What is knowledge; The First Gift of the Holy Spirit?

God Almighty is the repository of ultimate knowledge and the acme of wisdom, but there is a difference between knowledge and wisdom. The Lord God Almighty admonished everyone He created for His Glory to seek for His knowledge and He told Joshua as much: "Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them. Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. (Joshua 1: 17 & 18). This is where the revealed knowledge of God Almighty can be found; the Book of the Law that God gave to the Israelite. Then the New Testament was later added and thus completed the all-in-all of Divine Knowledge. The only knowledge that can make anyone to be successful is the knowledge of God. There are two successes: good and bad. The good success is attained when any human being who came to this world, accomplished God's purpose for his or her life; die and make it back to heaven; while the bad success is anyone who lived on this earth, accomplished his or her own purpose without fulfilling the purpose of God for his/her life, die and doesn't make it to heaven but end up with Satan in hell. It doesn't matter whether the person was the president of America, the most powerful person in the world, the richest billionaire on earth or the poorest member of the hoipolloi on earth. That is why no one leaves the earth with any of these ephemeral accomplishments. Divine Knowledge therefore surpasses earthly knowledge; the former is a gift from the Holy Spirit; the latter is man-made. Divine knowledge is needed to attain life, and more abundant life that our Lord Jesus Christ promised those of us who believed in Him and are doing His will, while earthly knowledge is only needed to make a living, which is temporary and has no eternal value. That is why God said many are destroyed without Divine Knowledge (Hosea 4: 6: “…my people are destroyed from lack of knowledge. “Because you have rejected knowledge, I also reject you as my priests; because you have ignored the law of your God, I also will ignore your children. Our Lord Jesus Christ gave an example of the limit of earthly knowledge with the rich young ruler who rued leaving his wealth for eternal life in the Narrow Truth of Christ's Salvation. The same ailment caused the rich man who pleaded with Lazarus to dip his finger into his mouth to quench his fiery thirst on the Other Side of the Eternal Divide. This absence of Divine Knowledge also caused the failure of another rich man who stored plenty of material comforts in his barn with a smug self-satisfaction when he didn't know his time on earth was up. What distinguishes Divine knowledge from earthly knowledge is that the former prepares you for life beyond the grave, while the latter teaches you about what you can grab from the fleeting and transient life in here now. We all must depart this temporary existence at one time or the other; Divine knowledge prepares you for the After-Life in heaven, whereas earthly knowledge is of zero-utility on the Other Side.

THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF DIVINE KNOWLEDGE: Divine Knowledge is a gift of the Holy Spirit (“To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit,” (1 Corinthians 12: 8). As aforesaid, wisdom is not synonymous with knowledge, but both are gifts of the Holy Spirit. There are 12 types of Divine Knowledge as revealed in the Holy Bible namely: knowledge of Good and Evil; knowledge of God; knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of God; knowledge of salvation; knowledge of reference and fear of the Lord God; knowledge of the scriptures; knowledge of the Truth; knowledge of Christ's Glory, knowledge of God's Will; knowledge of Eternal Life; knowledge of arts and crafts; and the knowledge of wisdom and understanding. The knowledge of Good and Evil was disclosed to Adam before Eve was created (Genesis 2: 16 & 17: And the LORD God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die”). The knowledge of Good and Evil lived inside the tree. If Adam had restrained Eve from falling into the trap of Satan, who indwelled the serpent and stealthily entered the Garden, Adam and Eve and their children, by extension, you and I -would have overcome and be rewarded with the right to eat from the second tree in the same Garden of Eden called the Tree of Life in Genesis 3: 22 (And the LORD God said, "The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever”). This Tree of Life is the first dinner we will have with our Lord Jesus Christ in Paradise as a group known as the Heavenly Supper as Jesus Christ promised on the eve of His physical departure on earth and which He revealed to Apostle John (Revelation 19: 5-9: “Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting: "Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear." (Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of the saints.) Then the angel said to me, "Write: 'Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!'" And he added, "These are the true words of God." This was why our Lord Jesus Christ ate the Lord's Supper with His disciples on the last day before He was betrayed and said He would not eat it again until the Great Day-the wedding supper of the Lamb-referenced above. (Mark 14: 25: “I tell you the truth, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it anew in the kingdom of God.”) When we eat the Lord's Supper in the present, not only do we do so as a remembrance of the Lord, but also as a reminder of our future in-gathering as citizens of the commonwealth of heaven.

