1

“WHAT IS THE HOPE OF HIS CALLING”

Ephesians 1:15

1:15 Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in

the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints,

Ephesians 1:16 do not cease to give thanks for you,

making mention of you in my prayers:

Ephesians 1:17 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,

Ephesians 1:18 the eyes of your [f]understanding

being enlightened; that you may know what is the
hope of His calling,

INTRO:

(I) The importance of paying

attention when reading
the Bible

(2) In this passage there is one

overlooked word and one
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action that Paul makes in

all of his letters

(3) Missing these will prevent you

from appreciating the message
and experience God has for you

(4) The word and action are in the

same word.

(5) One would think after

all the blessings God has
given to them, what more
could there be?

Chosen you for salvation, adopted you,

redeemed you, forgiven you, accepted you
revealed the future eternal blessings in store for
you, and then Sealed you with the Holy Spirit
being in your life, a mark of ownership and of
protection, and safe travel to heaven, and
guaranteed your possession and arrival
which is glorification. Down Payment idea
3

Paul knew that conversion to the Lord Jesus Christ

was only the start of their new life in Christ. Much
like we know that a newborn child has a whole life
ahead of them

Many Christian believers recognize they are

forgiven, and accepted by God as it were, and one
day will join the Lord and other believers in heaven

They have no idea, that the Lord has a life them

now to be lived out, not just in the days of the early
church, but in the lives of many Christians down
through the ages and is being lived many today.

OUTLINE:

I. THE IMPORTANT AND IGNORED WORD

ALONG WITH THE ACTION TO TAKE

A. THESE TWO THINGS WIILL CHANGE

YOUR LIFE AS YOU TAKE HEED
TO THEM BECAUSE THEY ARE
GOD’S WILL FOR YOU

Let’s read through the passage again

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IDEA: It’s a word that is found

all over the New Testament letters.

NOTICE: Once you see it, and

Understand it will have significant
affect upon your relationship with
God and you will wish you had
found this word sooner

EXAMPLE: And I’m certain you

will not forget this word in the
future

EXAMPLE: It’s the word found at

the start of Ephesians 1:15 and which
means a call to action, or response

THEREORE

POINT: Therefore, is always a

link between what has been
said, and its application in our lives
It literally means, in consequence
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Or, for this reason, or in light of,

So, then, that being the case it leads to the following

application:

Or to put it another way, in this section starting in

1:15, Paul is moving from teaching what God has
done for the Christian believers, to what God what
God wants to do in their lives.

EXAMPLE: From Romans 12:1-3

Romans 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by

the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a
living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which
is your reasonable service.

Romans 12:2 And do not be conformed to this

world, but be transformed by the renewing of your
mind, that you may prove what is that good and
acceptable and perfect will of God.

EXAMPLE: Romans 12:1-2, when applied,

brings you into an understanding of God’s
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will for your lives. in Ephesians, it’s a different

matter.

NOTICE: Back to Ephesians 1:15-18

It’s possible that some Christians here today,

already have what Paul is going to reveal, bring out,
it’s also possible that some Believers may had this in
their lives in the past, but for one reason or another,
it’s not theirs today.

The message here today…THE CERTAINTY OF

OUR SALVATION

II. THE CHRISTIANS CERTAINTY OF SALVATION

A. SEE EPH 1:15 NOTICE THE DESCRIPTION.

OF THOSE HE WAS WRITING TO

Ephesians 1:15 Therefore I also, after I heard of

your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the
saints
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IDEA: These words describe

the true Christian There is no doubt
they describe a true born again
Christian,

EXAMPLE: It’s important to make

this distinction, because only a true
Christian can have the certainty of
their salvation.

NOTICE: The characteristics

of a true Christian

Ephesians 1:15 Therefore I also, after I heard of

your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the
saints

MEANING: There are many

Well-meaning people who
would say they are Christians,
but are not truly saved.
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NOTICE: If you are not sure

you are truly a born-again Christian,
let’s just stop of a moment, and ask
God to reveal this to you.

B. PAUL DEVELOPS THE TRUTH OF CERTAINTY

Ephesians 1:16 do not cease to give thanks for you,

making mention of you in my prayers:

NOTICE: Paul begins to pray

for the believers

EXAMPLE: This is always the

Apostle Paul’s method. To teach
and then to pray for application

NOTICE: Look who Paul is praying

to, and what he asks of God

Ephesians 1:17 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
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POINT: Paul knew that only the

Holy Spirit can reveal the things
of God to us.

This is something Pastor Chuck taught us to do

whenever we open the Bible.

