Sermon
The Revelation Knowledge in Christ (Part 4)
Publisher transcript
Transcript
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Welcome to NECF sermons. Each message here is
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designed to uplift and strengthen you in your
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walk with God. Don't miss out. Stay with us until
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the end for a rewarding experience. Let's dive
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right in. So welcome to church this evening.
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And it's good to see our faces. We will push
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further in what we have been teaching regarding
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the revelation knowledge in Christ. We have been
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able to establish more significantly what the
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revelation of God is and what it is not. And
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now we are focusing on the believer in Christ.
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Of course, when we get to another word, which
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is the knowledge, we are going to check how the
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word was also used for unbelievers, but we have
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been able to see what the revelation knowledge
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is and is not, and how God communicates, how
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God can actually use. Extraordinary means to
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reach out to people. How God can use extraordinary
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means to reach out to people. So just to bring
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us to par from what we started on Sunday and
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to connect it with where we are going to continue
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today. Romans 16, 25 to 26. Again, Romans 16,
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25 to 26. Missionary knowledge in Christ. I say
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now to him who is able to establish you according
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to my gospel, the preaching of Jesus Christ,
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according to the revelation of the mystery kept
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secret since the world began, but now made manifest
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by the prophetic scriptures, made known to all
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nations according to the commandment of the everlasting
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God for obedience to faith. And we say that we
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see the two words revelation and mystery in verse
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25. And what did we say the word revelation is?
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Who can remind us? What is the word revelation?
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Anybody, any free person that is able to say?
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What is revelation? The Greek word, right? I
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didn't say the definition, but the Greek word.
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What is it? Apocalypse. Okay, good. Apocalypse.
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And we say this from the word apo, right? Which
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means to cease to be from something or far away
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from something. And we say the other one is kalutu,
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which implies to cover or to hide. So we say
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it's talking about something that is far away
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from being hidden, right? Something that is far
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away from being hidden. We say away from being
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covered or hidden, right? Put some words to it
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and say it's disclosure, right? It's disclosure.
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It's unveiling, right? Unveiling God's plan since
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the world began, right? Unveiling God's plan
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since the world began. And I made a comment about
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the fact that when you read the scripture, it
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looks as if the attention is on the Jewish nation,
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right? On the Jewish nation. But if you read
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in detail, you will see that God's plan, right,
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is for all men. And that we are not second citizens
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of heaven, you know, first citizens, the Jews.
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Then I'm not even sure maybe we would make it
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to second citizens if we really check. Because
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if you have the Jews, maybe the Samaritans will
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also claim that they worship on the mountains,
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right? Closer relative, then probably they are
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even which other nation? probably some Egyptians
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that were part of them. Romans, yes, Romans too
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would get, you know, they would receive the gospel,
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giving Paul's journey in Italy, Europe, and other
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parts, Cyprus as well. Then, maybe it will now
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get worse, right? So if you will count in that
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sense, we might not be even second citizens in
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the sense of what we are talking about. But what
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Paul is saying here is that since the world began,
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All men are to come into God, irrespective of
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their nation. And we've significantly taught
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in this church that the importance of the Jewish
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nation is God showing how he would communicate,
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using them to communicate the gospel. Not even
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only that, but also the picture of the family,
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how God would establish his family, the oracles
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of God, everything is painted through that nation.
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If you read the Old Testament, you will see it's
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for them. But when you continue to understand,
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you will see that the revelation is that it's
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to all men. And that was the problem that made
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us talk about the Samaritans and then the Italian
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soldier and how Israel said they are not part
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of the people of God in that sense, right? So
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we proceed and we said the word mystery is mysterion,
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right? which means to be hidden, secrets, religious
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secrets in some sense. He said, confided only.
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Now, this one is the one that we will add to
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it because on Sunday, we said, we made one, I
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mentioned a phrase, which is not obvious to the
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understanding, right? That was where we ended
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on mystery, that it is not obvious to the understanding.
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So it means that something is actually communicated.
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And if we pay attention to it, we can get the
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understanding, okay? Something is communicated
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in the Old Testament text, and if we pay attention
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to it, right, or what is communicated, we will
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know what God's intention is, right, since the
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beginning of the world. So, the word misery is
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not obvious to understanding, right? We say confided
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only in some places you will see that's confided
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only to people initiated not to ordinary mortals.
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Some definitions also put such kind of an explanation.
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But it's actually referring to people who can
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actually pay attention to the scriptures and
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see it, right? And that is why Jesus would say
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the Pharisees always check the scriptures, right?
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So they check the scriptures, but yet they didn't
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see. So it means that it remains a mystery to
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them. It remains a mystery. to them but it's
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not a mystery it's just that it's not obvious
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to the understanding now today we're just going
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to go through uh a couple of scriptures that
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will link us to the word epignosis so ephesians
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chapter four ephesians chapter four ephesians
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chapter four uh sorry ephesians chapter one let's
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go to ephesians chapter one first we'll come
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back to ephesians chapter four ephesians chapter
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one uh from the one we read always for prayers
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for verse 17, but we're just going to read from
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verse 15. that you may know what is the hope
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of his calling and what the riches of the glory
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of his inheritance in the saints and what is
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the exceeding greatness of his power to us who
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believe according to the workings of his great
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might, which he wrote in Christ when he raised
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him from the dead and set him at his own right
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hand in the heavenly places, far above all principalities
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and power. and might, and dominion, and every
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name that is named, not only in this world, but
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also in that which is to come. And he hath put
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all things under his feet and gave him to be
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the head over all things to the church, which
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is his body, the fullness of him that filleth
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all in whole. And what we see here is that it's
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similar to, I think there are about three scriptures
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like that, right? It's similar to... Romans chapter
Romans 1 chapter mention
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1, right? It's similar to that, Romans 16, sorry.
