OPEN YOUR EYES AND SEE

TEXT: Eph 1:15 Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints,
Eph 1:16 Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers;
Eph 1:17 That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:
Eph 1:18 The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,
Eph 1:19 And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power,
Eph 1:20 Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places,
Eph 1:21 Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come:
Eph 1:22 And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church,
Eph 1:23 Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.

Introduction: It has been said,"There are none so blind as the man who will not see." As children of God, the most needful things for are us to see, are those which are seen with our understanding.

I. The spirit of wisdom and revelation needed.
Eph 1:17 That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:
Eph 1:18 The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,

A. Man is, by nature, void of spiritual understanding.
1 Cor 2:14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
One might as well lecture the dead on the merits of health food, as try to teach doctrine to the lost.

B. This is true of saved weaklings too.
Mat 16:23 But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.
1 Cor 3:1 And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ.
1 Cor 3:2 I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.
1 Cor 3:3 For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?
1 Cor 3:4 For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal?

C. This wisdom and revelation is not the same as those spiritual gifts of
I Cor.12 and 13. This only requires the opening of the heart to the Spirit of God and the submitting of the will to the Word.

II. What we may see.
A. What is the hope of His calling.
1. Called by Grace that God may be glorified.
1 Cor 1:26 For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:
1 Cor 1:27 But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;
1 Cor 1:28 And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are:
1 Cor 1:29 That no flesh should glory in his presence.
1 Cor 1:30 But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:
1 Cor 1:31 That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.
2. Our Calling. To serve God wherever we might be.
1 Cor 7:20 Let every man abide in the same calling wherein he was called.
3. We have a holy calling.
2 Tim 1:9 Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,
4. It is a heavenly calling.
Heb 3:1 Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus;
We are earthly creatures on a heavenly mission!
5. Our final hope [expectation]
Phil 3:14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

B. The riches of the Glory of His inheritance in the saints.
1. By grace. God takes wicked men and makes them heaven's treasure.
Rom 9:22 What if God, willing to show his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction:
Rom 9:23 And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory,
2. Salvation
Eph 1:7 In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;
3. Church.
Eph 1:18 The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,
4. Future Glory.
Eph 1:21 Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come:

C. The exceeding greatness of His power to usward who believe.
Eph 1:19 And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power,
1. Exceeding = record breaking. The power available to God's people is greater than that of creation!