The Blessing of Illumination
Ephesians 1:8-10

A French philosopher Andre Maurois has said, "The universe is indifferent. Who created it? Why are we on this puny mud-heap, spinning in infinite space? I have not the slightest idea, and I am convinced that no one has the least idea."

The existentialist says that all human activities are destined to defeat.

Is there a purpose in life worth living and even dying for?

Ephesians 1 is a hymn and a prayer. It is a hymn and prayer written by a man who was in chains and by a man who was sure that a God of grace and perfect purpose was in control.

The book of Ephesians is about what God has done, in the church, through Christ, for his own glory, FOREVER!  The theme verse is Ephesians 3:21.

This passage in Ephesians 1:3-14 is a hymn of praise blessing God the Father. The first stanza is about what God the Father has done before the foundation of the world to bless us.

The second stanza is about what He has done through His Son, v.6-10.

What He has done from the shedding of His blood to the dispensation of the fulness of times. What He has done from the REDEMPTION until the REGATHERING. In between, there are the blessings of Illumination and Revelation.

Remember what we said last week: that He has “redeemed us according to riches of His grace.”

Release from our captivity by the payment of a ransom by the payment of a ransom, His very own blood.

This stanza has to do with our knowing something. It relates to our intellect: wisdom, prudence…having made known unto us the mystery of His will. These verses relate to the realm of understanding.

1. WHAT does this verse MEAN?

A. God given toward us OVER AND ABOVE:

He has provided for us illumination, v.8.

Ephesians 1:8, Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence.

"Abounded" = Over and above so that there are leftovers.

God has abundantly furnished us in with all wisdom and prudence over and above what we could ask or think. This supply is over and above all we could ever have in our own strength or sufficiency. This word is used to describe how the Lord fed the multitudes and there was an abundant supply left over. In Mark 8:8, Matt.14:20, Luke 9:17, and John 6:12,13 it describes the way the Lord fed the multitudes over and above their needs.

John 6:12,13: When they were filled, he said unto his disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost (the over and above fragments). Therefore they gathered them together, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves, which remained over and above unto them that had eaten.

B. God has Given Us WISDOM

What has God given us over and above?  Wisdom and prudence!

Out of the abundance of His grace, He has provided wisdom and prudence for us. Verse eight relates to what God has given us.

God has given to us wisdom and prudence so that YOU can understand the mystery of His will. In other words, God IMPARTED or has GIVEN us His wisdom and prudence so we can get it.

Paul’s idea is this: Wherein, according to the abundance of His grace, he has abundantly given more than enough wisdom and prudence to us.

Both of these words speak of wisdom but with a different slant. To the Greek mind, the concept of wisdom and prudence were all-important. Philosophy is the love of wisdom, and here we have the key to true wisdom and the right state of mind. Wisdom and prudence are chief virtues of life, and we can abound in them by the grace of God.

Wisdom (sophia) = Insight as to the true nature of things so as to see what is of ultimate and eternal importance. Wisdom is seeing life from God's point of view.

"Sophia" perhaps emphasizes the insight that God pours out to us concerning the eternally important things.   The things of ultimate importance are eternal. We understand who God and man is, what life and death is, what sin and righteousness are, and what heaven and hell are about. We see the true nature of the Person and work of Christ. We understand why He died, was buried, and rose again from the dead.

Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting, get understanding, Prov.4:7.

How much better is it to get wisdom than gold! And to get understanding rather to be chosen than silver, Prov.16:16.

Ultimately, in the Biblical sense, wisdom is having SALVATION in Jesus and being FILLED with the Spirit.

The beginning of wisdom is the fear of God, and this means the person truly wise realizes there is a living and true God who saves.

How does wisdom relate to being filled with the Holy Spirit? In Galatians 5, Paul tells us the fruit of the Holy Spirit, and I believe that the fruit of the Holy Spirit is wisdom.

James 3:17 says "But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality , and without hypocrisy."

These qualities of which James speaks are very similar to the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22,23: love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance.

C.  God has given us Prudence (phronesis) = Insight as to the practical results or consequences of things will be.

Vine says that prudence is "practical wisdom, in the management of affairs." The root word comes from "mind" and "understanding." It relates to the right USAGE of the mind that leads to a right STATE of mind.

The one who has prudence will use his mind right and the result will be a peace with God.

These words are similar, but wisdom is the insight into the true nature of things, and prudence is the ability to understand how certain actions will turn out. Wisdom discerns the truly important, prudence discerns the consequences of the actions.

Prudence realizes that the one who sows to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap everlasting life. The one who sows to the flesh shall reap destruction.

Sad to say, many, many in our society neither grasp the eternally important and therefore do not USE their mind properly and therefore do not have a right STATE of mind. They use their mind to think wicked things and then to carry out those things. They use their mind to think about how they will get drunk, or use drugs when they get money. They get money and then misuse their mind and then they end up with a bad state of mind.

I can tell you right now that drugs and alcohol or any mind-altering chemical that a person uses for pleasure, is not prudent. It leads to a bad state of mind, too. It leads to pride, paranoia, and depression. I remember when I became saved, the Lord took away the desire to use drugs because I was happy and content in the Lord, and in His presence.

This word, phronesis, is used to describe the wise man in Matthew 7:24. The wise man built his house upon a rock because he saw to the end what results of building his house upon the rock would have. It took more effort, time, and money to build on the rock, but when the floods, and storms came, his house was built upon the rock and it stood.

This word is also used in Matthew 10:16, where Jesus said we are to be "wise as serpents and harmless as doves." A wise person can see the results of his consequences.

