Open My Eyes
Sermon notes from “Open My Eyes,” preached by Bryan Jones at Brookwood Church. Part of Citizens and Saints, exploring Paul's prayer for believers to know their hope, value, and power in Jesus.
Welcome to Brookwood
There are many new people coming to Brookwood, and we could not be more thrilled that you are here. People who have been here for years are praying that newcomers would know how much they are loved.
Make room for someone new. We pray that you find roots, friends, and a place to belong.
Connection and care
Connect Track meets between services at 10:15. Its four classes introduce people to Brookwood and opportunities to get involved. You can begin on any week.
Baptism classes were announced for August 23 for all ages, with an additional adult class on August 25.
Thursday Night Care offers community, an option for dinner, and childcare. After walking through divorce, Karen found people who listened, shared the grace of Jesus, and walked alongside her. Today, she helps others through their own hurts and struggles.
Preparing our hearts
The service began with thanksgiving for the victory Jesus won, gratitude for God's grace, and worship declaring that He is worthy of all glory.
The prayer was that hearing God's Word would change us and form in us the character of people who love, believe, trust, and follow Him.
As worship led into the Scripture reading, the prayer became: Open the eyes of my heart, Lord. I want to see You.
16 I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers,
17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in your knowledge of Him.
18 I ask that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you may know the hope of His calling, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints,
19 and the surpassing greatness of His power to us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of His mighty strength,
20 which He exerted in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly realms,
21 far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.
22 And God put everything under His feet and made Him head over everything for the church,
23 which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.
From a foundation to a deeper faith
In week two of Citizens and Saints, Bryan builds on the truths that we have been chosen, adopted, and redeemed.
Paul wants to close the gap between what people expect faith to be and what it really is. Having laid that foundation, he now prays that believers would know God more deeply.
He wants God to open the eyes of their hearts.
A faith people hear about
As the Christians in Ephesus woke up to what they had in Jesus, they could not stop talking about Him. Paul heard about their faith and their love for God's people, and he kept giving thanks for them.
We naturally tell people about things that have impacted our lives. Their witness was not merely an obligation. They had encountered Jesus in a real way.
Yet Paul kept asking God to give them wisdom and revelation so they could know Him better. There was more for them to see.
What are the eyes of the heart?
In American culture, we often use heart to mean emotions. In the biblical setting, the heart refers to the inner person, including the will, inner life, and place of decision.
Paul is praying for more than people reading truths with their eyes or singing words with their mouths. He wants something to awaken in their spirits so they actually believe what they read and sing.
He wants truth to move from the head into the heart.
Seeing clearly
Bryan showed a video of a little girl receiving glasses. She could already see, but she could not see clearly. With the glasses came a visible moment of recognition and delight.
Many of us can see truths about God without seeing them clearly in a way that transforms us.
Paul wants that moment of awakening in three areas: our hope in Jesus, our value to God, and His power for believers.
1. Open my eyes to hope
Paul prays that believers would know the hope to which God has called them.
Bryan described the fear and suffering Christians faced under Nero, including persecution and death. Against that backdrop, hope was not a small or abstract concern.
Our circumstances may be different, but some of us are anxious and overwhelmed about the future. Paul's prayer is that hope would sink deeply into our spirits, not remain something we merely quote or sing about.
Worldly hope and biblical hope
Worldly hope is something we wish for but remain uncertain about: a good report from the doctor, things working out with our children, or circumstances changing.
Biblical hope rests in Jesus rather than circumstances. Bryan describes it as a confident reality and a confident expectation.
You do not have to know the future if you know the One who holds the future.
Hope does not mean nothing bad happens
Trusting Jesus does not mean that no bad things will happen. It means He can bring beauty from ashes.
Consider the cross. An instrument of execution has become a source of hope because of what Jesus did.
We can face opposition, problems, and uncertainty with steadiness because our hope is not attached to circumstances.
An anchor in the storm
An anchor attaches a boat to something solid. Without it, storms, currents, and wind move the boat.
Our hope is attached to an unshakable, unchanging God.
The question is not only whether we understand this in our heads. What if the Spirit opened the eyes of our hearts so we could face what is ahead knowing God would not leave us?
2. Open my eyes to my value
Paul also prays that believers would know the riches of God's glorious inheritance in His holy people.
Bryan recalls teaching from Acts 19 and describes Ephesus as a wealthy city, known for the temple of Artemis, marble streets, and beautiful mosaics.
In a city surrounded by displays of wealth, Paul points believers toward something far more valuable.
2 and asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?” “No,” they answered, “we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”
3 “Into what, then, were you baptized?” Paul asked. “The baptism of John,” they replied.
4 Paul explained: “John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the One coming after him, that is, in Jesus.”
5 On hearing this, they were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus.
6 And when Paul laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied.
7 There were about twelve men in all.
8 Then Paul went into the synagogue and spoke boldly there for three months, arguing persuasively about the kingdom of God.
9 But when some of them stubbornly refused to believe and publicly maligned the Way, Paul took his disciples and left the synagogue to conduct daily discussions in the lecture hall of Tyrannus.
10 This continued for two years, so that everyone who lived in the province of Asia, Jews and Greeks alike, heard the word of the Lord.
11 God did extraordinary miracles through the hands of Paul,
12 so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick, and the diseases and evil spirits left them.
13 Now there were some itinerant Jewish exorcists who tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those with evil spirits. They would say, “I bind you by Jesus, whom Paul proclaims.”
14 Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this.
15 Eventually, one of the evil spirits answered them, “Jesus I know, and I know about Paul, but who are you?”
16 Then the man with the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all. The attack was so violent that they ran out of the house naked and wounded.
17 This became known to all the Jews and Greeks living in Ephesus, and fear came over all of them. So the name of the Lord Jesus was held in high honor.
