To see you this morning, each
one of you, it's a thrill to be back with you. I think of
you often, and we appreciate you very much. And it's just
my joy to be with you. And we just thank the Lord for
you, and we have come to know one another over the years. I remember being in Cherokee
and you people being in Cherokee. And years ago, we meet Rupert
in Cherokee and different places and always good to see him and
Betty. And we're just thankful for our
friendship and fellowship over the years. There's many things we thank
the Lord for and He does raise up friendships
and we thank the Lord for Turn with me this morning in
your Bibles to the book of Jeremiah 24 And a few moments with Look
at this passage of scripture. I've come to realize, and I know
that you have too, that what we have, the Lord has given unto
us. And when you think of spiritual
things, what the Lord does, He's the giver. And what we have, He gives. The blessings that we have, He's
the giver of them. Spiritual things, we look to
everything that we have. And one of the verses in the
scripture that reminds us of this, it says, every good and
perfect gift comes down from above. Comes to us. And we ought to give Him the
thanks and give Him the praise and worship Him. We find this
verse here in the 24th chapter of the book of Jeremiah in verse
number 7. It says, I will give them a heart
to know me. That's God saying that. He says,
I'm going to give a people. Everybody doesn't know God. A
lot of people think they do but yet they don't know God. The
God of this Bible. But he says here I'm going to
give them a heart to know me. Now I ask you what is the greatest
knowledge that we could have? I knew a man one time and he
was such a brilliant person and had such a memory. that he said
that he knew 300 hymns. Every verse of 300 hymns by memory. I just, that blows my mind. But he had such an intellect. And he was a teacher in Bible
school. And I always thought it was sort
of funny, oh, here's a man that had such a memory. And he could,
I mean, he could talk about things that's happened in the 14th,
15th, 16th century that I'd never heard of. But he would sit at
his desk and had his bookcase. I had a book standing about this
high. He didn't even stand in front of it, I had to talk over
it. I never could quite understand all that. But what is the greatest
knowledge? What's the most important knowledge
that we could have? And it's this right here, isn't
it? I'll give them a heart to know
me. John the 17th chapter, that great
chapter, the Lord as He prays to the Father and just what a
wonderful chapter that it is. You would think that if you was
among our Lord and close to Him and what a thrill it would be
that you'd hear Him pray. Well, it's recorded for us, isn't
it? Notice what he says in verse number 3 of the 17th chapter.
This is life eternal, that they might know Thee, the only true
God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent. That's life eternal. And here he says, I'll give them
a heart to know me. I am the Lord and they shall
be my people. There's a blindness among men
and it comes with that of nature. They live and they move and they're
in God's world. But yet they don't know him and
not aware of him That's what sin has done that
a man can live in God's world And yet we see that as he lives
here that he doesn't know God And he can't find him out God
has to reveal himself And I thought of another verse as I was pondering
this. It's found in the 17th chapter
of the book of Acts. And we see Paul on Mars Hill. And he said, you men of Athens,
I perceive that you are all things ye are too superstitious. That's something that we find
about man, isn't it? He's very superstitious. He said,
I have passed by and beheld your devotions, and I found an altar
with this inscription, to the unknown God, whom therefore you
ignorantly worship. Him declare I unto you. And they had set up, as you know
there, different gods. And if they left one out, they
decided to put one up for the unknown God. And I suggest to
you today that he's still to so many, he's unknown. And it
tells us here, a heart, I'll give him a heart to know me.
If you have that heart today, be thankful. Give him the praise,
give him the glory. And he goes on in the Acts and
he said, God, he has made the world and all things therein. Now, what's man's thinking on
this? It's right the opposite of that, isn't it? But he, Paul,
is going to describe him to us. He's saying that he is Lord of
heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands, neither
is he worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed anything. Well, that's one of the things
the world thinks about him, that he needs something. God Almighty
that has everything. They think they can help him
out. I've heard people say, and I
remember years ago, saying, he has no hands but your hands.
