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!