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It's similar to Romans 16, 25 to 26, because
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it picks the word revelation in the knowledge
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of him, right? Revelation, it picks the word
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revelation in the knowledge of him. And that
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revelation is also the word apocalypses, right?
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It's still the word apocalypses. We'll come to
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that. Let's go to, I think, 2 Corinthians. Before
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2 Corinthians, Ephesians 3, just open to the
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next page. Ephesians 3, Ephesians chapter 3,
Ephesians 3 chapter mention
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from verse 1. in the mystery of Christ, which
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in other ages was not made known unto the sons
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of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles
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and prophets by the Spirit, that the Gentiles
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should be followers and of the same body and
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partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel,
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whereof I was made a minister according to the
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gifts. of the grace of God given unto me by the
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effectual working of His power. Now, we see the
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word here again, revelation and mystery, right?
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Revelation and mystery. And one thing that is
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now unfolding again, that we'll begin to see,
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is the word knowledge, okay? Revelation, mystery,
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and we see knowledge, right? In Ephesians 1,
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17, you will see wisdom and revelation in the
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knowledge. of him right spirit of wisdom and
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revelation the knowledge of him and then ephesians
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3 we will see revelation he made known ephesians
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3 3 revelation he made known unto me the mystery
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how by revelation he made it unto me the mystery
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which i wrote a full time in few words right
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and again the word mystery again we'll find it
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in uh We find it in verse 4, whereby when they
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read, they may understand my knowledge, right?
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They may understand my intermission. So, we see
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the word knowledge, right, unfolding. Now, the
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word knowledge in Ephesians 1, right, 17, is
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the word epignosis. Okay? So, let's start from
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there. It's the word epignosis. It's the word
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epignosis, which refers to precise knowledge,
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precise knowledge, accurate understanding. precise
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knowledge, accurate understanding, coming to
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full recognition of Christ, right? Precise knowledge,
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accurate understanding also means coming to full
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recognition of Christ, of Christ. So if we read
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it together, it will mean, in verse 17, that
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the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father
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of glory, may give you, because we taught this
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and we've explained this, that this is the wisdom
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that is found in the spirits. Because it is by
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this wisdom that Paul wrote what he wrote. He
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said the wisdom of the Spirit and revelation
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means opening up, taking away from being hidden
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in the knowledge of Him. It means that we will
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have precise understanding of Christ through
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revelation. Okay, we'll have precise understanding
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of Christ's revelation in the knowledge of him.
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So when we open the scriptures and it's explained,
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right, we will come to the precise understanding
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of who Christ is. So again, when we open the
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scriptures and the scriptures are explained to
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us, revelation, we will come to the precise understanding.
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Right? Accurate knowledge of Christ. Accurate
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knowledge of Christ. You can just write this
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down. We'll come back to reading the scripture.
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This knowledge actually is, it can also be regarded
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as experiential knowledge or functional knowledge
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of Christ. Okay? Functional means that a knowledge
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that you come into and you work in it. Right?
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We're going to see subsequently where it says
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work in this knowledge. So it is not a knowledge
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that is passive. But when we see the scriptures
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explained, the Old Testament explained, it tells
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us as believers how to live, right? It is functional
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in our life. It is experiential. So experiential
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knowledge of God is not like, oh, you see Jesus
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in a vision. And after that, you know. Something
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changed and all of that. But it's talking about
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teaching from, you know, the scriptures and this
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revelation become functional, right? Becomes
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functional in our lives. This revelation becomes
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functional in our lives. So it's the word epignosis.
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Now let's pick it. It's from the word epi and
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gnosis. So it's the word, the first word is epi,
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just like we had apo and calypso. We have epi
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and gnosis. epi and gnosis and what do they mean
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the gnosis there is the word knowledge actually
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so gnosis g -n -o -s -i -s is actually the word
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knowledge which it is actually used in other
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parts of the scripture so you will find some
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parts of the bible where it uses the word knowledge
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which uses the word gnosis right and you will
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find some parts the same word knowledge is explained
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or the original word is Epignosis, right? So,
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the gnosis refers to knowledge, right? And it's
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referring to knowledge. And the epignosis carries
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the sense of accuracy, which is different from
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just irregular information. Okay? It's different
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from regular information. It's different from
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just knowing something by just knowing. But it's
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talking about accuracy. Knowledge is what gives
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it that effect. It's like I was trying to explain
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it when I was studying. It's like saying a higher
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knowledge or saying an accurate knowledge, precise.
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I actually called it the peak. Okay, I used the
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word peak for it because I was trying to see
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something that could come close to it, right?
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It refers to the peak of the knowledge of Christ,
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like what you should know, the accurate knowledge
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of Christ. We see that it's talking about epignosis
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coming to the full awareness. It also means coming
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to the full awareness of who Christ is and what
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Christ has done. Good. So we're going to check
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a couple of scriptures and see how this word
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has been used. But before then, let's see what
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Paul said about epignosis and the revelation.
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When we come to chapter 3, we will see that it
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says, How that by revelation he made known unto
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me. So Paul is saying that he had a revelation.
