Good evening. I'm slipping. Good evening. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for the Word of God, which is our life. It defines everything in our lives. Sets forth the goals, the objectives, and most of all, brings us into close contact with the Living Word, Jesus Christ. Father, by your Holy Spirit this evening, inform our souls, answer our questions, solve our problems. Be our Savior. We need you every hour. Father, we're a needy people. dependent upon you for everything. Father, may we be those who fulfill your will, who receive and reciprocate your love. Father, we love you because you loved us first. And Lord Jesus Christ, it's your love that we long to understand and fathom, the height, the depth. the length, the width, to know the love of Christ, which surpasses knowledge, to know what can't be known without the Word of God, without the Holy Spirit, without the Master, Pastor Jesus Christ. Father, we thank you for all of these things. Bless us indeed this evening by the blessed Word of God. empower us by the Holy Spirit to make the most of our opportunity this evening. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. I've entitled the message, What Do You Know? So, what do you know? It's Tuesday, September 30th, 2014. Last day of September. October is tomorrow. How about that? Where did the summer go? It went fast. Get out your snow shovel, your parka. I can feel it in the air, can't you? The church is moving to Florida, at least South Carolina. So anyway, it's Tuesday, September 30, if that was my point. I'm going to continue with what I started on Sunday, and we're not even going to really reference a psalm this evening, but I took off on the Lord and followed a trail and went to the law to see what the law is all about. And the law of God is founded upon, conditioned upon, that is, even understanding it, knowing who God is. Moreover, knowing who Christ is, because He is the Lord in the Old Testament, He's Yahweh. Everywhere that the name Yahweh is found refers to the Lord Jesus Christ and His pre-incarnate deity. That is, in His dealings with mankind, His dealings with Israel in particular. So, it is the Word of God, not just the Law, but the entire Word of God. is a enigma and is unknowable, unsearchable to the natural man. For the natural man cannot perceive the things that be of the Spirit of God, for they're spiritually understood and discerned. No one knows the thoughts of a man except the Spirit of man that's in him. No one knows the thoughts of God. except the Spirit of God, and it's the Spirit of God who teaches us the Word of God. Even though God uses men, it's the divine action behind and underneath the surface and between the lines of Scripture that brings the truth and drives the truth deep within our souls. That's the Holy Spirit. We mix faith with it and it crosses from Just plain knowledge to super-knowledge, epinosis. From gnosis, which is knowledge, to super-knowledge, which is epinosis. That is spiritual knowledge that cannot be obtained by human effort, human intellect, human ability. It's given by God. And so, what does it mean that Christ is Lord? That means He's God. In Romans 10.10, it says that we are to confess with the mouth of our heart to the ear of God that Jesus is Lord in order to be saved. You have to believe that Jesus Christ is God to be saved. Now, there are many cults. that believe that he is a prophet or a teacher or a lesser God and in that case he's not God at all and he's not Lord. The scripture says in Ephesians 4 or 5 that there's one Lord and Deuteronomy 6, verse 4 says that The Lord is our God. The Lord is one, or there's one Lord. That's Jesus Christ. It proclaims Jesus Christ. So, you have to know Jesus Christ to even begin to understand the law and or to execute the law, which is, the first one being, love God with all your heart. You think that's possible? Not by you. Not by yourself. Not without Him. Apart from Him, you can do nothing, especially love God as He deserves to be loved, as He deserves our complete devotion. So there's one Lord, that's the Lord Jesus Christ, one mediator, 1 Timothy 2.5, between God and man, the man Christ Jesus, the one who is our Lord and Savior. And turn to Deuteronomy 6. We're going to look at the law again. I'm going to review some of this stuff because this is important. I don't know if I got my point across or not. I understood it, but I don't know if you did or not. While you're turning there, Jeremiah 9.23 says, Let not the rich man boast in his riches, the wise man in his wisdom, or the powerful man in his power. But let him who boasts boast in this, that he knows and understands me, that I am the Lord. That's important. You have to know him first. See, the thing is, they don't know him. People don't know him. The Jews don't know him. They never did. They didn't even know his name. They thought he was God, and he was God, but they didn't understand that there's God the Father, Son, and Spirit. Very little was known about him. And the one that communicated, the only one that communicates, the communicable person of the Godhead is the second person of the Godhead, the Word of God that became flesh and dwelt among us. He is God the Word. That's his name, really, not the Word of God, but God the Word. And He's the expression and the articulation of God in telling us everything that we need to know and teaching us and changing our minds, which is the most important thing, so that we might agree with God and walk together with Him. Deuteronomy 6, verse 4 says, Israel, that's listen Israel, hear O Israel. He says, Adonai Eloheinu, that means the Lord God. Then