Ephesians 1:17 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

IDEA: Shine the light of truth

into your soul, into the believers
mind, into the very core of the believer

IDEA: The word knowledge here

does not mean, simply what one
might learn, rather it’s speaking
of a very personal and intimate
experience of God.

POINT: Knowing God personally,

is the primary reason we have been
created.
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C. IN 1:18 PAUL PRAYS FOR THE NEXT THING

Ephesians 1:18 the eyes of your [f]understanding

being enlightened; that you may know what is the
hope of His calling,

NOTICE: What does this mean, “the hope of HIS

calling”

IDEA: Let’s look at what this means.

NOTICE The word hope as we know it, and the

different meaning It has from God for us

The word hope here means, “To anticipate with

pleasure, and confidence

As we use it …… a feeling of expectation and desire

for a certain thing to happen.

The hope of His calling will happen. It

the certainty of our salvation,

Look at what Jesus said about

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John 6:35 And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread

of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and
he who believes in Me shall never thirst.

John 6:36 But I said to you that you have seen Me

and yet do not believe.

John 6:37 All that the Father gives Me will come to

Me, and the one who comes to Me I will [f]by no
means cast out.

John 6:38 For I have come down from heaven, not

to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.

John 6:39 This is the will of the Father who sent

Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing
but should raise it up at the last day.

John 6:40 And this is the will of Him who sent

Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in
Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up
at the last day.”

22
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On the following day, when the people who were

standing on the other side of the sea saw that there
was no other boat there, except [d]that one [e]which
His disciples had entered, and that Jesus had not
entered the boat with His disciples, but His disciples
had gone away alone— 23 however, other boats
came from Tiberias, near the place where they ate
bread after the Lord had given thanks— 24 when the
people therefore saw that Jesus was not there, nor
His disciples, they also got into boats and came to
Many Disciples Turn Away
60
Therefore many of His disciples, when they
heard this, said, “This is a [m]hard saying; who can
understand it?”
61
When Jesus knew in Himself that His
disciples [n]complained about this, He said to
them, “Does this [o]offend you? 62 Whatthen if you
should see the Son of Man ascend where He was
before? 63 It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh
profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are
spirit, and they are life. 64 But there are some of you
who do not believe.” For Jesus knew from the
beginning who they were who did not believe, and
who would betray Him. 65 And He said, “Therefore I
have said to you that no one can come to Me unless
it has been granted to him by My Father.”
66
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John 10:26 But you do not believe, because you

are not of My sheep, as I said to you.

John 10:27 My sheep hear My voice, and I know

them, and they follow
Me.

John 10:28 And I give them eternal life, and they

shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch
them out of My hand.

John 10: 29 My Father, who has given them to

Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to
snatch them out of My Father’s hand.

John 10:30 I and My Father are one.”

AND PAUL IN ROM 8:31

Romans 8:31 What then shall we say to these

things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
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Romans 8:32 He who did not spare His own

Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall
He not with Him also freely give us all things?

Romans 8:33 Who shall bring a charge against

God’s elect? It is God who justifies.

Romans 8:34 Who is he who condemns? It

is Christ who died, and furthermore is also
risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who
also makes intercession for us.

Romans 8:35 Who shall separate us from the

love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or
persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or
sword?

Romans 8:36 As it is written:

“For Your sake we are killed all day long;
We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”

Romans 8:37 Yet in all these things we are more

than conquerors through Him who loved us.
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Romans 8:38 For I am persuaded that neither

death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor
powers, nor things present nor things to come,

Romans 8:39 nor height nor depth, nor any other

created thing, shall be able to separate us from
the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our
Lord.

Finally, the apostle Peter. in 2nd Peter 1

2nd Peter 1:3 as His divine power has given to us

all things that pertain to life and godliness,
through the knowledge of Him who called us by
glory and virtue,

2nd Peter 1:4 by which have been given to us

exceedingly great and precious promises, that
through these you may be partakers of the divine
nature, having escaped the corruption that is in
the world through lust.

2nd Peter 1:5 But also for this very reason, giving
all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to
virtue knowledge,
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2nd Peter 1:6 to knowledge self-control, to self-

control [d]perseverance, to perseverance
godliness,

2nd Peter 1:7 to godliness brotherly kindness,

and to brotherly kindness love.

2nd Peter 1:8 For if these things are yours and

abound, you will be neither [e]barren nor
unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus
Christ.

2nd Peter 1:9 For he who lacks these things

is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has
forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins.

2nd Peter 1:10 Therefore, brethren, be even more

diligent to make your call and election sure, for if
you do these things you will never stumble;

2nd Peter 1:11 for so an entrance will be supplied

to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom
of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
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Christians can often feel distant from

God.

