You'll take your Bibles and turn
with me to the book of 1 John, the first general epistle of
John. I'm going to see this morning
if I can answer this question, can we know if we know God? I want to know that, don't you?
Can we know? I know that at best what we have
is a hope. I do know that. I do not physically
have it. I'm not what I'm going to be.
I'm not what I was. And I'm not what I want to be.
But I hope, I hope in that day to be what he called me to be. And it's a hope at best. But
can we know this? Can I know if I know God? Now let me say this by way of
introduction into the message this morning. Knowing Christ
is absolutely necessary to the saving of the soul. So we're
not talking about some abstract something here that has no consequence
whatsoever. I'm not talking here about whether
or not Israel as a natural people are going to be involved in some
kind of great war in the Middle East and things that has no connection
to us whatsoever. I'm talking about something vital
to the saving of your soul. Look with me here in 1 John 5,
verse 11. This is the record. Now, if you
back up in this chapter a little bit, you'll find out that this
thing is recorded in heaven in the Trinity. And it's manifested
on this earth. And it was written and given
unto us by the prophets, and that's the record that he's talking
about here. This is the record, God's record,
written, inspired of God, given to us in the volume of this book,
that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in His
Son. He that hath the Son hath life,
and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. 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." So this thing, John, can be known.
And God has provided us the means by which to know Him. And whatever this knowing is,
it's defined by the Spirit of God as eternal life. That's what this knowing is.
Eternal life is not how long it lasts. It is everlasting life. He uses that term quite often.
But eternal life is talking about what kind of life it is. What
kind it is. Look down here in verse 20. And we know that the Son of God
hath come and given to us an understanding that we may know
Him that is true. That we are in Him that is true,
even in His Son, Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal
life. So I want to know, don't you?
And He says we can. He says we can. With the view of His life's work
and the cross near at hand, the Lord lifted up His eyes to heaven
and said, Father, the hour has come. Glorify Thy Son, that Thy
Son also may glorify Thee. as thou hast given him power
over all flesh, that he should give eternal life. Ain't that what he says there?
To as many as thou hast given him, and this is life eternal,
that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ,
whom thou sent. So knowing Christ is what faith
is all about. Why in the world would I want
to know anything else? Knowing Christ is what faith is all about. Paul said, I know whom I have
believed, didn't he? That's how he described his faith.
I know whom I have believed, and I am persuaded that he is
able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that
day. Now, I say this to you in all
sincerity. If you have something other than
this, you don't have saving faith. Whatever else it is you have,
it's not saving faith. Saving faith is knowing Christ. That's what it is. That's what
it is. Take my yoke upon you and learn
of me and find rest for your soul. You know, he told Philip,
he said, where I go, you know. Phillip said, whoa, wait a minute
now. We don't know where you're going. And he said, have I been so long
time with you, Phillip, and yet thou hast not known me? Huh? Show us the Father, and it sufficeth
us. Have you been so long time with
me, Phillip? Have you not seen the Father?
Have you not seen, do you not know me? To know Him is eternal life and
to know Him not is no more than death and hell and the wrath
of God abides on you. I need to know Him. This knowing
Christ is absolutely necessary to the saving of our souls. And
yet people, they worry about everything else under the sun
except that. Huh? Worry about your children's
hair being too long. Worry about your job. Worry about
this. Worry about that. You better worry about this. You know all those folks that
come before him that had excuses, and in their eyes they were good
excuses because they'd spent their whole life doing them.
Some of them preached. Some of them did wonderful works,
visited hospitals, visited the sick, visited the widows. They did all these things. Had
not we done many wonderful works in thy name, and not we preached
in thy name? You know what he told them? Depart
from me, ye workers of iniquity. But what was the basis of the
departure? I never knew you. Now whatever this knowing is,
it's vital. It's vital to the salvation of
my soul. It's a very critical question.
