PRAISE AND PRAYER
SPECIAL PRAYERS FOR TODAY
Part Six of Sixteen
GOD’S WORD AND WORK should be the special subject of
persevering prayer by the saints in this administration of God’s grace.
Paul’s epistles provide the precepts, and Paul himself is our pattern in
this, as in all else (1 Cor.4:16; 11:1; 1 Thess.1:6; Phil.3:17). He prayed
for us that God would give us a spirit of wisdom and revelation, in order
to know Him (Eph.1:17). He pled with the saints to pray for the secret of
the evangel (Eph.6:18), and of Christ (Col.4:2), and for deliverance from
those who opposed his message (Rom.15:30). May we give these a special
place in our petitions!
Since the
shadows are past and the light of noonday is shining in Paul’s evangel
to the nations, we should search his epistles if we desire to discover God’s
mind as to prayer for the present. To accord with our unparalleled
nearness to Him in spirit, it is given a much larger place there than in
any other part of God’s revelation. More than half of the doctrinal
division of Ephesians, which is preeminently the charter of the church, is
presented in a series of prayers! God, instead of telling us directly
of the transcendent grace which He lavishes upon us, puts this in the
heart of Paul in the shape of a petition for us, thus enhancing their
preciousness by the very form in which they appear.
One who has
been enlightened by God’s holy spirit through Paul’s epistles will
find that it operates in complete harmony with His Word. When the glorious
gospel of the conciliation becomes ours, the burden is laid upon our
hearts to reach others with it. When the secret of Christ’s headship
over all dawns upon us, we wish to herald it abroad. When we learn of our
own celestial honors, we are pressed to share these glories with all the
saints. When we find out that all mankind will be saved, who can stop us
from making it known? All these things, received through God’s spirit,
spontaneously ascend and return to Him as sweet incense, the thanksgiving
and petition and prayer. And when these truths are opposed, we cannot help
pleading for those who hinder, as well as those who help to make them
known.
The dire
need of persevering prayer for these things is far more apparent today
than when Paul penned his requests, for just these lines of truth
practically disappeared soon after the apostle’s day, and almost nothing
has been heard of them since. In all the writings of the early “Christian
fathers” and even in the Reformation, what place is given to the secrets
of the evangel, or of Christ, or of this administration? Even today they
are nearly unknown “mysteries,” as the Authorized Version aptly, but
unhappily, describes them. Even the truth of the salvation of all mankind
has found only a feeble following.
An incident
that has just occurred may help us to realize how dense is the darkness,
even in regard to the one of Paul’s prayers which has found a little
response in our own day. A committee has constituted itself among
so-called Fundamentalists which seeks to serve the saints by exposing all
departures from the truth. They do, indeed, show that almost every
division of Christendom is contrary to the Scriptures, and are doubtless
doing much good work. But when it comes to the special subjects of Paul’s
prayers, they seem not only utterly ignorant, but bitterly hostile. They
denounce the teaching that all mankind shall be saved as a “hellish”
doctrine, and thus revile all who hold it (1 Cor.5:11).
Their
teaching, not Paul’s, may indeed be called “hellish,” without giving
offense (Rom.14:13). They apparently hold that all unbelievers will be
tormented forever and ever in “hell,” or the lake of fire. We have
submitted this statement to them before publication, lest we should accuse
them falsely, for we do not wish to misrepresent even the worst enemies of
the truth. But the word “hell” has been repudiated by us, as well as
by the Revisers and all intelligent students of the Scriptures. It is not
a correct equivalent of the Hebrew sheol, the Greek hades,
or of Gehenna, or of the lake of fire, so should not appear in a
translation of God’s Word. It is an unsound expression, to be shunned.
Hence our teaching is as far from “hellish” as it can possibly be.
In Webster’s
dictionary, the supreme authority in the United States, “hellish” is
defined as follows: “Of or pertaining to hell; like hell; infernal;
malignant, wicked, detestable, diabolical.” We ourselves once held the
doctrine of eternal torment for all unbelievers, and humbly acknowledge,
along with all who still have a spark of feeling for their fellows in
their breasts, that nothing imaginable could be more malignant, or wicked,
or detestable, especially on the part of the Deity, Who is love, Who wills
that all mankind be saved and come into a realization of the truth, and on
the part of Christ, Who is giving Himself a correspondent Ransom for all,
of which Paul was appointed a herald and an apostle (1 Tim. 2:4-7).
But what is
at all like hell, malignant, wicked, detestable, diabolical, or “hellish,”
in the teaching that God is operating all in accord with the counsel of
His will (Eph. 1:11), so that He not only wills, but will save all
mankind, and justify all mankind (Rom.5:18), and reconcile
all to Himself through the blood of Christ’s cross, whether on the earth
or in the heavens (Col.1:20)? This is heavenly, not hellish! This
glorifies God, not Satan! This honors Christ, not the
Adversary! Paul entreats us to pray and plead and give
thanks for all mankind, not to damn them (1 Tim.2:1-4)!
