Verse 13 of 1 John chapter 4,
Hereby know we. And I'm not going to get it past
that. Hereby know we. I've entitled this message, Saving
Knowledge. Saving Knowledge. You know John said earlier, to
the people he was writing to in verse 20 of chapter, or verse
20 of chapter two, but you have an unction anointing from the
holy one and you know all things. Now, obviously he doesn't mean
omniscience, but this is true of every believer. You know all
things. If you know Christ, you know
all things. Hereby know we. Now, with regard to our knowledge,
I realize, as Paul said, we know in part. And we prophesy in part. And I am always aware of that. He went on to say in that same
chapter, we see through a glass darkly. And Paul also said in
first Corinthians chapter eight, verse two, we know that if any
man thinketh, he knoweth anything, he knoweth nothing as he ought
to know. We know what knowledge we have
is revealed knowledge. After Peter made that great confession,
thou art the Christ, the son of the living God. The Lord said
to him, flesh and blood didn't reveal that to you, but my father,
which is in heaven. Any knowledge, true saving knowledge
we have is that which the Lord revealed to us. Divine revelation. And we know that the knowledge
we have was given, not earned. It's given to you to know the
mysteries of the kingdom, but to them it is not given. We know what knowledge we have
is revealed and given. And if the knowledge we have
puffs us up, it's not the knowledge that's revealed. And it's not
the knowledge that has been given. Knowledge puffeth up, Paul said,
makes one proud of themselves. That kind of knowledge is not
the knowledge he's speaking of. But not having knowledge is willful
ignorance and sin. If you don't know, if I don't
know, it's our fault. John said, well, the Lord said
in John chapter seven, if any man will do his will, he will know the doctrine, whether
it be of God. If I do not know, it has something
to do with an unwillingness to do His will. That's what prevents a man from
knowing. So there we have it. If I know,
I can't be proud. What do you have that you didn't
receive? And if I don't know, it's my fault. I could know if
I wasn't unwilling. Now that is interesting, isn't
it? Saving knowledge. Now, this saving knowledge is
essentially knowing a person. Saving knowledge. Is essentially
knowing the Lord Jesus Christ. It's knowing God, though you're
not name dropping, but you know him. And he knows you listen
to these scriptures. Paul said, I know who I have
believed. I don't know what I believed,
although he did, but in reality, what you believe is determined
by who you believe. I know whom I have believed and
I'm persuaded he's able to keep that which I've committed to
him against that day for all shall know me. from the least
to the greatest. That is the promise of the covenant
of grace. For all shall know me from the
least to the greatest. Paul said to the Galatians, now
that you have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn you
again to weak and beggarly elements? You see, I'm not relying on my
knowledge of him, but his knowledge of me. Then shall I know even
as also I am known. Peter said, we believe and are
sure. And that word sure is the word
that's generally translated no. We believe and know that thou
art the Christ, the son of the living God. The Lord said in
John 8, 32, you shall know the truth. Now the truth is a person. It's
not your knowledge of the truth that makes you free. He says,
and the truth shall make you free. That's the same thing as
him saying, I shall make you free. I am the truth and you
shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free. The Lord said, I know my sheep
and am known of mine. And I think of what the Lord
said in his great high priestly prayer for his people in John
chapter 17 verse 3, this is eternal life, that they might know thee,
the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. Now I repeat,
what we believe is determined by who we believe. Let me give
you one real simple illustration. If you believe him, It's impossible
for you to believe that he could die for somebody and they wind
up in hell. It's utterly impossible. If you believe him, if you know
who he is. Now, if you believe that he can
die for somebody and they would end up in hell, because you just
don't know. You don't know him. You don't know. You have no understanding. Your words are just meaningless
religious words. Now, when the Lord said to Nicodemus,
we speak that which we know, and testify what we've seen,
who's the we he's speaking of? We speak what we know. This is
not giving an opinion. We speak what we know. Who is
the we? Somebody says, well, is he speaking
of the father and the spirit as well? Yes, no doubt. But he
is speak, the we he's speaking of is him and all of the elect. We speak what we know. Paul said, we know that all things
work together for good to them that love God. We know. They
may not know, but we do. We know. Now, if God has given
you knowledge, revealed his truth, you know. you know. And this knowledge