he says, Adonai Echad, is one Lord. That is, the Lord, the Lord Jesus Christ. is in view, and He is the one Lord. There's only one Lord. God the Father is not the Lord. Jesus Christ is the Lord. You say, well, the Spirit is Lord too, isn't He? He's Lord of the local assembly. Yeah. It's the Spirit of Christ. And just as we have the Spirit of the Son, who cries out, Abba, Father, that is, Depends on God for everything as Jesus did in the days of his humanity. And he left us an example that we should follow in his footsteps. And we're to call upon the Lord Jesus Christ. People say, oh, you can't call upon the Lord Jesus Christ. You can only call upon the Father. You can't pray to the Lord Jesus Christ. You can only pray to the Father. Not so. You're never forbidden. Jesus says, you don't have to ask me. You can go right to the Father in my name. Or you can go to me. They asked him many things. They asked him to do many things for them while he was on the earth. Why does that have to stop? Why does it end when he leaves? It doesn't. He is the advocate, isn't he? He's the one that makes intercession for us, that he might save us to the uttermost. He's the one that runs the affairs of the church. He's the head of the body. There's no separation there. The head tells the body what to do, and the body responds to the directives of the head. We are the body of Christ. I was reading a small booklet by E.W. Bullinger, and he goes into great detail about why the church is the body of Christ and distinct from Israel, which is the bride of Christ. Very compelling stuff. And it's true, I've known it for a long time, but it seems to be a very difficult subject to convince people. Because they want to be the bride of Christ. They want to be Israel. And you're not Israel. You're other than Israel. Even if you're of Israel in the church age, you're in the body of Christ. Not the bride of Christ. The bride of Christ is Israel before the first advent of Christ and the gathering of the remnant and the saving of the remnant through the great tribulation, and then the wedding supper of the Lamb, the 1,000-year reign of Christ on the earth, the 1,000-year wedding reception. Literally. Party. And there's guests that come, and there's others that attend, and the church is, even as it is now, hidden with Christ in God. Part of the bridegroom, not part of the bride. And we're all amalgamated in Christ. That's one big happy family forever. And so, here he says, Here, O Israel, the Lord is our God. One is the Lord. That's Jesus Christ. He's the Lord. This verse is protocol to the law. The law is stated beginning in verse 5. And the first statement of the law is, love God with all your heart. Like I said, how impossible that is apart from his motivation and his pouring out his love in Romans 5.5 into our hearts. And then the full development of love that comes by keeping his word in 1 John. 2.5, so that we might walk around as Jesus walked around in the days of His humanity, so that as He is, so are we in this world. It's a complete change, an alteration of our thinking, so that we agree with God and walk together with Him. Amos 3.3, how could two walk together except they be agreed? How can they? They can't. There's no friendship or fellowship and disagreement. And so, this is protocol to the law, knowing who Jesus Christ is. And, what it means that Christ is Lord, He's the one we love, He's the only one we know. You can't know the Father apart from the Son, and you can't know the Son apart from the Father. Because the Father draws everyone who believes in the Son to Him. And Christ, when he's lifted up, draws all men to himself. And it's the Father's doing, because the Father sent the Son. They're in perfect accord in everything. And every part of it is essential. So, the word protocol, if you weren't here on Sunday, probably everybody was, or most people anyway, well, not everyone, no. The word protocol is from the Greek word proto-colon, and it literally means first glue. The protocol is a document that precedes any legal document or a plan or an agreement, a business plan or an agreement, or official document that establishes precise rules of engagement and an alterable procedure, that is proper, specifies proper procedure. The first sheet of a legal document is the first glue, the kolah, or the glue. It specifies the parties, precedents, and procedures that must be strictly followed to validate or execute the documented requirements. This being the case with the law of God and the word of God in general, And the law summarized in Ten Commandments requires a participant or respondent to recognize the true identity of the author. Not a general concept, but precisely who is speaking. The Lord Jesus Christ. That's what they missed. See, because unless you know Him, you can never love Him. But to know Him is to love Him. Because He's lovely. Altogether lovely. perfect, pure, undefiled, perfection. He's the quintessential perfection. Never was there anyone like Him who never thought, chose, or acted inappropriately, sinfully, ever spoke a sinful, never spoke a sinful word. never did anything unless he heard never said anything unless he heard the father say it and fulfilled the law perfectly and is the only one that ever could and therefore is the end of the law for righteousness when he died on the cross he had fulfilled every jot and tittle of the law every small mark and punctuation of the law, and then went to the cross to pay for everybody else's continuous infraction of the law, and therefore finished the law. The law has nothing more to do, nothing left to prove, because Christ fulfilled the