The supper of the lamb will be prepared from the Tree of Life that the cherubim and seraphim are currently guiding but only Jesus Christ knows the Way and that was why He referred to Himself as “I am the Way…” (John 14: 6). Way to where? To the Tree of Life (“After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life”) This is the Truth Satan doesn't want majority human beings to know and that is why the second form of Divine knowledge is the knowledge of the Truth (John 17: 17). Truth is not an intangible thing or an idea. The knowledge of the Truth is Jesus Christ and the Bible contained the Words of Truth (Jesus who is the Living Truth). When the Holy Spirit reveals this knowledge to any humble soul, you now know Who God really is. You see, the highest form of Godliness is your humility before the Lord God of the heavens and universe to earn His favor and revealed Himself to you experientially. This knowledge of God is not taught in any earthly and secular school, college or university but only by His Grace. No wonder God Almighty said anyone who boasts should boast that he/she knows Him. (Jeremiah 9: 24: …let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight," declares the LORD.”) Once you have earned God's favor through the knowledge of God, the next knowledge called the knowledge of the secrets of heaven is next, that is, if you continue in holiness ad righteousness (Mathew 13: 11“He replied, “The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them.” Because how the kingdoms of the heavens operate is a secret and God made it so rather deliberately in order to know those who really love Him and want to search for Him with all their hearts. It demonstrates the scale of importance that each human being places and attaches both to God and all that concern Him in our individual lives because if “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart,” (said the Lord God Almighty in Jeremiah 29: 13) “I will be found by you," declares the LORD” (Jeremiah 29: 14). You don't stumble into heaven and find yourself in paradise almost unexpectedly as I have made the point here in earlier articles. All the saints who had ever lived and will ever live before the Second Coming of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ all had and will have glimpses of heaven, including yours sincerely (Hebrews 11: 13 “All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth.”) Did you read those words: they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance in that scripture? Immediately the Holy Spirit allowed you to see heavens from far off” and saw them (heavens) and welcomed them from a distance (heavenly glory, your house in paradise and all the promises of God for the believers) through the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of God, every childish, selfish and earthly pursuits: wealth, power, politics, fame, pride of life, etc. become unattractive. They pale into insignificance and have less and nil attractions in your earthly voyage because, you have seen eternity and what life is all about and know the meaning of good success. How can any interested human being acquire this Divine knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heavens that we are talking about here? The answer leads you to the knowledge of salvation, which God through His Holy Spirit gave Prophet Elijah to return back to earth after he was taken by chariots of fire to the heavens in the Old Testament. He came back as John the Baptist in order “…to give his people –the Israelites- the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins,” (Luke 1: 77) through the Virgin Birth, Blood Atonement via Crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Once the finished work of Jesus Christ was completed, no human being who seeks this knowledge of salvation needs to go through any pastor, prophet, or intermediary because, Jesus Christ, Who is God in the Flesh came bodily to live for 33 years on earth to break the walls of division between the Israelites and the Gentiles and create a united and unified body of believers through this one Man-Jesus Christ. Religion cannot teach you this knowledge of salvation unless you humble yourself, confess your sins and ask Jesus Christ to cleanse you, make you His child and give you His Spirit; the Holy Spirit. Then there is the Divine knowledge of the fear of God and reverence to His Lordship (Proverbs 2: 5: “…then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God.”) You know why the perishing world doesn't fear and reverence the Lord God Almighty of the heavens and the universe? Because they don't know Him, period! When you have the knowledge of the True Lord God, Who is the Maker and Creator of all things and owns your very life; who sustains everything by His awesome powers, you quake before Him and bow at His altar. The demons knew and know Him; they shouted when He came to the earth in bodily form (Mark 1: 23-24: “Just then a man in their synagogue who was possessed by an evil spirit cried out, “What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are - the Holy One of God!”) Unlike most human beings who do not have the knowledge of God, Satan and his demons once had (and still have) the knowledge of Jesus Christ, Who created them, but they do not submit to and obey Him. This is why Hell is reserved for them, but as for members of the human race who have been given a second chance unlike Satan and his demons who are lost eternally, this knowledge of God is available right now. But you must shed-off your togas of sin, rebellion, stubborn heart and save yourself from the same fate that befell Satan and his renegade spirits otherwise, as Apostle Paul warned the unbelievers in (Romans 1: 8 “Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done.”) Yes, the eternal door of God's Grace is forever open, but believe it, it shan't be long. Once you attained these levels of Divine knowledge through the Holy Spirit, the Lord God Jesus wants you to know what He created you for and that knowledge is called the knowledge of God's Will (Colossians 1: 9: “For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding.”) Apostle Paul and his fellow evangelists were happy about the reception