This evening we will be looking at Understanding As a Disciple. As a disciple of Jesus Christ, what do we need to understand? What is our understanding? And we are going to be starting out from Proverbs 4:7 so that we will see the importance of understanding. Understanding is something that is germane and important for everyone and particularly, for you as a disciple of Jesus Christ. Proverbs 4:7, the Bible says:
Listen To Podcast: UNDERSTANDING AS A DISCIPLE
Wisdom is the principal thing;
Therefore get wisdom.
And in all your getting, get understanding.
"Wisdom is the principal thing." Wisdom is principal, therefore, get wisdom because it is principal. "And in all your getting", in addition to wisdom, "get understanding." Wisdom is principal, but alongside with wisdom, get understanding. And that understanding is what we are looking at today. Why is understanding important? What is understanding? As a disciple of Jesus Christ, what should we understand? How should we understand? What is it that God has put in our hearts that we should understand? We are going to be taking our working definition from the book of Deuteronomy 29:4, this will be our working definition of understanding that we will be using from the word of God. It says:
"Yet the Lord has not given you a heart to perceive and eyes to see and ears to hear, to this very day." Yet to this point, God was talking about a particular people, and He said "Yet the Lord has not given you a heart to perceive and eyes to see and ears to hear, to this very day." Now the reason why we are going into this particular Scripture is because we want to use it as a working definition for understanding. So, understanding from this Scripture means "a heart that perceives, eyes that see and ears that hear” So when you have a heart that perceives as a disciple, you have understanding. And it didn't stop there, you must also have eyes that see. There are many people that have eyes, but not all eyes see. So you must have eyes that see, and you must have ears that hear. That is when you are a disciple that have understanding. So, a disciple that have understanding is a disciple who has a heart that perceives, eyes that sees, and ears that hear.
When you have a heart that can perceive, eyes that see and ears that can hear; then you are a disciple of understanding. Now we will understand why this definition is important to us because we are going to look at a case study of a disciple of Jesus and how he was able to show us through his encounter, these three important things that we mentioned, hearts that perceive, eyes that see and ears that hear. Now, I want us to see a word of Jesus in Luke 8 because we want to look at why we are talking about understanding. Why is understanding so important? Did Jesus even mention that as His disciples we should have understanding? What does Jesus say about understanding and His disciples? Luke 8:9-10. The Bible says:
Then His disciples asked Him, saying, “What does this parable mean?” 10 And He said, “To you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest it is given in parables, that
‘Seeing they may not see,
And hearing they may not understand.’
Jesus had given the Parable of the Sower. And when we talk about parables, it talks about a picture or a story that depicts something or create a scenario without not necessarily given you the understanding or the meaning of it. So, after Jesus gave this parable, His disciples asked Him: "What does this parable mean?" So, they were asking for understanding. We don't understand what you said, you gave a story, we know the story you gave has a deeper meaning to it. We want to know. And He said in verse 10: "To you", He was not talking to the multitudes, because if you go to verse 4 of this same chapter, when Jesus was speaking the parable, He was talking in the presence of the multitudes and His disciples. But at the time when this question was asked, the multitude was not there. The people that were asking this question were the disciples of Jesus Christ, those that He had called to Himself to be with Him. And the Bible says "And He said, "To you" my disciples, which includes you if you are a disciple of Jesus Christ, which includes me as a disciple of Jesus Christ. "To you it has been given to know."
Understanding has been given to you. "To you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God." The kingdom of God is a mystery that must be understood. So, you can't as a disciple of Jesus Christ, just live a parable life. You can't be a parable disciple. If you are a parable disciple, you will suffer what the multitude suffer. You will experience what the multitudes experience. You will only know to the limitation of the multitude. But if you are a disciple of understanding, Jesus said "it has been given to you", understanding has been given to you that you are able to decode and decipher the mysteries of the kingdom of God, it has been given to you. But to the rest, which shows there is a category.
