Knowing God

The philosopher Socrates is famous for his exhortation, "Know thyself!"  But if you do not know God, you do not know yourself or anyone else.  All right understanding comes from the holy Spirit.  Since the Lord Jesus said that God's Spirit guides us into ALL truth (Jn. 16:13), then there is NO truth that can be had without it.  Humans can have earthly knowledge; they can know how many pints are in a gallon and how many feet are in a mile.  But knowledge about life, knowledge of what is truly good or truly evil, comes only from knowing God.

Nobody on earth knows God or can know Him unless he is baptized with the holy Spirit (with the evidence of the Spirit's voice being heard).  The day you receive the holy Spirit is your first day in God's school.  Even ministers who have not received the holy Spirit baptism, regardless of their titles and degrees, are completely blind to eternal truth.  When I was in the seminary, I heard more truth in one sermon from an old holiness minster with a third grade education than I heard the entire semester from some of my professors.  In the kingdom of God, knowledge is not a matter of earthly education; it is a matter of revelation.

We know whatever we know about life only to the extent that we know God.  This is why Jesus said that to know God and His Son is eternal life (Jn. 17:3).  Without the knowledge of God, there is only confusion and strife, and eventually, death.  But with the knowledge of God, there is righteousness, peace, and joy in the holy Spirit.