The Revelation Knowledge in Christ (Part 2)

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right in. So today we'll continue from where

we started from on Sunday. We have the revelational

knowledge in Christ. And I gave just an introduction,

starting from Timothy. And from there, we checked

the Greek words and all of that. And we saw that

the entire scripture has to be taken together,

right? We saw that the entire scripture has to

be taken together. The entire scripture has a

theme, has a message. points to a person, right?

And in the light of interpretations of the scriptures,

we will pay attention to that much more as we

go through the writings. So as we go through

the letters, as we go through the phrases of

the scripture, as we go through things that even

they are documented as God says the Lord, okay?

When we go through things that they are even

documented as thus says the Lord, right? We must

examine them in the light of the entire scripture,

right? The entire scripture. We must investigate

them, examine that they are consistent. We said

the revelation of Christ is consistent, right?

Across the scripture. And we pointed out to...

A number of, I think, two scriptures that we

examined, which we are going to examine today,

and I will add three more scriptures to it, is

how people heard, right? When they read the letters,

when they read the phrases, some statements from

the Old Testament, they heard, and why they heard.

So we read 1 Corinthians 15, 3 -4. Please, can

you go there? 1 Corinthians 15, 3 -4. We didn't

say much on that. on Sunday. It says, So I delivered

first to you, first of all, that which I also

received, that Christ died for our sins according

to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and

that He rose again the third day according to

the Scriptures, and that He was seen by sephars

and then by the twelve. So we explain, the explanation

here is that When Paul would check the scriptures,

he would see that the scriptures taken together

testify of the death of Christ and the resurrection

of Christ. So, the scriptures testify of the

death of Christ and the resurrection of Christ.

Now, this is before the manifestation on earth.

Okay? This is before the manifestation. The scriptures

already testified of the death of Christ and

the resurrection that would follow. Now, we now

have some people who read the scriptures and

we said, when they read the scriptures, okay,

when they read the scriptures, they heard, right?

They heard because they did not read it in the

manner at which Paul read it and is able to...

Say what he said in 1 Corinthians 15, verse 3

1 Corinthians 15:3–4

to 4. So again, they did not read it in a manner,

in the manner at which Paul read it. The same

scriptures, right? They did not read it in the

same manner. So they could not see, right, in

that direction. But not just because they did

not read it. There are reasons why people actually

heard when they read the scriptures, right? There

are reasons why people actually heard. when they

read the scriptures. So when we go to that Matthew

Matthew 22:29

22 verse 29, let's go to Matthew 22 verse 29.

Matthew 22:29

So Jesus said unto them, you are mistaken not

knowing the scriptures nor the power of God.

Now the context of this or why they heard was

not just because they went to read the scripture

and they saw one line and they used the line.

No, it was not just because they mistakenly read

the scripture. It was because their intention

of, first of all, was wrong. Okay? So that's

the first thing that can make you err when you

are checking the scriptures. If your intention

is to look for what would justify what is in

your mind, you will err. So I want to check the

scripture to discover how to make money. That

is what is in my mind. Then if I go towards the

scripture, I would err. Okay? If my intention,

right, is, okay, I pick up the scripture and

I want to use the scripture to support, you know,

my educational attainment and all of that, then

I have the tendency, a very high tendency to

err. You know why? Because everything you see,

you would drag it into what you want it to fit

in. So you will be finding scriptures that will

be saying something else. but you will be putting

it in the context of what is in your heart. So

what is the context of this? They were looking

for a way to say resurrection was not possible,

right? So they had an intention in their hearts.

So the way to approach the scripture or the proper

way they would have approached the scripture

is to go into the scripture to say, let us see

scriptures that points to resurrection, okay?

Let us see scriptures that point to it. Then

examine those scriptures layer by layer. But

what did they do? They came up with an assumption.

So assumptions also can make you err in the scriptures

too. Assumptions. So you want to paint a scenario.

Like what if this and this and this? What if

this and this and this? So assumptions and painting

scenarios might make you err. Right? Because

sometimes the Bible does not cover some of our

assumptions in full. In fact, it does not cover

most of our assumptions, right? Somebody was

this and the person did this and the person did

this. Now you want to fuse the Bible into that.

