Sermon

The Revelation Knowledge in Christ (Part 4)

Near East Christian Fellowship Sermons

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  1. Welcome to NECF sermons. Each message here is

  2. designed to uplift and strengthen you in your

  3. walk with God. Don't miss out. Stay with us until

  4. the end for a rewarding experience. Let's dive

  5. right in. So welcome to church this evening.

  6. And it's good to see our faces. We will push

  7. further in what we have been teaching regarding

  8. the revelation knowledge in Christ. We have been

  9. able to establish more significantly what the

  10. revelation of God is and what it is not. And

  11. now we are focusing on the believer in Christ.

  12. Of course, when we get to another word, which

  13. is the knowledge, we are going to check how the

  14. word was also used for unbelievers, but we have

  15. been able to see what the revelation knowledge

  16. is and is not, and how God communicates, how

  17. God can actually use. Extraordinary means to

  18. reach out to people. How God can use extraordinary

  19. means to reach out to people. So just to bring

  20. us to par from what we started on Sunday and

  21. to connect it with where we are going to continue

  22. today. Romans 16, 25 to 26. Again, Romans 16,

  23. 25 to 26. Missionary knowledge in Christ. I say

  24. now to him who is able to establish you according

  25. to my gospel, the preaching of Jesus Christ,

  26. according to the revelation of the mystery kept

  27. secret since the world began, but now made manifest

  28. by the prophetic scriptures, made known to all

  29. nations according to the commandment of the everlasting

  30. God for obedience to faith. And we say that we

  31. see the two words revelation and mystery in verse

  32. 25. And what did we say the word revelation is?

  33. Who can remind us? What is the word revelation?

  34. Anybody, any free person that is able to say?

  35. What is revelation? The Greek word, right? I

  36. didn't say the definition, but the Greek word.

  37. What is it? Apocalypse. Okay, good. Apocalypse.

  38. And we say this from the word apo, right? Which

  39. means to cease to be from something or far away

  40. from something. And we say the other one is kalutu,

  41. which implies to cover or to hide. So we say

  42. it's talking about something that is far away

  43. from being hidden, right? Something that is far

  44. away from being hidden. We say away from being

  45. covered or hidden, right? Put some words to it

  46. and say it's disclosure, right? It's disclosure.

  47. It's unveiling, right? Unveiling God's plan since

  48. the world began, right? Unveiling God's plan

  49. since the world began. And I made a comment about

  50. the fact that when you read the scripture, it

  51. looks as if the attention is on the Jewish nation,

  52. right? On the Jewish nation. But if you read

  53. in detail, you will see that God's plan, right,

  54. is for all men. And that we are not second citizens

  55. of heaven, you know, first citizens, the Jews.

  56. Then I'm not even sure maybe we would make it

  57. to second citizens if we really check. Because

  58. if you have the Jews, maybe the Samaritans will

  59. also claim that they worship on the mountains,

  60. right? Closer relative, then probably they are

  61. even which other nation? probably some Egyptians

  62. that were part of them. Romans, yes, Romans too

  63. would get, you know, they would receive the gospel,

  64. giving Paul's journey in Italy, Europe, and other

  65. parts, Cyprus as well. Then, maybe it will now

  66. get worse, right? So if you will count in that

  67. sense, we might not be even second citizens in

  68. the sense of what we are talking about. But what

  69. Paul is saying here is that since the world began,

  70. All men are to come into God, irrespective of

  71. their nation. And we've significantly taught

  72. in this church that the importance of the Jewish

  73. nation is God showing how he would communicate,

  74. using them to communicate the gospel. Not even

  75. only that, but also the picture of the family,

  76. how God would establish his family, the oracles

  77. of God, everything is painted through that nation.

  78. If you read the Old Testament, you will see it's

  79. for them. But when you continue to understand,

  80. you will see that the revelation is that it's

  81. to all men. And that was the problem that made

  82. us talk about the Samaritans and then the Italian

  83. soldier and how Israel said they are not part

  84. of the people of God in that sense, right? So

  85. we proceed and we said the word mystery is mysterion,

  86. right? which means to be hidden, secrets, religious

  87. secrets in some sense. He said, confided only.

  88. Now, this one is the one that we will add to

  89. it because on Sunday, we said, we made one, I

  90. mentioned a phrase, which is not obvious to the

  91. understanding, right? That was where we ended

  92. on mystery, that it is not obvious to the understanding.

  93. So it means that something is actually communicated.

  94. And if we pay attention to it, we can get the

  95. understanding, okay? Something is communicated

  96. in the Old Testament text, and if we pay attention

  97. to it, right, or what is communicated, we will

  98. know what God's intention is, right, since the

  99. beginning of the world. So, the word misery is

  100. not obvious to understanding, right? We say confided

  101. only in some places you will see that's confided

  102. only to people initiated not to ordinary mortals.

  103. Some definitions also put such kind of an explanation.

  104. But it's actually referring to people who can

  105. actually pay attention to the scriptures and

  106. see it, right? And that is why Jesus would say

  107. the Pharisees always check the scriptures, right?

  108. So they check the scriptures, but yet they didn't

  109. see. So it means that it remains a mystery to

  110. them. It remains a mystery. to them but it's

  111. not a mystery it's just that it's not obvious

  112. to the understanding now today we're just going

  113. to go through uh a couple of scriptures that

  114. will link us to the word epignosis so ephesians

  115. chapter four ephesians chapter four ephesians

  116. chapter four uh sorry ephesians chapter one let's

  117. go to ephesians chapter one first we'll come

  118. back to ephesians chapter four ephesians chapter

  119. one uh from the one we read always for prayers

  120. for verse 17, but we're just going to read from

  121. verse 15. that you may know what is the hope

  122. of his calling and what the riches of the glory

  123. of his inheritance in the saints and what is

  124. the exceeding greatness of his power to us who

  125. believe according to the workings of his great

  126. might, which he wrote in Christ when he raised

  127. him from the dead and set him at his own right

  128. hand in the heavenly places, far above all principalities

  129. and power. and might, and dominion, and every

  130. name that is named, not only in this world, but

  131. also in that which is to come. And he hath put

  132. all things under his feet and gave him to be

  133. the head over all things to the church, which

  134. is his body, the fullness of him that filleth

  135. all in whole. And what we see here is that it's

  136. similar to, I think there are about three scriptures

  137. like that, right? It's similar to... Romans chapter

    Romans 1 chapter mention

  138. 1, right? It's similar to that, Romans 16, sorry.

