The Ephesians had embraced the word of truth and were sealed with the Holy Spirit and for this reason Paul's thanksgivng for them rises up in prayer. News had been brought to him in Rome of the Ephesians faith in the Lord and their love for others. Galatians 5:6 tells us that faith expresses itself in love. They were on the right track and Paul was expressing his pleasure at what they learned by giving thanks for them and remembering them in his prayers and he was letting the Ephesians know it. The word "remembering" literally means "making mention." Deeper than that, however, is that it implies that Paul was not just sending up a blanket prayer of thankfulness for the Ephesians as a whole. Paul was mentioning each one that he knew in the church in Ephesus by name. The Apostle Paul remained deeply involved in the lives of those with whom he helped to bring to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. He was no slouch when it came to prayer or study.
The believers in Ephesus have been taught about the Holy Spirit and Paul was helping them to take it a step further . . . to go deeper. "Revelation" refers to insight into the mysteries of God's divine truth. Friends, we cannot even receive Christ as our Savior without first receiving a revelation, insight, that Jesus indeed died for our sins. You know this to be true by how many people out there have heard this truth but do not believe it to be truth. A revelation is needed and that can only be given by God, the glorious Father. The Holy Spirit is referred to as the Spirit of truth at least 3 times in the Book of John. (John 14:16; 15:23; and 16:13) I cannot over emphasize the importance of reading and knowing God's word. It is in the pages of God's word where the mysteries are hidden and the truth is found. And, it is from the truth found in God's word that the Holy Spirit can begin to open the eyes of your heart. What Paul wants for the believers at the church in Ephesus, and for us now, is to follow suit. Pray for the Holy Spirit to give us wisdom and revelation into the mysteries of God's word so that we might know Him, the glorious Father who loves us without measure and beyond reason, better.
Please read the following piece from 1 Corinthians 2:7-16 as if the Apostle Paul was writing directly to you as he received it straight from the heart of our glorious Father.
Friends,
No, we declare God’s wisdom, a mystery that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. However, as it is written: “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived” the things God has prepared for those who love him—these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words. The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit. The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments, for, “Who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.
~Paul
Following suit,
Kerry
1 comment:
I needed this today. Thanks.
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