Prayer for Wisdom
Ephesians 1:17-19
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Sermon Summary We now dig into the specifics of Paul's prayer for the Ephesians believers, and we come to see that his main concern for them is wisdom - wisdom to recognize the wonderful assurances that God provides His people. |
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Ephesians 1:17-19
that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might
It is interesting to note that the book of Ephesians has two apostolic prayers contained in it. When we get to the end of chapter 3, Paul will offer another prayer for the Ephesians. It’s interesting to compare them and see some of the similarities and differences.
One of the things that stands out about these prayers is that they follow some of the structure of the epistle. It is commonly known that chapters 1-3 contain mostly doctrinal teaching. Then in chapters 4-6, Paul brings home the practical life application side of his teachings. You might say that Paul’s doctrine of chapters 1-3 is encompassed on both sides with prayer. These prayers provide what seem to be bookends to his teaching.
And certainly, the prayer before us this morning is a fitting opening to the words Paul will convey in the next few chapters. That’s because the prayer here is a prayer for wisdom. You see that in verse 17, Paul asks that “the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him.”
That comprises the central core of this apostolic prayer. You might say that as you read through the book of Ephesians, and most especially the first three chapters of Ephesians, Paul’s hope is that you will gain the depth of spiritual wisdom that God intends for you.
There’s no doubt that this prayer is just as much pastoral as it is apostolic. I must confess that this is perhaps the primary thing that I pray over the families of this congregation. I mentioned last week my regular prayer routine as I try to work my way through the church roster. I can add this: as I hit the pavement, one of the most frequent petitions that I offer is that God would grant each individual in this congregation wisdom. Wisdom in his business, wisdom to parent, wisdom to make the best possible decisions, wisdom to discern good from evil.
I have to say this: It is not just the easiest prayer to offer for someone, but also the best possible prayer you could offer. Scripture testifies that wisdom is better than rubies; it is better than gold; it is better than strength; it is better than weapons of war. As a matter of fact, Proverbs says that wisdom is better than anything that can be desired.
It is no wonder that, when God offered to give him anything, Solomon asked not for the death of his enemies or for greater financial enrichment, but rather for wisdom. And God was so pleased with him that he not only granted him wisdom but all these other things as well.
Wisdom is, according to Scripture, the greatest commodity that one could ever attain, and therefore, Paul prays that the Ephesians might come to be enlightened. As we dig into this prayer, it is my hope that we too might not just be enlightened, but that we might gain a greater degree of wisdom.
We can begin to be a little wiser when we understand that this prayer has three basic parts to it. First, there is the preface to the prayer wherein Paul shows us the origin of wisdom. That is followed by the prayer’s petition which defines for us the means to wisdom (what we can call the way of wisdom or the avenue of wisdom). And then, in verses 18-19, we see the threefold purpose of Paul’s prayer. And there we see what is the substance of the wisdom for which he prays. So today, as we look at this concept of wisdom, we want to consider its origin, avenue, and essence.
The first thing we learn is where we get wisdom. From whence does it come? What is its origin?
I. The origin of wisdom
Wisdom is something that comes from God. It is divinely imparted. Look at verse 17. Paul says he prays that “the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom.”
What we find here is that wisdom is not of this world. It has its origin in no other but the triune God. It seems that Paul simply cannot get away from this theme that he has been expressing since the very first words of his epistle. God is triune, and even the wisdom we get from God is due to all three persons of the Trinity working to impart it.
You notice that the Holy Spirit is at work. The verse talks about receiving a spirit of wisdom, or the Spirit of wisdom. It could be translated either way. The idea is that it is a spiritual wisdom or a Spirit-produced wisdom. But it originates with the Father of glory. He is the one who initiates this wisdom. He’s the one who sends it to us.
You’ll note that the verse says, “the God of our Lord Jesus Christ.” You understand that the Father’s wisdom is not divorced from or somehow outside of the Son. This wisdom may be said to come through the Son. God the Father imparts it, but this wisdom is not distinct or separate from the Son.
