In verses 15-23 we find the first of two prayers that the apostle Paul offers to God for the Ephesians.
This prayer consists of two parts:
1. PRAISE (vv. 15-16)
"Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints, cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers."
Three thoughts on prayer:
a. Prayer should include more than just requests; it should also include thanksgiving.
b. Prayer should include more than just listing problems to God. It should also include giving praise to Him.
c. Prayer should include more than just making requests for ourselves. Prayer should also include intercession for others.
Paul praises God for two things:
a. Their "FAITH in the Lord Jesus"
b. Their "LOVE unto all the saints"
Faith and love form the test of Christian profession.
2. PETITIONS (vv. 17-23)
Imagine for a moment that we are living in the first century and Paul has written a letter to us (like the one he wrote to the church at Ephesus: "Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the saints at Ridgeway. . . ."
If Paul included a prayer in his letter to us, what do you think would be his first request to God for us? I believe it would be that we increase our knowledge of God. Look at verse 17:
"That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in THE KNOWLEDGE OF HIM."
"Him" is God the Father. Paul’s supreme desire for the Ephesian Christians is that they know God more and more.
Paul offered the same request on behalf of the Colossians: ". . . we . . . do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding: that ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and INCREASING IN THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD" (Colossians 1:9-10).
It’s interesting that Paul makes the knowledge of God his first request for the Ephesians. He could have asked that they be healed from all their illnesses or that more people might join their church or that they might be filled with joy. Instead, he prays that the Christians at Ephesus be filled with the knowledge of God.
"Thus saith the Lord, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches: BUT LET HIM THAT GLORIETH GLORY IN THIS, THAT HE UNDERSTANDETH AND KNOWETH ME, that I am the Lord which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the Lord" (Jeremiah 9:23-24).
God says that the source of our joy and sense of importance ought to come not from our own wisdom or abilities or possessions, but from the fact that we know Him.
I. THIS KNOWLEDGE IS MORE THAN AN INTELLECTUAL KNOWLEDGE OF GOD.
ILLUSTRATION: There is a big difference between knowing FACTS and knowing a PERSON. I could learn all kinds of facts about the Prime Minister without really knowing him. If you were to ask me, "Do you know the Prime Minister?", I would have to reply, "I know about him, but I don’t know him."
James wrote, "Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble" (James 2:19). Knowing facts about God is good and important but knowing God goes beyond this. It is good and important to know that there is only one God, but even the demons know this and tremble.
On one occasion a demon said to Jesus, "Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I KNOW WHO THOU ART, the Holy One of God" (Mark 1:24).
II. THIS KNOWLEDGE IS A PERSONAL KNOWLEDGE OF GOD.
It is a FULL knowledge of God.
Martyn Lloyd-Jones wrote, "It is almost impossible to put this truth into words, but it means that God should be real to us, and that we should be conscious of Him and conscious of His presence" (God’s Ultimate Purpose, 344).
The word "know" is often used in Scripture to describe a close, personal relationship:
1. "And Adam KNEW Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain. . . ." (Genesis 4:1).
2. "You only have I KNOWN of all the families of the earth. . . ." (Amos 3:2).
3. "The Lord is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and he KNOWETH them that trust in him" (Nahum 1:7).
4. "And then I will profess unto them, I never KNEW you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity" (Matthew 7:23).
5. "I am the good shepherd, and KNOW my sheep, and am KNOWN of mine. . . . My sheep hear my voice, and I KNOW them, and they follow me" (John 10:14, 27).
Knowing God is really what eternal life is all about: "THIS IS LIFE ETERNAL, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou has sent" (John 17:3).
Knowing God will be the supreme blessing of heaven: ". . . God himself shall be with them, and be their God" (Revelation 21:3).
It’s wonderful to know that I belong to God; it’s an infinitely greater blessing to know God Himself.
Jesus, in His prayer to the Father recorded in John 17, talked about the special relationship we have with the Father: ". . . that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and HAST LOVED THEM, AS THOU HAST LOVED ME" (v. 23).
To "know" God is to spend time with God basking in His love.
ILLUSTRATION: It’s like how it is with a man and a woman who are in love. They want nothing more than to spend time with each other. If they have to be apart, they long for each other.
"As the [deer] panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God? [". . . where can I go and meet with God?" NIV)]" (Psalm 42:1-2).
The Psalmist was not longing for the God of the textbook, but of "the living God."(the personal God).
Do you have that same thirst? Do you pant for God? Or do you pant for the things of this world? Only water will satisfy a thirsty deer, and only God will satisfy a thirsty soul.
III. THIS KNOWLEDGE IS ONLY POSSIBLE THROUGH THE LORD JESUS CHRIST.
We cannot separate the knowledge of the Father from the knowledge of the Son.
"And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us as understanding, that may know him that is true [the Father], and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ" (1 John 5:20).
"God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ" (2 Corinthians 4:6).
"That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full" (1 John 1:3-4).
"If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode [home] with him" (John 14:23).
"Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me" (Revelation 3:20).
IV. THIS KNOWLEDGE IS MEANT FOR ALL CHRISTIANS.
When Paul writes "you" in verse 17 he means "ALL OF YOU."
Two things will determine whether or not you will get to know God better:
1. You must realize that it is possible;
2. You must desire it.
Salvation is not the end of the Christian life; it is merely the beginning. It is only the first step. It is comparable to birth.
Can a real Christian be content with only a casual acquaintance with God?
How can we increase our knowledge of God? How can we get close to Him? How can we know Him better?
How do you get to know anyone better? By spending time with that person?
The only way to get to know God better is by spending time with Him.
How can we spend time with Him? By reading His Word and meditating upon it.
What does it mean to meditate upon God’s Word. Meditating is often described as "chewing on the cud." To meditate upon God’s Word is to go over it again and again until it becomes truly precious in the heart.
Before you read God’s Word, ask Him to give you "the spirit of wisdom and revelation."
H. A. Ironside, in his commentary on Ephesians, tells of a visit he had with an old, dying man named Andrew Fraser. Dr. Ironside writes,
He could barely speak above a whisper, for his lungs were almost gone, but I can recall yet how, after a few words of introduction, he said to me, "Young man, you are trying to preach Christ; are you not?" I replied, "Yes, I am," "Well," he whispered, "sit down a little, and let us talk together about the Word of God." He opened his well-worn Bible, and until his strength was gone, simply, sweetly, and earnestly he opened up truth after truth as he turned from one passage to another, in a way that my own spirit had never entered into them. Before I realized it, tears were running down my face, and I asked, "Where did you get these things? Could you tell me where I could find a book that would open them to me? Did you learn these things is some seminary or college?" I shall never forget his answer. "My dear young man, I learned these things on my knees on the mud floor of a little sod cottage in the north of Ireland. There with my open Bible before me, I used to kneel for hours at a time, and ask the Spirit of God to reveal Christ to my soul and to open the Word to my heart, and He taught me more on my knees on that mud floor that I ever could have learned in all the seminaries or colleges in the world" (In the Heavenlies, 86-87).
Ironside then comments, "Is it not true that most of us do not stay long enough in the presence of God? We do not get quiet enough to let Him talk to us and reveal His mind to us" (ibid., 87-88).
Are you closer to God now then you were ten years ago?
