Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Ephesians 1:17

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:

17. the God of our Lord Jesus Christ ] Cp. the Saviour’s own words on the Cross, “Eli, Eli” (Mat 27:46); and after Resurrection (Joh 20:17), “I ascend unto my God.” See also Joh 4:22. The Father is the God of the Son Incarnate, in a sense which, however partially, we may be said to understand. Hence in the two passages just quoted, where the Death and the Resurrection of the Incarnate One Who could not “taste death” except as Incarnate (Heb 2:9), are respectively in view, the thought is specially in point; and so also in a passage like this, where the Saviour’s exaltation after death is before us. There may also lie in the phrase here the thought that He is “the God of our Lord” in the sense of being the God revealed and known through our Lord.

the Father of glory ] Not merely “the glorious Father,” but the Father who is the Origin and King of all that is meant by eternal “glory.” Cp. the words “the Lord of glory” (Jas 2:1), used of the Son. Alford suggests that the “glory” here involves the thought of Christ as the true Shechinah, in whom the true glory of Godhead shines forth; who is thus the true “Glory of God.” But the suggestion, beautiful and true in itself, appears far-fetched here. Cp. the phrase “Father of mercies,” 2Co 1:3, to illustrate the interpretation above.

may give ] Lit., might give. The writer records his object as it was when he last prayed.

the spirit ] R. V., “ a spirit.” The Gr. has no article, but this does not settle the question, for (not to speak of other grammatical reasons) the article is often omitted with well-known words, such as God, and Christ. And in passages where certainly “ the Holy Spirit” is meant, we have the same omission; see esp. the LXX. of Isa 11:2, where lit., “ A spirit of God shall rest upon Him, a spirit of wisdom and intelligence, &c.;” a close verbal parallel to this passage. The Scripture use of the word “spirit” seems to us to favour the reference here to the Holy Spirit. The word is rarely if ever in Scripture used in the loose modern sense of “sentiment,” “tendency,” or the like, but far rather of personal spirits the spirit of man, in or out of the body; spirits, good or evil, not human; and The Spirit of God. And the idea of Gift is deeply connected with this last, very usually betokening the impartation to man, in whatever mode, of the Holy Spirit in His presence and power, whether for lower effects and purposes (as e.g. Exo 28:3), or for the highest. Rom 11:8 is an exception; “God hath given them the (or a) spirit of slumber.” But even there the reference is probably to a personal spiritual agent.

It may be asked, was not the Holy Spirit already “given” to these saints? Yes, undoubtedly. But where spirit is concerned we must be cautious how we insist too much on logical inferences from forms of expression. We are not to think of the “coming” of the Spirit as a literal passage through space to a locality, but a manifestation of His power in human subjects in a new way. Similarly we are not to think of the “giving” of the Spirit as of an isolated deposit of what, once given, is now locally in possession. The first “gift” is, as it were, the first point in a series of actions of which each one may be expressed also as a gift. Not infrequently in Scripture spiritual processes are viewed as beginning at what is more precisely a point of new development.

Practically, the bearing of this passage is not greatly affected by the question of “ a ” or “ the ”. The work would in any case be immediately done by the Holy Spirit, and would take the form of a developed experience in the spirit of the Christian.

in the knowledge of him ] Precisely, in full, or thorough, knowledge; epignsis, more than gnsis. The same word is used, e.g. Rom 3:20; Rom 10:2; Col 2:2; and the cognate verb, e. g. 1Co 13:12. The tendency of the word in N. T. usage is to denote knowledge which is not merely intellectual, but of the nature of spiritual experience. “ Of Him ” : of the Father, to Whom similar pronouns throughout the passage plainly refer. To know Him (in and with the Son) is the inmost secret of “life eternal”(Joh 17:3; cp. Mat 11:27). “Philosophy, taking, as it must, man for its centre, says to him, Know thyself. But the inspired Word, which alone can originate with God, is alone able to say to man, Know God ” (Monod, after Pascal).

This Divine knowledge is the region, so to speak, “ in ” which the “wisdom and unveiling” just spoken of are to grow and work.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ – The God who has sent the Lord Jesus into the world, and appointed him as the Mediator between himself and man. The particular reason why Paul here speaks of him as the God of the Lord Jesus is, that he prays that they might be further acquainted with the Redeemer, and be enlightened in regard to the great work which he came to do.

The Father of glory – The glorious Father, that is, the Father who is worthy to be praised and honored.

May give unto you the Spirit of wisdom – May make you wise to understand the great doctrines of the religion of the Redeemer.

And revelation – That is, revealing to you more and more of the character of the Redeemer, and of the nature and results of his work. It is probable here that by the word Spirit the apostle refers to the Holy Spirit as the Author of all wisdom, and the Revealer of all truth. His prayer is, that God would grant to them the Holy Spirit to make them wise, and to reveal his will to them.

In the knowledge of him – Margin, for the acknowledgment. That is, in order that you may more fully acknowledge him, or know him more intimately and thoroughly. They had already made high attainments Eph 1:15, but Paul felt that they might make still higher; and the idea here is, that however far Christians may have advanced in knowledge and in love, there is an unfathomed depth of knowledge which they may still explore, and which they should be exhorted still to attempt to fathom. How far was Paul from supposing that the Ephesians had attained to perfection!

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Eph 1:17; Eph 1:19

That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the rather of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him.

What young believers require to receive

I. Increase of spiritual perception. Not so much new objects to contemplate, as clearer and deeper knowledge of objects already discerned. This is attained–

1. Through exercise of faith already possessed. It grows with the using.

2. Through the influence of the Holy Spirit. It assimilates the perceiving power to its own nature, and imparts new knowledge of Divine things. The powers of the spirit in general are heightened and extended–a spirit of wisdom. Truth not discernible by ordinary human faculties is made known–revelation.

II. Closer acquaintance with their Lord. In the knowledge of Him. He is the life book we are to study.

III. Access of Divine knowledge.

IV. Growth in experience. Amid the vague, new elements that crowd into their knowledge, certain great, central objects are to be realized most intensely.

1. The hope of their calling. Glory, complete salvation, eternal life, etc., are various aspects of this hope, which it is the great object of Christians to attain.

2. The riches of the glory of the Divine inheritance. The Kingdom of God grows in vastness, glory, and privilege, the more it is contemplated and sought.

3. The Divine resurrection power within themselves. The same power which raised Christ from the dead, and set Him at the right hand of God, works in the believer, evokes spiritual life, and sustains and develops it, from grace to grace, and glory to glory. As they compare their spiritual experience with His in resurrection and ascension, they will have grander realizations of the nature of the resurrection power that is working in themselves, and will trust it more intelligently and absolutely. There is no limit to this experience. (A. F. Muir, M. A.)

The presence of the Holy Ghost in the soul

I. The two mysteries which exist in the manhood of Christ, and in His mystic body, exist also in the ransomed soul; the presence of the Spirit, and union with the Son of God. You may conceive of the indwelling of the Spirit in Christs human nature. It was spotless: original sin found no place there. In the foundations of Christs created nature, there was no intermingling of the taint of the Fall. In His birth no sin, in His temptations no inward response. His soul was the mirror of unsullied holiness, and therefore a fit dwelling place for the Holy Spirit. But we are conceived in sin, born in sin, may have lived in sin, bear still the remains of a corrupt nature, the flesh lusteth against the Spirit. Who would dare then to speak of the indwelling of Almighty God the Comforter in our souls, had He not unmistakably affirmed it? The New Testament points to it as the characteristic glory of Christian life. The Spirit, who first dwelt in Jesus in His fulness, extends His presence to all in union with that manhood. As the little cloud about the size of a mans hand, when it rose up into the heavens, spread itself out over the whole sky, and there was an abundance of rain, so the Ascended Lord gathers His Saints around Him, and pours down upon the parched earth streams of Divine Life. Each soul in grace is a partaker of the Divine Nature. The pure nature of Christ is the instrument of the Spirit in the soul. There is in every baptized soul, not only the indwelling of the Comforter, but a jet of the Life of Jesus, through which the transformation of our nature is being accomplished, and His character gradually impressed.

II. Again, the expansion of the Church into the world finds its counterpart in the progressive development of the Kingdom of God within the soul. The same vital principles in both, if permitted to put themselves forth, will overcome all opposing forces. Of the Kingdom of God, it is said, the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. This may be true, too, of the reign of Christ in the soul. The Kingdom of God within has its persecutions to pass through. At its secret beginning, the whole of nature is in revolt; but if we are steadfast, grace will finally gain the ascendency, and sit in calm possession of the throne. The command of the Church, to disciple all nations, is only by degrees accomplished; so the leaven of grace in the soul will only gradually penetrate into our whole being, and in the end produce the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ. The treasure of Divine truth, which the Spirit unfolds in the understanding, we will now consider. The understanding, through the Fall, is in a state of darkness as to supernatural things. Reason and conscience are two lights which rule the night. They are the only guides by which we find our path. The understanding being thus overclouded, much of the sin that is committed may be traced up to some error in this faculty. The Holy Spirit, as the Illuminator, dispels the darkness, and amplifies the view, correcting and ennobling the natural faculty with the grace of faith, and the gifts of wisdom, understanding, knowledge, and counsel. Faith is the dawn upon the soul of a supernatural world. It is the first fissure through the cloud. It may be only like the breaking of the day, an imperfect view, like the glimpse of the blind man, the sight of men as trees, walking; yet it is a revelation of the Invisible. The Invisible becomes a reality. Hence the gift of faith is the one the Spirit employs against the adversary. It is with the shield of faith we are to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked, whom we must resist steadfast in the faith. Why is faith the chosen engine against the Evil One, the shield of our spiritual armour? It is because through it a new set of motives is brought to bear upon our conduct. For instance: a temptation awaits us; the flesh is weak, and some powerful influence is required to prevent a fall. Faith supplies it. In the early stage of the spiritual life, the thought comes, There is heaven; if I commit this sin, I may lose it; or fear is excited; Here is hell; if I commit sin, I may fall into it. If there is a deeper life the thought of the Cross of Jesus and His constraining love will be felt; If I commit this sin, I shall be crucifying Him afresh. The light of faith furnishing motives which act either upon our fears or hopes, or rekindle our love, fulfils the office of a shield in the day of battle. Besides this grace, the Holy Spirit provides certain gifts which complete His work in the understanding, and are auxiliary to Divine faith. When the apostle used the words of the text, he was praying not simply for general enlightenment, but that his converts might possess and develop certain specific forms of spiritual knowledge. The gift of wisdom is the chief of the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. St. Paul prays that the Ephesians may be endued with the spirit of wisdom; and Isaiah places it first, when he enumerates the gifts as they dwelt in our Lord. It is the highest quality which the Spirit bestows. The apostle links with the spirit of wisdom that of revelation. This may correspond with the gift of understanding, for it is a spiritual insight into the mysteries of the kingdom of grace. The gift of knowledge is another form of light, having for its object not God and His perfections, nor the mysteries of grace, but God as He is seen in created things. It discloses His designs in them, what they are in themselves, what purposes they are intended to fulfil, what portions of His being they reflect, how they may be enlisted in His service, and brought through our instrumentality to minister to His glory, how they may be rightfully used or enjoyed. This gift, too, is important as it relates to our inner life. Self-knowledge is obtained through it. The gift of counsel completes our intellectual equipment. Its name describes its nature. It guides the soul in the choice of the best means to be used for arriving at the desired end. It seeks advice from all past occurrences; teaching us how to use our falls, the various remedies to which we have been directed to resort, those which have best suited our disposition, what have been the occasions of sin, what the results,–in short, the gift of counsel treasures up all the complex experiences of the spiritual life, and puts them to account. There are two thoughts which suggest appropriate lessons on this part of our subject. If it be true, that the Holy Ghost dwells within us; that each one is a temple of His presence, and a member of Christ; that our understanding is now replete with such wonderful powers, supplied with Divine lights for the removal of the darkness which sin has occasioned; that the same gifts which the mind of Christ possesses, are in their measure communicated to all His brethren: then, surely, sin committed in such a state, will have a special heinousness about it. Hence there is a more minute inspection of sin in the new dispensation. The inward presence brings up to light inward sin. What a thought to influence our conduct, I am the temple of God! The rebuke of the apostle is not now unnecessary, or out of date–know ye not that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? Another practical conclusion is to be drawn from what has been said. Life is manifested by action. A Divine life will be manifested by actions which exceed the power of nature. If I possess this life, I am thereby rendered capable of doing works which shall be pleasing to God. Grace, as a new principle of action, enables me to do works, which, by nature, I could not do. A supernatural life bestows on my actions a new value, so that they partake of the Eternity of God. The presence of the Holy Spirit imparts to them, when they are wrought in grace, and with a pure intention for Gods glory, an imperishable character. They are wrought in God. (W. H. Hutchings, M. A.)

Growth in spiritual knowledge

I. The means whereby this knowledge is attained. The spirit of wisdom and revelation. Here are two things–the spirit of wisdom and the spirit of revelation. This spirit of revelation I understand to mean inspiration. The prayer for its bestowment upon the Ephesian Church was in effect a prayer for the multiplication of its prophets, the then accredited guides and instructors of the Church, in the absence of the apostle, in all that related to spiritual matters. The spirit of revelation, however, is not a need of the Church now since it has the revelation of the spirit, for where the revelation of the spirit is, there can be no need for the spirit of revelation. But the spirit of wisdom is still a need of the Church, and will ever form one of its first necessities.

1. To secure an attitude of firm, unflinching faith in this revelation. Just as the force by which the earth is hurled along in its ceaseless course through space has never succeeded in overcoming the force by which it is kept in its orbit, so the spirit of wisdom in the Church will ever prevent the centrifugal force of free thought and free criticism from overcoming the centripetal force of faith in the Divine revelation, humanitys moral sun, the source of its spiritual life and glory.

2. It is not alone in relation to the attitude we are to assume towards Gods Word, in view of the modern spirit of unsparing, not to say reckless, criticism, that the spirit of wisdom is needed. It is needed also as the power by which alone we shall be able to unlock the spiritual secrets of that Word, to explore its hidden treasures, to take in fully and sympathetically its deepest teachings.

II. We come now to consider the second division of the subject of the text, namely, the object to whom this spiritual enlightenment relates–God. It is the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, Him as described in the preceding part of the verse. The full purport of this expression in reference to the Ephesians will be better understood if we remember that they had until very recently been heathens. It is thus reasonable to suppose that their conceptions of God were very defective. They had not as yet succeeded in entirely divesting their minds of the low, degrading notions of God with which their heathen training had impressed them. They had still much to learn concerning His nature and character. They had constant need of instruction whereby their notions of Him might be purified and elevated. Hence the prayer that they might have the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him. Further, the apostle indicates the particular aspect of the Divine character upon which they were to seek further enlightenment–the God of our Lord Jesus Christ and the Father of glory. It is a description of God that covers the whole ground of His redemptive relation to men. And it is God in this inexpressibly glorious aspect of His character that the text represents as the great object of Christian knowledge. It is that the Ephesian believers might have a more abundant entrance into the transcendent glories and the ineffable joy of this truth, that the apostle prays that they might have the spirit of wisdom and revelation.

III. We now come to the consideration of the third truth indicated by the text, namely, the further experiences of spiritual things to which this knowledge of God conduces. The apostle specifies in the text and the next verse three things, to the right and full apprehension of which we come through the knowledge of Him. These are–the hope of His calling, the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and the exceeding greatness of His power to usward and Christward. The first includes Gods purpose in relation to men–to call them into glory. The second refers to the glory that shall accrue to Himself through men thus glorified. The third refers to the transcendent character of the means adopted to secure these glorious ends. Here are three matters of knowledge arrived at by the enlightenment of the understanding through the knowledge of Him. They are matters of transcendent glory, and sweep the whole horizon of our salvation. Yes, we are to come into the full meaning of these superlative truths through our knowledge of God, as the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory. The Divine Being, thus apprehended, is the higher plane from which alone the full glory of our salvation can be viewed and comprehended. It forms our coign of vantage for the attainment of an adequate conception of at least three things respecting this salvation.

1. The grandeur of its aim both as regards the individual and the race.

2. It is as viewed from this higher plane of spiritual knowledge that the infinite reasonableness of this munificent gift of grace and love will reveal itself to the mind.

3. Again, we notice that the knowledge of God is our vantage ground for understanding the infallible certainty of the accomplishment of these great ends. From this standpoint we enter into the full apprehension of the exceeding greatness of His power. Whatever fear or doubt may perplex the mind regarding the realization of the redemptive scheme, on the score of the grandeur of its aim and comprehensiveness of its scope, and the vastness of the difficulties in its way, will vanish in the light of this apprehension of the exceeding greatness of His power. This power covers every difficulty, is, in fact, illimitable and absolute in relation to the Divine purposes. He whose eyes have been enlightened knows this, and in this knowledge rests in unshaken tranquility. (A. J. Parry.)

The spirit of wisdom

1. We must so consider God, when we come to Him in prayer, as to see Him in what we desire. St. Paul when about to pray for these Ephesians who had believed on Christ, and to seek the glorious gifts of the Spirit which might help them to know the glory reserved for them, sets God before him as the God of that Christ whom they had now received by faith into their hearts, and the Father of all glory: both of which considerations strengthened his faith; for he could not think that God, the God of Christ, would be wanting to those who were Christs, or that the Father of all glory would deny those glorious gifts which he was about to ask Him to increase. So here is a lesson for all. Wouldst thou have remission of sin? Consider of God as a God with whom there is plenty of redemption or forgiveness. Wouldst thou have ease in any misery and grief? Consider of Him as a Father of all mercy and consolation, when thou comest to Him; this strengthens faith, and inflames affection. We seek things more securely, when we know them to be where we are looking for them; and we follow them more affectionately, when (so to speak) we see them before us.

2. Even true believers have great want of heavenly wisdom. They have it in a certain measure; but fall far short of what may be attained.

(1) Let us labour to find this want in ourselves, and to see our folly, that we may be made wise.

(2) Let us not be dismayed by our lack of wisdom. Things are not begun and perfected at once. Wisdom must rise from one degree to another in us.

3. We need light as well as wisdom. To have inward faculty of seeing is one thing: to have outward light, by means of which to see, is another. Light must come to light before we can see; the light in the eye must meet with the outward light of the sun, or a candle, or some other lightsome body, or nothing is perceived: so the light of wisdom which is in the soul must have shining to it this light of revelation, which makes manifest things spiritual; or else, be our sight never so quick, we shall be environed with darkness. The Spirit, therefore, is fitly compared with fire, which has not only heat resolving numbness and making stiff joints active, but also has light grateful to the eye of the body: so the Spirit has both love which warms our frozen hearts and affections, and also this light of revelation which delights the eye of the understanding and manifests heavenly things to its view.

4. It is God, by the Spirit of Christ, who works in us all true wisdom. It is not pregnancy of natural wit that can make us wise unto salvation, nor ripeness of years: but the inspiration of the Almighty giveth understanding. Yet we do attain ripeness of wisdom, under God, by the due use of means.

