KNOWING
GOD
Jeremiah 9:23-24, Philippians 3:10
THE QUEST
Knowing God #1
(Note: This is a series basically on the attributes of
God.)
In the Bible, there is mention of various quests. Spies were sent into the Promised Land to
search it out. King Saul went on a quest
to find and kill David.
Moses was on somewhat of a quest when he said to God
in Exodus 33:18 …I beseech thee, shew me thy glory.
Even our Lord Jesus Christ was on a quest.
John 4:34 - Jesus
saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that
sent me, and to finish his work.
Mark 10:45 - For
even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to
give his life a ransom for many.
One of the great quests in the Bible is expressed by
the Psalmist in Psalms 42:1-2 - As
the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. [2] My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come
and appear before God?
We should all be on a quest after God, to spend time
with Him, and to know Him intimately. In
fact Knowing God should be the quest of every Christian.
Now you might be thinking, “But Pastor, I have trusted
Jesus as Savior, don’t I know God?” If
you are truly saved, yes you do know God.
But you should want to know God better.
Jeremiah 9:23-24 - Thus
saith the Lord, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the
mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches: [24]
But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me,
that I am the Lord which exercise lovingkindness,
judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith
the Lord.
Using this text and Philippians
THERE ARE MANY POSSIBLE QUESTS.
Jeremiah 9:23 - Thus
saith the Lord, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the
mighty man glory in his might ,let not the rich man
glory in his riches:
When you “glory” in something, it is what is important
to you.
When you “glory” in something, you are on a quest to
obtain it.
When you “glory” in something, it is what you boast
about.
I am reminded by this passage that there are many
things to be on a quest for. The Lord,
through Jeremiah gives us three prominent things that people may search for and
then boast in that they have obtained them.
Some people will seek after wisdom and boast that they
have it.
Well, what’s wrong with that? Doesn’t God want us to
be wise?
Yes he does, but the wisdom that is being sought and
bragged about here is apart from God. It
is human wisdom.
Worldly wisdom is not wise at all. Proverbs
Let not the wise man glory in his
wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might,
Many people seek after power or might.
People who glory in their power must be in control.
They will do what they can to be in control of
situations and in control of people.
The very goal of their lives is to have control!
Many a family feud has been over who will be in
control.
Many a skirmish at work is over who will have control.
Many a fight in Congress is over who will have
control.
Many a church fight is over who will have control.
God says not to seek control, not to glory in control.
Don’t be on a quest for personal power or might.
Now why, would God say that?
All power and might comes from God.
Remember when Jesus appeared before Pontius Pilate?
John 19:9-11
Pontius Pilate only had power because God gave it to
Him.
We only have power or might because God has given it
to us. Psalm 75:6-7, Revelation 1:8,
Let not the wise man glory in his
wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might,
let not the rich man glory in his riches:
Many people are on a quest for riches.
Many like to boast in their riches.
So what’s wrong with being rich? Nothing, as long as you don’t trust in your
riches to get you to heaven, or boast about your riches, or worship your
riches, or rely on your riches
Those who glory in being rich have a tough time
getting into Heaven because they are trusting in their riches. Mark 10:25,
James 1:9-11
Thus saith the Lord, Let not the wise
man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not
the rich man glory in his riches:
These are three of the prominent things that people
seek after, that are on a quest for, that they glory in. There are many more.
Some seek a person and worship that individual.
Some seek an idol and worship it.
Some seek various vices and glory in them.
Some seek hobbies or sports and glory in them.
Some seek various pleasures and glory in them.
THERE ARE MANY POSSIBLE QUESTS.
THERE IS ONE PREEMINENT QUEST.
Thus saith the Lord, Let not the wise
man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not
the rich man glory in his riches: [24] But let him that glorieth
glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the Lord which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth:
for in these things I delight, saith the Lord.
We should have one quest above every other quest.
We should have one goal above every other goal.
We should have one thing sought for above all other
things.
Our preeminent quest should be to know God.
Why should our quest be to know God?
First of all we should strive to know God, because He
is God!
Second, we should strive to know God because we can know
God. John 14:6, John 1:12
Third, we should strive to know God because He is our
judge. Romans 14:12
We are going to give account to Him. We should strive
to know Him now, so we can please Him now.
This way, when we appear before Him there is a far greater chance that
He will be pleased.
