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A Spirit of Understanding
Introduction
We discovered that we were “born rich” when we trusted Christ.
But this is not enough, for we must grow in our understanding of our riches if we are ever going to use them to the glory of God.
Too many Christians have never “read the bankbook” to find out the vast spiritual wealth that God has put to their account through Jesus Christ.
We discovered that we were “born rich” when we trusted Christ.
But this is not enough, for we must grow in our understanding of our riches if we are ever going to use them to the glory of God.
Too many Christians have never “read the bankbook” to find out the vast spiritual wealth that God has put to their account through Jesus Christ.
They are like the late newspaper publisher, William Randolph Hearst, who invested a fortune collecting art treasures from around the world.
One day Mr. Hearst found a description of some valuable items that he felt he must own, so he sent his agent abroad to find them.
After months of searching, the agent reported that he had finally found the treasures.
They were in Mr. Hearst’s warehouse.
Hearst had been searching frantically for treasures he already owned!
Had he read the catalog of his treasures, he would have saved himself a great deal of money and trouble.
Paul desired the Ephesian Christians to understand what great wealth they had in Christ.
Paul knew of their faith and love, and in this he rejoiced.
The Christian life has two dimensions: faith toward God and love toward men, and you cannot separate the two.
But Paul knew that faith and love were just the beginning.
The Ephesians needed to know much more.
This is why he prayed for them, and for us.
They are like the late newspaper publisher, William Randolph Hearst, who invested a fortune collecting art treasures from around the world.
One day Mr. Hearst found a description of some valuable items that he felt he must own, so he sent his agent abroad to find them.
After months of searching, the agent reported that he had finally found the treasures.
They were in Mr. Hearst’s warehouse.
Hearst had been searching frantically for treasures he already owned!
Had he read the catalog of his treasures, he would have saved himself a great deal of money and trouble.
Paul desired the Ephesian Christians to understand what great wealth they had in Christ.
Paul knew of their faith and love, and in this he rejoiced.
The Christian life has two dimensions: faith toward God and love toward men, and you cannot separate the two.
But Paul knew that faith and love were just the beginning.
The Ephesians needed to know much more.
This is why he prayed for them, and for us.
Before we study Paul’s four requests in this “prayer for enlightenment,” we must notice two facts.
Before we study Paul’s four requests in this “prayer for enlightenment,” we must notice two facts.
Enlightenment comes from the Holy Spirit.
He is the “Spirit of wisdom and revelation” (; ; ).
With his natural mind, man cannot understand the things of God.
He needs the Spirit to enlighten him ().
The Holy Spirit reveals truth to us from the Word, and then gives us the wisdom to understand and apply it.
Literally this verse reads, “The eyes of your heart may be enlightened.”
We think of the heart as the emotional part of man, but in the Bible, the heart means the inner man, and includes the emotions, the mind, and the will.
The inner man, the heart, has spiritual faculties that
I A Spirit of Knowing(1:17)
parallel the physical senses.
The inner man can see (; ), hear (; ), taste (; ), smell (; ), and touch ().
This is what Jesus meant when He said of the people, “They seeing see not, and hearing they hear not” ().
The inability to see and understand spiritual things is not the fault of the intelligence but of the heart.
The eyes of the heart must be opened by the Spirit of God.
This, of course, is the highest knowledge possible.
The atheist claims there is no God for us to know, and the agnostic states that if there is a God we cannot know Him.
parallel the physical senses.
The inner man can see (; ), hear (; ), taste (; ), smell (; ), and touch ().
This is what Jesus meant when He said of the people, “They seeing see not, and hearing they hear not” ().
The inability to see and understand spiritual things is not the fault of the intelligence but of the heart.
The eyes of the heart must be opened by the Spirit of God.
But Paul has met God in the person of Jesus Christ, and he knows that a man really cannot understand much of anything else without a knowledge of God.
This, of course, is the highest knowledge possible.
The atheist claims there is no God for us to know, and the agnostic states that if there is a God we cannot know Him.
But Paul has met God in the person of Jesus Christ, and he knows that a man really cannot understand much of anything else without a knowledge of God.
This willful ignorance of God led mankind into corruption and condemnation.
In ., Paul described the stages in man’s devolution: from willful ignorance of God to idolatry (substituting a lie for the truth) to immorality and indecency.
Where does it begin?
It begins with an unwillingness to know God as Creator, Sustainer, Governor, Savior, and Judge.
The believer must grow in his knowledge of God.
To know God personally is salvation ().
To know Him increasingly is sanctification ().
To know Him perfectly is glorification ().
Since we are made in the image of God (), the better we know God, the better we know ourselves and each other.
It is not enough to know God only as Savior.
We must get to know Him as Father, Friend, Guide, and the better we know Him, the more satisfying our spiritual lives will be.
A believer said to me one day after a Bible lesson, “I’m sure glad I came!
You gave me two good verses to use on my wicked neighbor!”
Surely there are times when we use God’s Word as a sword to defeat the enemy, but that is not the primary purpose behind the writing of the Bible.
As the familiar hymn puts it, Beyond the sacred page I seek Thee, Lord.
My spirit pants for Thee, O living Word.
This willful ignorance of God led mankind into corruption and condemnation.
In ., Paul described the stages in man’s devolution: from willful ignorance of God to idolatry (substituting a lie for the truth) to immorality and indecency.
Where does it begin?
It begins with an unwillingness to know God as Creator, Sustainer, Governor, Savior, and Judge.
The believer must grow in his knowledge of God.
To know God personally is salvation ().
In ., Paul described the stages in man’s devolution: from willful ignorance of God to idolatry (substituting a lie for the truth) to immorality and indecency.
Where does it begin?
It begins with an unwillingness to know God as Creator, Sustainer, Governor, Savior, and Judge.
The believer must grow in his knowledge of God.
To know God personally is salvation ().
To know Him increasingly is sanctification ().
To know Him perfectly is glorification ().
Since we are made in the image of God (), the better we know God, the better we know ourselves and each other.
It is not enough to know God only as Savior.
We must get to know Him as Father, Friend, Guide, and the better we know Him, the more satisfying our spiritual lives will be.
A believer said to me one day after a Bible lesson, “I’m sure glad I came!
You gave me two good verses to use on my wicked neighbor!”
Surely there are times when we use God’s Word as a sword to defeat the enemy, but that is not the primary purpose behind the writing of the Bible.
As the familiar hymn puts it, Beyond the sacred page I seek Thee, Lord.
My spirit pants for Thee, O living Word.
To know Him increasingly is sanctification ().
To know Him perfectly is glorification ().
Since we are made in the image of God (), the better we know God, the better we know ourselves and each other.
II A Spirit to Know God’s Calling (1:18)
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