(1) One day teacheth another. As a man grows older, he ought to grow wiser.

(2) He tastes, as we say, many waters; finding by experience the good in some things, the evils in others.

(3) He becomes gradually weaned from his youthful lusts which, like a back bias, drew after themselves the understanding. We see, then, to whom we must give all thanks for whatever wisdom we have received, and to whom we must fly for the increase of it–even to God, who gives it plentifully, and upbraideth not. (Paul Bayne.)

Worldly wisdom worthless

What does the philosophy of the Agnostic for the despairs of the sinking human soul? Hear the sad summing up of one of the votaries of the cold wisdom of the world, which knows not God. It is that of Professor Clifford, dying early, with this sad word on his lips, My researches have revealed to me a soulless universe, looked down upon by a godless heaven. (Author of The Harvest of a Quiet Eye.)

We are nothing without Gods wisdom in us

See how much they think of me! said a lantern to some dips that were hanging, on a nail close by. The master says he doesnt know what he should do without me these dark nights. No doubt, said the candle; but hed sing a different song if it werent for one of us inside of you. Did it never occur to you, friend, that you wouldnt be of the least use to anybody if our light didnt shine through you? (Mrs. Prosser.)

The eyes of your understanding being enlightened.

Spiritual eye salve; or, the benefit of illumination

The special grace here prayed for is illumination.

I. The eye is the most excellent organ of sense. In a clear eye, the looker sees his own image; so God, in a sanctified understanding, sees a limited resemblance of His infinite Self. God has set two lids to defend the corporal eye from annoyance; and, in like manner, He has given faith and hope, to shelter the understanding.

1. The situation of this spiritual eye is in the soul. God, framing mans soul, planted in it two faculties: the superior, that is the understanding, which perceiveth and judgeth; the inferior, that is the will, which being informed of the other, accordingly follows or flies, chooseth or refuseth. The Scripture, favouring the simplest capacity, compares these two powers of the soul to two known parts of the body: the understanding to the eye, the affections to the foot–the eye directing, the foot walking. Every man is naturally born blind and lame: as Zedekiah, captivated to the king of Babylon; first they put out his eyes (2Ki 25:7), and then they lamed his feet with fetters of brass. So is every man by nature, and therefore easily made a slave to the king of infernal Babylon, if the mercy of Christ should not redeem him. This consideration reacheth forth to us two uses; the one of instruction, the other of reprehension:–

(1) This teacheth us to desire in the first place the enlightening of our eyes; and then after, the strengthening of our feet.

(2) This reprehends a common fashion of many auditors. When the preacher begins to analyse his text, and to open the points of doctrine, to inform the understanding, they lend him very cold attention. Your affections are stirred in vain without a precedent illumination of your souls. You must know to do before you can do what you know. And indeed he that attends only to exhortation, and not to instruction, seems to build more upon mans zeal than Gods Word.

2. I come from the situation to the qualification of this spiritual eye: enlightened. For this blessing the apostle prays to the Father of lights, from whom comes every good and perfect gift (Jam 1:17): from Him, and from Him only, comes this grace of illumination. I cannot leave this excellent organ, the eye, till I have showed you two things:

(1) The danger of spiritual blindness;

(2) The means to cure it.

Spiritual blindness shall appear the more perilous, if we compare it with natural. The bodys eye may be better spared than the souls; as to want the eyes of angels is far worse than to want the eyes of beasts. The want of corporal sight is often good, not evil: evil in the sense, and good in the consequence. He may the better intend heavenly things, that sees no earthly to draw him away. Many a mans eye hath done him hurt (Gen 6:4). Besides, the bodily blind feels and acknowledgeth his want of sight; but the spiritually blind thinks that none have clearer eyes than himself. He that wants corporal eyes blesseth them that see; this man derides and despiseth them (Joh 9:41). The blind in body is commonly led either by his servant, or his wife, or his dog: there may be yet some respect in these guides. But the blind in soul is led by the world, which should be his servant, is his traitor. Now the means to clear this eye is to get it a knowledge of God, of ourselves. That the eye may be cured, this knowledge must be procured. Now God must be known by His works, His word, and His Spirit.

II. We have now done with the organ of seeing, the understanding, or souls eye: let us come to the object to be seen, the hope of His calling, and the riches of the glory of Gods inheritance in the saints. The object is clear and transparent to a sanctified eye. The philosophers propound six necessary occurrences to our perfect seeing; and you shall see them all here met:–

1. Firmness or good disposition of the organ that seeth. A rolling eye beholds nothing perfectly. A Dinahs eye is the prologue to a ravished soul.

2. The spectacle must be objected to the sight: the eye cannot pierce into penetralia terrae, or sublimia caeli; nor can the understanding see into these supernatural joys, unless the Lord object them to it. Hence it is that many neglectfully pass by (sine lumine lumen) the light, for want of eyes to regard it.

3. That there be a proportional distance betwixt the organ and the object: neither too near, nor too far off. A bright thing held too near the sight confounds it: be it never so bright, if too far off, it cannot discern it. God hath sweetly ordered and compounded this difference. Those everlasting joys are not close by our eyes, lest the glory should swallow us up; for mortal eyes cannot behold immortal things, nor our corruptible sight see steadfastly that eternal splendour.

4. It is required that the objected matter be substantial; not altogether diaphanous and transparent, but massy, and of a solid being. But this object here proposed is no empty chimera, or imaginary, translucent, airy shadow, but substantial: the hope of Gods calling, and a glorious inheritance; which though natures dull eye cannot reach, faiths eye sees perfectly.

5. Clearness of space betwixt the organ and the object; for the interposition of some thick and gross body prevents the faculty of the eye. The quickest eye cannot see through hills; and a crass cloud is able to hide the sun from us at noonday.

6. Lastly, the object must be stable and firm, for if it move too swiftly, it dazzleth the eye, and cannot be truly (according to the perfect form of it) beholden. (T. Manton, D. D.)

The eyes of the understanding

Already, as believers in Christ, we are entitled in Him to all the spiritual blessing and Divine fulness laid up in Him; but for a fuller revelation of Him and of them the apostle prays. If we may use an illustration, it is as if a man were taken during the night to some lofty eminence shrouded in darkness and mystery. Suppose him surrounded on every side by a landscape of surpassing beauty and glory as yet unseen. But presently the morning dawns, the sun arises, the shadows flee away, the mists disperse in all directions, rolling up the mountain side in curling wreaths, and disclosing to the mans delighted vision the glories of the inheritance that unfolds itself. Such is the case before the apostles mind. (M. Rainsford. B. A.)

The eye open to spiritual things

To grow up in the acknowledging of Christ is the way to attain fuller measure of the Spirit in every kind. Everything which respects life or godliness is said to begiven us through the knowledge or acknowledging of Christ. When we first come to know Him as the truth is in Him, we partake according to our measure in His Spirit; when we grow to behold Him as in a mirror or glass, more clearly, we are turned into the same glorious image by the Spirit of the Lord more and more; when we shall see Him and know Him evidently and fully, we shall be as He is. The more we know Him, the more fully He dwells in us, the more we enjoy the influence of His Spirit; even as this bodily sun, the nearer it approaches to us, the more we have the light and heat of it.

1. They whose spiritual sight is restored, have need still to depend upon God, that their eyes may be more and more enlightened by Him. As it is with bodily sicknesses, when we recover from them, health comes not all at once, but by ounces (as we say): so in spiritual. When God raises us up from our death, we neither are fully sanctified, nor yet fully enlightened; it is with us as with the blind man (Mar 8:24); we see, but confusedly and indistinctly. Now this enlightening comprehends these four things, which we have still need to ask God for.

(1) The removal of those things which impede our sight. Mists of ignorance. Clouds of lust. Veils of hardness of heart.

(2) The inward light of knowledge augmented in us.

(3) The light of revelation.

(4) A direction and application of the minds eye, to behold spiritual things. If the natural man and all his faculties move in God, much more the spiritual. God is said to make the eye seeing, and the ear hearing; i.e., not only to create them, but govern and apply them to what they do; otherwise we might be like Hagar, not seeing that which was before our eyes. Even as it is not so much the eye that sees, as the soul in and by the eye, whence it is that if the mind be abstracted in serious thought, men see not that which is before them; so it is not so much the eye of our understanding, as the Spirit of Christ, which is the soul of all the Body Mystical, which causes sight in us.

2. Even true believers know not at first, in any measure, those hopes which are kept in heaven for them.

(1) The reason why these hopes are not fully known is partly because of their excellence, and the abundant light which is in them.

(2) The weak sight of younglings in Christianity, is not proportioned and fitted as yet to so high an object as this. Bring the light of a candle near to the natural babe, and it cannot endure to look up against it.

(3) Even as children are so taken up with their childish affairs, that they cannot bring themselves to the serious consideration of more important matters; so believers are long so carnally affected that they cannot set themselves steadily to this contemplation.

(4) As those possessed of valuable earthly goods are surrounded by crafty companions who will keep them from knowing the value of things belonging to them; so the devil tries hard to keep us hoodwinked this way.

3. There is no grounded hope, but of such things as God has called us to obtain.

(1) This calling is such a revealing of His grace within our heart, as makes us come to Him and follow Him for the obtaining of life through Christ.

(2) To those called, God reveals His will. We may know that we are called if our hearts answer God, and our wills respond to the indications of His will.

4. The inheritance kept for us is abundantly glorious. We are passing through this vale of misery to an excellent eternal weight of glory. Let this draw up our hearts. Riches and glory, what do they not with mortal men? But, alas, these worldly riches and glorious dignities are but pictures, not having the substance of what they show for. Men will sue upon their knees to recover small inheritances on earth. While time lasts, seek this inheritance. Let us think what a heart break it is to a man when he finds that by some default he has forfeited some earthly matters which he might have held had he been wary; but what a grief and confusion will this cause, when men shall see that through carelessness they have lost an everlasting inheritance of glory which they might have attained. There is but one life between us and possession; why should we be so negligent as we are?

5. It is to the saints that this inheritance belongs–those who are not only cleansed from the guilt of dead works, but by the Spirit of Christ renewed to true holiness.

(1) See how those deceive themselves who expect to be saved, but love not holiness; who love to live after their ignorance and lusts, and mock at men who will not run to the same excess of riot that they do. Know this, that just as wise men will not leave their substance to the children of an adulteress, so God will never give thee the inheritance of glory while thou continuest a child of this world, loving nothing so much as its pleasures, pomps, and profits.

(2) Labour for holiness. True holiness is not a good nature, nor moral justice, nor external profession of religion so far as fits in with our own will. No; where we first renounce our will, there we first begin to be holy. We must strike at the root, by getting purged of sin, and seeking all things from God. (Paul Bayne.)

The seat of the spiritual eye

I see there is a rendering of the text which runs thus, The eyes of your heart being enlightened, and it strikes me that this version has about it the appearance of being the correct one, because Divine things are usually better seen by the heart than by the understanding. There are a thousand things which God has revealed which we shall never understand, and yet we can know them by a loving, trustful experience. Our Saviour says, Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. The purifying of the heart is the enlightening of the spiritual eye. Strange as it may seem, the true eye of the renewed man is seated rather in the heart than in the head: holy affections enable us to see, and as far as possible to understand Divine things. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

Universal need of enlightenment

This prayer was offered for Christians. He who sees most needs to have his eyes enlightened to see more, for how little as yet of the glory of God have any of us beheld! Even that favoured pilgrim who has been led by the shepherds to the top of Mount Clear, to stand there with telescopic glass and gaze into the glories of Immanuels land, has yet only commenced to perceive the things which God has prepared for them that love Him. I pray God that if we do already see, we may see more, until our eye shall be so strengthened that the light of the New Jerusalem shall not be too strong for us, but amid the splendour of God which outshines the sun we shall find ourselves at home. But if believers need to have their eyes enlightened, how much more must those who are unconverted. They are altogether blinded, and consequently their need of enlightenment is far greater. They were born blind, and the god of this world takes care yet further to darken their minds. Around them there broods a sevenfold midnight, the gloom of spiritual death. They meet with darkness in the daytime, and grope in the noonday as in the night. O blind eye, may Jesus touch thee! (C. H. Spurgeon.)

The eyes of understanding

Myra used to be entertained by her grandfather, who likened her to a fresh bud, that would soon burst into a flower, and himself to a faded leaf, which was almost ready to fall from the tree. One day, after Myra had taken a pleasant walk with her grandfather, she sat down with her mother, and then they talked together in the following manner: I wish I had grandfathers eyes, mother! What can you possibly want with the eyes of your grandfather, Myra? Oh, if I had his eyes I should see all that he sees when we are walking together; but now I cannot see half as much as he does.–How is that, when you are young and he is old. He often says that his sight is not what it used to be; and though the Bible is in large print, he is obliged to use spectacles. Yes, mother, but for all that he can see more than I can. Tell me what you mean, my child, for I do not understand you. Why, when we walk out in the fields and lanes, let us look at what we will, he says he sees the goodness of God in everything. Ah, Myra! its not grandfathers eyes, but grandfathers faith that you want. Pray to God to open the eyes of your understanding, to give you a heart to love and trust Him, and you will then see Him, not only in all the works of His hand, but in all the events of life.

Spiritual enlightenment

I remember once being present, says Captain Basil Hall, at a meeting of the Geological Society, when a bottle was produced which was said to contain certain zoophytes (delicate water animals, having the form of plants). It was handed round in the first instance among the initiated on the foremost benches, who commented freely with one another on the forms of the animals in the fluid: but when it came to our hands, we could discover nothing in the bottle but the most limpid fluid, without any trace, so far as our eyes could make out, of animals dead or alive, the whole appearing absolutely transparent. The surprise of the ignorant at seeing nothing was only equal to that of the learned, who saw so much to admire. Nor was it till we were specifically instructed what it was we were to look for, and the shape, size, and general aspect of the zoophytes pointed out, that our understandings began to cooperate with our eyesight in peopling the fluid, which, up to that moment, had seemed perfectly uninhabited. The wonder then was, how we could possibly have omitted seeing objects now so palpable. How many are the things which appear to the illuminated Christian to be palpably revealed, which the unconverted cannot discover to have any place at all in the Scriptures of Truth; and how very much surprised does he feel, that he could ever have at any former time overlooked them! (F. F. Trench.)

What is the hope of His calling.–

The hope of His calling

Dwell for a moment on–

1. The ground of this hope. His calling! May He not do as He will with His own?

2. The grace of this hope. The God of all grace has called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus (1Pe 5:10). When the Lord Jesus Christ called blind Bartimeus (Mat 20:32), He also commanded him to be called (Mar 10:29); and He further commanded him to be brought unto Him (Luk 18:40). And thus it was with our apostle himself. It pleased God, who separated me from my mothers womb, and called me by His grace, to reveal His Son in me (Gal 1:15).

3. The objects of this hope. Whom He did foreknow, them He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the first born among many brethren. Moreover, whom He did predestinate, them He also called: and whom He called, them He also justified: and whom He justified, them He also glorified (Rom 8:29-30).

4. The subject of this hope. Christ in you, the hope of glory: whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus (Col 1:27-28). (M. Rainsford, B. A.)

The hope of His calling

This may be taken either in the sense of the hope which God inspires into the hearts of His people, by the Spirit; or it may be taken for the object of hope. In either case it is scriptural, and might be suitable in this passage; the first includes the second, for when that hope which the Spirit inspires is given to the heart, the hope laid up for it in heaven is the object of its anticipation. I therefore take this as being the fullest sense: as the hope to which He calls His people, that is the hope which those who are called by the Lord are privileged to possess and enjoy. God works in the mind, through the medium of its natural feelings. Hope is the great, animating principle of all human conduct. Hope is the expectation of a good to be attained, founded on a belief that we can attain it.

I. The nature of Gods calling.

1. It is a calling to peace (Col 3:15).

2. Through peace to hope. Called to inherit a blessing, and so to hope for the inheritance (1Pe 3:9).

3. It is a sure calling. Those who are called by the Spirit of God are never left to perish.

II. What is the hope founded upon this?

1. It is a hope that springs from faith. Founded on the belief of the truth–the only sure foundation.

2. A sober hope, drawn from the source of Gods truth. The hope of the gospel. (R. J. McGhee, M. A.)

The three whats

I. What is to seen and known according to the text? Three whats.

1. What is the hope of His calling? Brethren, let me describe the hope of those of us who have come out to walk by faith in Christ Jesus. We have already obtained enough abundantly to reward us for obedience to the call, and even if nothing were shut up in the closed hand of Hope, her open hand has greatly enriched us. Christian man, you have in possession already the forgiveness of your sin, acceptance in Christ, adoption into the Divine family, and the nature, rank, and rights of a child of God. Still our main possession lies in hope. We carry a bag of spending money in our hands, but the bulk of our wealth is deposited in the Bank of Hope. What then is the Christians hope?

(1) He hopes and believes that he shall be under Divine protection forever and ever, that he shall be the object of Divine love time out of mind, and when time shall be no more. He expects a stormy voyage, but because Christ is at the helm he hopes to come to the fair havens at the last. Sustained by this hope he dreads no labours and fears no difficulties.

(2) We hope also, and have good ground for it, that after death at the day of judgment we shall have, as we believe we have now, a perfect justification.

(3) We hope also for absolute perfection. The God who has changed our hearts will continue the good work of sanctification till He has taken every sin out of us, every desire for sin, every possibility of sin.

(4) We hope also that this body of ours will be perfected. Raised–changed, but still the same as to identity. Perpetual youth.

(5) We hope that being thus cleared in judgment and made thus absolutely perfect, we shall forever enjoy infinite happiness. We do not know what form the joys of eternity will take, but they will take such form as shall make us the most happy.

(6) Nor even now have we come to an end, for something more yet remains. You say, Can more be? Yes, we expect forever to be in a condition of power, and honour, and relationship to God. This is the hope of our calling.

2. What are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints?

(1) He has spent riches of love upon them, for He loves them, poor as they are, and sick and sorry as they often are.

(2) Moreover, the Lord has spent a wealth of wisdom on His saints. This enhances their value in His eyes.

(3) He has expended a life of suffering upon them.

(4) There comes great glory to God from the workmanship which He puts into His people. An artisan can put into a small piece of iron, of no worth at all, so much labour that it shall be valued at scores of pounds, and the Triune God can expend so much workmanship upon our poor nature that a man shall be more precious than the gold of Ophir. Valued thus, the Lord may well speak of the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints.

3. What is the exceeding greatness of His power to usward who believe? Now, learn ye this and know it–that in the conversion, preservation, and salvation of any one person God exhibits as great power as He manifested when He raised Jesus Christ from the dead and set Him at His own right hand in the heavenly places. The salvation of no man in the world is by his own strength. It is by the power of God, for we are His workmanship.

II. Why we wish you to see and know all this.

1. That you may not neglect it, nor set anything in competition with it.

2. That you may see where your hope lies. Not in being your own any more, but in being the Lords. If you are His, He will take care of you.

