Experiential Knowledge

Peter penned two great epistles for us to learn from. He is sharing with us knowledge that He has learned from experience not from a book or even from the Bible for that matter. It’s not enough for us to just learn the Scripture we must apply and experience the Word or the Scripture in our own lives through obedience. When Peter tells us in I Peter 1:9 “Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.” He is sharing something with us that he experienced in His own life. So what is Peter sharing with us, when he said, “receiving the end of your faith”? The word “end” in the original Greek is tel'-os -to set out for a definite point or goal, the outcome or the conclusion of. Peter is saying “DON’T LOOK AT THE PROCESS” Keep your eyes on the goal! Peter went through a fiery trial and His faith was tested that night he fled and followed Jesus afar off and denied that he even knew Him. Remember what Jesus said to Peter before he denied the Lord? Peter Satan has desired to have you and to sift you as wheat, but I have prayed for thee that “YOUR FAITH FAILS NOT” Before the cock crows you will deny three times that you even knew me. This helps us to see what Peter was saying when he penned in His 1^st Epistle “Receiving the end of your faith”. Peter is telling us by experience not to get caught up in the process of the fiery trials. He is saying if you fail the Lord don’t give up, but to keep our eyes on the goal! Paul the Apostle said the same words “This one thing I do forgetting those things behind, I press toward the mark or goal for the prize of the high calling in Christ Jesus.” You see it’s the fiery trials that we go through that removes all self-confidence that would cause us to say I DID IT! When he is finished with us we can only say like Peter HE DID IT! It was Him and His power that brought me through! It was His faith that he gave me even the faith of the Son of God. As Paul said “ Its no longer I that lives but Christ that liveth in me and life I now live in the flesh I live by the FAITH of the Son of God! The only thing that pleases the Father is Faith. Many times Jesus rebuked his disciples saying “Oh ye of little faith”, “Where is your faith?” “Why did you doubt?” The Scriptures say “ Without faith it is impossible to please Him” Did you hear that? It’s impossible to please Him without faith. That means it’s never going to happen until we believe Him. We must believe to receive. Which brings us back to what Peter was saying, “Receiving the end of your faith” We must keep our eyes on the goal set before us. We are going to go through many things such as fiery trials, storms, tests but they are all there to make us FAITHFULL! Only faith with no room for unbelief or doubt. After we go through the fire all that will be left is our dependence on Him and we will have no confidence in the flesh. Glory!