In this sermon, the speaker emphasizes the importance of understanding and experiencing the transforming power of God in one's life. He highlights the contrast between the limited time spent in the Word of God and the constant teaching of the devil through worldly influences. The speaker emphasizes that transformation does not happen automatically or through osmosis, but requires personal responsibility and action. He emphasizes that true transformation is not just about knowledge or study, but about a changed attitude and becoming more like Jesus Christ through the work of the Holy Spirit.

Go with me to 1 Corinthians chapter 1 and we've been in this passage earlier during this conference and a number of scriptures that I'm going to deal with this evening are the same that we've done before. I'm going to ask you to stand as we read, not for any religious reason but because you need to stretch your legs. I know it's been a long day and we're tired and unfortunately I have a complicated message it's not going to be that easy to follow so whatever little blood circulation we can get going let's get that going as we read 1 Corinthians chapter 1 verse 18. For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing but to us who are being saved is the power of God for it is written I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent where is the wise where is the scribe where is the disputer of this age has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world for since in the wisdom of God the world through wisdom did not know God it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe for the Jews request a sign and Greek seek after wisdom but we preach Christ crucified to the Jews a stumbling block into the Greeks foolishness but to those who are called both Jews and Greeks Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God because the foolishness of God is wiser than men and the weakness of God is stronger than men for you see your calling brethren that not many wise according to the flesh not many mighty not many noble are called but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty and the base things of the world and the things which are despised has God chosen and the things which are not to bring to nothing the things that are that no flesh should glory in his presence but of him you are in Christ Jesus who became for us wisdom from God and righteousness and sanctification and redemption that as it is written he who glories let him glory in the Lord and I brethren when I came to you did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God for I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling and my speech on my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom but in demonstration of the spirit and of power that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God amen you may be seated I want to address a particular problem that I'm concerned about that probably afflicts most of the churches that are represented here this evening Paul defines two different kinds of people here Jews and Greeks the Jews were rather emotional they wanted signs and wonders and miracles the Greeks were more intellectual and so they wanted a clever presentation these are really two different kinds of people that you have in the world anywhere in the world at any time but there are also two different streams within Christianity there are those who are into the signs and the wonders and the miracles and the power and those sorts of things and there are those on the other extreme who are into an intellectual and a cerebral approach who study who emphasize the teaching and the preaching of the word now most of us probably come from somewhere on the signs and wonders side on the power side on the miracle side but most of us have made a course correction and the problem is that in the process we probably have made an overcorrection which we spoke about this was noon in a different context so that many of our churches have become very intellectual because we emphasize and we don't say it we don't call it intellectual we say we are word-based we teach and preach or you emphasize the scriptures but the danger of that is that it becomes an intellectual exercise and it becomes an intellectual exercise void of the power of God and that's really what I want to explore with you this evening because it is a form of Gnosticism people put the label of Gnosticism and all sorts of stuff and it's a very Gnosticism was a very complex philosophy but one of the tenants of Gnosticism was the attainment of enlightenment through knowledge so knowledge makes me wise and knowledge can ultimately improve me spiritually if we can just put it in those terms and and that's really if you ask most people in our kinds of churches that's what we believe we say we don't we don't get anywhere through Pentecostal extremism that doesn't do anything much for us but by studying the word we become more spiritual but do we and here's the problem the problem is that in many cases we don't because what we are learning and what we are studying is the wisdom of the Greeks we have simply shunned the miracles of the Jews and we assume that we are more spiritual because we are not carnal like some Christians we have a solid basis for our faith faith we have studied the scriptures we have correct exegesis and all of these things and so now we are more spiritual but in fact what Paul says is you're no more spiritual the Greeks were no more spiritual than the Jews because both of them denied Christ and so there is and so knowledge in itself does not guarantee spirituality does not guarantee that we are doing the will of God and that is where I am deeply concerned now you understand I've just told you about the Bible school I have a deep deep passion for teaching God's Word but at the same time if we're simply accumulating knowledge we're wasting our time we may as well not study we may as not will not preach we may as well not attend church now this does not just afflict us there is a whole sector of Christianity that falls in this in this category and and and we're not near that