Jesus separated these categories. He said there is a category of you my disciples, and there is the rest. The rest talks about every other person that is not a disciple of Jesus Christ. So to the rest, it is given in parables. So the experiences of life, the things that goes on spiritually, the things that God controls, is shrouded in mystery for the rest, but for the disciples of Jesus, they are able to decipher. They are able to solve the riddle, they are able to explain, they are able to walk into realm of understanding, because they are disciples. What separates them? There is you, and there is the rest. You are the disciple of Jesus Christ. So for you to come into that realm of understanding, you must be a disciple. And that is why it amazes me when I see some people, they are not disciples of Jesus Christ but they want to interpret, they want to show understanding of mysteries. They don't know, but they want to show understanding of mysteries. But you can't show it because it has not been given to you.
There is a grace that comes on the disciples of Jesus and it is the Spirit of understaffing. Every disciple of Jesus has been impacted with the Spirit of understanding that gives them the ability to be able to decode and decipher spiritual mysteries. But to the rest it is not given. And Jesus said: "but to the rest it is given in parables, that Seeing they may not see and hearing they may not understand." Now Jesus is repeating the same thing that we read in Deuteronomy 29:4. "Seeing they may not see", which tells us that there is a seeing eyes. "And hearing they may not understand." So, to understand is to have a heart that perceives, eyes that see and ears that hear.
Parable are sometimes shrouded in mysteries. And that is why for the multitude, the more they look the less they see. The more they try to hear, they hear nothing; they cannot understand. So to have understanding is to be able to comprehend, to have comprehension. To have understanding is to be able to decipher mysteries. It is to have perception, it is to have discernment. It is to be able to grasp and have assimilation of divine things. That is what understanding means to a disciple. I will also want us to see a Scripture again that will help us to understand more, what Jesus is saying here. In 1 John 5:20. Now, John put it in a very unique way and I want us to read it.
"And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding (did you see that?). We know, we have a knowledge because we are disciples. The rest don't know. But we as a disciple of Jesus, "we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ." And when he was going to explain to us our status as disciples, he said "we know Him, we are disciples because we know Him." The question is: You have been carrying about the placard of disciple, do you know Him? Do you know Him who is true and are you n Him who is true? Because this is a definition of a disciple. A disciple is one who knows that the Son of God has come. You know that Jesus has come in the flesh, that He died and on the third He resurrected and after, He was glorified and He ascended in glory and is now seated at the right hand of the Father. We know! We disciples we know, so, do you also know?
If you don't know then you are not His disciples. "And He has given us an understanding that we may know Him who is true." That is who we are. We know Him who is true, we are His disciples. "And we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ." So these are the category of people that has understanding, people that Know Him who is true. The people that are in Him. So there are two steps: you know Him and you are in Him. So do you know Christ Jesus? Are you found in Him? No wonder the demons said to the seven sons of Sceva: "Jesus we know, Paul we know, but who are you?" Are you His disciple? Do you have understanding? You cannot produce a life that you have not been called to. You can't live a life that you don't possess. You need to possess that life in order to live that life. So we must this understanding.
Very quickly, I want us to go to Ephesians 5:15-18. The Bible says: "See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, 16 redeeming the time, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 18 And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit." it says understand and don't be unwise. Disciples of Jesus Christ are not unwise, they are not fools, because there is a spirit in man, there is a spirit in every disciple, the inspiration of God Almighty gives them understanding. It makes them wise. So as disciples of God, you know what the will of God is.
Understanding as a disciple, you understand what the will of God is, you know Him, you are in Him, and you know and have an understanding of His will. That is what qualifies you for being His disciple. You know what His will is; you understand the will of God, you know the perfect will of God. You do His will. Acts 8, which is our case study, Acts 8:29, we want to read the story of Philip, How Philip exemplified this life of a disciple that has understanding. Acts 8:29-35.
"Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go near and overtake this chariot.” 30 So Philip ran to him, and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?” 31 And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he asked Philip to come up and sit with him. 32 The place in the Scripture which he read was this: “He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; And as a lamb before its shearer is silent, So He opened not His mouth.33 In His humiliation His justice was taken away, And who will declare His generation? For His life is taken from the earth.” 34 So the eunuch answered Philip and said, “I ask you, of whom does the prophet say this, of himself or of some other man?” 35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning at this Scripture, preached Jesus to him."