law. And so, the law, the first covenant, is is abrogated by the New Covenant. The New Covenant is a covenant of faith. And then the law is fulfilled in us, not by us, but in us. And the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts. See, there's no spiritual enablement under the law. And total spiritual enablement under the Christian spiritual life, pioneered by the Lord Jesus Christ, proved on the cross and passed. to us by the Lord who lives inside of us to will and work according to his own good purpose and pleasure. It's a supernatural life that demands a supernatural means for its execution and supernatural and spiritual information that can't be comprehended by the natural mind. but only by the mind of the Spirit, the mind of Christ, which entitles the entire Word of God, Old and New Testament. So, we have the first, the Protocol, and the Law, and the New Covenant, and where the Law was concerned, any proper Jew to this very day repeats the Shema or the protocol of Deuteronomy 6-4 at least twice a day and in the Jewish community it's considered a privilege and a pleasure for them to do so and yet none of them who do so know or understand who he is but instead blaspheme him by denying his true identity as saving work and his incomparable person. Instead, they do what is forbidden. They boast about many things and feel that they're superior to other people, that is, the Jews, the unbelieving Jews, that is, those who remain unbelievers, who refuse to believe in Christ and still try to carry on the traditions and rituals of Judaism. And they live in a spiritual vacuum because even the most devout of them either knows or understands who Christ is. Let him who boasts, boasts in this that he knows and understands me, says the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's Jeremiah 23.9 once again. So, since they violate the protocol of Deuteronomy 6.4, they can't render acceptable service. in word or deed and cannot enter the agreement. They're forbidden to enter the agreement. This is clearly seen in the first commandment found in the next verse in Deuteronomy 6, 5. You shall love the Lord your God. How can you love who you don't know? You can't. Because you don't know who He is. He's the second person of the Trinity. Even then, even now. He's the same yesterday, today, yes, and forever. So he says, love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, that is with your mental faculties, with your spiritual faculties, with your heart, which means in the deepest part of your being, your motivation, your consciousness, your volitional consciousness. You make your choices based on love for God. And with all your might, all you can muster, and in everything, all the time, And I quoted on Sunday Matthew Henry. I'll just do a brief part of this. It's just the first part because it's a valid and important point. He says, Was there ever any ruler that made a law that his subjects must love him? There's the law for you. That his subjects must love him? No, nobody ever made a law like that. Only God. Only the Lord Jesus Christ. And Yet such, he says, is the condescension of the divine grace that is made the first and great commandment of God's law, that we love Him and that we perform all other parts of our duty to Him from a principle of love. And that's never changed. God hasn't changed. I, the Lord, do not change. God is not a man that He should Why are the Son of Man that He should change His mind? Never changes. I, the Lord, do not change. We need to change. He'll never change. We need to adapt to Him. He's not going to adapt to us. And so we need to always be ready to stop, drop, and roll. To repent whenever it's necessary. To admit We're wrong to admit that we sin. To admit that he's right and we're wrong. To agree with God even against your own self. Not to justify your own actions. Self-justification. and live in self-deception and make your own rules and self-style your spiritual life based on the things that you like and rule out everything else. No, we live by every word of God. That is, if we follow our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, there's no one else to follow. He said, follow me and I will make you fishers of men. He said that Take up your cross and follow me. You want to be like me? Take up your cross and follow me. It means hang on the cross as a living sacrifice, not as a dying sacrifice. You can't die for anybody. When he died, you died. And now your life is hid with Christ in God, and you're a body part of his. dwelling upon the earth and will be forever. Maybe an unpresentable one. Maybe one that is called upon for ignoble purposes rather than noble purposes. And a vessel fit for the Master's use. That's the whole idea. That we would be fit for the Master's use. Bring honor and glory to God. That's the reason we're here on the earth and that will be the result of our life on earth will either glorify God or it will be seen that we lived in vain glory and glorified ourselves. We either boast in the Lord or boast in our riches, boast in our wisdom, boast in our power. And let him who boasts boast in the Lord. and boasts that he knows and understands the Lord. That's the only thing you can boast about. Or you can boast about the cross. Paul says, May I never boast in anything except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, whereby I've been crucified to the world, and the world has been crucified to me. You have to know Jesus Christ to say those things. You have to identify with Jesus Christ with his cross. You have to continue in His Word and then you'll be His disciple. And if you don't, you won't. And you'll