What You Know Will Change You – Part 2

not talking about those saints. You're not talking about Saint Jude and Saint Paul and Saint Peter. And I'm not talking about those saints. You know who are the saints we talked about last week? You're the saints. Anybody that's been washed and cleansed in the deposit of the Holy Spirit inside of them We are the saints of God. We are the saints. He's writing to the saints. The beginning of the of Ephesians. He says to the saints in Ephesus, to all the believers in Ephesus. We, friends,

are the saints. Saints means to be set apart unto God called out ones. We are the called out ones. We are the people of God. When you have faith in God, you will love the people of God. You cannot have faith in God and hate the things that God loves. Once in a while I'll run into someone that says, well, I love God and me and me and the man upstairs. We got a thing going on. But you know what? I don't like church. And I don't like organized religion. I always tell em, hey, don't worry,

join us. We're disorganized religion. You may like us. But. But here's the point. You cannot love God and worship God and hate the church because God has put you in the. It's the family of God. It's the people of God. Oh, you can be aggravated with them. You can be irritated with them. But you cannot hate what God loves. You will be a part of the church. You will be integrated in it. You will grow in it. Why?

Because as you have faith in God, you will also love the people of God, or the family of God, or the church of the Living God. And then he goes on and he says, listen, I haven't stopped giving thanks for you. I mean, every time I think about you, I give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I love that Paul has a heart of a of a pastor, of a shepherd. Think the way it should be. I've been a pastor here for a long time. I love pastoring this church. Oh, sometimes it aggravates me. Oh,

sometimes you frustrate me. Oh, sometimes I'm like. Mhm. But you know what? To be honest with you, when I think of this church, when I think of Chicago, when I think of what God has called us to do more than anything, what comes to my mind is gratitude. I say, thank you, God, because my joy is to see you grow. And so Paul says, listen, because God has done all this for you. This is what I want to remind you of and I keep praying for you. Paul says, every time I think of you, I thank

God for you. But I pray this for you because I don't want you to get stagnant. I don't want you to stop growing. Here's what I pray. Verse 17 I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious father, may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation. Why? One version says in the knowledge of him, and Ivy says, so that you may know him better. The spirit of wisdom and revelation. Wisdom is applied knowledge. Revelation is the unveiling of things that you did not

know before. I pray that God gives you the spirit of wisdom so that you can apply the knowledge that you know so that you can navigate the things of God, but also of revelation, because there are things right now that you do not know, that when God reveals them to you will change your life. Revelation. And I'm not talking simply about a new truth that you write in a notebook, but sometimes that revelation has to be spiritual revelation, that that your eyes have to be opened spiritually to

see it, that you never saw it before. And suddenly the revelation of God comes forth and you realize something that you never knew before that literally changes the course and destiny of your life. Spiritual revelation. But listen, that spiritual revelation can come to you and maybe you cannot receive it. So Paul prays. The second thing he says in verse 18, I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know.

Sometimes God can be giving wisdom and revelation, but if our heart is hard and darkened, then we will not receive what God is giving to us. Hello. Did you realize that your heart has eyes? It says that the eyes of your heart will be enlightened. Do you know you can be in the same service? And the Word of God comes. And someone, someone walks out of this place thinking, whoa, I got so much. God spoke to me so much. And you're like. Really? I felt like

the seats were a little too hard. A little warm in there. Was it me or did he go long? Man, am I hungry? Where's Giordano's again? I mean, were you in the same service? Absolutely same service. The problem is that although wisdom and revelation was going out, one person's eyes or their heart were open and receptive and hungry and the other had was not. And so you get what you're willing to receive. You receive what you're willing

to get and what expectation you come with. And when your heart is soft and sensitive to God, there is wisdom and revelation that will come your way more than you can handle. But when you harden your heart, then you receive less and less wisdom and revelation, less and less truth that can change your life. And after a while, it's just the humdrum of some talking head that doesn't make very much sense to you as your mind wanders in some other direction. That's an issue of the heart.

