Will you please turn to the Gospel according to John, John 17, verse 3?
And this is eternal life, that they should know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, Whom Thou hast sent.
Philippians 3, verse 8:
But surely I count also all things to be loss on account of the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord; on account of Whom I have suffered the loss of all, and count them to be filth, that I may gain Christ,
and that I may be found in Him, not having my righteousness, which would be on the principle of law, but that which is by faith of Christ—the righteousness which is of God through faith—
to know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if in any way I arrive at the out-resurrection from among the dead.
Not that I have already obtained the prize, or am already perfected; but I pursue, if also I may get possession of it, seeing that also I have been taken possession of by Christ Jesus.
Brethren, I do not count to have got possession myself; but one thing: forgetting the things behind, and stretching out to the things before, I pursue, looking towards the goal, for the prize of the calling on high of God in Christ Jesus.
As many, therefore, as are perfect, let us be thus minded; and if ye are any otherwise minded, this also God shall reveal to you. Nevertheless, whereto we have attained, let us walk in the same steps.
And finally, Colossians 1, verses 9 through 12:
For this reason we also, from the day we heard of your faith and love, do not cease praying and asking for you, to the end that you may be filled with the full knowledge of His will, in all wisdom and spiritual understanding,
so as to walk worthily of the Lord, unto all well-pleasing, bearing fruit in every good work, and growing by the true knowledge of God;
strengthened with all power, according to the might of His glory, unto all endurance and longsuffering with joy;
giving thanks to the Father, Who has made us fit for sharing the portion of the saints in light.
Last night we mentioned that Paul is a vessel of choice to God. And, in a general way, every believer is a vessel of choice to God. God has chosen us to be a vessel, and as a vessel, we are to contain Him and also to be used by Him for His glory.
As the apostle Paul was chosen by God, he responded with faithfulness, with faith, and with love, and thus he fulfilled the purpose of God’s choice. In a like manner, it is essential for us, who are called by God and chosen by God, that we too will respond with faith, love, and faithfulness, that we also may fulfill the purpose of His choice.
We find in the life of the apostle Paul that there are three areas which seem to stand out. The first is the life area. In other words, he is a person who knows what life is not and what life is. He is a person who grows in life. He knows life abundantly. He knows not only an exchanged life but also a transformed life. He knows a life that pours out, that imparts life to other people. He is a vessel of life.
Outside of Christ, there is no life. Life is in Christ, and life is Christ. So, dear brothers and sisters, how do we know whether we are in life, or whether we are in something that we think is life?
It is very easy to discern. If it is Christ, it is life. If it is not Christ, even if it is the best of ourselves, it is not life. Actually, it is death.
But I think this is a lesson that takes time to learn. Even though we have received life in Christ Jesus, yet we do not really appreciate that life. In a sense, we are trying to live by Christ through the old life that we have. It is not until we have failed enough to realize the futility, the weakness, and the impossibility of our own life—which is death itself—that we are willing to give up our own life and take Him, Christ, as our life.
When we do that, we find an utter difference. This is the reason why Hudson Taylor said that there is not a change like the exchanged life. It is not that our old life is gradually changed to be better, to be totally like Christ. Actually, it is an exchanged life. We find that it is Christ coming to be our life.
In this school of learning what life is and of growing in life, it is really a lifelong education. How we need to see more and more what is not life and what is life; what is ourselves and what is Christ; what is of the Spirit and what is of the flesh.
We need not only to learn the meaning of the cross, working in us to cut off that which is ourselves and not Christ, but we also need to learn what resurrection is—the other side of the cross. We see the power of His resurrection, but even that, you know, is not for ourselves. It is for the sake of the Body of Christ, that we may fill up the afflictions of Christ for the sake of His Body, as Paul says.
So there are many lessons that we need to learn concerning this matter of life. But let us remember just one thing: as a vessel of choice, life is the first thing that we need to learn.
Now this evening, we would like to enter into the second area, or aspect, and that is the knowledge aspect.
Now, no doubt, Saul of Tarsus was an intellectual genius. He was born and reared first in Tarsus, a Roman city, and because of this, he was exposed to Greek culture at that time.
Greek culture at that time was the culture of the Roman Empire. Even though the Roman Empire was stronger in military power, yet so far as culture was concerned, the Romans were much more inferior to the Greeks. The result was that they adopted Greek culture as their culture.
