When God first created the man Adam, he placed him in the Garden of Eden to take care of it.

“And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” (Genesis 2:7)

“And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.” (Genesis 2:8)

“… to dress it and to keep it.” (Genesis 2:15)

Within that garden, God also placed two distinct trees: The Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. With the placement of these trees, God also gave very clear instructions to Adam:

“And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:” (Genesis 2:16)

“But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” (Genesis 2:17)

Now, pause for a moment and put yourself in Adam’s place. He was a brand new creation of God. And though he was made in God’s image, he didn’t know any of the things that God Himself knew. If you like, he was totally ignorant when it came to understanding the universe, Satan and the earth as a whole. He didn’t even know he was naked.

“And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof;” (Genesis 2:21)

“And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.” (Genesis 2:22)

“And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.” (Genesis 2:25)

They didn’t even know what “shame” was! So, what DID they know?

They knew their Creator God! And they didn’t question Him … they enjoyed Him!

“And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day:” (Genesis 3:8)

Can you imagine that? What it must have been like walking continuously in this beautiful garden with all the birds of the air and the beasts of the field … all the while listening and communing with the Lord in the “cool of the day”?

This wasn’t a religious myth, fairy-tale or fable … this was reality!

But, as most Christians know, this reality was shaken to its core.

“Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?” (Genesis 3:1)

“And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:” (Genesis 3:2)

“But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it … lest ye die.” (Genesis 3:3)

“And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:” (Genesis 3:4)

 “For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.” (Genesis 3:5)

Of course we know what happened. Eve “partook” of the fruit and gave it to Adam and he “partook” of the tree of the KNOWLEGDE of good and evil. Up to this point, Adam and Eve didn’t KNOW anything. They only knew of themselves, the garden and, most wonderfully, their Creator!

But now, having partaken of the fruit, they KNEW a whole lot more. Things which God never intended them to know!

“And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.” (Genesis 3:7)

Now, it didn’t stop at just knowing that they were naked. It went far beyond that!

“And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is BECOME AS ONE OF US …” (Genesis 3:22)

Jesus said,

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.” (John 10:1)

The serpent beguiled Eve into thinking she could become as God by obtaining KNOWLEDGE. But that’s “climbing up another way”! That’s being a “thief and a robber” of the things of God!

When wanting to KNOW about future events concerning Israel, the disciples came together and asked the resurrected Lord:

“… saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?” (Acts 1:6)

“And he said unto them, It is not for you to KNOW the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.” (Acts 1:7)

“But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be WITNESSES unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)

Did you catch that? The resurrected Lord was not interested in His disciples KNOWING everything about the end time. However, He was interested in them BECOMING witnesses in the earth through the power of the Holy Ghost!

Paul had to deal with this very thing early on in his ministry to the Gentiles. It is historically known as Gnosticism and encompasses every religion on earth … from Satanism, New Age, Buddhism, Hinduism, Jewish mysticism (Kabala), Islam, Atheism and especially Christianity.

The word Gnosticism comes from the Greek word “gnosticos”, meaning “having knowledge”. It is the foundation corner stone on how the entire world system functions. Science, mathematics, education, politics, financial systems, religious institutions, governments, secret societies, etc … all function on the basis of obtaining “gnosis”!

Gnostics had invaded the Holy Ghost-filled church at the time and Paul had to address it, especially with the gentile Christians. They were getting carried away with a diversity of doctrines that were contrary to the “faith that was once delivered unto the saints”. Instead of simply “following on to know the Lord”, they wanted to know and expound on the things they supposed that only God knew but had revealed unto them. This mainly involved the teachings and doctrines of men, rather than the knowledge that comes from God to each individual through prayerful study of the scriptures under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost.

So, Paul exhorted them:

“For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.” (2 Corinthians 11:2)

“But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.” (2 Corinthians 11:3)

“As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him:” (Colossians 2:6)

“Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.” (Colossians 2:7)

“Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.” (Colossians 2:8)

“Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, INTRUDING into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind,” (Colossians 2:18)

Many Christians today are “intruding” into those things of God which He has “reserved in His own power”. They desire to “climb up some other way” and obtain “gnosis” that they might be “puffed up in their fleshly minds” and become spiritually wise in their own eyes. They want to be “enlightened” and have their “eyes opened” in order to understand the “wisdom” that the serpent promised Eve and beguiled her with!