kind of extreme praise God but I think that we can end up in that kind of extreme where there is absolute denial of anything supernatural and absolute denial of the working of the spirit and it's a simply a mechanical process of studying the scriptures and as long as I study the scriptures memorize them understand the concepts that is my guarantee of spiritual success but that's really not the truth and so Paul then says that that it's it's really not in the in the miracles it's not in the wisdom but it's in the preaching of the cross and and I don't want to get hung up on that because that is a very important truth brother Gary touched on that it's not just the cross and but it's also the resurrection the cross obviously has two aspects to it it's not just Jesus on the cross but if any man will be my disciple let him deny himself let him take up his cross and obviously this is not a popular message this is a message people don't want to don't want to hear because it deals with with self and now if we go to 1 Corinthians chapter chapter 8 and those who are in the war I went through some aspects of 1 Corinthians and I touched on these verses again but I'm not going through the I'm not going to end up in the same place we ended up there so we're going to go somewhere else 1 Corinthians chapter 8 verse 1 now concerning things offered to idols we know that we all have knowledge knowledge puffs up but love edifies now the context is that some Jewish Christian some Corinthian Christians had an understanding that an idol really is nothing it's just it's just a shape there is nothing to it and that knowledge liberated them from bondage to eating things offered to idols and so he says we all know stuff we know stuff about idols but the problem he says with that knowledge is that it puffs up then he contrasts that with love and he says love edifies what does it mean when it says edifies it builds up so knowledge puffs up love builds up and there's a huge difference between those things when we get puffed up we become proud we become arrogant we become self-sufficient we have bad attitudes because we think we know stuff now folks this is very real there's a church not so far away from us that that is built on this basis a mega church because people can go there and they get excellent teaching but the teaching is academic that's all it is it's academic teaching and so people leave the sanctuary and they say wow look what I know I know Greek words I know hallelujah I know logos but it does nothing for them spiritually because it is puffing up it's knowledge that puffs up but he says love is that which builds up and then he goes through chapter 13 where he speaks about the fact that I can have all now I'm going to use the terms knowledge and wisdom interchangeably and we understand that they are two different things but they are related and I'm going to use both of these interchangeably this evening and so in chapter 13 he says that I can have all knowledge now none of us has all knowledge even Paul did not know everything only God knows everything but even if we knew everything but there was not love that's nothing it's a waste of time it's empty now just think about that for because we get hung up on this love thing but really what he is saying is that knowledge without a spiritual change is nothing because in order to love like God loves because 1 Corinthians 13 is not about human love it's about divine love agape love in order to have that love I need a work of God in my life because none of us have agape love naturally we some people may be a little more loving than other people but that love is is either Eros love or Asphylia love but it's not divine love it's not love that that is that is that gives without expecting a return and so in order to get that kind of love I need a spiritual work in my life and how am I going to get that love well just think about it am I going to get that through studying no studying is not going to give me love you can study all you want about love but it's not going to make you love in the unconditional way in which God loves that can only come through a work of the Spirit as God works in my life and the book of Romans says that the love of God is poured abroad into our hearts by the Holy Spirit so what is Paul saying he's saying study even if I know everything if there is not a work of the Spirit within my life which transformed my human nature to love in a way that is not human it is nothing it's a waste of time now I think this is a very important point that that we we forget because you see we say well love is all fuzzy and it's it's really you know wishy-washy and you know those who've come through the charismatic movement you know we we're saying it's love it's love it's love that makes the world go round and we go around hugging everybody and and you know but but it's really just it's just nothing it's just a show but real love requires that a man lay down his life for his friends and so how do I get there well I'm not minimizing studying but I can know everything but if I don't have that I have nothing so I need God to be working in my spirit so if I enter in my preaching as a preacher it's no good filling people's heads with knowledge if God is not working his love into their lives but it's not just love but it's all of the fruit of the Spirit and so if that is not in operation we're wasting our time now most of us who are here and probably every one of us who is here is here because we love the preaching and the teaching and the studying of God's Word but go back to the Great Commission Matthew chapter 28 19 and 20 going to all the world preaching the gospel baptizing teaching them and we say well yeah we're not like all those other churches who just preach the gospel but they never get to the teaching but we do the teaching thing so we're we're spot-on but are we because what are we supposed to be teaching oh we must teach the first principles we must teach the nature of God we must is that what Matthew 28 20 says what must we teach no it's not what it's well obviously we must teach Jesus but that's not Matthew 28 