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It was granted unto Paul, right, to write and
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unveil what is called mystery. Okay, so he's
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saying when you read, you would understand my
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knowledge in the mystery of Christ. Means that
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Paul knows something. Something was landed onto
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Paul, right, when it comes to the mystery of
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Christ, and he knew it by the Spirit. Let's see
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other people that Paul included in that bracket.
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It says, which in other ages was not made known,
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right, unto the sons of men. Now, here it looks
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like it was not made known unto the sons of men.
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It was hidden, right? But what we said is that
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it is not obvious to the knowledge. It is not
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clearly stated. It is not something that is fully
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stated. We can put it that way as well, right?
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It's not something that is fully stated or that
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can't be fully stated, okay? So we're talking
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about the Old Testament times, right? So in other
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ages, he's talking about the Old Testament times.
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Right. First of all, we know that as at that
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time, the death, burial and resurrection of Christ
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was in a promise was to come. Right. So they
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had things written to them that are not obvious.
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And also coupled with the fact that the death,
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burial and resurrection of Christ had not taken
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place. Right. It means that we can say they had
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progressive knowledge. OK, so their knowledge
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progressed up until, right, up until. until Paul.
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Now, but it's not just Paul. Who are the other
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people that are within these brackets, that are
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within this bracket? Let's see. So what about
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here? May we then understand my knowledge in
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the mystery of Christ, which in other ages was
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not made known unto sons of men, as it is now
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revealed unto his holy apostles and the prophets
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by the Spirit. By the Spirit. So Paul is saying
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here, right, the apostles, The holy apostles
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and prophets here is referring to the apostles.
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It's referring to the apostles. It's not saying
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the prophets of old, but it's saying that this
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revelation is revealed to the apostles. It means
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that the explanation of what was hidden in old
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times, in other ages, is revealed to Paul and
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the apostles. And we're talking about the apostles
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that walked with Jesus. We're talking about the
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disciples of Christ and how that was revealed
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to them. And in their writing, we can also see,
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just like Paul, their knowledge in the Old Testament.
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Their knowledge regarding the Old Testament texts.
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So, it was revealed to the early apostles. And
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if we just go to 1 Peter, and we can use Peter
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as an example, right? We can use Peter as...
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We can use Peter as an example. Okay, go to 2
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Peter 1. 2 Peter 1, verse 12. My tabernacle,
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even as the Lord Christ has showed me. Moreover,
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I endure that ye may be able after my decease,
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right, to have these things in remembrance. So,
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understanding. For we have not followed Conan
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the Pharaoh, when we made known unto you the
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power and the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ,
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but we are eyewitnesses of the majesty, for he
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received from God the Father honor and glory,
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when there came such a voice to him from... The
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excellent glory, this is my beloved Son, in whom
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I am well pleased. And this voice which came
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from heaven we heard, and when we were with him
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in the holy mountain. We have also a more sure
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word, right, of prophecy, whereunto ye would
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do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that
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shineth in that place, unto the day done, and
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the day star arise in your hearts, knowing this
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first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of
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private interpretation. For the prophecy came
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not in all times by the will of man, but only
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men spoke as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.
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Now, knowing that the scripture is not of private
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interpretation, saying that all scriptures need
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to be read together, right? So it's telling us
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that Peter had knowledge that these scriptures
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need to be read together. That's verse 20. And
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I think verse 19, we dealt with it, right? We
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dealt with it in cell meeting. talking about
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the writings, right? Talking about the scriptures
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that brings light onto us. We dealt with that
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in Sermon. So what we are seeing here, right,
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is that Peter also had the knowledge. Peter also
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had an understanding on how to read the scripture,
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right? And Peter also had the revelation. Of
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course, this was talking about what they had
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on the holy mountains, right? What was granted,
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it was also granted unto them for them to see
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and then to understand, right? It was granted
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to them to see and... And just like every other
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apostle, right? They all had the spirit that
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give them the understanding of what the scriptures
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are saying together. That's why Peter would say,
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no scripture has its own, is separate from the
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other, right? All scriptures are together and
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that is actually revelation. Okay? So private
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interpretation is not talking about my own meaning
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or your own meaning, right? But no scripture
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stands alone. No scripture stands on its own,
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but must be put together. And that reflects a
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similar text in which Paul is writing here. So,
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it means that the people who could explain the
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Old Testament to us, that were granted to explain
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in their writings, the Old Testament to us, were
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the apostles. And therefore, we peek from their
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understanding and their explanation of the scripture.
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So, Apostle Paul, then Peter, and... other apostles.
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Apostle Paul, Peter, and other apostles. So the
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Revelation will be understanding the Scriptures
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together from the Epistles. Revelation understanding
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the Scriptures together from the Epistles. And
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there's one other text that we can read. There's
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one other text that we can add to that. So we've
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had Ephesians 1, we've had Ephesians 3. Romans
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1, we've had that. Then we can go to 1 Corinthians
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2. 1 Corinthians 2. 1 Corinthians 2. Now, if
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we read from verse 9, right? If we read from
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verse 9. As it is written, eyes I had not seen
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and ear heard, neither have entered into the
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hearts of man the things which God hath prepared
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for them that love him. But God hath revealed
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them unto us by Spirit. For the Spirit searcheth
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all things, yea, the deep things of God. For
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what man knoweth the things of a man, saith the
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Spirit of man, which is in him. Even so the things
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of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.