So Paul prays, hey, I want you to grow in wisdom and revelation. And so he prays for three things in their life. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may a no hope, no riches, and no power. Three things. I pray that you know the hope to which he has called you. Oh, if you if you're spirit could understand the hope that's in your calling. What is hope? Hope

is the expectation of a better future. Hope is the knowledge that there is good coming to you from the future. The only way we can have hope is if we trust in the God who holds the future, whose sovereign and omnipotent, and because we know that he works all things together for his good purposes, we have hope. And because we know that he has written the final chapter of the story. We have hope. And because we know that what he started, he is faithful to continue. We

have hope. We are a people of hope. Listen, one of the things that characterizes us is the sense of positive expectation about the future. Why? Not because we're engaged in some mindless, just positive thinking. But our positive thinking is rooted in the positive character of the God that we serve. So therefore, we have hope. Hope that God is in control. Hope that God is doing a work. Hope that he has begun what he's going to finish

and that we have. We haven't seen the best days yet because God is taking us from glory to glory, to glory to glory, to glory to glory. That's our hope.

with a question. Well, we may smile when we hear the question, but, uh, this is something on the heart of a lot of people.

that and I would really love yours. Thank you so much.

there's some things that are implicit a bit. You know, God created all of heaven and earth, and when he created animals, he said they were good. The Bible does say that in the Millennial Kingdom, which is not heaven, but it is God's reign here on earth. It does speak specifically about animals. It actually talks about them in an interesting way. The the lion and the lamb will be together. And in other words, the animals will get along that perhaps, uh, at other times we're eating each other.

They will get along. So and the millennial is a reflection of the power and the glory of God. And so if I were to guess, based on earth reflecting the glory of God, the millennial kingdom reflecting the goodness of God, there's a good chance that we will have some sort of animal form in heaven now I can't the Bible doesn't say that specifically or explicitly. And so where the Bible is silent, I don't like to guess about it. Uh, but I do believe that there everything

good that God has created. It's a reflection of him. And he tends to create his his dwelling place with that which is good. I do know this, Darlene, however, that you will be so infatuated with the goodness of God, the love of God. I know that there's nothing that will bring sadness to your heart. No tears, no disappointment, no lack of joy. So I know that you will be absolutely fulfilled. Full of his joy, full of his glory.

And there's not going to be a longing in your heart when you're in heaven, or a sadness because of something that you lost or you don't have. That will be completely erased. You will be in bliss over all that God has provided for you in that place of glory.

Thank you for that, Mark. But let's go back to your message now called what you'll know will change you.

people lose hope. Secondly, not only that, you may know the hope of your calling, but that you may know the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, that you may know the riches of the glorious inheritance in the saints. Oh, that you may know what God has in store for you, what is coming your way. All the riches that God possesses and wants to grant you, because they're his first of all, and he can give

it to whomever he well pleases to give it. If you knew the riches that God has, if you knew the the wealth of his mercy and grace and goodness, if you knew the resources that God has and his willingness to give him to you and what is coming your way, what is your inheritance? If you knew that, it would change the way you live? If you understood it, the depth of it, the power of it, the greatness

of it. If we don't understand eternity. And we don't understand what's waiting for us on the other side of this life, then we will live a life in which we seek to be fully fulfilled just here on earth. And we become consumers, not God followers. Listen, if your desire, if you think that all of your payment, all of your fulfillment will come just in the 60 years that you live, or 70 years that you live, then you live for yourself. But if you understand that life is more.

If you understand what the Bible teaches? The Bible teaches that everyone, everyone will live eternally. Your body will die, but your spirit and your soul continues into the next round. Some will live eternally. Some will die eternally according to Scripture. Those that have put their trust in Jesus and are following him and are walking in him. There's this incredible

wealth that God that that is coming our way. And we need to understand that we live our life has eternal consequences, that it's not all over when our obituary is read, but that the beginning of our eternity has just begun. Amen. Need to understand that it's huge. The older I get, the more I think about it. And lastly, so our call is about the. The hope of our call is about our past. The riches of our glorious inheritance is about our future. This is about the present.

