A Prayer of Enlightenment
Ephesians • Week 1
The book of Ephesians contains numerous themes that we will discover over the next six weeks. Chapter 1 takes a deeper look at how we are called to find our identity in Christ and not the world around us. Adam Barnett opens our series with an introduction to the book, and an exploration of Paul's prayer at the end of the first chapter.
MESSAGE NOTES
Prayer of Enlightenment
October 10 2021 • Ephesians • Week 1
Teacher: Adam Barnett
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Acts 19:25-27 NIV
"Men, you know we receive a good income from this business. And you see and hear how this fellow Paul has convinced and led astray large numbers of people here in Ephesus and in practically the whole province of Asia. He says that manmade gods are no gods at all. There is danger not only that our trade will lose its good name, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be discredited, and the goddess herself, who is worshipped throughout the whole province of Asia and the world, will be robbed of her divine majesty."
1. The Greatness of God
2. The Exalted Christ
3. Salvation
4. The Status of Believers
5. Unity of Jew and Gentile
6. Struggle with Evil
7. Ethical Obligation of Believers
8. Ministry to the Gentiles
9. The Church
D.M. Lloyd Jones
"Ephesians is the distilled essence of the Christian religion, the most authoritative and most supreme compilation of our holy Christian faith."
Klyne Snodgrass
"One of the divinest compositions of man, the Bach of the Bible, the Switzerland of the New Testament, and the crown and climax of Pauline theology."
James Dunn
"If theology is measured in terms of articulation of Christian belief, then Paul's letters laid a foundation for Christian theology which has never been rivaled or superseded. It is important, therefore, for each generation to reflect afresh on Paul's theology."
Ephesians 1:15-23 NIV
For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God's people, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.
1. Enlightenment to know the hope to which we are called.
2. Enlightenment to know riches of his glorious inheritance.
3. Enlightenment to know his incomparably great power.