So, growing up in that Roman city, he was exposed to all that Greek culture offered. In a sense, he was so familiar with Greek culture that he could very easily quote Greek poets, very quickly and very easily.
You find, for instance, in Acts 17, when he was in Athens, he quoted the Greek poet. He said, “In Him”—that is, in God—“we live and move and have our being.”
And also, you remember in the book of Titus, he quoted even a Greek prophet. He said, “Cretans are always liars, evil wild beasts, lazy gluttons.” So, in a sense, you find Paul was very familiar with Greek culture. He was very familiar with the philosophy and poetry of his age.
Then, of course, he was brought to Jerusalem quite early in his life. As we mentioned before, he sat under the feet of Gamaliel. Gamaliel was, at that time, the greatest teacher, and Paul had the privilege of sitting under his feet.
Paul was such a young man, such a person, who could absorb so quickly. So, in a sense, you find that he absorbed all the best that Judaism could offer. He was familiar with all the traditions of the fathers. As a matter of fact, he was completely sold to the traditions of the fathers. He was a Pharisee, a true Pharisee.
He tried to serve God according to the best of his knowledge. He was a knowledgeable person. He knew Greek culture. He knew Hebrew culture.
And yet, all the knowledge that he accumulated up to the time he met the Lord Jesus did not bring him light. It made him an intolerant, religious fanatic.
Instead of using his knowledge to serve God, which he thought he did, he actually did God a great disservice. He did not know that he was opposing God. He was tearing down what God intended to build up. He was in total ignorance—honest, sincere ignorance. That was what knowledge gave him: the knowledge that he absorbed both from the Hebrews and from the Greeks.
He was in darkness. He thought he was walking in light, yet he walked in darkness. If he had continued to walk according to the knowledge that he had, it would have led him to destruction.
But thank God, God allowed him to go so far and no more. He was on his way to Damascus to seize the followers of the Way—that is, of Jesus. But before he entered into the city, at noontime a light shone upon him, brighter than the noonday sun. He was smitten by that light to the ground, and for the first time he came to the knowledge of God—the living knowledge of God.
Now, Saul was not an irreligious person. He was not an atheist, not even an agnostic. He was very religious, very pious, intensely religious, very zealous. Yet he did not know God.
All the knowledge that he had about God came from the teaching of man. He learned God from man. He knew a lot about God, but he misunderstood God completely. He had never met God before.
For the first time, the risen Lord appeared to him. He came to the living knowledge of God. Therefore, you find in Galatians 1 that he said, “It pleased God to reveal His Son in me.” God revealed His Son in that man, and with this revelation, for the first time, he received the true knowledge of God.
But of course, even though he knew God in a way, he did not know God that well. You know, if you go back to Acts 9, that was when he was met by the Lord on the road to Damascus. You remember, he said, “Lord, who art Thou?” The Lord appeared to him, and yet he did not know Who He was. It showed his ignorance.
The Lord said, “I am Jesus, Whom thou persecutest.” He went into the city of Damascus, and Ananias came and opened his blind eyes. He was told that he was a vessel of choice to God, that he was to stand before kings, the nations, and Israel, and that he would suffer much for the sake of Christ.
He began to have fellowship with the believers, with the disciples in Damascus. Now, if you read Acts 9, say verse 21, you will find that he went in and out with the disciples, and there he testified. He witnessed for the Lord, and he told people that Jesus is indeed the Son of God.
In other words, his knowledge of Jesus was limited to knowing Jesus as the Son of God. Oh, what an estimate of his knowledge! But that was what he knew. So he testified that Jesus is the Son of God. Probably that was about all that he knew—very vital, but very limited.
Then, in Galatians 1, we are told that he said, “I went to Arabia.” Instead of going to Jerusalem to seek the advice of all the apostles there, he went to Arabia.
He had had enough of the teaching of men. Up to that point, he had been taught by men, and he was filled with the teachings of men. The teachings of men had led him so astray from God. Now, for the first time, he really came to know God.
So, not in any sense of being proud, but because he had learned his lesson, instead of rushing to Jerusalem and trying to learn more of God through the apostles—though no doubt he would learn a lot—he said, “I went to Arabia.”
Now, we really do not know where Arabia was. Different commentators give different interpretations. Some people think that he actually went to Mount Sinai, to the very place where the law was given.