of the believers to the Good News in Colossae but they told the newly-converted saints to take a stop further in their walk with the Lord and know what His Will for them. The most miserable Christians on earth are the “floaters”-Bible-reading, church attendees who have no clues what on earth they are here for. That knowledge of God's will for your life is essential and we treated a little bit of it in this column last week as space would permit. Each of these areas of Divine Knowledge is a book on their own. Then there is the Divine knowledge of the scriptures (Acts 18: 24: “Meanwhile a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was a learned man, with a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures.”) One day my wife was reading one of my books and we started a discussion. Then there was a sticking point on the intention of the author and as we went back and forth, she stopped suddenly and said; “Oh, you wrote the book before we met,” and both of us laughed. Who can understand the Holy Bible without the Great Author of the Great Book teaching us? The Bible was written by the Holy Spirit using the various authors from different backgrounds as amanuenses of God's knowledge of scriptures as Apostle Paul disclosed (2 Timothy 3: 16: “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness…”). A reader of this column called me in far-away China last week and said, he had observed that yours sincerely has the knowledge of scriptures and I quickly corrected him that he should say; “the Holy Spirit has given me the knowledge of scriptures.” If the knowledge of scripture and the Gospel are based on how reputable your institution or college is, then the knowledge of the scriptures would have been reserved for the alumni of the Ivy League institutions, but unfortunately, the Lord God Almighty chooses to reveal them to babes. He prophesied and predicted the rebellion of the Israelites from the beginning and what He would do to bring us- the Gentiles- into the fold and why He would do this (Deuteronomy 32:18-21 “You deserted the Rock, who fathered you; you forgot the God who gave you birth. The LORD saw this and rejected them because he was angered by his sons and daughters. "I will hide my face from them," he said, "and see what their end will be; for they are a perverse generation, children who are unfaithful. They made me jealous by what is no god and angered me with their worthless idols. I will make them envious by those who are not a people; I will make them angry by a nation that has no understanding.” You can see how the Lord God Almighty is fulfilling His prophecies in the world today. Africans who were stepped in spiritual darkness centuries ago and were consigned to the margins of dreaded Apocalypse are the same people God is using to spread the Good News in the West today. The scions of the grandparents and forebears of those who brought the Good News to Africa about seven hundred years ago are now learning from the scions of those who received the Good News. Who would ever believe a Nigerian born a Moslem in Owo, Ondo State in western Nigeria would be brought to America and is now writing about this Good Lord of the heavens and universe, if not by God's Grace? Reports have it that the Royal Family in the UK now worships at a church headed by a Nigerian Pastor. Who would believe centuries ago that the largest Christian congregation in the world will be found in sub-Saharan Africa? Who would ever believe it if it was predicted years ago that an Enoch Adejare Adeboye would rise up in Nigeria, Africa and pastor the largest Christian Congregation on earth known as the Redeemed Christian Church of God? If still in doubt about the Awesome Powers of God Almighty and His program-scheduled Mission on earth, read the whole of Deuteronomy 32 and ask for His knowledge of the scriptures for you to comprehend the depth of His wisdom and the unsearchable insight into His Knowledge. Then there is the knowledge of arts, craft and ornaments which God gave to certain people for His Glory as we saw in the life of Bezalel (Exodus 35: 30-32: “Then Moses said to the Israelites, "See, the LORD has chosen Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, and he has filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, ability and knowledge in all kinds of crafts - to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze, to cut and set stones, to work in wood and to engage in all kinds of artistic craftsmanship.” While Bezalel had these wonderful talents and rare knowledge of crafts, God deliberately removed the monopoly to mentor others from Bezalel but instead gave the same abilities to Bezalel to Oholiab from a different tribe-Dan, instead of Judah (Exodus 35: 33 “And he has given both him and Oholiab son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, the ability to teach others.”) He did this in order to humble Bezalel so he would not be too arrogant that he was unique in Israel. By the way, this knowledge of crafts and arts also included music. If you are a musician, know that is God's Will for you, but who do you use your songs to glorify: Satan or God Almighty? Finally, the knowledge of Christ' Glory, which even Satan and his demons are still perplexed and unable to understand or fathom in the kingdom of darkness. (2 Corinthians 4: 6: “For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.”) How did the Creator of the heavens and the universe and all that are in them leave His Glory in heaven and deliberately confined Himself into the human body for 33 years? How did God Almighty suspend the Law of Reproduction and indwelled a Virgin Mary to redeem His children? Up till today, Satan and his demons are arguing and asking how and where did our Lord Jesus Christ get the Body to come here as a part of humanity which made us refer to Him as “Immanuel” literally; “God with us' (Mathew 1: 23). Even the great Apostle Paul confessed he had not attained this knowledge while even angels in heavens are wondering how this took place. That is why heaven is a place not to be missed, because this is the first question I will ask among several others from my Lord and Savior the day I come before His Presence in the heavenly abode.

