Opening the Gates of Heaven Perry Stone

Cor. 14:2). It is the Holy Spirit who also impacts the human eye gate by the method of spiritual illumination. The Greek word for “illumination” is the word photizo ; it means, “to shed or give light, brighten up and to enlighten.” The older method of taking pictures required a camera to have light-sensitive film. Once the shutter opened, the image was sealed on the film through the amount of light coming through the shutter. Too much light could cause overexposure, and too little light could cause underexposure. In either case, an otherwise good picture would be ruined. Overexposure to illumination can cause some people to become puffed up with pride (1 Cor. 8:1), while underexposure can cause a person to remain “in the dark” spiritually. There are three important words related to how we receive the Scriptures: inspiration , revelation, and illumination . Inspiration is how God gave the Word to man: “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable … ” (2 Tim. 3:16). The word inspiration in Greek is theopneustos, from theos , meaning, “God,” and pneo , meaning, “to breathe.” Thus, God breathed upon the prophets to write the Scriptures. Revelation is a word meaning, “to unveil something that is hid.” The operation of spiritual revelation occurred when the prophets penned onto parchment the exact words God spoke, and it became the written Word of God. Finally, there is illumination by which we receive the light or the insight in our spirit of