At bottom, though, we understand that wisdom is not natural. It is not earthly in its origin. It is supernatural and it comes to us only because the hand of Almighty God bestows it.
Now, you have to understand that Paul solves one of the greatest debates that has raged through the philosophical world for ages past. There have basically been two theories concerning obtaining wisdom.
On the one hand, you have the rationalists who say that you get wisdom from your reason. Plato, the Greek philosopher would be one such example. Plato said that knowledge is innate. It is bound up inside of you. More specifically, it is a part of your soul. Your soul might have been around for eons. You may have had a former life. And so, all the knowledge of the world is already contained inside of you. You just need to unlock it or draw it out by your reason. And that’s why he emphasized learning by way of the question-and-answer method. You draw out that knowledge by your reason as you answer questions.
There’s another group of thinkers called the empiricists. They believe that knowledge is gained through experience. It has its origins in our sensory experience (what we can see, taste, touch, and smell). So you have guys like John Locke who said that we are born a blank slate of knowledge, and we have to examine things with our eyes and hold them in our hands in order to know what they are.
Both of these concepts say that wisdom and knowledge are found in proximity to you. It is either in you or within your reach. And so, these are distinctly man-centered views of knowledge. It’s all about me. I have it or I have the power to obtain it.
But Paul says, that’s not true at all. You can grab and fondle and sniff and bite as much as you want, but that does not guarantee you will be any wiser. You can do experiments all day long and still fail to gain wisdom.
The same is true with the rationalists’ view. The Bible says our reason is defunct. Our thinking is futile. The fall into sin caused us to be blind, ignorant, and dumb.
You see this all the time. I especially have witnessed it in the world of counseling. There are all kinds of scholars who come up with all kinds of theories on how to deal with certain problems, but their conclusions and their methodologies are foolish.
Say that you have a kid who is hyperactive and cannot concentrate on things he doesn’t like for very long periods of time. Psychologists see that and have the right observations. But then they go and say that the child has a brain disorder that impedes his ability to sit still. The truth is that the kid simply has not developed the discipline to sit and listen. It takes work. It’s a kind of wisdom in and of itself that God gives as you work to develop that ability to concentrate.
But what has the psychologist done? He’s attempted to gain wisdom using only reason. He’s tested and observed and poked and prodded. But there’s no wisdom.
This is where we recognize the value of what Paul says here. Wisdom is not something that you can scrounge up on your own. Wisdom is a gift and God is the one who gives it.
That’s why Paul is praying that the Ephesians would be the beneficiaries. That’s why James says that anyone who lacks wisdom should ask God, who grants it liberally. That’s why Proverbs 2 says, “If you seek for it as silver and search it out as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. For the Lord gives wisdom.”
There are many more applications to make regarding this, but it is sufficient now to simply recognize that when it comes to wisdom, God is the source. He’s the fountain of all knowledge and understanding, and receiving these is a grace.
But when you grasp that, the next question that naturally rises is, “How do we receive that gift?” Or, “How does this supernatural, God-given wisdom come to us?” If it has its origin in God, how does it get transferred into us? What avenue is used for its communication?
II. The avenue of wisdom
When you look at our passage, you find that Paul says several things about how wisdom comes to be imparted.
God doesn’t just zap us with wisdom. It isn’t like a lightning bolt hits us and we have a sudden increase in knowledge. There are means that God uses to increase our understanding.
The first thing that stands out to us is the importance of supplication. Paul says in the last part of verse 16 that he is remembering the Ephesians in his prayers. And then verse 17 tells us what he is praying for: that they would be given wisdom.
One of the chief ways we gain wisdom is through our own prayers and through the supplications of others who are interceding for us.
We said last week that God uses prayer to accomplish his purposes in this world. Here is a great reminder of that very thing. God desires that we would be wise, and part of the process of gaining wisdom is humbling ourselves before God and acknowledging our need for it. We should also see the need that other people have for wisdom and ask God to give it to them.
Earnest supplication is needed because this wisdom also comes by way of personal transformation.
