need to get involved 88 00:05:27,480 --> 00:05:31,520 in civic life. Such things require money, so we 89 00:05:31,520 --> 00:05:36,120 need financial resources. All of these needs are real and 90 00:05:36,200 --> 00:05:40,080 all would have been needed in Paul's day much as our own. 91 00:05:40,440 --> 00:05:44,640 And we could add to the list the need to talk about sexual 92 00:05:44,640 --> 00:05:51,000 purity, addiction, marriage, parenting, how to grieve. 93 00:05:51,120 --> 00:05:54,400 All of it And all of it is important. 94 00:05:55,320 --> 00:06:00,160 But, Phillips continues, when Paul relates his primary desire 95 00:06:00,160 --> 00:06:04,160 for the church at Ephesus, he sees the Christians greatest 96 00:06:04,160 --> 00:06:06,480 need. He turns to none of these. 97 00:06:07,640 --> 00:06:11,880 He prays that our God and Father would send the Spirit of wisdom 98 00:06:12,200 --> 00:06:16,520 and of revelation for the knowledge of Him, or, as the New 99 00:06:16,520 --> 00:06:21,440 International Version puts it, so that you may know Him better. 100 00:06:22,040 --> 00:06:25,920 When we are Speaking of the knowledge of God, it is not just 101 00:06:25,920 --> 00:06:28,800 facts about God, though they matter. 102 00:06:29,160 --> 00:06:34,240 What we said in our profession of faith are facts about God, 103 00:06:34,520 --> 00:06:38,880 true things about God. But just having details and 104 00:06:38,880 --> 00:06:42,880 facts about God is not the goal. It's that we wouldn't know him. 105 00:06:43,680 --> 00:06:47,280 In fact, when Paul uses that prayer, enlightening the eyes of 106 00:06:47,280 --> 00:06:50,440 our heart because of the Western world we live, and we tend to 107 00:06:50,440 --> 00:06:52,480 think that the heart means the emotions. 108 00:06:52,480 --> 00:06:54,840 That's not what it means in the narrow ascent. 109 00:06:54,840 --> 00:06:58,760 It actually means the intellect, but it's used in a broader sense 110 00:06:58,760 --> 00:07:02,840 where it's the whole person. It's our mind and our heart. 111 00:07:02,840 --> 00:07:05,880 They're not being pitted against one another. 112 00:07:06,680 --> 00:07:11,520 Continuing to speak of this reality, Phillips quotes DA 113 00:07:11,520 --> 00:07:15,960 Carson, the scholar says when he studied the prayers of Paul in 114 00:07:15,960 --> 00:07:19,880 the New Testament, he singles out that the knowledge of God is 115 00:07:19,880 --> 00:07:22,440 the most urgent need in the church. 116 00:07:22,440 --> 00:07:27,720 Again, not just facts about God, but God's people truly knowing 117 00:07:27,720 --> 00:07:31,120 God. Speaking of all the other things 118 00:07:31,120 --> 00:07:34,200 that I've listed, the things that I listed just a minute ago, 119 00:07:34,800 --> 00:07:37,360 clearly all of these things are important. 120 00:07:37,720 --> 00:07:40,680 I would not want anything I've said to be taken as a 121 00:07:40,680 --> 00:07:44,960 disparagement of evangelism, worship, diminishing the 122 00:07:44,960 --> 00:07:48,600 importance of purity and integrity, carelessness about 123 00:07:48,600 --> 00:07:52,000 discipline, Bible study. But there is a sense in which 124 00:07:52,000 --> 00:07:56,600 these urgent needs are merely symptomatic of a far more 125 00:07:56,600 --> 00:08:01,280 serious lack. The one thing we most urgently 126 00:08:01,280 --> 00:08:06,360 need in Western Christendom is a deeper knowledge of God. 127 00:08:06,760 --> 00:08:12,600 We need to know God better. We think rather little of what 128 00:08:12,600 --> 00:08:16,080 He is like. What do you expect of us, what 129 00:08:16,080 --> 00:08:19,200 He seeks in us? We are not captured by His 130 00:08:19,200 --> 00:08:22,760 Holiness and His love. His thoughts and words capture 131 00:08:22,760 --> 00:08:27,280 too little of our imagination, too little of our discourse, too 132 00:08:27,280 --> 00:08:30,840 few of our priorities. The great need of the Church 133 00:08:30,840 --> 00:08:34,200 today, therefore, is of the Church in the apostles. 134 00:08:34,200 --> 00:08:39,880 Time is the knowledge of God. We need to know Him. 135 00:08:41,400 --> 00:08:45,520 I want to be very simple here because it's easy to make it 136 00:08:45,520 --> 00:08:49,640 complex. When we speak about knowledge of 137 00:08:49,640 --> 00:08:56,360 God, we're simply saying who He is as He's revealed Himself to 138 00:08:56,360 --> 00:09:00,280 be what He is, like His attributes. 139 00:09:00,280 --> 00:09:03,320 Again, many that we use in our profession of faith and what He 140 00:09:03,320 --> 00:09:08,480 does, who he is, what he is like, what he does, what he's 141 00:09:08,480 --> 00:09:10,280 done in the past, what he's doing right now, what he 142 00:09:10,280 --> 00:09:13,760 promises to do in the future. But it's not just about him. 143 00:09:14,800 --> 00:09:19,920 Through his word, he's also revealing who we are, what we 144 00:09:19,920 --> 00:09:25,560 are like before salvation and after, and what he has called us 145 00:09:25,560 --> 00:09:29,880 to do. In 1994, I entered seminary, 146 00:09:30,880 --> 00:09:33,760 Covenant Theological Seminary in Saint Louis. 147 00:09:34,280 --> 00:09:38,120 I was warned before I went by many, many people that seminary 148 00:09:38,120 --> 00:09:42,040 can be a very dry time. So pray that it wouldn't be dry. 149 00:09:42,040 --> 00:09:43,680 We'll pray that for you. I thought it was interesting 150 00:09:43,680 --> 00:09:46,800 that for many people that was the first comment they had. 151 00:09:47,360 --> 00:09:52,640 I went to seminary, three years in marriage, no children, 152 00:09:52,720 --> 00:09:55,920 excited to start a new life together, this new journey. 