Ephesians 1:17 says, “That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full knowledge of Him.” In this verse the apostle speaks of a spirit of wisdom and revelation in order that we may know God. In other words, if we desire to know God, we must have a spirit of wisdom and revelation.
We often think that wisdom comes from revelation, but instead of starting with revelation, this verse speaks first of wisdom. A person must first have wisdom, not revelation, in order to know spiritual matters. We think that it does not matter whether we have wisdom, because we will know spiritual matters when the Holy Spirit comes and gives us revelation and seeing. But this is not the case in reality. A person must have spiritual wisdom first and then spiritual revelation in order to know spiritual matters. Wisdom is related mainly to our mind, but revelation is mainly in our spirit. If we are void of wisdom in our mind, we will not understand spiritual matters even if we have received a revelation in our spirit.
For example, a large factory with many different machines may be opened for students to visit. This opening, in spiritual terms, is a revelation. Formerly this factory was closed to people; it was a mystery. People could not see or even know the actual situation of the factory, but once the factory is revealed and opened, everything is within plain sight of the students. Because of inadequate training in mechanical knowledge, however, a student may still not understand what he has seen. He does not have the capacity to understand the machinery. On the contrary, another student may have studied three or four years of mechanical engineering, gained a certain amount of knowledge concerning machinery, and been trained in his mind with a knowledge of mechanics; that is, he has wisdom concerning machinery. When the factory is opened to him, he will understand the machines as soon as he sees them. Hence, we need to see that even if a person has revelation, he may still not have understanding; he must first have wisdom. One who does not have wisdom will not have understanding, even if he has revelation. In order to see revelation and understand the significance of revelation, one must first be equipped with wisdom. This is the reason the apostle spoke first of wisdom and then of revelation.
It is the same in our experience. While revelation can be seen instantly, wisdom requires preparation over a long period of time; this is the reason we need training. Formerly, when we had problems and needs in our service, we often could not find the way to deal with the problems and meet the needs. It has only been in recent years that we have found the way and realized the source of the problem; that is, even though we have a heart for the Lord, we are short of spiritual wisdom, which comes from training.
Because of our lack of training and practice, we have been short of spiritual wisdom, and because of our lack of spiritual wisdom, we have been unable to understand the spiritual revelation that has been given to us. Therefore, over the past few years, we have placed a special emphasis on training, and our expectation is that we will be prepared for the spiritual matters. This preparation is to lay a foundation for wisdom so that we may develop a common sense in our mind, thoughts, and perception. Then when the Holy Spirit enlightens us and gives us an inspiration or a revelation, we will be able to understand it readily.
Some people strongly question whether our trainings should be for training our minds. What they mean is that our trainings are not spiritual enough. It is true that our trainings, for the most part, focus on training one’s mind. But please remember that if we pay attention only to being spiritual and neglect the training of the mind, we will still have no way to be spiritual in the end. When a factory is opened to someone who has spent five to ten years in mechanical engineering, he is able to understand and comprehend the machinery in the factory. However, if someone has not received training, he will not be able to understand anything when a factory is opened to him. Even after he has examined every piece of machinery, it will be as if he has not seen anything.
If we have not been trained and have not learned how to meet, we will not know what to do and how to release the inspiration that the Holy Spirit gives us; this is because we do not have wisdom. If we have been trained and our mind has received practice in spiritual matters with spiritual wisdom as a foundation, we will have the wisdom to follow the inspiration and meet the need of the revelation when we receive inspiration and revelation in the meetings. As trained ones, we will be able to offer a prayer immediately, release a testimony, or select a hymn.
Sometimes when we listen to the prayers of the saints in the Lord’s table meeting, we can tell there is a problem with their person even though their spirit is strong. This is because their mind is confused and their thinking has not been trained. While they have revelation, they are short of wisdom. Of course, we cannot rely on wisdom alone. If we rely only on wisdom, we will be fully of the mind. Therefore, we need both wisdom and revelation. It is a spirit of wisdom and revelation that enables us to know God. Hence, we need to be trained so that we may lay a foundation of wisdom in all spiritual matters and be able to apply wisdom when the revelation of the Holy Spirit comes.