Here is where your Greek and Western thought probably needs to change. We think of wisdom as a mental thing. But it is not. It doesn’t have anything to do with your brain. It has to do with your heart. If you are going to be wiser, you need to undergo a moral and spiritual transformation.
What we need to grasp is that our sin is our greatest detriment. It is what impedes our learning and advancement. To gain wisdom, we need to be delivered from that woeful impediment. Sin needs to be removed.
That’s what is meant in verse 17. Paul talks about the supernatural renovation that goes on inside of us which allows us to gain wisdom.
First, he says that God is giving us “the Spirit of wisdom and revelation.” That word “revelation” means “an uncovering.” It implies that something is blinding us. This wisdom cannot be grasped or seen because there is something in the way.
That’s further expressed in verse 18 when Paul prays that we would have “the eyes of our hearts enlightened.” Of course, our hearts do not have eyes. He’s using a metaphor here to describe how we gain wisdom. It is only through an inward change. You will only gain wisdom when the darkness of sin is taken away. As you are delivered from sin and your heart is renewed, you will become wiser and have greater knowledge.
There is a third element which needs to be mentioned. Wisdom is given by God, and it comes through supplication, through transformation, and through investigation.
You have to study God’s truth in order to gain this wisdom. Look at the end of verse 18. He’s praying that you will receive the Spirit of wisdom and revelation “in the knowledge of him.”
Those last few words there, “in the knowledge of him,” are a reference to the truth that God has revealed in the Bible. Where has God revealed himself? Where can the knowledge of God be found? It is in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments. God reveals himself in his law. He reveals himself in the gospel. He reveals himself in Jesus Christ. And if you want to learn about Jesus, then there’s one very clear place where you can find him: in the Bible.
You know, a lot of people are looking for the easy way to get things. How can I get rich without having to get a job or by doing the least amount of work? How can I get a clean house without having to bend over and pick something up? How can I get healthy without having to eat vegetables?
It’s been this way from the beginning, you know. That was part of the original sin. Satan told Eve that if she ate of that fruit, she’d have the knowledge of good and evil. So she looked at that tree and saw that it was good for food and desirable for making one wise. She was fooled into thinking that eating a piece of fruit would actually make her more intelligent. That’s about as absurd as people who think that if they buy that thing that shakes your stomach, you’ll actually burn fat and get thinner.
The same is true today. There’s not a soul in the world who wouldn’t like to be wise. The problem is that people try to take shortcuts to get that wisdom. They try to whip up the Spirit and have some sort of wild spiritual experience that will somehow make them more enlightened.
But that’s not how wisdom works. God will give you wisdom. In fact, he will give you a lot of wisdom. But it can’t be gained without the proper work. You have to put yourself under the word of God. You have to study it. You have to listen to it. You have to meditate upon it. You have to investigate the things that he has revealed concerning himself.
As you go through that process, you’ll find that the Lord will open your mind to many wonderful things.
What kind of things? Well, that’s what verses 18-19 tell us.
We’ve looked at the origin of wisdom and the avenue of wisdom. We have now the opportunity to talk about the essence of wisdom.
III. The essence of wisdom
Paul speaks here of a particular kind of wisdom. It is the wisdom that pertains to the salvation that the Lord bestows on his people. It is not ordinary wisdom of everyday things, such as the wisdom of how to manage people or the wisdom that makes you capable of doing your work. The wisdom in focus here is salvific in nature.
What will keep these Ephesians persevering in the faith? What will make them strive to maintain unity and make them more apt to fight the temptations of the world? It is possessing a wisdom of what awaits them.
Look at verse 18 again. He says that their eyes should be enlightened so that they may know, first, “what is the hope to which he has called you.” Second, he wants us to know what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints. And third, the immeasurable greatness of his power towards us who believe.
Notice the progression of these things. He wants us to know the hope to which he calls us and the riches of his glorious inheritance. Then, the power which he exerts is able to make us have these things.