we know personally, what we know, who we know, comes from the objective
body of truth called the Bible. Everything we know, him who we
know, is verified in the scriptures or we don't really know. I love what Peter said in 2 Peter
chapter 1 verse 18, knowing this first, this comes first, knowing
this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private
interpretation. Now, what's that mean? Somebody
says, well, here's what that scripture means to me. It doesn't work
that way. It doesn't work that way. Well, here's what I think
it means. Nobody cares what you think it
means, really. I mean, that's the attitude we
have toward that kind of attitude toward the Word of God. No scriptures
of any private interpretation, for the prophecy came not in
old time by the will of man, but holy men of God spake as
they were moved by the Holy Ghost. Knowledge that does not have
scripture to verify it is not saving knowledge. Now, this knowledge
that we have, this knowing that we experience is something that
has been declared to us. Not knowledge that we figured
out academically through understanding and intellect and study to where
we've come to this knowledge. This is knowledge that has been
declared unto us. I love what Peter said on the
day of Pentecost. Let all the house of Israel You
know, give me a hint for next week. I'm going to preach on
who is Israel. Who is Israel? Let all the house of Israel know
assuredly. This is this declaration and
this is why you know it. It's been declared to you. Let
all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this
same Jesus whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ. Now, the reason you have this
knowledge is because God chose you to have this knowledge. What a humbling thing. I think
of what Paul said to, or what Ananias said to Paul. The God
of our fathers hath chosen thee that thou shouldst know his will. The reason you know, It's because
God chose you to know. Now, when Paul said in Romans
8, 28, and we know that all things work together for good to them
that love God, to them who are called according to His purpose.
How can He say we know that? I know exactly why we can say
we know that, because we know who God is. He's all-powerful. He's able to make all things
work together without any effort on His part, simply as an act
of His will. He's omniscient. He's all-wise. He knows how to
do this. He's perfect. He can do this. And we don't have a hard time
believing something like that because we know who he is. You see, what we believe is determined
by who we believe. I love that scripture in 2 Corinthians
8, verse 9. You know the grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ. You know. Though he was rich. You know something about his
riches. Just forget about yourself for a moment. You know that he's
rich in holiness, rich in righteousness, rich in grace, rich in all, everything
that's glorious. He's rich. Yet for your sakes,
he became poor. You know that. You know the only
way for you to be saved is for him to be made what you are and
lose everything. But you, through his poverty,
might be rich. Now people who know, know that
don't they? They just know. Now this saving knowledge is
always a result of being born of God. This saving knowledge
is impossible for the natural man. No natural man has this
saving knowledge at all. The Lord said, except a man be
born again, he cannot see. And that word see is generally
translated no. He can't know, he can't perceive,
he can't understand, he can't enter in to the kingdom of God,
except he be born again. This knowledge is the result
of the new birth. Now I want to talk some about
things we just know. Things we just know. And like
I said, this is not a knowledge we're proud of. We know it's
been revealed to us. We know it's been given to us. We can't feel like we, hey, I
know something you don't know because that's the way the natural
man thinks. I know something that you don't
know that gives me an advantage over you. I don't want you to
find out about it because I know it and that gives me power over
you. That's not the kind of knowledge I'm talking about. I'm talking
about saving knowledge. I'm talking about knowledge that
comes from the Spirit of God. You have an unction, an anointing
from the Holy One, and you know all things. Now, people who know,
know this. Romans 3, 19, now we know. We know. That whatsoever the
law saith, it saith to them who are under the law, that every
mouth may be stopped. and all the world stand guilty
before God. Now, as long as I can justify
myself, as long as I can vindicate myself, I just don't know. Because if I know, I will stand
guilty before God. all who know, know this. I think of what Paul said in
Romans chapter 7 verse 14. Now we know that the law is spiritual,
but I am carnal, sold under sin, which means I'm a slave to sin. Do you know the only ones who
know that are those who know? Those who have been given saving
knowledge. An unbeliever could never say that about himself.
