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Let us therefore suppose that ten persons sit down at the same table, and partake of the
same dishes. It is evident that each guest's plate may contain the same element of food,
but in no two cases will the results be exactly alike. In some cases full nourishment may
be obtained from the food. In others mastication will be faulty, and again in others,
digestive troubles will prevent the eater from getting the benefit from certain parts of the
diet. In effect this is saying that the possession of food does not necessarily ensure that
the possessor is fed. So also with the Word of God. If its mere possession meant
illumination and salvation, all booksellers, printers and publishers who handled the
sacred volume would be saved persons. The words of the Prayer Book are full of sound
sense and doctrine which exhort to "read, mark, learn and inwardly digest". The lesson
we learn from the connection of revealed truth with prayer in Eph. 1: is just this one of
the relation of food to digestion. The Scriptures supply the "wisdom and revelation", and
prayer supplies "the spirit of wisdom and revelation", and just as "the body without the
spirit is dead, being alone", so the printed page of the Word remains but "the letter"
unless it be prayerfully partaken of and its truth spiritually digested.
One further feature before we conclude this article. This spirit of wisdom and
revelation is in the "knowledge of Him". In article #35 of the Epistle to the Romans, we
have discussed the various words translated "know". We will not repeat the whole
process here, but merely quote one section which will suffice for our purpose.
"Oida is less personal than ginosko. It is allied to the verb "to see" whereas ginosko is
allied to nous, "the mind". The word `perceive' can well be substituted for the five
occurrences given (in the article) under oida. Place the two passages together for
comparison:
`I had not acknowledged (ginosko) sin, but by the law' (Rom. 7: 7).
`I had not perceived (oida) lust except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet'
(Rom.7: 7)."
The word translated "knowledge" is epignosis, the added epi (on) giving the sense not
only of acknowledgement but of realization. The words: "That ye may know" in
Eph. 1: 18, are a translation of oida, "to perceive". Hence the "eyes of understanding
being enlightened" precedes this prayer.
What we have discovered therefore comes to this. First, God must graciously give us
the truth itself: apart from that we are unsaved and hopeless. Then, He must give "the
spirit" of this wisdom and revelation, so that we may both "acknowledge" and "realize"
Him, His calling, inheritance and our faith. Finally: the eyes of the understanding being
enlightened, He can lead us on to "perceive" what is the hope, the riches, the glory, the
power, apart from which the revelation of Scripture remains like undigested food,
containing all the elements of life and growth and well being, but of no avail unless
partaken of, digested, and converted to the use of the eater.
It should of course be realized that there has been no attempt in this article to deal with
"What is the hope of His calling"--that has been considered in other articles. In this
series we have kept to the subject before us, "Light upon the purposes of prayer", and
have found that the teaching of Eph. 1: 15-19 sheds some light upon the subject.