Do You Really Know?

Hey, this is Tim Pratt Jr. and I want to welcome you to the Student of Life Podcast. Listen, we're going to get into so many transferable truths throughout the content of these episodes that I believe God is going to use to help you apply, because he's going to reveal what's already been there the entire time. Enjoy.

Hey yo, what's up? So this is Tim Pratt Jr. and I'm your host of the Student of Life Podcast, and this is part 2 of the 3-part miniseries Counter Culture type of deal that we're going to be dealing with, uh, here. So the first one, of course, was A Devoted Mind. I highly suggest that you just don't jump in here, go listen to that one, listen to this one, and then like I say, part 3, I don't really know. I kind of have a few ideas, I just don't know if I want to collaborate on that one or just go solo once again, uh, with, with that one. Uh, but nevertheless, I want to go ahead and jump straight into this one. I don't believe it'll be a very, very long one. But I do, do want to open this one with a particular quote from, uh, Michael Reeves. Uh, he's really become one of my go-to professors. I believe he's in the United Kingdom. When it just comes to the— just the way he explains the Bible, uh, I love the substance that he teaches with. Uh, so that being said, let me go ahead and jump into this quote and then we unpack it throughout the rest of this episode. Uh, so that being said, it reads, if we treat a quiet time of reading scripture as an end in itself rather than an exercise in listening to God, or if we treat scheduled fellowship events as the basis in themselves for Christian growth, we have lost sight of that vital point. We can enjoy these practices for the wrong reasons, taking pleasure in the acquisition of new knowledge, drawing on social energy of a fellowship group, and feeling affirmed by our religious habits, all while directing none of our attention toward Jesus himself, who it's all supposed to be about. And in this one, man, I want to talk about do you really know? And of course it can be all-inclusive, do we really know? But the title of the episode is Do You Really Know? And it's part 2 of this 3-part miniseries. Um, so I want to go straight into Matthew 22:29, uh, Matthew 22:29. And it reads, but Jesus answered them, you are wrong because you know neither the scriptures nor the power of God. So what was happening here was basically, uh, to set this up, the Sadducees, they were among the leadership of Israel, and they were arguing around this idea of resurrection, you know. And let me stop saying, you know, but they were arguing around this idea of the resurrection, uh, because they couldn't get past the difficulties of it. It posed great difficulties. And so what started to take place is that Jesus had answered them. You know, this, this verse right here, he had answered them because of the difficulty that they were— they had a doctrine in their head, in their minds, uh, that this was going to be a great challenge. Like, they, they, they couldn't map this, they couldn't understand it. And so Jesus was saying, you're wrong. Like, you, you don't even know the scriptures, you don't even know the Torah, because if you did and you weren't ignorant of it, you would know that this is the power of God who created life. He created life. So if he created life, of course he could raise the dead. And this is very important because again, Jesus is pointing out that it's just an ignorance. It's— and because you're ignorant of the scriptures, you're ignorant of the power of God. And so I want to park right there just for a little bit because in today's time Like, I don't believe that you can live out proper application, live a life that's pleasing, acceptable to God, if you truly don't know the scriptures. If your mind is not devoted— like I said in the last episode— if, if you're not devoted to really spending time, not to do content, not to be argumentative, not to show how much you know about the Bible, but just knowing the scriptures, really spending time studying them, uh, I believe that's what leads to to proper application in life, because you have to be able to rightly divide the scriptures and know them. And of course, as you know, a believer, the Holy Spirit will help us, he will guide us, he will illuminate. And then he also works through other believers. Illumination of scriptures does not just start with us. It didn't just start with me. There's people that have been following God a long time, that has followed God a long time, and now probably in eternity with him, in heaven with him. So I want to start there and say that I do not believe that one can live right without knowing and meditating on the scriptures. Like, you— we have to, because if we don't, we will be wrong. And just because we are living something out, we can be living out of ignorance and it's not even scripture. So let's just make sure from, from that principle in a contextual way, we're not the ones that Jesus is saying, wait a minute, no, no, you, you're literally living this way because you're ignorant. You're ignorant of the text. You're ignorant of the book. You're ignorant of the scriptures of God, my word. And this is why you don't understand the true power of God. This is why you seem like you're living a defeated life, because you don't understand. But then if we jump to John 5:39, it says, you search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life, and that is that they bear witness about me. So now Jesus is here in this context, and I highly encourage you to go back and study these chapters in depth, uh, study the whole book. So for the sake of this episode, of course I'm condensing it, but Jesus now basically in this passage of scripture, he's getting on them because he's saying that you know the scriptures, you, you study them, you, you're well versed in the Torah at that time, you know what you're talking about when it comes to the written word of God, but you're missing the living word of God right there in front of you. Which is, you're missing me. I'm right here in front of you. I am who the scriptures are talking about, and you can't even see