Scripture: Phillipians 3 v 8 - 10: "Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,
9 And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:10 That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;"
If Paul, who became the foremost Apostle of Jesus, who suffered many trials, still did not know the full power of the resurrection of Jesus by the end of his earthly life, then how can we begin to know it?
Paul wrote that everything he ever knew or owned became worthless in the light of the knowledge of Jesus. He realised that being in the presence of God, experiencing the anointing of His nearness, was worth more than anything on this Earth, or in the world. Even that made him hungry to know the deeper resurrection power.
He discovered that having his own righteousness was of the law but having faith in God through the righteousness of Jesus was the true way. For us it means that we must follow Jesus, the only sinless man, making Him fully righteous and without blame. He did it so we would be forgiven our sins and be righteous through His Blood.
David wrote, As the deer pants for the water so my heart longs after You, You alone are my heart's desire and I long to worship You. Those who have tasted the wonderful presence of Jesus, want nothing more because He utterly satisfies those who come bringing offerings of praise, worship and love.
We are seeing it in the revival spreading from America to many countries. The youth have risen up to honour the Lord. Everywhere the anointing goes the resurrection power of Jesus is being poured out. Famous TV evangelists, authors, pastors have been turned away. The youth only want Jesus to be glorified. No human interference. What the Holy Spirit brings to each place is what they want, nothing more, nothing less.
When Jesus left this planet He told His disciples to wait in Jerusalem for the Holy Spirit to empower them. John the Baptist has spoken of Jesus as the One who baptized in the Holy Ghost and fire.
They heard a sound like a strong wind and upon their heads appeared tongues of fire, power came upon them and they started to pray, speak and worship in other tongues. Languages they had never learned poured forth from their mouths.
The people in the street below were from many countries and had come to celebrate Pentecost a feast of the Jews to commemorate fifty days after the Exodus began. These foreigners understood the words the apostles uttered. They were telling of the wonderful works of God. They just could not fathom how they knew their languages.
Everyone who has been baptized in the Holy Spirit and has received His gifts of tongues, interpretation of tongues, faith, miracles, prophecy, healings, discerning of spirits, word of knowledge and word of wisdom, has begun to know Him, the Living God and begun to experience the power of His resurrection.
The gifts, when we open them to their full extent are actually mind-blowing. We go from trying to puzzle out what is causing someone the "behave out of character" to knowing exactly what the problem is and being able to deal with it effectively.
If we have ever watched "Who wants to be a millionaire" if a contestant is stuck for an answer they can a) Ask the audience, b) take 50/50, c) Phone a friend or d) ask the host. When we are in the power of the Holy Spirit it is like having those options all at once, plus so much more. There are tremendous depths which we reach layer by layer as we use the gifts correctly.
Through the power, anointing, gifts, fruit, guidance of the Holy Spirit, we learn to scratch the surface of knowing God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. The more we know, the more we want to know, but to plunge into the depths of really knowing God, this world has to become nothing. Our God is far removed from anything that even looks like sin.
He has forgiven sin for sure, as soon as we repent and show remorse it is deleted forever. No guilt remains and we are free to be grateful. Free to explore the nature of God and receive all the changes that following Jesus brings upon us. Our blocks to transformation are stubbornness and self-deception which becomes unbelief and backsliding. It certainly also blocks knowing the power of the resurrection in us.
Most people only ever use a small percentage of the available power of the Holy Spirit. They don't even know that it should be more so they don't search for it. It's like finding a diamond on a dry river bed and not realizing if you dug down deeper we would find another Kimberly Hole from which millions of diamonds have been dug out.
But what we seek is no earthly treasure, it is the ultimate depth of being one with the Godhead, the Trinity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Paul knew there was more to come but not in his lifetime. He has pointed the way for those who seek those precious depths, left clues in his epistles to help those who have uncovered the trail of bread crumbs, but which are skimmed over by those who are already satisfied by the gifts they have.
That we may know Him is our holy grail. It is our quest and should be our one desire. Paul spent three years alone in the desert after his conversion for one purpose - to know Him whom he had persecuted and hated for no real reason. To discover the nature and purpose of Jesus appearing to him on that dusty Damascus road, and turning His blinding lights upon Him.
Acts 22 v 8 - 10: "And I answered, Who art thou, Lord? And he said unto me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest.
9 And they that were with me saw indeed the light, and were afraid; but they heard not the voice of him that spake to me.
10 And I said, What shall I do, Lord? And the Lord said unto me, Arise, and go into Damascus; and there it shall be told thee of all things which are appointed for thee to do."
That was the beginning of Paul's walk with Jesus. The Book of Revelation is John's expansion on his very close relationship with Jesus. Known as the Apostle whom Jesus loved, He loved them all but John was special, John was exiled on Patmos, a Greek Island.
John was 90 years old when Jesus came to him with powerful visions, experiences and foreknowledge of the end times. He revealed the true identity of the Bride, the Lamb's wife. He spoke to John of the judgments, the final end of Satan, and much more about His coming again.
There are depths in scripture and in the gifts of the Holy Spirit that only He can unlock at the appropriate time. We must just be ready for the time they are due to be revealed and be thankful.
The power of Jesus' resurrection is here for us to see out the few years we have left before the Rapture removes Christians to be forever with Him. It's the urgency to make up for lost time we need to grasp.
So, as Don Francisco once sang, Come a little closer to Jesus, get a whole lot closer to Jesus. Let us do that and get to know Him more than we do today.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, no matter how long we have been born again and have a personal relationship with You and Jesus, we need to know You more than we do. We will spend eternity with You, so every bit of knowledge will be a delight. Help us to seek Your face and experience Your divine presence in our midst. In Jesus' name. Amen.