DAY 15

A SPIRIT OF REVELATION

ROB MCCORKLE, EVANGELIST

A prayer that has captured my heart and is prayed almost daily comes from the words of Paul in Ephesians. He asked, “That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him” (Ephesians 1:17). The word revelation (apokalupsis) means to remove the veil from our eyes so that truth can be exposed. One expositor said revelation is receiving spiritual insight through supernatural means.

Revelation is one of the major differences between the Old and New Testaments. While God spoke to individuals in the Old Covenant, people did not have the indwelling presence of Holy Spirit. Paul wrote that there was a time when people didn’t see, hear, or understand the deep things of God, but in the New Covenant we have the Spirit of God living inside us, so His heart and mind can be fully revealed to us (1 Corinthians 2:9–10).

There are three benefits of revelation. First, revelation is how we are spiritually transformed. Revelation is superior to information because it is aimed at the heart. Information might fill our heads with knowledge, but that doesn’t produce the insight needed for spiritual transformation. Moreover, Jesus speaks on a spiritual level rather than an intellectual one. He said, “The words I have spoken to you are spirit...” (John 6:63). There will be times when our heart is moved toward obedience to God’s leadership, but it doesn’t make sense in our heads. If we must understand God before we obey Him, then we’ll be paralyzed in our spiritual growth.

Additionally, our head will talk us out of where our heart is leading us. In stating that, I’m not advocating spiritual stupidity. But I am suggesting spiritual truth revealed to our heart will at times seem contrary to conventional wisdom. Often in my spiritual journey I’ve found myself obeying something God revealed to my heart only to have my mind make sense out of it months later. What I’m suggesting is that through revelation our heart informs our mind. As a result, we are transformed from the inside out. In fact, we should read the Scriptures to encounter His presence, not to become more intelligent in Bible doctrine. We can know doctrine but not Christ, but it’s unlikely to know Christ and not know doctrine because His Spirit will teach us.

The Pharisees were informed intellectually in the Scriptures, but they didn’t know Christ; therefore, they were not spiritually transformed (John 5:39). Their heads were full of Scripture, but their hearts were full of death (Matthew 23:27). To be like Jesus, our hearts must encounter and receive supernatural insight and revelation. Truly, the Spirit of truth guides us into all truth (John 16:13). Paul said because we have an unveiled face (i.e. we’ve received revelation), we are being transformed into the likeness of God from glory to glory (2 Corinthians 3:18). Yield your heart to the Lord and ask His Spirit to open your spiritual eyes. Revelation will produce spiritual transformation.

Second, revelation increases our scope of ministry. Imagine playing football on a field half the size, or hockey on a smaller rink, or tennis on the same area of a ping pong table. Without revelation our spiritual potential is limited. Revelation expands our field of play. Through increased revelation we’re able to make a greater contribution to the kingdom of God. Increased revelation opens doors and maximizes our abilities. Without revelation, we inhibit our possibilities of making a greater impact for Christ.

A sobering statement was made by the writer of Hebrews. He said, “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles...” (Hebrews 5:12). They became “dull and sluggish” in hearing spiritual truths (Hebrews 5:11). These believers stopped growing spiritually because they ceased receiving revelation. They became lazy and quit pressing into the presence of God and consequently, they spiritually digressed. Their ability to influence other people as teachers of the Word was forfeited by their lack of revelation.

When God sows into our hearts through revelation, the nature of that seed is growth and increase (see Mark 4:30–32). Revelation is not meant merely to fill our hearts, but to expand our influence for the cause and sake of the kingdom. What might God want to do with your life in the next five years? There are songs to be written, books to be penned, complex problems to be solved, medical breakthroughs to be discovered, and lives to be reached with the gospel, and you are the instrument God wants to use. Revelation is the spiritual insight to accomplish greater things for the Lord. We must not become dull and sluggish in hearing and learning deeper truths.

Third, revelation empowers us to pass on our insights to future generations. Years ago, I ran the 440 relay where four guys carried a baton around the track. I had three essential responsibilities. The first was to receive the baton from the person who ran before me. Second, run the allotted distance with the baton, and third, to pass it on to the next runner after me. We trained hardest on passing the baton forward because races were won or lost in that process.

You and I have a responsibility to receive revelation and run with it but mostly to successfully pass it on to those before us. To simply possess what we’ve been given and never impart it to others is a serious offense to Jesus. Just ask the guy who buried his possessions in the ground (see Matthew 25:14–30). The nature of the kingdom is increase and advancement. The cause of God moves forward when present generations adequately equip future ones with revelation knowledge. I feel the weight of that responsibility every time I hold one of my grandchildren in my arms, pour into a church staff, or stand before a congregation and teach.

Paul called Timothy his true child in the faith (1 Timothy 1:2). It’s evident in the Scriptures that Paul not only ministered out of profound revelation, but he equipped Timothy to lead one of the greatest churches of the first century. Think about who you are equipping to fulfill future assignments. The ceiling of your revelation should become the floor upon which future generations walk on.

PRAYER

Father, I pray for a spirit of revelation. Open my eyes to truth. May I be transformed by revelation knowledge, use it to impact others, and impart what I’ve received into those before me.