it. And man, is that not like today? Like, today we have to ask, do we really know? Because what we have adopted is like, I want to become well-versed in the text. We have Logos, we have all of these Bibles out there that has really made it a lot easier to— probably than has ever been before, just because of the technology age. We can go to commentaries without doing the work and spending time in the text. We just basically rephrase other people's thoughts, and we don't spend time wrestling and relying on the Holy Spirit to help us first. You've heard me say this many, many times, like, I, I rely on certain commentaries. Like, there are some hard things to wrestle with, but I am always going to spend time in that passage or whatever I'm feeding on with my Bible and my pen and paper and ask God to guide me, help me. What was it that you want to teach me out of this? I want to wrestle with it, for lack of better terms. And then from there, I start to open up some trusted commentaries and research that I have seen that I believe that is very, very close to being sound. And then, you know, in a combination of talking to people and whatnot. So today what I'm saying is like, in, in this era, we, we are gravitating to individuals that excel in their understanding of the scriptures. Like, they can, they can quote them, they can say them like none other. But what I also look at is that we have to be very careful, because if this same person or individuals fail to let the scripture shape their lives, then it's in great danger. Because this is the possibility that I can preach about Jesus, teach about Jesus, but I don't preach or teach Jesus. Because I don't believe that you can truly teach him unless you are really experiencing him, unless he's really Lord of your life. And I'm not talking about inadequacies, I'm talking about you you have allowed the Holy Spirit, God, Jesus Spirit, the Spirit of God, to shape your life. He is directing. You're consistently yielding to him. Not habitual mistakes here and there or bad decisions. I'm talking about a habitual practice, like I am consistently— I'm quick to repent, yielding to the Holy Spirit. It's not just in the local church setting or when I'm around people that seem to be people of God. This is like me all the time at work, at my kids' stuff, uh, at, out in the, at, at events, at the mall, wherever. This is me. I am a living epistle of God, not just one up when I'm conveying the message again around a fellowship setting in the local church. And, and that's what I'm nervous about, because God himself doesn't bless like just solely for reading and understanding the Bible, but instead it's about his obedience to his teachings, his word. That's what truly matters. It's not how much we know, it's how much we can be obedient to it. It's about how much we can consistently submit to him. That's what it's about. And like, I can use my own life just to be straight up, because this is why I'm not— like, I don't personally overprioritize someone's knowledge of the text, because that doesn't always correlate to spiritual maturity in Christ. Again, just because someone is very, very knowledgeable and skilled in the word, a skilled communicator, it does not equal maturity in Christ. I look at the fruit. I look for the fruit of the Holy Spirit. I don't get caught up in the gifts. I don't want to put these two against each other, because I think we spend a lot of time— I believe that you need both because they're in the Bible, but however However, I do believe that the fruit of the Spirit, the fruit of the Holy Spirit, is the primary indicator, not how well someone can function in their gift. I believe that it's the fruit of the Spirit consistently demonstrated, consistently seen. This should be visible habitually. That is the true sign of spiritual maturity, not the gift. Because truthfully, I mean, people can operate in their gifts because God gives them without repentance, so they can operate in their gifts. And not even be connected to Christ. So it's a spiritual maturity. I remember complimenting someone, uh, I was saying, man, like, it is so dope. Like, the person, she's amazing, she's so gifted. But my observation was like, consistently looking at her, I was like, it's so dope to see her fruit with her gifts. And truthfully, you see more of her fruit than really her gifts on display. But I mean, the, the woman was amazing, but it was just beautiful seeing that because often you don't see those correlations. You see a lot of great gifts because, because we sensationalize them, but we don't put the emphasis on the fruit of the Holy Spirit. And so this is what we have to really look at, because if we're not careful, we'll make the mistake that just because someone can recite scripture very well, it equals like this spiritual oneness, this spiritual maturity. And it doesn't, because what can end up happening, uh, put simply, is when scripture becomes an end of itself it leads to spiritual stagnation. In other words, I'm very skilled in the text, uh, I'm showing y'all everything I know, but I really don't know. That's why I asked the question with this episode: do you really know? Do we really know? Because we don't— we don't want to fall into this trap and this mistake. And this is what produces to this culture that's anti-God, because again, people are preaching and talking about Jesus, but they're really not. Because if you're really preaching and teaching him, then he should be Lord over your life. We should be able and learn how to mature in our walk, die to this flesh, crucifying this flesh, dying to self, I should say. Like, this is the true definition of someone knowing, like, oh, okay, I really know Christ. Not just talking about him, but I really know him. For example, if someone say, hey, I know about Tim, so I can talk about him, I read books about him, I've studied, I've done all this stuff, I've even talked to people that know him deeply. But have they ever spent intimate time with me? No, you know a lot about me so you can talk about me, but you really don't know me, and vice versa. So we have to make sure we don't have that relationship. In other