3. That you may not doubt, or despond, or despair, but cast yourselves before the incarnate God, and let Him save you. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

Spiritual enlightenment

1. The source of spiritual enlightenment is God.

2. The agency is that of the Holy Spirit.

3. The end sought is the owning of the glory of God. For the marginal reading seems preferable here. For the acknowledgment of God, that in this whole matter He may be known, owned, glorified, is this prayer for the enlightenment of His people offered. But now, what is it that in terms of this apostolic prayer we are thus to know? Three things are specified, embracing three aspects of the religious life.

I. What is the hope of His calling. The hopefulness of Gods calling; what hope there is in it; how full of hope it is.

1. Consider who it is who calls, and in what character. God, in the character of the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory; the God who gives grace and glory.

2. Consider who are called. Men; all men, such as they are.

3. Consider the nature of this calling.

(1) The calling of God is hopeful; there is hope in it for sinners, because it is on the one hand absolutely free, and on the other hand peremptorily sovereign and commanding.

(2) The calling of God is hopeful, because it is on the one hand earnest, in the way of persuasion; and on the other hand effectual, as implying a Divine work of renewal in the will within,

(3) The calling of God is hopeful, because it is, on the one hand righteous, and on the other hand holy: righteous, as proceeding upon provision made for the righteousness of God, the righteousness of His character and government being maintained without compromise; holy, as making provision for our becoming personally righteous–upright, pure, holy.

4. There is hope in this calling of God; as being on the one hand sure on His part, and on the other hand capable of being made sure on our part.

II. What are the riches of the glory of His inheritance is the saints; its rich glory; its glorious richness. God takes us to be His inheritance.

III. And what is the exceeding greatness of His power to usward who believe. That is the third thing to be known. And here the apostle gives us a measure. It is according to the working, etc. It is a measure of amazing compass. It is nothing short of this, that you who believe may rely and reckon upon the power of God as available on your behalf, to the full extent of its exercise on behalf of Christ; in His victory over death, His resurrection to life, His ascension to the right hand of God, and His investiture with dominion over all. Application:

1. The knowledge for which Paul prays is altogether Divine; coming from a Divine source, through a Divine agency, for a Divine end. It is meant to be a knowledge both assured and assuring. But it cannot be so unless these conditions of it are duly observed.

2. The highest point in this threefold knowledge of God is the centre, and that implies your being His saints, His holy ones. It must be as His holy ones that you reach and realize the knowledge of the riches of the glory of His inheritance in you. Let no false humility come in here.

3. The exceeding greatness of Gods power is put forth in your exercising faith: it is to usward who believe. (R. S. Candlish, D. D.)

What the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints.–

Gods inheritance in His saints

Among men there is possession and inheritance, in beings as in things. The husband has a portion in his wife, and parents have a portion in their children. Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord. And, according to the text, God has His inheritance in the saints. He who is the first cause of all things owns all things, and all things are His inheritance, and as part of this vast possession, living beings are Gods peculiar treasure. That God has an inheritance in the things which He has made, is a fact asserted sometimes by Himself (Psa 50:10-12; Psa 127:3; Exo 19:5; Hag 2:8; Job 41:11, etc.) The redeemed of mankind–men, women, children–are Gods estate, His riches, His wealth.

1. Gods inheritance in the saints is possession of the highest kind. That which lives is superior to that which is inanimate. That which is moral and religious in its constitution is superior to that which is without moral sensibility. And the highest and best beings are they which are most like to God, possessing His image and wearing His likeness. Gods inheritance in the worlds upon worlds which He has made is inferior to His inheritance in the saints.

2. Gods inheritance in the saints is His own original possession. It is underived from any ancestor. He never was heir to it; He holds it in no succession. The saints are His from the beginning, and His alone.

3. While the saints are Gods inheritance naturally, He has a second or double title to the possession (Exo 15:16; Psa 74:2; Eph 1:14; 1Co 6:19-20, etc.). The sick child lifted up from the gates of death is a special inheritance to the mother who has fondly nursed it. The prodigal son restored to his father is a special inheritance to the parent, whose life was a blank until the lost one was found. A forgiven transgressor, an ungodly man justified, a bad man regenerated, a man in a second sense Gods child, is His peculiar treasure.

4. This inheritance, looked at from the God side and from the heaven side, is a rich and glorious inheritance. Considered from the human and earthly side, the possession is very poor. What can we see in ourselves that can make God rich? But God considers Himself rich and exalted and renowned, in being able to say of His saints, They are mine. The state of Gods heart toward His inheritance makes it appear to Himself as rich and glorious. We have seen that God has a rich and glorious inheritance in the saints.

Upon this fact we proceed to make a few practical observations.

1. If God have a rich and glorious inheritance in the saints, He will claim it. He will not leave it alone, as though it did not belong to Him, or as though it were worthless. And God does claim it. He claims it by the voice of the Holy Spirit speaking in the hearts of the saints. He claims it by the Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God. He claims His inheritance by His work upon it. He claims it by His providence over it. He claims it by His conduct, when this inheritance is defiled or given to another. He claims it by frequently reminding His saints that they are not their own.

2. If God have a rich and glorious inheritance in His saints, He will take care of His possession. All the looking to and attention and regard and oversight, which it requires for its safety and prosperity, cannot but be bestowed. And this care will partake of all the qualities of His own nature. It will be independent care, almighty care, righteous care, loving care, sufficient care, perfect care.

3. If God have a rich and glorious inheritance in His saints, He will make use of that inheritance. The little in Gods hand shall produce more, and the more much, and the much a greater abundance. Christians are not senseless ornaments in Gods house, but servants.

4. If God have a rich and glorious inheritance in His saints, He must take pleasure in it. Although this delight may be disturbed by sin and by sorrow, without doubt it exists with no variableness or the shadow of turning.

5. If God have a rich and glorious inheritance in His saints, He will not forsake it. His natural and His special title to it, His having claimed it, His use of it, and care for it, and delight in it, are all so many reasons for retaining it. And He has the capacity and ability to retain it. The inheritance which husbands and wives have in each other, is an inheritance which by reason of death fades away. The inheritance which parents have in children, is one which by reason of death in some cases, of removal from home in other cases, and of other circumstances, either partially or entirely fades away. But in this case the heritor lives, and the inheritance itself is everlasting. And while He lives He changes not.

6. If God have a rich and glorious inheritance in His saints, and if He claim His inheritance, care for it, make use of it, and take pleasure in it, and if He will not forsake it, the saints themselves should think and feel and speak and act and live in harmony with this position. They who come suddenly into a fortune, or rise unexpectedly to a high social position, do not at first see and understand all that is required of them. And thus the appreciation of their position by the saints is a gradual experience.

7. If God have His inheritance in the saints, we ought to esteem it highly, and to cherish a living and loving care for it. Christians should care for themselves, because they are not their own, and should care for themselves for Gods sake. To defile or degrade or debase themselves, or to waste their energies, is to defile and debase and waste the inheritance of God. What motives are here to the cherishing of purity and righteousness and Christ-likeness! And how careful should saints be of each other! (S. Martin, D. D.)

Gods inheritance

Our inheritance in God is Christ, life, righteousness, peace, fulness, acceptance, Fatherhood, grace, and glory! But what can we say of His inheritance in us? Only this. That it is by His saints God intends to make known to principalities and powers in heavenly places His manifold wisdom, tenderness, long suffering, patience, and the boundless and inexhaustible abundance of His mercies and pardoning love. For even as this dark world needs the sun, so doth the sun need a world such as ours to shine upon, else his fulness of light and quickening, gladdening power would be unrevealed. And as the fulness of the earth sets forth the beauty and resources of the sun, so shall His vessels of mercy and His monuments of grace set forth the glory of our God. You may remember God speaks of His people as His garden. The figure is very instructive and very beautiful. What our gardens are to the sun, Gods children are to Him. As each flower attracts and absorbs the suns rays, receiving and reflecting his light and heat, and giving forth fragrance and fruit according to its nature, absorbing some rays and reflecting others, but all together setting forth in a variety of tints and shades, and fragrance and fruit, the infinite fulness and beauty of the light in which they dwell,–even so it shall be by and by when the Sun of Righteousness arises on us with healing in His wings. Each saint shall reflect some blessed aspect of His fulness of grace and glory. One shall set forth His patience, another His tenderness, another His faithfulness, another His strength, another His fulness, another His fruitfulness, another His loving kindness and tender mercies, but all together shall show forth the praises of Him who called them out of darkness into His marvellous light. (M. Rainsford, B. A.)

Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell

Verse 17. That the God of our Lord Jesus] Jesus Christ, as man and mediator, has the Father for his God and Father: and it is in reference to this that he himself says: I ascend unto my Father and your Father, and to my God and your God; Joh 20:17.

The Father of glory] The author and giver of that glory which you expect at the end of your Christian race. This may be a Hebraism for glorious Father, but the former appears to be the best sense.

The Spirit of wisdom and revelation] I pray that God may give you his Holy Spirit, by whom his will is revealed to men, that he may teach and make you wise unto salvation, that you may continue to acknowledge him, Christ Jesus, as your only Lord and Saviour.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ; he is the God of Christ not according to Christs Divine nature, but his human, and as Mediator, in which respect he was subject to the Father.

The Father of glory; the most glorious Father, and the Author of all glory and glorious things, and to whom all glory is due.

May give unto you the spirit of wisdom; a greater measure (for some they already had) of faith, {as Eph 1:8, where it is called wisdom} or of the knowledge of the things of God, whereof the Spirit is the Author. God is said to give or send the Spirit, where the Spirit works effectually; and, so to give the Spirit of wisdom, where the Spirit effectually works that wisdom.

And revelation: by revelation he means not extraordinary, such as the prophets had, but ordinary, such as was common to believers, and expresseth the manner of the Spirits working this wisdom, that he doth it by removing the covering or veil of natural ignorance, {Psa 119:18; Luk 24:45} shining into the mind, and making it see what before it saw not; sometimes new objects, sometimes new excellencies in objects before known. Thus the Spirit works not only in the beginning of faith and spiritual knowledge, but in its further progress he lets in new light into the mind, and removes some remaining degree of natural darkness.

In the knowledge, or acknowledgment, which may imply an ownng, approving, and embracing things before known.

Of him; i.e. God or Christ, or God in Christ: and so either he declares here wherein the wisdom he mentioned consists, viz. the knowledge of God and Christ, in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge: or rather, the end of that wisdom and revelation, viz. the acknowledgment of God or Christ, when we so know him, as to own him as ours, to embrace, and love, and wholly subject ourselves to him, Col 1:9,10.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

17. A fit prayer for allChristians.

the God of our LordJesusappropriate title here; as in Eph1:20-22 he treats of God’s raising Jesus to be Headover all things to the Church. Jesus Himself called the Father “MyGod” (Mt 27:46).

the Father of glory(CompareAc 7:2). The Father of thatinfinite glory which shines in the face of Christ, who is “theglory” (the true Shekinah); through whom also “the glory ofthe inheritance” (Eph 1:18)shall be ours (Joh 17:24;2Co 3:7-4).

the spirit of wisdomwhoseattribute is infinite wisdom and who works wisdom in believers (Isa11:2).

and revelationwhosefunction it is to reveal to believers spiritual mysteries(Joh 16:14; Joh 16:15;1Co 2:10).

in the knowledgerather,as Greek (see on 1Co 13:12),”in the full knowledge of Him,” namely, God.

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ,…. In what sense God the Father is the God of Christ, [See comments on Eph 1:3]

The Father of glory; or the glorious Father; who is glorious in himself, in the perfections of his nature, and in the works of his hands; and as a father, he is a glorious father to Christ, and is a father to him, as he is to none else; and has been honoured and glorified by Christ, and from whom Christ as man has received much honour and glory: and he is a glorious father to the saints, to whom he has shown inexpressible love, by adopting them into his family; and pities them, as a father does his children; takes care of them, and protects them, and makes a glorious provision for them; not only of good things now, but of an eternal inheritance hereafter: and he may be so called, because he is the author and giver of eternal glory and happiness; and because all glory is due unto him: the Arabic version reads, “God, our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory”, making all these epithets to belong to Christ:

may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation, in the knowledge of him; this was one part of the apostle’s prayers for the saints at Ephesus, that they might increase in divine knowledge; either in the knowledge of God, as the God of Christ, and the Father of glory, and as their God and Father in Christ; or of God, as considered in Christ the Mediator; or else of Christ himself: and designs not a notional and speculative knowledge of Christ, but what is practical and experimental; and which is joined with love of him, faith in him, and obedience to him; and which is not only approbative, but fiducial and appropriating; and though it is but imperfect, yet is progressive; and for the progression of it, the apostle prays; for it is certain, that these saints had a knowledge of Christ, but this was not perfect; and a larger measure of it was desirable: and in order to this, he prays for the Spirit, as a “spirit of wisdom”; who implants spiritual wisdom in the hearts of men, and instructs them in the Gospel, the hidden wisdom of God, leads them into all truths, and opens to them the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, which are hid in Christ, the wisdom of God; and as a spirit of “revelation”; who reveals Christ and the things of Christ, at first conversion; and afterwards reveals him and his righteousness, and other benefits of his more largely, even from faith to faith; and gives a clearer view of interest in them: hence it appears, that the Spirit is the gift of God; and that all spiritual light and knowledge, and the increase of it, are owing to him.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

The Father of glory ( ). The God characterized by glory (the Shekinah, Heb 9:5) as in Acts 7:2; 1Cor 2:8; 2Cor 1:3; Jas 2:1.

That–may give (—). In Col 1:9 is preceded by , but here the sub-final use depends on the general idea asking in the sentence. The form is a late Koine optative (second aorist active) for the usual . It occurs also in 2Thess 3:16; Rom 15:5; 2Tim 1:16; 2Tim 1:18 in the text of Westcott and Hort. Here B 63 read (like Joh 15:16) second aorist active subjunctive, the form naturally looked for after a primary tense (). This use of the volitive optative with after a primary tense is rare, but not unknown in ancient Greek.

A spirit of wisdom and revelation ( ). The Revised Version does not refer this use of to the Holy Spirit (cf. Gal 6:1; Rom 8:15), but it is open to question if it is possible to obtain this wisdom and revelation apart from the Holy Spirit.

In the knowledge of him ( ). In the full knowledge of Christ as in Colossians.

Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament

God of our Lord Jesus Christ. Compare Joh 20:17; Mt 27:46, and see on ver. 3.

Father of glory [ ] . The Father to whom the glory belongs. Note the article, the glory, preeminently. Compare Act 7:2; 1Co 2:8. See Psa 18:3, “who is worthy to be praised;” where the Hebrew is is praised. The exact phrase has no parallel in Scripture. The Spirit of wisdom and revelation. Spirit has not the article, but the reference is to the Holy Spirit. Compare Mt 12:28; Luk 1:15, 35, 41; Rom 1:4; 1Pe 1:2. Wisdom and revelation are special forms of the Spirit’s operation. He imparts general illumination (wisdom) and special revelations of divine mysteries. The combination of two words with an advance in thought from the general to the special is characteristic of Paul. Compare grace and apostleship, Rom 1:5; gifts and calling, Rom 11:29; wisdom and prudence, Eph 1:8, wisdom and knowledge, Col 2:3.

In the knowledge of Him [ ] The sphere in which they will receive God ‘s gift of wisdom and revelation. To know God is to be wise. The condition is not merely acknowledgment, but knowledge. Epignwsiv knowledge is never ascribed to God in the New Testament. Of Him refers to God.

Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament

1) “That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory” (hina ho theos tou kuriou hemon iesou christou ho pater tes dokses) “in order that for the purpose that, the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory.” Unselfish Christian intercession and petition for others is a godly virtue that blesses the one praying and the object of the prayer, Act 11:12-18; 1Pe 3:7-8.

2) “May give unto you the spirit of wisdom” (doe humin pneuma sophias) “May give or dole out to you a spirit of wisdom.” God grants wisdom in answer to prayer, Jas 1:5; Pro 1:7; Pro 2:6. Solomon received it in answer to prayer, 1Ki 4:29; 1Ki 5:12. It is the heavenly, wise application of knowledge.

3) “And revelation in the knowledge of him” (kai apokalupseos en epignosei autou) “And an unveiling of Him, in full comprehension.” Paul’s prayer included the petition that God might grant to the Ephesian brethren a comprehensive or full unveiling, or recognition of who the Lord (Master) Jesus (Savior) Christ (Anointed One) was.

This revelation of Jesus Christ is disclosed in and through a knowledge of His written Word, as it is read, taught, or preached, accompanied by the illumination of the Holy Spirit to both the speaker and listener, Pro 1:22-23; Eph 3:16-19; 1Co 2:12-14; 1Jn 2:26-27.

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

17. That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ. But what does Paul wish for the Ephesians? The spirit of wisdom, and the eyes of their understanding being enlightened. And did they not possess these? Yes; but at the same time they needed increase, that, being endowed with a larger measure of the Spirit, and being more and more enlightened, they might more clearly and fully hold their present views. The knowledge of the godly is never so pure, but that some dimness or obscurity hangs over their spiritual vision. But let us examine the words in detail.

The God of our Lord Jesus Christ. The Son of God became man in such a manner, that God was his God as well as ours.

“

I ascend,” says he, “to my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.” (Joh 20:17)

And the reason why he is our God, is, that he is the God of Christ, whose members we are. Let us remember, however, that this relates to his human nature; so that his subjection takes nothing away from his eternal godhead.

The Father of glory. This title springs from the former; for God’s glory, as a Father, consists in subjecting his Son to our condition, that, through him, he might be our God. The Father of glory is a well-known Hebrew idiom for The glorious Father. There is a mode of pointing and reading this passage, which I do not disapprove, and which connects the two clauses in this manner: That God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, may give to you.

The Spirit of wisdom and revelation is here put, by a figure of speech, (metonymy,) for the grace which the Lord bestows upon us by his own Spirit. But let it be observed, that the gifts of the Spirit are not the gifts of nature. Till the Lord opens them, the eyes of our heart are blind. Till the Spirit has become our instructor, all that we know is folly and ignorance. Till the Spirit of God has made it known to us by a secret revelation, the knowledge of our Divine calling exceeds the capacity of our own minds.

In the knowledge of him. This might also be read, In the knowledge of himself. Both renderings agree well with the context, for he that knows the Son knows also the Father; but I prefer the former as more natively suggested by the Greek pronoun, ἐν ἐπιγνώσει αὐτοῦ

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

THE CHURCH, CHRISTS SOLE AND SUFFICIENT BODY

Eph 1:17; Eph 1:22-23

THERE are few subjects more often, or earnestly discussed, at the present time than the Church. Prophets of evil there are who declare its day is about done, and its destiny is substantially sealed. Professional optimists there are who take an exactly opposite view, namely, that the Church is just coming to herself, and that her glory is a thing of the future. Without at all attempting in this chapter to settle that discussion, or even to seriously engage in the same, we propose another direction for thought, namely, that suggested by our theme, The Church, Christs Sole and Sufficient Body.