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Now we have received not the Spirit of the world,
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but the Spirit which is of God, that we might
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know. Things that are freely given to us. And
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verse 13 says, which things also we speak, right?
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Pay attention to that. These things we also speak,
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not in words of man's wisdom, but that which
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the Holy Ghost teaches, comparing spirituals
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with spiritual. But the natural man received
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not the things of... the Spirit of God, for their
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foolishness unto him, neither can he know them.
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Now, verse 13, right, in a way, right, points
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to the fact that the Scriptures, right, it says,
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the things we speak, not in words and wisdom
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of man, right, not in words that men teach. If
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you read verse 1, it also said, I came to you
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not in excellence of speech, right? So, Paul
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is writing to the church and explaining to them
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that what we speak, What we speak is not that
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which is of man's wisdom, but that which the
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Holy Ghost teaches. So it means that Paul also
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refers to something here, that there are some
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people that are speaking some things that the
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Holy Ghost teaches unto them. And this is, in
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a way, trying to point to the apostles here as
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well. Because he says, we speak not what is wisdom,
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but that's what the Holy Ghost speaks. It's comparing
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spirituals to spirituals. Also referring, right,
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to the fact that they have a knowledge, they
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have a wisdom that is granted unto them, right?
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And what they teach means their pistols, which
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is their teaching, right, is granted to them
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by the Holy Ghost, right? The explanation is
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granted unto them. Because already in verse one,
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you're already saying, I'm coming to declare
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the testimony of God. Not in words and wisdom
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of men, right? Not in words and wisdom of men,
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but that's which the Holy Ghost teaches, okay?
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That's which the Holy Ghost teaches. Means that
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when they open the scriptures and they're writing
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their epistles, there is a revelation of the
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Holy Ghost that is helping them to interpret
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this and bringing it to our knowledge, right?
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And bringing it to our knowledge. Now... The
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challenge is, right, why I'm trying to emphasize
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the fact that Paul and other apostles had a specific,
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would I say, grant unto them, specific privilege
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grant unto them to write the epistles is to shift
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the way from new revelation, right, where someone
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will come and say, well, I have a new revelation,
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I have a new interpretation of the Bible, right,
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or I have seen something new, right, something
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new. So, it shows, one of the scriptures shows
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that the apostles, they were given the responsibility
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to help us to understand what has been written
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in other ages that we do not understand. Okay?
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That is not obvious to our eyes. They have been
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given the responsibility to help us to understand
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what has been written in ages past that we do
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not understand. And we are working in that revelation.
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And that is why when you observe Paul's teaching,
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it's about what you have in Christ and how you
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should live. Okay? If you observe their teachings,
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the teachings of the apostles, it's about what
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you have in Christ and how you should live. So
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it's about what Christ has done, death, burial,
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and resurrection, and what that means to you
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as a believer. So when you begin to listen to
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sermons, and teachings come from the podium or
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from the pastors, and they explain to you what
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Christ has done, right? You also pick what that
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means to you. Then when you go out, you are able
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to live a life of faith, right? You're able to
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live a life that Christ has called you to live.
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For example, if you read Ephesians 1, it says
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that the essence of this revelation in the knowledge
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of Him is that you might be able to know what?
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of your calling. So if you go to Ephesians, I
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think that should be 1, 1 verse 19, 18, sorry.
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It said, eyes of your understanding being enlightened
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by this revelation in the knowledge of him, eyes
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of understanding being enlightened, right? You
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may know the hope of your calling. Okay? So you
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know the hope of your calling. You understand
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the riches of his glorious inheritance in the
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saints. You understand the power that is what?
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Verse 19, that is at work in you. Okay? So you
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understand the power that is at work in you,
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right? As a believer, right? You understand the
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power of God that is at work. What erodes in
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Christ and then how it is impacting you. So this
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is what he's saying that post -teaching you will
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find what Christ has done and the conduct of
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the believer and how the believer should live.
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on a daily basis, right? And this becomes experiential.
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So for someone knowing the hope of their calling,
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it's like knowing that you are commissioned to
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the military, for example, right? If you know
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you are commissioned into the military, we don't
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need to have a conversation when war starts.
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For example, you know it's your responsibility
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to go to war, right? So if you are commissioned
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for that, you don't need anyone to begin to,
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you know, we don't have to cajole you when that
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circumstance comes. So it's the same. Like a
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believer, right? When it is time for prayers,
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you don't have to be cajoled. So it means that
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the revelation and knowledge of God will make
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it like easy for you to pray. Let me put it that
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way. Like you don't struggle. You don't struggle.
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Prayer is not something that they call and you
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take it lightly. The revelation and knowledge
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of God will also make you, you know, be able
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to go out and talk to someone about Jesus, right?
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Because that is what you have been commissioned
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for. Right? That's what you have been commissioned
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for. So, this knowledge helps you to function
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well as a believer. Okay? It helps you to function
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well as a believer. And when I started this teaching,
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in the first track, I talked about the fact that
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we met some believers and they were asking questions.
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Right? And we met another guy, a Muslim guy,
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and he said that, you know, and I realized that
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what the guy was saying, even some believers
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do not have the understanding. Do you get the
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point? So, When you come into this knowledge,
-
right, when you grow, which you're going to see
-
is very good because it's also knowledge that
-
helps us to grow. When we grow in it, right,
-
you begin to function effectively. We don't have
-
to call you to come to church. We don't have
-
to call you to come for evangelism. We don't
-
have to call you to do prayers, right? You will
-
not be like one guy that we met that said he
-
doesn't even want to hear about God or give us,
-
he collected our paper and said, literally, he
-
will not come. And do you know his last statement?