He has no feet but your feet. But here it tells us that He
giveth to all life. That's what He's given you. You're
here today. You have life. He's given it
to you. Not only that, but breath. An old pastor friend of mine
years ago, and I don't know where Brother Rupert ever knew Brother
Irvin Wallace or not. I don't know where he did or
didn't. But he used to have a saying. He just gives you two nostrils
full of air at a time. That's all that you have. And here it tells us that he
gives us all life and breath. Just think about it. That's what
we have, isn't it? Two nostrils full at a time. And you get another
two and another two. You keep breathing. And it says he's made of one
blood all nations of men. Now I worked in the hospital
several years and If they gave blood, they didn't wonder where
it came from. All they needed to know was the
type. It says he was made of blood of
all nations. It wasn't blood of all nations
to dwell on the face of the earth. Notice this also here as we're
looking at this passage of scripture. He has determined the times before
appointed. Now why are you here at this
particular time? Why am I here at this particular
time? Because there's a time God's
appointed for you. Isn't that what it says? He's
determined the times before appointed. Now, why are you in this neck
of the woods? It goes on, it says, they set
the bounds of their habitation. Isn't it strange and one way
of thinking when you think about all of this and you think about
life, why am I where I am? Why am I here at this particular
time? Why wasn't I here a thousand
years before now? Or come a thousand years later? It's because God's determined it,
isn't it? He's determined and He set the
bounds of our habitation. It's in His hands. Now, get back to our text. There's a blindness among men
of who God is. They move in God's world, but
yet they can't find Him out. But He's made a promise to a
people that He would give them a heart to know Him. There's been this promise. And
you know down through the years, there's a promise that's been
fulfilled. There are those that know God. We live in a day today, there's
some people that knows Him. And if time goes on tomorrow,
there's going to be some people that knows Him because He's given
them this knowledge. And He's given people this knowledge
all down through the years. You start in the Bible and you
go through it, and He's given people this knowledge. His promise
is fulfilled. Without that of divine teaching, Without God's instruction and
his illumination and without a new heart, man can't find God. It takes that of God's teaching. It takes that of a new heart. Man has eyes, but yet he can't
see God. He has ears, but he can't hear
God. Job said this, a seeing eye and
a hearing ear, God has made both. If you see him, God's given you that eye. If
you hear Him, God's given you that ear. The Bible says that man by nature
doesn't seek after God. He doesn't desire God. Now what
if he just left in that position? What if God had not dealt with
us? What if He not opened our eyes? What if He just left us in the
condition that we came into this world? And the Bible says there's none
that seeks Him. No, not one. Now, I've had people
dispute me, or dispute the Scriptures, and dispute me, but dispute the
Scriptures. But that's what it says, there's
none that seeketh after God. That's the natural man. He doesn't. But here in our passage of scripture
it says, God says, I'll give a people, I'll give them that
have a heart to know me. I think, that a person with that of a
reasonable knowledge with that of reasoning can look and see
that there's a creator I mean we know it's denied all over
the place but yet I believe a person can look and see that there's
a creator many people speak of a supreme
being But what we're talking about
here is far more. It's a heart to know Him. To see Him, who He is, that He's
Jehovah. And there's none besides Him.
To know Him and His person, who He is. Christ says, when you've seen
Me, you've seen the Father. Know him as a just God. He deals justly. Know him as
a holy God. Holy. The Bible speaks of him as a
God of love. He's truth. The Bible says he's God of all
grace. Says he has all power. The Bible says he doesn't wink
at sin. Said he can't look upon iniquity.