Paul writing to the Ephesians spoke of Jesus Christ (Eph 1:17; Eph 1:22-23) the Head of all things to the Church which is His Body, and in that brief and defining statement, gave us good occasion to reflect upon the certain great facts involved in the very constitution of the Church itself; facts that might be stated as follows: It Is Formed by His Spirit; It Is the Lone Exhibit of His Life, and It Suffices for All Spiritual Expression.

IT IS FORMED BY HIS SPIRIT

The true Church is made up of His children. When He said to Nicodemus, Ye must be born again, He was not only stating a necessity for place in the Kingdom of God when it shall come, but also an experience that should precede Church fellowship. If the angels which kept their first estate constitute the general assembly and Church of the firstborn, which are written in Heaven, the ecclesia, or called-out ones of earth are the consequence of faith in Jesus Christ effecting a new creation in Him. If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new, and whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God. A true Church, therefore, is constituted of regenerate ones. For one to experience saving grace and not to associate himself with believers in a church fellowship, is to fail equally in discovering the Divine will and in walking in the Divinely appointed way.

Campbell Morgan thought when Paul cried out, Who art Thou, Lord? that the very use of the word, Lord, testified to the great change that had come, and he affirms, This man has joined the church at Damascus before he arrived there. Do you not see that he has taken the crown off his own life from his own head and put it on the head of Jesus? That is the way to become a member of a church, and of such THE Church is made.

The churchs one foundation is Jesus Christ, her Lord,She is His new creation, by water and the Word,From Heaven He came and sought her, to be His holy bride, With His own Blood He bought her, and for her life He died.

The Church inherits His nature. The biological law of life is not barred from the spiritual realm; to every seed it is given to bring forth after its kind obtains in the church. In spite of all the faults and deficiencies, schemings, and sins that belong to the human nature of man, into the true church member has come a new nature, destined to eventual and perfect triumph, namely, the nature of Christ. Of that the Apostle John was writing when he said, Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin, for his seed remaineth in him, a remark that has a two-fold application, originally and perfectly to Christ, and in a secondary sense certainly to Christians, for the immediate context adds, In this the children of God are manifest.

Christ also loved the Church, and gave Himself for it;

That He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the Word,

That He might present it to Himself a glorious Church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing: but that it should be holy and without blemish (Eph 5:25-27).

Christ is the one and only Head of the Church. Head over all things to the Church, which is His Body. Therefore the Church is subject unto Christ, and one might add, subject to Christ alone. Such Scripture anticipates the attempted autocracies and hierarchies destined to take place in her human history. Whether these had already manifested themselves as menacing powers in apostolic days, we are not in doubt. Peter, in his First Epistle (1Pe 5:2-3) exhorts the elders to feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; neither as being lords over Gods heritage, but being ensamples to the flock.

If that great Apostle were alive today, he would thunder against the ecclesiastical hierarchies of the century. Paul would join him in this. When he was writing to Timothy he declared, This is a true saying, If a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work, and then he proceeds to tell what a bishop should be like, blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach; not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre; but patient, not a brawler, not covetous; One that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity. How strange to conclude a discourse like that and say not a word about his ruling the whole state of churches! He has reason, for the very simple fact is that no such bishop ever lived in New Testament times! The whole papal system, whether it exist with Rome or those who have partly come out of her, is lacking in a Biblical basis, and on that very account has been subjected to increasing abuses.

How far we have departed from the New Testament ideal of a bishop who was the episcopas or overseer, the pastor of a single flock, one realizes when he compares some present-day ecclesiastical potentates with Pauls Letter to Titus. Here he tells that a bishop, among other things, should hold fast the faithful word as he has been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers, but never once mentions the great hierarchical powers of administration. If therefore men rise up to exercise an overlordship of this sort, they not only do it without the authority of the Word, but in opposition to the sole headship of the Son of God.

This brings us to our second remark concerning the Church:

IT IS THE LONE EXHIBIT OF HIS LIFE

He elects to live in it. The Head lives in the Body. Christ lives in the Church. It is true of the regenerated individual and it should also be true of the Church, that the body is the temple of the Holy Ghost. The temple may be unworthy its tenant in fact, it always is, and often sadly so. That does not in any wise detract from the character or greatness of the Tenant, Himself. Diogenes is said to have lived in a tub, but in spite of that fact, he was a philosopher. When Christ decided to manifest Himself in the Church, He appreciated that, made up of mortal men as it would be, it would fall short at many points and fail to represent Him in many ways. He also knew, as men should understand, that its deficiencies would not detract from His perfection. On the other hand, His perfection would tend to correct its deficiencies and perfect its character.

Recently, I read, in a Canadian magazine, a most charming story of Western prairie life, written by a young English woman. She was a university graduate and had married an officer in the army. When the war was over and she came with her husband to his own land in Canada, she shortly found herself called upon to go with him to the Western plains, and take possession of a ranch which had been deserted by its tenant. The plain log house was a strange contrast to her palatial English home. The weeds that ran even to the door were ugly looking things when she remembered the blooming flowers of her fathers country estate. The rough board floor and leaky roof caused her heart to sink, but she was a girl of spirit and set her deft hands to work. Getting her husband to plow up a portion of the prairie about the house, she used her landscape knowledge in laying out a lawn and garden. Securing from him roughly constructed boxes, she nailed them along the window sills, filled them with rich dirt and planted flower seeds there. Getting small round boulders from a nearby creek, she laid out paths, and whitewashed the stones. The husband patched the roof, and inside the house her fingers were busy daily, till every aspect pleased. In a few weeks her friends who visited her were ecstatic over the neatness and beauty of the whole scene. The entire premises had taken on the character of her tenancy.

It was a most delapidated house into which our Lord consented to come, and yet the Church of God is today the worlds most beautiful body, due to one solitary circumstance, namely, that He elected to live in it.

He deigns to be known by it. It is called, by the pen of inspiration, His Body, and again, The Body of Christ. It will never perfectly become Him until he takes it from earth, and in the translation, perfects the same. But the body is often sadly incomplete in its expression of the indwelling Spirit. Alexander H. Stephens was most diminutive and all his life long an invalid. His big wheel chair was a familiar object on the streets of Washington. Feeble, emaciated in body, racked with aches and pains, and yet in that little frame lodged a mind that was matchless. Thomas Dixon once said, Men knew that back of the pale face, shrivelled hand and dwarfed body that lay so lightly in that chair, there was the spirit of a lion, and his acquaintances either loved or feared him, while all respected. He mastered all circumstances by means of his mighty brain. One forgets a deficient body when a brain like that controls it, and consents to indwell it. So with the Church of God. The members of the body are far from perfect, but have a Head of perfection.

The world has no other vision of Him. Our Lord once said, He that hath seen Me, hath seen the Father, and again the pen of inspiration speaks of Him as the express image of the Father. It is not true that he that hath seen the Church hath seen Christ, but it is true that the Church is the only vision of Him that men get. We are His epistles and while we poorly express Him, we become, by our very relationship to Him, the manifestation of His person to most men. The discerning, however, will judge Him not by His Body, the Church, but rather by His Spirit which indwells it.

Abraham Lincoln was to most people an ungainly and homely man, but to the woman whose son he had pardoned, he was the handsomest man she had ever seen.

The illustration holds in the view men get of Christ. To the outside world, which looks only upon the Church, His Body, there is no beauty in Him that they should desire Him, but to the one who has come to know His saving grace, He becomes the Fairest among ten thousand and the one altogether lovely, and to such an one, even the Church, His physical manifestation, is attractive in the last degree. The greatest testimony of ones Christian experience is at this point: We know that we have passed from death unto life because we love the brethren. We do not forget the day when the two disciples walked to the village of Emmaus, from Jerusalem about threescore furlongs. And it came to pass, that, while they communed together and reasoned, Jesus Himself drew near, and went with them. But their eyes were holden that they should not know Him. However, when He took bread and blessed and gave it to them, their eyes were opened, and they knew Him. Many a man comes into touch with Christ in the person of the church and does not recognize Him, but when for such a man the Bread of Life is broken and the cup of salvation is tasted, the vision clears. Ones eye must be enlightened, that he may know what is the hope of his calling and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints. Blessed are your eyes if ye see.

Finally,

THE CHURCH SUFFICES FOR ALL SPIRITUAL EXPRESSION

He provided no other means. It has always seemed to men a strange thing that Christ should have committed His cause absolutely to mans care, and yet such was His course from the beginning. Perhaps no illustration employed by a modern writer has been so often repeated as Gordons vision of Christ and Gabriel, walking in the heavenlies together and talking of His sacrifice on Calvary. Gabriel asked Him what plan He had for publishing the great good news that His death atoned for sin, and He responded by saying, I left that with James and Peter and John and Andrew and others, to make it known. Gabriel said, But suppose they should forget or fail, or that their successors in the far off twentieth century should cease to bear a testimony? Then what other provision have you for getting this good news to all the world? to which Christ answered, I have no other plan.

That is a truth upon which we need to lay emphasis at this moment. The Church of God is the only institution definitely ordained unto the redemption of man. Men are great in organizing movements. Most of them are not formed after any pattern seen in the mount, and they follow one another in quick succession to the Movement Cemetery. We have had the Brotherhood Movement, the Laymens Forward Movement, The Men and Religion Movement, The Interchurch World Movement; we now have The New World Movement, and every denomination has a denominational movement. Not a one of them expects to survive the short term set for its course only a few months since. No man will have the hardihood to even suggest their continuance beyond a five year term. It is little wonder! The Spirit never patterned them, and God never appointed them. They are like the grass; in the morning they grow up and flourish; in the evening, they are cut down and withered.

Not so the Church of Godthe gates of hell cannot prevail against it.

It is reported that when physicians told Douglas Jerrold that he was dying, the old man started at the statement, and rising on his elbow, exclaimed, What, man; die and leave these little ones helpless! I cannot; I will not die! He lived, and three years more were added before the final call came. In other words, his indomitable will grasped death by the throat and held him at arms length for three seasons; but the Church is a thousandfold mightier than that. Again and again men have prophesied its death. The Unitarian philosophers are telling us, even now, it is perishing from the face of the earth. The Church can afford to laugh at such doleful prophecies. She is not 2,000 years old, but 2,000 years young! Dark days have swept over her; disasters have smitten her again and yet again. Persecutors have been determined to wipe her from the earth; false philosophies have sought to pervert her message and blind the minds of her members, but through it all she walks with increasing strength and her power waxes!

He needs no other medium. As one looks back over the past, he realizes the folly of which men have been guilty in refusing to build after the pattern shown in the mount and in adopting plans all their own. Men have concluded they knew more about how to win the world to righteousness than God did, and they have started all sorts of organizations in order to accomplish it: Play-grounds, social settlements, Boy and Girl Scout movements, Outing Camps, Big Brother and Big Sister movements, the Y. M. and Y. W. C. As, Conferences, Colleges, Universities, Theological Seminaries, and on and on, and on, ad infinitum; and it begins to be increasingly evident that not a single one of them, nor all of them combined are accomplishing ought for a worlds redemption, save as some of them happen to clearly ally themselves with a true church and to be a medium of expression of the same. More and more, thoughtful men are finding that these multiplied agencies are in not a few instances setting themselves squarely against the interest of the Church of God, and are becoming its most menacing enemies.

Take the famous Lake Geneva Conference: For recent years its teaching on Sunday School work has been of such a character as to make Sunday School work worthless and decapitate the Church altogether by denying the Deity of Jesus Christ and eviscerate the Church itself by striking at its very vitals.

Take the Y. M. and Y. W. C. As of America and make the few exceptions to the rule the occasional ones that have remained loyal to our Lord, and the remaining portion of them today are the greatest single menace that the Church of God sees. The majority of their secretaries have been educated in rationalistic schools; evangelism has died out of their halls, and only Unitarian sentiment is any longer welcomed by most of those who are in places of power! It would be practically impossible at this moment for a conservative preacher to secure a hearing in the average Y. M. C. A., but those ministers who doubt the authority of the Word, question the Virgin Birth, rule the reported miracles out of the revelation, are not only welcomed there, but they are constantly bidden. Meetings are now being often held to encourage local ministers to take greater interest. It will accomplish it for liberal ministers, but conservative men will feel no interest until there is a reform. We know all moneys invested today in such Y. M. C. As are moneys not only lost to the Church of God, but set busy against the Church of God.

These remarks apply with equal aptness to a multitude of colleges that have been founded by the Church. A writer to an Eastern paper recently said, The Congregationalists were pioneers in education in America. They sent a line of schools across the continent, Harvard, Yale, Dartmouth, Bowdoin, Amherst, Williams and Oberlin. Certainly; and could you call another list of institutions in America that are as flagrantly opposing the faith once delivered as this same cross-continent line of colleges and universities? There is not a single one of them that stands four-square today for those fundamentals that have been the life force of the Church of God. There is not a single one of them into which one can send a young Christian, with any assured prospect of having him returned a Christian at the end of his college course. They are the enemies of the Cross of Christ, and the modernistic spirit, which has mastered in them, is more and more conquering in the colleges of all the denominations, until now the making of the list of schools loyal to the God of heaven and earth, to the Deity of Christ, to the Bible, the Text Book of the Church, is a task that sorrows one in that it is so shortly accomplished. Millions upon millions of dollars the churches have contributed to make these scholastic institutions possible, and when we have built them up to places of power, they have turned upon their creators to rend them, and by attacking the Bible, the Churchs only Text Book, they have sought either to so far befog the testimony of the Church that men through it may not find the way, or blot out that testimony altogether. And yet in spite of this piece of history, now perfectly understood by the unprejudiced, the appeal for more money for these extra-Biblical institutions is not subsiding but growing, and requests for donations are no longer depended upon for their development, but drives are instituted instead. Men who believe God and follow His Word are increasingly refusing to fall into line and perform their part at the crack of the whip of ecclesiastical masters.

And yet for an example of all of this, or any evidence that such was ever Gods will or way, I search my Bible in vain. In the Old Testament and in the New, I find no play-grounds approved; no social settlements suggested; no Y. M. or Y. W. C. A.s organized; no Brotherhood Movements financed; no confederacies formulated. The Gospels are a record of how the Church was brought into being. The Book of the Acts is a history of the Church at work. The Epistles are, with few exceptions, addressed to the Churches of the living God, and the Book of Revelation opens with a series of seven such Letters to Churches and closes with a scene that translates the Church and turns it into the Kingdom of Heaven! In all this volume of literature, I find no single intimation or reference to even such institutions as Visiting Nurses Associations, none to hospitals, none to brotherhoods.

Now, do not mistake me! I believe the Visiting Nurses Association to be an admirable institution and worthy of a citizens support. I believe the Red Cross Society to be the finest expression of humanitarianism. I believe that play-grounds for children are institutions worthy of approval. I believe hospitals and schools are necessities of the state, but my position is this: that the Church is the one and only institution through which God has called His elect to operate, and it is the profoundest pity, the most egregious blunder, that men have gone outside of her and organized extra institutions that have become inimical to her, to do the very work that was designated to her; that she is fitted to accomplish and upon the discharge of which her spiritual success absolutely depends.

There isnt a social service, an ethical ideal that belongs within the realm of Christian obligation that cannot be better discharged by the hands of an active church than by any extra-organization ever conceived. If you would make a contribution to play-grounds, and I should be glad to see you do it, make it in the name of the Church of God. If the Church is to visit the sick, and surely that is her obligation, let her do it through her members only. The City Hospitals of every metropolis in America will welcome as cordially the Christian minister and Christian worker as any denominationally supported hospital born or grown big to this hour. Why then, will you tell me, should millions of dollars go into denominational hospitals to discover upon the completion and short time operation of the same that we are compelled to receive the children of the world, to employ ofttimes physicians and nurses of the world, who have no religious convictions whatever, who have no God, or Christ? Why take out of the hands of the state the offices that belong to it, instead of doing what the Church of God was set to do, save men and women?

Why invest millions in great denominational universities, and present to the world institutions that are no whit different in religious atmosphere and opportunities for Christian service from the state taxed and supported schools? Will any well-instructed man now claim a spiritual superiority for them? I grant you, our forefathers when out of their poverty they founded these schools, did it with the certain expectation of making them Christian to the core, of permitting only Christian teachers to appear in them, and employing the Bible as the chief of all text books, but what one of them abides by this dream of the dear men now dead?

The principal difficulty with all these institutions has been in the circumstance that they have been built apart from a church, conducted independently of a church, and in the process of time have departed from the faith that made the church. Spurgeons College remains faithful, but Spurgeons College remains linked indissolubly with Spurgeons Church. The work of man for man, the basal idea of the Y. M. C. A., is right, but in the name of the New Testament, why not let it be done in the church, by the church and for the church?

I say the same concerning education of the highest and most Christian sort, and if I believed the day would come when the school I founded and superintend would be divorced from the church that gave it birth, I should entertain the gravest alarm as to whether it would remain loyal.

If a man really wants to invest his Christian influence so that it will bring the largest fruit in return, employ his time and talents so that they will most honor God, no institution has ever been born or will ever be begotten that provides him such an opportunity as a church, and I had rather be the man who leaves as a monument to his labors a great, true Church of God, so ramified in its work as to reach the poor, and minister to them; the sick, and reveal to them the Great Physician; the discouraged, and impart to them the brightest of hopes; the sinful, and show them salvations way; than to contribute to any other institution that has ever been named among men. Give me a Church of God, modeled after the New Testament pattern, filled with His Spirit, and I will show you a Church of God that will serve society at every point, that will be a contributing agency to every element of permanence in the state, and that will be the exponent of the only righteousness that can bless, and make great a nation!

Turn to the Book of the Acts and have the early Christians come back for a report and be impressed with the things upon which they speak. It is not upon play-grounds, though I hope at times they were playful men. It was not upon social settlements, though I trust they walked in the midst of the people as gracious ensamples of how to live. It was not upon hospitals and colleges, though their presence was healing and their speech educational. It was not upon Y. M. and Y. W. C. As, though they did effective work with young men and women. It was upon the power of the Gospel in the lives of the individuals and the growth of the Church of the living God, the Divinely ordained institution.

And what inspiring reports they are! Thousands convicted and converted, and daily additions to the Church as they were being saved, contributions to the Church, care of the needy by the Church, healing through the Church, Letters to the Church, conferences between the Churches, officers for the Church, the Church commissioned to the end of the earth, and the promise of Christ with the Church to the end of the age! Thus the New Testament program, and God has not changed His appointment. If I had my way today I would let the state manage all affairs that belong to the state, and the Church of God assert her influence upon every phase of human life, seeking to control the affairs of her own organization only and accepting as great commission to the world the work of pointing men to Christ, the Inspirer of intellects and the Saviour of souls.

I love Thy Church, O God; her walls before Thee stand, Dear as the apple of Thine eye and graven on Thy hand; For her my tears shall fall, for her my prayers ascend,To her my cares and toils be given, till toils and cares shall end.

