Click here to view listing below for Tit 2:13
I. THAT THE EYES OF YOUR UNDERSTANDING BEING ENLIGHTENED.
A. He has just prayed that God would give to them the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him.
B. He desires that they be aware of the spiritual dimension.
1. We have the case of Elisha when the Syrian army was sent to Dothan to take him captive.
2KI 6:15 And when the servant of the man of God was risen early, and gone forth, behold, an host compassed the city both with horses and chariots. And his servant said unto him, Alas, my master! how shall we do?
2KI 6:16 And he answered, Fear not: for they that [be] with us [are] more than they that [be] with them.
2KI 6:17 And Elisha prayed, and said, LORD, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the LORD opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain [was] full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.
C. There is a spiritual world that for the most part is unseen and unknown to us.
1. Though we cannot touch it is there.
2. Though we cannot see it except God open our eyes, it is none the less there.
3. I believe that we often feel it, though we may not recognize it.
D. Angels are spirit beings and dwell in this spiritual realm.
E. Jesus said that God is a Spirit, and they that worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and in truth.
F. The Bible speaks of those whose eyes are blind.
ISA 29:10 For the LORD hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes: the prophets and your rulers, the seers hath he covered.
MAT 13:15 For this people's heart is waxed gross, and [their] ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with [their] eyes and hear with [their] ears, and should understand with [their] heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.
G. The Lord is able to open our eyes.
PSA 119:18 Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.
LUK 24:45 Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures,
Act 16:14 And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshipped God, heard [us]: whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul.
H. The Lord called Paul to go to the Gentiles.
Act 26:18 To open their eyes, [and] to turn [them] from darkness to light, and [from] the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.
II. IMPORTANT SPIRITUAL TRUTH WE NEED TO KNOW. "WHAT IS THE HOPE OF YOUR CALLING."
A. You who have been called of God to be His people.
ROM 8:30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.
1PE 2:9 But ye [are] a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light:
1. Paul speaks of the hope of the gospel. It is surely a gospel of hope.
COL 1:23 If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and [be] not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, [and] which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;
2. He speaks of the hope that is laid up for us in heaven.
COL 1:5 For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel;
B. What is the hope of your calling?
1. The hope of righteousness a right standing before God.
GAL 5:5 For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.
TIT 2:13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ;
TIT 3:7 That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
2. John speaks of the hope of being like Him.
1JO 3:1 Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.
1JO 3:2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
1JO 3:3 And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.
C. One of the greatest needs for the believer today is to know the hope of your calling.
1. If you only knew the things that God has in store for those that love Him. Paul said,
1CO 2:9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.
1CO 2:10 But God hath revealed [them] unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.
2. If you only knew how glorious heaven is.
a. Paul was taken by the Spirit into the third heaven and heard things so glorious that he could not describe them. Human language was inadequate.
b. One of the real problems in the church today is the loss of the honest belief in heaven.
c. John was taken into heaven in Revelation chapter 4 and began to describe its glory and the events that were transpiring there.
d. You have heard the proverb, "So heavenly minded that he is no earthly good." I would rather that that be my case than like so many, as to be, "So earthly minded that they are no heavenly good."
III. HE ALSO DESIRED THAT THE SPIRIT REVEAL TO THEM WHAT WERE THE RICHES OF THE GLORY OF HIS INHERITANCE IN THE SAINTS.
A. Your knowing your inheritance was his first desire, this second desire is that you might know the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints.
B. That you might know how much God treasures you.
1. In the parables Jesus spoke of the man going through a field and discovering a treasure for which he sells everything that he might buy the field so as to obtain the treasure.
2. He speaks of the merchant looking for pearls and when he found a pearl of great price he sold all and bought it.
3. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
4. He spared not His own Son but delivered Him up for us all.
5. These things He did for you when you were still His enemy. How much more now that you have surrendered your life to Him shall He not freely give to you all things.
C. These things you can only know by spiritual revelation.
D. The natural man thinks of God if He exists, so far removed as to be untouchable, and certainly unconcerned with mankind as a whole and totally oblivious to man as an individual.
1. God is thinking about you.
PSA 139:17 How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them!
PSA 139:18 [If] I should count them, they are more in number than the sand:
JER 29:11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.
2. Jesus taught just how much the Father was aware of you even small trivia about you.
a. For instance the number of hairs on your head.
Verse-Reference
Square — [Jhn 1:1 KJV]
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