  139. It's similar to Romans 16, 25 to 26, because

  140. it picks the word revelation in the knowledge

  141. of him, right? Revelation, it picks the word

  142. revelation in the knowledge of him. And that

  143. revelation is also the word apocalypses, right?

  144. It's still the word apocalypses. We'll come to

  145. that. Let's go to, I think, 2 Corinthians. Before

  146. 2 Corinthians, Ephesians 3, just open to the

  147. next page. Ephesians 3, Ephesians chapter 3,

    Ephesians 3 chapter mention

  148. from verse 1. in the mystery of Christ, which

  149. in other ages was not made known unto the sons

  150. of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles

  151. and prophets by the Spirit, that the Gentiles

  152. should be followers and of the same body and

  153. partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel,

  154. whereof I was made a minister according to the

  155. gifts. of the grace of God given unto me by the

  156. effectual working of His power. Now, we see the

  157. word here again, revelation and mystery, right?

  158. Revelation and mystery. And one thing that is

  159. now unfolding again, that we'll begin to see,

  160. is the word knowledge, okay? Revelation, mystery,

  161. and we see knowledge, right? In Ephesians 1,

  162. 17, you will see wisdom and revelation in the

  163. knowledge. of him right spirit of wisdom and

  164. revelation the knowledge of him and then ephesians

  165. 3 we will see revelation he made known ephesians

  166. 3 3 revelation he made known unto me the mystery

  167. how by revelation he made it unto me the mystery

  168. which i wrote a full time in few words right

  169. and again the word mystery again we'll find it

  170. in uh We find it in verse 4, whereby when they

  171. read, they may understand my knowledge, right?

  172. They may understand my intermission. So, we see

  173. the word knowledge, right, unfolding. Now, the

  174. word knowledge in Ephesians 1, right, 17, is

  175. the word epignosis. Okay? So, let's start from

  176. there. It's the word epignosis. It's the word

  177. epignosis, which refers to precise knowledge,

  178. precise knowledge, accurate understanding. precise

  179. knowledge, accurate understanding, coming to

  180. full recognition of Christ, right? Precise knowledge,

  181. accurate understanding also means coming to full

  182. recognition of Christ, of Christ. So if we read

  183. it together, it will mean, in verse 17, that

  184. the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father

  185. of glory, may give you, because we taught this

  186. and we've explained this, that this is the wisdom

  187. that is found in the spirits. Because it is by

  188. this wisdom that Paul wrote what he wrote. He

  189. said the wisdom of the Spirit and revelation

  190. means opening up, taking away from being hidden

  191. in the knowledge of Him. It means that we will

  192. have precise understanding of Christ through

  193. revelation. Okay, we'll have precise understanding

  194. of Christ's revelation in the knowledge of him.

  195. So when we open the scriptures and it's explained,

  196. right, we will come to the precise understanding

  197. of who Christ is. So again, when we open the

  198. scriptures and the scriptures are explained to

  199. us, revelation, we will come to the precise understanding.

  200. Right? Accurate knowledge of Christ. Accurate

  201. knowledge of Christ. You can just write this

  202. down. We'll come back to reading the scripture.

  203. This knowledge actually is, it can also be regarded

  204. as experiential knowledge or functional knowledge

  205. of Christ. Okay? Functional means that a knowledge

  206. that you come into and you work in it. Right?

  207. We're going to see subsequently where it says

  208. work in this knowledge. So it is not a knowledge

  209. that is passive. But when we see the scriptures

  210. explained, the Old Testament explained, it tells

  211. us as believers how to live, right? It is functional

  212. in our life. It is experiential. So experiential

  213. knowledge of God is not like, oh, you see Jesus

  214. in a vision. And after that, you know. Something

  215. changed and all of that. But it's talking about

  216. teaching from, you know, the scriptures and this

  217. revelation become functional, right? Becomes

  218. functional in our lives. This revelation becomes

  219. functional in our lives. So it's the word epignosis.

  220. Now let's pick it. It's from the word epi and

  221. gnosis. So it's the word, the first word is epi,

  222. just like we had apo and calypso. We have epi

  223. and gnosis. epi and gnosis and what do they mean

  224. the gnosis there is the word knowledge actually

  225. so gnosis g -n -o -s -i -s is actually the word

  226. knowledge which it is actually used in other

  227. parts of the scripture so you will find some

  228. parts of the bible where it uses the word knowledge

  229. which uses the word gnosis right and you will

  230. find some parts the same word knowledge is explained

  231. or the original word is Epignosis, right? So,

  232. the gnosis refers to knowledge, right? And it's

  233. referring to knowledge. And the epignosis carries

  234. the sense of accuracy, which is different from

  235. just irregular information. Okay? It's different

  236. from regular information. It's different from

  237. just knowing something by just knowing. But it's

  238. talking about accuracy. Knowledge is what gives

  239. it that effect. It's like I was trying to explain

  240. it when I was studying. It's like saying a higher

  241. knowledge or saying an accurate knowledge, precise.

  242. I actually called it the peak. Okay, I used the

  243. word peak for it because I was trying to see

  244. something that could come close to it, right?

  245. It refers to the peak of the knowledge of Christ,

  246. like what you should know, the accurate knowledge

  247. of Christ. We see that it's talking about epignosis

  248. coming to the full awareness. It also means coming

  249. to the full awareness of who Christ is and what

  250. Christ has done. Good. So we're going to check

  251. a couple of scriptures and see how this word

  252. has been used. But before then, let's see what

  253. Paul said about epignosis and the revelation.

  254. When we come to chapter 3, we will see that it

  255. says, How that by revelation he made known unto

  256. me. So Paul is saying that he had a revelation.