There is a difference, though, between the first two items. Some might think that the hope to which he has called us is heaven. I’d like you to distinguish, however, between that which is hoped for and the hope itself. Part of wisdom is knowing our hope. The emotion of hope, if we can call it that, is what Paul is speaking of. He wants you to know the hope to which he has called you. Wisdom, in this case, is knowing not just what is hoped for, but knowing the hope itself.
Listen, when there is no hope, life is miserable and not worth living. Hope is what pulls you through today. It is what gets you to tomorrow. When all the misery and problems of life pile upon you, hope is what helps you to continue marching forward.
God has called you to hope. One of his great blessings in this life is hope. We might call it a virtue - a virtue that many people do not possess. It is a sure hope, a certain hope.
There’s a great verse in Romans 4 about Abraham. Abraham was given a promise that he would be the father of many nations. Of course, he was 90-100 years old. There wasn’t a lot of hope for that promise to come true. But the passage says that Abraham “in hope believed against hope.” When all indications said otherwise, when his life situation said there was no hope, he was able to believe because of the hope that God had given him in his promise.
This is what God wants for you. He wants you to know hope. He wants you to be wise in knowing that you have hope and in continually experiencing this emotion.
Secondly, he wants us to know “what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints.” This is talking about the world to come and what we hope for. The Lord is providing for us an inheritance. We will one day possess it. Paul wants us to know how glorious heaven is and the incredible riches that await us in that inheritance.
It’s funny; the Bible does not describe heaven in any great detail. It tells us that it will be wonderful. It tells us that it will be perfect. It tells us that it will be unlike anything that we have ever experienced. Really, it tells us that it will exceed our imaginations. But when it comes to specifics, we are given very few. We know that God will be there; we will have unbroken communion with him, and there will be some of the greatest worship we have ever known. But beyond that, we are really left in the dark.
So there’s a sense in which we might ask, “Well, how can we get this wisdom if we aren’t really told much about it?” But look again at what Paul says. He wants us to know “the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints.” This is not about your inheritance. It is God’s inheritance. It is talking about what God gets. It’s about what he will possess.
Paul is talking not about what we will one day have in heaven, but what God will have in heaven. He will have his people. Paul wants us to know the Lord’s evaluation of us and the delight he will take in us on that great day. Yes, we will be in heaven. Yes, it will be wonderful there. But the greatest reality is that God will delight in us.
This past week, my wife was working on memorizing these verses, and she said to me in a sort of skeptical, incredulous way, “It sounds like God’s inheritance is us.” And that’s exactly right. How can that be? How can God think of us, sinners that we are, as the riches of his glorious inheritance? I don’t know for certain. But it sure does make you stand in awe and wonder that the Lord would hold you in such esteem.
The third part of this wisdom is knowing what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe.
This last item is here to remind us that God can accomplish all his holy will. And we are wise if we have a concept of how incredible God’s power is. He has the power to overcome our sins. He has the power to bring us to heaven. He has the power to support us in this life. He has the power to give us hope against hope.
God’s power is immeasurably great. Wisdom recognizes that there is no limit to His power. We are to never underestimate what God can do. He is not like a man whose strength will peter out. All this power is being exerted for one purpose: that we who believe in him might have all we need at every moment.
For the Ephesians who were surrounded by supposed magic and mystical powers which were touted as immense, this would have been a grand realization. As they stood up against tyrannical powers and authorities that could strip them of so much in life, what could sustain them? Knowing that God’s limitless power was at their disposal and was being expressed toward them.
And it shouldn’t be any different for you and me. What we need is a theology of power. If we are truly wise in regard to the power of God, who raises the dead, who raises up nations and casts them down, who causes seas to part and storms to halt, then all our fears and worries will be quelled. Not only will we be filled with peace, but we will also be bold to face the powers of our own age.
Of course, we are not done with this section. As Paul mentions God’s power, that leads him into a little discussion of Christ’s headship over all things. We might say that there is more wisdom to unpack. But here we are given at least an introduction to the essential dynamics of wisdom.