words, I know a lot about God, but I don't know him. Now again, let's go back. I do believe again that we have to know the text, but we can't let just knowing the text be an end of itself. And so it's very crucial when we get caught up in, in studying— because I know me, I can really be a biblical nerd. I tell people all the time, they really know me, I get excited. I love talking about Jesus, of course, the Bible. I love talking about leadership and just like flat-out developmental stuff, love sports and all that type of stuff too. But those are my big things. Like, man, I'm a, I'm a Jesus junkie, for lack of better terms. Like, I just want— I love Jesus, I do. And, you know, of course I can't always talk about it in my secular environment and work setting But most of the stuff that I do is influenced by that. The things I say, the way I try to behave— I strive to behave and yield. And I'm saying try, I should be saying train. The way I train to behave and all of these type of things, uh, it's all because I want that maturity. I want my fruit to be on display. I want— I want the spirit, the fruit of the Holy Spirit to be on display through my life. And so it's very crucial that we understand this because this is what gives a sign and indicators that, okay, this person truly knows God. They know the Bible. They know the God of the Bible, not just the Bible. And so I just think like, man, when you get in today's time, you have so many people preaching and teaching. You see all of this content, and like I said, you have Logos and all these software packages. Um, if we're not careful, what tends to happen in today's time, because we talk to like a lot of intellectuals, um, it's crucial to avoid using the Bible as a stage or opportunity on the stage just flaunt our knowledge. Like, this is because we can do this because, like, while having an extensive biblical vocabulary or biblical knowledge is commendable, like, I, I, like, I think it's dope in anything that we do. But what we have to be careful is that it's essential, like, especially as communicators of the gospel, uh, or people that, you know, really, really believe this thing when we're talking, because all of us are doing ministry to some degree if we're a believer. Like, we all have to obey the Great Commission. So it's essential to recognize that if we are truly letting scripture shape our lives. In other words, let me say it again, we have to really, really understand and recognize, okay, am I just talking about this, or am I allowing the scripture, the Holy Spirit of the scripture, God's Spirit, to shape my life, to master my life? Am I submitted to him, or am I submitted to my flesh? And it's just, just words, empty words, or lack of better terms, it's just knowledge, puffed up like I'm Eric and I can't even see myself. Very knowledgeable, but I can't really see myself. Because I'm not one with it. So this again has come back, do I really know? And so I would just say to anybody, man, like including myself, it's all inclusive again, that the Bible is not— it again, the Bible is not— it's not meant solely for this intellectual examination. It is not. But it rather serves as a lens through which we see Jesus. It's about connection with him. It's about truly being one with him. An invitation into him. Because the scripture themselves— Jesus said that, Jesus said this in, in that text, if we go back and really study it in John 5:39— the scriptures themselves do not possess life. They don't possess any life. I understand the word of God said the word of God is living and active, but that's only because of the Holy Spirit, Jesus' spirit. It's only because of that God, the triune God. Like, it is only because of that. They are words and they become— they can become an end to themselves when we just want to master the book but don't allow the master that it is talking about, which is Jesus, to be master over our life. They don't possess life themselves, but they direct us to Jesus, who is the source of life. It is him. It is only through him. So, I mean, it's not merely just knowing about Jesus again, because we don't really know him if I just know about it. But it's about actively seeking and embracing him. It's following. It's the pursuit It's to pursue. Like, God, I want to be more and more like you. I am trying to lay hold of what lay hold of me. Like, Lord, I want you. I want to be more. I want to know you. This is what this is all about. Not us, not anybody else. It's all about Christ. So like, just stop and say, man, you know, have I tiptoed over into just really studying and I just talk a good game but I really don't know Christ? Not like the in-depthness that I project, or I should know. And if that's the case, just repent. Get with someone that you see the evidence in their life, that you see the fruit of the Holy Spirit, and say, man, I need, I need help. I need to be discipled. Like, reach out and get help, because like, you don't want to fall for the deception, and then you just, you were just someone that's just talking but not even connected with it. I hate it. I think that's why it's such a great fallaway from the local church. And I believe God is dealing with it. I believe God is going to, uh, basically he's going to clean house with that. People that have rise to platforms or went viral and it just has turned into like, man, this is what sells, this is what makes me money, but I don't really care about these people. I just care because they like it and it keeps my numbers up and I'm getting paid and opportunities. No, man, you have— the deftness comes from living it. Living the gospel. And that is only possible through the power of the Holy Spirit and having intimacy, intimate fellowship with Christ. That's it, nothing else. So this is the true mark of do we really know Christ.

Hey, what's up? I want to thank you for taking the time to listen to this Student of Light podcast today. If this content has impacted you in any kind of way, please take some time to share it on your social media feeds. And also, if you want to connect with me, or just learn more about me, go over to www.timothypratt.org. Once again, thanks.