In this important letter to the Ephesians, Paul is writing to his flock with a pastor’s heart. He remembers their faith in the Lord Jesus and their love for each other. This memory is sufficient to fill a pastor’s heart with pride and thanksgiving. It is good for a pastor to know that his work among the flock is bearing fruit. As they grow in faithfulness and love he understands that they are truly being equipped for ministry, which is one of the principal duties of his office.

So Paul is grateful for their growth and so he holds them up before his heavenly Father in prayer. He prays basically for three things.

That they be given the spirit of wisdom and revelation. The word that Paul uses here for wisdom is sophia which means coming to a deeper understanding of God; having a deep insight into spiritual things. He wants them to be led into a deeper knowledge of eternal truths, not just to be concerned about superficial things concerning their faith.

This is very important for the person who seeks for truth. Religious truth is not easily understood nor is it easy to transmit as some would suppose. The dawning light of truth often comes after a long journey of exploration and struggle. No one should be forced to accept such “truth” but should be allowed to struggle with it and to come to his own appreciation of it. Paul’s hope is that by gaining wisdom, the Ephesian Christians will be led into a greater appreciation of the truth he has taught them about God.

That they be given a fuller revelation and a fuller knowledge of God. Our knowledge of God is never complete and Christians should be willing to admit this. If we can accept this in humility we will be open to the new revelations that will be unfolded and are made available to the one who has not closed off all routes to knowledge. We should strive to know God better every day.

One of the reasons that continuing education is so important is that no one can ever assume that they know everything. In every area of life new knowledge and new ways of doing things are opening every day. The person who gets better at what he is doing: the surgeon in surgery, the architect in architecture, the teacher in teaching, to name a few, is the person who will subject himself constantly to study and who has a thirst for knowledge. He will be amply rewarded. So should it be too with the Christian.

That they may know the hope to which they have been called. In an age of pessimism Paul’s prayer rings true for the believer. It tells him that in the midst of struggle when the odds are overwhelming and things seem not be working out, that he can dare to believe that there is a brighter tomorrow dawning. The hope of the Christian is not an empty or abstract concept. It is grounded in the belief that what God has promised he will accomplish.

Living on that promise he does not become oblivious of the struggles he is facing or try to escape from them by doubtful behavior. Instead, he grounds his faith in God and lives out that faith in expectation that the afflictions of the hour are momentary and pale into insignificance when compared to the glory to be revealed. He lives in the present but hopes for a better tomorrow.

Send your thoughts on this study to Dr. Raulston at raulstonb@gmail.com

In this brief description, Mark presents his account of the temptation of Jesus. With the fast pace of his presentation he does not tarry to relate the details of the temptation. This task is left to Matthew and Luke (Matthew 4: 1-11; Luke 4: 1-13). All the accounts locate the temptation after the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan. They are also in one accord that Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness and while He was there the devil or Satan put Him to the test. In the baptism Jesus had received the confirmation of his identity as the Son of God. This was also confirmed on the Mount of the Transfiguration (Mark 9: 2-9).

It is interesting to note that this testing takes place at the beginning of Jesus' ministry in Galilee. The temptation represents His internal struggle to come to terms with the enormity of the task that was before Him. The desert (or wilderness) represents a place where He can be apart with His heavenly Father in intense contemplation of the work ahead.

The test that He would undergo would determine whether He was equal to the task; whether He was who He believed Himself to be and whether He was in fact called to the task He was to begin in Galilee and which would lead eventually to the cross in Jerusalem.

This internal struggle is not unlike any that a person is called upon to undergo at the beginning of any task that can effectively transform his life for good. Often we do not subject ourselves to this kind of intense scrutiny and we are likely to proceed ahead not being clear of the destination to which we are headed and how we may get there.
In the temptation we are told that Jesus is not prepared to take His call for granted. The aftermath of the temptation will show that He was equal to the task. Are you equal to the task as you meet life's tests?

(To be continued...)