Many times we read Scriptures that we do not always understand until we reach a new spiritual level. Then, suddenly everything we have been reading opens up.
Luke 24:30, 31 tells how two disciples on the way to Emmaus were sitting at the table, and Jesus broke the bread. And their eyes were opened and they knew him.… Previous to that they were looking right at Him, but they didn’t recognize Him. There are other places in the Scriptures that this had happened when God opened men’s eyes. For instance, in the story of Balaam three times he beat his donkey for refusing to proceed through a narrow pass on a mountain road. Then God opened his eyes, and he saw what the beast had seen all along, the angel with the drawn sword.
It is amazing how we go along so imperceptive to the spirit world and to these veiled happenings. Now people are aware there are many things that can be seen in the ultraviolet realm and beyond, if the senses are tuned to that. Some have eyes that are naturally tuned to seeing auras and things which other people do not see. Those who had seen these things from childhood had thought everyone saw them. We do not realize the capacity within us. Our eyes have to be opened so we can really see what God is doing.
When Elisha was the object of armies which came down to possess him, his young servant looking out and seeing all the armies encamped against them, cried, “Oh, what are we going to do?” All the prophet did was to say, “Lord, open his eyes that he may see.” The old seer, the prophet who was seeing in another world all the time, prayed a prayer that opened the young man’s eyes, and suddenly he could see all the hosts of the Lord round about, ready to deliver them.
We are continually brought to realms of unbelief because we do not see the real story. Unbelief is the result of veils upon our spirit because of the natural body, and there are degrees of unbelief. We would be surprised at how much unbelief is in us.
Circumstances as they appear on our level of perception, the human level of perception with its limitations, do not produce faith. Your circumstances, what you see, what you hear, what your physical senses produce, do not produce faith. The more you depend upon the processes of the physical senses and reasoning, the less faith you really have.
This is because the visible world of the senses is closer to the demonic world than the angelic world. Devils and demons are easier to discern than the other realm of the Lord with His angels and His hosts. How we need to pray, “Lord open our eyes so we can see the reality of a world to which even God’s people are largely blind, so imperceptive.
The age before us is going to be the age of perception, and it will begin with the great outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the latter rain. When He pours out His Spirit upon all flesh, the knowledge of the Lord is going to cover the earth as the waters cover the sea (Habakkuk 2:14). They shall never say to a neighbor, “Know the Lord,” for they shall all know Him, from the least to the greatest (Jeremiah 31:34).
It will not be a matter of trying to lead a man into the knowledge of the Lord, but suddenly the veils will be gone, men will perceive the things of God, and the flow of revelation will be great. When this outpouring comes, “your sons and daughters shall prophesy” (Joel 2:28). “All thy children shall be taught of the Lord and great shall be the peace that rests upon God’s people” (Isaiah 54:13).
All the coming trends have pointed toward this day of revelation the Lord is bringing. Can you find it in your heart to say, “Lord, open my eyes to see”? Blessed are the eyes that see. The Beatitudes are beginning to open up in even a deeper level of truth. Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God. Matthew 5:8.
We need to understand more about spiritual perception—spiritual sight. People are still expecting to see something through their natural eyes. God can open our spiritual eyes so we can see these things. “Lord, let not this realm be hidden from us.”
Here are some Scriptures about perception. Hebrews 5:12 says, For though by this time you ought to be teachers (as far as time was concerned, they were old enough as Christians that they should be teachers), you have need again for some one to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For every one who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.
There is a discernment which separates the babes from the mature. It is because of the reason of use that the spiritual senses are able to discern between good and evil. You become increasingly perceptive as you walk along with the Lord. But it is not true just because you have been a Christian for a long time. That does not mean you have grown in perception.
It is by reason of use, by reason of exercising and building up our spirit, that you come into a greater level of perception. We need to perceive both good and evil. Sometimes I wonder that people can hear so much and still not know what this walk with God is all about. I am believing that we are going to know the will of the Lord, what to do, how to do it, and walk in it.
And after we have a word from God we are not going to sin against God and dull our spiritual senses by walking in worry, anxiety, and fear. We are going to be perceptive and walk with understanding.
In chapter 1 of Ephesians is a very important prayer in which Paul is asking, above everything else, that the people would come into revelation: that they would come into the deep discerning quality where the Lord was speaking to them and helping them.
15 For this reason I too, having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which exists among you, and your love for all the saints, do not cease giving thanks for you, while making mention of you in my prayers (what did he pray for?); 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 (epignosis) of Him.