main disciples teaching them to observe all things I've never had heard anyone preach about that people preach about preaching the gospel making disciples baptizing teaching scripture but the verse that one of the most important verses in evangelical Christianity is Matthew 28 19 and 20 the Great Commission and yet an essential part of that Great Commission is teaching them to observe what does it mean to observe hmm to do to keep to apply now if I just think about it I mean I can close the service on that point because that's that's really the bottom line we have not been commissioned to teach theology we have been taught commissioned to teach people to do the things that Jesus commanded there's a huge difference between teaching theology and doctrine and teaching people to live to be to observe and that's that that's where the problem comes in because that kind of knowledge does not puff up what does it do it humbles because here is this is how you need to live and I don't match up to that and so I go away humbled convicted because God is expecting me to live in a particular way except your righteousness exceed the righteousness of the Pharisees be perfect even as your father in heaven is perfect brother Gary and I were talking about that this morning this is not forensic righteousness in other words is not theoretical righteousness this is practical on the ground righteousness and we're just not there but we don't want to hear that so I'd rather hear about theology because that gives me something to know but that's not what we're called to preach I'm not saying we mustn't preach theology but if my teaching and my studying does not teach observance and so really what is the test how do we test we've spoken about the Bible school we have built in a built-in system of tests to make sure that the student has understood and assimilated the material so now we're talking about learning and teaching the Word of God how do we test how do we measure how do we know that I personally or you have progressed well this is how we like to do it I knew X a year ago I know X plus two now so I'm good that is not the test the test is I lived like this a year ago relative to Jesus I was X minus 5,000 percent but today I'm X minus 4,900 percent that is progression that is progress that is learning you see our learning our knowledge our understanding is not measured in how much we know it is really measured in how much we do because here's the thing we want to argue about all sorts of stuff about fancy words that I don't even can't even pronounce that Sarah taught me Nephilim but there are other things that God spoke to me about today prayer I'm not doing the prayer thing but I want to know about the Nephilim so it's it's back to front we've lost it God is not gonna ask me I'm not gonna do a theology test when I stand before him on that day that's not gonna be the question the question is gonna be did I do his will that's the only question now in order to do his will I need to be equipped with knowledge and understanding and wisdom but that knowledge and understanding and wisdom needs to teach me how to do the stuff and needs to result in doing not just in knowing now if we Romans chapter 1 and I'm not going to go there because I want to really get down to two essential sections and in my notes here that I want to deal with but Romans chapter 1 speaks about the fact that they had knowledge of God even though although they knew him they glorified him not and so here were people whoever they were and I believe he's replying this to Adam and Eve but he's applying this to all people of all time and he is saying they knew God but they suppressed that knowledge and they did not glorify him how do we glorify God well we don't glorify God by knowing stuff we glorify God by what we do we don't just glorify God and we spoke about this in the private discussion over this weekend we don't glorify God through the worship that's a little part of what we how we glorify God we glorify God by how we live so they knew God but they did not glorify him as God they discredited him through the way that they live they brought dishonor to him and as a result they became fools now there's a long progression in that passage I can't explore with you this evening but professing to be wise they became fools and we say oh well that you know those are the scientists those are the evolutionists they profess to be wise but really they became fools folk I really have come to understand and I believe that this can and does apply to Christians and churches where we profess to be wise we know the Bible back to front but because we have not glorified him we become fools and our knowledge becomes futile it goes around in circles we'll argue till the cows come home about how many angels fit on the head of a pin and with how we reconcile God's sovereignty with man's responsibility and the list goes on and on and on and on but we're not glorifying God Titus chapter 1 it's a very interesting verse if you'll go with me there Timothy Titus verse 16 and I'm not going to give you the context I'm running short on time and I really want to emphasize these other points I want to get you but they profess to know God but in works they deny him they say they know God they say they know the Bible but their works contradict what they say so that's really what we've been saying up to now now I'm going to all of these scriptures because I want you to understand that this is not some idea that I've concocted while I was smoking my medication but this is the Word of God and so knowledge of God without the works denies him so again he's just saying one thing knowledge must result in works knowledge must result in works so it doesn't matter how much you know and you know we all know people who want to impress you with how much they know and they tell you about this theory and that theory and what have you and some of the folk in the assembly will remember we had a Memorial Day picnic a couple of years ago and and Israel's laughing already and and a guy came and he bent my ear for must be eight hours telling me all the stuff he