INDTORDUCTION

Author: Pastor Johan du Toit

Learning Objectives

At the end of this lesson, you should be able to:

DEFINITIONS

Terms	Definitions
Knowledge	A direct perception; understanding; information; learning; to know; ability to discern; consciousness; insight.

WHAT YOU DON’T KNOW CAN HURT YOU!

The Bible Says:

Proverbs 1:7 NKJV 
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge... 

Proverbs 2:6 NKJV 
For the LORD gives wisdom, from His mouth come knowledge and understanding. 

Proverbs 2:10‐11 NKJV 
When wisdom enters your heart, and knowledge is pleasant to your soul, discretion will preserve you; understanding will keep you. 

Philippians 1:9,10 NKJV
And this I pray that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ...

Isaiah 5:13 NKJV 
Therefore My people have gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge; their honorable men are famished, and their multitude dried up with thirst. 

Hosea 4:6 NKJV
My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being priest for Me; because you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.

Hosea 6:6 NKJV 
For I desire mercy and not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings. 

Habakkuk 2:14 NKJV
For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.

But Knowledge Cannot Stand Alone:

I Corinthians 8:1 NKJV 
Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies 

To be puffed up is to be proud, judgmental, knowing‐it‐all, unteachable.

I Corinthians 13:2 NKJV 
Knowledge without love is nothing. 

Knowledge is the twin brother of wisdom ‐ wisdom is the ability to use knowledge to advantage.

Proverbs 15:2 NKJV 
The tongue of the wise uses knowledge rightly but the mouth of fools pour out foolishness. 

Wisdom comes from God:

James 1:5 NKJV 
If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. 

TWO KINDS OF KNOWLEDGE

1. Human Knowledge

1.1 Presumption

“I think so” ‐knowledge. This kind of knowledge is not built on a firm foundation, and will not stand up to any test.

• “I think if I go to church, I shall be saved.”
• “I think if I do good works, I shall be saved…”
• “I think if I pay my tithes, I do not have to be wise with my money because God will protect me”.
• “I think if I pray during the exams, it will not be necessary for me to study”.
• “I think God is a merciful God, and He will not send me to hell.”

Don’t be deceived, only what God says is the truth! Our opinions, no matter how good they may be and how wise they may sound, will not carry us when trouble comes.

Naaman was an important Syrian military commander in the time of the prophet Elisha, and he was leprous. A Jewish slave girl gave him the advice to go to Elisha, for she believed he would be able to heal her master. And it was true: Elisha told him to wash himself in the river Jordan seven times, and he would be clean. That was the Word of the Lord spoken to him by the prophet.   But Naaman became angry:

II Kings 5:11,12 NKJV 
But Naaman became furious, and went away and said, “Indeed, I said to myself, ‘He will surely come out to me, and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, and wave his hand over the place, and heal the leprosy.’ Are not the Abanah and the Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel, Could I not wash in them and be clean?” So he turned and went away in a rage. 

Naaman thought by himself ‐ he worked on “think so” knowledge. He was sincere, but he was wrong. He had his own idea of how God should heal him, and almost missed his healing! “Think so” knowledge almost killed him.

But his servants were wise men, and they persuaded him to obey the Word of the Lord and do as the prophet had told him:

II Kings 5:14 NKJV 
So he went down and dipped seven times in the Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God; and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean. 

Presumption, or “think so” knowledge has robbed many people of the blessings of the Lord, because it is not backed up by God. We need to know the Word and operate in the knowledge thereof. God watches over His Word, and will perform it. The truth sets us free!

1.2 Sense Knowledge

Human knowledge comes through our senses: hearing, seeing, touching, feeling and tasting. We gain knowledge through study and experience: seeing things, hearing things, etc. This is academic, mental, natural, human intellectual knowledge, and it has power in the natural world, but it doesn’t have the same effect in the spiritual world.

Academic knowledge will always look for a human solution to a spiritual problem situation.   We have to develop our academic insight, but at the same time understand that it has it’s place and limitations.

The religious leaders had much knowledge about the Messiah who would come. They studied the Scriptures and thought they knew what to expect. They were looking out for Him to come, yet, when He stood before them, they didn’t recognize Him:

John 5:39 NKJV
You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and in these are they which testify of Me.

John 9:29 NKJV 
We know that God spoke to Moses; as for this fellow, we do not know where He is from. 

Their academic knowledge brought them no help; they missed the One who brought them life eternal.

1.3 Second Hand Knowledge

This is “hear say” knowledge. Second hand knowledge is wrong most of the time. We sometimes hear someone telling us something about God, and then believe it. But that person could have misunderstood what he is talking about, missed something or have the facts wrong.