We may be all the wiser if we know that wisdom comes from God. It comes to us through a spiritual process of supplication, transformation, and investigation into the revealed truth of God. And when we obtain it, we will be spiritually sound, ready to take on the challenges we face in this world.
that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might
It is interesting to note that the book of Ephesians has two apostolic prayers contained in it. When we get to the end of chapter 3, Paul will offer another prayer for the Ephesians. It’s interesting to compare them and see some of the similarities and differences.
One of the things that stands out about these prayers is that they follow some of the structure of the epistle. It is commonly known that chapters 1-3 contain mostly doctrinal teaching. Then in chapters 4-6, Paul brings home the practical life application side of his teachings. You might say that Paul’s doctrine of chapters 1-3 is encompassed on both sides with prayer. These prayers provide what seem to be bookends to his teaching.
And certainly, the prayer before us this morning is a fitting opening to the words Paul will convey in the next few chapters. That’s because the prayer here is a prayer for wisdom. You see that in verse 17, Paul asks that “the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him.”
That comprises the central core of this apostolic prayer. You might say that as you read through the book of Ephesians, and most especially the first three chapters of Ephesians, Paul’s hope is that you will gain the depth of spiritual wisdom that God intends for you.
There’s no doubt that this prayer is just as much pastoral as it is apostolic. I must confess that this is perhaps the primary thing that I pray over the families of this congregation. I mentioned last week my regular prayer routine as I try to work my way through the church roster. I can add this: as I hit the pavement, one of the most frequent petitions that I offer is that God would grant each individual in this congregation wisdom. Wisdom in his business, wisdom to parent, wisdom to make the best possible decisions, wisdom to discern good from evil.
I have to say this: It is not just the easiest prayer to offer for someone, but also the best possible prayer you could offer. Scripture testifies that wisdom is better than rubies; it is better than gold; it is better than strength; it is better than weapons of war. As a matter of fact, Proverbs says that wisdom is better than anything that can be desired.
It is no wonder that, when God offered to give him anything, Solomon asked not for the death of his enemies or for greater financial enrichment, but rather for wisdom. And God was so pleased with him that he not only granted him wisdom but all these other things as well.
Wisdom is, according to Scripture, the greatest commodity that one could ever attain, and therefore, Paul prays that the Ephesians might come to be enlightened. As we dig into this prayer, it is my hope that we too might not just be enlightened, but that we might gain a greater degree of wisdom.
We can begin to be a little wiser when we understand that this prayer has three basic parts to it. First, there is the preface to the prayer wherein Paul shows us the origin of wisdom. That is followed by the prayer’s petition which defines for us the means to wisdom (what we can call the way of wisdom or the avenue of wisdom). And then, in verses 18-19, we see the threefold purpose of Paul’s prayer. And there we see what is the substance of the wisdom for which he prays. So today, as we look at this concept of wisdom, we want to consider its origin, avenue, and essence.
The first thing we learn is where we get wisdom. From whence does it come? What is its origin?
I. The origin of wisdom
Wisdom is something that comes from God. It is divinely imparted. Look at verse 17. Paul says he prays that “the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom.”
What we find here is that wisdom is not of this world. It has its origin in no other but the triune God. It seems that Paul simply cannot get away from this theme that he has been expressing since the very first words of his epistle. God is triune, and even the wisdom we get from God is due to all three persons of the Trinity working to impart it.
You notice that the Holy Spirit is at work. The verse talks about receiving a spirit of wisdom, or the Spirit of wisdom. It could be translated either way. The idea is that it is a spiritual wisdom or a Spirit-produced wisdom. But it originates with the Father of glory. He is the one who initiates this wisdom. He’s the one who sends it to us.
You’ll note that the verse says, “the God of our Lord Jesus Christ.” You understand that the Father’s wisdom is not divorced from or somehow outside of the Son. This wisdom may be said to come through the Son. God the Father imparts it, but this wisdom is not distinct or separate from the Son.
At bottom, though, we understand that wisdom is not natural. It is not earthly in its origin. It is supernatural and it comes to us only because the hand of Almighty God bestows it.