So assumptions can make you err, right? So we

stick to the scriptures. When you make assumptions,

you would fall into error. Why? Because you are

trying to explain something that the Bible might

not have touched upon. Okay. And so we see, first

of all, intention of the heart can make someone

err from the scriptures. Second, creating assumptions

and scenarios, right? So we stick to the Bible

illustrations. We stick to the Bible story. We

stick to the Bible narratives and avoid many

assumptions and ifs. All right. For John 9, verse

John 9:3

3, right? John 9, verse 3. Can we go there? Why

John 9:3

did they err? Neither did this man noise, but

that the work of God should be revealed in him.

So why did they err? Because there is a cultural

understanding or common understanding. There

is a popular opinion about sin. So there is a

popular opinion. If you go back to verse 2, please.

So they asked him, Rabbi, who sinned, this man

or his parent, that he was born blind? So it

means that... It's a common thing. So popular

opinions, right, can make you hear from Scripture.

Something that, it might even be something that

they've taught for ages, right, that this is

it. But you have never examined. Sincerely, most

of us, we fall into that category that there

are many things that have been said, have been

taught, but you have never examined that subject

matter in the Bible. You have never examined.

And I put it, I mean, I'm encouraging you today

that as you go, when something, someone says

something and it sounds like something that you

cannot put a scripture to, right? Write it down

and go and examine if truly those things are

so. Even up until recently that people, you know,

social media and all of that, people started

making maybe some commentaries or skits or all

of that, right? Things like people help those

who help themselves. You know, we're popular

saying holiness is next to godliness and all

those things. They are saying that they've read

the scriptures and they just came up with those

things. Okay. So you cannot really find them

verbatim in the Bible. Neither can you find some

of them as ideas in the Bible. So we have to

pay. attention to those things. So, popular things,

things that are common, and it might even be

things that are, you know, doctrinally, uh, doctrinally

practiced, people's practice. For example, let

me put one, water baptism, right? Water baptism

is something that almost every Christian, you

know, uh, what I say, most churches do to today,

right? Most churches really do. But when we pay

attention to that, to go study, we might have

a different understanding. We might have a more

clearer understanding. Another thing we talk

about is what we call Holy Communion. People

conduct that and we don't hold anything against

anybody. But the point is, if you examine the

Scripture and the context, you might find a difference.

So, you might get into such kind of things. So,

it means that you should always check for yourself

what Scripture is saying. what scripture is saying.

Now let's go to another one. Luke 9, verse 55.

Luke 9:55

Luke 9, verse 55. But he turned and rebuked them.

Luke 9:55

Go to verse, just like verse 53. Let's see from

verse 53. But they did not receive him because

his face was set for the journey to Jerusalem.

And when the disciples, James and John, right,

saw this, they said, Lord, do you want us to

command fire to come down from heaven and consume

them? just as Elijah did, but he turned and rebuked

them and said, you do not know what manner of

spirits ye are of. You do not know what manner

of spirits ye are of. So, truly, did they read

Elijah's story? Yes. Did they see the illustrations

of Elijah? Did this happen in the Elijah story,

calling down fire? Yes. They read it, they saw

it, they held on to it, right? And at the point

where they felt, it is necessary to apply this

thing here. They chipped it in, right? They chipped

that in and Jesus said, no. So what is making

them hell here is mainly, he said, they do not

know what manner of spirits they are of. It means

that if you read across the scriptures, right,

you will understand the spirit by which the scripture

is written and you would know whose you are.

So it means that they cannot stop at that story,

right? In Kings, you cannot stop there. In that

event, you must check across the scriptures to

see if that is the spirit by which the scripture

has been written. Okay, so you check if the scripture

has been written in, let's put it this way, in

that light. But they did not, rather they held

it as a tool, right? And one day, You know, they

used it. Now, one of the private scriptures that

we or people do use, I don't know about these

days, but I know people use Psalms a lot, right?

So you put Psalm in your pocket. In fact, at

some point, it was given to us as, they had to

summarize it in a small Bible, what the Gideon's

Bible, right? And New Testament and Psalms, and

it was combined. I don't know why they choose

Psalms. Psalms and Proverbs, right? New Testament,

Psalms, and Proverbs, and it was given to us.

It was like a quick means to move. So Psalms

was there, and it's one of those scriptures that

people use quickly. You just quote it, right?

If anything happens, if you're in danger, there's

some for it. If you need protection, there's

some for it. So people really don't read the

Bible, right? Rather, they just pick those bullets

of points. But in picking those, you might not

understand. right? The entire message of Christ,

right? The entire scripture. You might not understand.