Only the source of truth gives accurate information

Jesus said the Word is the truth (John 17:17). That is where we go to find truth, not to someone else who read the Bible and gives us his opinion, we need first-hand knowledge of the Word.

John 8:31, 32 NKJV 
Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed in Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free." 

Second hand, “hear say” knowledge, brings no Biblical results because God won’t back it up!

1.4 Passive Knowledge

Passive knowledge is knowledge not acted upon. It is of no use to have medicine in the house, and not use it. Many Christians are professional students ‐ they learn and learn and never put their knowledge into practice.

Passive knowledge leads to spiritual pride; it puffs up but has no results. Such people always know it all; they are unteachable and judgmental. We need to be doers of the Word and not hearers only.

Matthew 7:24 NKJV 
Therefore, whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock... 

James 1:22 NKJV 
But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 

Passive knowledge is the abused hallucinogenic drug of Christianity ‐ it gives knowledge of the glory and greatness of God and His plans, while leaving believers in a world where none of these are true.

1.5 Wrong Knowledge

If we look around us to all the different religions who use the Bible as their source, it becomes clear that wrong knowledge is a spiritual epidemic in our day.

Incomplete, wrong, result‐less knowledge of the Word brought Christianity where we are today. We keep on infecting ourselves with the same disease over and over again because we live in ignorance of the power of the Word.

Acts 18:24‐26 NKJV 
Now a certain Jew named Apollos, born at Alexandria, an eloquent man and mighty in the Scriptures, came to Ephesus. This man had been instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things of the Lord, though he knew only about the baptism of John.   So he began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Aquilla and Priscilla heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of the Lord more accurately. 

Apollos was eloquent and mighty in the Scriptures and taught accurately the way of the Lord, yet his knowledge was incomplete and he had to be corrected by Aquilla and Priscilla. Thank God, he was teachable and not stubborn!

Wrong knowledge can be dangerous for our health, prosperity, peace and happiness. But it can also be fatal to our eternal lives!

2. Revelation Knowledge

All human knowledge comes through our five senses: seeing, hearing, feeling, tasting and smelling. This is sense‐knowledge. But the Bible teaches of yet another kind of knowledge: revelation knowledge ‐ knowledge that comes by the revelation of the Holy Spirit to our spirit.   He takes the logos, the written letter of the Word, and turns it into rhema, the Word of God revealed to us personally. God is Spirit and He communicates to our spirit ‐ Spirit with spirit; kind with kind.

Academic knowledge operates in the natural realm, but revelation knowledge operates in the spiritual world and gives spiritual insight.

Sense‐knowledge brings understanding of the letter of the Word, but revelation knowledge brings spiritual insight to understand the purpose of the Spirit in the Word. The natural understanding will only hear the story of the parable, but revelation knowledge imparts the spiritual message of the parable ‐ or any other passage of Scripture.

Psalm 119:18 NKJV 
Open my eyes that I may see wondrous things from your law. 

Ephesians 1:17‐20 NKJV
...That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope  of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places... 

Colossians 1:9,10 NKJV 
For this reason, we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding... 

I Corinthians 2:9 NKJV 
But as it is written: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”  But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit.   For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. 

Study I Corinthians 2 carefully to see the role of the Holy Spirit in revealing to us the deep things of God and the mind of Christ.

THE NEED FOR REVELATION

Christians everywhere experience all kinds of pressure these days. There are health problems, financial problems, relationship issues, pressure for time, etc. and they seem to escalate all the time. It seems just so much harder to gain the victory over these problems as time goes on.

Many Christians have become cynical because they fail to see the promises of God come true in their lives. In fact, what really happens is that our foundations are being tested; we begin to find out what kind of foundation we have built on.

There are only two kinds of foundations in the Christian life: mental assent and revelation. From the outside these two look exactly the same. It is only when pressure begins to mount up and the strength of our foundation is put to the test that the real material is revealed. It is no secret: God ordained for His people to walk in victory. The Bible is very clear about it.

When the daily challenges of life seem to become overwhelming, we find ourselves at a crossroads often. Decisions are forced on us as we come face to face with choices between truth and compromise; light and darkness, spirit and flesh; walking on with God or living on the surface. Walking with God requires a revelation of Him and His nature, and a revelation of the truth of His Word in every area of our lives.

The Word doesn’t work for you? See where it is planted ‐ your head or your heart!

