Tag Archives: Knowledge

I Know Whom I Have Believed

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I Know WhomAs Paul is giving his final instructions to the young evangelist, Timothy, he writes, “For this reason I also suffer these things; nevertheless I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day” (2 Tim. 1:12 NKJV). Let us notice a few things about this particular verse.

First, Paul says that he knows whom he has believed. Paul does not have any doubt about the God that he serves. From the time that Paul first saw the light on the road to Damascus and spoke to our Lord and Savior, he never turned away. Paul was steadfast in his faith, even with all of the trials he had to endure (2 Cor. 11:23-28). Paul knows God, and we can know God too. He has left us sufficient evidence (Rom. 1:20).

Second, Paul is convinced that God is able to do anything He desires. God is all powerful. He is the God who spoke all of creation into existence (Gen. 1). He is the God who parted the Red Sea for the Israelites to cross on dry ground (Ex. 14:21-22). He is the God who was gracious to Paul by giving him a second chance, when he was persecuting God in his pursuit of Christians (Acts 9:1-5). God wants to give us a second chance also. He is able to cleanse our sins in the precious blood of His Son. He is able to make us whole.

Third, Paul has committed something to God. Like Jesus on the cross, Paul has committed his spirit, his soul, his very existence into God’s hands. Paul trusts that God is able to keep his soul well guarded. Peter also spoke of God’s ability to keep our inheritance in heaven under guard (1 Pet. 1:3-5). For those who follow God, their inheritance is reserved. No thief will break in and steal it, and rust will not corrupt it. It is ours, if we will obey and remain faithful to God.

We, like Paul, can have confidence in God. We can believe. We can know that He is able. We can trust Him with our very souls. If you would like to know more about God, please come and see us at the South Stokes church of Chirst.

Nebuchadnezzar’s Wise Men

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CrystalBall_thumb      Perhaps you have heard of or seen a magician, who as part of their act reads the mind of a member of the audience.  If so, you know how impressive this seems on the surface.  Just how is it that a man can read the thoughts of another human being?  Later, when you find that there is some sort of trick or gimmick to explain the ‘magic,’ you realize that man just does not have the ability to read minds.  This, however, is not a new discovery.

     In the second chapter of the book of Daniel, we have recorded for us that Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, had a most troubling dream.  He called for all of his wise men to come to him and tell him what the dream was and what it meant.  The wise men of Babylon were perplexed.  Without any sort of clues, or without Nebuchadnezzar telling them about the dream, there was no way for them to determine what the dream even was, not to mention what it might have meant.  They correctly stated that, “There is not a man on earth who can tell the king’s matter; therefore no king, lord, or ruler has ever asked such things of any magician, astrologer, or Chaldean.  It is a difficult thing that the king requests, and there is no other who can tell it to the king except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh” (Daniel 2:10b-11 NKJV).  They understood that the power to know what was in the mind of a man was not something that another man had the ability to discern.

     This same truth holds today as well.  We are told in the New Testament, “For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God” (1 Corinthians 2:11).  Man cannot read the thoughts of another man.  That is what makes Daniel’s description and interpretation of King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream that much more impressive.  Daniel was only able to tell the king of his dream and what it meant, because God made that information known to Daniel in the first place (Daniel 2:19-23).

     This event should prove to us that there is a God who knows all things.  Only such a God could be able to tell Nebuchadnezzar through His servant Daniel the details of his dream.  Likewise, there are things about God Himself that man can only know because God has revealed those things to us.  It is in God’s word, the Holy Bible that we can find out about who God is and what He is like.  Let us not neglect the great volume of information that we have at our fingertips about our God and about our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Blisfull Ignorance

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Perhaps you’ve heard it said that ignorance is bliss, or that what is not known cannot hurt us. The idea is that if we do not know that something can hurt us, then we will have no need to worry about it.  Therefore, we can be blissful and happy.  But how does this play out in reality?

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Do you know how fast you were going?

 We can be ignorant of the speed limit and drive as fast as we wish. Will our ignorance of the law be a viable excuse when the police officer pulls us over?  Ignorance of the law will not stand up as a defense.  If we ignore the speed limit, we will pay the price (fine) for that ignorance.  We can be ignorant of the fact that the stove top burners can hurt our hand.  Here again, ignorance will not keep us from coming to harm if we place our hand on a lit stove burner.

 Many in our world today act as if they can be ignorant of God and His requirements, and yet all is well. They go on in blissful ignorance with no care for their future state.  And, indeed, we may see many people who live this way and nothing bad ever befalls them.  Have they somehow found a path that circumvents God’s requirements?  Is there bliss in their ignorance?

 God paints a different picture of ignorance and a lack of knowledge concerning Him. The prophet Hosea spoke for God and lamented the fact that His people were being destroyed by a lack of knowledge (Hosea 4:6).  Paul writes by inspiration to the Romans that God’s power and divine Godhead are evident in the creation, such that they (those who ignore God and walk in ignorance) are without an excuse (Romans 1:18-20).  When Paul stood on Mars’ hill in Athens and addressed the Greeks, he stated that in times past God may have winked at man’s ignorance, but now calls on all men everywhere to repent (Acts 17:30).

 We can ignore God. We can make that choice.  We can claim ignorance is bliss.  However, ignorance of the law is no excuse.  Ignorance can bring us great harm.  Jesus declared that His word would judge us in that last day (John 12:47-48).  Therefore, we must know what His word says for us to do.  God desires that all men seek Him out, repent of what is wrong in their lives, and live in obedience to Him.  That is the true path to bliss.  Are you truly blissful this day?