  257. It was granted unto Paul, right, to write and

  258. unveil what is called mystery. Okay, so he's

  259. saying when you read, you would understand my

  260. knowledge in the mystery of Christ. Means that

  261. Paul knows something. Something was landed onto

  262. Paul, right, when it comes to the mystery of

  263. Christ, and he knew it by the Spirit. Let's see

  264. other people that Paul included in that bracket.

  265. It says, which in other ages was not made known,

  266. right, unto the sons of men. Now, here it looks

  267. like it was not made known unto the sons of men.

  268. It was hidden, right? But what we said is that

  269. it is not obvious to the knowledge. It is not

  270. clearly stated. It is not something that is fully

  271. stated. We can put it that way as well, right?

  272. It's not something that is fully stated or that

  273. can't be fully stated, okay? So we're talking

  274. about the Old Testament times, right? So in other

  275. ages, he's talking about the Old Testament times.

  276. Right. First of all, we know that as at that

  277. time, the death, burial and resurrection of Christ

  278. was in a promise was to come. Right. So they

  279. had things written to them that are not obvious.

  280. And also coupled with the fact that the death,

  281. burial and resurrection of Christ had not taken

  282. place. Right. It means that we can say they had

  283. progressive knowledge. OK, so their knowledge

  284. progressed up until, right, up until. until Paul.

  285. Now, but it's not just Paul. Who are the other

  286. people that are within these brackets, that are

  287. within this bracket? Let's see. So what about

  288. here? May we then understand my knowledge in

  289. the mystery of Christ, which in other ages was

  290. not made known unto sons of men, as it is now

  291. revealed unto his holy apostles and the prophets

  292. by the Spirit. By the Spirit. So Paul is saying

  293. here, right, the apostles, The holy apostles

  294. and prophets here is referring to the apostles.

  295. It's referring to the apostles. It's not saying

  296. the prophets of old, but it's saying that this

  297. revelation is revealed to the apostles. It means

  298. that the explanation of what was hidden in old

  299. times, in other ages, is revealed to Paul and

  300. the apostles. And we're talking about the apostles

  301. that walked with Jesus. We're talking about the

  302. disciples of Christ and how that was revealed

  303. to them. And in their writing, we can also see,

  304. just like Paul, their knowledge in the Old Testament.

  305. Their knowledge regarding the Old Testament texts.

  306. So, it was revealed to the early apostles. And

  307. if we just go to 1 Peter, and we can use Peter

  308. as an example, right? We can use Peter as...

  309. We can use Peter as an example. Okay, go to 2

  310. Peter 1. 2 Peter 1, verse 12. My tabernacle,

    2 Peter 1:12

  311. even as the Lord Christ has showed me. Moreover,

  312. I endure that ye may be able after my decease,

  313. right, to have these things in remembrance. So,

  314. understanding. For we have not followed Conan

  315. the Pharaoh, when we made known unto you the

  316. power and the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ,

  317. but we are eyewitnesses of the majesty, for he

  318. received from God the Father honor and glory,

  319. when there came such a voice to him from... The

  320. excellent glory, this is my beloved Son, in whom

  321. I am well pleased. And this voice which came

  322. from heaven we heard, and when we were with him

  323. in the holy mountain. We have also a more sure

  324. word, right, of prophecy, whereunto ye would

  325. do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that

  326. shineth in that place, unto the day done, and

  327. the day star arise in your hearts, knowing this

  328. first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of

  329. private interpretation. For the prophecy came

  330. not in all times by the will of man, but only

  331. men spoke as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.

  332. Now, knowing that the scripture is not of private

  333. interpretation, saying that all scriptures need

  334. to be read together, right? So it's telling us

  335. that Peter had knowledge that these scriptures

  336. need to be read together. That's verse 20. And

  337. I think verse 19, we dealt with it, right? We

  338. dealt with it in cell meeting. talking about

  339. the writings, right? Talking about the scriptures

  340. that brings light onto us. We dealt with that

  341. in Sermon. So what we are seeing here, right,

  342. is that Peter also had the knowledge. Peter also

  343. had an understanding on how to read the scripture,

  344. right? And Peter also had the revelation. Of

  345. course, this was talking about what they had

  346. on the holy mountains, right? What was granted,

  347. it was also granted unto them for them to see

  348. and then to understand, right? It was granted

  349. to them to see and... And just like every other

  350. apostle, right? They all had the spirit that

  351. give them the understanding of what the scriptures

  352. are saying together. That's why Peter would say,

  353. no scripture has its own, is separate from the

  354. other, right? All scriptures are together and

  355. that is actually revelation. Okay? So private

  356. interpretation is not talking about my own meaning

  357. or your own meaning, right? But no scripture

  358. stands alone. No scripture stands on its own,

  359. but must be put together. And that reflects a

  360. similar text in which Paul is writing here. So,

  361. it means that the people who could explain the

  362. Old Testament to us, that were granted to explain

  363. in their writings, the Old Testament to us, were

  364. the apostles. And therefore, we peek from their

  365. understanding and their explanation of the scripture.

  366. So, Apostle Paul, then Peter, and... other apostles.

  367. Apostle Paul, Peter, and other apostles. So the

  368. Revelation will be understanding the Scriptures

  369. together from the Epistles. Revelation understanding

  370. the Scriptures together from the Epistles. And

  371. there's one other text that we can read. There's

  372. one other text that we can add to that. So we've

  373. had Ephesians 1, we've had Ephesians 3. Romans

  374. 1, we've had that. Then we can go to 1 Corinthians

  375. 2. 1 Corinthians 2. 1 Corinthians 2. Now, if

  376. we read from verse 9, right? If we read from

  377. verse 9. As it is written, eyes I had not seen

  378. and ear heard, neither have entered into the

  379. hearts of man the things which God hath prepared

  380. for them that love him. But God hath revealed

  381. them unto us by Spirit. For the Spirit searcheth

  382. all things, yea, the deep things of God. For

  383. what man knoweth the things of a man, saith the

  384. Spirit of man, which is in him. Even so the things

  385. of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.