He can't spare the guilty. And it brings us to this, that
we are not to invent a God, but obey the God that is revealed
unto us in the Word. We're not to set a God of our
imagination. But believe the God of the Scriptures,
the one that is revealed. He says, I am Jehovah and there's
none else. I am the Lord. Now this knowing Him is a personal
knowledge. It's that of the heart. I'll
give them a heart to know me. That heart goes after God. That
heart desires God. It looks to Him. It's one that trusts Him. Trust
in the Lord. And again, we're to do that at
all times too, aren't we? We, to look to Him. Now, we also
expect from Him. Do you expect from the world
or do you expect from God? There's a lot of difference there,
aren't there? In looking toward God and expecting
from Him and receiving from Him. It means that we speak to Him.
We call upon Him. We look to Him. By the Spirit, He's revealed
unto us. We know His voice. We know that of His voice and
we hear His voice. And here again is a difference
as we look to things of the Lord. We're glad for His presence.
We come together and ask for His presence, don't we, and joy
that He's with us. He brings comfort to our souls. We need comfort as we live in
this world. We delight in Him. I think about Ephesians chapter
1 Paul writes and he says blessed be to God and father of our Lord
Jesus Christ who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings
in heavenly places in Christ Jesus Says all spiritual blessings,
didn't it? You come behind He blesses you
with all He speaks and he tells us that
where he is We read the scriptures and it
tells us that he's redeemed us Now a lot of people look at Calvary
They look at the Lord Jesus Christ And they Look at it in different
ways. But I see it as one way. I see
the Lord dying for His people. I see Him shedding His blood
to put away His people's sins. I read the scriptures and it
says, I redeemed you. So how you read it, I redeemed
you. Read it, He redeemed me. And that's what He was doing. One of my favorite scriptures
is that of Jeremiah 31. He says, I've loved you with
what? An everlasting love. Everlasting. There's no time he's not gonna
love you. He is. He's loved you from eternity,
hasn't he? And he's gonna go on loving you
through all eternity. I've loved you with an everlasting
love. Then what has he done? He says,
I've drawn you. I've drawn you to that of myself. Now a lot of people, they're
drawn to this and they're drawn to that. The Lord draws to himself. He draws to himself. I give him a heart to know me.
There's a man, and they say that his day was that of very irreligious. His name was Enoch. But the scripture says he walked
with God. Now his day was, I don't know
where it's much different from today or not, A lot of people
talk about, well, this is most evil day. I don't know. Sin's
pretty much the same all down through the years. I don't know
about those things. But, yet he said he walked with
God, didn't he, this day. God gave him a heart to know
him. He walked with him. Along with him Oh that we might The Bible talks
about two together side by side walking together There's another man by the name
of Abraham And God wrote something by his name that's gonna be throughout
all eternity I You know what he wrote beside
of his name? Abraham is my, what, friend. Boy, that's something to have
written beside of your name for all eternity. Abraham's my friend. I tell you,
he had a heart to know him, know God. Now notice it says heart. Now,
a lot of people get confused over the heart. It's not that
which pumps the blood. It says your innermost part of
your being is your heart. And it says a heart to know me.
It's not the head, but it's the heart. And we have to have a new heart. Because the old heart is set
upon sin The old heart wants to God that it can fashion that
of his own imagination The psalmist said one time thou
thoughtest that I was altogether as thyself And I'm persuaded
that's how most people see God It takes a new heart to see to marry him, that he's a just
one, he's a faithful one, the wise one, the true one, that
he's a gracious one, he's a long-suffering one, he's a holy one. Isaiah saw him And holy, holy, holy is the Lord
of hosts. I heard someone say one time
that the word holy has to do with W-H-O-L-Y, holy. He's the whole one. He's one of perfection. He's
one of completeness. By the way, He's the sovereign
God. One of the things I learned very
early was, and it comes from A.W. Pink, God's sovereign. He can do as He pleases, when He pleases, how He pleases,
and with anyone He pleases. And the scripture speaks along
this line that all is in his hands. The psalmist said, oh God, thou
art my God. This God is ours forever and
ever. He's our guide even unto death.