153 00:09:55,920 --> 00:10:02,360 We didn't know anybody when I went to the campus, began to set 154 00:10:02,360 --> 00:10:05,280 foot on the campus. Taking one class that summer, 155 00:10:05,400 --> 00:10:09,680 Long Term Greek, I learned that Bob Costas, the NBC 156 00:10:09,680 --> 00:10:12,400 sportscaster, lived just around the corner from the seminary. 157 00:10:12,960 --> 00:10:15,560 I was intrigued by that because he actually hosted one of my 158 00:10:15,560 --> 00:10:18,640 favorite shows. It was called Later and it 159 00:10:18,640 --> 00:10:23,200 really was on Later. It aired at 12:30 Central Time, 160 00:10:23,680 --> 00:10:26,640 but I watched it often and the reason I loved it because it was 161 00:10:26,640 --> 00:10:28,200 different than all the other talk shows. 162 00:10:28,440 --> 00:10:30,680 There was no monologue, there was no music. 163 00:10:31,000 --> 00:10:35,800 It was a one-on-one interview with one person for 30 minutes 164 00:10:35,800 --> 00:10:38,480 and sometimes they would extend into more than one interview. 165 00:10:38,880 --> 00:10:41,000 I loved it. I loved the way he asked 166 00:10:41,000 --> 00:10:44,960 questions and I love listening to the responses. 167 00:10:45,520 --> 00:10:50,440 Learning that he was near the campus, I had this desire to one 168 00:10:50,440 --> 00:10:53,320 day meet him. I didn't feel bold enough to 169 00:10:53,320 --> 00:10:55,560 just simply walk over and knock on his door. 170 00:10:55,800 --> 00:10:59,280 That probably wouldn't have been able to happen anyway, but I did 171 00:10:59,280 --> 00:11:03,440 have a chance. Third week, I was in Saint 172 00:11:03,440 --> 00:11:06,200 Louis. Two students from my youth group 173 00:11:06,200 --> 00:11:09,120 in Oklahoma City who graduated came to Saint Louis to see us. 174 00:11:09,440 --> 00:11:13,560 We went to a TGI Friday's on a Friday night and they're sitting 175 00:11:13,560 --> 00:11:17,040 as close to me as this beautiful bouquet of flowers was. 176 00:11:17,040 --> 00:11:20,480 Bob Costas and three other people were from his family. 177 00:11:20,920 --> 00:11:24,200 They were right there. Now, I'm not one of those people 178 00:11:24,560 --> 00:11:28,120 that just gets up and walks over and embarrasses myself and maybe 179 00:11:28,120 --> 00:11:29,560 the person. I just can't do it. 180 00:11:29,560 --> 00:11:32,240 And I know some of you can. I've seen you do it. 181 00:11:32,240 --> 00:11:34,720 It doesn't embarrass you. It embarrasses me for you, but 182 00:11:34,720 --> 00:11:39,160 it doesn't embarrass you. So I just sat there paralyzed 183 00:11:39,160 --> 00:11:41,080 and the two young men with me were like, should we say 184 00:11:41,080 --> 00:11:42,520 something? Like I said, I don't think so. 185 00:11:42,520 --> 00:11:45,080 Just it's just a moment to remember he's right there and 186 00:11:45,080 --> 00:11:46,800 I'm praying for him. Who knows what might happen? 187 00:11:47,880 --> 00:11:52,360 And then I watched the waitress bring one massive slice of 188 00:11:52,360 --> 00:11:56,760 carrot cake. She put it on their table and he 189 00:11:56,760 --> 00:12:01,400 took one bite, got up with his family and they left. 190 00:12:02,280 --> 00:12:05,840 I looked back at that table. It had not yet been cleaned. 191 00:12:05,840 --> 00:12:09,040 And I said to the guys with me, do you want to be able to say 192 00:12:09,040 --> 00:12:10,920 you've shared dessert with Bob Costas? 193 00:12:12,680 --> 00:12:16,320 And so I reached over and I grabbed the piece of carrot cake 194 00:12:16,440 --> 00:12:20,320 and yes, just went in. Didn't cut off his bite marker 195 00:12:20,320 --> 00:12:25,280 or anything, just went right in. It's a funny story. 196 00:12:25,360 --> 00:12:29,080 It's a true story. I later learned in an interview 197 00:12:29,080 --> 00:12:32,000 where he was being interviewed that he does that at every meal. 198 00:12:32,400 --> 00:12:37,120 At dinner, he orders dessert, takes one bite and has 199 00:12:37,120 --> 00:12:41,320 self-control. Wasn't long after that, that I 200 00:12:41,320 --> 00:12:43,520 was thinking about what those people had warned me about, 201 00:12:44,920 --> 00:12:50,360 about seminary being dry. And I pray God, do not let my 202 00:12:50,360 --> 00:12:55,400 encounter with you be like my encounter with Bob Costas. 203 00:12:55,920 --> 00:12:58,920 I can say I know many things about him. 204 00:13:00,880 --> 00:13:04,720 I can even say without any context that we've shared 205 00:13:04,720 --> 00:13:08,640 dessert. But the truth is, I only know 206 00:13:08,640 --> 00:13:10,920 facts. I do not know the man. 207 00:13:11,560 --> 00:13:15,640 We've never had a conversation. God, do not let seminary be like 208 00:13:15,640 --> 00:13:19,520 that for me. And God, do not let our church 209 00:13:19,520 --> 00:13:27,360 be a church like that. What Paul is praying for his 210 00:13:27,440 --> 00:13:32,200 beloved brothers and sisters in Christ at Ephesus is so 211 00:13:32,200 --> 00:13:35,280 important to him because he knows them. 212 00:13:37,320 --> 00:13:40,880 He knows what God has done because he's heard that they 213 00:13:40,880 --> 00:13:44,360 actually have faith in the Lord Jesus and they have love for one 214 00:13:44,360 --> 00:13:47,600 another. And he is praising God for that 215 00:13:47,600 --> 00:13:52,400 without ceasing. But as it comes time to petition 216 00:13:52,400 --> 00:13:57,840 the Lord for this church, he praised his first petition. 