That is why you might see, right? Someone pointing,

you know, David talking about his enemies, which

in the story of David, he had physical enemies,

right? He had physical. Now, if you stop there,

you will not understand the entire context of

the Bible, right? Because you will pick David's

enemy and you also will look for your neighbor

and say, well, my neighbor is the real enemy

and my neighbor needs to, you know, to die in

that sense. So, not picking, Right. But checking

across, you have that verse, but check across

the scriptures. Now, John 8, verse 5. So this

John 8:5

one is because they did not read across the scripture.

They did not check in what spirit was the scriptures

written. In the spirit of Christ, the scripture

was written. That is it. Scripture was written

in the spirit of Christ. So they are of Christ.

They are of Christ. They are not of Elijah. They

are of Christ. I mean, in the context of what

Elijah did. Right. So they are of Christ. Now,

John 8, verse 5. Let's go to John 8, verse 5.

John 8:5 John 8:5

Now, Moses, in the law, commanded us that such

should be stoned. But what do you say? Right?

So, it's like, you want to put... Let me put

it this way. I don't want to say two prophets

against themselves. But you want to put... In

a way, we can use that because... probably because

Moses also said the Lord will send a prophet,

right? Let me use that scripture to be my guide.

Now, it's like putting two messengers of God

against themselves, right? So Moses said this,

but you said you are of God. What do you say?

So contradict Moses, and then let's see how these

people will accept you. Do you get it? So if

he contradicts Moses here, right, and he's not

able to explain it, then... It means that the

people will be against him because they held

Moses in a very high esteem, right? They held

Moses. And you see that they keep using Moses

very well. So here you see that their intention

also was wrong. They wanted to catch him. So

you want to cause a conflict. So you want to

pick up a scripture to cause conflicts, right?

That is what we see here. Not just to catch him

now, but to put him against the scripture. So

you want to put Christ. in whose spirit the scripture

was written, against the scripture. So, when

people try to do that, they want to put you against

the scripture, they want to put two people against

themselves, they can say, this person said this,

what do you say? You know? I can say, Chris said

this, right? And I'll come and meet maybe Sister

Christy. I say, Christy, what do you say? Right?

So, Christy said salvation is eternal. Christy

said it's not eternal. Right? And both of them...

they face themselves in a heated debate, right?

So, if that's the intention of putting out scriptures,

it means that you also, you will not learn. It

will be very difficult for you to learn. You

will not be able, right, to learn. Matthew 19,

Matthew 19:7

verse 7, similar in this context. Matthew 19,

Matthew 19:7

verse 7. So, people use scriptures to cause conflict.

There are many scriptures actually. They said

to him, why then did Moses give us a certificate

of divorce and to put us away? Again, the same

pattern. Why then did Moses say this? Do you

want to say against Moses? Do you want to speak

against Moses? Do you want to speak against Moses?

So people would err because they have an intention

to put people against themselves. See many other

examples, Matthew 5 and Matthew 4, Jesus' temptation,

rather. We will find those scriptures pointing

to intentions, right? And they pointed the scriptures

were used. The scriptures were used. So it means

that we need to pay attention to ourselves, right?

We need to pay attention to ourselves. When you

invoke a scripture, let me use that word right,

when you invoke a scripture, what is the intention

of your invoking the scriptures? And does it

align with the spirit by which the scripture

is written? Okay, does it align with the spirit

by which the scripture is written when we invoke

a scripture? Okay, good. So that way we'll be

able to see how people miss the scripture. Now,

one thing that we said is that the scriptures

are read together. So now the solution is to

read it together. Read it together, check across

all the scriptures and you would find it. Let's

see Philip in Acts chapter 8, verse 27 to 35.

Acts 8:27–35

Let's see what Philip did. And what Philip did

would actually give us a direction. Paul did

similar thing, but Philip's own was much more,

I wouldn't say it's easier, right? I wouldn't

say it's easier. And it's going to help us for

evangelism. Okay. It's going to help us for evangelism

when we come to what Philip did now and what

Paul did. So let's go. 27 to 35. And so he arose

and went and behold, a man of Utopia, a union

of great authority under Candace, Candace, the

queen of Utopians, who had charge of all her

treasury and had come to Jerusalem to worship.

So he must have heard the scriptures and about

scriptures and was returning and sitting in his

chariot. He was reading. Isaiah the prophet.