Thomas says, my Lord and my God. The psalmist says, my portion. I will be to them a God and they
shall be to me my people." There are those that acknowledge
Him. He's given them a heart to know Him. They have affection toward Him. They love Him. David says, I love the Word,
too, didn't he? I love the Lord and I love the
Word. He says, He heard my voice and my supplication. It's a wonderful thing when you've
cried unto the Lord and He hears your voice and He hears your
supplication. The psalmist said, He's my rock. Those that know Him, they know
Him as a rock. He's solid. He's the foundation. He's the fortress. He's the deliverer. He delivered us. He's our strength. And Solomon
says, I will trust Him. He says, He's my buckler. He's
the horn of my salvation. He's my high tire. And I say this, when God is known,
He is loved. I remember reading a story, and
it comes to my mind now. I said, one of the older gentlemen
in the church said he was weeping. He said the brethren didn't know
what was wrong with him. He said they gathered around
him. They put their arms around him
and said, Brother, what's causing you to weep? What's the problem? He said he looked at him in a
quivering voice and he said, I can't love my Lord enough. I can't love Him enough. And
we ought to weep over that. We don't love Him enough. The Bible says He's the first
of 10,000. He's altogether lovely. And I tell you, when you love
Him, you're gonna seek to glorify Him. You want the glory to go to Him. I've been in services before,
years ago, and it seemed to me like the preacher wanted all
the attention. He wore a red coat, and he had
a red Bible, and he talked about himself all the time. The church gave him some money
on a Friday night, and on a Saturday night, he said, he said, I was
offered three times that much to go to Ohio to preach. Like
if I knew that's just gonna get this, I would have went on to Ohio. But as God's preachers seek his
glory. They seek His glory. They want Him to be glorified. They believe. He says, I give
unto them a heart to know Me. And that is to believe in Him.
And you know this, we live in the day that people say, well
I believe, and tomorrow they might not believe, and the next
year they might believe, and the next year they might not
believe, and so forth and so on. The word believe means this,
that you are glued to Him. You're stuck to Him. If you really believe, you're
glued to Him. If you believe, if you believe,
really believe last year, you're gonna believe this year. And
if you believe this year, really believe, you're gonna believe
next year. I believe it was Gardner Springs
said this one time, I don't know if I can get the quote right
or not, but I read it, and he said, if you don't believe now,
you never did believe, if you claim to believe. The psalmist says, oh God, my
heart is fixed. I like that. Fixed. It's a knowledge that'll never
be taken away. It's a knowledge that's gonna
last through eternity. And what a precious knowledge
it is. I'll give them a heart to know
me. And I ask you today, what is all the knowledge in the world
compared to this? Now, how necessary is it? The Bible says the beginning
is the beginning of wisdom. It's also the end of wisdom.
It's the only way of peace. Scripture says acquaint now thyself
with God and be at peace. Get acquainted with Him. It doesn't say acquaint thyself
with the world and be at peace. It doesn't say acquaint thyself
with a friend or friends and be at peace. and it doesn't say
acquaint thyself with religion and be at peace but he said acquaint thyself
with myself and be at peace I am satisfied that many people
are counting upon the scriptures being wrong I run across people, and recently
one, they say, well, what Paul wrote is just Paul's opinion. And I know you've run across
people like that. What Paul wrote is what God told
him to write. What Paul wrote comes by the
inspiration of the Holy Spirit of God And I don't know how you can
accept one thing he wrote and not the other things that he
wrote A lot of people's counting on
the Bible being wrong But what the scripture says about
God is true and What it says about Christ is true. What it
says about the Holy Spirit is true. What this scripture says
is true. Everything that it says. And there's going to be a big
difference. And there is this big difference where a person
is a friend of God or a foe of God. And it's most important that
one acquaint themselves with God and be at peace. Young people,
that's the best acquaintance that you can ever have, is to
get acquainted with a God that goes for everyone here to get acquainted with Him. There's no peace outside of Him. He's a quickening spirit. When He quickens us, there's
a desire to know Him. We feel like there's so much
more to know, don't we? I feel like I've just scratched
maybe the very surface, and I wonder sometimes if I've even scratched
the surface to know Him. The Bible even says that if all
things that the Lord done, it'd fill up the world with books
if it was written down. What about that? to know Him. I suggest to you this is the
most excellency knowledge that one could have. I'm more concerned
about that than anything else. People talk about, over in Galatians,
they talk about idols. Men have their idols, and they
have their days, and they have their months, and they have their
times, and years, and all of that, and it calls it weak and
beggarly elements. He says, turn from it. Turn from it. Oh, for this knowledge that God
gives of Himself. Gives us knowledge we trust Him. You can't trust an unknown God.