Epignosis is a deep penetrating knowledge, the result of intimacy through our spirit communing with the Spirit of God.
Of all the things that Paul could have prayed for, he was praying for this one thing: “God give you that spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him.”
Paul continued, I pray that the eyes of your understanding (imagination) may be enlightened (lighted with pictures), so that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. Ephesians 1:15–19.
We want to come into a new revelation. We want this perception; we want this knowledge.
It is a result of our spiritual senses being activated so that our soul interprets them on the screen of our mind as we close our eyes and see into the spiritual realm around us and the heavenly realms.
In Ephesians 3:19 is another prayer. For this reason, I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man; so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, (here it is) may be able to comprehend (note the deep understanding: “comprehend”) with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge (that is a deep enigma, a paradox: he is praying you will know the vast extent of the love of God, yet he says it surpasses knowledge), that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God. Ephesians 3:14–19.
It doesn’t make sense unless you understand that it is surpassing the human level of knowledge and comes into a divine revelation knowledge. God will teach you things you could never comprehend and truths you could never arrive at.… Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him, but God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit… I Corinthians 2:9, 10.
We would never arrive at it; it could never enter our heart except that God begins to open up a new capacity of understanding, a new level of revelation.
We cannot even know Him unless He gives us the capacity to know Him. And so Paul prayed that we may be able to comprehend with all saints—that length, and breadth, and height—just to know that love of Christ that passes all knowledge. In other words, there are things you cannot know unless God grants you to know them.
We don’t want to be such slaves of our process of reason that we say, “I’m not going to do that, I don’t understand it.” If we understood it, I wouldn’t want to walk in it. If this whole truth were down to that level, if it were that human, I’d back out of it. If this walk were something I could reason out, then it would be something I could reason out of. But this is something that was revealed to us, and we will not go any further until we have greater capacities of perception and depths of understanding that only the Spirit of God can open up to our hearts.
This puts it on a very mystical plane. A walk with God leaves anything that looks reasonably old order and comes into distinct, absolute revelation by the Spirit of God. We must cease struggling to relate to the old old-order level.
In Colossians 1:9 is another prayer. These prayers are so revealing in themselves. For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you (they had heard of their love in the Spirit) and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will (flooded with the knowledge of His will) in all spiritual wisdom and understanding—that was the way they prayed.
It was not a matter of: “Well, I hope you’ll be able to stumble along and find the will of the Lord by reasoning it all out” I don’t think that is the way we are going to arrive at it, do you? God is going to fill us with the knowledge of His will. We will walk in the perfect will of the Lord in all understanding, as it says, … so that you may walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience, joyously… Colossians 1:9–11.
In verse 24 Paul wrote, Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I do my share on behalf of His body (which is the church) in filling up that which is lacking in Christ’s afflictions. Of this church I was made a minister according to the stewardship from God bestowed on me for your benefit, that I might fully carry out the preaching of the word of God.… Notice they didn’t know what to do with that: “that I might fulfill the word of God,” or literally, “make full” or “make complete the word of God.” Here you see that Paul knew he was going to be used by God to create our Bible. It wasn’t an accident. “I’ve got to complete it!” … that is, the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations; but has now been manifested to His saints (it is revelation, pure and simple revelation), to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Colossians 1:24–27.
Why do we know this? Because God willed to make known. This promise, “God willed to make known,” burns in my heart. God willed to make known this wonderful truth, hidden from other generations, but finally God brought it forth: “Christ in you, the hope of glory.”
The early Church was not preaching about Christ, they were living epistles of Christ. They had that treasure in earthen vessels. It was Christ in them, the hope of glory.
And even more for us in this hour, at the end of this dispensation, God willed to make known. You may say, “I don’t have any revelation.” It is God’s will for you to have revelation. It is a command: So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. Ephesians 5:17.
You may say, “Well, I’m too stupid to know it.” Good! that you know you are stupid. Because the wisdom of this world takes the wise in their own craftiness. God delights in knocking down the so-called wise. “He is the one who catches the wise in their craftiness.” I Corinthians 3:19b.
So it is good to humble yourself a little. You may think that man is becoming so wise and brilliant, but you don’t even know what is possible for man to know. There are more books being printed every year on technical subjects than anyone could absorb in ten lifetimes. At the present rate, you would not have enough time the rest of your life to read the titles of the books that are on copyright at the Library of Congress—just the titles. It would take you 340 years to read the titles of the books in the Library of Congress. And that would be a small fraction of what you really need to know to be arrogantly in control of your own life.
