The Great Divide: Two Kinds of Knowledge

Theme: The difference between sense knowledge and revelation knowledge determines whether a believer lives in defeat or walks in the finished work of Christ. Main Text: 1 Corinthians 2:14

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Introduction

There is a quiet tragedy that lives inside many sincere believers. They can quote the verses. They know the promises. They have heard the sermons about healing, provision, and the gifts of the Spirit. They believe—at least with their minds—that Jesus finished the work. Yet when symptoms rise, when the bank account runs low, or when the pressure of ordinary life presses in, something collapses. Faith becomes effort. Prayer becomes pleading. The supernatural life slips back into the realm of theory.

The problem is rarely a lack of sincerity or biblical information. The problem is deeper. It is a problem of knowledge itself.

E. W. Kenyon identified two kinds of knowledge operating in the world: sense knowledge and revelation knowledge. This distinction is the great divide that separates the natural Christian life from the supernatural one.

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I. Sense Knowledge: The Knowledge of the Five Senses

A. Definition Sense knowledge is everything the natural man can know through the five physical senses—sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell. It is the knowledge of the laboratory, the medical report, the bank statement, and the mirror.

B. Its Value and Its Limits

• It is necessary for navigating the physical world.
• It can observe creation but cannot discover the Creator.
• It can measure the body but cannot explain the spirit.
• It can report symptoms but cannot declare the finished work of the cross.
• When it reaches its limit, it turns to philosophy and guesswork.

C. The Natural Man’s Prison The natural man is locked inside the prison of his senses. Whatever he cannot see, hear, feel, taste, or smell remains unreal to him.

Scripture (full text): “But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” —1 Corinthians 2:14

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II. Revelation Knowledge: The Knowledge That Comes from God

A. Definition Revelation knowledge does not come through the five senses. It comes from God to the recreated human spirit by the Holy Spirit, primarily through the living Word. It is not discovered by observation or produced by reasoning. It is revealed.

B. Its Nature and Effect

• It opens the eyes of the heart.
• It deals with invisible realities that are more solid than physical objects.
• When it governs a life, the believer walks by faith and not by sight.
• It is not information stored in the head; it is reality received in the spirit.

Scripture (full text): “That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints.” —Ephesians 1:17–18

Scripture (full text): “For we walk by faith, not by sight.” —2 Corinthians 5:7

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III. The Hebrew Foundation: Knowing as Intimate Encounter

A. Western vs. Hebrew Understanding In modern Western thinking, knowledge is abstract—data and concepts. In Ancient Hebrew, knowledge is concrete and relational.

B. The Verb Yadaʿ and the Noun Daʿat The primary verb is yadaʿ (“the door of the eye”)—an intimate seeing into another. The noun daʿat is covenant knowledge of a person, not mere information about God.

Scripture (full text): “And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD.” —Genesis 4:1

Scripture (full text): “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.” —Hosea 4:6

C. Jesus’ Definition of Eternal Life Scripture (full text): “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.” —John 17:3

Revelation knowledge is the recovery of this original Hebrew way of knowing. God does not primarily give us data about Himself; He gives us Himself.

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IV. Why the Distinction Matters for the New Creation

A. The New Birth Does Not Automatically Change the Knowledge Source Many remain born again yet still governed by the reports of the five senses. They possess a supernatural nature while living as natural men.

B. The Finished Work Remains Theoretical Until Received by Revelation The death, burial, resurrection, and seating of Christ have already accomplished everything necessary for healing, provision, and the gifts of the Spirit. Sense knowledge says, “Wait until you feel it or see it.” Revelation knowledge says, “It is finished. Walk in what He has already done.”

C. The Great Divide

• On one side: the believer who knows the right verses yet lives defeated.
• On the other side: the believer who has allowed the Spirit to unveil the finished work until it becomes more real than any sensory report.

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Conclusion and Application

The invitation is simple and profound: Stop trying to climb into revelation. Step into what has already been revealed.

The finished work is complete. The Word is near. The Spirit is ready to make it real in your spirit until every report of the senses bows to the reality of what Christ has already done.

Closing Prayer Suggestion: Father, open the eyes of our understanding. Grant us the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of You. Move us from sense knowledge into the living, intimate knowledge of Your Son. Let the finished work of the cross become more real to us than any symptom, any lack, or any pressure of this world. We receive it now by faith. In Jesus’ name. Amen.