You have to know Him. It's a heart that has faith. Hebrews tells us about faith. And the Bible says those that
have faith also have what? Works, good works. Paul wrote, and he says, walk
worthy of the Lord to bring fruit to his glory. We might have fruitful lives. I say to you today that this
knowledge of God, it affects one's life. I don't think you can know Him
and it not affect you. It changes one's life. Many people, they say, well,
I know God and there's no change in their lives. But it changes. When you know Him, it changes
the course of life. It changes the desires of life. It has a sanctified influence
upon life. This knowledge sets one apart from that of the world. When you have this knowledge,
you desire to be more like Him. Oh, just look at our Lord. Look at Him. Paul made a statement one time,
and he says, follow me. as I follow the Lord. If you and I was making that,
I'd say follow the Lord. But Paul says follow me as I
follow the Lord. That's something great about
his life. Something great that he'd tell
people, says, you follow me as I follow the Lord. We worship Him, praise Him. There's His goodness and His
mercy and grace. And we gather in our churches,
in this church, in our church, we don't gather to the praise
of man. But we gather to praise the Lord
and give Him the glory. And I say this today that He
deserves far more than what we give Him. I think about myself
and we just fall so short, don't
we? So short. He deserves far more than we
give Him. I get aggravated myself. I criticize
myself. I call myself names. Oh, today. What he deserves. And how far short we've come. We know him. We go to him. Well, let's see, do we always
just live on the up and the up? Everything's just so good and
fine. Do we ever get down? I tell you, if we get down, we
need to go to him. Do we ever have any trouble? Scripture said like this, that
man's a few days and full of troubles, didn't it? We'll go to Him. Do we ever have
any trials? We'll go to Him. There's the very storms of life,
there's the battles of life. We'll go to Him. I give Him a
heart to know me, I am the Lord. This is a divine work. When you
think about this work, it's divine. He says, I'll give it to them. Only the Creator can give you
a new heart. You can't give yourself a new
eye, and you can't give yourself a new hand. You can't give yourself
a new ear, and you can't give yourself a new heart. Man talks about all that he can
do and he can go to the moon. He can walk on the moon John
Glenn did this he died It's past week But when it comes to spiritual
things God has to give That name he has to give them The dead can't raise themselves.
They have to be quickened. They have to be given life. You can't give yourself a new
heart. God has to give it to you. He must do it. We have the promises in the scriptures
and And he's the only one that can
give a new heart. I thought about this. If one
cries out for a new heart, you know what that is? That's a cry
of life, isn't it? One wants a new heart, desires
a new heart, that's life. And those that have this heart,
how thankful they need to be and bless God. Those that know Him, there's
a change of life. Those that know Him, live and
die with that knowledge. Those that know Him, it begins
on earth and goes through eternity. Those who know him, this is more
precious and more valuable than all the world. This knowledge
of him saves the soul and comes with it all spiritual blessings
in heavenly places. Here he is. I will give them
a heart to know me. I am the Lord and they shall
be my people. And I will be their God. Heart knowledge. I believe our
time is up, isn't it? I see some people coming in back
there, we'll stop here. Okay, I think I need one.