It would be impossible for him. He doesn't know. Paul said, I
know that in me that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing. Do you know that? Do you know
that in your flesh dwells no good thing? Now, if you know,
you know. If you don't know, you can't
enter in to this. I love what Paul said in 1 Timothy
1.8. We know the law is good if a
man use it lawfully. Knowing this, that the law was
not made for a righteous man, but for sinners and the disobedient. And he goes on to name a bunch
of other things. If you know You know the law
was not made for a righteous man. A righteous man does not
need law. If I desire to be under law,
all I say by that is I am not a righteous man. Law was a righteous
man. I know that's what Don preached
on last Wednesday, I haven't heard it yet, but a righteous
man does not need law. And if I need law, all I prove
by that is I am lawless and disobedient, because that is who the law was
made for. And if I don't understand law
in that sense, I just don't know, do I? I don't know. Now, a scripture
that is very powerful, turn with me to 1 Corinthians 2. Verse 12. Now we have received,
1 Corinthians 2, verse 12. Now we have received, not the
spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God that we
might know There's the word, the things that are freely given
to us of God. Now, if I know, I know what I
have is freely given. I know if I have justification,
it's because I was justified freely by His grace. As a matter of fact, that word
freely given is the verb form of the word grace. It's been
graced to me. Now, believers know grace. And when you know grace, you
know whatever you have was freely given to you. If you're redeemed,
it didn't have anything to do with you earning it. If you're
elect, it's not because God foresaw you do something. You know a
free election, the election of free grace. If you're preserved,
Right up to this point, I'd say to every believer, you've been
preserved, haven't you? And you know the reason the Lord has
preserved you is because of His free grace. If you have faith,
He freely gave it to you. You know you didn't come up with
it. If you have repentance, you know He freely gave you this
gift. You know everything you have
is given to you freely, if you know. Now, if you don't know
this, well, God's never revealed himself to you. You don't know,
but all who have been saved, all who have saving knowledge
know this. Don't you know that everything
you have has been given to you freely for Christ's sake? You
have no doubt about that. This is something you know. You
know your salvation has nothing to do with something you have
done. And if you don't know this, you
don't know anything, really. I think of what Paul said, turn
to Galatians 2. Galatians 2. Verse 16. Here's that word, knowing. Knowing. Every believer knows
this. Knowing that a man is not justified
by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ. You know that, don't you? You
know you weren't justified by something you've done, but you
were justified by the faith. the faithfulness, the righteousness
and merits of Jesus Christ and not by your works. You know that.
Every believer knows that. Folks who know, know, don't they?
Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but
by the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ. We know that He was delivered
for our offenses and raised again for our justification. Now, folks
who are ignorant of this would be the people Paul described
in Romans 10, for they being ignorant of God's righteousness.
Folks who don't know are what? Ignorant. They being ignorant
of God's righteousness and going about to establish their own
righteousness have not submitted themselves to the righteousness
of God. Turn to 1 Peter 1. Verse 18. For as much as you know, and
he's speaking to every believer, for as much as you know that
you were not redeemed with corruptible things of silver and gold from
your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers,
but you were redeemed with the precious blood of Christ as of
a lamb. without blemish and without spot,
who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world was
manifest in these last times for you. Now those who know,
know they were not redeemed with corruptible things, but they
know they were redeemed. Redemption wasn't just made possible. This is not potential redemption.
You know you were redeemed. with the precious blood of Christ. His blood is precious to God
because it's the blood of His Son and His blood redeemed. His blood is precious to every
believer because it's the blood of the Son of God and because
it redeems. And we that know, know of our
redemption. Now I'm not talking about Well,
I know I'm redeemed. I'm talking about I know his
blood redeemed. There's a difference. You can
say, well, I know I'm redeemed. I've had people say that to me.
I don't know how many times I've had people say, well, I know
I'm saved. I don't care what you think. Well, good. That doesn't mean you are. But
I know he redeemed. I wasn't redeemed by corruptible
things, but by the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. It
redeems, and all who know him, know his blood must be successful. None who know, believe that he
can die for you and fail. You know his blood redeems, and
you're relying on his blood. I love what Paul said in Romans
chapter five, or Romans chapter three, verse 25, he talked about
through faith in his blood. I've heard people say, I'm not
trusting the finished work of Christ, I'm trusting him who
finished the work. Well, me too, but I also have faith in his
blood. I love that, faith in his blood. I really believe that
his blood is all that's needed to make this sinner perfect before
God. Do you? Those who know, know. Turn to 1 John chapter three.
Now, what I think is interesting And I've been noticing this throughout
this book. We know, we know, we know, hereby
we know, we know all things, hereby we know that we know.
He has all these things about knowing. And he was writing and
addressing an error called Gnosticism. Gnosticism flooded the early
church in the second century. And it was the belief that Christ
couldn't have been flesh, because that would have made him sinful,
because all matter is sinful. So he was some kind of spirit
in someone's body, but it wasn't really Christ, because Christ
did not really become flesh. And that's why John says every
spirit that confesses not that Jesus Christ that's come in the
flesh is not of God, but is that spirit of antichrist. But the
point is, gnostic means knowing ones. knowing ones. And John is saying, we're the
true knowing ones. We're the ones who know. They
claim this knowledge, but they know nothing. We're the ones
who know. Now look what first John chapter
three, verse five says. And you know that he was manifested. to take away our sins. Chew on that for just a moment. He was manifested to take away
our sins. And beloved, that is exactly
what he did on Calvary's tree. He took our sins away. They're all taken away. And here's what else we know.
