This morning I discovered some thing that amazed me, there could actually be a strong reason why so many seem to walk in darkness. And the for that reason I want to look at why knowledge maybe withheld from some. Do not take this wrong, because I believe that if one truly seeks to gain understanding of the secret things, that they will. So I will take a short side road break from my course. Now for Pastor Hoekstra and his teaching on Grace within a man I have read, Enoch. And then I will look into Knowledge Withheld making use of the ESV translation while doing so.
"Enoch's Pleasing Walk with God, by Faith"
"By faith Enoch was translated so that he did not see death, "and was not found because God had translated him;" for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God. But without faith it is impossible to please Him." (Hebrews 11:5-6)
"It is the will of GOD that we learn to walk in a manner pleasing to the LORD: "that you may have a walk worthy of the LORD, fully pleasing Him" (Colossians 1:10). Again, such godly living can only be developed by faith. Much helpful insight into such a life is provided in Enoch's pleasing walk with GOD, by faith.
Enoch was one of our earliest forefathers. "Enoch lived sixty-five years, and begot Methuselah"
(Genesis 5:21). After the birth of Methuselah (who became, at 969 years, the oldest man ever on earth), Enoch began a three hundred year long journey of close fellowship with GOD. "After he begot Methuselah, Enoch walked with GOD three hundred years" (Genesis 5:22). After three centuries of spiritual intimacy, during this period he wrote of the kind of things he saw and heard in heaven each he called a book, Enoch was taken into heaven without experiencing death. "And Enoch walked with GOD; and he was not, for GOD took him" (Genesis 5:24). Enoch's intimacy with GOD and his unique homegoing were related to a life of reliance upon the LORD. "By faith Enoch was translated so that he did not see death . . . for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased GOD." Of course, what was so pleasing to GOD about Enoch's walk was his trust in the LORD. "But without faith it is impossible to please Him."
Enoch is a wonderful reminder of what life is all about — walking with GOD by faith throughout our days on earth, then walking right on into the presence of GOD in heaven when HE calls homeward. Many will eventually do this, like Enoch, without facing death. "For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of GOD. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord" (1Thessalonians 4:16-17). Others may face death, but the key ingredient of communication and fellowship on earth right on into heaven is the same. "I am continually with You; You hold me by my right hand. You will guide me with Your counsel, And afterward receive me to glory." (Psalm 73:23-24)
Knowledge Withheld from man:
Reasons for Withholding, knowledge,
Genesis 2:15-17 and Deuteronomy 29:29 "The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, "You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die."
Deuteronomy 29:29 "The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law."
Inability to Apprehend Truth,
John 13:1-11 "Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end. During supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray Him, Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come from GOD and was going back to GOD, rose from supper. He laid aside His outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around His waist. He then poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around Him. When He came to Simon Peter, Peter said to Him, "Lord, do You wash my feet?" Jesus answered him, "What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand." Then Peter said to Him, "You shall never wash my feet." Jesus answered him, "If I do not wash you, you have no share with me." Simon Peter said to Him, "Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!" Jesus said to him, "The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean. And you are clean, but not every one of you." For He knew who was to betray Him; that was why He said, "Not all of you are clean."
Human Weakness Necessitates,John 16:12-15 (Jesus is speaking) "I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. But when the Spirit of Truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth, for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak, and He will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take what is Mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is Mine; therefore I said that He will take what is Mine and declare it to you."
Earthly Limitations Fetter,
1Corinthians 13:8-13 "Love never fails. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love."
Gradual Revelation, the Divine Plan,
Ephesians 3:1-13 "For this reason [having Peace with GOD reestablished, we have through Christ, we both have access in One Spirit to the Father, no longer being strangers and aliens, we are now of GOD's Household] I, Paul, a prisoner for Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles— assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of GOD's Grace that was given to me for you, how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have written briefly. When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through this our Gospel. Of this gospel I was made a minister according to the gift of GOD's Grace, which was given me by the working of His power. To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for Ages in GOD Who created all things, so that through the church the manifold wisdom of GOD might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. This was according to the eternal purpose that HE has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord, in Whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in Him. So I ask you not to lose heart over what I am suffering for you, which is your glory."
To give Opportunity for Faith,
1John 3:1-3 "See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of GOD; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it does not know Him. Beloved, we are GOD's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when HE appears we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him as HE is. And everyone who thus hopes in Him purifies himself as HE is pure."
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