Intellectual knowledge by itself does not have the capacity to change the heart. It is insufficient to make you experience the love of God. Don’t, please. I plead. Don’t make the mistake of the Pharisee. They had a perverted view of the sufficiency of Scripture. And such a view will leave you dead in your sins. Listen to what Jesus says to them in John 5. You search the Scriptures for in them. You think you have eternal life. And these are they which testify of me. But you are not willing to come to me. That you may have life.
Here’s the Pharisee. He believes the Word of God is just that inspired infallible, directly from God. And he believes that it is sufficient to the point. If he just believes that it’s sufficient, he’s safe. He has eternal life. He made the mistake of severing the Word of God from God. The word from the word. You see, Jesus would say, If you really have searched the scriptures and believe in its sufficiency, it would sufficiently point you to me and you would come experience or knowledge given to us by the Spirit. Rest on intellectual belief and the truth of Scripture. Yes. But it’s never, ever reduced to that alone. It’s based upon the factual declarations of Scripture. But it is the experience of the reality to you, of those doctrines believe listen again, it is a direct and personal encounter of the love of God. Just as the Apostle prayed that the Ephesians would have and that you may know what is the breadth and the length and the depth and the height, and to know the love of Christ, which has the knowledge that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Did you hear that you may have a knowledge that has intellectual knowledge.
This excerpt was taken from the full sermon. The Look of Love: Jesus is Love for Peter by Michael Durham.