Then the Spirit said to Philip, go near and overtake

his chariots. So Philip ran to him and heard

him reading the prophet Isaiah and said, do you

understand what you are reading? Now, one of

the ways by which you can also evangelize is

in the statements of people, right? In the statement

of people. Somebody just comes to you and said,

oh. I know Jesus, or you just meet somebody and

they say, I know Jesus is a prophet. Or they

are just discussing about, you know, I know Jesus,

or they are reading something. In their statements,

right, or in what they are doing, you can begin

from there, right, to teach. It's very, you know,

it's a very common style, right? From what the

person said, from what the person is teaching,

from there you can now give light. Because this

is what... Philip did. So do you understand what

you are reading? So do you, what do you mean?

Do you understand what Jesus being the son of

God means? Maybe that's the new one we would

be, you know, when we go for evangelism, we'll

add to it. Because some people, when you meet

them quickly, they'll say, I believe in this

death, burial, resurrection. I believe in this.

I believe in that. And blah, blah, blah, blah,

blah. Right? And truly they do. They do. But

sometimes there is need for depth. Okay? There

is really need for depth. Because to get to some

point, you need to answer questions like, what

does the son of God? What does resurrection mean?

How can he resurrect? Is it possible? So the

next scripture said, do you understand what you

are reading? From what he was reading, the conversation

erupted. And he said, how can I, unless someone

guides me? Now, if you get a good person who

is humble, they can tell you this. But if you

get someone who is not, they can further explain

and tell you more. Then you can be able to correct

that. And he answered, and he asked Philip to

come up and sit with him. The place in the scripture

which he read was this. He was led as a sheep

to the slaughter, and as a lamb before his sharer,

he silenced. So he opened not his mouth. In his

humiliation, his justice was taken away, and

who will declare his generation? For his life

is taken from the earth. So the eunuch answered

Philip and asked, and said, I ask you, of whom

does the prophet say this, of himself or of some

other man? Then Philip opened his mouth and beginning

at the scripture, preached to him. Beginning

at the scripture means that from Isaiah, he would

start, he would take it a step backwards to Exodus,

even Genesis, and take it a step forward to Malachi.

This is what it would mean because it said, beginning

at the scripture, some translation said, he began

from the scripture to teach him about Christ.

So it definitely means that in Philip's teaching,

there is a cutting across of the scriptures that

he had to do to explain this, to explain that

it was Christ that he was talking about and the

prophet wasn't talking about himself, right?

He was talking about Christ. So, because in there,

You will not find the word Christ, right? You

might find the idea of a Messiah, right? But

the promise might not even be in that chapter.

So to read where it was said, where it was promised,

where it was instructed, to whom it was given,

which is to, I mean, to Abraham, right? We had

many, the promise granted, given to him. He had

to go back to Genesis to begin to teach. So let's

go to, I think Galatians can help us, right?

Galatians can help us. Galatians 3 verse 8, right?

Galatians 3:8

Galatians 3 verse 8. So Philip practiced teaching

Galatians 3:8

from a particular scripture to every other scriptures,

right? Galatians 3 verse 8. And so the scripture

Galatians 3:8

foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles

by faith, right? Preach the gospel to Abraham

before and saying in you, all the nations, right?

shall be blessed, right? He preached the gospel.

So in saying that, the gospel is in that, right?

In saying that, that is the gospel. In you, all

the nations shall be blessed. And we've taught

this and we've said, well, this is not Jews alone,

but all the earth, right, will be blessed because

of Christ that would come through the line of

Abraham. So all the earth will be blessed. So

here now, connecting it to Isaiah. So Isaiah

would go and start from where this was said in

Genesis and begin to teach that God has promised.

And this is the suffering of the Messiah in Isaiah.

So Isaiah would talk about the suffering. Genesis

would have talked about the promise. Exodus would

have given a picture and all of that. So we see

this in this pattern. We see this particular

pattern that the scriptures. are being read together.

Good. So let's go through 2 Corinthians 4 verse

2 Corinthians 4:6

6. 2 Corinthians 4 verse 6. The scripture that

2 Corinthians 4:6

we know. 2 Corinthians 4 verse 6. Therefore it

2 Corinthians 4:6

is the God who commanded light to shine out of

darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give

the light of the knowledge of the glory of God

in the face of Christ. For it is God. who hath

commanded light. Now, why are we bringing the

scripture? We're bringing the scripture to explain

that when they say mystery, okay, it's not the

types and shadows alone. So most of the time,

when people who pay attention to the Bible, when

they say mystery, people quickly go, oh, mystery.