-
He said, God knows my heart. I'm like, no, this
-
guy is not. If you are in the revelation of God,
-
right? If you are in the revelation of God, you
-
will not say, well, God knows my heart. He understands
-
me, right? And all of that. And that just shows
-
that his name is, is he Afraid or? His name is
-
Afraid, right? Afraid, right? And what we'll
-
just begin to perceive is that maybe his parents
-
are pastors or he has had an encounter. with
-
the faith, right? He has not advanced with the
-
faith, but he has not come into the revelation
-
of the hope of his calling. There was, you know,
-
I mean, I know many of people, many of you met
-
a lot of people, but we met very interesting
-
people. There was one that ran, ran and almost
-
entered the wrong school bus. Probably she was
-
going to Nefkosha and she was hiding for us inside
-
Gornieli bus, right? Until probably we passed,
-
she now came down to Russia and it was Bishop
-
that was trying to, you know, ensure that she
-
heard, but she was totally ear blocked. And I
-
perceive as well that if you ask her, she actually
-
looks like someone that has been in church as
-
well for a long time. But the reality of this
-
precise knowledge of Christ is not done on them
-
yet. They can say a few things about Jesus. They've
-
not grown in this revelation. So the conduct
-
is not visible. It is not functional. It is not
-
experiential for them. In the sense that... When
-
they bring things about God, it's not about exciting,
-
but it doesn't trigger them. It doesn't raise
-
them to do something. It doesn't make them active.
-
I don't know whether you are always excited,
-
but when it comes to someone teaching, I'm always
-
very excited to hear the teaching, to increase
-
in knowledge, to go for evangelism, to talk to
-
someone about God. Or someone just comes to you
-
and the person tells you, She's a believer, which
-
happened to me yesterday in class. And I had
-
to just cut it. I said, let's talk about it after
-
the class. She's from Syria. And you know those
-
kind of people. And her name is Joy. And she
-
has a name that is almost like a Nigerian. So
-
I was questioning. I'm not sure you're in this
-
class. This is not your name. I thought she was
-
impersonating someone. Because the name was like
-
Joy Chiamaka, something like that. But she's
-
from Syria. And she looked at me. She said, I'm
-
a Christian. And my weekday. became strong because
-
she not said i'm from syria i said i get that
-
a lot i get that a lot now it excites me to see
-
someone from a place where i where i don't i
-
wasn't expecting the light will come out from
-
and i see light there it gets me excited and
-
she said she's been looking for churches all
-
around cyprus and she had not found and but they
-
invited her to one church in our campus i said
-
okay maybe after that time we'll invite you here
-
so that you can come now it excites me when i
-
see someone that I wasn't there, someone that
-
I probably planned to preach to and the person
-
that I believed. It just excites me. I'm like,
-
okay, there are many people in places that we
-
think that there are no believers. Do you know?
-
There are many people in places that we think
-
that there are no believers. She explained, she
-
said, you know, I think they do their Arabic
-
service. We're talking about Turkish service,
-
right? This one is their service is Arabic and
-
she said there's a Byzantine language that they
-
speak in their church and all of that. I said,
-
wow. I was excited. Like, so we are saying we
-
want to go to Syria. There are people there,
-
bro. There are people there doing great job,
-
you know. So this kind of thing should excite
-
you. This is because the revelation of God is
-
done on you that, man, this message is to all
-
nations everywhere. They must hear it. They must
-
believe and all of that. So it should always
-
excite you. You should get excited by the things
-
of God. So let's come back to epignosis. Epignosis,
-
the precise understanding. Let's see how this
-
has been used. Okay. Sometimes it's actually
-
used even for unbelievers. Okay. That's the most,
-
I mean, that's what I, you know, paid attention
-
to. And I realized that this word was also used
-
for unbelievers. You know, because when I, when
-
those days, when we used to think epignosis,
-
we are, you know, we, it is for us. Right. But
-
the Bible writing also used it for unbelievers.
-
So let's start. Unbelievers, epignosis used for
-
unbelievers. Right. Epignosis used for. Romans
-
1, verse 8. Romans 1, verse 8. Romans 1, verse
-
8. Romans 1, verse 28. Can you go to verse 28,
-
please? Verse 28. And even as they did not like
-
to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them
-
over to a reprobate mind to do those things.
-
which are not, right? When they do not want to
-
regard God, retain God in their knowledge. It
-
means that the preaching of the gospel that was
-
presented to them and the teaching, right, is
-
a precise understanding about God. Okay, the
-
gospel that was preached to them is a clear gospel.
-
It's not fake gospel. You know, there's anything
-
like that. It's not a diluted gospel. It's not
-
something that cannot save them. Okay, you know,
-
if they preach something that cannot save you
-
to you, it will be unfair to say that we judge
-
you when you don't believe it. But these people
-
were given the accurate knowledge of God, but
-
they refused to retain God. It means to believe
-
it, to receive it, to recognize it, right, and
-
stay in it. So they did not retain God in their
-
knowledge. So let's go to the next one, Romans
-
3 .20. Romans 3, 20. Now this one just connected
-
it to the knowledge of sin. It said, therefore,
-
by the deeds of the law, there shall no flesh
-
be justified in a sight. So by the deeds of the
-
law, there shall no flesh be justified. For by
-
the law is the precise knowledge of sin, the
-
knowledge of sin. So here he's talking about
-
the knowledge of sin. So he's using it in relation
-
to sin. He's using it in relation to sin, talking
-
about no man can be justified. by no flesh can
-
be justified in his sight through the deeds of
-
the law. So unbelief is also visible here, right?
