Thursday – September 29, 2016
Greetings in Jesus name. Isn’t this study of the Book of Ephesians just wonderful? Not because I am teaching it but because it is a wonderful section of Scripture. When we make it our own we will step into a maturity we might only have previously dreamed about. I think it may be true that most of us over estimate our level of spiritual maturity. Like in the natural, the fourteen year old that thinks they are fifty. We have all heard the saying from parents to this all knowing teenager: “why don’t you move out while you still know everything?” This lack of humility does not happen only in the physical natural realm but in the spiritual realm as well. Persons who have gone on into higher education have commonly reported that the more they learned the more aware they became of the vast amount of knowledge they did not know and previously really had no idea it even existed. Now, back to our study.
Ephesians 1:16-18 (KJV)
16 Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers; 17 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: 18 The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,
Brother and sister we must choose to increase in wisdom and revelation and we must choose to do it by increasing our knowledge of Him. To know someone you have to spend time with them so that you start to understand how they think, how they talk, and how they do things. Just as this is true in the natural it is true in the spiritual, in our relationship with God. The following Scripture tells us that study, work is involved so that we can understand and apply the right Word in the right context in the right situations.
2 Timothy 2:15-16 (KJV)
15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
16 But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness.
The other thing that you will notice as you mature is immature persons just going on and on with no understanding of what they are talking about, failing to rightly divide the Word. They have some religious phrases and an authoritative sound but it is profane and vain babblings. If they will not receive teaching we must stay away from those persons until they are ready to repent, receive the Truth, and mature. The Spirit of wisdom and understanding is ever present with and in the born again person. He frequently is unable to engage with the person for He remains uninvited and the person is unwilling to repent and shed the false doctrines that permeate their thinking and speech. Unfortunately these thoughts and words form the world of the individual and they don’t understand why they are in confusion with stealing, killing, and destroying ongoing in their lives at every level. We all desperately need light but each of us must choose to have more light and then purposefully choose to walk in that light. Let’s look again at our verse of interest.
Ephesians 1:17 (KJV)
17 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:
Wisdom is the best and highest use of information. Revelation is the uncovering or bringing to light that which was previously not known or understood. The word knowledge in this verse is the very highest level of knowledge that is clear and exact that strikes at the very core of the truth about a given topic, in this case a knowledge of God. As we increase our knowledge then the Holy Spirit will teach us the best use of that knowledge and will uncover or bring more understanding to our mind. Diligence to increase our knowledge of God will cause an acceleration of wisdom and revelation further unveiling our God. This principle is part of the general laws of God, this acceleration in the speed of understanding and the scope (amount) of understanding works in the physical and spiritual realms.
I will never forget the first few weeks of Medical School and thinking, this is impossible, this is just way to much material, nobody can do this, then it dawned on me that millions had done it before me and soon it was a way of life for me as well. It is a matter of understanding that it must be done, it can be done, and we are not doing it alone. The capabilities and capacities of our brain far exceed current usages. It is like having a machine that can lift ten million tons and travel one hundred and sixty miles an hour being driven ten miles an hour and used to lift one hundred pounds. It is calculated that our physical brain say nothing about our spiritual mind can hold the memories of three million years. Tomorrow I will look at this from the prospective of a different Scripture writer.
By: Dr. David Wood, Author, Bible Teacher, and Prophetic Voice