Fuente: The Bible of the Expositor and the Evangelist by Riley

(17) The God of our Lord Jesus Christ.See Joh. 20:17, I ascend unto My Father and your Father; and to My God and your God. It has been noted that, while on the cross, our Lord, in the cry, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me? adopted the common human language of the Psalmist, He here, after His resurrection, distinguished emphatically between His peculiar relation to God the Father and that relation in which we His members call God our Father. St. Pauls usual phrase (see above, Eph. 1:3) is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ; the phrase here used is unique, probably substituted for the other on account of the use of the word Father in the next clause. It refers, of course, entirely to our Lords nature as the true Son of Man. In that respect God is in the full sense (which in us is interrupted by sin) His God, in whom He lived and had His being. In proportion as we are conformed to His likeness, God is our God for ever and ever.

The Father of glory.Better, of the glory. This phrase is again unique. We have, indeed, such phrases as Father of Mercies (2Co. 1:3), Father of Lights (Jas. 1:17); and, on the other hand, the King of Glory (Psa. 28:5), the God of Glory (Act. 7:2), the Lord of Glory (1Co. 2:8; Jas. 2:1). In all these last instances the glory seems certainly to be the Shechinah of Gods manifested presence, and in all cases but one is ascribed to our Lord. But the Father of the glory, seems a phrase different from all these. I cannot help connecting it with the missing element in the preceding clause, and believing (with some old interpreters), in spite of the strangeness of expression, that God is here called the Father of the glory of the incarnate Deity in Jesus Christ (see Joh. 1:14), called in 2Co. 4:6, the glory of God in the face (or person) of Jesus Christ. (See Excursus A to St. Johns Gospel: On the Doctrine of the Word; dealing with the identification of the Word with the Shechinah by the Jewish interpreters). The prayer which follows connects the knowledge of the glory of our inheritance with the exaltation of our Lord in glory.

The knowledge of him.The word here rendered knowledge signifies perfect and thorough knowledge; and the verb corresponding to it is used distinctively in this sense in Luk. 1:4; 1Co. 13:12. It is employed by St. Paul more especially in his later Epistles (Eph. 4:13; Php. 1:9; Col. 1:9-10; Col. 2:2; Col. 3:10), dealing as they do with the deeper things of God, and assuming more of a contemplative tone. It is represented here as coming from distinct revelation.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

17. The particular object for which Paul incessantly prayed in their behalf, namely, their elevation of view to take in this grandeur of the redeeming Christ, of which he gives a picture in Eph 1:20-23.

God of Christ In the entire passage, 20-23, St. Paul describes Christ rather in his manhood raised by process to a divine exaltation, just as in Php 2:6-8 he describes his divinity as gradually humanized and humiliated. The reason for the former view here is to furnish basis for the parallelism in Eph 2:4-7, identifying our exaltation with Christ’s, produced by our divine identification with him. This exaltation of both Christ and his elect finds its glorious cause in him who is God of both. For, as Meyer says, “God hath sent Christ, given him to death, raised and exalted him.”

Father of glory See note on Act 7:2. The glory, sometimes made visible to human eyes in the old dispensation, represented the divine splendour which our thoughts necessarily attribute to God, like the light we attribute to the sun. And such visible glory also represents that moral glory we attribute to the divine actions and character. From such glory in both kinds, the Trinity, or the Father primarily, is called from his power, God of glory, Psa 29:3; and from his supremacy, King of glory, Psa 24:7. As origin and generator of all this gloriousness he is now here called Father of glory, as he is called “Father of lights,” Jas 1:17. So, Father of mercies, 2Co 1:3. Christ is Lord of glory, 1Co 2:8; and so there are cherubim of glory, Heb 9:5. It is of the moral glory made visible in our redemption to the eyes of your understanding, when enlightened by this Father of glory, that St. Paul specially here speaks; the glory, glory, glory, of Eph 1:6; Eph 1:12; Eph 1:14. This glory can break upon their view through the mists of earthliness only by the double process of verbal revelation to them and of quickening their inner powers to behold and realize it. For this they need wisdom, revelation, enlightened eyes.

Spirit A divinely communicated spirit, by which revelation is made.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

‘That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, having the eyes of your heart enlightened.’

He prays to ‘the God of our Lord Jesus Christ’ to grant to His people a full depth of understanding of spiritual truth, by the enlightenment of the Spirit. Indeed he desires that they might have ‘a full understanding and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ’, a knowledge that will include all that He is, which will come about by the enlightening of our hearts by the Father of glory, as He Who is the light of the world shines in us through His Spirit.

For ‘Lord Jesus Christ’ see on Eph 1:2.

‘The Father of glory.’ The One Who lives in splendour and glory (see Rev 21:23), Who is worthy of glory and has glory at His disposal to dispense as He will (Rom 8:17; Rev 21:11). He is the focal point of all glory. ‘Glory’ speaks of that which is most wonderful in every way. He is called ‘the God of glory’ by Stephen (Act 7:2; compare Psa 29:3), and ‘the King of glory’ by the Psalmist (Psalms 24). Jesus also is ‘the Lord of glory’ (1Co 2:8; Jas 2:1; compare 2Co 3:18). The One Who is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ must be glorious, for He is glorious.

Reference to God as the Father of glory relates Him back to the God Who revealed Himself in glory at the Exodus in the pillar of fire (Exo 13:21 and often), in glory on Mount Sinai at the giving of the covenant (Exo 24:16-17), and in glory in the Tabernacle (Exo 40:34; Num 14:10) and the Temple (1Ki 8:11), where His glory was revealed visibly. He is thus the God of power, grace and splendour of the Old Testament. His glory is revealed by the heavens which reveal His handywork (Psa 19:1) and by His many mighty works and wonders (Psa 96:3; Psa 104:31). His glory is above the heavens (Psa 113:4) and the whole earth is full of His glory (Isa 6:3), which is revealed in His delivering power (Isa 40:5).

He is also the One Who is worthy of being glorified, and His glory is revealed in His unchanging purity (Rom 3:23), and in that He is eternally God, unchanging and beyond physical corruption (Rom 1:19-23). The riches of His glory are revealed in His mercy (Rom 9:23), and the light of the knowledge of the glory of God is revealed in the face of Jesus Christ (2Co 4:6). Indeed Jesus is the outshining of His glory (Heb 1:2), and the means by which His glory is made known to us.

‘May give to you a spirit (Spirit) of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, having the eyes of your heart enlightened.’ Paul prays that as a result of the activity of the Father of glory their ‘spirits’, the spiritual side of their natures, may be made wise in the true wisdom (see 1Co 1:21; 1Co 1:24 ; 1Co 1:30; Col 2:3) and that they might have revealed within them the full knowledge of Christ and what He has done, and is doing, for them. Thus he prays that their ‘hearts’, their inner beings, will be enlightened by the Holy Spirit, Who is Himself the Spirit of wisdom and revelation (1Co 2:10-16), so that they may know Him Who is the Wisdom from God revealed in saving activity (1Co 1:30). The prior reference to the Father of glory connects with what is being revealed. It is all glorious in His glory and Paul wants them to behold that glory.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

Eph 1:17. The Father of glory, A Hebrew expression, which cannot well be changed, since it signifies his being glorious in himself,the fountain whence all glory is derivedand to whom all glory is to be given. In all which senses it may be taken here, where there is nothing that appropriates it in particular to any one of them. Wisdom is evidently used in this verse for “a right conception and understanding of the gospel.” Revelation is used by St. Paul, not only for immediate inspiration, but, as it is meant here, and in most other places, for such truths as could not have been found out by human reason, but had their first discovery from revelation; though men afterwards came to the knowledge of those truths by reading them in the sacred scripture, where they are set down for their information.

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

Eph 1:17 . . . .] contains the design cherished by Paul in the . : in order that God might give you , etc. In this expressed design is implied the intercessory tenor of the ; hence is not here to be deprived of its notion of design , nor is it to be explained (Harless; comp. Rckert, Olshausen, Winer, and others) by supplying before it the conception of “ praying .” The apostle would say that what he has heard of their faith , etc., induces him to unceasing thanksgiving on their behalf, while he makes mention of it in his prayers to the end that God might give them , etc. The telic , Phm 1:6 , stands in another connection than the in our passage. See on Philem. l.c. The optative (on this form of later Greek instead of , see Buttmann, I. p. 507; Lobeck, ad Phryn. p. 346) is used, because the design is thought of as subjective conception and expectation , the realization of which is dependent entirely upon the will of God, and consequently belongs only to the category of what is wished and possible. On with an optative [110] after the present or future, see, generally, Hermann, ad Soph. El. 57; ad Aj. 1217; Reisig, ad Oed. Ch . p. 168 ff.; Bernhardy, p. 407; and especially Klotz, ad Devar. p. 622 ff.

. . .] for God has sent Christ who, having before all time proceeded from His essential nature (Col 1:15 ), was the creative organ of the Father forth in the fulness of the time in pursuance of His decree, to which the Son was obedient (Phi 2:8 ), has given Him up to death, raised and exalted Him, and is continually the Head of Christ (1Co 11:3 ), who even as of the Father is subordinate to the Father (Rom 8:34 ), and finally will give back to God the dominion which God has given to Him (1Co 15:27-28 ). In the consciousness of His relation of dependence on God, Christ Himself calls the Father , Joh 20:17 ; Mat 27:46 . Comp. Col 2:2 , Lachm. The opinion extorted in the anti-Arian interest from the Fathers (see Suicer, Thes . I. p. 944), that . applies to Christ’s human nature, and to the divine ( ! Theodoret and Oecumenius; comp. even Bengel and Bisping), is to be mentioned only as matter of history, as are also the forced construction, to which Menochius and Vatablus were induced by a like prejudice to resort, that and are to be taken together ( being inserted), and the at least more skilful turn of Estius: “Deus, qui est Domini nostri Jesu Christi pater gloriosus.”

] the Father (namely, of Christians) to whom the glory (the majesty ) belongs . See on Act 7:2 , and 1Co 2:8 . The resolution into an adjective pater gloriosus (Beza, Calvin, Estius, Michaelis, and others) is in itself arbitrary, does not exhaust the eminent sense of , and fails to perceive the oratorical force (Hermann, ad Viger. p. 887) of the substantival designation. Others take in the derived sense of auctor (Erasm. Paraphr .; Bucer, Cornelius a Lapide, Grotius, Wolf, and others, including Holzhausen and Olshausen), so that God is designated as He, from whom the glory of the Christians (according to Grotius: of Christ and the Christians) proceeds. Certainly the idea of auctor may be expressed, specially in the more elevated style, by (Job 38:28 ; Jas 1:17 , where the are personified; Pind. Pyth . iv. 313, where Orpheus is called ; and see Ast, Lex Plat. III. p. 66; Jacobs, ad Ach. Tat. p. 392 f.; Joh 8:44 is not here applicable); but as this is nowhere else done by Paul, so here he has no reason for resorting to such an usage, to which besides the analogous expressions, (Psa 29:3 ; Act 7:2 ), (Psa 24:7 ), (1Co 2:8 ), (Heb 9:5 ), are opposed. We may add, that the description of God by stands in appropriate relation to the design of the intercession; for of the God of Christ and Father of glory it is to be expected that He will do that, which the cause of Christ demands, and which serves to the manifestation of His own glory. Oecumenius rightly remarks: .

. .] The Holy Spirit , too (for it is not the human spirit that is here meant, as Michaelis, Rckert, de Wette, Baumgarten-Crusius, Bleek would take it [111] ), Paul is wont to characterize , Rom 7:2 ; Rom 7:15 ; 2Co 4:13 ; Gal 6:1 . Comp. 2Ti 1:7 . Here: the Spirit who works wisdom and gives revelation (1Co 2:10 ). The latter is a greater result of the work of the Spirit, [112] in accordance with which He not only by His enlightening operation furnishes wisdom ( . , 4Ma 1:16 ; conceived of, however, by Paul in reference to the Christian economy of salvation , comp. Eph 1:8 ), but further, as the organ of God, effects also special revelations of divine saving truths and purposes not otherwise known. Harless regards . . as the objective medium , which brought about the state of , so that the character of the is more precisely defined by . . But in passages like Rom 1:5 , . , Rom 11:29 , . , the discourse advances from the general to the special, not from the thing itself to its objective medium. Logically more natural, besides, would be the advance from the objective medium to the subjective state, according to which Paul would have written: . Finally, the climactic relation, which is brought out in the two words under our view, makes the wish of the apostle appear more fervid and full, and so more in keeping with his mood. It is obvious of itself, we may add, that Paul here desires for his readers, to whom in fact the Spirit has been already given from the time of their conversion (Eph 1:13 ), a continued bestowal of the same for their ever increasing Christian enlightenment. Comp. Col 1:9 . Baur, p. 437, conjectures here something of a Montanistic element. But it was not by the Montanists that the was first regarded as the principle of Christian wisdom, etc.; it is so already in the teaching of the whole N.T.

] That does not apply to Christ (Beza, Calvin, Calovius, Baumgarten, Flatt), but to God (although we have not to write ), is clear from the of Eph 1:18-19 ; it is only at Eph 1:20 that the discourse passes over to Christ. Nor is . , with Chrysostom, Theophylact, Zachariae, Koppe (with hesitation), Lachmann, Olshausen (who was forced to this by his explaining . . . in the sense of extraordinary charismata), to be attached to what follows , whereby the parallelism ( . . . is parallel with . . . . . ., and . . with . . .) would without reason be destroyed (see Harless); but it denotes the sphere of mental activity, in which they, already at work therein (and that likewise through the Spirit, Eph 1:13 ), are to receive the spirit of wisdom and revelation. Comp. 2Pe 1:2 . Erroneously is taken for (Luther, Castalio, Piscator, Cornelius a Lapide, Wolf, Bengel, Moldenhauer, Rosenmller, and others), or as per (Erasmus, Calovius, and others), which latter would represent the knowledge of God as bringing about the communication of the Spirit, and so invert the state of the case. No doubt Calovius remarks: “quo quis magis agnoscit Christum, eo sapientior fit et revelationem divini verbi magis intelligit;” but the question is one, not of an agnitio , but of a cognitio , and not of understanding the revelation of the word, but of a revelation to be received through the agency of the Holy Spirit.

In observe the force of the compound , which implies an exact and penetrating , as is very evident especially from 1Co 13:12 , and is wrongly denied by Olshausen. [113] Comp. Col 1:9 .

[110] Lachmann and Rckert (as also Fritzsche, ad Rom. III. p. 230) write with an iota subscriptum under , so that it would thus be the Ionic subjunctive ( Od. xii. 216). But often as the aorist subjunctive of occurs in the N.T., this Homeric form never presents itself. The form in B is a manifest emendation.

[111] Rckert: “God grant you a heart wise and open for His revelations;” de Wette: “the quality of mind which consists in wisdom (mediate knowledge) and revelation (susceptibility for the immediate knowledge of divine truth).” According to Schenkel, it is the spirit wrought in the regenerate by the Holy Spirit. All this is opposed to the N.T. use of with the genitivus abstracti . And nowhere in the N.T., where the being given is predicated of the , is it anything else than the objective ., whether it be divine or demoniacal (Luk 11:13 ; Joh 3:34 ; Act 8:18 ; Act 15:8 ; 1Th 4:8 ; 2Ti 1:7 ; 1Jn 3:24 ; Rom 5:5 ; Rom 11:8 ). The presence or absence of the article with makes no difference; see on Gal 5:16 . As to the singular expression , used of the Spirit of Christ , in Rom 1:4 , see on that passage.

[112] But not, as Olshausen (comp. Grotius) maintains, the of prophecy, of which the more detailed exposition, ver. 18 ff., shows no trace. And Paul, in fact, is praying for all his readers. See, however, 1Co 12:29 .

[113] Olshausen appeals to the fact that, just where the most exalted form of knowledge the charismatic is spoken of, the word employed is not , but , 1Co 12:8 ; 1Co 13:8 . , however, in the charismatic sense was the name as it were, the terminus technicus for the thing which as such was meant to denote the essence , not the degree .

Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary

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:

Ver. 17. The Father of glory ] That is, the glorious Father,Act 7:2Act 7:2 . Chrysostom expounds it the Father of Christ, as Eph 1:3 .

The Spirit of wisdom and revelation ] So called, because he revealeth unto us God’s depths, and reads us his riddles, 1Co 2:9-16 . He enlightens both the organ and object; he anoints the eyes with eyesalve, and gives both sight and light. (Saint’s Progress, by Dr Taylor.)

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

17 .] purpose (including also the purport , see note on 1Co 14:13 , and Ellicott’s note here) of the prayer : that (depends on the sense of . . , implying that a prayer for them took place) the God of our Lord Jesus Christ (see on Eph 1:3 . The appellation is here solemnly and most appropriately given, as leading on to what is about to be said in Eph 1:20 ff. of God’s exaltation of Christ to be Head over all things to His Church. To His God, Christ also in the days of His Flesh prayed, , : and even more markedly in that last cry, , ), the Father of glory (not merely the auctor, fons , of glory, Grot., Olsh.: still less = : nor with Chrys. to be explained , , : nor is to be understood of the divine nature of Christ, as Thdrt.: , , : for this would require . : but God is the Father, by being the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of that glory, the true and all-including glory, and only glory , of the Godhead, which shone forth in the manhood of the only-begotten Son ( Joh 1:14 ), the true Shechinah, which His saints beheld in the face of Christ, 2Co 4:4 ; 2Co 4:6 , and into which they are changed by the Lord the Spirit, ib. 2Co 3:18 . In fact, 2Co 3:7 to 2Co 4:6 , is the key to this sublime expression), would give (the account of the optative after , when a present ( ) has preceded, is very simple. It is used when the purpose is not that of the writer as he is writing , but is described as that of himself or some one else at another time . Thus Herod. ii. 93, , . , . See Klotz, Devar. p. 622) to you the Spirit (certainly it would not be right to take here as solely the Holy Spirit, nor as solely the spirit of man: rather is it the complex idea, of the spirit of man indwelt by the Spirit of God, so that as such, it is His special gift, see below) of wisdom (not, which gives wisdom, but which possesses it as its character q. d. to which appertains wisdom) and of revelation (i.e. that revelation which belongs to all Christians : see 1Co 2:10 ff.: not the of the early Church, as Olsh., nor could the Apostle be alluding to any thing so trivial and fleeting, see 1Co 13:12 . To those who are taught of God’s Spirit, ever more and more of His glories in Christ are revealed, see Joh 16:14-15 ) in (belongs to : as the element and sphere of the working of this gift of the Spirit) the full knowledge (for the distinction between and , see 1Co 13:12 ) of Him (Chr., Thl., Olsh., al., strangely connect with the following sentence, . . . . The whole paralleism is against this, in which . . . is [3] . . . . . . and . is [4] . . .; and the object being to exalt the gifts of the Spirit, . . would hardly come first in the sentence, and thus monopolize the emphasis. See also on a similar proposal, Eph 1:4 , end.