The reason why he went there was that, as a Pharisee, he knew the sacred letters by heart. These Pharisees and scribes could quote Scripture out of their memory. They did not need to have a concordance. Even a verse in the so-called Minor Prophets, they remembered.
You remember, when Jesus was born, King Herod had the Pharisees and scribes come and said, “Where should Christ be born?” They did not say, “Wait a minute. Let us go back home and search the Scriptures, look up the concordance, and try to find out.” No, they answered right away. Isn’t that right?
So, as a Pharisee, he was so familiar with the Old Testament—the oracles of God. He was familiar not only with the letters but also with all the commentaries, all the interpretations of the rabbis generation after generation, called the traditions of the fathers. He was familiar with all these things.
But with all these things, he read the Scripture wrongly. He had to go back to Arabia, I believe, to be with the Lord, away from man, and to read the Scripture in the new light that he received: the light of Christ Jesus, the Son of God.
You know, you really do not know the Bible if you do not read it in the light of Christ Jesus. There is no way. That was the way Saul had learned the Bible, and for that reason he completely misunderstood and misapplied the Bible.
So, for this reason, he had to go to Arabia. He had to sit before God, to be taught by the Holy Spirit, to reread the Old Testament in the light of Christ Jesus. It took him approximately three years to do that.
When he came back, he was different. When we read the book of Acts, we actually do not know the time factor. You get a little chronological order, and yet the time factor is not that clear.
For instance, in Acts 9, between verse 21 and verse 22, there were about three years. You do not see it in the book of Acts. You may think that Saul never left Damascus, but actually he did. He left Damascus and spent about three years in the desert.
But he came back to Damascus, and when he came back, you find that his preaching was different—no, improved. In verse 22, you find that he testified strongly that Jesus is the Christ.
He could back it up with all the Old Testament prophecies. He had read the Old Testament in the light of Jesus. It was a different story.
It was not until then that he went to Jerusalem. He went to Jerusalem not with a sense of depending upon the apostles who were before him to teach him, but with a sense, first, of fellowship and, second, of confirmation. Now, that is what we all need.
Not because the Lord has taught us directly, therefore, do we not need to have fellowship with other people who are equally taught by the Lord. Sometimes we make the same mistake. We either go to one extreme or the other.
When we come to know the Lord, instead of trying to know more of Him by His Spirit, we depend upon human beings—those who are before us—to teach us everything about the Lord Jesus. In other words, we depend upon man to teach us everything about the Lord Jesus.
We forget that we have One Who is within us, the anointing, Who will teach us about the Lord Jesus in a most intimate way. But we neglect that, and we go to man and ask men to teach us. Now, that is one extreme.
But we can go to the other extreme. In the other extreme, we do not want to have anything to do with man. “The Lord is able to teach me, so let the Lord teach me, and I do not care how the Lord teaches you.”
If we do that, we will become very limited and unbalanced. The Lord may teach you, but your capacity is limited. You will become unbalanced.
You need fellowship. You need to share with your brothers and sisters what the Lord has taught you, and to receive from your brothers and sisters what the Lord has taught them. That is the way that we may be rich in the knowledge of God.
Not only that, we need confirmation. Knowing ourselves, we are not infallible. We may be mistaken. It is not that the Holy Spirit will teach us wrongly, but we may misunderstand the Holy Spirit. Because of this, we need confirmation.
The problem today is that whenever a person receives something from the Lord, he begins to teach it without receiving any confirmation from his fellow servants of the Lord. I think it is a safeguard: if any servant of the Lord receives something that he considers new from the Lord, it is better to have it confirmed with other servants of the Lord before you go out and teach it.
I think the problem today is that we are all loners. We are so independent. We should not depend upon men; we should depend upon the Lord. That is true. But there is an interrelatedness that has to be maintained.
Here you find the apostle Paul. Even though he had been three years before the Lord, and was taught much by the Lord Himself, yet he felt the need of going to Jerusalem, having fellowship, and being confirmed.
But he was a little bit too hot. So finally the brethren sent him away, back to Tarsus. The churches in Judea heard about him: the one who persecuted them had now become a preacher of the gospel. For that, they glorified God, but they did not know him because he was sent to Tarsus in Cilicia. We do not know how long he stayed there.
