Knowledge.
Joh_8:32 And
ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
Knowing the truth-
having knowledge of the truth is what frees us.
When we choose NOT
to know the truth we are asking to be blind and in turn asking to be captive.
2Pe 1:8 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.
2Pe 1:9 But he
that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten
that he was purged from his old sins.
2Co 4:3 But if
our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:
2Co 4:4 In
whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not,
lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God,
should shine unto them.
2Co 4:5 For we
preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants
for Jesus' sake.
WE can choose to be
SPIRITUALLY blind, make no mistake.
Being spiritually blind isn't just for those who have never known the
truth, or have no desire to know the truth, it is also for any Christ follower
who chooses at any moment in their walk with Christ to deny truth that the
Spirit is trying to impart to them.
Truth not deception,
no matter what! This is what our desire should be. All by the grace and mercy
of our Lord and Savior, Christ Jesus! Now and forever!
(Excerpt--)
'It is possible for
a consecrated Christian to be deceived into passivity for some years without
ever
awakening to his
dangerous plight. The degree of inactivity will increase in scope until he
suffers
unspeakable pain in
mind, emotion, body and environment. To present the true meaning of
consecration to these ones thus becomes vitally important. The knowledge of
truth is absolutely necessary for deliverance from passivity, without which
freedom is impossible. We know that a believer falls into passivity through
deception but this latter in turn is caused by a lack of knowledge.
The Knowledge of
Truth
The very first step
to freedom is to know the truth of all things: truth concerning cooperation
with God, the operation of evil spirits, consecration, and supernatural
manifestations.
The child of God
must know the truth as to the source and nature of the experiences he may have
been having if he expects to be delivered. Since his descent was (1) deception,
(2) passivity, (3) entrenchment, and (4) further deception and passivity, then
the way to release will be initially the
uncovering of
deception. Once the early deceit is dissolved, passivity, entrenchment and
further deceit will disintegrate. Deception unlatches the gate for the evil
spirits to rush in; passivity provides a place for them to stay; and the result
of these two is entrenchment. To dispossess them requires an ending of
passivity which in turn needs the exposure of deception, and this is brought
about by nothing else save the knowledge of truth. Knowledge of truth is
therefore the first stage towards freedom. Only the truth can set people free.
We have cautioned
our readers repeatedly about the danger of supernatural experience. We are not
suggesting that every such manifestation must be categorically resisted,
forsaken and opposed:
this would be at
variance with Biblical teaching since the Scriptures record numerous
supernatural acts of God. Our purpose simply has been to remind Christians that
there can be more than one source
behind supernatural
phenomena; God can perform wonders, but so can evil spirits imitate! How
crucial for us to distinguish what is of God from what is not of God. If one
has not died to his emotional life
but earnestly seeks
sensational events, he will be easily duped. We do not urge people to resist
all supernatural manifestations, but we do exhort them to resist every
supernatural occurrence which derives from Satan. So what we have tried to
point out throughout this Part of the book has been the basic differences
between the operation of the Holy Spirit and that of the evil spirit so as to
help God’s children discern which is which.
It can be stated
that present day Christians are particularly susceptible to trickery in
supernatural matters. Our earnest hope is that in their contact with
supernatural phenomena they shall first
undertake the task
of discriminating lest they be beguiled. They must not overlook the fact that
when the supernatural experience is authored by the Holy Spirit they are still
able to engage their own mind; it is not required that they be totally or partially
passive before they obtain such an experience. And afterwards too they are
still able to exercise their conscience freely to distinguish good and evil
without the least
inhibition. But should the experience be authored by the evil spirit, then the
victims must settle into passivity, their mind be blank, and their every action
be performed under outside
compulsion. Such is
the essential difference.
The Apostle Paul
mentions in 1 Corinthians 14 various spiritual gifts among which are
revelation, prophecy, tongues and other supernatural manifestations. He
acknowledges these gifts as flowing from the Holy Spirit, yet he defines the
nature of these God-given gifts in these words: “the spirits of prophets are
subject to prophets” (v.32). If what the prophets (believers) receive is from
the Holy Spirit, then the spirits they receive will be subject to them. This
means that the Holy Spirit Who bestows diverse supernatural experiences upon
men will not infringe on their rights by manipulating any part of their bodies
against their wills. They continue to retain the power of self-control. Only
that spirit which is subject to the prophet or believer is from God; any spirit
which demands the prophet to be subject to it is not from God. Although we
should not oppose all supernatural elements, we nonetheless should judge
whether these supernatural spirits require a man’s passive subjection or not.
The workings of the Holy Spirit and those of the evil spirit are fundamentally
opposite: the Former wishes men to be sovereignly free; the latter requires him
to be altogether passive. The believer should judge his experience by this
criterion. Learning whether he has been passive or not can be the solution to
all his problems.
Should the child of
God desire freedom his folly must be removed. In other words, he must know the
truth. He needs to appreciate the real nature of affairs. Satanic lies bind,
but God’s truth unshackles. Naturally the knowledge of truth is going to be costly,
for it will shatter the vainglory one has assumed due to his past experiences.
He looks upon himself as far more advanced than others, as being spiritual and
infallible. How hard hit he will be if he confesses the possibility of his
being invaded or if he is shown to have been so invaded! Unless God’s child
sincerely adheres to all the truth of God, it becomes very rough for him to
accept this kind of painful and humiliating truth. One encounters no difficulty
in
accepting that truth
which is agreeable; but it is not easy at all to take in a truth which blasts
one’s ego. To acknowledge himself as liable to deception is relatively easy;
whereas to confess that he is entrenched by the enemy already is most difficult.
May God be gracious, for even after a person has known the truth he may yet
resist it. The acceptance of truth is thus the first step to salvation. The
child of God must be
willing to know all the truth concerning himself. This requires humility and
sincerity. Therefore let him who vehemently opposes such truth beware lest
unknowingly he actually
be enslaved.
The roads to truth
are many and various. Some are awakened to their true state upon discovering
that they have lost their liberty in all respects through their protracted and
serious satanic bondage; others
whose experiences
may be ninety per cent of God and only ten percent impurity come to know the
truth when they begin to doubt their experience; still others are brought to a
knowledge of their condition through the truth given them by other believers.
In any event, the Christian should not refuse the first ray of light which
shines upon him.'
Excerpt- The
Spiritual Man - by Watchman Nee
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