EPHESIANS: Wisdom and Revelation
EPHESIANS Number 14:
Wisdom and Revelation
Ephesians 1:15–17 (KJV 1900)
15 Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints,
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:
Paul is careful in several places to point out the faith and love of the believers in the fellowships to which he writes. This is very significant. It would seem that Holy Spirit wants to ensure that we are reminded that it is faith which pleases God. It is dependent living borne of trust that He is our Life.
Faith pleases God, it’s true, but faith also yields spiritual fruit. The power of Holy Spirit who lives in us, generates this fruit. The primary expression of the fruit of the Spirit is self-giving agape’ Love. It is through faith that such fruit is experienced and expressed tangibly by us.
Paul prays that God would give “the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him.” This is the same Spirit about whom we read in Isaiah 11:1–2 (KJV 1900) “And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, And a Branch shall grow out of his roots: And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, The Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD.” This is the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Christ, none other than Holy Spirit Himself in His sevenfold fullness. This is the Spirit of power who raised Christ from the dead, and He is the Spirit who fills us in His sevenfold completeness.
Listen to the way Paul phrases this in his letter to the Colossian fellowship—reading Colossians 1:9-11 (KJV).
9 For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;
10 That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;
11 Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness.
The same aspects of the fullness of God within us are expressed here and expanded upon. Knowledge, wisdom, spiritual understanding, fruitfulness, the intimate relational knowing of God, power, strength, might, patience, tranquility, and joy, these are all aspects of the fruit that Holy Spirit’s presence within us makes characteristic of us.
In 2 Peter 3:18a (KJV), Holy Spirit says through Peter, “But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.” The reason for this counsel is that it is knowing the Lord Jesus where all the fullness of Life and Love is found. Paul agrees, saying in Philippians 3 that he counts everything he once saw as gain to be dung. Instead, his desire is, “That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection.” (Philippians 3:10a)
In Ephesians 1:18–23 (KJV 1900) we will see this all tied together as Paul provides a representative list of the incredible benefits of knowing the Lord Jesus and being indwelt by Holy Spirit.