-
Unbelief is also visible here because it says
-
the deeds of the law cannot justify someone.
-
So if anybody puts his hand in the deeds of the
-
law, right, it means the person cannot be justified.
-
So here again, we see that it's talking about
-
unbelief. Romans 10, 2. Romans 10, 2. There were
-
two more scriptures for that. Romans 10, 2. For
-
I bear them record that they have a zeal for
-
God, but not according to knowledge. Not according
-
to knowledge. They have a zeal for God. And this
-
was talking about Israel. Again, they were in
-
unbelief. This is what Paul was talking about.
-
You have zeal for God, but not according to the
-
accurate knowledge of God. Not according to the
-
precise knowledge of Christ. So their knowledge
-
about God is not precise. That precise knowledge
-
is in Christ. That accurate knowledge of God
-
is in Christ. So what differentiates us from
-
every other religious group or faith is that
-
we are in the accurate and precise knowledge
-
of God. Do we get it? And that is why I refer
-
to those guys that say to the unknown God. They
-
mention to the unknown God. And they were doing
-
something to the unknown God. That is not the
-
precise knowledge of God. Anybody can put anything
-
down and say, this is God and I'm serving, right?
-
But that is not their credence. Now, they are
-
even doing it something closer, which is Judaizing,
-
right? But it's not ending in Christ. It should
-
end in Christ. Christ is the end of it, right?
-
Let me put it that way. It should end in Christ.
-
So, but not according to the precise knowledge
-
of Christ. zeal, but not the accurate knowledge.
-
1 Timothy 2, verse 4. 1 Timothy 2, verse 4. It
-
says, Who will have all men to be saved and come
-
to the knowledge of the truth? I don't know if
-
this is even much on the unbeliever, but it's
-
okay. We'll just keep it there because it's referring
-
to people who come to save, right? Who come to
-
salvation. So, it's talking about who come to...
-
The knowledge of the truth. Now, let's read from
-
verse 1. Read from verse 1. I exhort, therefore,
-
that first of all, supplications, prayers, and
-
intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for
-
all men. For kings and for all that are in authority,
-
that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in
-
all godliness and honesty. For this is good and
-
acceptable in the sight of God. our Savior, who
-
will have all men to be saved and come, right,
-
to the knowledge of the truth. So, when you're
-
making prayer, right, this is the focus of the
-
prayer, that all men would come. When you pray
-
for leaders, right, when you pray for people
-
in authority, that all men may be saved and all
-
men may come to the precise knowledge of the
-
truth. So, we see it here in 1 Timothy 2, verse
-
4. 2 Timothy 2, verse 25. 2 Timothy 2, verse
-
25. The last verse will be for us, for the believers.
-
In meekness, instructing those that oppose themselves,
-
if God paraventure will give them repentance
-
to the acknowledging of the truth. So sometimes
-
the word is used as acknowledgement, okay? To
-
acknowledge the truth, right? So acknowledge
-
the truth. So it's talking about those themselves,
-
those who have not believed, right? That they
-
may come to the acknowledgement of. Now let's
-
see where it is used for believers. So we see
-
here that some people rejected it. They rejected
-
the precise knowledge of Christ. They rejected
-
the precise, the accurate knowledge of Christ.
-
They didn't come to the awareness of that knowledge.
-
So we'll start with Ephesians 1. Epignosis is
-
used within the context of those that have believed.
-
Within the context of those that have believed.
-
Ephesians 1 verse 17. So we'll begin to see things
-
like walk. Things like know, things like do,
-
right? Experientially, right? What we see. So
-
one verse, verse 17. That God of our Lord Jesus
-
Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you
-
the spirit of wisdom and revelation and knowledge
-
of him. The next one. The eyes of your understanding,
-
being enlightened, that ye may know what is the
-
hope of his calling and what the riches of his
-
glorious inheritance in the saints. And what
-
is the exceeding greatness of a Spartan who believes
-
according to the workings of his mighty power,
-
right? So, we will know. We will come to the
-
knowing of the hope of our calling. Why you are
-
a believer, right? Why you are a believer. People
-
can ask you why you are a believer. Why you believe
-
what you believe, right? Which is connected to
-
you giving an account, right? You give an account.
-
You give an apology. Why do you believe worship?
-
So when you know the hope of your calling, it
-
is easy, right, for someone to ask you and for
-
you to give an explanation. But if you don't
-
know the hope of your calling, someone will ask
-
you and you will say, well, I don't do church.
-
You know, I don't do church. I just go to church
-
once a year, right? So no man or none of us should
-
get to that point, right? It's not a point where
-
we should be. So this revelation that we teach
-
day in, day out. should bring us to the point
-
where we know the hope of our calling and we
-
stay there. Right? We know the hope of our calling
-
and we stay there. Ephesians 4, verse 13. I think
-
you'll start from Ephesians 4, verse 11. And
-
it gave some apostles and some prophets and evangelists
-
and some pastors and teachers for the perfection
-
of the saints, for the work of ministry, for
-
the defiance of the body, to win all coming the
-
unity of faith and the knowledge of the Son of
-
God unto a perfect man. unto the measure of stature
-
of the fullness of Christ. Now, this is actually,
-
just stay previous. We'll come back to that.