Not until Barnabas found him and brought him to Antioch.
So, as you look into the life of Paul, you will find there is a very clear line of demarcation. Before he met the Lord, he had certain knowledge, but that knowledge came from this world. Even religious knowledge was death.
But after he met the Lord, from that day onwards, you find that it was a different kind of knowledge. This knowledge continued to grow in him. He was a person who knew the Lord so well, so much. Because he knew the Lord so well and so much, he was able to share with the saints all that God had given to him.
So, brothers and sisters, this is what we need to have. We need to have a living knowledge of God—a spiritual knowledge.
First of all, I would like us to see the nature of living spiritual knowledge. This knowledge that we are talking about is not physical knowledge: knowledge of the physical world, scientific knowledge, technological knowledge—not that kind of knowledge.
Nor is it what we would call moral, rational knowledge—ethics. That is the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Now, I often think that the tree of the knowledge of good and evil is the highest knowledge in the world, except for the knowledge of life. Sometimes we think that the tree of the knowledge of good and evil is a very bad tree. But, as a matter of fact, in the garden of Eden, all the trees are good.
The knowledge of good and evil is a better tree, but the tree of life is the best tree. All the trees are food for the physical body. The knowledge of good and evil is food for the soul, and the tree of life is food for the spirit.
So the knowledge of good and evil is not a bad tree at all. It is the knowledge of good and evil. It is rational knowledge. It is knowledge of what is good and what is bad. It is moral knowledge, and it is much higher than any scientific or technological knowledge.
But that knowledge, if it stands by itself, brings death. Why? Because you know what is right and do not do it. You know what is wrong, but you do it. So you are condemned by that knowledge. Instead of being commended, you will be condemned by that knowledge.
So the Lord said, “In the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die.” It is only to know God, the only true God, and to know the One Whom He has sent—that is eternal life.
So what is this living spiritual knowledge? You find Paul in Philippians 3 saying:
But surely I count all things to be loss on account of the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord.
He counted all things as loss. He counted his knowledge of Greek culture, his knowledge of the traditions of the Jewish fathers, and his knowledge of the old covenant—all this knowledge—as loss. Why? Because these things seemed to stand in the way of his knowing Christ Jesus.
So he said, “I count all these things as loss on account of the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord.” For the sake of knowing the Lord Jesus, he was willing to let all these things go, that he might gain Christ.
It is the knowledge of God. In Ephesians 1, you remember Paul prayed for the Ephesian believers. He said, in verse 17:
That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, would give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full knowledge of Him.
Notice, it is not just knowledge of Him. We need to know God, but Paul said, “in the full knowledge of Him”—epignosis, full knowledge of God.
The full knowledge of God is actually related to the eternal purpose of God. We must not only know God; we must also know what is in the mind of God, what it is that God has set His heart upon, that we may really know Him fully.
Then, in Colossians 2, verse 2, he says:
To the end that their hearts may be encouraged, being united together in love, and unto all riches of full assurance of understanding, for the full knowledge of the mystery of God.
The full knowledge of the mystery of God, in which are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. It is not just a matter of the knowledge of God—knowing God.
Thank God, we all know Him. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” We know Him.
But Paul is trying to say that this is not enough. We need to have the full knowledge of God, the full knowledge of the mystery of God. Mystery simply means the secret of God—what is hidden, that waits to be revealed. In that, we find all the wisdom and all the knowledge there.
If you go on, you find that all the fullness of the Godhead dwells in Christ bodily, and we are complete in Him. In other words, the mystery of God is Christ.
So we know Christ. We confess Him as the Christ, the Son of the living God, because if we do not know Him as the Christ, the Son of the living God, we are not saved.
But do we know that the mystery of God is Christ? Christ is the key to God’s mystery. If you really know Christ, all the mystery of God is open to you. All the fullness of the Godhead dwells in Him bodily, substantially, solidly; and you are complete in Him.
Then, in Ephesians 3, Paul says, in verse 3:
That by revelation the mystery has been made known to me, according as I have written before briefly, by which, in reading it, you can understand my intelligence in the mystery of the Christ;
which in other generations has not been made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Paul knew the mystery of the Christ. He said, “You just read what I write, and you know my intelligence in the mystery of the Christ.” Now, what is that?