What is their response when coldness

towards spiritual matters creeps into
their heart?

Does their assurance waver?

How can they have a steady anchor for
their Christian life?
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Rather than wait for another experience,

the prayer of the apostle Paul for
Christians is that they may know the
hope of their calling.

This is not a general hopefulness, but

hope in God.
specifically, hope in God’s calling of
them.

This will have a profound effect on the

assurance
says Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones. In this
sermon on Ephesians 1:18 titled

“The Hope of His Calling,” Dr. Lloyd-

Jones expounds this great prayer of
Paul and carefully navigates between
the general call of God in the gospel for
all and the effectual call of the Holy
Spirit for believers.
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To find assurance, one must look to the

covenant-keeping God and Scripture.

The Christian must look to the God in

whom there is no variation or change, to
the Father who will keep His children by
His grace until the very end.

Dr. Lloyd-Jones challenges Christians to

consider these wonderful truths of
Scripture and pray this for themselves.

SERMON BREAKDOWN

 The apostle Paul is praying for the

Ephesians that the eyes of their
understanding may be enlightened.

 He wants them to know three things
in particular:
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

 The hope of God's calling
 The riches of the glory of His
inheritance in the saints
 The exceeding greatness of His
power toward believers

 Paul reminds them that spiritual
knowledge is only possible through
the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit.
 Without Him, we are in darkness and
ignorance.

 The "eyes of your understanding"
refers to having a spiritual
understanding that permeates our
whole being,

 just an intellectual understanding.

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 Our natural understanding is

darkened until enlightened by the
Spirit.

 Paul is praying for believers, showing
we always need the Spirit's
enlightenment and spiritual growth is
progressive.

 We should pray for increasing
knowledge of God.

 The "hope of His calling" refers to the
assurance and certainty we have in
our salvation by God's effectual
calling.

 This is opposed to the general call of
the gospel that goes out to all.

 Assurance comes through:

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 Knowing the unchanging character

and covenant of God who called us

 Understanding our calling is part of

God's eternal plan, so if called, we are
justified and glorified

 Grasping the truth of our regeneration
and union with Christ by faith

 We should rest in Christ's unchanging
grace, even when we can't see or feel
Him. Our hope is in His oath, covenant,
and blood.

Paul is changing what he has been doing,

which is teaching the Ephesians, about the
blessings that have already come to them.
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These heavenly blessings to those in

Christ, have come from the Father, the Son,
and the Holy ‘Spirit.

We know this, because Paul uses a word

here that is really one of the secrets to a
happy and fruitful Christian life.

It’s one of the most important words in the

‘Bible

If a believer can understand how important

the word Therefore is, when used by the
Apostles in these Epistles.

Why is this?
What is so important about this word?
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It is a clear sign, that the apostle is going to

move from teaching the wonderful doctrines
of God in and through Jesus Christ, to show
how these blessings apply in our lives.

Paul was not just writing a tremendous

theological letter to these believers, He was
not just a great teacher, he was also a
pastor, who wanted to shepherd the people
of God.

Conversion is just the beginning of the

Christian life, just as the birth of child is just
the beginning of a life, with grow and
maturity to follow.

Therefore, shows us how these wonderful

blessings from God become more than
things we learn about, but rather truths that
become lived out in our lives. From knowing
to Growing, from seeing to experiencing,
etc, etc.
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We are going to see how all of this takes

place as we read what Paul is saying here.,

15 Therefore I also, after I heard of your

faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all
the saints,

We also once again, see who Paul is

writing to. He was writing to real and
genuine Christians. Two truths are real
Christians are given here

1. They had a real and active faith in the

Jesus.
2. They also had love for all the saints,

They knew Jesus Christ, which was

evidenced by the fact that they loved or
agaped other Christians.
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Notice: their faith in Jesus, and love for

other believers, was in addition to many
other things he had said earlier

Saints, faithful, and in Christ Jesus

Sealed by the Holy Spirit, which speaks of
God’s ownership and protection of them
along with the guarantee that what he starte
he would finish, getting them all the way to
heaven,

Remember, therefore, means in light of,, or

because of , consequently , for that reason

So today, let’s briefly discuss one of the

most ignored words in the Bible: and the
most important therefore.
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In its most basic sense, the word simply

means “for that reason.” It serves as a nice
transition to take us from a writer saying
something, and then explaining what that
means or why we should care. Think of the
word “therefore” as a magnifying glass,
taking a bigger idea and zooming in to an
important aspect of it. It says “We’ve
discussed a big truth, now here’s why it
matters.”