never be free because you can't be apart from the Word, richly indwelling your heart, filling and flowing through your innermost being and out from you like a river of living water. So, In every case, it's the Father that reveals the Son. And in every case, it's the Son that reveals the Father. You see how interconnected it is? John 6.44, "...no one can come to Me," Jesus said, "...unless the Father who sent Me draws him." That word, draw, is the same word. that's used for dragging the nets, the fishing nets, up onto the shore to dry. So, you can translate, no one can come to me unless my Father who sent me drags him. Literally. God does it. Did you know that it's because of Him that you're in Christ Jesus? Jesus said to His disciples, that's 1 Corinthians 1.30, He said to His disciples, don't think that you chose me. You didn't choose me, I chose you. And that choice of you is so that you might produce fruit that glorifies the Father. And he didn't make any mistakes. Those he foreknew, he predestinated to be conformed to the image of the Son. Don't resist the Holy One of God. And those that He foreknew, He predestinated. Those He predestinated, He called. Those He called, He justified. Those He justified, He glorified. That's called the five-linked golden chain that can't be broken. The same number that were foreknown end up glorified. You have five aorist constatives. I know that means nothing to you, but it means that it's the same group in view in all of those statements, from foreknowledge to glorification. That should make you really happy, whether you're a Greek scholar or not. Just really happy. I just like the five-link golden chain. It can't be broken. That's wonderful, isn't it? That's God's doing from the very beginning. He knew you before you ever were impossible to be born, and decreed your live birth in human history, and looked out through the corridors of human history and saw the various circumstances in his plan and how you responded to them and the fact that you would believe when the time was right. And so he etched that in stone. You were one who was foreknown, predestinated, called, justified, and glorified. In the mind of God, it's already done. How finished is it? Real finished. If you can say real finished, it's like, that girl's really pregnant. How pregnant is she? Really pregnant. That means she's going to have a baby soon, like my daughter. Two weeks, I think, counting. I wanted to name her Ruth, but I don't have any say-so in it. Little Ruthie, that's cute, huh? Baby Ruth. I thought of that, too. I think that's cute. But Baby Ruth, look. And it is Halloween. So, you know, that's the only time you see Baby Ruth, usually, is at Halloween. Baby Ruth, Clark Bars, and what's this, Pay Day, are terrible candy bars. After you eat about 13 or 14 of them, they taste bad. All you can think about then is having a jelly donut. If you're like me. I'm kidding. Candy. I like candy. It's dandy. So anyway. So you see that no one can come to me, Jesus said, unless the Father who sent me draws him. That's all been done before you ever were a twinkle in your daddy's eye or before the earth existed. before there was any place for you to even live. God did it in eternity. You say eternity before time. No, eternity surrounds time. Time isn't even real. Eternity is real. We think time is real. It isn't. Eternity is going to be one endless day. No night and day. No sun, rise and sunset. Because Christ is going to shine all the time. And you'll be in His presence, somehow or another, some closer than others. But no one ruled out who's a member of His body. See, it's called the Church of the Firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. Or in Hebrews 12, 20 to 22, that's the Church of the Firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. Jesus said to his disciples, he said, do not be excited that demons come out when you cast them out in my name. He said, for I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. That is in the time before the creation of the earth when Satan was cast out of heaven. the five I wills when he attempted to usurp God's throne and authority in heaven, and convinced a third of the angels that he was equal to God. And he was cast down. Jesus said, I saw that, I was there. Imagine that, like lightning from heaven. He said, rather rejoice that your names are written in heaven. That's a great thing. That's the greatest reality that you should totally, that should totally make you joyous all the time and not depressed about details. Just go with the flow and just remember your name is written in heaven. You know how great that is? You know how rich you are? to have that reality or to understand that in any small way, let alone to understand it completely and to live in that reality every day of your life until you either die or go up with the generation that will go into heaven alive. That's what I'm counting on. I thought today was going to be the day. So far it hasn't, but that doesn't mean it can't still happen. Then tomorrow, I'm sure it's going to be the day again. John came down with Duke and walked down and I said, John, you think it's today? I think it's today. He goes, yeah, I'm ready. My bags are packed. My bags are packed. I got nothing I want to do here. Nothing I have to do here. Nothing left. I'm done. And come quickly, Lord Jesus. So anyway, no one can come to him unless the Father who sent me draws him and I will raise that one up on the last day. See, there's no question about it because the ones foreknown are glorified. So he raises them up, every one of them, on the last day. And so, He says in, what