knows but he has a bad attitude he has a bad reputation in the neighborhood but he knows all this stuff it's no good doesn't help him at all now let's go to James and I want to spend a little time here in James and I'm sure you know where I'm going James chapter 3 and in James 3 we have two kinds of wisdom contrasted heavenly wisdom and earthly really demonic wisdom James chapter 3 in verse 13 who is wise and understanding among you who's clever who knows something let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom so true wisdom is manifest is proven by conduct and meekness now remember what Paul said in Corinthians knowledge puffs up so that's clearly not the right kind of knowledge so there's a knowledge that pops up but there is true wisdom or knowledge that produces meekness is that is that possible yeah when I look into the mirror of God's Word and I see Jesus and next to Jesus is the image of myself what does that produce brokenness woe is me I am undone I'm a man of unclean lips and I dwell amongst the people of unclean lips if I see him I abhor myself remember Job I've heard of him by the hearing of the earth but now I see him wherefore I abhor myself and repent in dust and ashes the true knowledge of the true God can only have one response and that is woe is me and obviously that's not God doesn't intend for me to go around feeling sorry for myself and go away feeling bad because remember what Paul said about that you sorrowed after a godly manner because your sorriness led to repentance when we were building this building I had a real for the people in the assembly here no I had a real problem with a carpenter because he wouldn't use a level and why didn't he want to use the level brother Fritz because he was not on the level thank you he's awake exactly because he knew when I was gonna bring out the level it was gonna show up his bad workmanship and for that reason we don't want to look into the perfect law of liberty because it's gonna show up that we don't measure up but why did I want to bring the level to the carpenters work so that I could show him that I know something and he's no good no so that we can get a better product so that we can straighten out what needs to get straightened out but you see we don't want to go there it's much easier to come to the Bible study and for 45 minutes get taught all sorts of nice clever stuff and go away and feel good because I know some stuff you can see the difference and so show your knowledge prove your wisdom by good conducts that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom but if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts do not boast and lie against the truth in other words don't say you know anything don't claim to have wisdom if you have these attitudes envy and self-seeking envy means I want what somebody else has got and self-seeking means I want to assert what I have both of those things have to do with comparing myself by someone else Paul says in Corinthians that those who do that are not wise because my measure is not you your measure is not me I am not in my office I have a plumb line I am NOT your plumb line Jesus Christ is that plumb line by which we judge and we measure ourselves and so when envy and self-seeking is there now for here's the problem most people that I've come across who really know a lot of stuff about the Bible have a bad attitude because it's about what I know look at all the certificates on my wall I went to this seminary where did you go well the University of Zululand so what do Zulus know about theology I've had that the moment we enter into that kind of self-comparison and self-seeking and envy it's just evidence that we've learned nothing because focus here's the thing again we're coming back to the basic thing it's not about how much I know it's about how much what I know has changed me and changed me into the image of Jesus Christ now he says then this wisdom does not descend from above now just think about this notice he's not saying this foolishness this wisdom so wisdom is wisdom wisdom is cleverness wisdom is not foolishness he doesn't call it foolishness it's wisdom did the Greeks have wisdom of course they had wisdom we still apply many of the wise things about statehood and about democracy and about governments that the Greeks had we still use the mathematical formulas that the Greeks had we still build many of our ideas on Greek philosophy and they were way ahead of us hundreds of years thousand years ago two thousand two and a half thousand years ago they had real wisdom there are people in the world who know a lot of stuff who really wise but the question is where does the wisdom come from he says that wisdom is from below now brother Malcolm spoke about that this morning that which is from above that which is from below and so you can have wisdom but where's this wisdom come now remember James is writing to Christians he's not writing to the world he's not writing to philosophers he's writing to Christians and he's saying there are Christians who think they know stuff but their attitude stinks and that proves that their wisdom does not come from God but it comes from below now what does he mean by below well he's going to tell us this wisdom does not descend from above but is earthly so it's of this world it's not from heaven but it's this world's knowledge and this world has lots of knowledge say we can put a man on the moon and we have a spaceship that's riding way beyond the stars right now you know we know a lot of stuff we're very clever we're very intelligent very wise that's earthly wisdom but it doesn't it doesn't make me more like Jesus so it is earthly it is sensual now we have a problem here with a word because we understand that word in a sexual way that's not what he is meaning he's meaning sensual in the sense that it is based on the senses but what I see what I hear what I taste what I smell what I feel so it is it is natural natural wisdom wisdom that I acquire through my senses so how else do I get wisdom how do I get to know the Word of God by reading or in Jerry's case by listening to the Word