217 00:13:57,840 --> 00:14:02,880 The most important thing for that church, for this church, 218 00:14:03,160 --> 00:14:08,880 for the church, that God, the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, 219 00:14:09,440 --> 00:14:13,600 the Father of glory, may give you the spirit of wisdom and of 220 00:14:13,600 --> 00:14:15,800 revelation and the knowledge of Him. 221 00:14:17,440 --> 00:14:19,520 Again, knowledge doesn't mean just facts. 222 00:14:20,640 --> 00:14:27,160 It means that we know Him and we know that we are known by Him. 223 00:14:28,320 --> 00:14:32,440 We know Him, who He is, because it's who He's revealed Himself 224 00:14:32,440 --> 00:14:36,000 to be in His Word. We know what He is like, His 225 00:14:36,000 --> 00:14:39,720 attributes, because they have been revealed to us in His Word. 226 00:14:40,120 --> 00:14:45,400 We know what He has done in the past, what He's doing right now, 227 00:14:45,400 --> 00:14:48,640 and what He promises to do in the future because it's been 228 00:14:48,640 --> 00:14:53,280 revealed to us in His Word and about ourselves. 229 00:14:53,280 --> 00:14:58,320 We know who we are because He's revealed to us who we are apart 230 00:14:58,320 --> 00:15:01,720 from Him, and when we're saved by His Grace, who we are in Him. 231 00:15:02,400 --> 00:15:10,080 We know what we are like before we're in Christ and now after. 232 00:15:10,840 --> 00:15:16,480 And we know what He is called us to do by His grace and for His 233 00:15:16,480 --> 00:15:22,880 glory. Our knowledge of Him, our 234 00:15:22,880 --> 00:15:31,400 knowing Him this side of heaven will always have vast room for 235 00:15:31,400 --> 00:15:34,520 growth, and that should excite us. 236 00:15:36,360 --> 00:15:40,120 God answered my prayer Seminary for me. 237 00:15:40,120 --> 00:15:46,200 Those three years in Saint Louis were so rich, so beautiful, so 238 00:15:46,360 --> 00:15:48,280 intimate with the Lord. You know why? 239 00:15:48,880 --> 00:15:52,680 Because the professors who taught me were in love with 240 00:15:52,760 --> 00:15:56,560 Jesus. The radiance of Christ shine 241 00:15:56,560 --> 00:15:59,920 from them. They didn't think of knowledge 242 00:15:59,920 --> 00:16:04,480 of God just as facts, but you could see that they knew Him in 243 00:16:04,480 --> 00:16:10,480 the way in which they prayed. But I left seminary knowing that 244 00:16:10,480 --> 00:16:15,600 He knows me and knowing that there is so much more about Him 245 00:16:15,600 --> 00:16:19,000 knowing me that I don't understand, and so much more 246 00:16:19,000 --> 00:16:22,600 about him because he's incomprehensible. 247 00:16:23,680 --> 00:16:26,960 And that's exciting. So here's the question I want to 248 00:16:26,960 --> 00:16:32,520 move into. How could we as Christians, 249 00:16:32,960 --> 00:16:38,480 hearing Paul pray this prayer for a church he planted and 250 00:16:38,480 --> 00:16:44,480 spend time, How could we expect God to answer this prayer? 251 00:16:45,240 --> 00:16:47,920 And you're going to need a Bible for the next portion of the 252 00:16:47,920 --> 00:16:49,880 sermon. And I want you to open your 253 00:16:49,880 --> 00:16:53,880 Bible to the book of Acts chapter 18 or grab the Blue Pew 254 00:16:53,880 --> 00:16:58,640 Bible in front of you. Now, I want to encourage you, if 255 00:16:58,640 --> 00:17:03,080 you don't have a Bible, and that might be true of you, take that 256 00:17:03,080 --> 00:17:07,440 one today or go downstairs and buy one in our bookstore. 257 00:17:08,640 --> 00:17:11,880 If you're a believer, I would encourage you to bring the Bible 258 00:17:11,880 --> 00:17:15,599 to church. Write in it, make notes. 259 00:17:16,920 --> 00:17:20,880 It's the sword of the Spirit. Here's why I want to go to the 260 00:17:20,880 --> 00:17:26,240 book of Acts. How we can expect God to answer 261 00:17:26,240 --> 00:17:29,360 Paul's prayer is in the normative and ordinary way. 262 00:17:29,360 --> 00:17:33,800 God would do it. And I'm going to read a large 263 00:17:33,800 --> 00:17:38,200 amount of Scripture. I promise you, as the Spirit 264 00:17:38,200 --> 00:17:41,040 guides, if you will lean in, it will not be boring. 265 00:17:41,880 --> 00:17:47,520 You're going to hear about a man who was persecuting the church, 266 00:17:48,040 --> 00:17:52,120 whose life was erupted by Christ himself, who is now going. 267 00:17:52,480 --> 00:17:55,640 He is on his second missionary journey when he plants the 268 00:17:55,640 --> 00:17:59,120 Church of Ephesus, and he's on his third missionary journey 269 00:17:59,400 --> 00:18:03,840 when he spends more time there. So let's begin in the book of 270 00:18:03,840 --> 00:18:07,920 Acts, chapter 18, and I want you to go to verse 19. 271 00:18:09,080 --> 00:18:11,520 Now, the author of the book of Acts is not Paul. 272 00:18:11,840 --> 00:18:16,160 It's Luke who wrote the gospel. Luke, he's continuing that 273 00:18:16,160 --> 00:18:20,680 gospel and how the church began in the New Testament times after 274 00:18:20,680 --> 00:18:25,880 the Lord ascended. So verse 19 of chapter 18 and 275 00:18:25,880 --> 00:18:29,880 they now the they is Paul and because of the verse before it, 276 00:18:29,880 --> 00:18:34,440 it's Priscilla and Aquila who are with Paul and they came to 277 00:18:34,440 --> 00:18:37,560 Ephesus and he lift left them there. 