Ephesians 3:3 How that by revelation he made known to me the mystery; (as I wrote before in few words, 1. Those whom God sends, He also teaches. 2. We have by nature a veil before our eyes, that we cannot see spiritual matters till they be revealed. (1) Wherefore we must all pray that the veil may be removed from these points of the gospel, that the spirit of liberty may be given us, which brings light and understanding wherever it comes. (2) See what we must impute our not profiting to, viz., this, that we have not got that eyesight of the Spirit, wherewith our eyes should be cleared. Many of us are like the woman who, going to bed seeing and in the night taken blind, waking in the morning, complained of the curtain; for, not discerning our spiritual blindness, we complain of the curtain — strange manner of teaching, obscure speaking, perplexed sentences, I know not what in the teacher — when the fault is nearer home; we are too much in our own light, not knowing ourselves. 3. The doctrine of salvation is a hidden thing to the world. Things are lightsome or obscure in themselves, or to us. To be made lightsome in themselves, there needs but the light of the sun to shine upon them; but to make them lightsome to us, we must have inward light in the eye whereby to discern them: thus the counsel of God is for the nature of it light itself. 4. It is made sensible or visible, the light of revelation shining on it. 5. It is so discerned where there is the supernatural eye of the Spirit, by benefit of this external light to discern it. We need to pray with David, "Lord, open our eyes, that we may see the wonders or hidden things of Thy law." You see, we are all of us men of clay, and living here as it were in the bottom of the ship, walking upon clay; and therefore, if we would know the will of God, concerning us men here below, either God must be revealed from heaven extraordinarily, whereof we have no warrant, or ordinarily, and that is by these books written and indited by the Spirit of God, to be seen, read, and understood. Now this must stand by great reason, for if a man were in a mineral or coal pit, infinite fathoms toward the centre of the earth, it were impossible he should know the will of us men here above, unless we either descend ourselves, or send, or at least throw in a letter of our mind, which notwithstanding will be never the nearer unless we convey light to read the same: so I say, either God must call to us in an audible voice, or send His angels, or raise up afresh some extraordinary means of revealing His will, or else send His letter of His mind to us His loving friends, redeemed by the blood of Christ, yea, and reach us light also for the perusing of the same, or surely we shall never as long as we live attain to the knowledge of His will. Now I grant that the books of Scripture contain the Divine will of God, but such is the darkness of our understanding, that we cannot conceive thereof unless the outward means of the preaching of the Word be joined with the inward working of the Spirit, as fire to enlighten the whole house. Not that the Word in itself is obscure and dark, but that it lighteth into those hands of such blind expositors, in whom is nothing but darkness, as the bright silver lying in a dark chest. (Paul Bayne.) Parallel Verses KJV: How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words,WEB: how that by revelation the mystery was made known to me, as I wrote before in few words, |
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