Not what you know, but Who

"No one will know more of the Father than he knows of the Son, nor will he know more of the Son than he knows of the Word."

— J. Dwight Pentecost

The first half of the saying echoes Christ's words to His disciple Philip, "Don't you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father" (John 14:9 NIV). Possibly, the second half of the saying is hinting at what the evangelist John wrote, "That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard…" (1 John 1:1-3).

The fact is, this saying of J. Dwight Pentecost is, without doubt, absolutely true. I want to challenge my friends, those that visit my humble blog, to realise for themselves how urgent this saying is.

How can anyone possibly hope to have the Father and the Son with them, if he does not know the Word? Yet people pack the churches to the doors sometimes, clamoring after words about who knows what, while the Word of God is treated as a sealed book. Who is worthy to break the seals? Well, then, what was prophesied by Isaiah is still being fulfilled,

"For on you has Yahweh poured a spirit of lethargy, he has closed your eyes (the prophets), he has veiled your heads (the seers). For you every vision has become like the words of a sealed book. You give it to someone able to read and say, "Read that." He replies, "I cannot, because the book is sealed." Or else you give the book to someone who cannot read, and say, "Read that." He replies, "I cannot read." Yahweh has said, Because this people approaches me only in words, honors me only with lip service while its heart is far from me, and my religion, as far as it is concerned, is nothing but human commandment, a lesson memorised…" (Isaiah 29:10-13 JB).

There once was a very talkative presbyter in my church. When he first arrived, I watched and listened to him closely. His eloquence was beyond almost anyone whom I have ever heard speak. He knew how to turn a phrase, how to elaborate, how to tell a story. After hearing him speak in a few different kinds of meetings, I began to understand something I hadn't grasped before. Eloquence can be used to obscure the Truth as much as to reveal it.

I began to notice more and more how a man's words can be lying words even when they say true things. How is this possible?

When speaking of God and spiritual things, any words which do not draw from and point to the Word of Truth are at best vanity, and at worst lies.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote (in The Cost of Discipleship, The Suffering of the Messengers), "It is all part of God's plan and the will of Jesus, and that is why they will be given power to make a good confession and deliver a fearless testimony even in the hour when they make answer before thrones and judgment seats. The Holy Ghost himself will stand by their side, and make them invincible. He will give them 'a mouth and a wisdom which all your adversaries will not be able to withstand or to gainsay' (Luke 21:15 ASV)."

Yes, it is not what you know, but Who.