of God through my senses but you can see that he's now saying there's another source another way of getting wisdom other than through my senses and obviously this is where many of our friends will will leave us now what is that other source through the spirit now please understand and for those who are listening to the tape and think that I'm now saying you know that we can acquire knowledge that is outside of the scriptures we're not talking about that at all but we need spiritual knowledge as the Spirit of God takes the Word of God and does a spiritual work and teaches me spiritual truths and writes his Word upon my heart I will write my laws on their minds right on their hearts it's one thing to know the law the Jews the Pharisees knew they had the law of God written on their minds somebody in these last couple of days spoke about the education of the Pharisees but they didn't have it written on their hearts how do I get it from my mind to my heart through the Spirit it has to be a work of God through the Spirit there is no study method that I can give you that I have ever discovered that if you apply this study method you'll get the Word written upon your heart it's only God by his Spirit as I submit to him that takes his Word and writes it upon my heart that is when it begins to change who I am not just change what I know but changes who I am and so it is not central but this earthly wisdom essential and it is ultimately demonic now if I just think about this he's writing to Christians and Christians who say we know stuff but he says your attitude proves that you don't know in good American you don't know nothing because your knowledge came from the devil and we say well will the devil teach me Bible knowledge you be you forget you you want to bet he teaches us Bible knowledge he has the world seminaries filled with men who are filled with Bible knowledge the devil is not afraid to teach us Bible knowledge but he's afraid to have us become like Jesus he's afraid when that knowledge begins to impact my heart and my life and so how does the devil teach us because our information is coming through the senses it is earthly sensual and who controls when I get through my senses not God the devil controls what comes through my senses you say well what is that how does that work well just think about it in the average week how much time do you spend in the Word of God how much time do you spend in the presence of God what it what ratio is that in comparison to the time that you are out there doing your job just doing the stuff in the world it's a very small percentage and all the time I'm in the world of the devil is teaching me he's teaching me through the things I see through the things I hear primarily those two things through the television through the internet through the billboards through the newspaper through what people are saying through what people are doing around me the devil is constantly teaching me teaching me teaching me there it's wisdom now the other wisdom sorry verse 16 for where envy and self-seeking exist confusion and every evil thing are there but this is this is terrible stuff and we look at them we say well you know this this really is yeah how do you how can you connect this with Christians but we know this is what Christians do and we say well you know no you know that's the Christians don't do that well remember the Corinthians confusion every evil thing simple says that the world doesn't even get involved in Christians and if the Corinthians did that are we any better than they are having been around a few churches I've seen just as bad or worse stuff than the Corinthians where does it come from because we think we know but the wisdom is not from a guy from a verse 17 but the wisdom that is from above now if I look at this the wisdom that is from above is first pure it is uncontaminated it is not contaminated by human wisdom is not contaminated by the devil it is pure now just think about that and and I really need to move on but I want to stop here for one moment every bottle of water that you buy professes to be pure tap water now how do you how do you get it pure well you really got to find a good source to begin with and then you have to have a clean conduit between the source and the bottle I mean that's just putting it simply if anything is if the source is contaminated you're not going to have if the conduit of the pipe that is coming in is not clean it's going to be contaminated the wisdom from above is pure now if it is coming through my senses is it going to be pure no it's going to be contaminated because I'm human and I have human stuff that gets in the way if it comes directly through my mind it's going to be contaminated if it comes through any human source if it comes through the preacher it has a level of contamination to it so the only way that it's going to be pure is if it comes directly from the source into my heart and I'm not the source and I'm sorry none of the pastors here are the source Jesus Christ alone is that source and so you need a direct connection to Jesus Christ and I'm not minimizing the importance of preachers we spoke about that earlier in the conference but unless you have a direct connection with Jesus Christ and you're learning from him not learning him but learning him and he is pouring himself into you it's not going to be pure and so the wisdom that is from above is first pure then peaceable it makes peace now we spoke this afternoon about some people in discernment ministries and for the sake of the tape we're not meaning everyone who's in discernment ministries but many people who are involved in discernment ministries are known for their aggressive fighting spirit they love fights but what does he say true wisdom is peaceable think about it gentle willing to heal oh no but we got to stand defend the faith willing to heal full of mercy and good fruits now just look at these two individuals who would you want to be associated with who do you want to eat from who do you want ministering to you whose fellowship do you want the one who is self-seeking envious confused full of