Finally, we should strive to know God because of his
personality and program for the earth.
But let him that glorieth
glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the Lord which exercise
lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the
earth: for in these things I delight, saith the Lord.
God delights in exercising loving kindness. I should
want to know the God who pours out loving kindness.
God delights in exercising judgment. I should want to
know the God who is just.
God delights in exercising righteousness. I should
want to know the God who is righteous.
That one preeminent quest is to know and understand
God.
And you might say, “Pastor, that’s impossible! Even Paul says that in Romans 11:33, O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom
and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his
judgments, and his ways past finding out!
It is true that we will not know God fully until we
see Jesus face to face. However, we can
and should strive to know Him better every day. 1 Corinthians 13:12
THERE ARE MANY POSSIBLE QUESTS.
THERE IS ONE PREEMINENT QUEST.
THERE IS TO BE ONE PURPOSE IN OUR QUEST.
Please turn to Philippians 3.
Paul gives a personal testimony here.
He is warning against self righteousness here.
He is warning about trying to get to Heaven based on
our birth into religion and our own religious acts.
Philippians 3:4-6 - Though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh,
I more: [5] Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of
Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee; [6]
Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in
the law, blameless.
If anyone could have earned his way into Heaven, it
was Paul. But Paul couldn’t do it. Paul knew that although he might have
appeared righteous on the outside, he would not have been righteous
within. He realized, like we should,
that he needed help.
Philippians 3:7 - But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.
It came down to a choice for Paul.
It comes down to a choice for us.
Paul had to chose to either rely on all that was near and
dear to Him religiously in order to get to Heaven, or
He had to scrap it all and take Christ alone.
We need to make that same decision. Will I rely on my own brand of religion, no
matter how good it is, or will I rely on Christ alone?
Philippians 3:8 - 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,
Paul went even further and said that he counted all
his efforts to be like dung, manure if you will in order that he might have
Christ.
Philippians 3:9 - And
be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that
which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by
faith:
Paul knew that his righteousness was like filthy rags.
Isaiah 64:6 - But
we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags;
and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us
away.
Paul knew that Christ was righteous, without sin.
Paul knew that Christ’s righteousness was true
righteousness.
Paul knew that Christ died for us so that we might be
righteous before God. 2 Corinthians 5:21
Paul knew that the way to God was through faith in
Christ.
Paul placed His faith in Christ.
Have you?
You can’t know God until you come to Him through faith
in Christ.
Philippians 3:10 - That
I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his
sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;
Paul’s one purpose was to know Christ. For in knowing Christ, He was
knowing God.
Didn’t Paul already know Jesus? Yes.
If we are saved, don’t we know Jesus? Yes.
So what is Paul saying? He is saying, “I want to know Christ
intimately! I want to spend time with
Him. I want to be close to Him. I want to understand Him and what He is doing.
I want to take what the Bible says about Him and experience Him for myself in
my own life.”
And that should be our ultimate purpose, to take what
the Bible says about Him and experience Him for myself in my own life.
We should want to know Him intimately.
We should want to know His power working in our lives
intimately.
We should want to know the fellowship of his
sufferings. That is, we should be willing to suffer for his sake.
We should want our knowledge of Him to make us
conformable to His death. That is, Christ was obedient even to the point of
death. We should be that obedient also.
Paul knew that knowing Christ was a life long process.
Philippians 3:12-14 - Not
as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow
after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ
Jesus. [13] Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one
thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto
those things which are before, [14] I press toward the mark for the prize of
the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
Remember, Jesus is God.
To know Christ is to know God.
As Christians we should have one quest, to know God’s
Son and to know God better today than we did yesterday.
Of course, we get to know God better by studying and
meditating on God’s Word.
And we get to know God better by talking to Him.
We get to know God better by abiding in Him.
We get to know God better by learning about Him in
church and Sunday School.
I want us to strive to know God better by seeing
exactly what He is like according to His own Word, the Scriptures. We want to
see what have been called the attributes of God. We want to learn these truths
and see how they apply to our daily lives.
Make it the goal of your life as a Christian. Make it
the purpose of your life, to know him more intimately for yourself.
THERE ARE MANY POSSIBLE QUESTS.
THERE IS ONE PREEMINENT QUEST.
THERE IS TO BE ONE PURPOSE IN OUR QUEST.