And he says in verse 19, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. The word power there is the word dunamis, which is where we get the word dynamite from, and the incredible dynamite power at work within us who believe. What is this power? Oh, this is power that you already have. A power that is latent within you because the Holy Spirit lives inside of you, and this power is already in your being. You possess it already. Once in a while, you run into someone

that just feels like they have no power. Living defeated. It's kind of like going in the house of someone and their lamps and lights are unplugged. And you walk in the house and you say, and they walk in the house and they say, I have no lights. And they change the light bulb and they rattle the lamp And then they pull out their candles and they start lighting candles and putting candles all over the house. And they're kind of dark and and someone walks in and

they say, what's wrong? And they say, I have no power. Oh, there's no power. No, I have to live by candles and just kind of try to survive on candlelight. And your neighbor walks in and says, well, why don't you plug the lamp in? Plug the lamp in. The light turns on. A lot of us Christians are living in candlelight when we have power. It's not that we have no power, it's that we haven't plugged into the power that we have. The power is there. The power is available.

The power is at our disposal, but the power has to be plugged into in order to access it. It's the same with the power of the Holy Spirit inside of us. The power. Listen, what kind of power is it? Listen. It's the power. Verse 20, which God exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at the right hand of the heavenly realm. Far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given not only in this 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. That same power is yours. The power that raised Jesus from the dead is inside of you. The power that raised Jesus to the right hand of the father is in you. The Bible says that you are seated with Christ in

heavenly places. The power that has dominion and authority over the demonic and sickness and disease, that same power is available in your life as well. That same power that exercises authority. That is your power. Not an outside power, not a distant power, but a power that lives within you. It's the power of the Holy Spirit. It's already there. You say, well, pastor, pray for me because this is really hard to get up on Sunday morning. I mean, I just barely make it to the 12:00 service. Are

you kidding me? You have the power that raised Jesus from the dead, and you can't get out of bed. Seriously? And we have a serious disconnect in accessing that power. Because it should be more than just getting out of bed. Hello? The power that's inside of you is the same power that said death. You have no authority over me. It's the same power that made demons tremble and flee. It's the same power that exercise authority over the supernatural. It's

that power that is already inside of you. So don't tell me you can't quit a habit. Don't tell me you can't have victory over this. Don't tell me you can't forgive. Because the same power that raised Jesus from the dead is there to give you power to do whatever God has called you to do. It's already there. The power of God. If we. The church. Walked in the power that's already ours. Watch out! We are the sleeping giant. But when the giant is awakened to the power it has in God, watch out.

like this month's Bold Step gift. It's a book that we really want to send to every parent, grandparent, aunt, uncle, mentor of young boys. So let me ask you, do the boys in your life believe they're too young to make a difference? Are they convinced that reading the Bible isn't for them? These are just two of the dangerous lies tackled by lies. Boys believe written by parents of

four boys. This engaging resource helps young men separate truth from fiction in a way that captures their imagination and speaks to their hearts through an engaging story of adventure and discovery. This bold step gift equips boys to recognize lies and stand firm in God's truth. So reach out today and request a copy of Lies Boys believe when you give a gift of any amount to support bold steps. Just call us at 800. D.L. Moody. That's (800) 356-6639. Or

give online at Bold Steps. You can also send your gift through the mail. Write to us at bold steps. 820 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 60,006 ten. Now, when you commit to giving a monthly gift of any amount, we'll add your name to our growing list of partners. It's easy to become a bold partner, and when you do, we'll also send you some special bonuses, like a signed copy of Mark's book, unstuck, access to our Bold Partner post, and also a series of video messages from Mark that

are designed to equip and encourage you each month. So sign up today, please online at Bold Bird-stamps.org. Well, Mark. Today's message was a great reminder of the hope and riches and power we have through Christ. And next week, you're continuing this study from the book of Ephesians.

join us for Bold Steps with Mark Jobe. Bold steps is a production of Moody Radio, a ministry of Moody Bible Institute.