You still do not know how to evaluate the past, and you do not know very much about the future, and you are not too much aware of what is going on in the present. Nothing is greater than the inaccuracy of the human senses. If there were ten of the most brilliant men witnessing the same accident, there would be a different report from every man.
With all of our problems, we cannot know what we need to know, so we are dependent upon a realm of revelation. There are many verses which tell us what God wants to do, how He opened people’s eyes, and how the apostle prayed, “O God, open their understanding; give them new revelation.”
We read in the Bible, “Suddenly the heavens were opened,” and, “God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles.” God willed to make it known. To what do we owe this wonderful living word and the truths? Only one thing, God willed to make known.
“God willed to make known.” Does He make known to you? He intends to dispel the areas of ignorance. We are to know. Now we know in part, but we are to know even as we are known—that’s revelation—discerned to the depth of our being. We are able to know, just as we are known. We prophesy in part, but there is a day of fullness coming. It is upon us, the realm of perfect love. How foolish are the ways of men! Over and over again the Holy Spirit becomes the one agency to lead us into all truth.
In the Gospel of John, he continually tells about the way the Lord was sending His Spirit to guide: “I’ve so many things to tell you … when He the Spirit of truth is come, He is going to guide you into all truth.” (John 16:12, 13). He constantly spoke about how we were not to remain in a limited understanding.
You and I cannot understand or perceive how the disciples in the early days of the church went about suffering, doing what they did. We really cannot understand what made them run, what kept them going, but there was something they had which drove them on and on. I don’t think they were superior to us.
If you have had moments in which you have wavered and fallen by the wayside, the pattern of that irregularity in your walk could be eliminated by greater revelation. Like it was said of Paul, “I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision” (Acts 26:19). What would make a man go through everything Paul went through? He was sustained by the fact that God was with Him, and he had had a revelation of the Lord.
And that is what we are ready for. With our need of perception to see the difficulties ahead of us, I do not think we can make it unless we have something that stabilizes us, our very existence, a greater revelation of the Lord Himself to our hearts. The early Church had it. They saw the things of the Lord. That perception—deep revelation and wisdom—was there. They were able to go forth.
Some of you have deep problems, and you keep thinking that if you just had some personal counseling and help, you could come out of it. But that isn’t the final answer. It would be part of the answer but not the complete answer.
Because you could have all that and still miss the fact that you do not even know how to walk with God; you have no spiritual perception of Him. I am going to emphasize the positive more. If you’re stuck in a problem, you need deliverance, and you’re harassed this way and that, a lot of the answers would come by greater revelation of the Lord to your heart—just a real meeting with God. Meet with God and watch these other things take care of themselves.
We will break through. We will move into realms of deliverance that are tremendous, but let’s believe! “Lord, open these eyes to see. Open it all up that we can have a greater walk with Thee.”
You may say, “Well, I want to see a great vision.”
If you can only come to the place of spiritual perception where you have that awareness of God’s hand upon you, where you can practice His presence, whether you see or feel anything or not, you will live in that living awareness of His presence, and you will be living in the climate of revelation and understanding and guidance into the perfect will of the Lord.
A way of knowing whether or not you need this message is if you have become more aware of other people’s problems and faults, and you are constantly having a struggle to keep from murmuring and complaining. If so, you have an awareness of the wrong element. You had better get your nose out of the manure pile and get it set on God. You are perceptive of everything you shouldn’t be. Better turn that eye toward the Lord.
I like the way Jesus prayed: “He lifted up His eyes to heaven.” I imagine He really did—He saw the whole picture.
“O God, let us lift up our eyes.” I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth. Psalm 121:1, 2. “Lord, open our eyes.”
I think we need to pray for revelation. If Paul prayed repeatedly for the people to have it, if Jesus constantly emphasized the Spirit would come to give it, and if the Word declares that God willed to make known this mystery, then I think we should make a definite positive prayer as Christians.
“Lord, let us read the Word with an open mind and an open heart. Deliver us from that lower level of reason that does not move into revelation. Deliver us from our own limited capacities, and bring us into the realm of revelation and understanding that is borne by the Spirit of the Lord. Then we will have prophets in the land. Then we will have the men and women of God in apostolic companies going forth.
All the prophecies and revelations have brought us right up to this step; now we say, ‘Lord, open it up to us.’ Amen.”