-
Let me explain this. We'll go to the next one
-
after. This one is actually talking about we're
-
coming to precise and accurate knowledge of Christ.
-
And this comes when there is teaching. Okay?
-
This comes when there is teaching by the pastors,
-
by, you know, leaders of church, right? When
-
there is a teaching, We come to precise knowledge.
-
So every time when there's a teaching, we increase
-
in the knowledge of Christ. We increase in the
-
knowledge of Christ. And so it's not like we
-
all come to the unity of faith, right? Unity
-
of faith is actually how we gradually grow into
-
the precise knowledge of Jesus, right? We grow.
-
So it's not about... Churches coming together,
-
I think we should highlight that. So unity of
-
faith is not different churches coming together
-
and saying exactly the same thing or doing the
-
same thing or doing, in our case, a concert.
-
Not exactly that, but actually, every believer,
-
every church as we teach, we come to know Christ
-
much more. We come to the awareness of it. Christ
-
becomes done on us every day as we go through.
-
So he said, the unity of faith is therefore,
-
will be we coming to the knowledge of Christ,
-
of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the
-
measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.
-
So growth taking place. You can go to the next
-
one now. That we henceforth be no more tossed
-
around, tossed to and fro, and carried about
-
with every wind of doctrine by the slight of
-
men and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie
-
in wait to deceive. So, it means that the believer
-
that works in accurate knowledge of God allows
-
him or herself to grow in the precise knowledge
-
of Christ, you will not be tossed around. You
-
will not be tossed to and fro. It means you'll
-
be stable. You'll be established in that knowledge.
-
Or rather, we can say the knowledge of Christ
-
will establish you. Okay? The precise knowledge
-
of Christ would establish you. You will know
-
who Christ is. No one can deceive you about Christ.
-
No one can give you a teaching that is not Christ's.
-
Therefore, you are established in that teaching.
-
Philippians 1 verse 9. Philippians 1 verse 9.
-
It says, And this I pray, that you love me about
-
more and more in the knowledge and in all judgment.
-
This is also epignosis. So he said, and I pray
-
that you love me about more in the knowledge
-
and in all judgment. So you love abounding more
-
and more in knowledge, right? In knowledge. It's
-
through the knowledge and in all judgment. Now
-
let's go to the next one. I think I'm checking
-
the time. Colossians 1 verse 9. Colossians 1
-
verse 9. I think this should be similar to Ephesians.
-
For this cause, we also, since we heard of, we
-
heard of it, right? We heard it. Do not cease
-
to pray for you that. We're not supposed to pray
-
for you and to desire that you might be filled
-
with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom
-
and spiritual understanding. So be filled with
-
the knowledge of him, right? So you already have
-
the Holy Ghost in you, right? But you're regularly
-
being filled with the precise knowledge of Christ.
-
The believer has the Spirit and you're regularly
-
being filled that you desire, and look at how
-
he put it, to desire. Right? Do not cease to
-
pray for you and to desire. So his strong desire,
-
his will, what he wishes, just like he says,
-
my desire for Israel is that they will be saved.
-
Now, Paul's desire for the believer is that you
-
will be filled with the precise knowledge of
-
Christ. Okay? So that's Paul's desire. While
-
he has a desire for his people to be saved, his
-
desire towards us is that we will be filled regularly
-
with the precise knowledge of Christ. Colossians
-
2 verse 2, that the heart might be comforted,
-
being knitted together in love and unto all riches
-
of the full assurance of understanding, right?
-
To the acknowledgement of the mystery of God,
-
right? And of the Father and of Christ. So that
-
the heart might be comforted, knitted together
-
in love, right? So this is the conduct of the
-
believer here, in all riches of the full assurance
-
of the understanding. Right? From this precise
-
knowledge of the mystery of Christ, or the mystery
-
of God, the Father, which is in Christ. Right?
-
From this precise knowledge, the mystery of God,
-
the Father, which can be found in Christ. So
-
this brings it all together. God, the Father,
-
and then emphasizing Christ at the center of
-
it. Colossians 3, verse 10. Colossians 3, verse
-
10. And have put on... Can you go back to verse...
-
Verse 9, a little bit. Lie not to one another,
-
seeing that ye have put off the old man with
-
his deeds. Okay? That's an instruction. And have
-
put on a new man, which is renewed in knowledge
-
after the image of him that created him. So,
-
we have put on a new man. So, this new man, when
-
you became born again, you don't have the full
-
knowledge. Okay? In fact, you just started your
-
journey, so you don't have the full knowledge.
-
No believer that comes to the face today has
-
the full knowledge, right? That is why you can
-
see a believer, like you said, lie not to one
-
another. A believer can lie, can engage in those
-
kind of conducts. A very new believer, right,
-
can engage in those conducts. That is why Paul
-
is giving an instruction that the way you can
-
excuse yourself or... Ensure that you don't engage
-
in such conduct as lying and every other thing
-
that was mentioned here is that you renew, right?
-
You renew your mind, right? Through the knowledge
-
of Christ. Through the knowledge of the person
-
that created you, right? Of Christ who created
-
you, you renew your mind through the knowledge,
-
right? So this new man has to regularly renew
-
himself, right? Through the knowledge of Christ.
-
So the new man is renewed. So we are renewed
-
daily through the precise knowledge of Christ.