278 00:18:37,560 --> 00:18:41,040 That's Priscilla and Aquila. But he himself went into the 279 00:18:41,040 --> 00:18:43,240 synagogue and reasoned with the Jews. 280 00:18:43,240 --> 00:18:44,600 Now here's what I want you to listen for. 281 00:18:45,240 --> 00:18:50,120 Listen for how many times the Holy Spirit through carrying 282 00:18:50,120 --> 00:18:54,480 Luke along reveals the importance of the word of God 283 00:18:54,800 --> 00:18:58,400 central to the message, anchoring the message. 284 00:18:58,400 --> 00:19:00,920 It's everywhere. And then look for how the Holy 285 00:19:00,920 --> 00:19:04,480 Spirit uses people to proclaim the message. 286 00:19:05,400 --> 00:19:08,240 When they came to Ephesus and he left them there, but He himself 287 00:19:08,240 --> 00:19:10,880 went into the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews. 288 00:19:11,240 --> 00:19:14,880 When they asked him to stay for a longer period, He declined. 289 00:19:15,400 --> 00:19:20,080 But on taking leave of them, he said, I will return to you if 290 00:19:20,080 --> 00:19:22,320 God wills. What that means is He did not 291 00:19:22,320 --> 00:19:24,880 know, but he's trusting the Holy Spirit to lead. 292 00:19:25,600 --> 00:19:29,120 I will return to you if God wills and He sets sail from 293 00:19:29,120 --> 00:19:31,400 Ephesus. Now watch what happens. 294 00:19:31,720 --> 00:19:36,720 This small church is planted. Verse 24 Now a Jew named 295 00:19:36,720 --> 00:19:40,880 Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. 296 00:19:41,280 --> 00:19:42,520 Now they're going to describe him. 297 00:19:42,920 --> 00:19:46,840 He was an eloquent man, competent in the Scriptures. 298 00:19:46,960 --> 00:19:49,760 What that means is he knows the word of God. 299 00:19:50,360 --> 00:19:55,000 Verse 25 He'd been instructed in the way of the Lord, and being 300 00:19:55,000 --> 00:19:59,640 fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things 301 00:19:59,640 --> 00:20:03,720 concerning Jesus, though he knew only the baptism of John. 302 00:20:04,280 --> 00:20:08,160 He began to speak boldly in the synagogue, but when Priscilla 303 00:20:08,160 --> 00:20:12,480 and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him 304 00:20:12,480 --> 00:20:17,680 the way of God more accurately. This is amazing. 305 00:20:18,480 --> 00:20:21,080 Paulus knew something of the Word of God. 306 00:20:21,400 --> 00:20:25,200 We're told that he was eloquent. We're told that he was competent 307 00:20:25,200 --> 00:20:29,000 in the Scriptures. We're even told in verse 25 that 308 00:20:29,000 --> 00:20:33,920 being fervent in the Spirit, He spoke and taught accurately, but 309 00:20:33,960 --> 00:20:38,320 it wasn't perfect. And you're not going to teach 310 00:20:38,480 --> 00:20:40,400 perfect either, and neither am I. 311 00:20:40,960 --> 00:20:45,680 But as we grow by God's grace, He brings people into our life 312 00:20:46,280 --> 00:20:51,880 who show us more accurately what the Bible is all about. 313 00:20:52,080 --> 00:20:54,120 Verse 26, you see the grace of God. 314 00:20:54,400 --> 00:20:58,480 Priscilla and Aquila heard him. Then they took him aside and 315 00:20:58,480 --> 00:21:01,280 explained to him the way of God more accurately. 316 00:21:01,600 --> 00:21:04,000 This was all new to these people. 317 00:21:04,680 --> 00:21:07,560 Now go to verse 19 or chapter 19, verse one. 318 00:21:08,320 --> 00:21:12,120 And it happened that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul 319 00:21:12,120 --> 00:21:16,120 passed through the inland country and came to Ephesus. 320 00:21:16,600 --> 00:21:20,960 There he found some disciples and he said to them, did you 321 00:21:20,960 --> 00:21:23,320 receive the Holy Spirit when you believe? 322 00:21:23,320 --> 00:21:28,280 Now listen to the response and they said, no, we've not even 323 00:21:28,280 --> 00:21:31,040 heard that there is a Holy Spirit. 324 00:21:31,560 --> 00:21:34,320 Isn't that amazing? They didn't even know about the 325 00:21:34,320 --> 00:21:37,880 Holy Spirit. Verse 3 and he said into what 326 00:21:37,880 --> 00:21:40,600 Then were you baptized? They said into John's baptism. 327 00:21:40,600 --> 00:21:44,160 Now I know this whole section is a whole nother sermon, but 328 00:21:44,160 --> 00:21:47,440 listen to what happens. Paul said John baptized with the 329 00:21:47,440 --> 00:21:50,960 baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one 330 00:21:50,960 --> 00:21:53,200 who was to come after him, that is Jesus. 331 00:21:53,680 --> 00:21:56,520 On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord 332 00:21:56,560 --> 00:22:00,200 Jesus, and when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy 333 00:22:00,200 --> 00:22:03,880 Spirit came on them and they began speaking in tongues and 334 00:22:03,880 --> 00:22:06,600 prophesying. There were about 12 men in all. 335 00:22:06,920 --> 00:22:09,640 Now, that part is not what we should expect to be normative 336 00:22:09,640 --> 00:22:12,000 today. It's not what's ordinary. 337 00:22:12,280 --> 00:22:15,840 But how the Word of God is being proclaimed and how it's being 338 00:22:15,840 --> 00:22:20,280 proclaimed through God's people is this is how we could expect 339 00:22:20,280 --> 00:22:23,840 God to answer Paul's petition for the church at Ephesus. 340 00:22:24,160 --> 00:22:28,040 Go with me to verse 8. And Paul entered the synagogue, 341 00:22:28,440 --> 00:22:33,920 and for three months spoke boldly, reasoning and persuading 342 00:22:33,920 --> 00:22:39,240 them about the Kingdom of God. But when some became stubborn 343 00:22:39,240 --> 00:22:43,200 and continued an unbelief, speaking evil of the way before 344 00:22:43,200 --> 00:22:47,360 the congregation, he withdrew from them and took the disciples 345 00:22:47,360 --> 00:22:51,200 with him, reasoning daily in the hall of Tyrannis. 