This would be the “hidden wisdom” that entices every Christian in this end time hour. Hidden wisdom like the occult knowledge behind CERN, shemitahs, blood moons, DaVinci Codes, ancient prophecies from non-Biblical sources such as Nostradamus and the myriad of modern-day, self-proclaimed prophets and prophetesses spewing out endless false predictions, theories and dates …

“Desiring to be teachers of the law; understanding neither what they say, nor whereof they affirm.” (1 Timothy 1:7)

A prime example of this in modern-day Christianity is the growing popularity of using the Lost Books of the Bible as teaching resources. Many so-called teachers are quoting from the Book of Enoch, the Book of Thomas and others in an attempt to explain other-worldly events that have occurred and are occurring in the spiritual realm. They introduce such terminology as “the Watchers” and then begin to form exaggerated scenarios out of pure conjecture and suppositions. What many Christians are not aware of is the fact that the 40 or so scholars which were appointed by King James to translate (not interpret) the scriptures from Greek into English, almost did not include the Book of Jude into the “authorized” version of the Bible. Jude’s quoting of the Book of Enoch was “suspect”.

Another prime example is the tendency for Christians to believe the “ear-tingling” testimonies of those who have written about their encounter with Jesus or Heaven through a near-death experience. Though these experiences may have taken place for the individual, there is no reason to automatically accept such testimonies as absolute truth. Many Christians form their own personal belief systems centered around such testimonies, rather than centering their beliefs around the sound doctrine contained in scripture! When one tries to explain the deep, spiritual dimensions of God through knowledge acquired by “visitations”, “dreams” and “experiences” … this becomes Christian gnosticism!

That is why Paul exhorted Timothy to:

“Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. (2 Timothy 4:2)

“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;” (2 Timothy 4:3)

“And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.” (2 Timothy 4:4) 

In direct contrast to this ever-growing gnosticism in the church, God wants His people to KNOW HIM … not through books, DVD’s and man’s testimonies of their acquired knowledge and mystical experiences … but through each individual communing with Him through the Word of God and the indwelling of the Holy Ghost.

Before their fall in the garden, Adam and Eve didn’t possess knowledge. But they did possess an intimate RELATIONSHIP with God! They didn’t know about the coming financial collapse, but they did know of their Creator who would supply their every need! They didn’t have any understanding of how demons and angels traverse through multiple dimensions in the universe. But they did know the VOICE of God in the cool of the day! These are the concepts that the Apostle Paul tried to express to his brothers and sisters in the Lord:

“For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.” (1 Corinthians 2:2)

“Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,” (Philippians 3:8)

“That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;” (Philippians 3:10)

As Christians, we do not need to know the hidden wisdom that is Gnosticism. The world is full of scientific and occult knowledge. Though it is of value to be aware of what is happening in the world in which we live (as we have attempted to present in our YouTube Playlists), we should not be overly preoccupied with knowing every mystical thing concerning CERN, shemitahs, blood moons, conspiracy theories or rapture dates!

However, we DO need to be preoccupied with knowing CHRIST! Because…

“…this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.” (John 17:3)

The Apostle John put it so eloquently when he wrote:

“That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life;” (1 John 1:1)

“(For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;)” (1John 1:2)

“That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.” (1 John 1:3)

Choosing to fellowship with the Father and His Son Jesus Christ through the Holy Ghost is choosing to partake of the fruit of the Tree of Life, instead of partaking of the Tree of Knowledge which is “pleasant to the eyes (enlightenment), good for food (faux-spiritual nourishment) and desired to make one wise (become like God)“!  (Genesis 3:6)

You see, all around us in the world today there is a vast movement and stirring in the minds and hearts of man to achieve “Godhood”! The lie that the serpent presented Eve in the Garden was that she “would not die”, but rather that her eyes would be “opened”, and after her eyes were “enlightened” … she would be like God!

This lie is more prevalent today than ever before. The whole world (including Christians) is seeking after “knowledge”! And according to Daniel the prophet, this is exactly what was prophesied thousands of years ago concerning the end time:

“But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased. (Daniel 12:4)

Which tree do you want to partake of? Do you want the vastness of “gnosis” that’s available to you through the multitude of pseudo-prophecies, conjecture and theories concerning the last days? Or do you want the Holy Ghost to prepare you to be an effective WITNESS of the Lord Jesus Christ in this late hour and , in so doing, come to know…

“… the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.” (Ephesians 3:19)?

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