Paul’s prayer to the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, was for revelation. The Greek word translated “revelation” in verse 17 means the opening of a veil. Hence, revelation is a lifting of a veil.
In order to have revelation, we need “a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full knowledge of Him” (v. 17b). Such a spirit is the regenerated human spirit indwelt by the Spirit of God. This spirit has been given to us by God so that we may have wisdom and revelation to know Him and His economy.
In relation to the church, we need a spirit of wisdom and revelation. As far as the church is concerned, a naturally keen mind is of no avail. Rather, the spirit is of primary importance. Just as we must use the proper organs to see, hear, and taste, so we must use the proper organ-the spirit-to see the church as the mystery of Christ.
Furthermore, our spirit must be a spirit of wisdom and revelation. Wisdom is in our spirit so that we may know the mystery of God, whereas revelation is of God’s Spirit to show us the vision by opening the veil. First we have the wisdom, the ability to understand, that we may know spiritual things. Then the Spirit of God reveals the spiritual things to our spiritual understanding. Knowing that the spirit is of crucial importance in relation to the church, Paul prayed that the Father of glory would grant us such a spirit of wisdom and revelation. Although the spirit in 1:17 is the mingled spirit, the regenerated human spirit indwelt by the Holy Spirit, the emphasis here is on our regenerated spirit, not on the Holy Spirit.
In addition to having a spirit of wisdom and revelation, we also need the enlightening of the eyes of our heart. For this reason, in his prayer for revelation Paul continues by saying, “The eyes of your heart having been enlightened” (v. 18a). These are eyes to see spiritual things. We have wisdom, the ability to know, and revelation, the unveiling of spiritual things. However, we still need eyes to see the things. Furthermore, though we have wisdom, revelation, and eyes to see, we still need light to enlighten the things which are open to us that we may have a vision.
Our heart is a combination of the conscience of our spirit with the mind, emotion, and will of our soul. To have the eyes of our heart enlightened requires a thorough dealing with our conscience, mind, emotion, and will.
In order to have eyes to see, we need an open spirit with a purified conscience (Matt. 5:3; Heb. 9:14; 10:22). Do not close your spirit-keep it open. Furthermore, our conscience, which is the main part of our spirit, needs to be purified. If our conscience is opaque, our spirit will not be able to see.
We also need a pure heart. The Lord Jesus says, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (Matt. 5:8). Many believers cannot see God or receive the revelation of the church as the mystery of Christ because their heart is not pure. If we would have a pure heart, we must deal with our whole heart, that is, with all the parts that compose our heart.
In order to have a pure heart, we need a sober mind (2 Tim. 1:7), that is, a cold mind. Although our mind should be cold, the colder the better, our emotion should be hot. In order to have seeing eyes, we need a loving emotion (John 14:21). Moreover, a pure heart requires a submissive will (John 7:17). If our will is to be submissive, it must be soft.
If we have a pure heart with a sober mind, a loving emotion, a submissive will, and if we have an open spirit with a pure conscience, our eyes will be able to see. Our spirit must be open, and our conscience void of offense. Along with this, our heart must have a cold and sober mind, a hot and loving emotion, and a soft and submissive will. When we have such a spirit and heart, the eyes of our heart will be able to see the church as the mystery of Christ.
Home | First | Prev | Next