What a heavenly prayer you have lifted up, pleading the very words of Scripture, that the eyes of your understanding may be enlightened! For it is the delight of our God to reveal Himself to His people, not as a passing stranger, but in deep, personal, intimate acquaintance. You ask for the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, and this is a petition after the divine heart, for the Lord takes no pleasure in the ignorance of His children; He would have them know the hope of His calling, the riches of His glorious inheritance, and the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe. And well may you seek such knowledge, for this is no mere intellectual notion but the very life of the soul. As I have said, to know Him is to know the power of His resurrection, and that resurrection proves without a doubt the faith once delivered to the saints. It is the seal of the new covenant, that covenant which is ever before God, like the ark seen in His Temple, surrounded by tokens of His power, lightnings, voices, thunderings, an earthquake, and great hail, all engaged to keep His promises sure. The covenant is not a thing of shifting shadows; its Surety is the Son of God, who fails not, and changes not, bone of our bone and yet Light of Light, very God of very God. In Him, all the wisdom of God is displayed, and all the power of God is made yours. He is the power of God and the wisdom of God, not only in His person but in His gospel and in His indwelling within the heart. When He comes to reign upon the throne of your inner man, He brings with Him that exceeding great strength which raised Him from the dead and set Him at the right hand of the Majesty on high.
Now, do not think it strange that such knowledge is to be sought with continual prayer and diligent use of means. Even the Apostle Paul, aged and in prison, desired his books and especially the parchments; he who had been caught up into the third heaven yet craved the written Word. So you do well to search the Scriptures, to cry for the anointing of the Holy Ghost, and to wait upon the Lord in the place of prayer. The Holy Spirit, whom you invoke, delights to take the things of Christ and show them to His people. He will open the Temple of God in your own soul, and there you shall see the ark of His covenant, and know that the Lord your God has betrothed you unto Himself for ever. He is the Husband of His people, and He has not cast off the wife of His youth; rather, He comes loaded with mercy, forgiving all iniquities and healing all diseases. When a man feels his sins forgiven, then the very hills and rocks seem to proclaim the presence of a gracious God. And though the Almighty hurls His thunderbolts against the proud, yet toward His own beloved He comes with whole heart and whole soul, rejoicing over them to do them good. Yea, as I have declared, the living God throws His whole being into the work of saving and blessing His people; His wisdom, His power, His love, His immutability are all engaged for you. He alone is your rock and your salvation, and therefore you need not fear; for if God be for you, who can be against you? The throne of God and of the Lamb is the throne of grace to which you come boldly, and that throne shall be in your heart as the seat of government and the source of all supply. Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing!
Go on, then, beloved, to seek this intimate acquaintance with your Lord. Since the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, has already given you the firstfruits of faith and love to all the saints, He will most surely complete what He has begun. The very fact that you hunger after deeper knowledge is proof of His work within. He will not make a full end of you, nor cast you off, for His heart goes after His people. And as you press forward, expect that the Spirit of wisdom will cause you to grasp more firmly the hope laid up for you in heaven, to taste more richly the inheritance of the saints in light, and to feel more mightily the working of that strength which subdues all things to Christ. Let creation sing, let the mountains break forth into singing, for the Lord has comforted His people and will show them His glory. Only fix your gaze wholly upon the Lord Jesus, for doctrine without Christ is but an empty tomb; but when the Spirit reveals Him, you shall know Him in the fellowship of His sufferings and the power of His resurrection. So may it be with you, in Jesus’ name.
For this reason, having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which exists among you and your love for all the saints, WE DO NOT CEASE giving thanks for you, while making mention of you in my prayers, that the God of Our Lord Jesus Christ, The Glorious Father, may give to us The Ho]ly Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation to know Him better (Epignonowskow -- deep, personal and intimate acquaintance). Grant the eyes of our heart to be enlightened so we may know the hope of Your calling, the riches of Your glorious inheritance those You called out of darkness to light, and the surpassing greatness of Your power toward us who believe, which You exerted when You raised Christ (The Anointed and Promised King -- Messiah -- Like King David referred to King Saul as "The Lord's Anointed," -- only Jesus is "The True David of Judah's Line," "The Lord's TRUE Anointed") from the dead and seated Him at Your Right Hand in the Heavenly Places, (Right Hand of Power, Dan 7:13-14), far above all other rule, authority, power and dominion, both in this age and the age to come, and everything having been put under subjection under His feet, The Father has made Him the Head of over all things and given You (all) power for the church, which is which is Your body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all. Thank You and you all in Jesus' Name (Ephesians 1:15-23).