  386. Now we have received not the Spirit of the world,

  387. but the Spirit which is of God, that we might

  388. know. Things that are freely given to us. And

  389. verse 13 says, which things also we speak, right?

  390. Pay attention to that. These things we also speak,

  391. not in words of man's wisdom, but that which

  392. the Holy Ghost teaches, comparing spirituals

  393. with spiritual. But the natural man received

  394. not the things of... the Spirit of God, for their

  395. foolishness unto him, neither can he know them.

  396. Now, verse 13, right, in a way, right, points

  397. to the fact that the Scriptures, right, it says,

  398. the things we speak, not in words and wisdom

  399. of man, right, not in words that men teach. If

  400. you read verse 1, it also said, I came to you

  401. not in excellence of speech, right? So, Paul

  402. is writing to the church and explaining to them

  403. that what we speak, What we speak is not that

  404. which is of man's wisdom, but that which the

  405. Holy Ghost teaches. So it means that Paul also

  406. refers to something here, that there are some

  407. people that are speaking some things that the

  408. Holy Ghost teaches unto them. And this is, in

  409. a way, trying to point to the apostles here as

  410. well. Because he says, we speak not what is wisdom,

  411. but that's what the Holy Ghost speaks. It's comparing

  412. spirituals to spirituals. Also referring, right,

  413. to the fact that they have a knowledge, they

  414. have a wisdom that is granted unto them, right?

  415. And what they teach means their pistols, which

  416. is their teaching, right, is granted to them

  417. by the Holy Ghost, right? The explanation is

  418. granted unto them. Because already in verse one,

  419. you're already saying, I'm coming to declare

  420. the testimony of God. Not in words and wisdom

  421. of men, right? Not in words and wisdom of men,

  422. but that's which the Holy Ghost teaches, okay?

  423. That's which the Holy Ghost teaches. Means that

  424. when they open the scriptures and they're writing

  425. their epistles, there is a revelation of the

  426. Holy Ghost that is helping them to interpret

  427. this and bringing it to our knowledge, right?

  428. And bringing it to our knowledge. Now... The

  429. challenge is, right, why I'm trying to emphasize

  430. the fact that Paul and other apostles had a specific,

  431. would I say, grant unto them, specific privilege

  432. grant unto them to write the epistles is to shift

  433. the way from new revelation, right, where someone

  434. will come and say, well, I have a new revelation,

  435. I have a new interpretation of the Bible, right,

  436. or I have seen something new, right, something

  437. new. So, it shows, one of the scriptures shows

  438. that the apostles, they were given the responsibility

  439. to help us to understand what has been written

  440. in other ages that we do not understand. Okay?

  441. That is not obvious to our eyes. They have been

  442. given the responsibility to help us to understand

  443. what has been written in ages past that we do

  444. not understand. And we are working in that revelation.

  445. And that is why when you observe Paul's teaching,

  446. it's about what you have in Christ and how you

  447. should live. Okay? If you observe their teachings,

  448. the teachings of the apostles, it's about what

  449. you have in Christ and how you should live. So

  450. it's about what Christ has done, death, burial,

  451. and resurrection, and what that means to you

  452. as a believer. So when you begin to listen to

  453. sermons, and teachings come from the podium or

  454. from the pastors, and they explain to you what

  455. Christ has done, right? You also pick what that

  456. means to you. Then when you go out, you are able

  457. to live a life of faith, right? You're able to

  458. live a life that Christ has called you to live.

  459. For example, if you read Ephesians 1, it says

  460. that the essence of this revelation in the knowledge

  461. of Him is that you might be able to know what?

  462. of your calling. So if you go to Ephesians, I

  463. think that should be 1, 1 verse 19, 18, sorry.

  464. It said, eyes of your understanding being enlightened

  465. by this revelation in the knowledge of him, eyes

  466. of understanding being enlightened, right? You

  467. may know the hope of your calling. Okay? So you

  468. know the hope of your calling. You understand

  469. the riches of his glorious inheritance in the

  470. saints. You understand the power that is what?

  471. Verse 19, that is at work in you. Okay? So you

  472. understand the power that is at work in you,

  473. right? As a believer, right? You understand the

  474. power of God that is at work. What erodes in

  475. Christ and then how it is impacting you. So this

  476. is what he's saying that post -teaching you will

  477. find what Christ has done and the conduct of

  478. the believer and how the believer should live.

  479. on a daily basis, right? And this becomes experiential.

  480. So for someone knowing the hope of their calling,

  481. it's like knowing that you are commissioned to

  482. the military, for example, right? If you know

  483. you are commissioned into the military, we don't

  484. need to have a conversation when war starts.

  485. For example, you know it's your responsibility

  486. to go to war, right? So if you are commissioned

  487. for that, you don't need anyone to begin to,

  488. you know, we don't have to cajole you when that

  489. circumstance comes. So it's the same. Like a

  490. believer, right? When it is time for prayers,

  491. you don't have to be cajoled. So it means that

  492. the revelation and knowledge of God will make

  493. it like easy for you to pray. Let me put it that

  494. way. Like you don't struggle. You don't struggle.

  495. Prayer is not something that they call and you

  496. take it lightly. The revelation and knowledge

  497. of God will also make you, you know, be able

  498. to go out and talk to someone about Jesus, right?

  499. Because that is what you have been commissioned

  500. for. Right? That's what you have been commissioned

  501. for. So, this knowledge helps you to function

  502. well as a believer. Okay? It helps you to function

  503. well as a believer. And when I started this teaching,

  504. in the first track, I talked about the fact that

  505. we met some believers and they were asking questions.

