Lucas 24
John Piper · Citado em PreceptAustin
Lucas 24
Piper - If God does not open our eyes, we will not see the wonder of the Word. We are not naturally able to see spiritual beauty. When we read the Bible without the help of God, the glory of God in the teachings and events of the Bible is like the sun shining in the face of a blind man. Not that you can’t construe its surface meaning, but you can’t see the wonder, the beauty, the glory of it such that it wins your heart. Piper - We will never see the beauty of spiritual reality without God’s illumination. We will never see the wonder and glory of what the Word teaches without God’s opening the eyes of our hearts and giving us a spiritual sense of these things. The point of teaching this and knowing this is to make us desperate for God and hungry for God, and to set us to pleading and crying out to God for his help in reading the Bible Piper - You can see many things when you come to the Word without God’s opening the eyes of your heart. You can see words and grammatical constructions. You can see logical connections. You can see historical facts. You can see an author’s rational intention. You can see some human emotions. None of that requires that God open your eyes in a special spiritual way. But what you cannot see is the spiritual beauty of God and his Son and their work in the world. You cannot see that God is infinitely desirable above all things. A blind person cannot see the sun, though he can know many facts about the sun and pass a test in astronomy with a score higher than a person who can see the sun. Knowing about and knowing by sight are not the same. Knowing that honey is sweet and tasting honey are not the same.)....In Ephesians 1:18 Paul prays this way. He says, “I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling …” In other words, “I’ve taught you these things and you have received them with your external senses, but unless you perceive the glory of them with your spiritual sense (“the eyes of your heart”) you will not be changed. (See also Ephesians 3:14–19; Colossians 1:9 with Col 3:16). Now these are Christians he is writing to, which shows that we need to go on praying until we get to heaven for spiritual eyes to see. THE SPIRIT AND ILLUMINATION O blessed holy book, the Bible, for there is no other book one can read in which the Author Who wrote it is present with (in) you and ready and willing to explain what He wrote! The Holy Spirit and the Holy Word operate together.
Lucas 24
Piper - we must pray for it—“Open my eyes.” And if we would stay alive in God and be real and authentic and intense in our love for Him, we must be desperate to have this enabling every day. So pray, pray, pray. (Ps 119:34) Give me understanding, that I may observe Thy law, And keep it with all my heart. (Ps 119:73b) Give me understanding, that I may learn Thy commandments. (Ps 119:125) I am Thy servant; give me understanding, That I may know Thy testimonies. (Ps 119:144) Thy testimonies are righteous forever; Give me understanding that I may live. Eph 1:18-19a “I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe.” A. T. Pierson - If you want to understand the Bible, get on your knees … You will learn more in one hour of prayerful communion with the Spirit than in a thousand years in all the schools of human culture. (Col 1:9-10) For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10 so that you will 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; (Ps 18:28) For You light my lamp; The LORD my God illumines my darkness.
Lucas 24
Piper - We should pray … 1. That God would teach us his Word. Psalm 119:12b, “Teach me Your statutes.” (See also Ps 119:33, 64b, Ps 119:66, 68b, Ps 119:135). True learning of God’s Word is only possible if God Himself becomes the Teacher in and through all other means of teaching. 2. That God would not hide his Word from us. Psalm 119:19b, “Do not hide Your commandments from me.” The Bible warns of the dreadful chastisement or judgment of the Word of God being taken from us (Amos 8:11). (See also Ps 119:43). 3. That God would make us understand his Word. Psalm 119:27, “Make me understand the way of Your precepts” (Ps 119:34, 73b, Ps 119:144b, 169). Here we ask God to cause us to understand—to do whatever He needs to do to get us to understand His Word. 4. That God would incline our hearts to His Word. Psalm 119:36, “Incline my heart to Your testimonies and not to [dishonest] gain.” The great problem with us is not primarily our reason, but our will—we are disinclined by nature to read and meditate and memorize the Word. So we must pray for God to incline our wills. 5. That God would give us life to keep his Word. Psalm 119:88, “Revive me according to Your lovingkindness, so that I may keep the testimony of Your mouth.” He is aware that we need life and energy to give ourselves to the Word and its obedience. So he asks God for this basic need. (See also verse 154b) 6. That God would establish our steps in his Word. Psalm 119:133, “Establish my footsteps in Your word.” (Ed: First pray Ps 119:38) We are dependent on the Lord not only for understanding and life, but for the performance of the Word. That it would be established in our lives. We cannot do this on our own. 7. That God would seek us when we go astray from his Word. Psalm 119:176, “I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek Your servant.” It is remarkable that this godly man ends his psalm with a confession of sin and the need for God to come after him and bring him back. This too we must pray again and again.... How earnest was he in these kinds of prayers? How earnest should we be? One answer is given in Psalm 119:147, “I rise before dawn and cry for help; I wait for Your words.” He gets up early! This is top priority. Would you make it that? (Open My Eyes That I May See) PROMISE OF ILLUMINATION 2Ti 2:7 Consider what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything. Ps 19:8b The commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes. PRODUCT OF ILLUMINATION "The unfolding (opening, unveiling giving understanding of something otherwise difficult) of Thy words gives light. It gives understanding to the simple." (Ps 119:130) (Luke 24:45) Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures Adrian Rogers - When you begin to read the Bible, here's a prayer that you ought to pray - Psalm 119:18. When God opens your eyes you're going to see things you never saw before, you're going to hear things you never heard before, you're going to know things you never knew before because God the Holy Spirit is going to teach you.