[3] When, in the Gospels, and in the Evangelic statement, 1Co 11:23-25 , the sign () occurs in a reference, it is signified that the word occurs in the parallel place in the other Gospels, which will always be found indicated at the head of the note on the paragraph. When the sign () is qualified , thus, ‘ Mk.,’ or ‘ Mt. Mk.,’ &c., it is signified that the word occurs in the parallel place in that Gospel or Gospels, but not in the other or others .

[4] When, in the Gospels, and in the Evangelic statement, 1Co 11:23-25 , the sign () occurs in a reference, it is signified that the word occurs in the parallel place in the other Gospels, which will always be found indicated at the head of the note on the paragraph. When the sign () is qualified , thus, ‘ Mk.,’ or ‘ Mt. Mk.,’ &c., it is signified that the word occurs in the parallel place in that Gospel or Gospels, but not in the other or others .

(not ) refers to the Father, not to Christ, as Beza, Calv, al.; cf. four times in Eph 1:18-19 : Christ first becomes thus designated in Eph 1:20 ), having the eyes of your heart enlightened (the construction is as in Soph. Electr. 479, , sch. Choph. 396, : see also Act 26:3 , Khner ii. p. 381: so that belongs to , and is the accusative of reference. So Beza, Beng., Koppe, Meyer, Ellic.: and such is the simpler and more forcible construction. But Grot., Rck., Harl., Olsh., De W., Stier, all., take . . . together, and govern it by , to which the article before . is no objection (as Beng.), but the logic of the passage is . The enlightening as regards (or of ) the eyes of the heart , is a condition, subordinate to the . . ., not another gift, correlative with it. Besides which, the sentence, even after all the grammatical vindications of Harl., al., . , is clumsy and unpauline in the last degree. On ., cf. Mat 4:16 : ch. Eph 3:9 ( Eph 1:14 ): Harl. gives an elaborate analysis, as usual, of the meaning, and remarks well that has the double meaning of ‘ belehren und beleben ’ ‘ enlightening and enlivening .’ He cites from Greg. Naz.: . . . . , . . The expression . . is somewhat unusual. The of Scripture is, as Harl., the mittelpunkt des Lebens, the very core and centre of life, where the intelligence has its post of observation, where the stores of experience are laid up, and the thoughts have their fountain. Similarly the Homeric , see Damm. Lex.: the Latin ‘ cor ’ cf. Cic. Tusc. i. 9, ‘aliis cor ipsum animus videtur, ex quo excordes, vecordes, concordesque dicuntur.’ Thus the . would be those pointed at in Mat 6:22-23 , that inner eye of the heart, through which light is poured in on its own purposes and motives, and it looks out on, and perceives, and judges things spiritual: the eye, as in nature, being both receptive and contemplative of the light), that you may know (purpose of the ., not of the . . . . This which is now to be described, to the end of the chapter, is involved in the . . . ., not its object : but it is the object of the enlightening , which will endue us with the knowledge) what (the dispute among the Commentators, whether implies quality or quantity , seems hardly worth entering into. The fulness of the simple meaning, ‘ what ,’ embraces all categories under which the things mentioned can be contemplated. In the passage to which both sides appeal, ch. Eph 3:18 , . . . of course implies, ‘ how great is the breadth , &c.:’ but it implies this by the simple meaning ‘ what is the breadth, &c.,’ not by making = quantum, quantity being already involved in the substantives) is the hope (again, it is mere trifling to enquire whether is the hope (subjective) or the thing hoped for (objective), in this case. For the involves in itself both these. If I know WHAT the hope is, I know both its essence and its accidents. Undoubtedly such an objective sense of does occur, see on Col 1:5 ; but certainly the meaning here is far wider than in that passage. As well might the subjective sense of Col 1:23 , be alleged on that side) of (belonging to, see on ch. Eph 4:4 ) His calling (i.e. the calling wherewith He called us. All the matters mentioned, , , , are , His , but not all in the same sense: see below. On , see notes, Rom 8:28-30 ), what the riches of the glory of His inheritance (“what a rich, sublime cumulation, setting forth in like terms the weightiness of the matters described; and not to be weakened (verwssert) by any resolution of the genitives into adjectives.” Mey. See Col 1:27 ) in (in the case of, as exemplified in; not so weak as ‘ among .’ nor merely ‘ in ,’ so as to refer to its subjective realization in them) the saints (much dispute has arisen on the construction of . . Koppe and Winer (Gram. 19.2. b, edn. 3: not appy in edn. 6), with whom Meyer and De Wette agree, connect it with understood, so as to mean ‘what the richness of, &c. is among the saints.’ To mention no other objection to this awkward construction, the context and sense are decisive against it. As Stier well says, ‘Paul does not pray for their eyes to be enlightened, to see what great and rich things are already among Christians.’ No: nor is it easy to conceive how any intelligent reader of the Epistle could ever maintain such a rendering. The other construction is, to take . . as belonging either to , or to , or to , as if it had been (or ) . And this is the only one allowed by the context: cf. Eph 1:19-20 , where , , form objects of reference precisely similar. Again there is manifestly a distinction between here, and in the next verse: the former being the perfected , the latter the militant saints. And this decides for the joining . . to , ‘ His inheritance in , whose example and fulness, and embodying is in the saints .’ The objection to this is supposed to be the want of the article before , which is urged by Meyer (see also Ellicott’s note here), because has intervened, thereby preventing . . . being considered as one idea. But surely this is not so. If, before was inserted , . . was sufficiently one to prevent the necessity of a specification of the genus that it was the . which was . . (for such is the force of the inserted article), how can this logical fact be altered by the insertion of Him, whose . it is, who originated and bestowed it, and who is therefore necessarily prior to the , not intervening between it and its example? I therefore join it to ., and so Rck., Harless, Olsh., Stier, al. This latter, as usual, combines the senses of . , including the inheritance which God has in His people , and that which they have in Him. His whole note is well worth attention),

Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament

Eph 1:17 . : that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ . In the parallel passage in Col 1:9 the is preceded immediately by , and has the reduced or sub-telic force which it has after verbs of asking, expressing the content of the prayer, but that in the light of purport. Here the relates to the general idea of the sentence, instead of being immediately dependent on any verb for asking . It has more of the idea of purpose , therefore, in it. It is to be admitted, however, that in NT Greek the proper telic sense of is seen in the process of weakening and passing over into the force of as the sign of the inf. in modern Greek. Yet, even when expressing simple result or event , it has behind it the Hebrew idea of events as the results of Divine purpose cf. Blass, Gram. of N.T. Greek , pp. 224, 225; Buttm., Gram. of N.T. Greek , pp. 236 241; Ell. on Phi 1:9 . It is most usual for Paul to speak of God as the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ or as His God and Father . Here he speaks simply of “the God of our Lord Jesus Christ”. The designation, though misunderstood and misapplied by the Arians and their successors in modern times, is entirely consistent with Christ’s own words (Mat 27:46 ; Joh 20:17 ) and with the highest view of His Person. In the Eternal Godhead the Son has His life from the Father, the One Fount of Deity, and is subordinate in the sense in which son is subordinate to father , while He has the same Divine being. In the ministry of redemption our Lord, while the Son of the Eternal Father, is the Christ of God, God being revealed in Him, sending Him (Gal 4:4 ), exalting Him (Phi 2:9 ), receiving back the kingdom from Him (1Co 15:24 ). In respect of His mission, His mediation, His official work and relations, He has God as His God, whose commission He bears and whose redeeming purpose He is to fulfil. : the Father of glory . This is not to be taken in the reduced sense of “the glorious Father”. On the other hand it is not to be dealt with as if the referred to Christ’s divinity , as in the exigencies of the controversy with Arian views some were driven to interpret it, arguing that the one phrase, “the God of our Lord Jesus Christ,” applied to His human nature and the other, “the Father of the glory,” to His divine nature (Athan., Greg. Naz.). Nor yet, again, is to be regarded as referring to Christ’s glorified humanity (Stier). Taking the in its proper sense and with the full force of the gen. case, some give the the sense of author or maker , understanding God to be designated as the Source of glory (Erasm., Grot., Olsh., etc.). For this some appeal to such instances as Job 38:28 ; Jas 1:17 . But that is at the best a rare sense of and one otherwise unknown to Paul. More is to be said in favour of the idea that the gen. designates God as the Father who gives glory, the glory bestowed on Christ Himself ( cf. Act 3:13 ) no less than that reserved for Christians. It is best, however, to take it as the gen. of characteristic quality the Father to whom glory belongs (Mey., Ell., etc.); cf. the same designation in Psa 29:3 ; Act 7:2 ; also “the King of glory,” Psa 24:7 ; “the Lord of glory,” 1Co 2:8 ; “the cherubims of glory,” Heb 9:5 , etc. The appropriateness of the title here lies in the preceding definition of the final end of God’s counsel and grace . : may give unto you . Lachm., Fritzsche ( Rom. , iii. 230) and Haupt (who refers to the confirmation furnished recently by two inscriptions of the second century given in Dittenb., Syll. , 462 17, 4669) give the Ionic conj. ; WH give vel in the margin, but in the text. The latter form is to be preferred, although opinion is still divided to some extent on the conj. and opt. forms. Blass, e.g. , takes the in the present passage to be really a conj. and to be best represented by the of Cod. B. He is inclined to regard the forms , as both conj. and opt. ( Gram. of N.T. Greek , pp. 49, 211). As in the NT in the vast majority of cases is followed by the conj. or the fut. indic. even after past tenses, it would be most natural to accept the conj. form here. But this Ionic form of the conj. appears to be strange to the NT and to be “without analogies in later Greek” (Butt., Gram. of N.T. Greek , p. 46). On the other hand, the form seems to be recognised as a later Greek equivalent to , and Winer accepts it as an opt. pres. in NT Greek, pointing to such passages as Rom 15:5 ; 2Ti 1:16 ; 2Ti 1:18 (Eph 2:7 ); Joh 15:16 , as well as Eph 1:17 ; Eph 3:16 , and the comp. of 2Ti 4:14 (Win.-Moult, Gram. , p. 94. : the Spirit of wisdom and revelation . The question here is whether the is to be understood in the subjective sense of our spirit , or in the objective sense of the Holy Spirit. The former view is adopted by Chrys., Thdrt., Rckert, De Wette, Bleek, and more recently by Abbott and the Revisers, the RV rendering being “a spirit of wisdom and revelation”. This is urged on the analogy of such occurrences as Rom 8:15 ; Rom 11:8 ; Gal 6:1 ; 2Ti 1:7 . But there is much against this. As Meyer points out, it is doubtful whether in the NT there is any case in which, when the is spoken of as given , it is not the objective . But apart from this, the matter in view is what the Ephesians were themselves to be, not what they were to do for others, and although it is easy enough to suit the subjective view of the (“a wise spirit”) to this, the difficulty is to adjust to this the subjective view of the . The fatal objection, indeed, to the interpretation in question lies in the sense of the , which has the stated meaning not of understanding mysteries but of disclosing them; and the tenor of the paragraph makes it impossible to suppose that in the one case, that of the , Paul had in view a gift that was to make themselves wise, and in the other, the , a gift that was to render them capable of disclosing mysteries to others. How difficult it is to give its proper sense on the subjective view appears from the renderings proposed, e.g. , De Wette’s, Rckert’s, or Abbott’s. The first makes it = “the quality of mind which consists in wisdom (mediate knowledge) and revelation (susceptibility for the immediate knowledge of divine truth)”; the second takes it as = “a wise heart and open for His revelation”; the third gives “a spirit of wisdom,” but leaves the rest unattempted. But is not a susceptibility for knowledge, nor a mind open to revelation, nor anything like that. It is necessary, therefore, to take as = the Holy Spirit , with Mey., Ell., Haupt. and most. The fact that the phrase is and not is no objection to that. The attempts made by Middleton, Harless, and others to make out an established distinction between the two forms, the one referring regularly to the personal Spirit of God and the other to the indwelling influence of the Spirit or the spirit of the believers as ruled by the Holy Spirit, cannot be regarded as successful; the terms , , being free to drop the article as proper names or terms of understood meaning. But what is the particular idea then in each of the two words and ? It cannot be that the latter refers specifically to the of prophecy (so Olsh., etc.). For that is presented as a gift bestowed only on some , whereas the prayer here contemplates gifts for all those addressed, and there is nothing to indicate that a gift for the time being only is in view. Nor can it well be that the second noun expresses the means by which the gift intimated by the first noun was to take effect, the gift of revelation bringing about the gift of wisdom (Harl.); for we should expect the order in that case to be reversed. The distinction between the terms is rather that of the gift of spiritual understanding generally and the gift of special revelations in particular, cf. 1Co 2:10 ; and so far the second is the higher idea. What Paul prays for on behalf of these Ephesian converts is that God might continue to bestow upon them the gift of His Holy Spirit already imparted to them, and that to the effect both of making them wise to understand the things of His grace and of disclosing to them more of the mysteries of His kingdom. : in the knowledge of him . The refers to God , as the context shows, not to Christ . The term occurs with special frequency in the Epistles of the Captivity and in 2 Peter with reference to the knowledge of God or of Christ , as in the Pastoral Epistles and Hebrews it is used of the knowledge of the truth . It means a knowledge that is true, accurate, thorough, and so might be rendered “full knowledge,” notwithstanding the fact that the simple may be used at times in much the same sense (as possibly in 1Co 12:8 ; 1Co 13:8 ). The use of and in 1Co 13:12 points to the intensive sense of the compound form. The is not to be dealt with as = (Grot.) or (Beza), but must have either the instrumental sense or the local . It was by the knowledge of God Himself, or, as it may be better put, within the sphere of that knowledge that the gift of enlightenment and the reception of further disclosures of the Divine Counsel were to make themselves good. The only gifts desired for these converts were gifts of a spiritual order, meaning a better acquaintance with God Himself. The clause is connected by some (Chrys., Lachm., Olsh., etc.) with the sentence which follows , and by others only with the . But the course of thought and the balance of the terms point to it as qualifying the two gifts specified in the preceding sentence.

Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson

That = In order that. Greek. hina.

Father of glory. Compare 1Co 2:8.

Father. See App-98.

unto = to.

the spirit = a spirit. App-101.

revelation. App-106.

knowledge. App-132.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

17.] purpose (including also the purport, see note on 1Co 14:13, and Ellicotts note here) of the prayer:-that (depends on the sense of . . , implying that a prayer for them took place) the God of our Lord Jesus Christ (see on Eph 1:3. The appellation is here solemnly and most appropriately given, as leading on to what is about to be said in Eph 1:20 ff. of Gods exaltation of Christ to be Head over all things to His Church. To His God, Christ also in the days of His Flesh prayed, , : and even more markedly in that last cry, , ), the Father of glory (not merely the auctor, fons, of glory, Grot., Olsh.: still less = : nor with Chrys. to be explained , , : nor is to be understood of the divine nature of Christ, as Thdrt.: , , : for this would require . : but God is the Father,-by being the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,-of that glory, the true and all-including glory, and only glory, of the Godhead, which shone forth in the manhood of the only-begotten Son (Joh 1:14),-the true Shechinah, which His saints beheld in the face of Christ, 2Co 4:4; 2Co 4:6, and into which they are changed by the Lord the Spirit, ib. 2Co 3:18. In fact, 2Co 3:7 to 2Co 4:6, is the key to this sublime expression), would give (the account of the optative after , when a present () has preceded, is very simple. It is used when the purpose is not that of the writer as he is writing, but is described as that of himself or some one else at another time. Thus Herod. ii. 93, , . , . See Klotz, Devar. p. 622) to you the Spirit (certainly it would not be right to take here as solely the Holy Spirit, nor as solely the spirit of man: rather is it the complex idea, of the spirit of man indwelt by the Spirit of God, so that as such, it is His special gift, see below) of wisdom (not, which gives wisdom, but which possesses it as its character-q. d. to which appertains wisdom) and of revelation (i.e. that revelation which belongs to all Christians: see 1Co 2:10 ff.: not the of the early Church, as Olsh.,-nor could the Apostle be alluding to any thing so trivial and fleeting, see 1Co 13:12. To those who are taught of Gods Spirit, ever more and more of His glories in Christ are revealed, see Joh 16:14-15) in (belongs to : as the element and sphere of the working of this gift of the Spirit) the full knowledge (for the distinction between and , see 1Co 13:12) of Him (Chr., Thl., Olsh., al., strangely connect with the following sentence, . … The whole paralleism is against this, in which . . . is [3] . . . . . . and . is [4] …;-and the object being to exalt the gifts of the Spirit, . . would hardly come first in the sentence, and thus monopolize the emphasis. See also on a similar proposal, Eph 1:4, end.

[3] When, in the Gospels, and in the Evangelic statement, 1Co 11:23-25, the sign () occurs in a reference, it is signified that the word occurs in the parallel place in the other Gospels, which will always be found indicated at the head of the note on the paragraph. When the sign () is qualified, thus, Mk., or Mt. Mk., &c., it is signified that the word occurs in the parallel place in that Gospel or Gospels, but not in the other or others.

[4] When, in the Gospels, and in the Evangelic statement, 1Co 11:23-25, the sign () occurs in a reference, it is signified that the word occurs in the parallel place in the other Gospels, which will always be found indicated at the head of the note on the paragraph. When the sign () is qualified, thus, Mk., or Mt. Mk., &c., it is signified that the word occurs in the parallel place in that Gospel or Gospels, but not in the other or others.