  506. Right? And we met another guy, a Muslim guy,

  507. and he said that, you know, and I realized that

  508. what the guy was saying, even some believers

  509. do not have the understanding. Do you get the

  510. point? So, When you come into this knowledge,

  511. right, when you grow, which you're going to see

  512. is very good because it's also knowledge that

  513. helps us to grow. When we grow in it, right,

  514. you begin to function effectively. We don't have

  515. to call you to come to church. We don't have

  516. to call you to come for evangelism. We don't

  517. have to call you to do prayers, right? You will

  518. not be like one guy that we met that said he

  519. doesn't even want to hear about God or give us,

  520. he collected our paper and said, literally, he

  521. will not come. And do you know his last statement?

  522. He said, God knows my heart. I'm like, no, this

  523. guy is not. If you are in the revelation of God,

  524. right? If you are in the revelation of God, you

  525. will not say, well, God knows my heart. He understands

  526. me, right? And all of that. And that just shows

  527. that his name is, is he Afraid or? His name is

  528. Afraid, right? Afraid, right? And what we'll

  529. just begin to perceive is that maybe his parents

  530. are pastors or he has had an encounter. with

  531. the faith, right? He has not advanced with the

  532. faith, but he has not come into the revelation

  533. of the hope of his calling. There was, you know,

  534. I mean, I know many of people, many of you met

  535. a lot of people, but we met very interesting

  536. people. There was one that ran, ran and almost

  537. entered the wrong school bus. Probably she was

  538. going to Nefkosha and she was hiding for us inside

  539. Gornieli bus, right? Until probably we passed,

  540. she now came down to Russia and it was Bishop

  541. that was trying to, you know, ensure that she

  542. heard, but she was totally ear blocked. And I

  543. perceive as well that if you ask her, she actually

  544. looks like someone that has been in church as

  545. well for a long time. But the reality of this

  546. precise knowledge of Christ is not done on them

  547. yet. They can say a few things about Jesus. They've

  548. not grown in this revelation. So the conduct

  549. is not visible. It is not functional. It is not

  550. experiential for them. In the sense that... When

  551. they bring things about God, it's not about exciting,

  552. but it doesn't trigger them. It doesn't raise

  553. them to do something. It doesn't make them active.

  554. I don't know whether you are always excited,

  555. but when it comes to someone teaching, I'm always

  556. very excited to hear the teaching, to increase

  557. in knowledge, to go for evangelism, to talk to

  558. someone about God. Or someone just comes to you

  559. and the person tells you, She's a believer, which

  560. happened to me yesterday in class. And I had

  561. to just cut it. I said, let's talk about it after

  562. the class. She's from Syria. And you know those

  563. kind of people. And her name is Joy. And she

  564. has a name that is almost like a Nigerian. So

  565. I was questioning. I'm not sure you're in this

  566. class. This is not your name. I thought she was

  567. impersonating someone. Because the name was like

  568. Joy Chiamaka, something like that. But she's

  569. from Syria. And she looked at me. She said, I'm

  570. a Christian. And my weekday. became strong because

  571. she not said i'm from syria i said i get that

  572. a lot i get that a lot now it excites me to see

  573. someone from a place where i where i don't i

  574. wasn't expecting the light will come out from

  575. and i see light there it gets me excited and

  576. she said she's been looking for churches all

  577. around cyprus and she had not found and but they

  578. invited her to one church in our campus i said

  579. okay maybe after that time we'll invite you here

  580. so that you can come now it excites me when i

  581. see someone that I wasn't there, someone that

  582. I probably planned to preach to and the person

  583. that I believed. It just excites me. I'm like,

  584. okay, there are many people in places that we

  585. think that there are no believers. Do you know?

  586. There are many people in places that we think

  587. that there are no believers. She explained, she

  588. said, you know, I think they do their Arabic

  589. service. We're talking about Turkish service,

  590. right? This one is their service is Arabic and

  591. she said there's a Byzantine language that they

  592. speak in their church and all of that. I said,

  593. wow. I was excited. Like, so we are saying we

  594. want to go to Syria. There are people there,

  595. bro. There are people there doing great job,

  596. you know. So this kind of thing should excite

  597. you. This is because the revelation of God is

  598. done on you that, man, this message is to all

  599. nations everywhere. They must hear it. They must

  600. believe and all of that. So it should always

  601. excite you. You should get excited by the things

  602. of God. So let's come back to epignosis. Epignosis,

  603. the precise understanding. Let's see how this

  604. has been used. Okay. Sometimes it's actually

  605. used even for unbelievers. Okay. That's the most,

  606. I mean, that's what I, you know, paid attention

  607. to. And I realized that this word was also used

  608. for unbelievers. You know, because when I, when

  609. those days, when we used to think epignosis,

  610. we are, you know, we, it is for us. Right. But

  611. the Bible writing also used it for unbelievers.

  612. So let's start. Unbelievers, epignosis used for

  613. unbelievers. Right. Epignosis used for. Romans

    Romans 1:8

  614. 1, verse 8. Romans 1, verse 8. Romans 1, verse

    Romans 1:8 Romans 1:8

  615. 8. Romans 1, verse 28. Can you go to verse 28,

    Romans 1:28

  616. please? Verse 28. And even as they did not like

  617. to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them

  618. over to a reprobate mind to do those things.

  619. which are not, right? When they do not want to

  620. regard God, retain God in their knowledge. It

  621. means that the preaching of the gospel that was

  622. presented to them and the teaching, right, is

  623. a precise understanding about God. Okay, the

  624. gospel that was preached to them is a clear gospel.

  625. It's not fake gospel. You know, there's anything

  626. like that. It's not a diluted gospel. It's not

  627. something that cannot save them. Okay, you know,

  628. if they preach something that cannot save you

  629. to you, it will be unfair to say that we judge

  630. you when you don't believe it. But these people

  631. were given the accurate knowledge of God, but

  632. they refused to retain God. It means to believe

  633. it, to receive it, to recognize it, right, and

  634. stay in it. So they did not retain God in their

  635. knowledge. So let's go to the next one, Romans

  636. 3 .20. Romans 3, 20. Now this one just connected

  637. it to the knowledge of sin. It said, therefore,

  638. by the deeds of the law, there shall no flesh

  639. be justified in a sight. So by the deeds of the

  640. law, there shall no flesh be justified. For by

  641. the law is the precise knowledge of sin, the

  642. knowledge of sin. So here he's talking about

  643. the knowledge of sin. So he's using it in relation

  644. to sin. He's using it in relation to sin, talking

  645. about no man can be justified. by no flesh can

  646. be justified in his sight through the deeds of

  647. the law. So unbelief is also visible here, right?

