Infinite Fellowship Ministries

A Key To The Kingdom – The Tripartite System Of Wisdom, Knowledge & The Fear Of God: Sermon By Rev. Sarah Muendo

There are many keys to the Kingdom e.g. praise, giving, worship, prayer, intercession, forgiveness, etc.

We need to know what key opens what.

You should be aware of the keys that you have.

Wisdom, knowledge and the fear of the Lord is the system that God has given us to be able to have Him in our lives.

Then Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan River. He was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, where he was tempted by the devil for forty days. Jesus ate nothing all that time and became very hungry.

Then the devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become a loaf of bread.” But Jesus told him, “No! The Scriptures say, ‘People do not live by bread alone.’”

Then the devil took him up and revealed to him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. “I will give you the glory of these kingdoms and authority over them,” the devil said, “because they are mine to give to anyone I please. I will give it all to you if you will worship me.” Jesus replied, “The Scriptures say,‘You must worship the Lord your God and serve only him.’”

Then the devil took him to Jerusalem, to the highest point of the Temple, and said, “If you are the Son of God, jump off! For the Scriptures say, ‘He will order his angels to protect and guard you. And they will hold you up with their hands so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.’” Jesus responded, “The Scriptures also say, ‘You must not test the Lord your God.’”

When the devil had finished tempting Jesus, he left him until the next opportunity came. Then Jesus returned to Galilee, filled with the Holy Spirit’s power. Reports about him spread quickly through the whole region. 

Luke 4:1-14 (NLT)

The first temptation had to do with human wisdom. Jesus grappled with using human wisdom versus the wisdom of God.

The second temptation was in regards to knowledge. It was based on his understanding of Scripture and God the Father.

The third temptation had to do with the fear of God. What is the fear of the Lord? Why should you be careful to fear the Lord? What does that look like in your day to day life?

In that day he will be your sure foundation, providing a rich store of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge. The fear of the Lord will be your treasure. 

Isaiah 33:6 (NLT)

1) Wisdom

In every situation that you find yourself in, God has availed a key for you to access and use.

When you do not know what to do, how to do it, when to do it, it is because you lack wisdom.

Every time that you go through a season of silence, of testing, it is the wisdom of God, the knowledge of God, the fear of God that will keep you unshaken.

Stability comes from the wisdom I implore in my situation. You can know what to do but not know the when and the how.

The stability of the economy of this country is based on wisdom.

For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will fill you with joy. 

Proverbs 2:10 (NLT)

The best way to see what wisdom does is by looking at the effects of lack of wisdom.

People ruin their lives by their own foolishness and then are angry at the Lord.

 Proverbs 19:3 (NLT)

Being offended at God is like no other offence since we cannot run away from God.

When God issues time-sensitive prophetic words, He is giving us time to change our mindset so that we are capacitated to walk in to the promise.

It’s not necessarily to mean that this promise will come in that period of time.

Every word of promise is a word of rebuke.

For the Lord grants wisdom! From his mouth come knowledge and understanding.

 Proverbs 2:6 (NLT)

We should not claim we have wisdom when we don’t. This means God will not give us wisdom when we need it.

Where you lack wisdom, ask the Lord and He is faithful to give it to you.

Wisdom is about the actions, the task, the building of the house.

“I, Wisdom, live together with good judgment. I know where to discover knowledge and discernment. 

Proverbs 8:12 (NLT)

Deeper understanding of wisdom. It’s the place of intimacy. Knowledge establishes the house.

A house is built by wisdom and becomes strong through good sense. 

Proverbs 24:3 (NLT)

If you take prophetic word as information, it will never transform you. Prophetic word is an invitation to gain wisdom. It is an invitation to know who we are and who God is.

I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death. 

Philippians 3:10 (NLT)

Apostle Paul determined to know nothing else but Christ and Him crucified. Eternal life is knowing God.

And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. 

John 17:3 (NLT)

Eternal life is an endless opportunity that God as given us to know Him.

2) Knowledge

Eternity is the opportunity to eternally know God.

Questions are not profitable here because the environment is not conducive to have the answers here. Rather they are answered as you know God.

Eternal life does not begin when you die. Eternal live began when we accepted God.

The more we stay the process the more we know Him.

What you know about God will determine how far He can move in your life.

True knowledge is what is in the heart not in the head.

What we don’t know about God becomes a limitation for us.

You are limited in the area where you lack the knowledge about God. You limit God because it is knowledge that serves as an entry point, as key.

Again and again they tested God’s patience and provoked the Holy One of Israel. 

Psalms 78:41 (NLT)

If we really did know God we would not be worried about things.

That is why I am suffering here in prison. But I am not ashamed of it, for I know the one in whom I trust, and I am sure that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until the day of his return. 