was that? That was John 6. In John 6, 65, he says, and he was saying, for this reason I have said to you that no one can come to me unless it has been granted him from the Father. The Father has to allow you. And you have to believe. And only those who believe are allowed. Only those who are allowed believe. Faith is a gift from God. It's not something you come upon naturally. It's the disposition of the soul in responding to the evidence of God's existence and power. and the connection with the moral conscience that convinces that individual, persuades them that God is alive and well, and that it's in their best interest to do whatever He says, and to pay close attention to the Bible, which is His Word, and to honor Christ even as you would honor the Father. To believe in Christ first meant to honor Christ by paying close attention to everything that He says. That is personally and through inspiration of the New Testament, the Old New Testament authors. So, John 14.6, Jesus said, I am the way, the truth. and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. See? He says, no one comes to me unless the Father grants him that ability and privilege. And then he says, no one comes to the Father, except that means comes to even know the Father, because the Father is unknowable. He's spirit. He's not corporeal. Christ is, but the Father is not. He's a spirit, and you have to worship Him in spirit and in truth. That is, by means of the Holy Spirit who reveals Him to you, the Spirit of Christ that reveals Him to you, and the truth, which is the Word of God or the mind or thinking of Christ. That's the only way you get to know the Father. So that you might know Him as your Heavenly Father, not as the big man upstairs, not as the boss man, because He's not the boss man. He's God, a very God. Spirit and with his ten major attributes and other ones that we probably have never discovered, an infinite person who is the architect of time and eternity. Such genius has never been seen or fathomed. Eye is not seen, ear is not heard, neither is it entered into the heart of man the things that God's prepared for those who love Him. See, love the Lord your God with all your heart. Only the Spirit can fulfill that, and He does, because He pours out the love of God into our hearts. And we love, we reciprocate His love, The love that He's given us, we love because He loved us first. So, Matthew, or John 12, 32, Jesus said, and if I am lifted up, I will drag all men to myself. He had to be crucified, and He had to satisfy the justice of God. He had to fulfill all righteousness first, fulfill the law, and then satisfy the justice of God by His death for all mankind. and the sins of every person born alive in human history gathered, collected, and imputed to one who knew no sin, so that we might be made the righteousness of God in Christ. That satisfies Him. Nothing else does. What Christ did satisfies Him. Nothing you do satisfies Him. The only thing that's satisfying is that you believe in Christ and all that Christ said and all that Christ did. And then you're in good stead with the Father. And if you trust in Christ, that is, it goes from ekpistios, a moment of faith, to ispiston, continuous faith, a life of faith, a life of faith alone. in Christ alone, in the Word of Christ, so that you might come to know Him. That's the whole objective. How do you glorify God? By getting to know Him. Then you can boast in the Lord. And your boast in the Lord will be seen and understood and heard by angels and men. See, they're learning of the manifold wisdom of God through the church. That is because Christ is now functioning in a corporation. Christ incorporated. He lives in every one of us. And we're body parts of His upon the earth. Christ mystical. Not Christ corporeal, but Christ corporate. That means now Christ is a body of believers. And Christ is in every one of them. He's the glue. that holds us together. The first glue. He's the protocol. He's the first and the last. The Alpha and the Omega. The first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. The beginning and the end. And you can trust him implicitly. He knows everything from the beginning and the end. Except when the last person believes. He said, only the Father knows that. But now I think He knows because He's glorified. He said, I wasn't given that information. Nobody knows. Not the angels, not me, not even me. When the Father's done, His purpose is accomplished on earth, then He'll send me back. And not until then. So don't say, where's the promise of His coming? It's taking a long time. Oh, that's salvation. The longer He waits, the more people get saved. And he's not willing that any should perish. He desires all men to be saved. He takes no pleasure in the death of a wicket. He created every person and decreed him to be alive in human history because his intention was to save them. Now does he know that some will not believe? Yes he does. But he sent Christ for them anyway. To die for their sins so that nobody goes to hell because of their sins. They go to hell because they refuse to believe in the Savior. The only one. For there is salvation in no one else. For there is no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. All of a sudden, Peter, who's a dunce, brings forth... That's something that he came up with. He made that scripture. I mean, God breathed that through him. That's a phenomenal scripture. That's his Pentecostal sermon. All of a sudden, the dunce is a genius and encapsulates everything and articulates everything like a trained Ph.D. Pharisee teacher, rabbi. And he's nothing of the sort. He's just been