  648. Unbelief is also visible here because it says

  649. the deeds of the law cannot justify someone.

  650. So if anybody puts his hand in the deeds of the

  651. law, right, it means the person cannot be justified.

  652. So here again, we see that it's talking about

  653. unbelief. Romans 10, 2. Romans 10, 2. There were

  654. two more scriptures for that. Romans 10, 2. For

  655. I bear them record that they have a zeal for

  656. God, but not according to knowledge. Not according

  657. to knowledge. They have a zeal for God. And this

  658. was talking about Israel. Again, they were in

  659. unbelief. This is what Paul was talking about.

  660. You have zeal for God, but not according to the

  661. accurate knowledge of God. Not according to the

  662. precise knowledge of Christ. So their knowledge

  663. about God is not precise. That precise knowledge

  664. is in Christ. That accurate knowledge of God

  665. is in Christ. So what differentiates us from

  666. every other religious group or faith is that

  667. we are in the accurate and precise knowledge

  668. of God. Do we get it? And that is why I refer

  669. to those guys that say to the unknown God. They

  670. mention to the unknown God. And they were doing

  671. something to the unknown God. That is not the

  672. precise knowledge of God. Anybody can put anything

  673. down and say, this is God and I'm serving, right?

  674. But that is not their credence. Now, they are

  675. even doing it something closer, which is Judaizing,

  676. right? But it's not ending in Christ. It should

  677. end in Christ. Christ is the end of it, right?

  678. Let me put it that way. It should end in Christ.

  679. So, but not according to the precise knowledge

  680. of Christ. zeal, but not the accurate knowledge.

  681. 1 Timothy 2, verse 4. 1 Timothy 2, verse 4. It

    1 Timothy 2:4 1 Timothy 2:4

  682. says, Who will have all men to be saved and come

  683. to the knowledge of the truth? I don't know if

  684. this is even much on the unbeliever, but it's

  685. okay. We'll just keep it there because it's referring

  686. to people who come to save, right? Who come to

  687. salvation. So, it's talking about who come to...

  688. The knowledge of the truth. Now, let's read from

  689. verse 1. Read from verse 1. I exhort, therefore,

  690. that first of all, supplications, prayers, and

  691. intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for

  692. all men. For kings and for all that are in authority,

  693. that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in

  694. all godliness and honesty. For this is good and

  695. acceptable in the sight of God. our Savior, who

  696. will have all men to be saved and come, right,

  697. to the knowledge of the truth. So, when you're

  698. making prayer, right, this is the focus of the

  699. prayer, that all men would come. When you pray

  700. for leaders, right, when you pray for people

  701. in authority, that all men may be saved and all

  702. men may come to the precise knowledge of the

  703. truth. So, we see it here in 1 Timothy 2, verse

    1 Timothy 2:4

  704. 4. 2 Timothy 2, verse 25. 2 Timothy 2, verse

    2 Timothy 2:25 2 Timothy 2:25

  705. 25. The last verse will be for us, for the believers.

  706. In meekness, instructing those that oppose themselves,

  707. if God paraventure will give them repentance

  708. to the acknowledging of the truth. So sometimes

  709. the word is used as acknowledgement, okay? To

  710. acknowledge the truth, right? So acknowledge

  711. the truth. So it's talking about those themselves,

  712. those who have not believed, right? That they

  713. may come to the acknowledgement of. Now let's

  714. see where it is used for believers. So we see

  715. here that some people rejected it. They rejected

  716. the precise knowledge of Christ. They rejected

  717. the precise, the accurate knowledge of Christ.

  718. They didn't come to the awareness of that knowledge.

  719. So we'll start with Ephesians 1. Epignosis is

  720. used within the context of those that have believed.

  721. Within the context of those that have believed.

  722. Ephesians 1 verse 17. So we'll begin to see things

    Ephesians 1:17

  723. like walk. Things like know, things like do,

  724. right? Experientially, right? What we see. So

  725. one verse, verse 17. That God of our Lord Jesus

  726. Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you

  727. the spirit of wisdom and revelation and knowledge

  728. of him. The next one. The eyes of your understanding,

  729. being enlightened, that ye may know what is the

  730. hope of his calling and what the riches of his

  731. glorious inheritance in the saints. And what

  732. is the exceeding greatness of a Spartan who believes

  733. according to the workings of his mighty power,

  734. right? So, we will know. We will come to the

  735. knowing of the hope of our calling. Why you are

  736. a believer, right? Why you are a believer. People

  737. can ask you why you are a believer. Why you believe

  738. what you believe, right? Which is connected to

  739. you giving an account, right? You give an account.

  740. You give an apology. Why do you believe worship?

  741. So when you know the hope of your calling, it

  742. is easy, right, for someone to ask you and for

  743. you to give an explanation. But if you don't

  744. know the hope of your calling, someone will ask

  745. you and you will say, well, I don't do church.

  746. You know, I don't do church. I just go to church

  747. once a year, right? So no man or none of us should

  748. get to that point, right? It's not a point where

  749. we should be. So this revelation that we teach

  750. day in, day out. should bring us to the point

  751. where we know the hope of our calling and we

  752. stay there. Right? We know the hope of our calling

  753. and we stay there. Ephesians 4, verse 13. I think

    Ephesians 4:13

  754. you'll start from Ephesians 4, verse 11. And

    Ephesians 4:11

  755. it gave some apostles and some prophets and evangelists

  756. and some pastors and teachers for the perfection

  757. of the saints, for the work of ministry, for

  758. the defiance of the body, to win all coming the

  759. unity of faith and the knowledge of the Son of

  760. God unto a perfect man. unto the measure of stature

  761. of the fullness of Christ. Now, this is actually,

  762. just stay previous. We'll come back to that.