Now, you have to understand that Paul solves one of the greatest debates that has raged through the philosophical world for ages past. There have basically been two theories concerning obtaining wisdom.
On the one hand, you have the rationalists who say that you get wisdom from your reason. Plato, the Greek philosopher would be one such example. Plato said that knowledge is innate. It is bound up inside of you. More specifically, it is a part of your soul. Your soul might have been around for eons. You may have had a former life. And so, all the knowledge of the world is already contained inside of you. You just need to unlock it or draw it out by your reason. And that’s why he emphasized learning by way of the question-and-answer method. You draw out that knowledge by your reason as you answer questions.
There’s another group of thinkers called the empiricists. They believe that knowledge is gained through experience. It has its origins in our sensory experience (what we can see, taste, touch, and smell). So you have guys like John Locke who said that we are born a blank slate of knowledge, and we have to examine things with our eyes and hold them in our hands in order to know what they are.
Both of these concepts say that wisdom and knowledge are found in proximity to you. It is either in you or within your reach. And so, these are distinctly man-centered views of knowledge. It’s all about me. I have it or I have the power to obtain it.
But Paul says, that’s not true at all. You can grab and fondle and sniff and bite as much as you want, but that does not guarantee you will be any wiser. You can do experiments all day long and still fail to gain wisdom.
The same is true with the rationalists’ view. The Bible says our reason is defunct. Our thinking is futile. The fall into sin caused us to be blind, ignorant, and dumb.
You see this all the time. I especially have witnessed it in the world of counseling. There are all kinds of scholars who come up with all kinds of theories on how to deal with certain problems, but their conclusions and their methodologies are foolish.
Say that you have a kid who is hyperactive and cannot concentrate on things he doesn’t like for very long periods of time. Psychologists see that and have the right observations. But then they go and say that the child has a brain disorder that impedes his ability to sit still. The truth is that the kid simply has not developed the discipline to sit and listen. It takes work. It’s a kind of wisdom in and of itself that God gives as you work to develop that ability to concentrate.
But what has the psychologist done? He’s attempted to gain wisdom using only reason. He’s tested and observed and poked and prodded. But there’s no wisdom.
This is where we recognize the value of what Paul says here. Wisdom is not something that you can scrounge up on your own. Wisdom is a gift and God is the one who gives it.
That’s why Paul is praying that the Ephesians would be the beneficiaries. That’s why James says that anyone who lacks wisdom should ask God, who grants it liberally. That’s why Proverbs 2 says, “If you seek for it as silver and search it out as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. For the Lord gives wisdom.”
There are many more applications to make regarding this, but it is sufficient now to simply recognize that when it comes to wisdom, God is the source. He’s the fountain of all knowledge and understanding, and receiving these is a grace.
But when you grasp that, the next question that naturally rises is, “How do we receive that gift?” Or, “How does this supernatural, God-given wisdom come to us?” If it has its origin in God, how does it get transferred into us? What avenue is used for its communication?
II. The avenue of wisdom
When you look at our passage, you find that Paul says several things about how wisdom comes to be imparted.
God doesn’t just zap us with wisdom. It isn’t like a lightning bolt hits us and we have a sudden increase in knowledge. There are means that God uses to increase our understanding.
The first thing that stands out to us is the importance of supplication. Paul says in the last part of verse 16 that he is remembering the Ephesians in his prayers. And then verse 17 tells us what he is praying for: that they would be given wisdom.
One of the chief ways we gain wisdom is through our own prayers and through the supplications of others who are interceding for us.
We said last week that God uses prayer to accomplish his purposes in this world. Here is a great reminder of that very thing. God desires that we would be wise, and part of the process of gaining wisdom is humbling ourselves before God and acknowledging our need for it. We should also see the need that other people have for wisdom and ask God to give it to them.
Earnest supplication is needed because this wisdom also comes by way of personal transformation.
Here is where your Greek and Western thought probably needs to change. We think of wisdom as a mental thing. But it is not. It doesn’t have anything to do with your brain. It has to do with your heart. If you are going to be wiser, you need to undergo a moral and spiritual transformation.