It is in that thing that Moses was doing. It

was in that thing that it became a mystery. Not

exactly. Okay? It is not exactly. Do you get

what I mean? So when they say mystery, people

want to go to the types and shadows, right? The

types and shadows means the oracles of God that

were given to Israel, the pattern of worship,

the tabernacle and all of that. And you want

to interpret that as mystery. While yes, they

are in a way, mystery, right? In a way, mystery,

right? It is not the only thing that is mystery,

right? What is mystery, which we're going to

see, needs something to be concealed, right?

Something to be put in place and codified in

a way that you need to decode it. That is what

it means, right? We're going to come to that.

So it means that something is concealed and it

needs explanation. So something that is concealed

that needs... We're going to come to the Greek

word, but for now, what I want us to pick is

that it is not only the types and shadows. It

is not only the tabernacle, the building. You

know, it is not only the holies of holies, right?

It is not only the shewbread. It is not only

the ark of God that is seen as codified. Okay?

When we talk about the ministry of God, it's

not only these things, right, that are codified,

but from Genesis 1. The communication in Genesis

is already codified. Do we get it? So it's not

just Exodus, right? You know, that we begin to

see things that we cannot, I mean, it's not so

direct pointing to Christ. So from Genesis 1,

we would see that in chapter 1, God said, let

there be light. And here he's saying that it

is God who commanded light. So it means that

he's explaining Genesis 1 and he's bringing out

the revelation in Genesis 1. that has been coded

in Genesis 1 that if you read it, you might not

know that this is what is taking place there.

So it therefore means that in Genesis as well,

there are codified languages that points to the

gospel. There is also a codified language that

points to the gospel. So in our reading or in

our saying we are seeking revelation, we would

not start from Exodus alone, but we'll start

from where? Genesis. Just like he said, God preached

to Abraham, right? He preached to Abraham knowing

fully well that he would be, he preached to him

saying that his hairs, right? The whole earth

will be blessed through his seed. The whole earth

will be blessed. So not only in the Old Testament

text or in Exodus do we find that. Now, the next

question that we want to answer this evening

is to see, if there are means by which God, other

means by which God is revealed, right? Apart

from the scriptures, in quotes, other means by

which, you know, looks as if God is revealed

or God is known. Maybe we can use the word known,

right? Than revelation. So it separates us from

what we mean by revelation. Because what we mean

by revelation is the encoding, the decoding of

the entire scripture for our understanding. and

which impacts our daily living. So the opening

up, explaining of entire scriptures that brings

understanding to us and it impacts our living.

So let's see, are there other ways by which people

know, you know, people can, God points himself

to people or tries to reveal himself to people.

So let's see a few of them, right? Let's see

a few of them, which we're going to come back

to one of the major ones. Let's open to Matthew.

Matthew 2, verse 1 to 2. Right. Matthew 2, verse

Matthew 2:1–2 Matthew 2:1–2

1 to 2. Okay. Let us write the scriptures down.

Then we'll pick them one by one. Matthew 2, verse

Matthew 2:1–2

1 to 2. Matthew 27, verse 54. Acts 10. Acts 10.

Matthew 27:54

Matthew 2, verse 1 to 2. Matthew 24, verse 54.

Matthew 2:1–2

Acts 10. Acts chapter 10. Then... Acts 17, 22

Acts 10 · chapter mention

to 31. Acts 17, 22 to 31. So now what happened

in Matthew 2, verse 1? It says, Now after Jesus

Matthew 2:1

was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of

Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east

came to Jerusalem, and many women who followed

Jesus from Galilee. Sorry. Followed a child.

Saying, where is he who has been born king of

the Jews? For we have seen a star in the east

and we have come to worship. When Herod the king

heard this, he was troubled and all Jerusalem

with him. So why would Herod be troubled? Because

a new king has been born. And some folks called

wise men. have informed him, right? I mean, the

information is now out that we have seen a star

that points. So go back to verse 2, please. Can

you go back to verse 2? Right, so where is he

who is born King of Jews? For we have seen a

star in the east and have come to worship. Now,

this is only pointing to one thing, right? Or

might be pointing to one thing. We cannot say

this is like you know, the revelation of God.