346 00:22:51,720 --> 00:22:56,880 This continued for two years, so that all the residents of Asia 347 00:22:56,880 --> 00:23:01,760 heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks, and God was 348 00:23:01,760 --> 00:23:04,840 doing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul. 349 00:23:05,880 --> 00:23:12,960 Two years Paul is teaching, reasoning, preaching, 350 00:23:13,320 --> 00:23:17,000 proclaiming in the synagogues, and we'll hear later even in 351 00:23:17,000 --> 00:23:19,480 houses. There's probably a footnote in 352 00:23:19,480 --> 00:23:24,080 your Bible that says in some manuscripts it is added from the 353 00:23:24,080 --> 00:23:29,560 5th hour to the 10th, that is from 11:00 AM to 4:00 PM. 354 00:23:29,880 --> 00:23:37,320 That means daily, from 11 to 4-5 hours a day for two years, Paul 355 00:23:38,000 --> 00:23:44,040 in a public space, preaching, teaching, proclaiming, 356 00:23:44,480 --> 00:23:46,520 reasoning. That means there's discussion 357 00:23:46,520 --> 00:23:53,440 taking place, dialogue in the Word of God, and the Spirit of 358 00:23:53,440 --> 00:23:59,160 God is anchoring it all. If the Spirit of wisdom and of 359 00:23:59,160 --> 00:24:02,000 revelation doesn't work, nothing will. 360 00:24:02,600 --> 00:24:06,720 But it does, and as the Word is proclaimed, it's proclaimed 361 00:24:06,720 --> 00:24:10,040 because it's central. It is to be preached, taught 362 00:24:10,040 --> 00:24:13,440 reason. It's preached by His servants. 363 00:24:13,880 --> 00:24:17,280 It's talked about amongst those who are hearing it. 364 00:24:17,480 --> 00:24:20,240 They're growing, they're availing themselves of this 365 00:24:20,240 --> 00:24:23,080 teaching. And what do we see? 366 00:24:23,680 --> 00:24:28,560 The Word transforms. The Word of God truly transforms 367 00:24:28,560 --> 00:24:30,480 people. If you continue to reading in 368 00:24:30,480 --> 00:24:34,680 chapter 19, you would see it the word also those stirs up 369 00:24:34,680 --> 00:24:37,640 conflict as people are being transformed. 370 00:24:37,920 --> 00:24:42,880 Others hate what is happening, but the Word of God prevails. 371 00:24:43,320 --> 00:24:45,200 Here's what I mean. Look with me at verse 19. 372 00:24:45,960 --> 00:24:48,480 This tells the story that there are those who are practicing 373 00:24:48,480 --> 00:24:52,440 magic who are being transformed by the preached word Says in 374 00:24:52,440 --> 00:24:57,040 verse 19, a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought 375 00:24:57,040 --> 00:25:00,480 their books together and burned them in the sight of all, and 376 00:25:00,480 --> 00:25:04,200 they counted the value of them and found it came to 50,000 377 00:25:04,200 --> 00:25:07,520 pieces of silver. Verse 20 underline this one. 378 00:25:07,800 --> 00:25:13,400 So the word of the Lord continue to increase and prevail 379 00:25:13,400 --> 00:25:19,200 mightily. Paul is preaching the Word and 380 00:25:19,200 --> 00:25:22,960 the Spirit is with his preaching, and the Spirit is 381 00:25:22,960 --> 00:25:29,240 revealing the wisdom of God, the knowledge of God, God himself. 382 00:25:30,840 --> 00:25:33,640 A riot takes place in the next chapter. 383 00:25:34,640 --> 00:25:37,960 And now I want us to go to one more place. 384 00:25:38,520 --> 00:25:44,320 Chapter 20, verse 17. I'm going to read another swath. 385 00:25:45,360 --> 00:25:48,520 And as I read, I want you to think of the elders of our 386 00:25:48,520 --> 00:25:51,360 church. And I want you to mark this 387 00:25:51,360 --> 00:25:55,160 passage as a way to pray for the elders of our church, for the 388 00:25:55,160 --> 00:25:58,720 pastors of our church, those that God has ordained to help 389 00:25:58,720 --> 00:26:02,120 lead this particular flock because it's powerful. 390 00:26:02,680 --> 00:26:06,920 Remember, Paul's praising God without ceasing for the faith 391 00:26:06,920 --> 00:26:10,320 that he has heard about in the Ephesians, in the Saints. 392 00:26:11,080 --> 00:26:14,960 He's praising God for the fact that they love all, they love 393 00:26:14,960 --> 00:26:18,720 one another. But he's also petitioning God 394 00:26:20,040 --> 00:26:23,640 the Father of glory, that he will send a spirit of 395 00:26:23,640 --> 00:26:26,800 revelation. And this is how we can imagine 396 00:26:26,800 --> 00:26:32,000 God answering it. Paul's about 35 miles from 397 00:26:32,000 --> 00:26:35,800 Ephesus. He's in a place called Maletus 398 00:26:35,840 --> 00:26:41,840 verse 17 Now from elitist he sent to Ephesus, and he called 399 00:26:41,840 --> 00:26:43,920 the elders of the church to come to him. 400 00:26:44,840 --> 00:26:48,400 And when they came to him, he said to them, You yourselves 401 00:26:48,400 --> 00:26:51,640 know how I lived among you the whole time, from the first day 402 00:26:51,640 --> 00:26:55,480 that I set foot in Asia, serving the Lord with all humility and 403 00:26:55,480 --> 00:26:58,640 with tears and with trials that happened to me through the plots 404 00:26:58,640 --> 00:27:02,800 of Jews. How I did not shrink from 405 00:27:02,800 --> 00:27:07,320 declaring to you anything that was profitable in teaching you 406 00:27:07,320 --> 00:27:12,040 in public and from house to house, testifying both to Jews 407 00:27:12,040 --> 00:27:16,040 and to Greeks of repentance toward God and of faith in the 408 00:27:16,040 --> 00:27:18,760 Lord Jesus Christ. He's preaching the Word. 409 00:27:19,240 --> 00:27:22,480 He had nothing else to offer. Verse 22. 