What we need to grasp is that our sin is our greatest detriment. It is what impedes our learning and advancement. To gain wisdom, we need to be delivered from that woeful impediment. Sin needs to be removed.
That’s what is meant in verse 17. Paul talks about the supernatural renovation that goes on inside of us which allows us to gain wisdom.
First, he says that God is giving us “the Spirit of wisdom and revelation.” That word “revelation” means “an uncovering.” It implies that something is blinding us. This wisdom cannot be grasped or seen because there is something in the way.
That’s further expressed in verse 18 when Paul prays that we would have “the eyes of our hearts enlightened.” Of course, our hearts do not have eyes. He’s using a metaphor here to describe how we gain wisdom. It is only through an inward change. You will only gain wisdom when the darkness of sin is taken away. As you are delivered from sin and your heart is renewed, you will become wiser and have greater knowledge.
There is a third element which needs to be mentioned. Wisdom is given by God, and it comes through supplication, through transformation, and through investigation.
You have to study God’s truth in order to gain this wisdom. Look at the end of verse 18. He’s praying that you will receive the Spirit of wisdom and revelation “in the knowledge of him.”
Those last few words there, “in the knowledge of him,” are a reference to the truth that God has revealed in the Bible. Where has God revealed himself? Where can the knowledge of God be found? It is in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments. God reveals himself in his law. He reveals himself in the gospel. He reveals himself in Jesus Christ. And if you want to learn about Jesus, then there’s one very clear place where you can find him: in the Bible.
You know, a lot of people are looking for the easy way to get things. How can I get rich without having to get a job or by doing the least amount of work? How can I get a clean house without having to bend over and pick something up? How can I get healthy without having to eat vegetables?
It’s been this way from the beginning, you know. That was part of the original sin. Satan told Eve that if she ate of that fruit, she’d have the knowledge of good and evil. So she looked at that tree and saw that it was good for food and desirable for making one wise. She was fooled into thinking that eating a piece of fruit would actually make her more intelligent. That’s about as absurd as people who think that if they buy that thing that shakes your stomach, you’ll actually burn fat and get thinner.
The same is true today. There’s not a soul in the world who wouldn’t like to be wise. The problem is that people try to take shortcuts to get that wisdom. They try to whip up the Spirit and have some sort of wild spiritual experience that will somehow make them more enlightened.
But that’s not how wisdom works. God will give you wisdom. In fact, he will give you a lot of wisdom. But it can’t be gained without the proper work. You have to put yourself under the word of God. You have to study it. You have to listen to it. You have to meditate upon it. You have to investigate the things that he has revealed concerning himself.
As you go through that process, you’ll find that the Lord will open your mind to many wonderful things.
What kind of things? Well, that’s what verses 18-19 tell us.
We’ve looked at the origin of wisdom and the avenue of wisdom. We have now the opportunity to talk about the essence of wisdom.
III. The essence of wisdom
Paul speaks here of a particular kind of wisdom. It is the wisdom that pertains to the salvation that the Lord bestows on his people. It is not ordinary wisdom of everyday things, such as the wisdom of how to manage people or the wisdom that makes you capable of doing your work. The wisdom in focus here is salvific in nature.
What will keep these Ephesians persevering in the faith? What will make them strive to maintain unity and make them more apt to fight the temptations of the world? It is possessing a wisdom of what awaits them.
Look at verse 18 again. He says that their eyes should be enlightened so that they may know, first, “what is the hope to which he has called you.” Second, he wants us to know what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints. And third, the immeasurable greatness of his power towards us who believe.
Notice the progression of these things. He wants us to know the hope to which he calls us and the riches of his glorious inheritance. Then, the power which he exerts is able to make us have these things.
There is a difference, though, between the first two items. Some might think that the hope to which he has called us is heaven. I’d like you to distinguish, however, between that which is hoped for and the hope itself. Part of wisdom is knowing our hope. The emotion of hope, if we can call it that, is what Paul is speaking of. He wants you to know the hope to which he has called you. Wisdom, in this case, is knowing not just what is hoped for, but knowing the hope itself.