18 Many who had believed now came forward, confessing and disclosing their deeds.
19 And a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books and burned them in front of everyone. When the value of the books was calculated, the total came to fifty thousand drachmas.
20 So the word of the Lord powerfully continued to spread and prevail.
21 After these things had happened, Paul resolved in the Spirit to go to Jerusalem after he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia. “After I have been there,” he said, “I must see Rome as well.”
22 He sent two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus, to Macedonia, while he stayed for a time in the province of Asia.
23 About that time there arose a great disturbance about the Way.
24 It began with a silversmith named Demetrius who made silver shrines of Artemis, bringing much business to the craftsmen.
25 Demetrius assembled the craftsmen, along with the workmen in related trades. “Men,” he said, “you know that this business is our source of prosperity.
26 And you can see and hear that not only in Ephesus, but in nearly the whole province of Asia, Paul has persuaded a great number of people to turn away. He says that man-made gods are no gods at all.
27 There is danger not only that our business will fall into disrepute, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be discredited and her majesty deposed—she who is worshiped by all the province of Asia and the whole world.”
28 When the men heard this, they were enraged and began shouting, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”
29 Soon the whole city was in disarray. They rushed together into the theatre, dragging with them Gaius and Aristarchus, Paul’s traveling companions from Macedonia.
30 Paul wanted to go before the assembly, but the disciples would not allow him.
31 Even some of Paul’s friends who were officials of the province of Asia sent word to him, begging him not to venture into the theatre.
32 Meanwhile the assembly was in turmoil. Some were shouting one thing and some another, and most of them did not even know why they were there.
33 The Jews in the crowd pushed Alexander forward to explain himself, and he motioned for silence so he could make his defense to the people.
34 But when they realized that he was a Jew, they all shouted in unison for about two hours: “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”
35 Finally the city clerk quieted the crowd and declared, “Men of Ephesus, doesn’t everyone know that the city of Ephesus is guardian of the temple of the great Artemis and of her image, which fell from heaven?
36 Since these things are undeniable, you ought to be calm and not do anything rash.
37 For you have brought these men here, though they have neither robbed our temple nor blasphemed our goddess.
38 So if Demetrius and his fellow craftsmen have a complaint against anyone, the courts are open and proconsuls are available. Let them bring charges against one another there.
39 But if you are seeking anything beyond this, it must be settled in a legal assembly.
40 For we are in jeopardy of being charged with rioting for today’s events, and we have no justification to account for this commotion.”
41 After he had said this, he dismissed the assembly.
God's prized possession
If God owns every resource, what does He prize most?
Paul describes His glorious inheritance as being in His holy people. The richest and most powerful being in the universe calls His people His prized possession.
What would change if that became more than a familiar statement about God's love? What if you woke up and went to bed knowing you were treasured by Him?
Love is not measured by performance
Some people assume that God's first thought about them is disappointment. They believe their performance, good or bad, determines how much He loves them.
Paul's description of God's inheritance does not depend on whether we had a good week, read enough, or sang well.
We do not worship because we are good or deserve it. We worship because we are forgiven.
Who gets to tell you who you are?
One reason we struggle to receive God's love is that we have let someone other than God tell us who we are.
Your spouse, friends, boss, or ex does not get the final word about your identity. Neither does the world.
Jesus gets to tell you who you are. Let the eyes of your heart awaken to what He says: you are His prized possession.
3. Open my eyes to Your power
Paul prays that believers would know God's incomparably great power for those who believe. It is the same mighty strength displayed when God raised Christ from the dead and seated Him at His right hand.
Ephesus and Rome were surrounded by political and military power. Paul directs Christians beyond the empire's strength to the power of God.
What if we really believed that the power that raised Jesus from the grave lives in us?
Power that sends us out
Jesus told His disciples they would receive power when the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they would become His witnesses to the ends of the earth.
Bryan puts it this way: the Spirit inside us is better than Jesus beside us. Jesus' earthly ministry covered a limited area, but His Spirit would empower His people to carry His witness throughout the world.
Believers can be light in dark places, bringing God's kingdom into their workplaces, families, schools, and communities.
A hospital-room reminder
Bryan visited a man from the church who had been sick and was becoming ready to respond to Jesus. As they talked, repeated interruptions left Bryan frustrated and distracted.
He began to wonder whether the moment was meant to happen. Then he remembered what he was preaching and prayed, Would You open the eyes of my heart to Your power?
He recognized that he had been relying on his own strength, wisdom, and abilities. As he got out of the way, the man gave his life to Jesus.
More than trying harder
A sermon can resonate on Sunday, but later we face temptation, conflict, frustration, or fear.
Rather than relying only on determination, Bryan invites believers to pray: God, open the eyes of my heart to Your power.
- When temptation surfaces.
- When you want to lash out at your spouse or child.
- When you need to have a difficult conversation with truth and grace.
- When you need to take steps toward forgiveness.
- When you feel confused or afraid.
The invitation is for truth to permeate our being, not remain only in our heads.
Pause and pray
Take 30 seconds to ask the Spirit of God for spiritual eyes to see.
- God, open the eyes of my heart to the hope I have in You.
- God, open the eyes of my heart to my value to You.
- God, open the eyes of my heart to Your power.
Pray specifically about the area where you need Him to awaken your heart.
Closing prayer
Father God, open the eyes of our hearts. Let these truths reach our inmost being rather than remain only words we sing or truths we acknowledge.
Take us deeper in the hope we have in You and in our understanding of our value to You. Awaken us to Your power so we can say no to things we have been saying yes to.
Help us know that this power comes from nothing and no one other than You. King Jesus, we honor You and want to live from Your power today. In Your name, amen.