with Jesus. And Jesus is inside of him now. And is speaking through him. And compelling men to believe. Which indeed they did. Three thousand that day. Three thousand. At the preaching of Peter. Man. And then many more. Five thousand the next time. And then many thousands and thousands and thousands. The church was huge. in the first century and also became apostate almost right away. We'll see that too by the end of the message. So, he says next in Matthew 11 27, all things have been handed over to me by my father and no one knows the son except the father nor does anyone know the father except the son and anyone to whom the son wills to reveal him. How about that one? So you think you did something? You got to know God on your own? You didn't get to know Him? Nope. The Son was pleased to reveal the Father to you, because you believed in the Son. And the Father dragged you to Christ, and then Christ reveals the Father to you. And just think, how did that all occur? Why am I here? Why am I even interested? Why am I somewhat interested? Or why am I completely interested? Why am I obsessed with the Word of God? Why am I occupied with the person of Christ? Because God did something inside of your soul. He drew you, dragged you, wooed you. and revealed the son, and the son revealed the father to you. And it's a lovely relationship that he's brought us into. So, John 7, 27, Jesus says, or they said of Jesus, they said, however, we know where this man is from, but whenever the Christ comes, this is the rabbinic tradition, no one knows where he's from. Yeah, from Bethlehem of Ephrata. He grows up in Nazareth. That's all scriptural. It's all prophesied. So many things. 333 prophecies, they say. I never counted them all, but there's at least that many. that he would fulfill, detailed prophecies that he would fulfill, which can be no coincidence. He didn't write them all down and say, okay, today I'm going to fulfill this one, this one. No, he just went about and lived in 33 years, 333 prophecies. 33 and a half years. It has some mathematical significance. But anyway, he fulfilled all of them. It was all specified. But they say no one knows where he's from, the Messiah, when he comes, the Christ, the Anointed One. So, when Christ, who goes out of his way to meet the Samaritan woman, that is where she is in her life, He tells her in John 4.22, you worship what you do not know. See, the Jews did too, because many of them did worship God but didn't know Jesus Christ and didn't pay close attention to the implements of worship, all of which spoke of him and pictured him and foreshadowed him along with the Levitical system of sacrifice, which told many things about what His sacrifice, His one-time sacrifice, by the many sacrifices of the Jews, what His one-time sacrifice would accomplish. And how that it would be good for redemption. It would be good for recovery. It would be good for restoration. It would be good for growing. in grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. It would satisfy the Father supremely and put us in and keep us in good stead or good standing, right standing with God, having as we do His righteousness as a gift. It's the only way we have right standing with God. He says, you worship what you do not know. We worship, that is, those who were believers in Israel, what we know. For salvation is from the Jews. But an hour is coming and now is when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth. For such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. God is spirit and those who worship Him must worship in spirit. That means you must be born of the spirit to worship God. And you must orient to the truth or know who he is according to the word. It's the word that reveals God. It is the progressive revelation of Jesus Christ. That's what the word of God is for. through various economies in human history, various times, and through the plan of God which unfolds over human history until He comes and comes again. And we'll see Him. There'll be no more question about who He is. And for those who waver, vacillate, they'll never vacillate again. The idea is to have your heart well-established and your faith well-established here so you you like the Apostle Paul first Timothy 112 could say I know the one in whom I have believed and then persuaded that he is able to Keep that which I've committed unto him against that day Paul says he's he's the one that's running my life I'm not living anymore for me living is Christ and dying is gay. I'm crucified with Christ nevertheless I live Yet it's not me, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. Galatians 2, 20 and 21. Therefore, I do not frustrate the grace of God. That means I grant permission for him to will and work inside of me for his own glory and pleasure. So the woman said to him, I know that Messiah is coming. How'd she know that? Oh, God must have revealed it to her. She's a Samaritan, probably a complete Gentile. I mean, from a Gentile background, completely, because you know what happened there. All the ten northern tribes were deported. Samaria was the capital of the northern kingdom. And they were replaced with Gentiles. And the Jews never returned. Some few did, but not many. And they just got absorbed into the nations. And this one knows that the Messiah is coming. He who is called, she says, the Christ, when that one comes, he will declare all things to us. Has he? Yeah, he sure has. He's declared the Father, and he's the exact representation of the Father, and the effulgence or outraying of the Father's character and nature and essence. And you don't know the Father except you know the Son. And then the Son introduces you to the Father. So Jesus said to her, I who speak to you. Imagine how thrilled she was. She just, she forgot herself all together. She left her water pot there and just ran back into town to tell everybody that she met the Messiah, the Christ. Jesus said to her, I who speak to you am He. This is how I translate it. You're looking at Him. You're talking to Him. That must have thrilled her. Thrills me just to think about it. Then turn to Acts 17. We'll look at the unknown God. See what do you know. See what you know. Paul's in Greece, in Mars Hill, the Areopagus. These are Areopagites, Greek philosophers. Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars Hill and said, You men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are very religious. It says superstitious maybe in your Bible, but it means religious. For as I pass by and beheld your icons, that you're devoted to, your idols, I found an author with this inscription, to the unknown God, whom therefore you ignorantly worship. Well, it's him that I declare to you. You don't know him. I'm going to declare it to you. I'm going to introduce you to him. So what do you know? If you're like Sergeant Schultz, you say, I know nothing. Whereas if you're Matt Schultz, you say, I know nothing yet as I ought. Right, Matt? I hope. Oh, he knows everything already now. I know nothing yet as I ought. That's the way we should all answer. Not that I know nothing, but I know nothing yet as I ought. Since this is true of all of us, this should be our prayer, even as it was dated. It's found in Psalm 39, 4. Lord, make me to know my end. And what is the extent of my days? Let me know how transient I am. What is your life? It's a vapor. It appears for a little while and disappears forever. Psalm 25, 4, Make me to know your ways, O Lord, teach me your paths. He leads us in the path of righteousness for His namesake. Psalm 23, 5. Psalm 51, 6, Make me to know wisdom. See, God has to do it. You just invite Him to do so. And there's a lot of things no one knows. Did you know that? For example, Ecclesiastes 8-7, no one knows what's going to happen in the future. Who could tell him when it's going to happen? You don't know what's going to happen or when. If you don't know what, then you certainly don't know when. Those things are all in God's plan and His timing. Matthew 11-27, you know, no one knows the Son except the Father. Nor does anyone know the Father, except the Son. This is what no one knows. And, there's got to be a few other things, as I recall. In Matthew 24, 36, the day and hour of Christ's coming, no one knows. Not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone. And then 1 Corinthians 2, 11, here's something no one knows. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him, even so the thoughts of God?" No one knows except the Spirit of God. You can't know God or know the thoughts of God. He's revealed them to us by His Spirit, that is, the things He has freely given. The many aspects, intents, and the abundance of grace that he's lavished upon us because he's satisfied with the representation of Christ and the righteousness of Christ that we have as a gift and Christ at his right hand. No question about it. There's no accusation that can stick. Because every one of your sins was paid for, and Christ is the propitiation, the full satisfaction of God's justice, not only for our sins, but for the sins of the whole world, 1 John 2. So, he says that no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. For the natural man cannot perceive the things that be of the Spirit of God, they're spiritually discerned. And so, therefore, we're called upon to know what can't be known. Turn to Ephesians 3. What do you know? What do you know about that? What do you know about the love of Christ? Here's the goal. To know Him is to know love. Did you know God is love? So if you know Him, you know love. He's love. He is as to His essence. Unlike anyone else, He's love. He doesn't love, He is love. That's hard to grasp, isn't it? How can somebody be love? Well, He's the personification of love. Jesus is. And He loved me and you and gave Himself for me and you. That's how He demonstrated His love. And while we were still enemies of God, He died for His enemies. And some believed, some did not. So, Ephesians 3.17, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. That is an intensive dwelling. That is a residing and circulating through the soul house, all the rooms, all the corners. He dwells in the whole thing. in the upstairs, in the downstairs, in the rec room, in the kitchen, in the dining room. That means every aspect of your life. He wants to live in you, live through you. And so he says, and that you being rooted and grounded in love, Christ is love, in a love relationship with Jesus Christ, may be able to understand, to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth, the length, the height, and the depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge. I told you it's supernatural. God has to reveal that love to you. He has to pour that love into your heart or you can't comprehend it at all. He's got to give you the capacity to receive and reciprocate that love. See, that's the foundation of the law. That's why you have to know Jesus Christ, because to know him is to love him. And then you're okay. And then he can will and work inside of you and fulfill and do what you could never do and please God on your behalf and allow you to and enable you to please God. Then he says, And to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up, filled full, to all the fullness