LEARNING AND UNDERSTANDING ROSS SMITH
ALL REFERENCES ARE FROM AMPLIFIED VERSION UNLESS NOTED
Philippians 1:9 And this I pray: that your LOVE may abound yet more and more and extend to its FULLEST DEVELOPMENT IN KNOWLEDGE AND ALL KEEN INSIGHT [that your love may display itself in greater depth of acquaintance and more comprehensive discernment],
LOVE DEMANDS KNOWLEDGE AND INSIGHT.
This verse is full of “PURPOSE.” v10 “SO THAT” and goes on to state, “YOU MAY SURELY LEARN”, and together with verse 11 sets down a whole compendium of things that are beneficial for our “CONFORMITY”.
These four words, “you may surely learn”, contain an impetus, frequently obscure, because we do not stop to ponder and recover the author’s intent. It goes on to expand the “SO THAT” to “approved, recognise, distinguish”, each with matters of great import but for later consideration.
The “YOU” makes this instruction particularly personal, places a significant responsibility in my response to the instruction, and together with verse 9, combines “MY LOVE with MY LEARNING”.
The word “SURELY” prefacing the “LEARNING” is of great import also. If we don’t understand the language the Apostle uses, then we will never appreciate the magnitude of the purpose. “SURELY” means, “With assurance or confidence; in a sure, unhesitating manner.” Have we ever understood or tried to understand this simple word in the context used in Philippians, or have we glossed over it in ignorance?
To “SURELY LEARN” is much more profound than learning by rote or simply to recite Scripture; it means to really understand the lessons we are learning, and sometimes/often involves “experience.”
Proper concepts in the Word of God are indispensable to the possession of true holiness or attaining conformity in purpose, thought and action.
Paul said to the Philippians that they needed to develop in both KNOWLEDGE and KEEN INSIGHT. At school, we learned our “times tables” and our “ABC”, and they have stood us in good stead, for life demands that we put these lessons into practice. The same applies in the spiritual dimension, for Isaiah said that knowledge requires the synergy of experience to really “KNOW.”
Isaiah 49:26(B) ”and all flesh will KNOW [with a KNOWLEDGE GROUNDED IN PERSONAL EXPERIENCE] that I, the Lord, am your Savior and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.”
This requires the engagement of the “INSURMOUNTABLE,” or the appreciation of God’s “PROVIDENTIAL PREPARATION.”
When we migrate to the new Testament, Paul again comes to our rescue, pointing that emotional “Christianity” is an inadequate spiritual state because reality requires “CORRECT AND VITAL KNOWLEDGE.” That is why we cannot afford to simply read God’s Word but must be able to explain it. We must capture the very essence that is contained within every single “God-breathed Word.” Knowledge of the Word” is different to “Knowledge of the Truth,” and the Apostle nailed this fact when he wrote in second Timothy,
2 Timothy 3:7 (B) They are forever inquiring and getting INFORMATION but are never able to arrive at a recognition and knowledge of the TRUTH.
That’s why Philippians says, “YOU MAY SURELY LEARN,” so that we not only read the words, but we capture the profound depth of their intention. Just one word or one verse may demand concentrated meditation and research.
Romans 10:2 I bear them witness that they have a [certain] zeal and enthusiasm for God, but it is not enlightened and according to [CORRECT AND VITAL] knowledge.
“KNOWLEDGE”, according to Philippians 1:9, is accompanied by “KEEN INSIGHT”, and again I suggest that we have only a very superficial understanding of this term and maybe even a more insufficient experience of this attribute.
“ALL KEEN INSIGHT” is actually “PERCEPTION”, not only by the senses but also by the intellect. This is particularly relevant to our “AWARENESS”, and James confirms the issue in
James 1:2-3 CONSIDER IT WHOLLY JOYFUL, my brethren, whenever you are enveloped in or encounter trials of any sort or fall into various temptations. (V3) Be assured and UNDERSTAND that the trial and proving of your faith bring out endurance and steadfastness, and patience.