evil stuff or the one who is pure peaceable gentle willing to healed full of mercy and good fruits without partiality and without hypocrisy now we can we can and I and I and and I literally could preach a whole sermon on each one of those and so can any of the other preachers here study those things at home what's the bottom line here and I'm not near near done I'm not making any promises true wisdom results in a change in attitude plain English true wisdom results and a change in attitude and folk here's the bottom line this this is the test I apply because that's the Bible's test I get to make contact with many people on the internet in discussions and meetings and different things and many people feel the need to impress me about how much they know and I don't I'm not interested in what they'd say I'm not listening to what they're saying I'm looking at their attitude I'm looking at their spirit and that's the measure that's all I'm interested in I'm not interested in how many degrees you may have I want to see an attitude that reflects Jesus Christ and folk here's the problem if our knowledge of our teaching is not resulting in a changed attitude we're teaching the wrong stuff we're learning the wrong stuff because it is not doing what true wisdom is supposed to do now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace now just connect that with what we were saying this afternoon concerning the local church and how we function in that local church and those who say that division must come and that we must bring the sword and we must clean the house of God and get rid of that which is you know and and you remember the appeal of some of the pastors that we must have peace in the local church this is true wisdom now again I need to bring the balance we're not saying peace at every cost but we must have peace because people have been transformed by the message of the gospel and this is the power of the gospel the power of the gospel does not just lie in this ability to forgive my sins and to get me to heaven because Paul says in Romans 1 I'm not ashamed of the gospel because there's a power of God and to salvation to everyone who believes you first then they'll suggest to the Greek but where does the real power of God lie in the gospel it lies in its ability to change the unchangeable to change the alcoholic into somebody who is sober to change the sinner into a saint and to change the very personality of those who have surrendered to Christ no philosophy in this world no book no self-help program can change who you essentially are but the gospel can and no knowledge is going to do that either it's the gospel of Jesus Christ as it's applied to our hearts and lives supernaturally begins to change and transform us and from one level of glory to another praise God so true knowledge and I'm not going to have about six more scriptures I'm just going to go through them quickly we're not going to go to them to save time true knowledge reveals Christ where Malcolm referred to John chapter 5 you search the scriptures because in them you think you have eternal life there's little difference between the Pharisees and most many Christians today the Pharisees thought by knowing the Bible they will have eternal life and they knew the Bible they knew it back to front they could quote it verse by not even they didn't have verses they didn't need verses because you just needed to quote a part of the verse and they would instantly know the context they would know the rest of the verse they could quote the whole the whole book for you just based on three words that you gave them but they missed Jesus Christ and so all of their knowledge was no good you search the scriptures because in them you think you have eternal life and it is they that speak of me and as our brother Malcolm so so well illustrated this morning that is the message the message is not about knowing stuff it's about knowing Jesus true knowledge is powerfully transforming Ephesians chapter 1 verse 17 this is this is a complex verse because the context is very long and you have to read a lot of verses to get the the context but let me read the verse for you quickly Ephesians chapter 1 and verse 17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ the Father of glory may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him well I mean that's a mouthful on its own now the point is and and really without analyzing the whole section the eyes of you understanding me enlightened he may know as I hope of his calling the bottom line is I'm praying that you get to know that you get to understand that you get that the light will go on about the transforming power of God in your life the transforming power of God in your life and if that is not what we are knowing again it is it is useless knowledge so true knowledge reveals Christ true knowledge reveals the transforming power of God in our lives and Paul says I'm desperately praying for you Ephesians that you get this that you understand that the same power that raised Christ from the dead is the power that is working within us to change us into the image of the risen Christ Philippians chapter 3 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings Paul says and remember Paul had all the knowledge from the human point of view but he says the knowledge that I need is that I may know him that I may know his sufferings and through that I may be made conformable to him in his death now remember where we started the cross that I may know him Paul says that his cross may become my cross that his death becomes my death and again not in a forensic theological way but in a practical real way that I will die to self then I might also be partaker of his resurrection but there is no the stained-glass at the back there is no crown without the cross there is no resurrection without death and Paul says I want to taste that death I want to I want that knowledge that to become real in my life that the resurrection may just become may become equally real and I'm just rushing through Colossians chapter 1 and verse 9 for this reason we also since the day we heard it do