What is the conclusion of this? God has opened up our eyes. He has illumined us by giving us wisdom and prudence.

We know that God has wisdom and prudence, but the glory of His grace is He has abounded toward us to give to us wisdom and prudence.

Illustration:

If you tried to talk to your dog about renovating your kitchen or bathroom, you are wasting your time. Our dog is a very smart dog. He knows when to come and how to go to bed, but when we come to church, he has no clue. I cannot talk to my dog about blessings in our church. I cannot tell my dog about how I have to fix the bathroom sink. He will never understand me. We do not have the same spirit. There is no affinity of spirit.

1 Corinthians 2:6-14 relates this principle, that those who do not have the Spirit of God have no affinity of spirit with God.

This passage contains a number of similar words to our Ephesians passage. "Predestination," (translated "ordained" is in verse 7) "wisdom," "mystery," and the death of Christ is in view. The death of Christ was a mystery that in other ages, people did not understand.

Even Peter, when Jesus told Peter that Jesus would die a brutal death, Peter rebuked him, and Jesus said,

"Get thee behind me, Satan: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but the things that be of men."

The word "savourest" is the same root word for prudence. Peter did not have the insight to understand why Jesus had to die. He was only looking upon the things of men.

God has given us wisdom and prudence that we can grasp the work of the Father from the foundation of the world and the work of the Son upon the cross to shed His blood for the forgiveness of our sins. If your eyes are open to the fact that you needed a sinless substitute for your sins, then God has opened your eyes.

This is what 1 John 2:20,27 also speaks about. God has given us an unction and an anointing from God to understand the things of God.

1 John 2:20, We have an unction and therefore we KNOW. We know that Jesus died, was buried, and rose again for our salvation.

1 John 2:27, The word anointing is the same word as unction. It does not speak here of an empowering, but that we can now learn the things of God. We have an affinity of spirit with God because we have the Holy Spirit indwelling us. The anointing renders us teachable to the things of God.

2 Corinthians 4:4,6: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them, For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

The same God who shined out of darkness hath shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

This is called illumination!

Hebrews 10:32, But call to remembrance the former days, in which, after ye were illuminated, ye endured a great fight of afflictions.

A packet of light was turned on. The lights were turned on. This word in Hebrews 10:32, photizo, (Eph.1:18, Eph.3:9), speaks of how God opens up the understanding.

A human messenger cannot illuminate anybody. Some people you pour yourself into and they fall away in an instant. Others you do nearly nothing, but they stand for Christ and never go back.

God Himself makes this illumination happen, Acts 26:18:

"To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me."

Do you remember when Jesus arose from the dead and the two men on the Road to Emmaus. Jesus rebuked them and said, "O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken, ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory?" As Jesus blessed the bread and brake it, "their eyes were opened, and they knew him."

God has given to us wisdom and prudence that we can know the mystery of his will. He has granted to us wisdom and prudence in order to make known to us His revelation.

Jesus opened up their eyes. This illumination of God is the difference. When were became saved, we received the Holy Spirit, or His anointing, His unction, and He rendered us able to learn and understand Scriptural truth. This is a great gift of God's grace to us. He has abounded toward us so that we have super abounding wisdom. Do not dim the light of His illumination. This is a precious gift.

2. HOW does this verse RELATE to us?

God has opened our eyes to:

A. The Coming KINGDOM of CHRIST, Ephesians 1:9-10.

This context deals with God giving us wisdom to grasp His revelation that Christ is going to come and gather all things together under the name of Jesus Christ. We serve for an eternal purpose and an eternal cause. This purpose and cause is so much greater than us.

B. The Sweet FELLOWSHIP with God:

Ephesians 2:18: "For through Him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father." What a fellowship, what a joy divine, leaning on the everlasting arms!

When the Bible becomes a living book to you, this is a precious gift. When the Bible becomes food for your soul and you understand it and it makes sense to you and it satisfies the craving of your heart, this is a precious gift. Why? Because otherwise your soul will crave for this or that and it will never, ever be satisfied.

Do you remember that Daniel was willing to be thrown into the den of lions just so he could PRAY?

C. The Important WORK of the LOCAL CHURCH:

Ephesians 4:11,12: God has given gifted men to the church for the maturing of the saints for the work of the ministry.

Thank God that our eyes are opened to the important work of the local church. We are active in a work that is eternal, and that will far outlast any of us.

We work because of the importance of the soul of men. Our eyes are open that all men will live somewhere forever, and God has given us a burden for souls, to witness and work for Him!

The world just does not understand the importance of eternal souls going either to heaven or hell.

Hudson Taylor, the great missionary to China in the 1800’s said, "If God gives us a band of men for inland China, and they go, and all die of starvation even, they will only be taken straight to heaven; and if one heathen soul is saved, would it not be well worth while?"

D. The Vital Need of UNITY IN THE FAMILY, Ephesians 5:21-ff

Where the world seeks no-fault divorces, signs pre-nuptual agreements that assume divorce, the child of God realizes that marriage is a God-ordained institution that brings two people into a covenant for companionship that results in a unity, a one-flesh relationship.  I asked at the beginning of this message: Is there a purpose worth living and even dying for? The answer is YES. I just gave you four of them. Jesus gave Himself for HIS CHURCH. He died for the church and we should be willing to give toward it. We should be willing to die for Christ's Kingdom, the fellowship we must have with him, and the unity of our families.

We can pray for this kind of illumination, Psalm 119:18:

"Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law."