Of course, we know today that this mystery of Christ, which had been hidden throughout the ages, has now been revealed to us through the holy apostles and prophets. It is none other than the church. The church is the mystery of Christ.
As Christ is the mystery of God, so the church is the mystery of Christ. As Christ is the fullness of God, so the church is the fullness of the Head, Who is Christ.
Paul not only knew the mystery of Christ. If you read Timothy, you find that he knew the mystery of godliness: “Great is the mystery of godliness.” That is to say, great is the mystery of being like God. How can we be like God? In union with Christ. Yes, so we are in Him.
You find that the whole mysteries of God are open to us by the Spirit of wisdom and revelation.
But this kind of knowledge is not speculative. Sometimes we may think, “Well, if you have the full knowledge of God, you know that Christ is the mystery of God, the church is the mystery of Christ, and there is a mystery of godliness.” Well, you may think that is speculative.
Sometimes you talk about these things and think that you are lifted to the third heaven, and your feet are no longer touching the earth. It is not practical anymore. Is that so? Not so.
In Colossians 1, you find that it is very clear. Paul says that you may be filled with the full knowledge of His will, in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, so as to walk worthy of the Lord unto all well-pleasing.
Dear brothers and sisters, knowing the mystery of God does not make you someone who flies to the third heaven. After you have been in the third heaven, you come down to earth, and you walk on earth as it is in heaven. It is most practical.
So that you may walk worthy of the Lord, unto all well-pleasing, bearing fruit in every good work. It does not make you a kind of dreamer, visionary, or talker. It really enables you to bear fruit in every good work.
Growing by the true knowledge of God, strengthened with all power according to the might of His glory, unto all endurance and longsuffering with joy. No doubt, if you really know God and know His mystery, you will suffer for it. But you will be given the power to endure with joy, and even to give thanks to the Father, Who has made you worthy to have a portion with the saints in light.
Then, of course, in Ephesians 3, you find the same thing. It is very, very real and very practical. In chapter 3, verse 16:
In order that He may give you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power by His Spirit in the inner man;
that Christ may dwell through faith in your hearts, being rooted and founded in love;
in order that you may be fully able to apprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and depth and height,
and to know the love of the Christ, which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled even to all the fullness of God.
Now, love is real. The love of Christ will fill you, and as you are filled with the love of Christ, you are filled with the fullness of God. So this knowledge is not speculative. This knowledge is very practical.
It joins heaven and earth together. The problem today is that some Christians live in heaven, and other Christians live on earth. But what we need is on earth as it is in heaven.
This is the kind of knowledge that Paul had. It is spiritual. It is heavenly. But it is practical and very real. It is really knowing God, knowing His will, knowing His heart, being filled by His love, and walking before God and before man.
Now, this is the kind of knowledge that a vessel of choice must have. The more this kind of knowledge you have, the more you will be able to be used by Christ.
The second question is: How is this knowledge imparted? Now, we know that this is the kind of knowledge that God wants to give to us, to fill us with. This is the kind of knowledge that will really help people, that will really build up the Body of Christ. But how do we receive this knowledge? How does God give such knowledge to us?
In 2 Timothy 3, verses 16 and 17:
Every Scripture is divinely inspired, and profitable for teaching, for conviction, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that a man of God may be complete, fully fitted to every good work.
Now, we do thank God for the Holy Scripture. Every Scripture is divinely inspired, or, to put it more literally, every Scripture is God-breathed. God breathed upon it, and here we have the Scripture.
Because it is God-breathed, it is profitable for teaching, for conviction, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that a man of God may be perfect, matured, complete, fully equipped and fitted for every good work.
Of course, our knowledge of God comes from the Scripture. If we do not have the Scripture, how can we know Him? All we know about God and about the Lord Jesus comes through the Scripture. If God does not reveal Himself, how can we know Him?
If the life of Christ had not been recorded by the evangelists, how would we know? We thank God for the Holy Scripture.
Because of this, if we want to know God, the first thing is that we have to store the Word of God richly in our hearts.
The apostle Paul was familiar with the Holy Scripture. Even though in the beginning he misinterpreted it, he was familiar with it. Timothy, from his childhood, was thoroughly familiar with the sacred letters.
Dear brothers and sisters, I do believe that unless we are familiar with the Holy Scripture, unless we store the Word of God richly in our hearts, we cannot expect much revelation.