Listen, when there is no hope, life is miserable and not worth living. Hope is what pulls you through today. It is what gets you to tomorrow. When all the misery and problems of life pile upon you, hope is what helps you to continue marching forward.
God has called you to hope. One of his great blessings in this life is hope. We might call it a virtue - a virtue that many people do not possess. It is a sure hope, a certain hope.
There’s a great verse in Romans 4 about Abraham. Abraham was given a promise that he would be the father of many nations. Of course, he was 90-100 years old. There wasn’t a lot of hope for that promise to come true. But the passage says that Abraham “in hope believed against hope.” When all indications said otherwise, when his life situation said there was no hope, he was able to believe because of the hope that God had given him in his promise.
This is what God wants for you. He wants you to know hope. He wants you to be wise in knowing that you have hope and in continually experiencing this emotion.
Secondly, he wants us to know “what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints.” This is talking about the world to come and what we hope for. The Lord is providing for us an inheritance. We will one day possess it. Paul wants us to know how glorious heaven is and the incredible riches that await us in that inheritance.
It’s funny; the Bible does not describe heaven in any great detail. It tells us that it will be wonderful. It tells us that it will be perfect. It tells us that it will be unlike anything that we have ever experienced. Really, it tells us that it will exceed our imaginations. But when it comes to specifics, we are given very few. We know that God will be there; we will have unbroken communion with him, and there will be some of the greatest worship we have ever known. But beyond that, we are really left in the dark.
So there’s a sense in which we might ask, “Well, how can we get this wisdom if we aren’t really told much about it?” But look again at what Paul says. He wants us to know “the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints.” This is not about your inheritance. It is God’s inheritance. It is talking about what God gets. It’s about what he will possess.
Paul is talking not about what we will one day have in heaven, but what God will have in heaven. He will have his people. Paul wants us to know the Lord’s evaluation of us and the delight he will take in us on that great day. Yes, we will be in heaven. Yes, it will be wonderful there. But the greatest reality is that God will delight in us.
This past week, my wife was working on memorizing these verses, and she said to me in a sort of skeptical, incredulous way, “It sounds like God’s inheritance is us.” And that’s exactly right. How can that be? How can God think of us, sinners that we are, as the riches of his glorious inheritance? I don’t know for certain. But it sure does make you stand in awe and wonder that the Lord would hold you in such esteem.
The third part of this wisdom is knowing what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe.
This last item is here to remind us that God can accomplish all his holy will. And we are wise if we have a concept of how incredible God’s power is. He has the power to overcome our sins. He has the power to bring us to heaven. He has the power to support us in this life. He has the power to give us hope against hope.
God’s power is immeasurably great. Wisdom recognizes that there is no limit to His power. We are to never underestimate what God can do. He is not like a man whose strength will peter out. All this power is being exerted for one purpose: that we who believe in him might have all we need at every moment.
For the Ephesians who were surrounded by supposed magic and mystical powers which were touted as immense, this would have been a grand realization. As they stood up against tyrannical powers and authorities that could strip them of so much in life, what could sustain them? Knowing that God’s limitless power was at their disposal and was being expressed toward them.
And it shouldn’t be any different for you and me. What we need is a theology of power. If we are truly wise in regard to the power of God, who raises the dead, who raises up nations and casts them down, who causes seas to part and storms to halt, then all our fears and worries will be quelled. Not only will we be filled with peace, but we will also be bold to face the powers of our own age.
Of course, we are not done with this section. As Paul mentions God’s power, that leads him into a little discussion of Christ’s headship over all things. We might say that there is more wisdom to unpack. But here we are given at least an introduction to the essential dynamics of wisdom.
We may be all the wiser if we know that wisdom comes from God. It comes to us through a spiritual process of supplication, transformation, and investigation into the revealed truth of God. And when we obtain it, we will be spiritually sound, ready to take on the challenges we face in this world.