A Higher Place

A Higher Place

INTRODUCTION:

 God is inviting us to a higher place

 There are higher attainments in the spirit

 There is more of God to be found

 We have not ’arrived’ yet

 In his letter to the Church in Ephesus, Paul prays for mature believers to press on and experience a higher place

Eph 1:15-23

15 Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints,

16 do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers:

 Paul is addressing mature Christians

 He commends their faith and their love

 He is blessed and thankful about their attainments in the Lord

 Yet as happy as Paul is with the progress and growth of this young church, he prays about a higher place for them in the spirit

17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him,

 He is not talking about the Holy Spirit, though He brings these things, rather an impartation – a deposit of glory, an unction from the Holy One

 He prays first that this church would have the spirit of wisdom

 An impartation of godly wisdom

 As came upon Joseph

 Gen 41:38-39

 38 And Pharaoh said to his servants, "Can we find such a one as this, a man in whom is the Spirit of God?"

 39 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Inasmuch as God has shown you all this, there is no one as discerning and wise as you.”

 The same spirit of wisdom that Daniel had

 Dan 5:11 "There is a man in your kingdom in whom is the Spirit of the Holy God. And in the days of your father, light and understanding and wisdom, like the wisdom of the gods, were found in him; and King Nebuchadnezzar your father-- your father the king-- made him chief of the magicians, astrologers, Chaldeans, and soothsayers.

 James 3:17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.

 Wisdom is Holy, it is pure and not mixed or tainted with wrong motives or opinions

 There is a peace that follows godly wisdom

 It is exhibited, not lectured

 Secondly, Paul prays for this church to have the spirit of revelation – in the knowledge of Him (the Father)

 Revealing of His Word, a disclosure of meaning

 This is holy insight of the Father

 The voice of the Holy Spirit

 1 Cor 2:10 But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.

 The spirit of revelation opens a continuous interaction of the spirit-man and the Holy Ghost

 2 Pet 1:3 as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue,

 It is a fountain of life in our being

 Prov 2:5-6

 5 Then you will understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God.

 6 For the LORD gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding;

 The spirit of revelation is Rhema word – the spoken word of God

18 the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; <>

 God wants to open our understanding of who He is.

 He wants us to know Him, not know about Him

 Feel His compassion – unlimited love

 See from a godly perspective – not our own

 Have the mind of Christ – not the carnal mind

18 the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,

 Here, in the second part of this verse, is what it’s about… the higher place Paul is describing to them

 This is where they need to go next – “That you may know”

 This is not a head-knowledge – this is a spirit-knowledge

 He lists three things he wants them to discover

 The hope of His calling

 There is a confidence is being called by God

 Col 3:15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful.

 There is a boldness and a peace in the hope of His calling

 There is a trust that comes with His calling