of God." That is the knowledge of God that He has of Himself, that He has of His Son, that the Spirit brings to us. See, the Spirit glorifies Christ. He doesn't speak on His own behalf, but He glorifies Christ. He glorifies me, Jesus said. He's not interested in blowing his own horn because his horn is me. And Jesus Christ is the one who is preeminent. God has declared that, demands it, and is glorified by it. There's no competition between the members of the Trinity. Christ is to have preeminence in everything. So then it says, now to him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power, his power, that works within us to enable the process of knowing or coming to know him. According to the scripture, no one will be able to boast in anything because we receive Christ through faith. It's Christ's doing, it's God's doing, that you're in Christ Jesus, who's made unto us wisdom from God, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. In Psalm 34, too, my soul will make its boast in the Lord. Let him who boasts boast in this, and he knows and understands me. And the humble will hear and be glad. Romans 15, 17, Therefore in Christ Jesus I have found reason for boasting in things pertaining to God. That's the only things I boast about are the things pertaining to God. I boast about my God, my Savior, Jesus Christ. I'm proud of Him. I'm not ashamed of the gospel. For it is the power of God resulting in salvation to everyone who believes it, to the Jew as well as to the Gentile. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, just as it stands written, that just shall live by faith." That's Romans 1, 16 through 18. Romans 15, 17, Therefore in Christ Jesus I have found reason for boasting in the things pertaining to God, for I will not presume to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me, His grace. 1 Corinthians 1, 31, So that just as it is written, Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord. 2 Corinthians 10, 17, But he who boasts is to boast in the Lord. Paul says in Galatians 6.14, May it never be that I should boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me. I didn't reject the world. The world rejected me because I'm a dead man. The bids of the world don't have any power over me anymore, and I have no influence over the world. And I'm dead to the world because of my death with Christ. And so, God is love. 1 John 4, 8, The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. If you don't love, then you don't know God, because God is love. And if you know God, then you love God. Why? Because to know Him is to love Him. Verse 16, 1 John 4, 16 says, We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. We believe the love, receive the love. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in Him. Therefore, to know Him is to love Him. 1 John 4, 19, We love Him because He first loved us, not vice versa. Philippians 3.10, Paul says, that I may know him. That's so important to Paul. And you say, Paul, you already know him, don't you? You encountered him on the road to Damascus. He spoke to you numerous times. He directed you every step of the way. Well, you need to know him. See, don't worry or fret that you can't quote Scripture or know all the chapters and verses that others seem to know. That's not the goal. The only goal is to know the Lord Jesus Christ, to know the love of Christ, and to be occupied with Christ, more and more, as you grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the glorified God. The first big problem of the church, which is seen in Jesus' address to the church of Ephesus, which is the first era of church history, is the biggest problem today. It remains the biggest problem today. It is the love of Dada, Dada, instead of the love for Dada. Yep, Jesus Christ and God the Father. It's loving something or someone, anything or anyone, More than Jesus Christ, that's the problem. He said, you've left your first love. See? He's not satisfied with those who do all the right things, who believe all the right things, but don't love Him. The goal is love. If you know Him, you will love Him. And then you'll be rightly directed and in right relationship with God. That's what He wants us to do. See, it's never about something. It's only and always about someone. It's getting to know someone. That's why Paul says that I may know Him. I want to know Him better and better and better. better to the praise, honor, and glory of God in coming to know Jesus Christ and exalting Jesus Christ, the one who has a name above every other name and whose name every knee will bow in heaven, on earth, and under the earth. to the praise and glory of God. That is, God is maximally glorified by those who come to know Jesus Christ and, moreover, to love Him. See, that fulfills the law and the prophets and the spiritual life of the New Testament believer. That's what causes them to adhere, all of them to adhere together. It's the same thing. God had to bring progressive revelation of His Son. He had to bring His Son into time so that we could handle Him. so that we could hold Him, so we could hold Him close, so that we could abide in Him like a branch abides in the vine, so that He might live in us and produce His life through us. To the praise, honor, and glory of God in the exaltation of Jesus Christ, we're done. Let's pray. Father, thank You for the Word of God. Thank You for messages, a different kind of message, but one that is important, one that is essential to our spiritual growth in the grace and knowledge of our Savior. To know Him is to love Him. And Father, we say right now, we love Him because He first loved us.