Why? Because the Word of God is the sword of the Spirit. When the Spirit works, He needs a sword. If you do not have the Word of God richly stored in you, the Holy Spirit does not have a sword to use.
You remember when our Lord Jesus was tempted in the wilderness, how the Holy Spirit had a ready sword. Whenever He was tempted, immediately Scripture came forth. The sword of the Spirit cut down the enemy.
Now, if our Lord had not been familiar with the Scripture and had to go to a concordance, He would have had to carry a large suitcase with Him to the wilderness.
I think one reason why we lack the living knowledge of God is because we are not familiar with the sacred letters. I am afraid our knowledge of God comes by hearing, not by reading. That is not enough.
So the first thing is this: if we really want to have a real knowledge of God, God has already given us the Holy Scripture. He gave it to us that we may read, and read, and read, until we are filled with His Word. That is the first condition.
But of course, the letter kills; the Spirit quickens. Even though you may know the Word by heart, like the scribes and Pharisees, and can quote Scripture by memory, yet it can kill you. It killed them. They had no revelation.
Saul of Tarsus knew the sacred letters by heart, but they killed him because it was all human interpretation. There was no divine revelation.
Now, it is true: there will be no new revelation outside of the Holy Scripture, because the faith has been once delivered to the saints. We have the whole revelation of God in the Bible. If anybody claims that he has a new revelation outside of what the Holy Scripture has already revealed, he is preaching heresy.
But that does not mean that because God has once spoken, He will not speak again. As the book of Hebrews says, God spoke in the past to the fathers in the prophets, in many parts and in many ways; and now, at the end of these days, He speaks to us in His Son.
That is the revelation of God that we find in the Holy Scripture. But that does not mean that because God has once spoken, He will not speak again. He will repeat what He says.
So by revelation today, what we mean by revelation does not mean a new revelation outside of the revelation that God has already given us in the Scripture. It means that God has spoken again with the same Word, but He speaks directly to you now. Now, that is the difference.
In other words, the logos, the written Word, must become rhema, the now-speaking of God. He will speak the same Word, but it is personal; it is to you now.
Unless that kind of revelation comes upon you, this Book is dead to you. It is not rhema to you. But when the Spirit of God begins to breathe again, He not only breathed to form the Word, but He breathes to make the Word living and operative.
Then you have living knowledge of God, and that is what we need. But again, I will go back and say: if you are not familiar with the Word of God, even in its letter, you cannot expect much revelation in spirit.
Because all the speaking of God today is based on what He has spoken to us before. But we need revelation. You can see that Paul’s knowledge of God came from revelation.
No doubt, his first knowledge of God came from revelation on the road to Damascus. There you find that he saw a heavenly vision. From God’s side, it is revelation; on our side, it is seeing. In other words, when God reveals, we see.
When God unveils, then we see in our spirit—not necessarily with our eyes, but we see in our spirit what God has revealed. So, on the road to Damascus, Paul saw the heavenly vision.
Even to the very end, he could testify, “O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision.” That started his knowledge of God.
But as a matter of fact, if you read the Scripture, you will find that every knowledge of God that Paul had came through revelation, not just through study. Now, he had to study, but study alone is not enough. There must be revelation.
When you study the Scripture, you have to rely upon the Spirit of God to illumine the Word to you.
For instance, how did Paul know that there was no good in his flesh? Not because he read a passage somewhere in the Old Testament. Maybe he read a passage that the Holy Spirit does not fall upon the flesh, but it did not come that way.
You find that he came to know that there was no good in his flesh through revelation.
You remember, in 2 Corinthians 12, he said, “Now I come to visions and revelations.” In other words, Paul was the kind of person who had many visions and revelations.
You remember, in Galatians 2, he said, “I went to Jerusalem by revelation.” Even though the church of Antioch sent him to Jerusalem to try to solve that big problem, yet he said, “I went by revelation.” God revealed it to him.
Here was a man whose whole life was lived under vision and revelation—the revelation of the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is a great communicator. We are talking about communication, and the Holy Spirit is the divine Communicator. He is the One Who communicates Christ to us. He is to reveal Him to us. He is to teach us in all things, and whatever He teaches is true and is not a lie.
The revelation of the Holy Spirit is the way that we enter into the living knowledge of God. Thank God, we have the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit dwells in us. He dwells in us not just to be there; He dwells in us fulfilling a mission. The mission is to communicate the knowledge of God to us.
