Welcome to Faith for Living. The end of what is the greatest sermon ever preached. Jesus tells the story of two men. Two men who built their houses and their lives on two different, two very different foundation. Everyone, Matthew 7, who hears these words of mind Jesus said and does not put them into practice. It's like a foolish man who builds his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, the winds blew and beat against that house. And he says it fell with a great crack. What's he talking about? First Presbyterian Church of Chattanooga brings you today's teaching designed to apply God's Word to the struggles and challenges of our day that we might have. Faith for Living. In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul said he prayed for God to enlighten the eyes of their hearts and that they would know the hope to which they've been called and the riches of their glorious inheritance. You asked the Lord to open the eyes of your heart that you would see life with a God-centered eternal perspective. Well, today Dr. Mike Preg brings us a message entitled, Dependent Upon God. Our text for today is from Ephesians chapter 1, verses 15 through 23. Here now is Dr. Mike Preg. We return again this morning to our study of the church from Ephesians. Again, we'll be in Ephesians chapter 1. Today we'll be looking at verses 15 to 23. That's page 976 in the Pew Bible. Let's stand together now for the reading of God's Holy Word. Ephesians chapter 1 at 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 prayer. That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him, 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, 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. And he put all things under his feet and gave him his head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all. Grass withers in the flower face, but the word of our God stands forever. We pray with me. Father in our God now, we pray that you would come and give us understanding of your word, that your spirit would so work with your word and in our hearts that we might be those who are doers and not just hear of your word, but we pray in Jesus name, amen. You may be seated. These verses form what is, of course, a prayer. The Apostle Paul is praying here for the local church at Ephesus, and his prayer clearly demonstrates that that church, this church, every church, is totally and completely dependent upon God. We look first this morning at the occasion for this prayer. What is it that prompts the Apostle Paul to pray? Why is he praying for this church? Verse 15 begins for this reason. The Apostle is looking back over those verses that we studied last week. The occasion, the reason for his prayer, is none other than the faithfulness of God. Prayer ought never to begin with what we want God to do. Prayer grows out of our gratitude for what he has already done for us. The faith, the love of these church members in Ephesus, he notes here are God's doing, not Paul's doing. God has been very faithful to us as well. He has been faithful to the first Presbyterian church here in Chattanooga. He brought this church into being many, many years ago. He continues to sustain this church week after week and year after year, especially during this time of pastoral transition. Every church bears testimony to the faithfulness of God. And then every church bears testimony to the frailty of people. Paul is so thankful for God's work in these church members here at Ephesus. He's thankful for their faith, he says, in the Lord Jesus Christ. He's thankful for their love for each other, for all the saints. Their faith and their love were a gift from God. But Paul realized that these gifts, these gracious gifts from God, had come to frail, sinful men and women like you and like me. And so he continues to remember them in his prayer. They were not yet where they needed to be, neither are we. The church confesses therefore her dependence upon God. And the church exercises that dependence as she prays. I am weak, the old hymn says, but thou art strong. Jesus keep me, keep us from all wrong. But what specifically does the church pray for? What is to be the object of our prayer? We sometimes pray as we are for the missionary conference, for the programs of our church. Paul here is praying for the people of the church. You and I do that too. But when we do pray for the people in our church, we often pray only for those people who have special needs, like those who are sick. Not the great thing that you and I pray for the sick. We need to continue to do that. But notice that Paul is praying for an even greater need. He's praying for a more universal need, one that we all have in common. His prayer is focused on the hearts of the people. When he prays for the people here in Ephesus, he's praying first for them to know God, verse 17. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation so that you may know him better. This would certainly be a prayer for the church to have a greater understanding of God. But I think knowing God better is more than just having a greater understanding of God. It's more than just knowing more about God. The Bible, in fact, uses the word no in a very particular way. It often uses the word no to mean love. The word no is used to describe the very intimate relationship between a husband and a wife. So then to know God better means that you and I are to love God more. So what is the object of Paul's prayer that the church might know God? And then he prays here for the church to be more like God. What does it mean for us to be more like God? Well, Jesus said that you and I are to be perfect as our Father in heaven is perfect. To be more like God is never a matter of externals. It's not a matter of what I do and what I don't do. To be like God is a matter of my heart. That's evident really from the way he prays here at verse 18. He says, I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened. In the first place he's talking here about what we call illumination. Now what is illumination in terms of the scriptures? Well, illumination is the Holy Spirit working with the Word of God to give me understanding of that Word. illumination is that spirit of revelation that he's praying for here in verse 17. It's also the enlightening of the eyes of the heart. That's an interesting phrase. I don't know about your heart but mine doesn't have eyes physically. But you see when I open myself up to the Word of God it affects my heart and the eyes the seeing of my heart have got to be influenced by the Holy Spirit. We call that illumination. It's the Holy Spirit giving understanding to the Word of God. But you know you and I need something more than illumination and that something more is called application. You see application has to do with my putting the truth of God's Word into practice. It's essential for each and every member of this church to put the Word into practice. James puts it so pointedly in chapter 1 at verse 22. He says, do not merely listen to the Word and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says at the end of what is the greatest sermon ever preached. Jesus tells a story of two men, two men who built their houses and their lives on two different, two very different foundations. Everyone, Matthew 7, who hears these words of mine, Jesus said, and does not put them into practice. It's like a foolish man who builds his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, the winds blew and beat against that house. And he says, it fell with a great crash. What's he talking about here? Jesus is describing a disaster. A disaster that will come even to a member of his church, a member who sits here, Sunday after Sunday after Sunday, hearing the words of Christ and failing to put them into practice. The church is a divine institution. We depend upon God for our very existence. We confess that dependence upon God, don't we? And we exercise our dependence upon God every time we pray. And when we fail to pray, brothers and sisters, we are really confessing that we don't need God. We've looked at the occasion for the church's prayer, the object of the church's prayer, and finally we're going to look here at the content of the church's prayer. Beginning in the middle of verse 18, he says, in order that you may know, there are specific ways that the church is to know God. First there is what he calls here, the encouragement of hope. Verse 18, in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you. You and I are prone to lose hope. We get discouraged. We get disappointed by all of the situations that we face in life. And sometimes we're disappointed in the people that we meet as well. We tend to forget where we've come from, where were you when God called you? Has God not begun a good work in you, Christian? He says he's going to complete that work in the day of Christ Jesus, according to Philippians 1-6. I can still remember, though it's a while ago now, I can remember, like it was yesterday, the doubts that came during those first couple of months when we began seminary. In the midst of responsibilities for then our two young boys, Marty returned to full-time work. And I returned to full-time graduate school. And I learned very quickly that it was quite a bit different from the school that I had gone to before in engineering. Did we really believe in our hearts, the supernatural work of God? I remember asking myself over and over again, has God really called me into the ministry? Or is that somehow just a figment of my imagination? It was in those early months, as I recall, that we learned to trust God in a new way, for the hope that was in our hearts. That's a lesson that we've had to learn and relearn over the years. But that's where it began. The hope that we're talking about here is not some kind of a vague hope that things are just going to turn out all right in the end. It's rather a sure and certain Paul says hope to which he has called you. Kind of hope comes, I believe, only, as you and I are utterly and completely dependent upon God. We can't find hope in ourselves. We can't find hope in other people. We can't find hope in money. I guess we've found that out this week. We can't find hope in our possessions. The content of our prayer, our dependence on God, ought to involve us in the perspective of eternity. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know, He says, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints. We tend to forget where we've been, and then we tend to forget where we're going. Do you know where you're going this morning? Do you ever stop just long enough to try to reflect on where this is all headed? Where are you going? What are you trying so hard to achieve in this life? Why have all these things, all this stuff? Why has it become so important to you? How are you really depending upon God? How does that work out in your daily life? My own experience in caring for my father during the last year of his life, I think gave me a new perspective on my own mortality and with it a new perspective on eternity. As I looked at my dad each day, I looked at his face and saw my own mortality staring right back at me. Even after he was gone, my route to visit my mother every day took me right past the cemetery where my dad was buried. And they hadn't leveled off his grave yet, that mound of dirt was still there and that withered up by now, bouquet was still laying up on top of that mound and all that was left really was the red bow. These verses that I loved to quote from Isaiah 40 remind me of that grave almost every time I quote them. All men are like grass and all their glory is like the flowers of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades but the word of our God stands forever. We tend to forget. We forget as you and I are out there mucking around in the world all week, we tend to forget where we've been and we lose hope. Then we tend to forget where we're going. We lose sight of eternity. Most of all I think we just plain lose sight of God. The assurance of his power says that you may the eyes of your heart may be enlightened or that you may know the incomparably great power for us who believe. You ever forget who God is? Are you between the rock and the hard place? We've forgotten that it was God who moved that rock talking about that window over here, that rock. We tend to be negative and pessimistic in our thinking too much of the time. You know a situation doesn't have to be too bad but I start to imagine that it's going to get a whole lot worse and then I get fearful. But you know our circumstances can be completely changed by the power of God. We're reminded here by the Lord's table this morning of the crucifixion and the death of our Lord Jesus Christ. His crucifixion and death are the worst circumstance in human history. But even that circumstance you see was completely changed by the power of God. Tragedy gave way to triumph. You ever forget who God is and what He's done? That He moved that rock? That He raised the Lord Jesus Christ from the dead? God is the one who is in control of life. Do you believe that? Do you need even in this week to be reminded of that? That's why we're here. That's why we're coming to the Lord's table. His power has a focus. It has a direction. His incomparably great power, verse 19, is for us who believe. Verse 22 says that God appointed Him Christ to be the head over everything through for the church, for the church. The church is God's powerhouse. This church is the place where we not only hear about God's power but we also experience that power as God works in us and through us. So are you dependent upon God this morning? Are we as a church really dependent upon God? We were all surprised we were greatly blessed a couple of years ago at our General Assembly because somebody had arranged for Johnny Erickson Tata to come and speak to us. Johnny and her husband Ken are members of one of our churches out in California. Many of you know Johnny became a quadriplegic now almost 40 years ago. God came into her life and God has greatly used this lady in her speaking and her writing. Her bright magnetic smile as she sat up there in that wheelchair set it all. And she urged us as pastors and elders that we she used Jesus words from Luke 14. She urged us to invite the poor and the crippled and the blind to invite those who are physically disabled to come into our churches so that we might learn from them what it means to totally depend upon God. You see Johnny depends upon God. She's learned to depend upon God quite literally for everything. Now most of you know I know that we should depend upon God but our prayer or shall I say our lack of prayer is really the only true measure of that dependence. You and I can think that we are depending on God. I mean we can say that we're depending on God but we really only exercise that dependence when we pray. So let's do that. You pray with me. Our Father we do each one of us confess our lack of dependence on you as evidence by our lack of prayer. Father forgive us. And use this table that speaks to us of your mercy and grace. Use this table this morning to remind us that it's all of you. It's all of grace. Oh how we need you. Help us for Jesus' sake. Amen. Faith for living is brought to you by your friends at the historic first Presbyterian Church in downtown Chattanooga, Tennessee through expository Bible preaching, living worship, loving fellowship, and compassionate outreach. We want to be a ministry of God's grace with lives transformed through the gospel of Jesus Christ. We have programs and opportunities for every age level from the youngest to teens to 30 something to retirees. Join us for Sunday morning worship at 830 and 11. We're located at 554 McCauley Avenue across from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga campus. Visit us in person or on the web at faithforliving.net or call 423-648-7914. A copy of today's program on audio CD, cassette tape or DVD is also available. When requesting today's faith for living television broadcast, simply reference today's sermon title on your screen or mention today's date. And we invite you back again next week at the same time for another edition of Faith for Living.