Satan has fought against revelation from the start. It's been his input that's caused all of the dissension and strife in the Church for centuries. Every time the Holy Spirit brings further revelation of Jesus, satan tries stopping it before such knowledge as speaking of tongues, healing of our bodies, the truth or grace, the acceptance by faith into salvation and even the forgiveness of sin can be accepted. All of these things are revealed (and many more) by the Holy Spirit to the Church.
In Matthew 16:15-18 (Amplified), Jesus asks His disciples, "Who do you say that I am? Peter declared, You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God. Jesus said that it wasn't man, but God Who had shown Peter this." In Verse 18 Jesus goes on, "On this rock (of revelation) I will build My Church." The rock Jesus was going to build His Church upon wasn't Peter, but it was the revelation given to Peter that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the Living God.
Even these has been controversial in the Church for years. Some say that Peter was the rock on whom the Church would be built. Others say it was revelation knowledge that would build the Church. Still others say that Jesus (the understanding of Who He is) is the foundation the Church is built on. God will reveal to us, by His Word and His Spirit, the truth of His Word.
Peter is the one who describes what this rock or stone is in 1Peter 2:6-9 ((Amplified) saying, "For thus it stands in scripture behold, I am laying in Zion a chosen (honored) precious chief cornerstone and he who believes in Him (adheres to, trusts in, and relies on Him) shall never be disappointed or put to shame."
Peter says here that this stone or rock is the truth that what God told him is that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. Even Peter himself shares with us what this rock or stone really is. It is the revelation knowledge, but not just revelation knowledge, but this knowledge is revealed. The knowledge of Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the living God is the foundation of the entire body (or structure) of the Church. This stone has been a stumbling block to many and without this revelation, they try to build on some other foundation.
Many religions in the world have been built on some other foundation than Jesus as the Christ. Peter writes in 1Peter 2:8 (Amplified), "And, a Stone that will cause stumbling and a rock that will give (men) offense; they stumble because they disobey and disbelieve (God's) Word, as those (who reject Him) were destined (appointed) to do."
Because some reject the revealing of Jesus as the Cornerstone of salvation and try building their own beliefs, many will be turned away. So you see, that without revelation knowledge (that which the Holy Spirit reveals from God's Word), we stay in a child-like state or baby stage as Peter describes in Verses 1-5 (especially verse 2) saying, "Like newborn babies you should crave (thirst for, earnestly desire) the pure (unadulterated) spiritual milk, (which is the Word of God) that by it you may be nurtured and grow unto (completed) salvation. Since you have (already) tasted the goodness and kindness of the Lord."
The only way to know our Heavenly Father is through fellowship with Him in His Word. Jesus, Who is the Word, will now reveal the Father to us. The Holy Spirit will tie the "Man" Jesus to the "Word" Christ and the Father. When we allow the Holy Spirit to bring us into a closer place with Jesus, we will then know and become more knowledgeable of Who our Father is.
So many times, we have blamed our suffering and hard times on God because we don't know Who He really is. We don't know the heart or nature of God and then blame everything on Him.
Ephesians 4:17-25 (Amplified) speaks about men who try building their own way without the foundation of Jesus as their cornerstone to build from. Verses 20-21 say, "But you did not so learn Christ, assuming that you have really heard Him and been taught by Him, as (all) truth is in Jesus (embodied and personified in Him)."
We differ in our relationships with our Father based on our relationship with our brothers and sisters in Christ. For many of us, we were content with just knowing Him as One Who forgives our sins. Praise God for Jesus bearing our sin, but is that as far as you want to know Him? Anyone who would die for me and love me that much, is someone I wish to know better. Some have come to know God further by the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. They believe that we have arrived because we speak in tongues.
The Day of Pentecost wasn't the end, but the beginning of the Church. Speaking in tongues wasn't the ultimate, but the start. For some, speaking in tongues is like a badge of maturity. That isn't really true. This was the entry into the place of knowing our heavenly Father in a way that had never been possible before. 1Corinthians 14:2 (Amplified) tells us, "For one who speaks in an (unknown) tongue speaks not to man but to God, for no one understands or catches his meaning because in the (Holy) Spirit he utters secret truths and hidden things (not obvious to the understanding)."
One of the best ways that God has made available to His children to come to know Him is the restoration of a heavenly language that bypasses their understanding. God appointed and ordained this method of communication we we can reach into the very depths of God's nature and learn about Him. We can only ask of God what we can understand in the natural language. But, with the gift of new language of the Spirit, we can now call upon Him in the realm of His Spirit.
Romans 8:26-27(Amplified) says, "So too the (Holy) Spirit comes to our aid and bears us up in our weakness, for we do not know what prayer to offer it worthily as we ought, but the Spirit Himself goes to meet our supplication and pleads on our behalf with unspeakable yearnings and groanings too deep for utterance." Verse 27 goes on, "And He Who searches the hearts of men knows what is in the mind of the (Holy) Spirit (what His intent is) because the Spirit intercedes and pleads (before God) in behalf of the saints according to and in harmony with God's will."
Many times we take Verse 28 out of context and apply it to cover all the things that happen in our lives as being God's will for His children. This is one more thing man has devised because we don't know the Father.
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