We know that in him is no sin. Do you know that? In him. no sin. If I'm in Him, I have
no sin. We know that He was manifested
to take away our sins. In Him is no sin. Turn to 1 John 5 verse 13. These things have I written unto
you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that you may
know that you have eternal life. And I love the way he goes right
back to this, that you may believe on the name of the Son of God. Now, do you believe on the name
of the Son of God? Do you believe His name? is what
gives you entrance into glory. You believe the same thing the
thief did. Lord, remember me. If you bear me before the Father,
I must be saved. Remember me when you come into
your kingdom. Be ye kind, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as
God, for Christ's sake, hath forgiven you. Now, if you believe
on his name, you can know that you have eternal life. If you're
somebody right now believing on His name, you can know that
you have eternal life abiding in you. You can have full assurance
of faith. And the moment you start thinking
full assurance, you'll lose it. And so He takes us right back
to that you may believe on the name of the Son of God. Look
what He says in verse 18. We know that whosoever is born
of God sinneth not. Now how do we know that? Because
we know God. Can that which is born of God
sin? Well, that's ridiculous. It's too preposterous to think.
Anything that comes from God, that which is born of God cannot
sin. We know that that which is born
of God does not commit sin. Sinneth not. The new nature,
the holy nature cannot sin. Now, you have an old nature,
I don't think I need to remind you of it, that can't not sin,
that all it is is sin. And that does not mean that,
well, we got an excuse for our sin. You know, it was the old
nature that did it, and I don't need to worry about it. No, we
don't feel that way at all. Actually, it's the new nature
that despises the sin, that hates the sin, that cries for deliverance
from the sin. But we know. that that which
is born of God does not commit sin. Now, I listened to a man
preaching yesterday and he was talking about, he actually said
believing in two separate natures destroys progressive sanctification.
Well, it does do that. I agree. I mean, I got that down. But he said that the flesh becomes
more holy and less sinful through the progressive sanctifying work
of the Spirit of God. Now, where's that? Where's that? You can't find that in the scripture.
That which is born of God does not commit sin. And that which
is of the flesh is nothing but that flesh. Verse 19. And we know that we are of God. And the whole world lieth in
wickedness. And we know that the Son of God
has come and has given us an understanding that we may know
Him that is true. And we are in Him that is true. Even in His Son, Jesus Christ,
this is the true God and eternal life. Now, John speaks with such
confidence here. We know we are of God. You see,
he that's of God, heareth God's words. If I'm of God, I'll hear
this. If you're of God, you'll hear
this. He that's of God, heareth God's words. And we know that
the Son of God has come. We know that, don't we? Don't
you know He came? He came in the flesh. That God
sent Him. You know that, don't you? This
is not high in the sky. This is not... You know Christ
came in the flesh. And you know He did what He came
to do. And you know where He is now. He's seated at the right
hand of the Father. You know that. This is something
you know. Not simply something that you've
been taught all your life. Yes, you have been taught this.
But you know it, don't you? You know the Son of God has come.
And He hath given us this understanding that we may know Him that is
true. And here's our only hope that
we're in Him that's true, even in His Son, Jesus Christ. This
is the true God and eternal life. Now, there is such a thing as
saving knowledge. It's not something that puffs
us up. We're humbled by it, that God has given us this knowledge
of himself, this knowledge of his son. We know it's a revelation. It's not something that makes
us think we can look down on somebody who doesn't have this
knowledge. But we also know that to not have this knowledge is
criminal because this is who he is. And to not have this knowledge
is a denial of who he is. Hereby we know. Amen. Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you for the revelation of thy gospel. The revelation of thyself. The
revelation of thy dear son. And Lord, how we thank you that
we can say. We know. Lord, we ask in Christ name.
That everybody in this room. Might be enabled to say. With
thy servant of old. I know whom. I have believed
and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I've committed
to Him against that day. Lord, cause our knowledge to trust Your ability and cause
us to Commit the entire salvation of our soul to thy dear son and
to look nowhere else. We thank you for your word. In
Christ's name we pray. Amen.