-
through the accurate knowledge of Christ, and
-
therefore we find ourselves in the right conduct.
-
Okay? We find ourselves in the right conduct.
-
So when you see yourself exhibiting certain conduct,
-
maybe you should check what does the scripture
-
say about it? Have I come to the understanding
-
and the reality of what the Bible says regarding
-
that issue? Okay? So you can check your conduct
-
and say, well, in this conduct, have I come to
-
the understanding of... what the Bible says.
-
For example, how believers should relate among
-
themselves, right? Maybe you find yourself exhibiting
-
anger, you find yourself regularly, you know,
-
using the wrong words, you find yourself quick,
-
you know, to anger and all of that. Now, you
-
can check the scriptures and learn and say, okay,
-
how is a believer, right, expected to walk in
-
this precise knowledge? And you'll see the precise
-
knowledge of Christ teaching you how to... Hold
-
yourself, which is self -control, temperaments,
-
and all of that that we see in Galatians 5. So
-
this new man is renewed through the knowledge
-
of God. So it means that the food of the new
-
man, the food of the new man is this knowledge.
-
And the new man continues to grow in that knowledge.
-
We can see some other scriptures for believers.
-
of God and apostle of Jesus Christ, according
-
to the faith of the elect and the acknowledging
-
of the truth, which is after godliness. So Paul
-
is just giving his own profile here, right? Acknowledging
-
of the truth. So an apostle of Jesus Christ,
-
according to the faith of God's elect and the
-
acknowledging, right? Holding on to the knowledge
-
of Christ. So he's an apostle acknowledging the
-
truth, which is after godliness. Now let's go
-
to Philemon 1 verse 6. where we see this same
-
word, Philemon 1, verse 6. We still have a couple
-
of them here. All right, let's just write them
-
down. Philemon 1, verse 6. 2 Peter 1, verse 2.
-
2 Peter 1, verse 2. 2 Peter 1, verse 3. Okay,
-
2 Peter 1, verse 1 and 2 and 3, right? 2 Peter
-
1, verse 2 to 3. And then 2 Peter, verse 8. So
-
Peter used the word, 2 Peter verse 8. 2 Peter
-
verse 8. So let's go to Philemon. So what does
-
Philemon say? He said that the communication
-
of thy faith may become effectual by acknowledging,
-
right? Coming to the precise knowledge of every
-
good thing which is yours in Christ. So the communication
-
of thy faith would be effective, right? By acknowledging
-
or coming to the precise knowledge and awareness
-
and recognition of all that is yours. So it's
-
like saying, coming to the precise knowledge
-
of Christ, which is every good thing that is
-
yours in Christ. So I just put it in my own way.
-
Coming to the precise knowledge of Christ, which
-
is every good thing that is yours in Christ.
-
Coming to the precise knowledge of Christ, which
-
is every good thing that is yours in Christ.
-
2 Peter 1 verse 2 says, Grace and peace be multiplied
-
unto you through the knowledge of God. of Jesus
-
Christ, Jesus our Lord. So the increase in what
-
we say more grace, when we say more grace, then
-
you should want increase in the knowledge of
-
Christ. So more or less, if we say more grace
-
unto you, more grace to study the word, more
-
grace to learn about Jesus, more grace to pray,
-
right? More grace to stay in the place of prayer,
-
more grace to study for hours, right? To come
-
to church, more grace to come to church because...
-
You know, it's a precise knowledge that a precise
-
knowledge of Christ teaches that. So when someone
-
says more grace to you, it's pushing responsibility
-
to you that it will multiply when you know much
-
more, right? Through the word. Verse three, I
-
think says almost the same thing. According to
-
this, the vampire has given us all things that
-
pertains unto life and godliness through the
-
knowledge of him that hath called us to glory
-
and virtue. So all that pertains to life and
-
godliness, right? granted unto us through the
-
knowledge. Through the knowledge. So, giving
-
to us all things that pertain to life. So, what
-
pertains to life and godliness that you will
-
know will be through the knowledge of Christ.
-
Okay? So, the knowledge of Christ makes you to
-
understand what pertains to life and godliness
-
that belongs to you. It's through the knowledge
-
of him that has called us unto glory. Giving
-
us all that pertains to life and godliness. So,
-
it means that there might be things that pertain
-
to life and godliness that I'm not aware of.
-
Right? Simply because I've not paid attention
-
to it from what the scripture says on those matters.
-
Verse 8. Then we'll finish here. For if these
-
things be in you and abound, they make you that
-
ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in
-
the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now this
-
is the last scripture we are going to hold on
-
to. Right? He says you will not be unfruitful.
-
The positive way to say is that you will be profitable
-
in the knowledge of Christ. So you're not just
-
going to have the knowledge of Christ, right?
-
But you will be profitable. The knowledge of
-
Christ will yield fruit in your life, okay? If
-
they are bound in you, if you increase in it,
-
it should yield fruit. So it's saying that you
-
will not be barren, right? You will not be unfruitful
-
in the precise knowledge of God. It means that
-
the precise knowledge of God has an effect. in
-
the life of the believer. The precise knowledge
-
of God brings profitability. You will be profitable
-
to the kingdom because you are abounding in these
-
things that Paul is saying. Help me on our feet
-
as we just pray. 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 connected with
-
us through our website or follow us on social
-
media. If you were encouraged, share this message
-
with someone you care about. Until next time,
-
stay blessed.