We cannot call this revelation, right? Because

it does not explain entire Christ. In fact, his

star, what do they mean by star? It means that

these people are actually following stars and

paying attention to stars and they have meaning

to stars. Okay? They are paying attention to

stars. They have meaning to stars. They see a

star. And in that, Let me put it how we used

to put it. Something said a king has been born,

okay? In that's what they are doing, in what

they are doing, something said a king has been

born and they followed it. So in their reading,

right? In their reading, something pointed to

what God will do. Something signaled what God

will do. And the only thing that can signal what

God will do will be God using what they are studying,

using what they are paying attention to. to point

to what is happening and what he wants to do.

So he said, for we have seen his star. So it

means that they followed the star. And if you

read the story, they followed the star until

they got to, did the star mislead them? No, it

did not take them, it took them to where Jesus

was. So that could not have been mistaken, right?

That could not have, how would they have known?

Even Herod did not know. His magicians and all

of those people, they don't, they didn't know.

It was these guys that got the info. They got

the update and they moved. And in Herod's palace,

you know, if it was, let me put it this way,

if it was Nebuchadnezzar, he could have slain

them, that you guys are sleeping and there's

a coup that is about to take place and an external

security officer is coming to tell you about

the coup, right? That is sneaking on duty. but

it's not their fault, right? Something had to

reveal it. Even this one, they were just observing

stars. And in that observation, a communication

was made. And we believe that that is God also,

you know, pointing Christ to them. Now, observe

that these people, these wise men, were also

instructed by the angel, an angel, not to pass

on a particular way because of Herod's intention.

But rather, they should follow another way and

they did not return to Herod. Okay? So, that

is also revealing that I have plans for this

child. And you will not follow this way to let

Herod kill him. You would follow this other way.

And did they obey? Yes, they did. They obeyed

the star. They followed the star. Right? They

obeyed the instruction of the angel. Right? Are

we together? But this is not still... the revelation

we are talking about, right? So in circumstances,

God can, I mean, God intervened and communicated

this. He used this for them to know what is happening.

Now, we see that this is actually not the full

revelation. Let's go to 27 verse 54. I'll come

back to say what I want to say, right? Let's

read all the scriptures first. So when the centurion

and those who were with him who were guiding

Jesus saw the earthquake, And the things that

happened, they feared greatly, saying, truly,

this was the Son of God. Okay? So when the centurion

saw the earthquake, wow, this is earthquake,

right? One person is dying and the whole earth

is shaking. So no, this has to be the Son of

God. Now, this is different from Matthew 16.

Both of them are Son of God, Son of God. But

this is different from Matthew 16. Just across

the scripture, just put Matthew 16, which is

Peter's revelation, right? What Peter perceived

by the scripture is not something fell on Peter.

The revelation Peter had is not this. This one,

he looked at what has happened, right? And said,

truly, this was the son of God. So when the centurion

saw and those with him who were guided Jesus,

they saw the earthquake, right? Of course, this

is after. There are other events that took place

around this that made him say, well, this has

to be the Son of God. And Matthew 16, you will

see what Jesus told to Peter, verse 17. Matthew

Matthew 16:17

16, verse 17. And Jesus answered and said unto

him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar -Jonah. Okay,

so we can start from 16, sorry. 16, 16. And Simon

Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ,

the Son of the living God. Similar statement,

right? Similar statement, son of the living God.

This has to be the son of God. But see what Jesus

said. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed

art thou, Simon Bar -Jonah, for flesh and blood

hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father

which is in heaven. Right? My Father which is

in heaven. So, it's not like something fell on

Peter, right? For Peter to know. It therefore

means that, no, let's further read because the

part that says, who do men say I am? I think

we need to read that version. Is he in Luke,

right? Which account is that? Can you find that

account for me? Can you find that account for

me? He said, who do men say I am? This is parallel

to this scripture. And he began to say, some

say, okay, say Matthew 13. Okay, okay, same steps.

Okay, so we can just take it backward, right?

We can just take it backward. Now from verse

13. Thank you, sir. And when Jesus came into

the coast of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his

disciples, who do you mean to say I am? Okay?

Who do you mean to say I am? Now, let's see where

they are picking their information from. They're

not picking their information. They did not say

it's Shango or Amadia. They did not say that.

They look at the scripture to tell who Jesus

was. Right? They looked at the scripture and...