(not ) refers to the Father,-not to Christ, as Beza, Calv, al.; cf. four times in Eph 1:18-19 : Christ first becomes thus designated in Eph 1:20), having the eyes of your heart enlightened (the construction is as in Soph. Electr. 479, ,-sch. Choph. 396, : see also Act 26:3,-Khner ii. p. 381: so that belongs to , and is the accusative of reference. So Beza, Beng., Koppe, Meyer, Ellic.: and such is the simpler and more forcible construction. But Grot., Rck., Harl., Olsh., De W., Stier, all., take . . . together, and govern it by , to which the article before . is no objection (as Beng.), but the logic of the passage is. The enlightening as regards (or of) the eyes of the heart, is a condition, subordinate to the . . ., not another gift, correlative with it. Besides which, the sentence, even after all the grammatical vindications of Harl., al.,- . , is clumsy and unpauline in the last degree. On ., cf. Mat 4:16 : ch. Eph 3:9 (Eph 1:14): Harl. gives an elaborate analysis, as usual, of the meaning, and remarks well that has the double meaning of belehren und beleben-enlightening and enlivening. He cites from Greg. Naz.: . . . . , . . The expression . . is somewhat unusual. The of Scripture is, as Harl., the mittelpunkt des Lebens, the very core and centre of life, where the intelligence has its post of observation, where the stores of experience are laid up, and the thoughts have their fountain. Similarly the Homeric , see Damm. Lex.: the Latin cor-cf. Cic. Tusc. i. 9,-aliis cor ipsum animus videtur, ex quo excordes, vecordes, concordesque dicuntur. Thus the . would be those pointed at in Mat 6:22-23,-that inner eye of the heart, through which light is poured in on its own purposes and motives, and it looks out on, and perceives, and judges things spiritual: the eye, as in nature, being both receptive and contemplative of the light), that you may know (purpose of the ., not of the . . . . This which is now to be described, to the end of the chapter, is involved in the . . . ., not its object: but it is the object of the enlightening, which will endue us with the knowledge) what (the dispute among the Commentators, whether implies quality or quantity, seems hardly worth entering into. The fulness of the simple meaning, what, embraces all categories under which the things mentioned can be contemplated. In the passage to which both sides appeal, ch. Eph 3:18, … of course implies, how great is the breadth, &c.: but it implies this by the simple meaning what is the breadth, &c., not by making = quantum, quantity being already involved in the substantives) is the hope (again, it is mere trifling to enquire whether is the hope (subjective) or the thing hoped for (objective), in this case. For the involves in itself both these. If I know WHAT the hope is, I know both its essence and its accidents. Undoubtedly such an objective sense of does occur,-see on Col 1:5; but certainly the meaning here is far wider than in that passage. As well might the subjective sense of Col 1:23, be alleged on that side) of (belonging to, see on ch. Eph 4:4) His calling (i.e. the calling wherewith He called us. All the matters mentioned, , , , are , His,-but not all in the same sense: see below. On , see notes, Rom 8:28-30), what the riches of the glory of His inheritance (what a rich, sublime cumulation, setting forth in like terms the weightiness of the matters described;-and not to be weakened (verwssert) by any resolution of the genitives into adjectives. Mey. See Col 1:27) in (in the case of, as exemplified in; not so weak as among.-nor merely in, so as to refer to its subjective realization in them) the saints (much dispute has arisen on the construction of . . Koppe and Winer (Gram. 19.2. b, edn. 3: not appy in edn. 6), with whom Meyer and De Wette agree, connect it with understood, so as to mean what the richness of, &c. is among the saints. To mention no other objection to this awkward construction, the context and sense are decisive against it. As Stier well says, Paul does not pray for their eyes to be enlightened, to see what great and rich things are already among Christians. No: nor is it easy to conceive how any intelligent reader of the Epistle could ever maintain such a rendering. The other construction is, to take . . as belonging either to , or to , or to , as if it had been (or ) . And this is the only one allowed by the context: cf. Eph 1:19-20, where , , form objects of reference precisely similar. Again there is manifestly a distinction between here, and in the next verse: the former being the perfected, the latter the militant saints. And this decides for the joining . . to ,-His inheritance in, whose example and fulness, and embodying is in the saints. The objection to this is supposed to be the want of the article before , which is urged by Meyer (see also Ellicotts note here), because has intervened, thereby preventing . . . being considered as one idea. But surely this is not so. If, before was inserted, . . was sufficiently one to prevent the necessity of a specification of the genus that it was the . which was . . (for such is the force of the inserted article), how can this logical fact be altered by the insertion of Him, whose . it is,-who originated and bestowed it,-and who is therefore necessarily prior to the , not intervening between it and its example? I therefore join it to ., and so Rck., Harless, Olsh., Stier, al. This latter, as usual, combines the senses of . , including the inheritance which God has in His people, and that which they have in Him. His whole note is well worth attention),

Fuente: The Greek Testament

Eph 1:17. , that) A subject of prayer for true Christians.- , the Father of glory) That infinite glory, which shines in the face of Christ; nay, more, [the Father] of the glory, which is the Son of God Himself; by whom also the glorious inheritance will become ours, Eph 1:18.- , the Spirit of wisdom and revelation) The same Spirit, who is the Spirit of promise, is, in the progress of believers, also the Spirit of wisdom and revelation. Wisdom works wisdom in us; revelation knowledge.-, in) Construe with may give.-, of Him) God.

Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament

Eph 1:17

Eph 1:17

that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ,-This brings out the dependence of the Lord Jesus upon the Father, and sets forth the prominence of the divine sovereignty so conspicuous in the foregoing act of praise. Christs constant attitude towards the Father was that of his cry of anguish on the cross, My God, my God (Mar 15:34), and after the resurrection, he said: I ascend unto my Father and your Father, and my God and your God (Joh 20:17). Yet he never speaks to men of our God. To us God is the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, as he was to the Israelites of old time the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.

the Father of glory,-The key to this is found in Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father. (Rom 6:4). In the light of this august manifestation of Gods power to save the lost in Christ, they were called to see light. (Verses 19, 20). Its glory shines already about the blessed name of Father, thrice glorified in the apostles praise. (Verses 3-14).

may give unto you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him;-The prayer was that God would give them a spirit of wisdom that they might understand the revelation, that they might acknowledge him as Lord. The same thought is expressed in the following words: “For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray and make request for you, that ye may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding (Col 1:9); or, understanding the spiritual truths revealed in him. [The spirit here is neither exclusively the Holy Spirit nor the spirit of man, but the complex idea of the spirit of man dwelt in and moved by the Spirit of God, through the word of truth. Wisdom seems to denote the general gift of illumination; revelation, capacity of apprehending the revealed-perceiving the drift and meaning of what God makes known, so that it may be a real revelation to us. (Mat 13:11). In seeking to know Christ more, we are in the true way to get more insight into all that is divine. (Joh 14:9). The importance of seeking more knowledge, after we have believed and been sealed by the Holy Spirit, is here apparent; a growing knowledge is a most healthful feature of the Christian life. (2Pe 3:18).

Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary

the God: Eph 1:3, Joh 20:17

the Father: 1Ch 29:11, Psa 24:7, Psa 24:10, Psa 29:3, Jer 2:11, Mat 6:13, Luk 2:14, Act 7:2, 1Co 2:8, Jam 2:1, Rev 7:12

the spirit: Gen 41:38, Gen 41:39, Isa 11:2, Dan 5:11, Luk 12:12, Luk 21:15, Joh 14:17, Joh 14:26, Act 6:10, 1Co 12:8, 1Co 14:6, Col 1:9, Col 2:3, Jam 3:17, Jam 3:18

revelation: Eph 3:5, Dan 2:28-30, Dan 10:1, Mat 11:25, Mat 16:17, 1Co 2:10, 2Co 12:1

in the knowledge: or, for the acknowledgment, Eph 3:18, Eph 3:19, Pro 2:5, Jer 9:24, Jer 24:7, Jer 31:34, Mat 11:27, Joh 8:54, Joh 8:55, Joh 16:3, Joh 17:3, Joh 17:25, Joh 17:26, Rom 1:28, Col 1:10, Col 2:2, 2Ti 2:25, Tit 1:1, 2Pe 1:3, 2Pe 3:18, 1Jo 2:3, 1Jo 2:4

Reciprocal: Gen 32:30 – I have Gen 41:25 – God Exo 28:3 – filled Exo 33:13 – that I Lev 14:18 – the remnant Lev 24:2 – the lamps 1Ki 18:36 – Lord God 1Ch 16:28 – glory 2Ch 9:23 – God Psa 25:8 – teach Psa 119:18 – Open Pro 2:3 – if Pro 2:6 – the Lord Pro 20:12 – General Son 1:15 – thou hast Son 7:4 – thine eyes Isa 29:18 – the deaf Isa 35:5 – the eyes Isa 42:7 – open Isa 52:8 – see Dan 9:13 – that we Mat 13:16 – General Mat 15:10 – Hear Mat 20:33 – Lord Luk 11:34 – light of Joh 6:45 – Every Joh 8:19 – if Joh 10:14 – am Joh 12:38 – revealed Joh 16:24 – in Act 16:14 – whose Rom 8:9 – if so be Rom 16:19 – yet 1Co 1:5 – and in 1Co 1:30 – wisdom 2Co 1:3 – the Father of our 2Co 3:14 – which veil 2Co 4:6 – shined Gal 1:16 – reveal Gal 4:9 – ye have Eph 1:9 – made Eph 3:3 – by Phi 3:8 – the excellency Col 1:27 – the riches Col 3:16 – all Col 3:17 – God 1Th 1:5 – but 1Ti 2:6 – gave 2Ti 2:7 – and 1Pe 1:3 – Blessed 1Pe 1:17 – call 2Pe 1:5 – knowledge 1Jo 5:20 – and hath

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

(Eph 1:17.) -That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ would give. Making mention of you in my prayers, offering this prayer for you, that the God, etc. His prayer for them had this special petition-that. is thus used with the optative, and that telically to denote the object of desire, the blessing wished for. Bernhardy, p. 407. We see no reason to agree with Harless, Olshausen, Winer, Robinson, Rckert, and others, in denying the proper telic use of in such a connection, or after verbs of entreaty. Ellicott also gives it a sub-final meaning-the purport of the prayer being blended with the purpose. Winer, 41, b, 1. On the other hand, to deny with Fritzsche the ecbatic sense of , is an extreme quite opposed to many passages of the New Testament, and as wrong as to give it too often this softened meaning. Harless says, that the optative is here used for distinctness, because a verb expressing desire is omitted. But the final cause of entreaty is-in order that something may be given. The object of the apostle’s prayer was, that God would give the Ephesians the spirit of wisdom. He prayed for this end-this final purpose was present to his mind; he prayed with this avowed intent-. Ellicott’s statement is after all but a truism: if a man tell you to what end he prays, he surely tells you the substance of his prayers. Disclosure of the purpose must express the purport, and , pointing out the first, also of necessity introduces the last. But the in such an idiom contains in itself the idea of previous desire, and the optative is used, not as if there were any doubt in the apostle’s mind that his prayer might not be granted, or as if the answer might be only a probable result, but that God’s giving the object prayed for would be the hoped-for realization of the intention which he had, when he began to offer the petitions which he was still continuing. Jelf, 807, ; Devarius-Klotz, p. 622. Had the wish that God would confer blessing begun merely when the apostle wrote the words, had the whole aim of the prayer been regarded as future to that point of time, the subjunctive would have been used. is a later form for . Phrynichus, ed. Lobeck, pp. 345, 346; Sturz, De dialecto Alexandrino, p. 52. Lachmann, however, reads in the Ionic subjunctive form, but without sufficient ground. The Divine Being to whom Paul presented intercessory prayer for the Ephesians, is referred to under two peculiar and unusual epithets-

-The God of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is elsewhere called the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, but only in this place, simply, the God of our Lord Jesus Christ. The language has needlessly startled many commentators, and obliged them to make defence against Arian critics. Suicer, sub voce. The dangerous liberties taken with the words in the capricious use of hyperbaton and parenthesis by Menochius, Vatablus, Estius, and a-Lapide, do not gain the end which they were intended to serve. It is with some of them-the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the God of glory, or the God (of our Lord Jesus Christ the Father) of glory. The criticism of Theodoret is more rational, though not strictly correct, for he thus distinguishes the two divine appellations in reference to Christ,- , . The reader will find an explanation of the phrase under the first clause of the 3rd verse. The exposition of Harless is somewhat loose. His explanation is-the God by whom Christ was sent to earth, from whom He received attestation in word and deed, and to whom He at length returned. But more special ideas are included-1. To be His God is to be the object of His worship-my God is the divinity whom I adore. As a man Jesus worshipped God, often prayed to Him, often consulted Him, enjoyed His presence, and complained on the cross of His desertion, saying-My God, my God. 2. The language implies that God blessed Him-my God is He who blesses me. Gen 28:21. He prepared for Him His body, sustained His physical life, bestowed upon Him the Spirit, protected Him from danger, gave His angels charge concerning Him, raised Him from the dead, and exalted Him to glory. 1Co 11:3; 1Co 15:27; 1Pe 1:21. Especially, as Harless intimates, did He as Messiah co me from God and do the will of God, and He is now enjoying the reward of God. Possessed Himself of supreme divinity, He subordinated Himself to God, in order by such an economy to work out the glorious design of man’s salvation. The immanent distinctions of the one Godhead are illustrated in their nature and necessity from the scheme of redemption. And the reason why Paul refers to God in this relation to Jesus is, that having sent His Son and qualified and commissioned Him, having accepted from Him that atonement of infinite value, and having in proof of this acceptance raised Him to His own right hand, it is now His divine function and prerogative to award the blessings of the mediatorial reign to humble and believing suppliants.

At the same time we cannot fully acquiesce in many interpretations of the Nicene Creed, even as illustrated by Petavius, and adopted by such acute defenders as Cudworth and Bull. To admit the divinity of the Son, and yet to deny Him to be as well as the Father, seems to us really to modify and impugn the Saviour’s Godhead by a self-contradictory assertion. We cannot but regard self-existence as essential to divinity. Bishop Bull says, however-Pater solus naturam illam a se habet. The Creed of Nice declares, We believe in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the only-begotten of the Father, that is, of the Essence of the Father, God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, of one Essence with the Father. These sentiments have been the faith of the church in every age, but they have been in many instances explained by unjustifiable imagery and language, often taken in the earlier centuries from the Platonic ontology, and drawn in later times from material sources. The arguments against what is called the eternal sonship, by Rell, Drew, Moses Stuart, Adam Clarke, and others, are, with all their show of argument, without foundation in Scripture, for a sonship in the Divine nature appears to be plainly taught and implied in it. But a sonship which affirms the Divine nature of the Son to be derived from the Father, makes that Son only -a secondary Deity. Not only is the Son -of the same essence with the Father, but He is also -God in and from Himself. Sonship appears to refer not to essence, but to existence-not to being in itself, but to being in its relat ions, and does not characterize nature so much as personality. But such difference of position is not inequality of essence, and when rightly understood will be found as remote from the calumnious imputation of Tritheism, as from the heresy of Modalism or Sabellianism.

-the Father of glory-is a unique phrase, having no real parallel in Scripture. It has some resemblance to the following phrases-King of glory in Psa 24:7; Lord of glory, 1Co 2:8; God of glory, Psa 29:3, quoted in Act 7:2; , Jam 1:17; , 2Co 1:3; and , Heb 9:5. is the genitive of characterizing quality. Winer, 30, 2. The notion of Theodoret is, that signifies the Divine nature of Christ, and many of the Fathers held a similar view. Athanasius remarks on this passage, that the apostle distinguishes the economy- , referring to the phrase in Joh 1:14, the glory of the only-begotten of the Father-an idea also repeated by Alford. Theophylact quotes Gregory of Nazianzus as giving the same view- ; , , , . Cyril also (De Adoratione, lib. xi.), Jerome, and Bengel adopt the same hypothesis. Suicer, Thesaurus, 1.944, 5. These views are strained and moulded by polemical feelings, and the use of in reference to Jesus in other parts of the New Testament will not warrant such a meaning here. While this special and personal application is without ground on the one hand, it is a vague and pointless exegesis on the other, which resolves the phrase into . De Wette renders-The Father with whom glory is ever present; referring to the last clause of Eph 1:18 -the glory of the inheritance. Others find in the sense of origination-source of glory-auctor, fons. So Erasmus, Fesselius, a-Lapide, Grotius, and Olshausen, though with varying applications of the general exegesis. This explanation is at least admissible. Did we, with some, regard as the immanent or essential glory of God, it would be impossible. Such glory is coeval with the Divine nature, the Essence and Effulgence are coeternal. Or did we, with others, regard as meaning glorious gifts conferred upon us, then such a notion would not be in harmony with the context. That may signify originator is plain, though Harless expressly denies it. What is but their Creator? (Heb 12:9); or (Jam 1:17) but their Producer? or (2Co 1:3) but their Originator? Harless refers the very much to the epithets of the following verses, while Stier and Alford virtually maintain an allusion to the God-man, in whom God’s glory is revealed, by whom it dwells in humanity, and in whom all His people are glorified. On the other hand, and more in harmony with the course of thought, appears to us to be that glory so often already referred to, and throwing its radiance over this paragraph. Men are elected, predestinated, sanctified, and adopted- ; enlightened, enfeoffed in an inheritance according to eternal purpose- ; and they hear, believe, are sealed, and enjoy the earnest of the Spirit- . The three preceding paragraphs are thus each wound up with a declaration of the final result and purpose-the glory of God. And now, when the apostle refers to God, what more natural than to ascribe to Him that glory which is His own chief end, and His own prime harvest in man’s redemption? Here stand, as repeated and leading ideas, Eph 1:6, -ver. 12, -ver. 14, ; so that in Eph 1:17 He is saluted with the title, . This glory is not His essential glory as Jehovah, but the glory which He has gathered for Himself as the God of our Lord Jesus Christ. The clause is in close union with the preceding one. This Saviour-God, the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, is in this very character the possessor and thus the exhibiter of glory. It is then wholly- , as OEcumenius says, that such a title as this is given to God, that is, because of the contextual allusions, but not simply because the gifts prayed for are manifestations of this glory, as Olshausen supposes; nor merely, as Cocceius and Meyer argue, because He will do that in answer to prayer which serves to promote His own glory.

The gift prayed for is-that He would give you– -the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him. Though wants the article, there is no reason, with Middleton, Chandler, Crellius, and Locke, to deny its reference to the Holy Spirit, and to make it signify a wise disposition, for the word came to be regarded very much as a proper name. Thus, Mat 12:28, -by the Spirit of God; Rom 1:4, ; 1Pe 1:2, ; and in Mar 1:8; Luk 1:15; Luk 1:35; Luk 1:41; Luk 1:67. The reference in these cases is plainly to the Holy Spirit, in some peculiar phases and manifestations of His divine influence. The canon of Middleton is not borne out by usage. On Greek Art., pp. 125, 126. The genitives are not wholly those of possession, but perhaps also of character. Rom 8:2; Rom 8:15; 2Co 4:13; 2Ti 1:7. The Ephesians had possessed the Spirit as an earnest and seal, and now the apostle implores His influence in other modes of it to descend upon them. This revelation is His mode of operation, and the enlightened eye is the fruit of His presence. Indeed, Chrysostom and Theodoret use -spiritual wisdom-in explanation of , but Chrysostom distinctly acknowledges the influence of the Spirit. Theophylact plainly specifies the gift of the Divine Spirit, That He may supply you with spiritual gifts, so that by the Spirit you may be enlightened- . The Reformers supposed that the Spirit of grace and revelation is taken for the grace itself, as Calvin explains-spiritus sapientiae et revelationis pro ipsa gratia capitur. We prefer a clear and formal reference to the Holy Spirit-the gift of God through Christ. and are intimately joined, but not, as Meyer thinks, by the union of a general and special idea. Nor can we, with Olshausen, refer the words to the ancient charismata, and make mean the capacity for receiving revelation, or for being a prophet. These supernatural endowments cannot be alluded to, because the apostle prays for the bestowment of wisdom and revelation to enable the Ephesians to know those blessings in the knowledge of which every Christian is interested, and which all Christians through all time receive in a greater or less degree from the Holy Ghost.