“ASSURED and UNDERSTAND” is the confidence born of experience, having recognised the trial as Father’s particular interest in and concern for us.
The “WHOLLY JOYFUL” aspect is the result of our developed character of “adherence, trust and reliance” that has been achieved by our being “enveloped in or encounter trials of any sort or various temptations.” This again sees things from God’s perspective and sees His “PROVIDENTIAL PREPARATION” unfolding before our very eyes as we are “swathed” in our daily circumstance.
The “UNDERSTAND” is because we have “SURELY LEARNED”, and consequently, our “PERCEPTION” is made evident by our action/reaction to any and everything taking place around about us.
Our “PERCEPTION” is how we see things.
Our “PERCEPTIONS” allows us to see every moment, every circumstance and every situation as a means to growth, regardless of how it appears, or as Scripture says, “Regardless of outward conditions.” (Matthew 5)
Again, we have a penchant for citing Scripture but often miss the vitality of “CORRECT AND VITAL knowledge.” If we now accept Paul’s recommendations is found in,
Romans 8:28 We are assured and know (This is the “SURELY KNOW” we have addressed previously .. comments mine) that God being a partner in their labor ALL THINGS WORK TOGETHER AND ARE [FITTING INTO A PLAN] FOR GOOD to and for those who love God and are called according to [His] design and purpose.
We need to grasp the full intention of Paul’s expression here, having “SURELY LEARNED” we are now able to recognise, by our “KEEN INSIGHT” that the term “ALL THINGS” is as a result of “greater depth of acquaintance and more comprehensive discernment.”
The “ALL THINGS” form what I would like to call a “SPIRITUAL SYNERGY.” A “SYNERGY” is “the combined power of a group of things when they are working together that is greater than the total power achieved by each one working separately.”
This is the intention carry in Ephesians 4:16, a classic example of spiritual synergy, stating, “each part [with power adapted to its need] is working properly [in all its functions], grows to full maturity, building itself up in love.”
A rudimentary example of “SYNERGY” is WATER.
We have Hydrogen, the most common chemical in the universe. It can be produced as a gas or liquid, or made part of other materials, and has many uses such as fuel for transport or heating, a way to store electricity, or a raw material in industrial processes.
We have Oxygen which is a colourless, odourless and tasteless gas. It will support life. It is noncombustible but will actively support the burning of combustible materials.
Put these two gases together, and we get WATER, a “SYNERGY”, a transparent fluid that forms the world’s streams, lakes, oceans and rain, and is the major constituent of the fluids of organisms. Without water, nothing can live.
Similarly, without “KNOWLEDGE AND KEEN INSIGHT”, the clarity of the Water of the Word, the synergy of the Body of Christ, we are not fulfilling the life Father intends, but the SYNERGY of these two attributes makes for a powerful combination.
Too often, we react to “SENSATION”; this is only the stimulus. We must, however, develop our “PERCEPTION” (read “AWARENESS”), that “KEEN INSIGHT”, which is understanding what the stimulus is for. TFD says, “PERCEPTION is the capacity for insight and knowledge.” Anyone would think the author must have read Philippians 1:9. TFD goes on to say, PERCEPTION is “awareness or consciousness” and still further on says “a single unified awareness derived from sensory processes while a stimulus (read “circumstance”) is present.
The “STIMULUS OF GOD’S PROVIDENTIAL PREPARATION” comes in the form of trials or troubles, only named as such for the natural mind, but seen as “OPPORTUNITY” to those developing their “adherence, trust and reliance.”
Consequently, in reflecting on Matthew 22:14, “For many are called (invited and summoned), but few are chosen,” if we are not under pressure, maybe we are just one of the “called.”
Pressure is purposed to point our attention to the “PRESSURISER”; it is the “INSURMOUNTABLE” that makes us “COMMENDABLE.”
SELAH
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Ross Smith 