It's a very needful question. And one of the Lord's pleas to use what I prepared this morning
will bring us some comfort to our soul. How then can I know
if I know Him? Well, I don't know that I have
time for all this, but we'll take a shot at it. I've got five
things I want you to see here in this little short epistle
of John that has to do with knowing if I know Him. First of all,
I want to point you back to the Scripture I just read to you
a few moments ago back here in verse 13 of 1 John 5. He said, 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. The means of knowing
Christ can only come and are only taught and declared in the
Word of God. That's where you find this thing
in this book. If I can't find that knowledge
of Him in this book, if I can't find the basis of it between
the covers of this book, then I don't know Him. Because He
is the subject of this book. I don't find it apart from this
book. I don't find it in nature. You're not going to find it out
on the bash boat. And you're not going to find
it out there on the river. You're going to find it in this book.
That's where you're going to find it. If I can't find it there,
it can't be found. It can't be found. The means of knowing Christ can
only come as they're taught and declared from the Word of God.
You're not going to find any peace and assurance anywhere
else. And I tell you this, you're not
going to find it listening to some deceived man dancing around
babbling in some unknown tongue either. You're not going to find
this thing and learn it listening to a bunch of vain jangling by
a bunch of false prophets. The only way you're going to
come to know with any assurance the Lord Jesus Christ and your
saving union with Him is out of this book, the Word of God. And if you're here this morning
and you're in disagreement with what I'm saying to you, I'd like
for you to examine the reasons why you reject it and see if
you can find any basis for it in the Word of God. We sit and we just sometimes
fold our arms. We're in total disagreement.
Why don't we go in this book and see if we can find any basis
for it? There ain't no basis in here. That's why we don't
go in there and look. If you can't find the reason
in the Word of God, then you can't justify your rebellion.
It's just plain old rebellion. That's what it is. And the same
thing goes for your faith. You can't justify your faith
any other way either. It has to be based on the Word
of God. The Word of God is the children's bread. It's written
to them. It's written for them. It's about
them, and they receive it, bow to it, search it, and rest in
it. They're acquainted with it. You
ask the average religionist what his hope is, and he'll start
talking about everything under the sun. You start talking about
how he got sick, and he saw a vision, or his mama said something, or
his great-grandfather, or some old dear lady in the neighborhood,
or something. He's got all kinds of things
that he'll go to, but he won't come to this book. He won't come
to this book. And I tell you, I agree. I was
listening to a message by Brother Mahan the other day, and he made
this statement. He said, the Word of God is a
force. It's different from any other
book in that respect. This book is a force. It's not
just words. It's a force. When it comes to
you in power, it has an impact. You like getting like that. You
like getting hit. You like getting slapped. Woke
up, quickened. Ain't that what he's talking
about? Ain't that the word he uses over in Hebrews? The Word
of God is quick. It's alive. It's living. It's a force. He said it's quick
and it's powerful. Sharper than any two-edged sword. And it is a discerner of the
thoughts and intents of our heart. You go in this book and this
book can read your mind. Huh? Why, it will describe you
to a T. We used to look out the window
to see if Brother Michael, I could have sworn he had me standing
outside because he was quoting us word for word. That's right. Where did he get it? He got it
out of his book. It discerns the thoughts and intents of your
heart. It can describe you to a T. And it's a force to establish
his rule to convince of sin and righteousness and judgment. And
it's the seed of regeneration, and it's the foundation of all
true faith. Well, I just believe. So do the
devils, and didn't do them any good either. Huh? That's right. That's what the Lord said. The
devils believe and tremble. Didn't do them any good. That
ain't the right kind of faith, is it? And then secondly, look
back a page or two back here, 1 John, chapter 2. I could know if I know Him actually
just by my interest in the Word of God. Does this book, do I
have an appetite for this book? Do I even have an interest in
what it says? Oh, I tell you, if you do, you'll
soon discover that this is the foundation of faith. This is
His book. You'll begin to see Christ on
every page. And then secondly, here in 1
John 2, look at verse 3. Hereby we do know that we know
Him. Boy, that's what we want to know,
ain't it? If we keep His commandments. I hope there's nobody here this
morning that thinks that this is talking about obeying the
law of God. That's not what he's talking
about here. It's not talking about our keeping the law in
any sense. I heard this years ago. A fellow
said, well, that's just talking about the ceremonial laws, what
he's talking about here. If we continue meeting in the
synagogues and doing all this, he's talking about the ceremonial
law. Well, no, Christ fulfilled the ceremonial law. All those
old types and symbols, He fulfilled them. He fulfilled them. And
now what he said in Hebrews chapter 10, he took away the first that
he may establish the second. He took them away. They're gone.
