KNOWLEDGE!

KNOWLEDGE!

2 Peter 1:2-9

2 Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord,

3 According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:

4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

5 And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;

6 And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;

7 And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.

8 For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

9 But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.

          Tonight begins a series of graduations in our community. We begin with the eighth grade graduation which propels the student into that murky but longed-for world of high school. Then there is high school commencement at the “big” high school in town which is followed on Saturday afternoon by the commencement of a smaller rural school. Additionally, there is a piano recital on Saturday night which, I guess, is another kind of graduation. All these will reward knowledge and proficiency in some field of study. The word knowledge, in our scripture portion today, is found five times! It is translated from the Greek word epignosis which means “recognition; full discernment.”  

          Knowledge strictly is the apprehension by the mind of some fact or truth in accordance with its real nature. The highest knowledge attainable is the knowledge of God! He has made Himself known to man so that man is without excuse when he does not know God. The lessons have been made so easy that the man who does not know God has failed the course!

Rom 1:19-20

19 Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them.

20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:

          The key to moral and spiritual knowledge is a desire to know and to apply. We do not lack a volume of material to study because it is abundantly provided. We do, however, often lack the desire and motivation to know and do that which is right.

John 7:17 AMPLIFIED

17 If any man desires to do His will (God's pleasure), he will know (have the needed illumination to recognize, and can tell for himself) whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking from Myself and of My own accord and on My own authority.

I keep six honest serving men

(They taught me all I knew);

Their names are What and Why and When

And How and Where and Who.

Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936)

Dear Lord, let me apply myself to know you. AMEN