SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/3/2017
9:08 PM
My Worship Time Focus: A Concern
for Knowledge
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Philemon 6b
Message of the
verse: “through the knowledge of
every good thing which is in you”
“Epignosis (‘knowledge’)
refers to deep, rich, full, experiential knowledge. It is the knowledge that comes through personal
acquaintance with the truth” writes John MacArthur as he gives a wonderful
definition of the word knowledge.
The question we have here for Philemon and as that matter
for all of us is how can we experience forgiveness? Well we could read about forgiveness or we
could hear a sermon about forgiveness, but the only way to experience
forgiveness is to forgive someone. Jesus
Christ has forgiven every true believer that belongs to Him, so the obliviously
we should forgive others who have wrong us because of Christ’s forgiveness for
us. MacArthur writes “By forgiving
Onesimus, Philemon would experience that good thing in him known as
forgiveness. By walking in obedience to
God’s will, believers experience the good things God has placed within them.”
MacArthur goes on to talk about the difference between
reading a book about downhill skiing and the actual thrill of doing downhill
skiing, and there is a vast difference.
When we read the Bible and it tells us about forgiveness then this is
completely different than stepping out by faith to do the things that you have
read about in the Word of God and then determine that you are going to forgive
someone, as it is an exciting thing to live out this truth. We know that we need to forgive someone but
it is difficult to do the right thing as it probably was for Philemon. I remember back when I was a pretty knew
Christian that we had a guest Pastor come and speak at our church and he told
the story of a man who had had someone cheat him out of some money, and I don’t
think that it was even that much money, but in his wallet was a piece of old
yellowed paper with the amount of money he was owed. Do you think that it would have bothered that
person who owed him the money after all of the years that this man became
bitter about it? My guess is that it
would not. As we practice the truths of
Scripture it will lead us to the ephgnosis
that will bring spiritual maturity. “11
And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists,
and some as pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the
work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; 13 until we all attain to the unity
of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the
measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ
(Ephesians 4:11-13).”
MacArthur concludes “Paul is confident that Philemon will
want to experience a true knowledge of forgiveness by forgiving Onesimus. He gives both Philemon and us a gentle
reminder of the importance of a concern for knowledge.” 7/3/2017 9:34 PM
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