The Ephesians had already enjoyed spiritual blessings, and they had been sealed by the Holy Spirit. Now the apostle prays that they may enjoy Him as a Spirit of wisdom and revelation. is wisdom, higher intelligence, rising at length into the riches of the full assurance of understanding. It is connected with , for the Spirit of wisdom is the Spirit of revelation, and by such revelation that wisdom is imparted. The oracles of the New Testament had not then been collected, and therefore truth in its higher aspects might be imparted or extraordinarily revealed by the Holy Ghost. Such generally is the view also of Harless, , however, being, according to him, the subjective condition, and the objective medium. The clause is no hendiadys. It resembles Rom 1:5, This grace and apostleship, that is, grace, and the form in which the grace was given-that of the apostolate; Rom 11:29, The gifts and calling of God, that is, the gifts and the medium of their conferment-the Divine calling. Here we have the gift of wisdom along with the mode of its bestowment-revelation. We cannot say, with Ellicott, that is the general and the more special gift, for the last term carries in it the notion of mode as well as result-insight communicated so as to impart wisdom. Nor can we see how it is illogical to mention the gift, and then refer to the vehicle of its bestowment.

And still all spiritual truth is His revelation. The Bible is His gift, and it is only when the prayerful study of the Bible is blessed by spiritual influence that wisdom is acquired. Solemn invocation of the Holy Spirit must precede, and His presence accompany, all faithful interpretation of the word of God. As we contemplate the holiness and veracity of its Author, the grace and truth of all His statements, and the benevolent purpose of His revelation, the heart will be softened into that pure sensibility which the Holy Ghost delights in, as of old the strains of music in the schools of the prophets soothed and prepared the rapt spirit of the seer for the illapse of his supernatural visitant. Earthly passions and turbulent emotions must be repressed, for the dew descends not amidst the storm; the conflicting sensations of a false and ungodly heart forbid His presence, as the dove alights not amidst the tossings of the earthquake. The serenity resulting from that peace which passeth all understanding, not only draws down the Spirit of God, not only imparts a freer scope to the intellectual powers, a purer atmosphere to the spiritual vision, and a new relish to the pursuits of biblical study, but also refines and strengthens those faculties which unite in discovering, perceiving, and feeling the truths and beauties of inspiration.

. The refers to God, and not to Christ, as Calvin, Beza, Bodius, Calovius, Flatt, and Baumgarten suppose. does not signify -in reference to, or in order to, as Jerome, Anselm, Luther, a-Lapide, Grotius, Bengel, and von Gerlach erroneously argue. The spirit of this exegesis may be seen in the note of Piscator-Ut eum in dies magis magisque cognoscatis. Such an unusual meaning is unnecessary. The versions, through the knowledge of God, as Rollock renders, or along with it, as Hodge makes it, are foreign to the context. Tyndale cuts the knot by translating-That he myght geve vnto you the Sprete of wisdom, and open to you the knowledge of him silfe. Meyer, Harless, and Matthies suppose that marks out the sphere of operation-die Geistige Thtigkeits-Sphre. Connecting the words especially with , we suppose them, while they formally denote the sphere, virtually to indicate the material of the revelation. In the last view they are taken by Homberg, Rckert, and Stier. If the knowledge of God be the sphere in which the Spirit of revelation operates, it is that He may deepen or widen it-in our possession of it. In what aspect is the Spirit prayed for? It is as a Spirit of wisdom. How is this wisdom communicated by Him? By revelation. What is the central sphere, and the characteristic type, of this revelation? It is the knowledge of God, not agnitio, as the Vulgate has it, and Beza and Bodius expound it, but cognitio-not the acknowledgment, but the knowledge of God. The knowledge of God stands out objectively to us as the first and best of the sciences; and when the Spirit imparts it, and gives the mind a subjective or experimental acquaintance with it, that mind has genuine wisdom. is the science, and is the result induced by the Spirit of revelation. The preposition , in -, contains probably the idea of the additional as the image of intensive. Such a preposition sometimes loses its full original force in composition, but it would be wrong to say with Olshausen, that here such a meaning is wholly obliterated. Tittmann, De Synonymis, etc., p. 217; Wilke, Appendix, p. 560. is not ascribed to God in the New Testament, neither could it with propriety. His knowledge admits of no improvement either in accuracy or extent. Phavorinus defines the term . The simple verb and its compound are used with beautiful distinction in 1Co 13:12, , . That knowledge of God in which the Spirit of revelation works, and which He thereby imparts, is a fuller and juster comprehension of the Divine Being than they had already enjoyed. The subsequent verses show that this additional knowledge of God concerns not the works of His creation, which is but the time vesture of the Eternal, but the grace and the purposes of His heart, His possession and exhibition of love and power, His rich array of blessings which are kept in reserve for His people, and that pecul iar influence which He exercises over them in giving them spiritual and permanent vitality. Harless says that signifies the knowledge of experience, because stands as its object. This view, however, is defective, for is not the only object-there is also the inheritance, which is future, and therefore so far external to believers.

Some, however, join the clause with the following verse- In the knowledge of Him the eyes of your heart being enlightened. Thus construe Chrysostom, Theophylact, Zachariae, Olshausen, Lachmann, and Hahn. Such a construction is warped and unnatural. Olshausen’s reason is connected with his notion that and are charismata or extraordinary gifts, and could not be followed up and explained by such a phrase as the knowledge of God. But the verb is nowhere accompanied by ; in Rev 18:1 it is followed by . The Syriac renders, And would enlighten the eyes of your hearts to know what is, etc.

Fuente: Commentary on the Greek Text of Galatians, Ephesians, Colossians and Phillipians

Eph 1:17. This verse states some of the things Paul requested of God on behalf of the brethren at Ephesus. The Almighty is called the God of our Lord Jesus Christ. This statement is not favorable to the heresy that God and Christ are the same person, for it would be nonsense to say anyone could be his own god. Father of glory means that God is the originator and protector of all true glory. Spirit of wisdom. Those were the days of spiritual gifts (chapter 4:7-11), and the gift of wisdom was one of them (1Co 12:8). Revelation was another gift (1Co 14:26) , and Paul wished the brethren to receive it to the extent that it would Increase their knowledge of him, meaning God.

Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary

Eph 1:17. That. The word here used means, as a rule, in order that, not so that, except as the latter is involved in the former. But, as in later Greek it became equivalent to simple that, we find in N. T. usage a sense which may have prepared the way for the transition. After verbs of asking, etc., it frequently introduces the purpose and purport of the request or prayer. (See my note, Lange, Ephesians, p. 56.) This sense is to be accepted here: it is the Apostles design as well as hope that what he asks should be granted.

The God of our Lord Jesus Christ. Our Lord Himself calls the Father, His God (see references); comp. Eph 1:3. The appellation is here solemnly and most appropriately given as leading on to what is about to be said in Eph 1:20 ff., of Gods exaltation of Christ, to be Head over all things to His church (Alford). The fear of Arianism led the Fathers to refer this clause exclusively to Christs human nature, and the next to His Divine nature, and has also suggested various forced interpretations, such as God sent Him, He bore witness of God, and returned to God.

The Father of glory. (For similar expressions, see references.) This is not to be explained as glorious Father, nor is Father to be taken as author, source. The word Father, was suggested by the mention of Christ; of glory (true and eternal glory), is that characteristic of God which is most apt in this passage; for it is to be expected from the God of Christ and Father of glory, that He will do what the cause of Christ demands, and serves to reveal His own glory (Meyer). Hence it is not necessary to refer it to Christs divine nature, or to the glorified humanity of Christ

May give unto you. The word used in the original suggests something hoped for, but dependent on the will of another.

The spirit (lit, a spirit) of wisdom and revelation. The absence of the article does not render the phrase indefinite, nor indicate a reference to the human spirit Spirit means the Holy Spirit, as usual, but as indwelling in the believer. (See Excursus on Romans 7) The Apostle desires for his readers, as the result of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, wisdom and revelation. The former is a general term, referring to their illuminated state, the latter a special one, suggesting the single glances afforded us, into the truths of Christianity, into the will of God in special circumstances and situations of life, into the human heart, into the course of time, into eternal life (Braune). Special miraculous gifts are not meant. The explanation: God give you a wise heart, open to His revelation (Rueckert), is utterly incorrect. This petition is a warrant for our expecting spiritual illumination in the study of Gods revelation; but it does not justify our looking for new revelations beyond or contrary to the simple teachings of Gods word, or confounding inspiration and illumination in the interest of mystical self-conceit.

In the full knowledge of him. In the margin the E. V. reads: acknowledgment, and so translates in the text of Col 2:2. But full knowledge is the best rendering; the word being a compound one, the simple form of which means knowledge. It points to complete knowledge, rather than to increasing knowledge, Of Him refers to God, not to Christ, while the entire phrase qualifies the whole preceding clause, indicating the sphere in which they would obtain this spirit of wisdom and revelation. In is not = into, or together with; nor should the phrase be joined with the next verse.

Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament

These words give us a short, but very comprehensive, account of that affectionate prayer which St. Paul put up to God on the behalf of these Ephesians, newly converted to Christianity; in which observe,

1. The person whom he prays unto, God, under a very endearing title, for the strengthening of his faith; he styles him, not as the Old-Testament saints, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but in the language of the New Testament, The God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of Glory. The God of our Lord Jesus Christ, as he is Man and Mediator, commissioned of him, and sent by him; and the Father of Glory, as being in himself infinitely glorious; to whom all glory is and ought to be ascribed, and from whom alone it is communicated.

Learn hence, That as all our prayers and requests are and ought to be directed unto God only, so in order to our having access to God with assurance in prayer, it is our duty to apply to him as a Father, as a Father in Christ, as a Father in Christ to us, and under this notion and apprehension to strengthen our faith for the obtaining of what we ask in prayer; May the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, give unto you, &c.

Observe, 2. The great and comprehensive blessing prayed for; namely, divine illumination and spiritual knowledge; that is, a farther increase of that wisdom and saving knowledge of divine mysteries, whereof the Spirit of God is the author.

Learn hence, That as spiritual wisdom, or the saving knowledge of divine mysteries, is necessary to a Christian; so those who have a good measure of this grace already received, ought not to sit down satisfied with it, but aspire after farther measures and degrees of it; spiritual knowledge is as necessary for increasing grace, as it is for working grace in the soul.

Observe, 3. The title here given to the Holy Spirit of God; he is styled the Spirit of wisdom and revelation; he being the author of all that knowledge in the mysteries of religion which we attain unto, and it being his proper work and office to reveal unto us the will of God for our salvation.

Learn hence, 1. That believers themselves, who are divinely enlightened by the Holy Spirit of God, have yet need of farther measures, and fuller degrees, of spiritual wisdom.

Learn 2.That the way to obtain this fuller measure of divine wisdom and spiritual illumination, is to be earnest with God in prayer for his Holy Spirit. So the apostle here.

Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament

A Prayer For Further Understanding

The prayer Paul started in the previous two verses is continued in 1:17. Lipscomb notes God is often referred to as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob ( Exo 3:6 ; Exo 4:5 ; 1Ch 29:18 ; Act 3:13 ). However, Paul now calls him “the God of our Lord Jesus Christ.” He is also the Father who by his glory raised Jesus from the dead. Of that Father, Paul requests for the Ephesian brethren the ability to apply the knowledge they have received and fully understand the revelation they have been given.

Paul further prays that wisdom and revelation will touch a sensitive cord in the inner most man of each Ephesian Christian ( Act 26:16-18 ). Instead of being blind to the truth ( Mat 13:13-15 ), Paul wanted them to realize the wonderful blessings that were theirs. They had the forgiveness of sins. They enjoyed fellowship with Christ on earth. Their hope was for an eternal home in glory with the Father and the Son ( Eph 1:18 ; 1Ti 1:13-15 ; 2Ti 1:1-2 ; 1Jn 1:3 ; 1Pe 1:10-11 ).

Fuente: Gary Hampton Commentary on Selected Books

Verse 17

And revelation; that is, instruction in divine truth.

Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament

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:

Now, to the specific prayer requests. That they would be given a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of God. Spirit of wisdom seems easy enough, the spirit or way of life that is wise – living wisely. As to the revelation in the knowledge of God, I would assume that they would have a knowledge of God from the revelation they have, both natural (Romans one) and written, the Old Testament. The New Testament had not been gathered at this point and the letters were recognized as only letters at that time.

There is nothing in the original language to change that assumption. The term for revelation is the normal word that would indicate information revealed to them. Some in our current society would say that God is still in the revelation business but this is not so.

I had an email recently from someone that had been told by those that had prophecies from God that God was going to appear to the young person. As time went on the young person became quite fixed on the coming revelation and overworked and under fed himself into exhaustion. This resulted in a lot of fear and confusion. Does that really sound like something God wants for His children? Not in my understanding of God.

He is not the author of confusion and that is usually what comes when people claim that He has revealed something to them. Indeed, isn’t that spirit of wisdom supposed to fit in here somewhere – if the people used the Word wisely they would not make these foolish statements to others.

Revelation is complete and in the Word for us in this day. That revelation has all He wants us to know in this life, other than His will for our lives and this information, many times comes from the Word as well. He does lead and guide via the Holy Spirit through the Word and peace.

I must wonder where the spirit of wisdom is in our day in the church. This week I saw one of the major evangelical preachers hocking a series of studies on an infomercial. How to succeed at life, for the viewer was the promise. The lost cannot understand the Word of God so why hock the Lord’s wares to the world? God is in the business of preparing His people not the Devils.

The confusion in the church today is so great I wonder if we will ever dig our selves back to a proper Biblical base. Now and then I see indication that some are finding their way out of the quagmire and back to a Biblical footing, but so many are just tumbling into the mess.

It is hard to distinguish a conservative church from a charismatic church anymore. I told a young mother that was praising the work of one of the major Charismatic evangelists that the man was a charismatic and the shock on her face was revealing enough; she had no idea that her children were involved in a charismatic organization.

Her church, a conservative church according to their name was recommending these organizations to the parents as outlets for their children. I am sure that some of the church leaders had little idea of the charismatic nature, or else they did and did not care that they were mixed up in the confusion.

Another leading charismatic was having a national prayer day push and had talked most of the major evangelical preachers into signing on – confusion is rampant – how will these evangelicals’ followers know that they shouldn’t contribute, listen to and support these charismatics? They won’t and then the evangelical leaders will wonder why there is confusion in their churches.

I have a study on wisdom on my website if you want to see what the Bible says Paul was praying God would give to the Ephesians. It was one of the most wonderful gifts that he could request for them, from the Lord. Wisdom is pictured in the word as to be desired, it is pictured as more valuable than all those things we often seek after.

Wisdom is what is needed in our churches today. Wisdom would lead us out of the confusion we call worship today, it would lead us out of the shallowness of our Bible studies, it would lead us out of the questionable doctrines that are being embraced.

Some would question my comment about the shallowness of Bible study in the church, but just go and listen carefully to most any sermon today, most any television message or most any Sunday school class. Go to any Christian book store and look for a reference or a commentary or a theology section. If there is one it will be stocked with little in the way of real information.

Scholarship used to indicate deep study and time involved in the Word, but today it indicates a surface look at a verse or two and a lot of “thoughts” from the author. Scholarship used to indicate honest study; it used to indicate proper footnoting of resources, it used to indicate honest straightforward study and footnotes. Today a proper footnote is an option to many preachers. I have seen discussions on internet boards where people feel quoting without footnoting, use of outlines, even complete studies by other men as your own is all right.

One man mentioned a guest speaker that used the church copier to copy the morning’s message he was going to deliver from a book of sermons. He preached, or rather read from the copied pages. This is terrible in case anyone out there cares! It is illegal, it is not spiritual and it is unethical. How many more ways must it be wrong to catch someone’s attention. This man was a part of the confusion that we call Christianity today. Maybe we should call it Confusianity, because there is little Christian about it any more.

Might I be so bold as to point out that the way out of the confusion is the wisdom and knowledge mentioned in this verse? The knowledge seems to be knowledge of God and that is where many today are in a mess, they know little of the God that they purport to serve.

The church today truly needs the wisdom of the God that they serve, and they need to get to know Him that they would serve. A proper knowledge of God and His Word would go a long way toward clearing the confusion of today.

Indeed, this seems to be the implication of the following verse. The wisdom and knowledge should bring light to the understanding or the mind. Wisdom from and knowledge about God, will clear the fog that is in your mind. You will be able to see more clearly.

I mentioned a woman that had been seeking the charismatic super blessing that finally was saved out of her lost condition. Her vision was suddenly twenty twenty when she got the fog out of the way. She immediately started growing in the Lord.

Only by knowing Him can we understand and serve Him.

Fuente: Mr. D’s Notes on Selected New Testament Books by Stanley Derickson

1:17 {18} That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of {u} glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the {x} knowledge of him:

(18) The causes of faith are God the Father enlightening our minds with his Holy Spirit, so that we may embrace Christ revealed to us in the Gospel, to the obtaining of everlasting life, and the setting forth of God’s glory.

(u) Full of majesty.

(x) For it is not enough for us to have known God once, but we must know him every day more and more.

Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes

Supplication 1:17-23

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

Paul returned to his concept of God as the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ (Eph 1:3; cf. Mat 6:9). He combined with this the idea that all glory belongs to the Father (Eph 1:6; Eph 1:12; Eph 1:14; cf. Act 7:2; 1Co 2:8).

Paul asked God to give the Ephesians a spirit of wisdom and revelation. The spirit in view probably refers to an attitude rather than to the Holy Spirit, wisdom and revelation being the description of that attitude (cf. 1Co 4:21). They had already received the Holy Spirit. These attitudes become ours through the ministry of the Holy Spirit to us, however (cf. Isa 11:2). Wisdom (Gr. sophia, Eph 1:8; Eph 3:10) enables one to perceive reality accurately. Revelation is the unveiling of the subject contemplated, in this case God Himself. Wisdom by revelation is the idea (a hendiadys). Paul was evidently praying for a specific enablement by the Spirit so his readers would understand God’s mysteries. [Note: Hoehner, Ephesians, p. 256.]

"William Chillingworth said: ’The Bible, and the Bible only, is the religion of Protestants.’ That is true; but so often we would not think so. The exposition of scripture from the pulpit is a first necessity of religious wakening. We are interested, not in what a preacher thinks, but in what God says." [Note: Barclay, p. 105.]

The end in view was that the readers might gain greater knowledge of God. The Greek word translated "knowledge" (epignosis) refers to exact, complete, experiential knowledge, not just abstract knowledge of God or even facts about Him. [Note: Trench, pp. 268-69.] Paul wanted his readers to get to know God more intimately as their Father, to become closer friends with Him (cf. Joh 15:14).

"Growth in knowledge is indispensable to growth in holiness." [Note: Stott, p. 54.]

"The Christian life could be described as getting to know God better every day. A friendship which does not grow closer with the years tends to vanish with the years. And it is so with us and God." [Note: Barclay, p. 105.]

"To know God personally is salvation (Joh 17:3). To know Him increasingly is sanctification (Php 3:10). To know Him perfectly is glorification (1Co 13:9-12)." [Note: Wiersbe, 2:15.]

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)