2 Timothy 1:12 (NLT)

Do not allow the lack of the intimate knowledge of God to limit you. May you purpose to know nothing else but Christ and Him crucified. God will put you in situations where He’ll allow you to experience difficulty so that you can get to know Him intimately.

In the Bible people gave God names based on their intimate knowledge of God.

It’s not just knowledge but intimate knowledge. Head knowledge will puff you up, but intimate knowledge will multiply grace and peace in your life.

We need to decide to intimately know God. Intimate knowledge is the only thing that can transform you.

Your faithfulness continues from generation to generation; You have established the earth, and it stands [securely]. 

Psalms 119:90 (AMP)

Every generation has a marker of who God is to them.

Our knowledge of God is a preserver.

Grace and peace [that special sense of spiritual well-being] be multiplied to you in the [true, intimate] knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.

 2 Peter 1:2 (AMP)

When we are not transformed by the knowledge we have, we need to ask God to make the knowledge we have to become intimate knowledge.

Intimate knowledge is applicable but head knowledge demands nothing of us.

The only way we advance in the kingdom is by the truth that we know and apply.

Such people will not be overcome by evil. Those who are righteous will be long remembered. They do not fear bad news; they confidently trust the Lord to care for them.

 Psalms 112:6-7 (NLT)

The truth that you know is what can make you to have no fear. The knowledge of God sets us free

If there is an area in your life where you are in bondage, then you are lacking truth in that area.

We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ. 

2 Corinthians 10:5 (NLT)

The knowledge of God is the standard.

The sons of Sceva were chased away because they did not have an intimate knowledge of God. 

Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva were doing this. But the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you?” And the man in whom was the evil spirit leaped on them, mastered all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.

Acts 19:14-16 (NKJV)

Your knowledge of someone else’s God will never be beneficial to you.

My people are being destroyed because they don’t know me. Since you priests refuse to know me, I refuse to recognize you as my priests. Since you have forgotten the laws of your God, I will forget to bless your children. 

Hosea 4:6 (NLT)

3) Fear of God

The house is built, it is filled with good things and the fear of God is the fence around it.

The fear of God is the governing constitution on earth.

If we fear God, it will determine how we live with ourselves and others. Our interactions with ourselves and others are the sum total of our lives on earth.

Show your fear of God by not taking advantage of each other. I am the Lord your God. 

Leviticus 25:17 (NLT)

Do not charge interest or make a profit at his expense. Instead, show your fear of God by letting him live with you as your relative. 

Leviticus 25:36 (NLT)

Do not insult the deaf or cause the blind to stumble. You must fear your God; I am the Lord. 

Leviticus 19:14 (NLT)

Stand up in the presence of the elderly, and show respect for the aged. Fear your God. I am the Lord. 

Leviticus 19:32 (NLT)

Our human interactions will reveal if we have the fear of God.

Our actions show that there is the fear of God is lacking in our society, in the Church, etc.

It is the fear of God that will temper what we do or don’t do, those you interact with and the things that you say.

Fear of God is honour, respect and reverential worship of God.

Many why questions come from lack of fear of God. The why with the heart position asks how dare you do this or that.

It stems from a lack of respect for His dealings in our lives and the lives of others and lack of respect for His ways.

“My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.” 

Isaiah 55:8-9 (NLT)

It is fear of the Lord that keeps us in the process. It keeps our ear inclined and our hearts surrendered.

Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. 

Philippians 2:6 (NLT)

The truest embodiment of the having the fear of the Lord is the life that Jesus lived while He was in the earth.

The fear of the Lord that Jesus had is unlike any other ever modeled.

All right then, the Lord himself will give you the sign. Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel (which means ‘God is with us’). By the time this child is old enough to choose what is right and reject what is wrong, he will be eating yogurt and honey. For before the child is that old, the lands of the two kings you fear so much will both be deserted. 

Isaiah 7:14-16 (NLT)

He allowed himself to be born, go through schooling and to go through process. He allowed himself to learn obedience through suffering and to live within the the law.

Then Jesus went from Galilee to the Jordan River to be baptized by John. But John tried to talk him out of it. “I am the one who needs to be baptized by you,” he said, “so why are you coming to me?” But Jesus said, “It should be done, for we must carry out all that God requires.” So John agreed to baptize him. 

Matthew 3:13-15 (NLT)

It takes time to inculcate the fear of God in ourselves.

We no longer have the excuse that God does not understand us because Christ became man and conquered as man, not God.

The fear of the Lord is what will preserve you in your relationships, enable you to be effective in the marketplace and enable you to fulfill your destiny.

May the fear of the Lord be restored in our lives, in the Church, in our country and in the world.