Transformative Insight: Enlightenment of the Heart

this is our fourth session now on ephesians 1 17 to 19 which is paul's prayer that all the theology and doctrine that he taught in chapter 1, verses 3 through 14 would now be known as utterly, totally life-changing and not just known the way devils know it they know it but we need to know it differently so he prays that the god of our lord jesus christ the father of glory may grant you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him of god so if we're going to know the god of ephesians 1 3 to 14 which is one of the most amazing revelations of god in all the world then we need a spirit of wisdom and a revelation [00:00:06]

father as we talk about the eyes of the heart show us what that is that's a strange picture lord eyeballs in the heart what what is that lord help us to know it helps to know what this light is and why paul feels the need to talk this way after saying we have a spirit of wisdom and a revelation so come and work this sight this illumination in our hearts i pray in jesus name just think about it for just a moment in the words themselves eyes what are eyes for eyes are for seeing seeing what seeing reality [00:02:02]

eyes are for not stumbling over things that are there not falling off of cliffs or not walking into the fire eyes are to help you know reality what really is sometimes we exalt imagination which is fine the imagination has a wonderful place in the christian life but you don't want your imagination dominating closed eyes when you're dying of thirst and there's a well in front of you you want to see what's really there you want to shut your eyes and imagine an ocean 100 miles away and start traipsing off toward the ocean you want eyes that see what is really there and that's what we need we need reality [00:03:00]

the heart has thoughts just like the mind does but the heart is more than thinking it's also affection and preferring and feeling and you can see that for example here in ephesians 5 do not get drunk with wine for that is debauchery but be filled with the spirit addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs singing and making melody to the lord with your heart that's more than having right doctrine in these melodies this is the engagement of the human soul spirit affections all that we are deep down in the center of our being that includes our emotions and our affections not just our our thoughts [00:04:20]

these eyes see what they see the reality of worth and beauty and greatness in god they see god as valuable and beautiful and great this is the kind of seeing that devils do not have and the pharisees who saw and did not see did not have so eyes for reality hearts that see value beauty greatness and therefore know god as he really is and then there's light enlightened which implies what that without this happening we're in darkness we're in darkness about the knowledge of god we don't know who god really is we may talk about him all day dawn all day long we may write doctoral dissertations about him and we don't know his worth we don't know his beauty we don't know his greatness we don't know him because we're darkened [00:05:19]

you must no longer walk as the gentiles do in the futility of their minds they are darkened in their understanding alienated from the life of god because of the ignorance that is in them now you wonder what's at the bottom of this darkness what's at the bottom of this ignorance of god and the answer is hardness of heart see that due to this is beneath this hardness of heart gives rise to ignorance it's not the other way around it's not like they're innocently ignorant and then they get hard hardness precedes and is at the bottom of ignorance what is this because that's got to be overcome if there's going to be light right if this is going to happen that hardness has to be overcome [00:06:47]

since they did not approve to have god in their knowledge god gave them up to a debased mind the hardness is a stiff firm preference not to have god in our knowledge for who he really is not glorious not beautiful not pleasing not authoritative we don't want him it's a want issue and you can see that here just a few verses earlier in chapter one they became futile in their thinking their foolish hearts were darkened claiming to be wise they became fools and here it is they exchanged they preferred they exchanged the glory of the immortal god for images they preferred these images they wanted these images they desired these images they were made glad by these images that's the root issue at the hardness underneath the blindness and the darkness is a preference it's not ignorance it's what we want it's what we desire it's what we are made glad by it's what we approve of [00:08:20]

in jesus teaching this is why i speak to them in parables because seeing they don't see seeing with the eyes of the head they don't see with the eyes of the heart and hearing with the ears of the head they don't hear with the ears of the heart nor do they understand indeed in their case the prophecy of isaiah is fulfilled you will indeed hear with the ears of the head but never understand with the ears and mind of the heart yes the mind of the heart and you will indeed see with the eyes of the head but never perceive with the eyes of the heart for this people's heart has grown dull it's hard underneath this lack of perception and with their ears they can barely hear in their eyes they have closed [00:10:19]

how can the light of worth the light of beauty the life of greatness to know god as he really is how can that light stream into our hearts and make us new people thrilled to know god and the answer as we saw last time is here again but what i didn't point out last time which i will now is this god who said let light shine out of darkness that same creator god has got to do it again now in our hearts he has shown in our hearts i'm just underlining that he has shown this is the enlightenment of right there having the eyes of our hearts enlightened when and how did that happen it happens when god sovereignly says let there be light in the heart and what does the heart see what do the eyes of the heart see when this divine shining happens through the gospel through the word of god we get light the light of the knowledge of the beauty worth greatness of god that's our desperate need and we christians need it afresh over and over again which is what paul is praying for it here after his great theology [00:11:22]