That's a disciple. Philip had a heart that perceived. Philip was somewhere else when the Spirit of the Lord transported him to this location; and when he got there, Then the Spirit of the Lord said to Philip "go near and overtake this chariot" and Philip responded to the Holy Spirit. He had the heart that perceives, he knew what the will of God is; he knew there was something about this chariot and the eunuch that was reading the Bible, that was beyond what was going on that was beyond what the eyes could see. And Philip joined himself and asked a question: "do you understand what you are reading?" that's where he started the conversation from "do you understand what you are reading?" Because if you are a disciple of Jesus Christ if you lack understanding, you cannot disciple nations.
Discipling nations which is the command of Jesus Christ to us can only be done by disciples of understanding. Disciples that have a heart that perceives, that have eyes that see, and have ears that hear. Disciples that are able to interpret events, and connect to the frequency of the Spirit and know what God is saying at every particular point in time. Disciples that are able to connect with the eternal will of God, and bring the Kingdom of heaven on the earth. Those are disciples that can disciple nations. And they have to be disciples of understanding. An example is Philip here, Philip was transported by the Spirit of God, he got to the location, he was still listening to the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit said to Him, "join yourself with this chariot" and he saw the man reading the Bible, he was not perplexed by him, he didn't feel the man is now born again because he is reading the Bible, he said; "do you understand what you are reading?" He didn't condemn the man, he didn't speak him down, he said; "do you understand what you are reading?" And when he got to see what he was reading, he sat with him and the man said I can't understand this except somebody guides me.
And Philip was that guide, was that man of understanding, that disciple of understanding that was able to bring that man to a place of focus. And he started explaining to him, he said see you are reading Isaiah but Isaiah but Isaiah was talking about Jesus. He was talking about Jesus and the things that He would go through and the things that he would do, and this Jesus that you are reading about in Isaiah, is the one that died for you, He is the reason why I am moving from here to there, I am witnessing Him. And Philip opened his mouth because Philip had a heart that perceived, because Philip had ears that heard, because Philip had eyes that see. Philip connected with the will of God at that moment. He knew what the will of God is – He understood it. As a disciple of Jesus Christ, what is your understanding? What is the level of your understanding? Do you understand what the will of God is? And see how Philip was able to win this man over. He discipled this man; one encounter! Because he was a disciple of understanding. How are you discipling nations? Are you a disciple that has understanding?
I want us to see a Scripture in 2 Timothy, the admonition of Paul to Timothy. 2 Timothy 2:15-16. It says: "Be diligent to present yourself approved to God", And this is a charge for every disciple of Jesus, be diligent! When the Spirit of understanding comes upon you, there is a level of diligence it requires from your life. You can't disciple nations sitting down and just looking, it is in the place of diligence. "Be diligent to present yourself approved to God a worker" that's whom you are as a disciple- a worker! You are a worker, you are working for God. And as a worker you must be found at your duty post, as a worker you must be found faithful, as worker you must fulfill your assignment.
There is a to-do-list for your life, as a worker, there is a responsibility for your destiny, as a worker, there is a purpose for which you were hired. And as a disciple, you are not like one of the multitude, you are specially called by Him, with a unique assignment, with a unique purpose. You are a worker! Nobody, how much more God would hire a worker without a specific schedule of duty? There is a schedule of duty for you as a worker in the vineyard of God. There is a schedule of duty for you as a disciple of Jesus Christ. There is a schedule of duty. And it says; "be diligent to present yourself approved to God a worker who does not need to be ashamed". It is when you are not diligent that you will be ashamed. A worker who does not need to be ashamed "rightly dividing the word of truth".