410 00:27:23,280 --> 00:27:27,120 And now, behold, I'm going to Jerusalem, constrained by the 411 00:27:27,120 --> 00:27:31,400 Spirit, not knowing what will happen to me there, except that 412 00:27:31,400 --> 00:27:35,480 the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment 413 00:27:35,520 --> 00:27:38,520 and affliction await me. Did you hear that? 414 00:27:39,320 --> 00:27:42,440 All I know is that the Holy Spirit has testified to me that 415 00:27:42,440 --> 00:27:46,400 in every city imprisonment and affliction await me, and I'm 416 00:27:46,400 --> 00:27:48,640 going. I'm going because I'm 417 00:27:48,640 --> 00:27:52,200 constrained by the Spirit. I'm the one who was killing 418 00:27:52,200 --> 00:27:54,600 Christians. Christ revealed Himself to me. 419 00:27:54,600 --> 00:27:56,200 He's the way, the truth, and the life. 420 00:27:56,360 --> 00:28:00,120 There is no other message. I'm going and I'm going to give 421 00:28:00,120 --> 00:28:05,080 them the Word of God. Verse 24 but I do not account my 422 00:28:05,080 --> 00:28:08,360 life of any value nor as precious to myself. 423 00:28:08,760 --> 00:28:12,040 If only I may finish my course in the ministry that I received 424 00:28:12,040 --> 00:28:15,640 from the Lord Jesus to testify to the gospel of the grace of 425 00:28:15,640 --> 00:28:18,040 God. And now, behold, I know that 426 00:28:18,040 --> 00:28:20,920 none of you among whom I have gone about proclaiming the 427 00:28:20,920 --> 00:28:24,280 Kingdom, will see my face again. They were very sad about that. 428 00:28:24,640 --> 00:28:28,000 Verse 26. Therefore I tell you, therefore 429 00:28:28,000 --> 00:28:31,600 I testified to you this day, that I am innocent of the blood 430 00:28:31,600 --> 00:28:34,560 of all. For I did not shrink from 431 00:28:34,560 --> 00:28:39,160 declaring to you the whole counsel of God. 432 00:28:41,480 --> 00:28:46,920 Day after day, in public and in houses, five hours a day, from 433 00:28:46,920 --> 00:28:51,960 11:00 to 4:00, He proclaimed the whole council of God. 434 00:28:52,560 --> 00:28:54,880 Verse 28. To the elders. 435 00:28:55,360 --> 00:28:59,320 Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock 436 00:28:59,320 --> 00:29:02,920 in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers to care for 437 00:29:02,920 --> 00:29:06,560 the Church of God, which has obtained He obtained with His 438 00:29:06,720 --> 00:29:10,200 own blood. I know that after my departure 439 00:29:10,480 --> 00:29:15,400 fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock, and 440 00:29:15,400 --> 00:29:19,120 from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted 441 00:29:19,120 --> 00:29:21,880 things to draw away the disciples after them. 442 00:29:22,360 --> 00:29:28,920 Because He knows this, His first petition is give them a spirit 443 00:29:28,920 --> 00:29:33,640 of wisdom and revelation of knowledge of Him, not just facts 444 00:29:33,640 --> 00:29:37,320 about him, but this church needs to know Him. 445 00:29:37,560 --> 00:29:42,480 Verse 31 Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years 446 00:29:42,600 --> 00:29:47,520 I did not cease night or day to admonish everyone with tears. 447 00:29:47,920 --> 00:29:52,200 And now I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which 448 00:29:52,200 --> 00:29:56,000 is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among 449 00:29:56,080 --> 00:29:59,360 all those who are sanctified. Last week. 450 00:29:59,520 --> 00:30:05,520 Verse 36 And when he had said these things, he knelt down and 451 00:30:05,520 --> 00:30:08,280 prayed with them all. You see the importance of prayer 452 00:30:08,280 --> 00:30:11,680 in the Bible, the importance of prayer in Paul's life. 453 00:30:12,440 --> 00:30:14,480 And there was much weeping on the part of all. 454 00:30:14,960 --> 00:30:18,280 They embraced Paul and kissed him, being sorrowful most of all 455 00:30:18,280 --> 00:30:21,040 because of the word he had spoken, that they would not see 456 00:30:21,040 --> 00:30:24,000 his face again. And they accompanied him to the 457 00:30:24,000 --> 00:30:30,080 ship. Paul's prayer is that God would 458 00:30:30,080 --> 00:30:32,360 give them the spirit of wisdom and of revelation and the 459 00:30:32,360 --> 00:30:35,080 knowledge of him, that they would have the eyes of their 460 00:30:35,080 --> 00:30:38,880 hearts enlightened. He prays this because this is 461 00:30:38,880 --> 00:30:43,200 their most urgent need and it is our most urgent need. 462 00:30:44,760 --> 00:30:48,280 We can expect God to answer this prayer in his normative, 463 00:30:48,280 --> 00:30:52,600 ordinary ways, That is through the word of God being preached, 464 00:30:53,720 --> 00:30:58,840 taught, proclaimed. We reason about it. 465 00:30:59,800 --> 00:31:02,240 God continues to do that. That's His way. 466 00:31:03,440 --> 00:31:08,040 I want to give you a few practical things, and I want you 467 00:31:08,040 --> 00:31:10,840 to please lean in because you need these. 468 00:31:11,720 --> 00:31:16,440 Because there's not a person in here, the one who's walked with 469 00:31:16,520 --> 00:31:20,880 Jesus the longest, to the one who's probably coming to faith 470 00:31:20,880 --> 00:31:24,240 in Jesus today. There is not a person in here 471 00:31:24,240 --> 00:31:28,560 this side of heaven who can ever say there's nothing more I can 472 00:31:28,560 --> 00:31:33,440 learn about God, about the one who knows me. 473 00:31:34,640 --> 00:31:39,800 So here's some simple, practical guides #1 you need a Bible. 