None of us question whether these verses

are good and right.

But when we understand the “why” behind

making them a part of our lives, then our
Christian walk becomes less
about our actions and more about the
motivations behind them.
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If there’s one thing we must always

remember, it’s that God doesn’t just
care what we do, but also why we do it.

Therefore, it’s important to understand what

motivation we should have for doing these
things. So whenever you encounter this
word, take time to answer one of the most
important questions we can ask in our Bible
reading: What’s the “therefore” there for?

One of my earliest college teachers taught

me to ask a certain question every time I
encountered the word “therefore” in the
Bible. He told me to ask the question:

Wherefore is that “therefore” there for?

So let’s ask that question of what is, at least

in my opinion, the single most important
“therefore” in the Bible. It appears in
Romans 12:1: “Therefore, brothers and
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That’s because this is the point where the

letter changes. Paul is about to apply all the
theological explanations he has been
developing for the past eleven chapters.
(To use grammatical-theological language,
this is the point in the letter where Paul
moves from the indicative to
the imperative.) This suggestion is
confirmed by Paul’s use of the expression
“by the mercies of God,” which probably
does not refer merely to what came
immediately before, nor even to the
preceding three chapters (9-11), but may in
fact refer back to the “whole massive
argument that preceded it,” as Leon Morris
suggests.[1]
In other words, when Paul writes
“Therefore…by the mercies of God, I urge
you to present your bodies as a living
sacrifice…” he is saying something like:
“Based upon all that I have written to you so
far in this letter…that everyone is bound
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under sin…that justification comes only

through the propitiation of Christ…that
justification is by faith not by works…that
everyone inherits sin through Adam, but in
Christ is made alive…that we died and rose
with Christ…that the Law no longer is our
regulating principle…that sanctification is
through the Holy Spirit…that nothing can
separate us from the love of God in
Christ…that Gentiles have been
incorporated into God’s plan for Israel…that
God is sovereign in all he does…that God
has a future plan for Israel……based
upon all of this(!), I urge you to present your
bodies—your entire selves—as living
sacrifices to God. Now let me lay out for
you in the next four chapters how it works
out in practice.”
That’s the reason the “therefore” of Romans
12:1 is probably the most important
“therefore” in the Bible.
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Christians can often feel distant from God.

What is their response when coldness
towards spiritual matters creeps into their
heart? Does their assurance waver? How
can they have a steady anchor for their
Christian life? Rather than wait for another
experience, the prayer of the apostle Paul
for Christians is that they may know the
hope of their calling. This is not a general
hopefulness, but hope in God. More
specifically, hope in God’s calling of them.
This will have a profound effect on the
assurance says Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones. In
this sermon on Ephesians 1:18 titled “The
Hope of His Calling,” Dr. Lloyd-Jones
expounds this great prayer of Paul and
carefully navigates between the general call
of God in the gospel for all and the effectual
call of the Holy Spirit for believers. To find
assurance, one must look to the covenant-
keeping God and Scripture. The Christian
must look to the God in whom there is no
variation or change, to the Father who will
32

keep His children by His grace until the very

end. Dr. Lloyd-Jones challenges Christians
to consider these wonderful truths of
Scripture and pray this for themselves.

SERMON BREAKDOWN
Christians can often feel distant from God.
What is their response when coldness
towards spiritual matters creeps into their
heart? Does their assurance waver? How
can they have a steady anchor for their
Christian life? Rather than wait for another
experience, the prayer of the apostle Paul
for Christians is that they may know the
hope of their calling. This is not a general
hopefulness, but hope in God. More
specifically, hope in God’s calling of them.
This will have a profound effect on the
assurance says Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones. In
this sermon on Ephesians 1:18 titled “The
Hope of His Calling,” Dr. Lloyd-Jones
33

expounds this great prayer of Paul and

carefully navigates between the general call
of God in the gospel for all and the effectual
call of the Holy Spirit for believers. To find
assurance, one must look to the covenant-
keeping God and Scripture. The Christian
must look to the God in whom there is no
variation or change, to the Father who will
keep His children by His grace until the very
end. Dr. Lloyd-Jones challenges Christians
to consider these wonderful truths of
Scripture and pray this for themselves.


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Book of Ephesians


 The Hope of His Calling

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SERMON #4029
The Hope of His Calling
A Sermon on Ephesians 1:18
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SCRIPTURE
Ephesians 1:18ESVKJV
18The 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,
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SERMON DESCRIPTION

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 [f]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
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the exceeding greatness of His power

toward us who believe, according to the
working of His mighty power

INTRO:

OUTLNE: