David W Palmer
Avoid Natural Substitute Knowledge
(Daniel 12:4 NKJV) “But you, Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book until the time of the end; many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase.”
This Scripture predicts that knowledge will increase in “the time of the end.” This reveals another dangerous aspect of knowledge: natural as well as deceptive knowledge will increase along with God’s revealed knowledge in the end times. Signs all around us confirm daily that we are living in the time of the end, so we must be on guard to avoid being side-tracked or deceived by this natural and counterfeit knowledge. We should rather earnestly desire and seek the knowledge that comes from the only true God.
We have now seen several warnings from the Bible about the dangers of knowledge; but we should not avoid learning altogether. In other words, knowing that dangers accompany knowledge does not give us an excuse to disobey Jesus’s expectation that we “learn of him.” It does mean, however, that we should heed these warnings and fulfil our responsibility to grow in love, maturity, and wisdom—along with true knowledge. This is so we can bear the extra responsibility that abundant knowledge brings; additionally, we will then use knowledge correctly to edify the body of Christ:
(Ephesians 4:15–16 NKJV) “But, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ—{16} from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.”
This passage tells us that when each member of Jesus’s body speaks His truth in love, then we all contribute to the growth of the body. This is an amazing revelation; the Holy Spirit is showing us the key to church growth. He says that when each “joint … does its share,” this is what “causes growth of the body.” In fact the body will be “edifying” or building “itself in love.” This is very very important. To fully understand it, we look at how the Holy Spirit explains it in 1 Corinthians:
(1 Corinthians 14:4 NKJV) “He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the church.”
“He who prophesies”—or speaks what the Holy Spirit reveals to him “edifies”—builds, or causes growth in—the church. Yes, when each “joint” speaks prophetically, the church grows. Before we can fully understand this, we need to explore what a “joint” is.
In a body, a joint is what joins two members together. For example, the elbow joint is what joins the forearm to the upper arm. It is not the members themselves, but the connection between them that forms the joint. In the body of Christ, therefore, the joints are the relationships between members. So it is our relationship with others that is the connecting part that supplies what the body needs for growth. In other words, when we speak the truth (that the Holy Spirit has revealed to us) in love in our relationships in the church, the church will grow.
To confirm that this is true doctrine, we need to check what Jesus says about building or edifying the church. In truth, he says very little, but what he does say is vital and corroborates what we have just seen:
(Matthew 16:17–18 NKJV) Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. {18} And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.”
First, we notice that Jesus said, “I will build my church.” Jesus is both the Son of God and the son of man. Yet, scripture also reveals in John 1:1–3, 14 that he is the Living Word of God. So when he says, “I” will build my church, he is saying that the Living Word will build it. The word comes alive when quickened from the written word or revealed from heaven in a prophetic manner.