474 00:31:40,920 --> 00:31:43,760 If you do not have one, take the blue one home. 475 00:31:44,400 --> 00:31:48,360 It's our gift. If that embarrasses you, go to 476 00:31:48,360 --> 00:31:50,320 the bookstore, even today and buy one. 477 00:31:50,320 --> 00:31:51,800 Ask someone to help you pick one out. 478 00:31:52,360 --> 00:31:57,080 But just owning a Bible doesn't mean you're using it correctly. 479 00:31:57,600 --> 00:32:04,040 You need to be in the Word of God, studying the Word of God, 480 00:32:04,600 --> 00:32:10,600 not just to be smarter about God, but to know Him and to know 481 00:32:10,600 --> 00:32:16,200 the One who knows you. You need to continually sit 482 00:32:16,200 --> 00:32:19,720 under preaching and the teaching of God's Word. 483 00:32:20,320 --> 00:32:25,640 We need lots of it. Third, you need people in your 484 00:32:25,640 --> 00:32:28,920 life. All of us need someone who's a 485 00:32:28,920 --> 00:32:32,880 little further down the road than we are, and probably not 486 00:32:32,880 --> 00:32:38,040 just an author, probably a person that you can talk to that 487 00:32:38,040 --> 00:32:41,640 can help you understand things that you're reading from the 488 00:32:41,640 --> 00:32:46,800 word of God. And you and I, all of us needing 489 00:32:46,800 --> 00:32:50,080 somebody who's a little further ahead of us, need to have in 490 00:32:50,080 --> 00:32:55,440 mind that we need to be becoming those people for others so that 491 00:32:55,440 --> 00:33:00,200 those who are newer in faith can look to us and we can walk them 492 00:33:00,840 --> 00:33:04,720 through the journey of knowing more about the One who knows us. 493 00:33:07,000 --> 00:33:10,240 Many of you are in small group Bible studies already. 494 00:33:11,000 --> 00:33:15,720 I want to ask you, and only takes one of you to do this, to 495 00:33:15,720 --> 00:33:20,040 do an audit of your group. How often are you talking about 496 00:33:20,920 --> 00:33:26,440 this kind of knowledge of God? Is your time spent more on other 497 00:33:26,440 --> 00:33:30,760 things, or is it spent on this? Because this is what matters 498 00:33:30,760 --> 00:33:33,840 most. Those other things matter too. 499 00:33:33,840 --> 00:33:37,600 Don't misunderstand. But this matters most and 500 00:33:37,600 --> 00:33:40,800 informs all of those other things. 501 00:33:41,800 --> 00:33:45,960 So often our prayers don't highlight what matters most. 502 00:33:47,160 --> 00:33:50,160 Our conversations, our discourse doesn't highlight what matters 503 00:33:50,160 --> 00:33:52,560 most. That's why the Bible shows us 504 00:33:52,560 --> 00:33:55,480 how important prayer is. It informs the way we should 505 00:33:55,480 --> 00:33:57,560 pray and helps us evaluate our prayers. 506 00:33:58,840 --> 00:34:01,520 Just a couple more things I want to talk about. 507 00:34:01,520 --> 00:34:05,600 Sources are the source and seasons. 508 00:34:07,480 --> 00:34:11,320 The source of this revelation is always the same. 509 00:34:12,080 --> 00:34:15,520 It is the Holy Spirit and it is the Word of God. 510 00:34:15,520 --> 00:34:19,400 I want you to think about this. When Paul is praying for these 511 00:34:19,400 --> 00:34:24,960 people to have this enlightenment, the spirit of 512 00:34:24,960 --> 00:34:28,360 wisdom and of revelation, the knowledge of him, they don't 513 00:34:28,360 --> 00:34:31,040 hear that letter and then run to a bookstore. 514 00:34:31,360 --> 00:34:33,880 There aren't any, and most of them can't read. 515 00:34:35,400 --> 00:34:37,960 There aren't Christian books that have been written and are 516 00:34:37,960 --> 00:34:41,360 in great surplus. They don't have podcasts to go 517 00:34:41,360 --> 00:34:44,280 and listen to. We have all those things, and 518 00:34:44,280 --> 00:34:51,280 those things are a gift, but what they have is the Word of 519 00:34:51,280 --> 00:34:58,360 God and the Spirit. The source is the same, but 520 00:34:58,360 --> 00:35:02,680 seasons in our life change. I've talked to so many young 521 00:35:02,680 --> 00:35:06,200 moms over the years who will talk about the way in which they 522 00:35:06,200 --> 00:35:10,160 did their quiet time or studied for Bible study before they had 523 00:35:10,160 --> 00:35:15,400 children, and then all of a sudden, the schedule and the 524 00:35:15,400 --> 00:35:19,240 chaos. Where does that time go, 525 00:35:20,080 --> 00:35:24,440 sisters? The source is the same, the same 526 00:35:24,440 --> 00:35:27,240 Holy Spirit, the same Word of God. 527 00:35:27,840 --> 00:35:30,960 But you cannot expect in different seasons for it to be 528 00:35:30,960 --> 00:35:33,800 exactly the same as it was before. 529 00:35:34,240 --> 00:35:36,360 And so you have to talk to others. 530 00:35:36,840 --> 00:35:40,960 My wife pours into young moms by telling them practice the 531 00:35:40,960 --> 00:35:45,680 presence of God. Listen to scripture in your car. 532 00:35:46,160 --> 00:35:49,160 Put up verses on your mirror and windows. 533 00:35:49,720 --> 00:35:53,200 Listen to the Word of God as you're doing dishes or cooking 534 00:35:53,200 --> 00:35:56,600 dinner. Those are not things women 535 00:35:56,600 --> 00:36:00,000 should do alone. I don't mean that, but we have 536 00:36:00,000 --> 00:36:04,520 to change, not the source. The source is always the same, 537 00:36:05,320 --> 00:36:07,760 but in seasons. Some of you might be looking for 538 00:36:07,760 --> 00:36:10,440 work right now. You have more time. 539 00:36:11,920 --> 00:36:15,600 Treat that time as a gift. And along with the persistent 540 00:36:15,600 --> 00:36:17,400 prayer and look looking for work. 541 00:36:17,720 --> 00:36:20,880 Give time to the Word of God in the Spirit. 542 00:36:21,600 --> 00:36:25,440 Some of you might be in a health crisis and that's making it very 543 00:36:25,440 --> 00:36:29,400 difficult for you to even concentrate or maybe even see. 544 00:36:30,040 --> 00:36:32,800 But for others of you, this health crisis may be an 545 00:36:32,800 --> 00:36:36,600 opportunity to have more time to be in the Word and Spirit. 546 00:36:36,600 --> 00:36:42,840 My point is, seasons change, but the source never does. 547 00:36:43,840 --> 00:36:50,760 Just a couple more. The Spirit of God is the one who 548 00:36:50,760 --> 00:36:53,720 inspired the Word that carried Paul along. 549 00:36:54,440 --> 00:36:57,480 The same Spirit is the one who illuminated the Word of God, 550 00:36:57,480 --> 00:36:59,560 even this day, for us to believe the truth. 551 00:37:00,040 --> 00:37:04,560 If you're a believer in Christ, it's because He illuminated the 552 00:37:04,560 --> 00:37:06,640 Word in your heart. Same Spirit. 553 00:37:07,640 --> 00:37:11,680 Our part is we ingest it. But here is a warning. 554 00:37:13,400 --> 00:37:17,480 We live in a world where so much is available to us that it 555 00:37:17,480 --> 00:37:20,760 literally is like a cruise ship full of buffets. 556 00:37:21,680 --> 00:37:25,320 You and I can go from one book to another book, from one Bible 557 00:37:25,320 --> 00:37:28,720 study to another Bible study. Ingesting, ingesting, ingesting. 558 00:37:30,200 --> 00:37:34,920 And you might actually be ingesting too much, meaning that 559 00:37:34,920 --> 00:37:39,560 you're not giving time to digest what you're ingesting. 560 00:37:40,560 --> 00:37:46,440 The goal isn't to read the most. The goal is to soak in and 561 00:37:46,440 --> 00:37:49,600 meditate the Word of God that you are reading. 562 00:37:50,520 --> 00:37:55,760 We need to read, we need to think, we need to wrestle. 563 00:37:56,960 --> 00:37:59,720 But there's a difference. CS Lewis and Mere Christianity 564 00:37:59,720 --> 00:38:03,800 talked about the difference between paint and stain. 565 00:38:04,680 --> 00:38:09,080 Paint merely covers the surface, and I fear for many from one 566 00:38:09,080 --> 00:38:10,840 book to the next book to the next book. 567 00:38:10,840 --> 00:38:16,000 It's just a coat of paint going on as opposed to stain that's 568 00:38:16,000 --> 00:38:19,920 soaking in and truly transforming who we are. 569 00:38:20,640 --> 00:38:24,280 You may be actually reading too much, You might not be. 570 00:38:25,040 --> 00:38:28,880 But don't let volume replace meditation. 571 00:38:29,840 --> 00:38:36,360 You need to be thinking deeply on the sentences and paragraphs 572 00:38:36,680 --> 00:38:40,680 that you see in His Word, not just racing through a Bible 573 00:38:40,680 --> 00:38:43,720 reading program. Those can be very helpful too. 574 00:38:44,480 --> 00:38:48,800 But the goal wasn't to finish. The goal is to saturate. 575 00:38:50,200 --> 00:38:53,120 Lastly, this is a great question. 576 00:38:54,200 --> 00:38:58,520 Every time you open the Bible, every time you walk into the 577 00:38:58,520 --> 00:39:02,080 sanctuary, every time you sit down as a family to do 578 00:39:02,080 --> 00:39:06,080 devotions, every time you talk to a friend about the Lord, 579 00:39:06,080 --> 00:39:09,880 every time you read a Christian book, ask this question, Why am 580 00:39:09,880 --> 00:39:15,040 I doing this? And the answer should always be 581 00:39:15,040 --> 00:39:23,200 the same, that He would give me a spirit of revelation in the 582 00:39:23,200 --> 00:39:27,880 knowledge of Him. That in doing this exercise, I'm 583 00:39:27,880 --> 00:39:32,920 not just trying to become more intelligent, wiser than others, 584 00:39:33,080 --> 00:39:37,960 even impressive to others. I am doing this because it's 585 00:39:37,960 --> 00:39:44,120 helping me get to know who He is, who's revealed Himself to be 586 00:39:44,600 --> 00:39:52,560 what He is like His attributes, what He does pass the present 587 00:39:53,320 --> 00:39:58,440 and the future. And in doing so, it radically 588 00:39:58,440 --> 00:40:06,280 transforms who I am, who He says I am, what He's called me to do. 589 00:40:08,000 --> 00:40:15,240 Lord Jesus, thank you for Paul's prayer, seemingly so simple, yet 590 00:40:15,240 --> 00:40:18,280 for Him. God, it was everything. 591 00:40:18,880 --> 00:40:22,320 He knew that the wolves would come from outside and from 592 00:40:22,320 --> 00:40:25,960 within. He knew that if you didn't give 593 00:40:25,960 --> 00:40:30,480 that spirit of revelation and the knowledge of Him, nothing 594 00:40:30,640 --> 00:40:34,320 would work. Your Word shows us how you do 595 00:40:34,320 --> 00:40:37,080 it. And Father, it's sexually not 596 00:40:37,080 --> 00:40:41,160 complicated to see, but because of the enemy who wants to knock 597 00:40:41,160 --> 00:40:44,520 the Word of God out of our lives, it's hard to live. 598 00:40:45,320 --> 00:40:50,920 Lord, would you use your word? Would you use practical steps 599 00:40:50,920 --> 00:40:55,240 that you revealed to us through Scripture to help us know You 600 00:40:55,240 --> 00:40:59,720 better, to help us delight and growing in our knowledge of You, 601 00:41:01,360 --> 00:41:07,360 to help us move beyond just taking a nibble at the table and 602 00:41:07,360 --> 00:41:12,640 to feasting with you and our union now and forever? 603 00:41:13,360 --> 00:41:15,920 We pray this in Christ's name. Amen. 604 00:41:16,440 --> 00:41:16,920 Please stand.