Ephesians 1: 15-17
Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints, Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers; 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:
Today I mainly want to focus on the last phrase and the subject of the next several verses to follow and that is Paul's prayer request for the believers at Ephesus to grow in the knowledge of Christ. Although, I do first want to notice quickly how Paul was giving thanks in his prayers for their faith. Nothing makes a pastor or preacher or even a father or mother more thankful than to see someone you have shared the Gospel with grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord. Think about watching your kids grow up, as they age they mature and begin to crawl then walk and before long their running. They start forming words, then sentences and after while they can read and write. They pick up skills and talents along the way and before you know it they have become a full blown adult with children of their own and caring for themselves and their own little families. This is how the pastors and preachers in your life feel when they see a life they have invested in for the Lord begin to grow and blossom. A man or woman gets saved and they begin attending church,then tithing and before you know it every time the doors of the church are opened they are there. They start sharing the gospel with others and want to invest in the spreading of the gospel. They become forgiving, patient, charitable, meek and holy. It is a beautiful process of sanctification and christian maturity. Maybe the Man feels a burden and calling to be a preacher of the Gospel, he devotes his whole life to that very cause and in some years you see that man move to a different place and start a little church and people begin to get saved there. This is why Paul is so thankful, he never had any biological sons or daughters of his own but he is seeing the ones he has invested in and shared the Gospel with become mature Christians and that sense of parental pride causes him to thank God for the progress and faith that these believers have. Let's ask ourselves a question before we go any further. Do the pastors and preachers in your life feel pride or alarm when they see how you've mature in the knowledge and faith of the Lord? Have you matured or withered? If there isn't progressive maturity there is a problem, to which Paul offers a solution to in the next few verses. His request is that they grow and learn more, that they have the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him.
When I first read verse 17 I automatically thought Paul was prating for three things: wisdom, revelation and knowledge but when you read the verse carefully you understand that he is praying for the spirit of wisdom in the knowledge of Christ and revelation of the knowledge of Christ. The focus is the knowledge of Christ, that they would have a spirit of discovery and application in the knowledge of Christ. Wisdom is the application of knowledge and revelation is the discovery of knowledge. We need a sense or spirit of both when it comes to our knowledge of Christ. We need to feel that sense of discovery or revelation when we begin to study and learn about Christ. I grew up on a large plot of land in Alabama, I had access to hundreds of acres maybe even thousands, if you count the neighbors land. One of my favorite things to do as a child was go and discovery and uncover different parts of the woods. When friends would visit we would go and spend all day discovering different parts of land. By the time I was 16 years old I knew where ever property line was, every valley, every hill, every stream and lake. What I remember most though is that sense or feeling I had when I found a new stream or a swamp I didn't know about, I guess you could call it a spirit of revelation. Before my adolescent eyes there was a new stream, pond, hill, valley being revealed. I felt like I was Louis & Clark discovering new territory. Today that same sense of exploration and discovery is there, although it has dimmed in earthly matters but when I read the scripture it is alive and well. When we read the scripture and God reveals to us some truth I feel as if I have stumbled upon a hill full of gold. The hills and valley's of my childhood are nothing compared to the truth and knowledge I find in the Word of God. I spent my childhood discovering our property until I knew it like the back of my hand. I hope to spend the remainder of my life discovering the wonderful truths and knowledge of Christ. The property of my childhood was big enough but when you got to a certain point there were fences and signs warning not to trespass. In our discovery of the riches and knowledge of Christ you'll meet no such barriers. They are described as the unsearchable riches of Christ. Every day get up with that spirit of revelation and explore the scripture for wonderful words of life. Oh to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height. We'll save the spirit of Wisdom for another day and I'll close with what I'd tell my mother as I hurried out the door of my childhood home. Mother would shout "Where are you going?!" My reply would be "Exploring!" Today I have a grander adventure from the chair that I sit in than hiking the Appalachian trial. My body may seem still and inactive but in my spirit I'm miles, nay light years away, in a land that is fairer than day. I visit Calvary, then to Ephesus, Corinth, Galatia, to the isle of Patmos, the missionary journeys of Paul and Barnabas. Then tomorrow there is more ground to cover, more to see, until I reach the end of my journey I hope I never lose that spirit of revelation!
According to the riches of His Grace!!
Comentarios