We don't do any of those things. He took away the first that he
might establish the second. And then another fellow said,
well, you know, he's just talking about keeping parts of the law.
Woo, you get in trouble there. Oh, that's what they told those
Galatians. Satan's subtle when he comes into a group of people.
He knows how to divide you. He come in there, and boy, those
fellas, they were, whoa, yeah, absolutely, we believe you're
born in the Spirit of God. We believe all those things.
We believe right down the line just like you do. But you have to be circumcised. That's the part God carried over. Circumcision. Paul said, if you
so much as be circumcised, you're a debtor. Now listen, you're
a debtor to do the whole law. You better be careful about carrying
over bits and parts of the law. The only way you can be justified
by keeping the law is to keep it perfectly from the cradle
to the grave in absolute perfection and with nothing for a motive
but the love of God. Love your neighbor as yourself.
You know that big steak you've been keeping back there for that
special day? Take it over and give it to your neighbor. Give
it to him. Let him eat it. All them presents
you bought for your kids for Christmas, gather them all up
and take them over and give them to your neighbor's kids. And
you're going to have to keep it all. All 600 and whatever
it is, 37 precepts, you're going to have to keep them all. No, this is not talking about
that. And he's not talking about an assurance based on the keeping
of the Ten Commandments. Another fellow said that. Well,
he's talking about the moral law here. Hmm. Do you actually believe
you can keep the Ten Commandments? Huh? You can't keep the first
one. If you could keep the first one,
you could do the whole law of God. But you can't keep the first
one. Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, soul, mind, You wouldn't have a bit of trouble
with the rest of them if you could do that. And I know this, that Christ
is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believe us.
So I know he's not talking about the moral law. This is talking
about a willing submission to the authority and teachings of
Christ. That's what he's talking about
here. He's talking here about a broken and a contrite heart.
He's talking about a man convinced of the Spirit of God. of his
own ignorance and inability, of his own spiritual deadness
and rebellion. He's a man convinced that his
own will is what's carried him away. It's what's made him what
he is. He's a man convinced that if
God leaves him to his self, he's a goner. That's this man he's
talking about. If God doesn't reveal himself
to him, he can never know him. If God doesn't give him light,
he'll perish in the darkness. If God doesn't shut him up to
the gospel, he'll swallow everything Satan sends his way. He's talking
about a broken man. He's talking about a man rescued
by the sovereign hand of grace and brought to bow at the feet
of God's reigning king, and he's glad he did. He's glad he did. And he obeys. If God said it,
please God, through the foolishness of preaching to save them to
believe, he's all for it. He don't seek some other way.
He don't run over to Grandma's house. He goes down where God
said he saved sinners. If God tells him that this Word
is the basis of faith, the foundation of faith, he doesn't run over
here to see what somebody else has got to say. He believes what
God says. He said, let God be true and
never man a liar. He's a broken man. He understands. He's bowed to Christ. He's at
the feet of Christ. He's been brought down. This man, this broken man, this
ungodly rebel, made willing in the day of God's power, is willing
to obey. He's willing. No longer walks
in the vanity of his mind, but in the full revelation of Christ.
And he knows his rule is a loving rule, and therefore he obeys. He rules to save my soul. God condescended to become a
man lived on this earth, died for our sins. God raised Him
from the dead and set Him at His own right hand. And there
He rules, John, for the saving of my soul. And I'm glad He's
there. Ain't you? That's what He's talking
about. You can know that you know Him
if you're happy about His rule. I'm glad He rules. Huh? I'm not fightin' and kickin'.