  763. Let me explain this. We'll go to the next one

  764. after. This one is actually talking about we're

  765. coming to precise and accurate knowledge of Christ.

  766. And this comes when there is teaching. Okay?

  767. This comes when there is teaching by the pastors,

  768. by, you know, leaders of church, right? When

  769. there is a teaching, We come to precise knowledge.

  770. So every time when there's a teaching, we increase

  771. in the knowledge of Christ. We increase in the

  772. knowledge of Christ. And so it's not like we

  773. all come to the unity of faith, right? Unity

  774. of faith is actually how we gradually grow into

  775. the precise knowledge of Jesus, right? We grow.

  776. So it's not about... Churches coming together,

  777. I think we should highlight that. So unity of

  778. faith is not different churches coming together

  779. and saying exactly the same thing or doing the

  780. same thing or doing, in our case, a concert.

  781. Not exactly that, but actually, every believer,

  782. every church as we teach, we come to know Christ

  783. much more. We come to the awareness of it. Christ

  784. becomes done on us every day as we go through.

  785. So he said, the unity of faith is therefore,

  786. will be we coming to the knowledge of Christ,

  787. of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the

  788. measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.

  789. So growth taking place. You can go to the next

  790. one now. That we henceforth be no more tossed

  791. around, tossed to and fro, and carried about

  792. with every wind of doctrine by the slight of

  793. men and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie

  794. in wait to deceive. So, it means that the believer

  795. that works in accurate knowledge of God allows

  796. him or herself to grow in the precise knowledge

  797. of Christ, you will not be tossed around. You

  798. will not be tossed to and fro. It means you'll

  799. be stable. You'll be established in that knowledge.

  800. Or rather, we can say the knowledge of Christ

  801. will establish you. Okay? The precise knowledge

  802. of Christ would establish you. You will know

  803. who Christ is. No one can deceive you about Christ.

  804. No one can give you a teaching that is not Christ's.

  805. Therefore, you are established in that teaching.

  806. Philippians 1 verse 9. Philippians 1 verse 9.

    Philippians 1:9 Philippians 1:9

  807. It says, And this I pray, that you love me about

  808. more and more in the knowledge and in all judgment.

  809. This is also epignosis. So he said, and I pray

  810. that you love me about more in the knowledge

  811. and in all judgment. So you love abounding more

  812. and more in knowledge, right? In knowledge. It's

  813. through the knowledge and in all judgment. Now

  814. let's go to the next one. I think I'm checking

  815. the time. Colossians 1 verse 9. Colossians 1

    Colossians 1:9 Colossians 1:9

  816. verse 9. I think this should be similar to Ephesians.

  817. For this cause, we also, since we heard of, we

  818. heard of it, right? We heard it. Do not cease

  819. to pray for you that. We're not supposed to pray

  820. for you and to desire that you might be filled

  821. with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom

  822. and spiritual understanding. So be filled with

  823. the knowledge of him, right? So you already have

  824. the Holy Ghost in you, right? But you're regularly

  825. being filled with the precise knowledge of Christ.

  826. The believer has the Spirit and you're regularly

  827. being filled that you desire, and look at how

  828. he put it, to desire. Right? Do not cease to

  829. pray for you and to desire. So his strong desire,

  830. his will, what he wishes, just like he says,

  831. my desire for Israel is that they will be saved.

  832. Now, Paul's desire for the believer is that you

  833. will be filled with the precise knowledge of

  834. Christ. Okay? So that's Paul's desire. While

  835. he has a desire for his people to be saved, his

  836. desire towards us is that we will be filled regularly

  837. with the precise knowledge of Christ. Colossians

    Colossians 2:2

  838. 2 verse 2, that the heart might be comforted,

  839. being knitted together in love and unto all riches

  840. of the full assurance of understanding, right?

  841. To the acknowledgement of the mystery of God,

  842. right? And of the Father and of Christ. So that

  843. the heart might be comforted, knitted together

  844. in love, right? So this is the conduct of the

  845. believer here, in all riches of the full assurance

  846. of the understanding. Right? From this precise

  847. knowledge of the mystery of Christ, or the mystery

  848. of God, the Father, which is in Christ. Right?

  849. From this precise knowledge, the mystery of God,

  850. the Father, which can be found in Christ. So

  851. this brings it all together. God, the Father,

  852. and then emphasizing Christ at the center of

  853. it. Colossians 3, verse 10. Colossians 3, verse

    Colossians 3:10 Colossians 3:10

  854. 10. And have put on... Can you go back to verse...

  855. Verse 9, a little bit. Lie not to one another,

  856. seeing that ye have put off the old man with

  857. his deeds. Okay? That's an instruction. And have

  858. put on a new man, which is renewed in knowledge

  859. after the image of him that created him. So,

  860. we have put on a new man. So, this new man, when

  861. you became born again, you don't have the full

  862. knowledge. Okay? In fact, you just started your

  863. journey, so you don't have the full knowledge.

  864. No believer that comes to the face today has

  865. the full knowledge, right? That is why you can

  866. see a believer, like you said, lie not to one

  867. another. A believer can lie, can engage in those

  868. kind of conducts. A very new believer, right,

  869. can engage in those conducts. That is why Paul

  870. is giving an instruction that the way you can

  871. excuse yourself or... Ensure that you don't engage

  872. in such conduct as lying and every other thing

  873. that was mentioned here is that you renew, right?

  874. You renew your mind, right? Through the knowledge

  875. of Christ. Through the knowledge of the person

  876. that created you, right? Of Christ who created

  877. you, you renew your mind through the knowledge,

  878. right? So this new man has to regularly renew

  879. himself, right? Through the knowledge of Christ.

  880. So the new man is renewed. So we are renewed

  881. daily through the precise knowledge of Christ.

  882. through the accurate knowledge of Christ, and

  883. therefore we find ourselves in the right conduct.