If we only will open ourselves to Him, if we only will listen to Him, then we will find that we will come into a fuller knowledge of God in Christ Jesus. So first of all, let us remember that it has to be by revelation.
Paul knew the mystery of God. He said that God had revealed it to the holy apostles and prophets. It was not something that he dreamed up, speculated about, and made up. He knew the mystery of Christ because God had revealed it to him.
Even in the matter of the Lord’s Supper, when the Lord instituted the supper, Paul was not there. Yet in Corinthians he said, “I delivered to you that which I also received from the Lord.” In other words, there was revelation involved.
Everything in his life, in his walk, in his teaching, in whatever he did or said, you find that he was a person under an open heaven. He was living in the revelation of the Holy Spirit.
So, dear brothers and sisters, this is something that we need to learn, and it is not beyond us, because the Holy Spirit is in us. What we need to do is tune ourselves to Him. We need to listen to Him. We need to sense the moving of the Holy Spirit in us.
We need to obey and follow the light that He has shown us. The more we do that, the more revelation we will receive. The more you will find that He will speak through the Word and make the Word more living and more real to us.
So this is one way that God gives the knowledge of God: by the revelation of the Holy Spirit.
But there is another way, and the other way we call the discipline of the Holy Spirit.
Not only do you find that the Holy Spirit within you reveals Christ to you, shedding light upon the written Word, but you find that the Holy Spirit also disciplines you.
Now, you do not find in the Scripture the term “the discipline of the Holy Spirit.” It is a term that has been made up in order to describe certain things, and that certain thing is real.
In other words, the Holy Spirit will order your life. He will order your environment. He will arrange the things, even the people, that you will encounter in such a way that He may impart to you the living knowledge of God—the experiential knowledge of Christ.
The Holy Spirit is not only within you; the Holy Spirit is around you. He is within you to reveal. He is around you to arrange your life.
In the saints, those who are the Lord’s, and especially those who love the Lord, nothing happens to them by accident. It is all under the control of the Holy Spirit.
The Lord said that not even a hair will fall from your head, because every hair of you is numbered. Not only counted—you know, scientists try to count the number of hairs, not individually but race by race. They say that the Chinese generally have so many hairs and Caucasians have so many hairs. They come to some kind of number.
But that is not what the Scripture means. It is not only the number of hairs, but the hairs are numbered. Every hair of you has a number. In the morning, when you comb your hair, certain numbers fall, and He knows.
That is the loving care of our heavenly Father. Now, if that is true—and it is true—how can anything just come by accident? Impossible.
We believe the Holy Spirit is in control of everything that comes your way, good and bad, with a purpose. The meaning is to impart to you a living, experiential knowledge of Christ. Think of that.
Why is it that He gets you in love with a man or a woman, that you become husband and wife, and later discover that you are so different? The discipline of the Holy Spirit.
To separate both of you? Not at all. To make both of you express Christ. That is the only way to learn Christ. Otherwise, your knowledge of Christ is bookish, mental; it is not real.
Look at Paul. How did he come to know the victory of Christ? He came to know the victory of Christ not by reading a sermon, but by being defeated many times. Romans 7—that is the discipline of the Holy Spirit.
God allowed him to fall again and again and again until he said, “Well, there is no more strength to stand up again.” Then the Lord lifted him up. He knew the victory of Christ through the discipline of the Holy Spirit.
How did Paul know the resurrection life of Christ? In 2 Corinthians 1, he said, “We had the sentence of death upon us.” In Asia, we went through such an experience that we considered ourselves as hopeless. We were dead. There was absolutely no way.
Then he said that we might live, not by our own wisdom, but by His life. How did he know the grace of God?
In 2 Corinthians 12, he said, “A thorn is in my flesh. I prayed God three times for it to be removed, but God said, ‘My grace is sufficient for thee.’” It is the discipline of the Holy Spirit.
How did he know the guidance of the Holy Spirit? When the Spirit of Jesus said, “No. Do not go to Asia. Do not go to Bithynia.” So he went forward, and then a vision came.
Throughout the life of Paul, the way he came into the knowledge that he had was through these two channels: the revelation of the Holy Spirit and the discipline of the Holy Spirit.