That's what he told Paul. It's hard to kick against the
bricks, ain't it? Huh? So quit kickin'. Quit kickin'. Hereby, ain't that what he says
here? Hereby know we that we know him. If we do what he tells us to
do. He tells me to believe. Oh, my soul. I tell you, if the
king of glory, if the sovereign king of glory tells you to believe,
you can believe. If he tells you to repent, you
can repent. But you can't do it on your authority. It takes his authority. He came
unto His own, His own received Him not. He was in the world
and the world knew Him not. But to as many as received Him,
to them gave He power to become the sons of God. Even to those
that believe on His name who were born. I tell you, He gave
them power to become sons of God. And if He tells you to believe,
you can. If He tells you to repent, you
can. By His authority. We're going to learn this someday.
If we're sons of God, we are. There are no proud believers.
No, there are not. There are no proud believers. God resisteth the proud. Isn't
that what the Scripture says? He resisteth the proud. He giveth
grace to the humble. Submit yourselves, therefore,
unto God. Pride cometh before the fall.
Go on, stand up like Nebuchadnezzar and put them thumbs in them blue
jeans you got, them overalls. Put them thumbs in there and
stand up and start talking about what pride cometh before the
fall. Listen to Paul's exhortation
to Timothy. If any man consent not to wholesome
words, wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ,
and to the doctrine which is according to godliness. He is
proud knowing nothing." Knowing nothing. But doting about
questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy and strife
and railings and surmisings, perverse disputings of men with
corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, from such withdraw
thyself. But godliness with contentment
is great gain." Those who know Christ are content with His ways,
and His means, and His authority. They're OK with it. It's enough, John, isn't it?
It's enough that Christ sits on the throne. It's enough that
he died for my sins. It's enough that he fulfilled
and honored and exalted the law of God. That's enough. I'm content,
ain't you? I never had contentment in religion. Never did. I always went out
feeling worse than when I come in the door. Always went out
with more questions than I had when I come in. They're content with the Word
of God, the church of God, God's pastor, teachers, and the gospel
they preach and teach. Obey them, he said, that have
the rule over you, for they watch for your soul. He told them disciples,
he that heareth you, heareth me. Are you content with that?
Huh? We know that we know him if we
willingly, lovingly bow to his rule. His rule all through the
New Testament, you know, this morning even in our lesson, it
said He went forth preaching the gospel of the kingdom. You
know what the kingdom is? That's the rule. That's what
the kingdom is. It's His rule. The kingdom of
God, He said, cometh not with observation. The kingdom of God
is within you. It's the loving rule of Christ. That's what it is. And then thirdly, 1 John, look
at this, chapter 2, verse 20. I want to read the verse above
that first. In verse 19 it says, They went
out from us, but they were not of us. For if they had been of
us, they would no doubt have continued with us. But they went
out that they might be made manifest, that they were not all of us. Listen to this. You have an unction
from the Holy One and know all things. God's sheep, having been called
by the Spirit of Christ, will never leave His fold. They're
not going to do it. They're not going to leave. Everybody
else will leave, but they ain't going to leave. They ain't going
to leave. He says this, he said, he that
entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. The porter,
he's the heavenly father. And he holds them and preserves
them until such time as the shepherd calls them out. And the porter
knows the shepherd, and so does the sheep. And he calleth his
own sheep by name, and he leadeth them out. And when he putteth
forth his sheep, he goeth before them. And the sheep follow him,
for they know his voice. And they follow him. And a stranger
will they not follow, but they will flee from him, for they
know not the voice of strangers. This is the unction of the Holy
Spirit in all those that believe. There is a confirmation in the
hearts of both God's preacher and the gospel he preaches. There
is a confirmation in the heart by the Holy Spirit. They don't
always understand what it is, but they hear it and they say,
that's it. That's it. I understand. That man's saying something that
nobody else is saying. That man's dealing with things
that I've been asking myself and nobody else is dealing with. Where'd that come from? That's
an unction. That's what he says. You have
an unction from the Holy One. And you know all things. My nephew
asked me one time, he said, if this thing has to be revealed, And there has to be an understanding
and a knowing. He says, how is somebody like
me, who's never went to church in all his life, supposed to
be able to tell the difference out here? I said, you never will. But by the grace of God, you
never will. You might not even be granted
the opportunity of hearing a man preach. He might just let you
go and disable these false prophets until you find one that suits
you. You never will but by the grace of God. There's an unction in the children
of God, an unction of the Holy Spirit of God. and all those
that believe, and there's a confirmation in heart. Paul said to the Corinthians,
he said, do we begin to commend ourselves? Is that what we did?