Mental Assent

Revelation

To be in agreement with; to acknowledge; to approve; to know about. – Can have a change of mind – Can be persuaded – Succumbs to peer pressure – Belief system can be replaced   – Easily compromises – Experiences doubt – Reasons, philosophies, argues, qualifies truths – Does not stand up to much of a test or trial – Based on sense‐knowledge – Hopes for a miracle

To come face to face with; a disclosure; to take off the cover; a first‐hand experience. – An experience cannot be denied – Cannot be persuaded – Never succumbs to pressure – A revelation cannot be replaced and can never be taken away – Never compromises – A face‐to‐face experience cannot be denied – Accepts truth – A firm foundation that cannot be shaken – Based on an experience with the truth – Trusts God to perform His Word

The young Samuel was brought to the temple to serve the Lord and Eli the priest in the tabernacle. His mother dropped him off just after he was weaned, which means that he was just a toddler. It was her decision and her sacrifice, not his, but he served there and was in agreement with his circumstances. Although he grew up in the tabernacle and had believing parents, he never really knew God. Growing up in a place like that and helping the priest with his chores, he must have known much about God, but he did not know Him. When God called him one night, he did what so many Christians do: he ran to someone he knew. He thought it was Eli that had called him; he did not recognize the voice of God. After three times that God tried to speak with him, he came face to face with the voice of God, and his life changed. He changed from knowing about God to knowing Him; from mental assent to revelation.

I Samuel 3:19,20 NKJV 
So Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground. And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba knew that Samuel had been established as a prophet of the Lord. 

None of his words fell to the ground. What a testimony for a prophet!

• It’s one thing to memorize the Scriptures, but it is something else to have the living Word on the inside.
• Head‐knowledge of the Word will not benefit us much.
• The Word must drop from our heads to our hearts ‐ by meditating on it continuously.
• The Word must affect our lives to the point that we actually change to conform to it.
• God does not work in mysterious ways ‐ He performs His Word!

John 6:67‐69 NKJV 
Then Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you also want to go away?” But Simon answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. 

John 4:39, 41, 42
And many of the Samaritans of that city believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, "He told me all that I ever did." ... And many more believed because of His own word. Then they said to the woman, "Now we believe, not because of what you said, for we ourselves have heard Him and we know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world."  

FOUR DIFFERENT WAYS TO HEAR THE WORD

In Mark 4:13‐20 Jesus teaches us how to hear the Word. He mentions four kinds of hearers:

1. Inattentive Hearers

Those from whom Satan immediately steals the Word that they have heard. They are the ones who heard, just like all the others, but the seed of the Word had no chance to settle in their hearts and minds where it could germinate, grow and bear fruit. Their attention was distracted by Satan; they were thinking on something else while the Word was going out.

2. Hearers With No Root in Themselves

These are people who heard the Word and immediately received it with gladness. But they were shallow in their spirit and allowed that Word to wither before it could bear any fruit. They are the ones who, when they were challenged on their Christian lifestyle by their friends, family and colleagues, quickly and easily denied the Word and returned to their old way of thinking. Trouble and persecution uprooted the Word. They heard the good news with gladness, but were not prepared to hold onto it.

3. Hearers Who Gave Up on the Word When Temptation Came

These people heard the Word and accepted it in their hearts, but when the cares of this world, the temptation of riches, and the desires for other things came, they allowed those temptations to cloud their minds and choke the Word. They regarded those things to be more valuable than the Word.

4. Hearers Who Gave Attention, Accepted the Word, Held Onto It, and Eventually Became Fruitful in Their Lives

These hearers yielded fruit of thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold, depending on how well they attended to those Word‐seeds that were growing in their hearts.

Note Verse 13:

Mark 4:13 NKJV
And He said to them: "Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables?"

This is the most important of all parables, because Jesus teaches that the power of the Word in our lives is dependent on how we hear and receive and hold onto the Word we hear. Without understanding this basic principle, the rest of the parables will only be stories unto us.

Mark 4:24 NKJV 
And He said to them, take heed of what you hear. With the same measure you use (in hearing), it will be measured to you, and to you who hear, more will be given. 

You may know how many seeds there are in an apple, but you could never tell how many apples there are in a seed. The Word of God is seed that will multiply your ability and fruit to the glory of the Father in a limitless way.

Receive it with a teachable heart, meditate upon it and let it influence your thinking.

James 1:21 NKJV
...Receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. 

Proverbs 4:20‐23 NKJV 
My son, give attention to my words; incline your ear to my sayings.  Do not let them depart from your eyes; keep them in the midst of your heart; for they are life to those who find them, and health to all their flesh. Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life. 

Psalm 1:1,2‐3 NKJV 
Blessed is the man...who has his delight in the law of the Lord and in His law, he meditates day and night.   He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper. 

By His Word God created the heavens and the earth; by the Word of His power, He upholds all things. He will uphold you and establish you if you cherish that creative, powerful Word in your heart. Become a Word man or woman!

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Kenyon, E. (n.d.). Two Kinds of Knowledge.

Nelson, T. (1982). The New King James Version Bible. Thomas Nelson.