Oh, I love 2 Corinthians 4. I quote it very often. “We have the treasure in earthen vessels, that the surpassing greatness of the power may be of God and not of us.” But how?
You are an earthen vessel. You have the treasure in you. Now, the earthen vessel is opaque. The treasure is radiant. But the treasure in the earthen vessel—the radiance cannot be seen. It is hidden by the earthen vessel.
How can the radiance of the treasure be manifested? Here you find Paul saying:
We are pressed on every side, but not straitened;
at a loss, but not utterly without a way;
persecuted, but not forsaken;
cast down, but not destroyed.
How many times we are knocked down! But thank God, we are never knocked out. It is through these things—the dying of Jesus in us—that the life of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal body and in other people. That is the discipline of the Holy Spirit.
You know, in a sense, there is truth in it: people who suffer more seem to go deeper in the knowledge of God. It is because of the discipline of the Holy Spirit.
It is through these two—the discipline of the Holy Spirit from outside and the revelation of the Holy Spirit from inside—that the living knowledge of God is communicated to us.
Sometimes revelation comes first. But always remember: when revelation comes first, you can expect discipline to follow. Sometimes discipline comes first, and then revelation comes. These two things work together.
The Holy Spirit is the Communicator of all the living, experiential knowledge of God. This is the way that we receive the living knowledge.
Finally, why did Paul receive such an abundance of spiritual knowledge, more than we do? Is there any reason for it?
So far as God is concerned, He is impartial. He is just as ready to reveal Christ to you as to Paul. The Holy Spirit is impartial. He is just as ready to discipline you as He disciplined Paul.
But I think the difference is in the vessel. Some vessels seem to be more susceptible to revelation, ready for discipline, while others are not so much. If you look into the life of Paul, I think you can find a few things there. If we can learn from him, it may help us.
Number one: you find Paul had a passion for the knowledge of Christ Jesus. Paul was a man of one passion. He was a man who passionately desired to know Christ. You can almost hear him say, “To know Him.” That is what he wanted: to know Christ.
Now, if we really have that kind of passion for Christ, God will reveal Christ to us.
The problem with us today is this: well, if He lets me know Him, why, if we do not know Him, it does not really matter too much at all. We go to heaven.
Now, if we do not have a passion for Him—or you can use another word, love—we will not seek Him deeply.
If you are familiar with the stories of the so-called Christian mystics, I do not want you to become a mystic. But if you read the stories of these so-called Christian mystics, usually most of them, I would say, are not familiar with the Scripture.
Yet because of that intense love for God, God reveals Himself to them. I think that is one thing you can really get help from in reading the biographies of these mystics. But again, be very careful, because there is a lot of mixture there.
But anyway, you find Paul’s passion for Christ. That matters. With that passion, he was willing to pay any cost to gain Christ.
Not only was he longing for Him, but he was willing to pay any cost. He said, “I count all these as loss because of the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord. I consider everything refuse, nothing, if only I could gain Him.”
Paul did count all things as loss. He did let everything go. Nothing could stand in the way of gaining Christ. If you have that kind of determination within you, no doubt God will reveal Christ to you.
Number three: there was humility in Paul. You know, God resists the proud and gives grace to the humble. If only we are humble before Him, meek and lowly, I believe He will reveal Himself to us more.
Number four: Paul was willing to do the will of God, whatever it might be. Sometimes God does not reveal because He knows you do not really mean business. If it suits you, you will follow; if it does not, you will not.
If this is the situation, certainly He will not give Himself to you. He will not commit Himself to you. In a sense, His commitment to you is measured by your commitment to Him.
Finally, Paul sought such knowledge not for himself, but for the Body of Christ.
If we are selfish and just want to know Him in order that we may be looked up to by people as spiritual, as knowledgeable, as being in the know of things, then He will not reveal much to us.
But if we want to know Him so that we may be able to help other brothers and sisters to know Him, then I believe He will give more of Himself to us.
So I do believe that on our part, it really makes a difference. On God’s part, there is no difference; but on our part, it does make a difference.
So may the Lord help us. If we really want to fulfill our calling as vessels of choice to God, then I do believe that, in this area of knowledge, we have to pay more attention to it.
Our heavenly Father, how we praise and thank Thee that Thou hast called us to be vessels.
This concludes Brother Kong’s ministry on Paul the Chosen Vessel: Knowledge.