No, that's what them law preachers did when they come down here.
They start telling you about their degrees in philosophy,
Dr. So-and-so, and they begin to
commend themselves with high-sounding titles like reverend and doctor
and master and all that kind of foolishness. You say, well, you know, they
go to seminary. They give me them letters. I
don't care nothing about them letters. Then why do you insist
in putting them before your name? Huh? He said, do we begin to commend
ourselves? That's what these false prophets
do. Or need we, as some others, letters of commendation to you
or from you? Think about that. I tell you
that I'm a preacher. I don't even know if you ever
even thought about it. Do you know what that means?
That means I stand here in his stead before you. Do you know how unbelievable
that is? Well, I ain't worried about papers.
I ain't worried about somebody said, well, you can't come here
unless you got some papers. Well, I just won't go there then.
I don't need any papers. I don't need them from you. I
don't need to give them to you. That's what Paul said. He said,
do I need those things? Not if I'm a preacher, I don't.
Now, if I'm a false prophet, I need all the help I can get.
But if the Holy Spirit of God accompanies my ministry, I don't
need papers. John, He'll write it on your
heart. He'll confirm it in your heart. If He don't, I'm not sin
of God. I'm not sin of God. He said, Ye are our epistle,
written in our hearts, known and read of all men. Now watch
this. This is 2 Corinthians 3. He said, for as much as ye are
manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered
by us, written not with ink, but with
the Spirit of the living God, and not in tables of stone, but
in the fleshly tables of the heart. And he said, such trust
have we through Christ to God were not in our own sufficiency,
not in ourselves, but the sufficiency of God the Holy Spirit, who has
made us able ministers of the New Testament. That's how you
know, John, if God has made you a minister of the New Testament,
if he confirms both your office and your message in the hearts
of the people. If he don't, you just put your
Bible up and go back and sit down on a pew somewhere. But
if he does, he writes it on men's hearts. He writes it on their
hearts. All I need to prove my ambassadorship
and my suretorship of the gospel is the Holy Spirit of God. He
alone confirms God's preacher. and the assembly over which God
has called him. And those in whose hearts the
Holy Spirit gives this unction will not divide." They won't
do it. They won't do it. They ain't
going nowhere. John said, they went out from
us that they might be manifested, that they were not all of us.
All right? Fourth, 1 John 3, verse 14. He said, we know that we have
passed from death unto life because we love the brethren. He that
loveth not his brother abideth in death. He's not talking here about some
outward, hollow, shallow form of religion. You've been around
now. Hey, brother, smile and grab
your hand and smile hollow. Wouldn't give you the time of
day outside the church. But you come to church that morning,
here they come. Man, they're like a bunch of
buzzards. They descend on you, you know, when you come in the
door. But you go out the door, and you're sitting over here,
and you're sick, and you're needy, and you're all of this. Boy,
you don't hear nothing from them. Huh? This is not talking about that.
Not some hollow show. This love has got to be viewed
in the light of that love revealed in the sweet experience of grace
in our hearts. Now, how is the love of God revealed? He doesn't reveal it so much
to us. He does reveal it to us. We understand it in our mind.
But it goes down to the heart, and therefore, it's revealed
in us. In the sweet experience of grace, how do we understand
this love of Christ? Well, Christ commendeth His love
toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for
us. He gave Himself for us while
we're still kicking. That's how we love one another.