Instead of
falling in line with God’s great program, the Christian world, or
system, has used prayer as one of the best instruments of error. “Christians”
in name only, who did not possess the spirit of God, and lukewarm
believers, considering prayer as a sacred duty, fell into futile
formalities. Petitions were written or printed, to be read or repeated by
rote. A prayer for every day is considered a very spiritual program. But
one of the worst mistakes was the adoption of the “Lord’s Prayer” as
the standard form for the layman. Not only among Roman Catholics is the
“Paternoster” a religious exercise of great merit, but even in the
Sunday Schools of more enlightened lands it is impressed on the pupil’s
young minds as if it were the talisman to heaven. It not only leads to
hypocrisy but entirely distorts the truth which is ours in Christ Jesus
today.
This has
been the experience of the writer of these lines: His first book, The
Mystery of the Gospel, or The Conciliation, contained on its
title page the following: “Praying...for me, that utterance may be given
to me to open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel.”
Thereafter followed expositions of the secret of Christ and of this
administration, and a pamphlet, “All in All,” setting forth the
salvation of all mankind. All of this aroused much opposition and fierce
defamation, and will continue to do so until the end, for this is
according to God’s purpose. Even this should call forth thanksgiving. We
may well echo our Lord’s prayer: “Acclaiming am I to thee, Father,
Lord of heaven and earth, for Thou hidest these things from the wise and
intelligent, and Thou dost reveal them to minors” (Matt.11: 25).
Paul’s
greatest prayer for the saints began with ceaseless thanksgiving for them,
and was directed to the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory
(Eph.1:16,17). This is an introduction worthy of the theme, for all
blessing has its source in God, and its channel in Christ, Who is our
Saviour, and Whom we obey as Lord. Let us always seek to open our prayers
by acknowledging Him in the character which accords with the subject of
our petitions. This is addressed to God as the One Who blesses us with
every spiritual blessing among the celestials (1:3), that we may
appreciate His blessings. It is no longer our need as children that is in
view, so He is not seen as our Father, but the Father of glory.
He it is Who endows with the glorious riches, concerning which Paul prays.
Briefly
summarized, Paul prays for a spirit. This is the greatest need
today. We all crave material blessings, food and shelter, health and
wealth. It is very striking, in the opening of this epistle, that we are
not endowed with physical blessings on the earth, as Israel will be in the
kingdom. We are not even assured of bodily welfare among the celestials.
These things are necessary, but not nearly so scarce or valuable as an
endowment with spiritual wisdom and revelation to enable us to know God
and His plans and purpose for us. He wishes us to know what He has in
store for us in the future, and what will be our lot, and the power at His
command to carry all of this to completion.
This
demands a spirit of wisdom and revelation, which God alone can give. All
saints have a measure of God’s spirit. A special spirit of wisdom will
be wary, for there are many deceiving spirits in the world. The forces of
wickedness are spiritual (Eph.6:12). There is need of discrimination (1
Cor.12:10). When the spirits disagree with the Scriptures, or even with
one another, we may be sure that they are evil, no matter how much they
attract us, or operate in us to perform wonders. At various times in the
history of the church, there has been a yielding to spirit forces, by
means of passivity, or marvelous manifestations, but none of them have
ever led the saints into the glorious riches which Paul reveals in this
prayer. They were devoid of this wisdom and lacked this revelation.
Without
this spirit of wisdom the rich revelations of the prison epistles cannot
be apprehended. If anyone has not realized these rare revealments, it is
because this spirit is lacking. Let everyone who seeks to understand God’s
highest unfoldings, as given in this epistle, first of all pray for this
spirit. But this is not enough. No one has ever discovered the secrets
here revealed apart from the written Word. God’s spirit inspired the
Scriptures. His spirit is not imparted to the saints to enable them to
perceive light apart from the Scriptures, but through the
written record. Wisdom demands that there be two witnesses to the truth.
The spirits that ignore the written revelation disagree among themselves.
The spirit that cleaves close to the record alone will bring us into
harmony with each other and with the spirit of God.
Wisdom will
seek to discern the spirits. There are so many divergent ones, each
trumpeting itself, that no one can accept them all. The matter is much
simplified if we have the overwhelming conviction that the Scriptures are
inspired by God and were indicted by His holy spirit. Then they become the
one and sufficient test as to the spirits, if they are of God. The most
dangerous of all spirits is one that rejects this test, and claims
individual inspiration, or a super-inspiration which imposes its message
upon the sacred text. None of these have ever even discovered, much less
revealed, the secret wisdom of the present administration, which was hid
in God, until, it was revealed in writing and made known through the pen
of the apostle Paul from his Roman prison.
