PAUL’S PRAYER-DESIRE FOR THE PHILIPPIANS

(Part 2)

Phil. 1:9-11

Morning Meditation 10/21/16

Verses 9-11 say, “And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment; That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ; Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.”

We were looking at the abounding love of God expressed through the life of the believer in the last meditation. As we move on in this verse, we will look first of all at that love abounding more and more in “knowledge.” The word “knowledge” translates “epignosis.” This word means, “precise and correct knowledge.” The word is made up of two words, “epi” which is a preposition translated by many different words such as, “upon, over, at, by, before,” etc. It is used to add to the meaning of the word to which it is attached. It is called a prepositional intensifier. The word it intensifies is “gnosis,” the word for knowledge. There was a cult called Gnostics in the days of Christ. They were a cult that constantly studied to obtain a greater knowledge and so they were called Gnostics, i.e.., the knowing, or, enlightened ones. So “epignosis” is full knowledge. It is seeing things as they really are.

Jesus is the exegesis of God. John says this in John 1:18: “No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.” The word “declared” in this verse translates “exegeomai” from which our English word “exegesis” comes, and is “used in Greek writing of the interpretation of things sacred and divine, oracles, dreams, etc.” The English word for exegesis means “a critical explanation or analysis, especially of a text.” It is a detailed look at a text of Scripture and an unfolding of that text in writing or speech. Jesus is the Exegesis of God. He does not just tell us about God, He reveals Him. Jesus IS God and His knowledge explained and expounded (Col.. 2:3).

This kind of knowledge can be obtained. We can have full knowledge. But Jesus should never be out of view because in Him is the sum-total of all knowledge of God. One of the ways this knowledge is obtained is through prayer. Paul said, “And this I PRAY, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge . . .” Paul knew that the knowledge of which he spoke came from God alone. And this knowledge was essential to development into a mature believer. Paul wanted the Philippian Christians to have knowledge. So he prayed that they might receive it. Then he wrote them and told them what he was praying for. How would that affect you, if Paul wrote you? He knew what a blessing they could be to others if they possessed the “full knowledge.” People come to those who know.

There is also a danger in obtaining knowledge. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 8:1, “Now as touching things offered unto idols, we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth.” The word for “knowledge” in this verse translates “gnosis” simply meaning knowledge. The word “puffeth” translates “phusioo” and means, “to inflate, blow up, to cause to swell up, to puff up, make proud.” How often we have all seen this. It is what knowledge does to a person if he is operating on human viewpoint which leads directly to pride. How often have we all seen this. Knowledge operating on the human viewpoint is difficult to approach. I have seen this in the ministry over and over again. I taught in a Christian College for about 15 years, and I saw preacher boys come into that school on fire for Christ, and determined to learn so they could better explain the Bible to those whom God intrusted to them. Most of them came in on fire and left in a block of ice. I hate to say that but it is true. They were good men. And many of them still are. I do not say this in a mean way. It goes with the territory. Many of you have observed the same thing. When a man surrenders to the gospel ministry, he is all heart and love. He burns with the gift and anointing of God to preach the Word. He preaches it the best he knows how and people are blessed by the overflow of his experience with God.. To develop that gift, He seeks a place to learn. He is hungry to tell the people more. So, in the obtaining of the knowledge of the Scriptures, something happens to him. Now he is learning more and knows more. There is more self-confidence. He gets the degrees that the school offers. People say to him, “You have been a good student. You have studied hard. You deserve this.” Oops. Here is where he buys in to the knowledge that puffeth up. He is now meriting something. We are all saved sinners, operating with different degrees of knowledge, in the framework of our nothingness. After all the learning takes place, Satan renders us useless to the Lord, because he has gotten us to believe that we are something because of what we know. Remember the temptation in the garden? It had to do with knowledge. Knowledge makes no one better. Maybe more useful if it is bathed in the love of Christ.

There is a discipline, to which very little attention is given, that has to do with staying where we are spiritually in the process of gaining knowledge. I will never be closer to the Lord, and stay on this earth, than I was when I first surrendered to preach the gospel of Christ. My heart was so full of His presence and my love for Him was so intense that I longed to know more about Him that I might share it with others. I remember going to bed with my Bible on the lampstand beside my bed, and going to sleep with my hand on the Word of God. I loved that Book because it told me of Him. I have never lost my love for God’s Word and it is still my passionate desire to explain it to others that they might come to know Him better. I thank the Lord He led me to see what Paul was saying in First Corinthians chapter eight and verse one several years ago. It has helped me to realize that if I lose the Love of God in the process of learning that the only other alternative is the knowledge that puffeth up.

Paul said, “And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge .. . .” Do you see it? Paul wanted them to have “epignosis,” “full knowledge,” but he wanted it to be the result of abounding love. When our learning of Scriptures is the result of abounding love, then knowledge will never be an end. When knowledge is an end, we are already caught in Satan’s trap. We cannot avoid pride on this course. Pride always seeks a place in our lives. If we will discipline ourselves to deal with pride in the pursuit of knowledge, the glory of God will be the end, and a passion to communicate knowledge to others will be a means to glorify God.

Paul says to the Christians in Philippi “And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge . . .”

There was an old preacher years ago who did not like schools that trained preachers. He believed that all he needed was a Bible and God would fill him to preach His Word. He went to the podium in an associational meeting and made a passionate plea to the association not to support a school to train preachers. He ended his passionate plea by saying, “I thank God for my ignorance,” and sat down. The moderator came to the podium, cleared his throat, and said, “The dear brother has a lot to be thankful for!” Knowledge is not wrong. It is right. But it must come out of and be controlled by abounding love.

May the Lord bless these words to our hearts.

In Christ

Bro. White