But Satan has also produced his own sets of knowledge which Apostle warned Timothy against and referred to as “opposing ideas and knowledge.” “Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to your care. Turn away from godless chatter and the opposing ideas of what is falsely called knowledge (1 Timothy 6: 20). From the fall of Adam and Eve, these 12 types of Earthly Knowledge can be identified in human affairs and that will be next week.

NEXT WEEK: Because Satan is the arch-enemy of God and Man, he and his demons have also erected 12 countervailing areas of earthly knowledge as opposed to the 12 Divine Knowledge adumbrated above and we shall examine those 12 False Areas of Satanic Knowledge next week.

FIRST AUTHORS' AUTOGRAPHED COPY OF THE BOOK: “ALIKO MOHAMMAD DANGOTE; THE BIOGRAPHY OF THE RICHEST BLACK PERSON IN THE WORLD

My co-authored book: “Aliko Mohammad Dangote; the Biography of the Richest Black Person in the World,” will be unveiled to the general public for the first time in our hometown of Chicago on Saturday August 3, 2013. Please see the flyer for the book signing event that we have sent out, but in case you haven't received yours in the mail or electronic invite, here is the information: Book Signing by the Authors will be held at: A. Philip Randolph Pullman Porter Museum, 10406 South Maryland Avenue off South Cottage Grove Avenue, Near the Social Security Administration Office Building on South Side Chicago, Chicago IL 60628. If you are in the Chicago Metropolitan Area on that day, please join us. There will be a special African dish for our guests and do not forget to R.S.V.P through our publicist and media contact at: Jabez Cultural Management Group, LLC Tel: 773-363-2853 or send email to [email protected]. We start at 3 pm and we should be done latest 5 pm. Thanks.

WORLD PROPHECY: This is huge! Something of global importance, an earth-shattering event and a cosmic occurrence is in the offing in the world. I don't know what it is but the Holy Bible has predicted it and we shall all see it with our very eyes soon. This event is part of end-time prophecy and it's about to take place very, very soon in the next 12 to 24 months. I don't know what it is; I repeat again, I wasn't shown what it is but again, it's HUGE. The whole world will be shocked; from the rising of the sun to the setting of the sun; from the East to the West; from the South to the North, the planet earth is about to witness a catastrophic event. The Divine Hand of God Almighty, the Creator of the heavens and the universe, Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is about to intervene in the affairs of humanity. The world media, the commentariat, the scientists, the astrologers, the men and women of earthly wisdom and their ilk will be talking their heads out but will not be able to explain but those who know the True God will be unshaken and unperturbed. What is it? I wasn't shown but was only told (Luke 21:11 & 25).

NOTE: My forthcoming book: “The Kingdom of Satan Exposed: Activities of Principalities and Demon Worship In Our World Today and Inside The World of Witchcraft, Voodoo, Warlocks and Spiritual Warfare” will be out in the summer. If you want a copy at a discount of 15 percent before official release, please send an email to [email protected] now for more information. For those that have reached out and are on the lists of our pre-paid customers, our Colorado-based publishers are working round the clock to release the title this summer. The volume is long –about 500-plus pages-so they're taking their time and I will break the news here as soon as it is released.

I am also happy to announce the release of a new book authored by my co-author, Dr. Margie Marie Neal published by the Saarbrücken-based Scholar's Press in Germany. Titled: “The Roles of Professional Organizations in the Effective Teaching of Reading in Chicago Public Schools: the International Reading Association and Illinois Reading Council as Case Studies,” the book is now available throughout the world. The scholarly work has been accepted for official presentation at the 59th Annual Conference of the International Reading Association taking place in New Orleans, LA in summer 2014. Please let's give the thumbs up for Dr. Neal on this achievement.

P.S: Sorry for many readers of this column who have sent letters as reactions to articles published in this column we shall publish some of the Readers' Reaction next week.

• Dr. Fayemiwo, co- author of the newly-released; “Aliko Mohammad Dangote; the Biography of the Richest Black Person in the World,” is CEO, Christ-Alternative Lifestyle Communication, DBA Chicago, USA.