The Inheritance of the Saints

Ephesians 1: 15-23.

15 Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, 
16 do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers: 
17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, 
18 the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, 
19 and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power 
20 which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, 
21 far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.
22 And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, 
23 which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.
 

Many Christians would concur on the subject of prayer, as being one of the most difficult things to do in the life of a believer.
There are times when one can’t find the motivation to pray. It sometimes feels like dragging a large weight up a hill. Then there may be times when prayer flows quite freely, just as easily as walking down a hill with no weight.
There are all kinds of situations that may keep us from prayer.
I don’t know what to pray for. I don’t know how to pray in the circumstances.
I just don’t feel like praying.
At the time when one should go to prayer is sometimes the time when we avoid prayer.

There are also times when we are driven to prayer because we realise that there is nowhere else to turn but to God. There are times when we feel so blessed that we just want to praise God for His goodness.
Our circumstances bear down so much that we call on the only one that can help.

The Apostle Paul was so encouraged by the faith of the Ephesians that he could not refrain from prayer and thanksgiving to God.
 

15 Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, 
16 do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers: 

How many of us are thrilled when we hear that our children are doing well, whether in school, college or in life in general. When we realise that all the effort and care that was put into their raising is producing fruit.
It makes one feel good and thankful that things are going well for them.

Paul had spent a lot of time teaching, shepherding and loving the new church in Ephesus.

He is in prison in Rome probably contemplating the work of the past and he received word of the church in Ephesus.
It must have lifted his spirit and filled him with joy to hear such news.
His first act is to pray and give thanks to the one that he knows was the author of their salvation.
We see from the text that this is not a one off prayer. “do not cease to give thanks for you”.

This was because their faith and love were evidence of their participation in this great work of God.
There is nothing that gives more joy, than to see those that have come under your teaching and care, going on and producing fruit, being successful in what they do.
Any parent or teacher, friend or leader who has played some part in the salvation of a person, thrills to see that person going on in the faith and producing good works in the name of Christ. Especially to the household of God, the brethren.
We want them to come to know God in a deeper way. That they maybe given spiritual wisdom and more revelation of truth and knowledge of God.

Paul was thrilled to see the evidence of faith, which is love and works, towards the brethren.
Having taught them that salvation is not based on works but faith alone apart from works and that love and works proceed from faith.
This was Paul’s prayer for the Ephesian church.

17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, 
18 the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, 

Paul wants them to know the abundance of blessings that are available in Christ. What is the hope of His calling and the riches that are the inheritance of any child of God.
The believer has a glorious future of resurrection, eternal life, freedom from sin, perfected justification, and glorious elevation above the angels themselves.

There are many who come to recognise Jesus Christ and commit their lives to Him. However, somehow they do not go any deeper. They seem to stay in that initial state and do not seem to grow in the faith.
Paul knew as do we, that there is a need to uphold each other in prayer, study God’s word and to fellowship with like minded people, to grow in grace.
We should pray for each other that our understanding be enlightened and that we learn from the word what is our inheritance in Christ.

19 and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power 

There is so much that we can draw on, so much available to us because of God’s mighty power.
Knowing that we were in spiritual poverty, we wonder how God can find any inheritance in the saints.
Yet God can make us rich because of what He has invested in us. He has invested riches of love, riches of wisdom, riches of suffering, riches of glory. It is these things that give us a rich inheritance.

This is what Christ meant when He said, John 10:10 “I am come that they might have life and have it more abundantly”.
 

Spurgeon quote:
Many Christians do not know this power – or they only know it from a distance. God wants resurrection life to be real in the life of the believer. “The very same power which raised Christ is waiting to raise the drunkard from his drunkenness, to raise the thief from his dishonesty, to raise the Pharisee from his self-righteousness, to raise the Sadducee from his unbelief.”

The same power that raised Jesus from the dead, is available to each believer through the Holy Spirit.
The work that Christ begun in us is only the beginning of our sanctification.

20 which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, 

We saw in Eph 1:3  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: 

Because Christ has been raised, so have we and we are inheritors of  all the spiritual blessings in Christ.

Christ has been raised:

21 far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.

We don’t fully understand the depth of Christ’s power but we know that we can have confidence in this fact. That Christ is above all the angelic realm, good or bad. Not only in this age but in that which is to come.

22 And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, 
23 which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.
 

Then we see this wonderful statement of truth. That Christ is the head of the body and the body is the church.
Of which each of us are members, individual members, fitted together in love, with an unending supply of gifts from the Father.
Blessings that are ours in Christ. In Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.

The body has the “fullness” (Greek Pleroma) the totality or fullness of the Godhead which dwells in Christ. as contents, supplement, copiousness, multitude.
Pleroma generally refers to the totality of divine powers.

If only we could grasp this truth.

Paul when writing to the Romans said:

"I am sure that when I come to you, I shall come in the fullness of the blessing of the gospel of Christ" (Romans 15:29)
 

The late David Wilkerson said.

The Apostle's words here imply something that every believer must know. That is, there are various degrees, or measures, of Christ's blessing. Some believers obtain a full measure of this blessing, which is the goal. We're all meant to come into a full measure of the Lord's blessing. Yet other Christians enter into only a small measure of Christ's blessing.
 

In this letter to the Ephesians, Paul urges everyone to pursue the fullest measure of this blessing: "Unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ... Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ... To know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God" (Ephesians 4:7, 13, 3:19).

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