They said, some say thou art John the Baptist.

Okay, so they look at their environment. They

kill John, right? They did not do the math where

these two persons were born in the same period.

So they didn't do their math where they believe

in incarnation and this is John, so it's probably

just John the Baptist, something like that. Oh,

some say Elias. Elias, who did miracle again?

I'm surprised that, okay, some of them say Jemias

and one of them said... or one of the prophets.

I'm surprised that they didn't say Moses actually,

right? I was looking forward to them saying Moses.

Why? Because after all of the prophets in Israel,

Moses stands, he has a class. Let me just put

it that way, right? Moses has a class. Because

of his writings, because of his labor, because

of what God communicated through him, right?

I always believed that. They said it's Elias,

it's Jeremias, it's John the Baptist or one of

the prophets. So it means that they are reading

from the scriptures to pick who Jesus was, right?

Yeah, this is also another way by which we can

say that the earth, although they checked through

the scriptures, right? They did not see it in

the light of the Messiah, right? I think I missed

the scriptures when I was putting that earth

in scripture. It was part of them that they read

through the scriptures and they were picking

Elijah, excuse me. Jeremiah and all of them.

But they did not see what was Moses' communication.

What was Elijah's communication? What was Jeremiah's

communication? Do they align? Did they talk about

themselves as the Messiah? Right? So, they mentioned

this. And then, excuse me. And then Peter said,

you are the Messiah. Now, this Peter's revelation

is... pointing to the fact that Peter also read

the scriptures like these other people, right?

But in the communication of Moses, when Peter

would read, or in the communication of Elijah,

or in the communication of Jeremiah, when Peter

would read it, he would not see Jesus as Elijah,

but he would see Jesus as the one that is being

talked about, which is the Messiah. So it's not

something spooky. Revelation is not something...

jump on you revelation is not from nowhere you

know it's actually talking about paying attention

right just the way they looked at the scripture

they start the scripture and saying christ so

he said you are the christ right the son of the

living god so it's different from what centurion

saw centurion saw right centurion saw now he

might have heard he might have read okay Don't

forget, he might have heard, he might have read.

So reading and hearing, right, does not mean

that you will see. You must until you see that

this is Christ, then the revelation is there.

So he might have heard, but what happened? He

saw the physical things, the earthquake and the

events. And therefore he said, this must truly

be the son of God, right? This must truly be

the son. There's someone else that gave an illustration.

Is he Agabus, one of the prophets? one of the

prophets, I don't think it's Agabus, I'll check

and I'll tell us. He was talking about the fact

that if this is of God, it will stand. If it's

not of God, it will fail. So it's also based

on empirical evidence. Okay? It's based on empirical

evidence that says, well, if it is based on what

we have observed, right? If it is of God, it

will stand. But if it's not of God, you know,

it will just, like every other person has come

and called himself. As someone, it will pass.

So we see that this revelation is also not the

revelation we are talking about. I put Acts 10,

right? I put Acts 10 there. That's a long story,

but we would go to, let's go to Acts 27 first,

right? Maybe on Sunday we'll come to Acts 10.

Let's go to Acts 27 or 17, sorry. Acts 17, right?

Let's go to Acts 17. Can you go to Acts 17, please?

17 from 22. So what we are pointing out is that

there are ways by which people can say they saw

something and they believe it's God. Okay? They

believe it's God, right? We've seen religion

that said an angel appeared to them. We've seen

religion that said they saw a stone speak. We've

seen religion with many things, right? In the

course... So let's read this. Now, then Paul

stood in the midst of Iopagus and said, What

does that mean? What does that mean? They are

men that are seeking worship. They are men that

worship. They worship something. You believe

that there is a God. That's where it starts from.

So these men, first of all, Believe that there

is a God. That man cannot just be. Man must serve

something. Right? That man must serve something.

You know, these people point to the desire in

every man to be dependent on, let me call it,

a superpower. Right? There's a desire in every

man to be dependent on a deity. So he says, you

are religious. I see that you have practices.

You believe that there are practices you should

do to access a deity. Right next. For as I was

passing through and considering the objects of

your worship, I even found an altar with this

inscription to the unknown God. Therefore, the

one whom you worship without knowing him, I proclaim

to you. Now, you know, I don't know how Paul

did this. But I would say that was very intelligent,

right? Because in their communication, he caught

them in their communication and communicated

God to them. So first, they are religious, right?