not cease to pray for you to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding now there's another whole message knowing his will Sarah spoke earlier about people and all of us have that experience when we preach in other places brother has God got a word for you what is God's will for me well he wants me to know his will what is God's will for me that I be conformed to the image of his son that is God's will for me and that is God's will for every one of us here and we so concerned about God's will for me about who I should marry what car I should buy where what city I should live in but there's only one thing that matters there's only one will that God is concerned about in my life and that is that I become like Jesus and if I don't get that if I haven't learned that I've learned nothing this closes to Peter chapter 1 and my conclusion takes about half an hour but also for this very reason to Peter 1 5 for also for this very reason giving all diligence add to your faith virtue to virtue knowledge to knowledge self-control to perseverance to perseverance godliness to godliness brotherly kindness to brotherly kindness love now again each one of those things is a study on its own but verse 8 for if these things are yours and abound you will neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ so Paul is saying there's a real possibility that I may know Jesus Christ but that knowledge is barren it is unfruitful it produces nothing and that's a real problem so I've got the right knowledge I know Jesus but it's not producing anything so how do I get to a point where my knowledge is not unfruitful or barren now we've spoken about the work of the spirit so all I need to do is I need to sit back and God's going to do a work in my life so I'm waiting for God to do a work in my life what does Peter say giving all diligence those in Sun Valley know that I like that word because it's only used in one context the context of work you don't use diligence in the context of sleep or of vacationing you only use it about work so giving all diligence working hard oh now we're down to a works salvation now I'm not going to explain that because I know that some people listening to the tape are going to say he's into works it's not me it's Peter and he says giving all diligence work hard to add to your faith not God adding to your faith you adding to your faith and so true wisdom allows God to begin to write his word upon my heart to change my will that I might do the things that are necessary to obey his will and be conformed to the image of his son you see this is this is not a this is not an osmosis process this is not a thing where I can plug into the Bible somehow and somehow supernaturally miraculously I'm going to wake up the next morning and I'm going to be like Jesus like those learning systems so if I take the Bible and I play the tape all night tomorrow morning and wake up I know the Bible doesn't work that way and there's no miraculous thing in this sense there is a miraculous work of God but there is the responsibility that I have of adding to my faith these things it's back to works and so if I trust you get the picture it's not how much we know it's not how much we study it's not how much we how much we teach it's how much we do it's how much our attitude has changed it's how much we are more like Jesus Christ and that's going to be the test that's the only thing that he is concerned about God is not concerned primarily about how much we know he's not concerned about how much we've done he has one object and one purpose and one goal for every single one of us and that is that we become like Jesus because nothing that we do is good for him is good enough for him he's somewhat like some earthly fathers that doesn't matter what you do it's enough and it's not because his standards are unrealistic it's just because we're we really are just that bad but we don't want to face that but there's only one who this is my beloved son in whom I'm well pleased here he him we've heard that again this morning and the only way I'm ever going to please him is when I become like Jesus when I do like Jesus when I think like Jesus when I react and respond like Jesus and that's the only thing that matters knowledge is a tool or is a avenue in this process but it is not a goal or an end in itself and that's what we need to be careful of doesn't matter how much we know and for at the end of my ministry when God takes me home the question is not going to be how much information I've imparted to people the question is how much I've been able to teach men to observe all things that he commanded amen father we thank you for your word we thank you for this day lord we're tired it's late and lord we we've heard many many things but lord we pray that by your spirit you would write the essential things upon our hearts as we go from one another now and we go to rest lord we pray that even during this night again lord you would you would write those things upon our hearts that are important and lord as we come together again tomorrow morning lord we would have a a clearer that all of the all of the stuff that we've heard and and the many uh the information overload as it were of this day that all of that will somehow miraculously by your spirit be sorted out and lord that we would retain the essential message that you have for us through everything you've said to us through the various ministries today lord we pray that you give us a good night's rest we pray for our brothers sisters who travel back to devour we pray for your protection upon them as they travel that that way and for the rest of and for all of us lord give us a good night's rest give us peace but above all lord give us a determination that we may get our priority straight and lord we pray that you'd get that you'd forgive us that for for our pride because we feel that we're superior to others because we know more than others but lord that we make may have true wisdom which is from above the wisdom from god that is life-changing and transforming we ask that these things may be real to us in jesus name we pray amen