God is the
source of all wisdom. Creatures are confined to apparent appearances. He
sees through all outward forms to the very heart. He alone knows the end
at the very beginning. And He only can use evil to produce good. So wisdom
consists in getting a God’s-eye view, of seeing everything from His
standpoint. In the Scriptures wisdom will remove the veil from all
previous revelation, and show how it prepared for the present. It will
transform each seeming setback into a magnificent success. The present is
the fruit of much apparent failure, and gets its flavor from defeat.
Wisdom will doubt all human testimony and believe God. We should even
mistrust the evidence of our own spirit unless corroborated by the
documentary evidence of God’s holy spirit.
THE DOUBLE WITNESS
Wisdom
demands a double witness. This world is full of illusions and deceptions,
so every vital matter should rest upon the testimony of two or three. Even
men of the world protect their property by legal papers, attested by
witnesses. Their private convictions, their own declarations, carry little
weight in a court of law. So the opinions of the saint, or his
asseverations, the fruit of his own spirit, are a frail foundation for
faith. If he differs from others, one or both are bound to be false. Even
if two or millions agree, that is no guarantee. A single certified
document may prove all to be mistaken. The saint who has God’s spirit,
should rest only on the divine documents, which alone can give safety and
certitude.
This wise
precaution should guide us in everything which has been touched and
tainted by human hands, even in determining the authenticity of the sacred
text itself. Men make mistakes, no matter how hard they try to avoid them.
Probably no manuscripts which have come down to us from ancient times were
so carefully copied and compared as the sacred scrolls of the Scriptures.
Even the three most ancient and best differ slightly from one another. It
would be unwise to take one to the exclusion of the others. It would be
foolish to accept a poor one which is contrary to all the rest. In the
providence of God, these, the most precious and important documents for
our faith, are preserved practically perfect, when their testimony is
combined. That is why they are given in the Concordant Greek text. There
is no question as to the written record of the grace which is ours in
Christ Jesus.
In the
Hebrew the matter is far more difficult, so that much more wisdom from
above is needed. With the exception of Isaiah, the oldest records come to
us through a Greek version. This often differs from the traditional Hebrew
which has been handed down to us, in many details, although, as a whole,
there is substantial agreement. Much more than mere knowledge of the facts
is needed, though these must be the basis of any restoration. Perhaps the
greatest aid is a knowledge of God such as Paul pleads for in this prayer.
Complementing this is an insight into the failings of mortal men, the
prejudices of the people and the mistakes of copyists. Then the aid of
double witnesses, such as are provided by complementary accounts and
parallel passages, and especially the recurrences of the same word, in
order to determine its divine definition, as used by the spirit of God.
Even in the
written record, the truth is safeguarded by repetition. The
narrative in the book of Acts is complemented by Paul’s epistles. Romans
is reiterated and reinforced by Galatians and the Corinthian letters.
Ephesians has its echo in Philippians and Colossians. One part
corroborates the other.
This wise
precaution has been carried to its limits by the spirit of God in the very
words of inspiration. There is no inspired lexicon telling us what each
term signifies, such as is provided by some philosophies. Theosophy issues
a special handbook defining its vocabulary. But the inspired documents
have done even better by means of repetition. The meaning of a phrase or a
word or an element is fixed by its usage. Hitherto this has been largely
ignored. Men prefer their false opinions, and translate according to the
dictates of a deceiving spirit, rather than in accord with the spirit of
God. Hence it is wise to use the same symbol where it is repeated,
wherever language will allow.
How
different with the wisdom of the world! God will destroy it. He makes it
stupid (1 Cor.1:19). The reasonings of the wise are vain (1 Cor.3:20). In
the truth for today we learn of the depths of God’s wisdom (Hosea 8:33).
It is a secret wisdom (1 Cor.2:7). It is a multifarious wisdom (Eph.3:10).
But our spirits are not equipped to entertain it, apart from a special
gift from God. Paul has given expression to it in the previous part of
this epistle (Eph.1:3-12). But how few are there, even of those saints who
may be called spiritual, who have been able to grasp the wisdom in this
marvelous revelation! How few have even felt the need of a spirit of
wisdom, or prayed for it!
Before the
Concordant version was made or any of the literature written, there was
persistent prayer for this spirit of wisdom and revelation. Nor has it
ever ceased. The fearful lack of it in dealing with the Bible has become
more and more apparent, and the need of it more evident. Not only was it
necessary to pray for it in order to recover this crowning revelation of
God, but now, even after it has been expounded at length, it is needed to
apprehend the expositions! So let us pray, not only for ourselves, but
join Paul in his prayer for all saints for this special spirit, so that
they may realize the greatness of God’s grace.
A. E. Knoch