That's an instruction! You cannot have understanding without knowledge. As a child of God, as a disciple of Jesus, what do you know? How much do you know? No wonder apostle said "that I may know Him" that was his drive, that was his passion. He said "I forget the things that are behind, I pursue after the things ahead of me, there is more of God I need to know, I never get puffed up and think I have arrived." As a disciple of Jesus you can't ever think you have arrived; there is more of God, there are certain dimensions of God that you have not known yet. You must try to know it, that is when you become a disciple of understanding. So it is critical for us to understand this; "rightly dividing the word of truth." Imagine if Philip did not understand or have not come across that Scripture in Isaiah before? Philip was a disciple of understanding, he understood Scriptures. He picked that Scripture from there and he started speaking about Jesus". He picked it up from there, rightly dividing the word of truth.
Verse 16 says; "But shun profane and idle babblings" Shun it! don't give attention to nonsense. As a child of God, as a disciple of Jesus, major on the major, don't go for irrelevancies, shun profane and idle babblings "for they will increase to more ungodliness." They will increase to more ungodliness. As a disciple of Jesus, your focus should be on Jesus, your conversations should be around Him, the focus of your life should be to please Him. No wonder apostle Paul said; "that I may know Him." If you look all through the Bible, the friends of apostle Paul were people that were in ministry. So you will see that iron sharpens iron so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend. He didn't have time for idle babblings, he was solely given to this assignment. He was a disciple that had understanding, and that's the same thing that God is calling you and I to. It is time for us to stand up, it is time for us to take our place, it is time for us to become all that God wants us to be.
We must become disciples that have understanding. When people encounter us let them encounter Christ Jesus. That's the life we have been called to. And I will close with 2 Corinthians 4 verse 16 down to 18. We must understand this as disciples of Jesus. "Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing." I need to read this because of what I said earlier, we have been called to such a life, our lives is not as it were in the public space, for you to be able to attract and decode spiritual things, you are not everywhere. You are a man, you are a woman, you are a disciple of the secret place. The disciples did not ask the question about understanding the parable when the multitude were there, they were separated to Him when they asked. If they had asked when the multitude were there they won't get a response.
But when they were separated to Him, they asked and He responded to them. God is expecting you in the secret place child of God, God is expecting you in the secret place where you can have a heart-to-heart talk with Him, where you can decode mysteries. That was the life that Daniel lived. Daniel was a man of the secret place; no wonder he had visions, he had revelations of the future and times to come, he was a man of the secret place, a disciple of the secret place, a disciple of understanding. No wonder God was revealing hidden things to him, revealing enigmas to him. And see what he said; "Therefore we do not lose heart" even though we have been called to this kind of life we do not lose heart, even though our outward man is perishing "yet the inward man is being renewed-" This is what we gain, our inward man is being renewed "day by day."
"For our light affliction" – When it looks as if we are separated from friends, fun, entertainment and the good things. For our light affliction which is but for a moment,- You will still enjoy some of these things in the will of God. "is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory" There is a weight of glory that this light affliction is working for us, it is far exceeding the light affliction. "While we do not look at the things which are seen". This is the heart that perceives! This is our understanding, we don't fixate on the physical things, while we do not look at the things which are seen, which are tangible and visible, "but at the things which are not seen" in the realm of the Spirit. "For the things which are seen are temporary" Child of God the things you see are temporary, they are here today, tomorrow they are gone. "But the things which are not seen are eternal" the things which are invisible, the things you plug into in the realm of the Spirit, the Bible says; they are eternal.
This is our understanding as disciples of Jesus, we plug into things that are not seen, we plug into realms of glory that people cannot decipher, we plug into experiences with far exceeding weights of glory that's what we plug into; because we have a heart that perceives, we have eyes that see, and we have ears that hear. It is a good time for us to pray and you just want to cry out to God as a disciple of Jesus, that Lord I receive a heart that perceives, I receive eyes that sees and I receive ears that hear.
It is a good time to pray, and you just want to cry out to God as a disciple of Jesus, that Lord, I receive the heart that perceives, eyes that see and ears that hear. And if you have not known Him yet, this is a time to ask Jesus into your life, ask Jesus to be the Lord of your life, you can't do this life without Jesus because you need Him. so this is a good time to invite Jesus into your heart as your Lord and savior, to be the Lord of your life and to take over and take charge over you so that you can be His disciple.
Amen!
