So far in this three part series we have looked at An Open Heart, Trembling at God’s word, The Spirit and the Word, and The Holy Spirit as Teacher. So to conclude this series we are going to look at The Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation.
The spirit of Wisdom and Revelation
Read Ephesians 1:17- 18
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. The eyes of your heart having been enlightened, that you may know what is the hope of His calling.
The spirit here must be our regenerated spirit indwelt by the Spirit of God, such a Spirit is given to us by God that we may have wisdom and revelation to know Him and His economy.
Wisdom is in our Spirit that we may know the mystery of God, and revelation is of God’s Spirit that he may show us the vision by opening the veil. First, we have wisdom, the ability to understand, which enables us to know spiritual things; then the spirit of God reveals the spiritual things to our spiritual understanding.
So the first thing we are going to look at is:
Revelation
Revelation is the “eyes of your heart having been enlightened” by the action of the Holy Spirit. This is the essential ingredient that opens up the Word of God to become a dynamic force in our lives.
To have the eyes of our heart enlightened requires that our conscience, mind, emotion, and will, which are the components of our heart, be thoroughly dealt with (note: Eph 3:17). First, we need an open spirit with a conscience purified by our confessing and dealing with our sins and by the sprinkling by the redeeming blood of Christ. Next, wee need a sober mind, a loving emotion, and a submissive will in order to have a pure heart. When we have such a spirit and heart, eyes of our heart will be able to see.
We not only need the wisdom and revelation and the eyes to see, but we also need light for the illumination of the things which are unveiled to us, that we may have a vision.
Read 1 Corinthians 2:9-10
The Holy Spirit reveals to us the heart of the Father through his Word. Through him we are able to “search the deep things of god” found in the pages of God’s Word.
Only when the heart is open to the revealing work of the Holy Spirit that the Bible suddenly comes alive and its God-breathed secretes laid bare.
Read 2 Corinthians 3:13-16
Before our spirit is regenerated by God’s Spirit there is a spiritual “Veil” over our minds when we read the Bible. Note the wonderful promise of God, we do not need to pray that God takes away that veil, but through Christ it has already been removed, because – “whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.”
In verse 16 – But, whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. This indicates that when their heart is away from the Lord, the veil lies on their heart. When their heart turns to the Lord the veil is then removed. Actually, their turned-away heart is the veil. To turn their heart to the Lord is to take away the veil.
When we believe on the Lord Jesus, the Holy Spirit – the divine author of God’s Word – is sent into our hearts (Eph 1:13). He is the one who turns on the internal lights so that you can understand his Word. It is at this point that what people call the Bible becomes the unveiled Word of God for you personally.
Read 1 Corinthians 2:12-14
The bible is written in “words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words.” Now what the Holy Spirit originally inspired now reveals on a personal basis to you. What was originally spirit-breathed is now spirit-discerned.
Now that we have covered Revelation, the next part of this post is:
Wisdom
Wisdom is the practical application of revelation to our lives. It is not enough just to get revelation of God; wisdom causes us to move closer to Him. It is not enough just to have revelation of sin; wisdom takes steps to deal with that sin.
Read James 1:5
But if any one of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and does not reproach and it will be given.
Meaning: It was by his wisdom that God, in Christ, made His eternal plan and carried it out. In his New Testament economy God made Christ our wisdom. The wisdom of God is needed for practical Christian perfection. Hence we need to ask God for it.
In the light of the content of this epistle, it is apparent that James did not have a clear vision concerning God’s New Testament economy. However, he did have the wisdom to portray matters that concern the practical Christian life.
Read Isaiah 11:1-2
In this message, Isaiah prophesies that the Messiah would have resting upon him “the spirit of wisdom and understanding.” Paul is alluding to this prophecy when he writes to the Ephesians Christians about being given “the spirit of wisdom and revelation.” He is praying that the same Spirit that rested on the Lord Jesus Christ would also rest upon us as believes in Christ.
It is a combination of these two ingredients – revelation and wisdom – that makes the Word of God “living and active” (Heb 4:12)
Ø Revelation is inspired understanding ( 1 John 5:20)
- The “living” aspect of God’s Word
Ø Wisdom is applied understanding (Matthew 11:19)
- The “active” aspect of God’s Word
Revelation opens our eyes to God’s thoughts; Wisdom directs our feet in God’s way.
I hope you have found this series interesting and helpful.
Feel free to leave a comment :)
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