Second, can you go to verse 22? Okay, so they

have an object of worship. Yes, God stated it.

They have an object of worship, right? They are

religious. They have an object of worship. Also,

they have philosophical ideas that they cannot

comprehend the deity. Okay? They have an idea

that this deity, we cannot comprehend this deity.

We know it exists. We know the deity is somewhere,

but we cannot phantom this deity. Verse 24. So

Paul said, Him I am here to proclaim to you.

God who made the world and everything in it.

Since he is the Lord of heaven and earth, does

not dwell in temples made with hands, nor is

he worshipped with men's hands, as though he

needed anything, since he gives to all life,

bread, and all things. Now, you can stop there.

We'll continue on Sunday from there. Now, what

is this pointing to us? It's pointing to us that

in the activities of men, okay? There might be

an encounter that seems to point to you that

there is a deity, okay? There might be an encounter

that points to you that there is a God. But until

the gospel is communicated, right, there is no

revelation of God. So I said, in the encounters

of men, in daily life of people around you, you

would have met people that would say, I think

I believe there is God. I have something in me

said there is God. Now, many people believe there

is God, right? I can believe half of the world,

more than half of the world population believe

there is God, right? I believe more than half

of the population because these atheists, they

are just a fraction of, you know, and I believe

they are daily being converted to, you know.

So more than half, we see that you are in this

religion, that religion, on this religion. So

more than half of the population agrees to the

fact that there is God. But the revelation of

God. is only in the gospel that is being preached.

That is why the unknown God here, Paul began

to tell them that, me, I have a revelation of

this God. And then let me tell you about him.

He does not live in houses. He does not live.

So Paul began to teach. By the time you get to

the end, you would have seen that he has communicated

the gospel to these people. Okay? He has communicated

the gospel. to these people. So what does this

mean? Now, you can have people who actually said

they woke up and they saw an angel and they've

never been preached to. Okay? They might just

hear a Christian. I have a very, you know, a

very number one that the only one that I always

hold on to and that one is very strong because

it's a believer that shared it with me. Now,

it's a believer in Turkey, right? She shared,

I asked her. You among all these millions of

people, how did you become a Christian? How?

How did you survive becoming a Christian in this

space where, you know, you are the only one.

You are just one of the few, right? Not the only

one, but one of the few. So she shared her testimony

with me. And I love the fact that she shared

it, not making it too spooky, you know, but making

it to get to the real point. So what happened

was that her father was sick. When her father

was sick, her father was dying, and she was just

there on the bed, trying to comfort the man.

There was no help. The man would pass, definitely.

And she said, someone walked into the room and

healed her father and gave her an instruction.

Give her an instruction to go and look for, I'm

forgetting how he described them, maybe believers

or some folks like that. So he healed the father,

gave her an instruction. This is like she had

a vision. She has never been in church. She has

never been in any space of Christian religion.

But he told her, go out and look for so -and

-so people, right? So after the father got healed,

she began to look for people around that could

explain that encounter. So while she was looking

for people, she got into a church. And it is

in that church that he explained a vision to

her. And then he preached the gospel to her.

She believed the gospel. In her believing the

gospel, she now understood the revelation, the

vision much more. So until she believed the gospel,

she could not even know what was happening to

her in that vision. It's today, sometimes when

we talk, she will say, Emmanuel, do you think,

you know, I think that person I saw was Jesus.

I've never seen that person again. Till now,

she has never seen that person again. But she

always say, you know, I believe that person was

Jesus that came to heal my father. Right? So

it means that. The gospel brings revelation.

She had to be preached to so that she can be

saved. She had to be taught the word so that

she can understand. And from there, she became

one of the major persons that evangelize within

that space of Ankara. So what am I saying? No

matter what a man says, speaks to them and all

of that, right? Even if you say the ground open

and say, I am the Lord, right? There is no revelation.

In that, until you come and bring the, I am the

Lord, with this, I am the Lord, right? Then you

can see if you have received, you know, if the

encounter was godly, the encounter was God speaking

to you and all of that. So in the activities

of men, there is always something, an inch pointing

them towards the dependency and commitment to

God. But that is not revelation. The revelation

comes when the message is taught and they can

see and they can walk in the light of what Christ

has done. Praise God. We appreciate you being

here today. We hope you carry this word with

you throughout your week. Don't forget to check

the show notes for additional insights. Stay

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next time, stay blessed.