  884. Okay? We find ourselves in the right conduct.

  885. So when you see yourself exhibiting certain conduct,

  886. maybe you should check what does the scripture

  887. say about it? Have I come to the understanding

  888. and the reality of what the Bible says regarding

  889. that issue? Okay? So you can check your conduct

  890. and say, well, in this conduct, have I come to

  891. the understanding of... what the Bible says.

  892. For example, how believers should relate among

  893. themselves, right? Maybe you find yourself exhibiting

  894. anger, you find yourself regularly, you know,

  895. using the wrong words, you find yourself quick,

  896. you know, to anger and all of that. Now, you

  897. can check the scriptures and learn and say, okay,

  898. how is a believer, right, expected to walk in

  899. this precise knowledge? And you'll see the precise

  900. knowledge of Christ teaching you how to... Hold

  901. yourself, which is self -control, temperaments,

  902. and all of that that we see in Galatians 5. So

  903. this new man is renewed through the knowledge

  904. of God. So it means that the food of the new

  905. man, the food of the new man is this knowledge.

  906. And the new man continues to grow in that knowledge.

  907. We can see some other scriptures for believers.

  908. Titus 1 verse 1. Titus 1 verse 1. So Paul, servant

    Titus 1:1 Titus 1:1

  909. of God and apostle of Jesus Christ, according

  910. to the faith of the elect and the acknowledging

  911. of the truth, which is after godliness. So Paul

  912. is just giving his own profile here, right? Acknowledging

  913. of the truth. So an apostle of Jesus Christ,

  914. according to the faith of God's elect and the

  915. acknowledging, right? Holding on to the knowledge

  916. of Christ. So he's an apostle acknowledging the

  917. truth, which is after godliness. Now let's go

  918. to Philemon 1 verse 6. where we see this same

    Philemon 1:6

  919. word, Philemon 1, verse 6. We still have a couple

    Philemon 1:6

  920. of them here. All right, let's just write them

  921. down. Philemon 1, verse 6. 2 Peter 1, verse 2.

    Philemon 1:6 2 Peter 1:2

  922. 2 Peter 1, verse 2. 2 Peter 1, verse 3. Okay,

    2 Peter 1:2 2 Peter 1:3

  923. 2 Peter 1, verse 1 and 2 and 3, right? 2 Peter

    2 Peter 1:1 2 Peter 1:2–3

  924. 1, verse 2 to 3. And then 2 Peter, verse 8. So

  925. Peter used the word, 2 Peter verse 8. 2 Peter

  926. verse 8. So let's go to Philemon. So what does

  927. Philemon say? He said that the communication

  928. of thy faith may become effectual by acknowledging,

  929. right? Coming to the precise knowledge of every

  930. good thing which is yours in Christ. So the communication

  931. of thy faith would be effective, right? By acknowledging

  932. or coming to the precise knowledge and awareness

  933. and recognition of all that is yours. So it's

  934. like saying, coming to the precise knowledge

  935. of Christ, which is every good thing that is

  936. yours in Christ. So I just put it in my own way.

  937. Coming to the precise knowledge of Christ, which

  938. is every good thing that is yours in Christ.

  939. Coming to the precise knowledge of Christ, which

  940. is every good thing that is yours in Christ.

  941. 2 Peter 1 verse 2 says, Grace and peace be multiplied

    2 Peter 1:2

  942. unto you through the knowledge of God. of Jesus

  943. Christ, Jesus our Lord. So the increase in what

  944. we say more grace, when we say more grace, then

  945. you should want increase in the knowledge of

  946. Christ. So more or less, if we say more grace

  947. unto you, more grace to study the word, more

  948. grace to learn about Jesus, more grace to pray,

  949. right? More grace to stay in the place of prayer,

  950. more grace to study for hours, right? To come

  951. to church, more grace to come to church because...

  952. You know, it's a precise knowledge that a precise

  953. knowledge of Christ teaches that. So when someone

  954. says more grace to you, it's pushing responsibility

  955. to you that it will multiply when you know much

  956. more, right? Through the word. Verse three, I

  957. think says almost the same thing. According to

  958. this, the vampire has given us all things that

  959. pertains unto life and godliness through the

  960. knowledge of him that hath called us to glory

  961. and virtue. So all that pertains to life and

  962. godliness, right? granted unto us through the

  963. knowledge. Through the knowledge. So, giving

  964. to us all things that pertain to life. So, what

  965. pertains to life and godliness that you will

  966. know will be through the knowledge of Christ.

  967. Okay? So, the knowledge of Christ makes you to

  968. understand what pertains to life and godliness

  969. that belongs to you. It's through the knowledge

  970. of him that has called us unto glory. Giving

  971. us all that pertains to life and godliness. So,

  972. it means that there might be things that pertain

  973. to life and godliness that I'm not aware of.

  974. Right? Simply because I've not paid attention

  975. to it from what the scripture says on those matters.

  976. Verse 8. Then we'll finish here. For if these

  977. things be in you and abound, they make you that

  978. ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in

  979. the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now this

  980. is the last scripture we are going to hold on

  981. to. Right? He says you will not be unfruitful.

  982. The positive way to say is that you will be profitable

  983. in the knowledge of Christ. So you're not just

  984. going to have the knowledge of Christ, right?

  985. But you will be profitable. The knowledge of

  986. Christ will yield fruit in your life, okay? If

  987. they are bound in you, if you increase in it,

  988. it should yield fruit. So it's saying that you

  989. will not be barren, right? You will not be unfruitful

  990. in the precise knowledge of God. It means that

  991. the precise knowledge of God has an effect. in

  992. the life of the believer. The precise knowledge

  993. of God brings profitability. You will be profitable

  994. to the kingdom because you are abounding in these

  995. things that Paul is saying. Help me on our feet

  996. as we just pray. We appreciate you being here

  997. today. We hope you carry this word with you throughout

  998. your week. Don't forget to check the show notes

  999. for additional insights. Stay connected with

  1000. us through our website or follow us on social

  1001. media. If you were encouraged, share this message

  1002. with someone you care about. Until next time,

  1003. stay blessed.