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| Matthew 16:17 |
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Lesson # Matt. 16:17 Study Material - Matt. 16:17 You must be in fellowship prior to your Bible study, so that the spiritual information you receive can become a source, of blessing to your soul and produce spiritual growth. Matt. 16:17 17 And [kai] Jesus [Iesous] answered [apokrinomai] and said [epo] unto him [autos] , Blessed [makarios] art thou [ei] , Simon [Simon] Barjona [Barionas] : for [hoti] flesh [sarx] and [kai] blood [haima] hath [apokalupto] not [ou] revealed [apokalupto] it unto thee [soi] , but [alla] my [mou] Father [pater] which [ho] is in [en] heaven [ouranos] . KJV-Interlinear Matt. 16:17 17 And Jesus answered and said to him, 'Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. NAS 'You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.' This is the statement that Peter made, and because of his recognition of the true identity of Jesus, blessing will come to him. In life there are two sources of prosperity and blessing. From the world there is the jungle in which we live. The jungle is ruled by jungle law - the Law of the Jungle. This is chaos for all who are not strong. The strong rule. The weak get screwed. Everyone, sooner or later gets categorized in the 'weak' category. Even the strong grow old and become weak and die. They are replaced by other younger and stronger persons. For those who choose to live their lives in the jungle (those who are negative or indifferent toward God, God has provided common grace, or divine establishment laws (volition, marriage, family, law and order, military establishment, national entities, free enterprise, supply and demand of economies, and so forth). These laws runs parallel with and keep in check, the laws of the jungle. Without Gods establishment principles, then the like of communism, or dictatorships, brutality, organized crime, tyranny and so forth would rule and therefore ruin humanity. This is the jungle environment. There is an alternative to living in the jungle, and that alternative is living inside a higher plane of existence which we call the spiritual life. We are resident for the moment here on earth and inside the jungle, but in the spiritual life we are inside a sphere of protection which we call fellowship or inside Gods palace, or inside Gods refuge, and therefore under His direct protection. In this world there are two mechanisms of perception. The first exists in the jungle and that is what we call the academic mechanism of perception. It is the function of our earthly senses - hearing, sight, taste, touch, smell, logic or rationalism. We learn our a, b, c's and how to count and add two plus two, and such. This learning environment is limited to the physical world around us. Even the physical world is a very big place what with radio waves, molecules, the various sciences, arts, and all of our technology. But it is all confined in the physical side of existence. Academic can imagine angels but not see or detect them. Academics can imagine God, but not discover Him. Academics can go to the very brink of the physical universe and but further. The things of the spirit are foolishness to the common man. Flesh and blood did not reveal this to you,' says Jesus. There is a second mechanism for perception and that is a spiritual mechanism for the perception of spiritual phenomena. In this mechanism, God the Holy Spirit is the communicator of all spiritual information. When the person is in fellowship (this obviously applies to believers only), and by the way, the Holy Spirit stands in the gap for unbelievers and reveals gospel information only to them such that they can believe or reject Christ. Apart from salvation, all spiritual information is merely academic info - just more information, thoughts, and ideas stuck in the head with no where to go. Anyway, the Holy Spirit is the communicator of all spiritual information. When the believer is in fellowship, then the Holy Spirit is in control of the believers soul and the information He presents is channeled into the soul, detoured into the human spirit where it is made clear and usable, then funneled into the soul where it becomes building blocks for the construction of a 'temple,' 'fortress,' a spiritual 'mansion' in the believers soul. Out of fellowship, the believer is off line so to speak and the communication function of the Holy Spirit is short circuited. The information learned by the believer is nothing more than academic info and does not become building blocks for that spiritual palace in the soul. They are merely wood, hay, and stubble. Nothing of lasting value. As the believer, in fellowship, lives his life and applies the doctrine properly learned, to his life, then he is cycling that information and the blessings earned by that utilization of doctrine produce furnishings in the soul, furnishings for that constructed palace, refuge, temple in the soul. Those furnishings are referred to as gold, silver, and precious stones. These are things of intrinsic value which enhance the soul of the believer, and of which the believer takes with him to heaven when called away from this world. All scripture comes from God. God the Father is the author of all things spiritual. The Holy Spirit communicates spiritual phenomena, and therefore Peter learned about Christ from that which God the Father originally provided. 'Not from flesh and blood, but from My Father who is in heaven.' The carnal man can never discover God. The carnal man can never gain an audience with God, can never have a relationship with God. If you attend Bible study and are perpetually out of fellowship, then your study is for nothing. Your study may enhance your academic knowledge, but there is no spiritual benefit. Satan is unsaved, but Satan knows the Bible forwards and backwards. Any unbeliever can quote scripture. But only the believer in fellowship can truly understand it. Only the believer in fellowship can receive benefit from it. We 'study to show ourselves approved unto God.' That is the method of attaining spiritual maturity. By, 'rightly dividing,' that is to study within the properly prescribed mechanism, 'fellowship' and therefore able to discern between the academic side of life and the spiritual side of life. 
Now is the time to post a prayer. End Of Lesson Study to show thyself approved (mature) unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing (studying/discerning), the Word of truth. |