That way. You mean love that guy that's
over here kicking? Love it. Because that's where you was
just a few short months ago. Huh? You was over there kicking.
Christ died for us, He gave Himself for us according to the good
will of God and the eternal love of the Father. Christ walked
with His disciples and identified Himself with His disciples in
spite of their ignorance and sin. How many times did He tell
them He was going to the cross, going to die and be raised from
the tomb? I mean, He told them just a day or so before He did
it. And then when he did it, they
walking down the road, they said, well, we thought that was going
to be the Christ, but he died. He told them he was going to
die. And then when they heard he was raised, they said, well,
you know, that didn't affect him either. It didn't keep him from walking
with them, or did it? Uh-uh. No, he came to them, and he taught
them. This love is based on God's everlasting love and purpose
of grace, and it's fully justified by the righteous life of Christ
and His death on the cross, and of His holy intercession for
us in glory. And this love understands and
perceives the effectual end of salvation. John, I'm not always
going to be the way I am. One day I'm going to be like
Christ. I love me that way. Love me that way. Don't love
me like I am. Love me like I'm going to be.
Huh? See me like I'm going to be.
Because that's how God sees you. That's right. He sees you perfect. He sees you exactly. He has predestinated
us to be conformed to the image of His Son. And we are. We're all going to stand just
like Him. And He's going to love us just
like He loved Him. True love understands and perceives
the effectual end of salvation. It perceives that the sin and
ignorance that's present in us will not continue with us after
death. Paul said, I reckon that even
the sufferings of this present time are not to be compared with
the glory that's going to be revealed in us in that day. Huh? Not even be compared with it. Those self-righteous Pharisees,
John came, and he was a recluse. He was out in the country, and
he didn't drink with them. He didn't eat with them. He stayed
out there in the country away from them and preached. And anybody
who wanted to hear him had to go out there Christ came right
down to the house, and He ate with them. John, they had wine,
He had wine. And they called Him a gluttonous
man and a wine-beaver. And He turned around to those
Pharisees that made that charge, and He said, but wisdom is justified
of our children. It's justified of our children. And that which they said in ridicule
to Him, the children of God, they love that. He was a friend. Oh, I'm glad he is. Ain't you? I'm glad he's a friend of publicans,
etc. To love the brethren is to love
them with the understanding and patience and long-suffering of
Christ's love toward us. Paul said this, It doth not now
appear what we shall be. Boy, you can't tell by looking
at me. And I can't tell by looking at you. Only way I can tell is
by looking at him. And looking at him, I can love
you. Because you're going to be just like him, if you believe.
Now that's how believers love one another. That's how they
love one another. And that's the only thing that
makes me lovable. There's nothing else about me
to love. But you can love me that way. Another thing he said is, in
that day, he said, then we'll know as we are known. Alright, here's the fifth thing.
1 John 5, look over at verse 1. Whosoever believeth that Jesus
is the Christ is born of God. And every one that loveth him
that begat loveth him also that is begotten of Him. Now, it's
not so much talking here about the doctrine of Christ. I understand
what I'm saying when I say that. There's no way to know Christ
other than the doctrine of Christ. That has to be preached. But
that's not all there is. That doctrine points us to Christ. We're not happy with just the
doctrine. We go to the person. I don't... I rejoice in the doctrine, but
I love the person. of which the doctrine speaks.
And this is not so much talking about the doctrine of Christ,
but it's talking here about the faith and understanding of the
Christ, who he is, and the whole sufficiency implied in the scripture
that talks about Christ. That's what he's talking about
here. when he said, believing that Jesus is the Christ. He's
talking about this man born over there a little over 2,000 years
ago has the full sufficiency of God to save your soul. Do
you believe that? You're born of God. You're born
of God. If you can rest your soul, if
you can rest everything there is in that child, like Simeon,
pick up that tiny baby, How did he view that baby? In the light
of the whole Old Testament Scriptures. In the light of the revelation
of the Holy Spirit in his heart. He picked up that tiny baby,
cradled him to his breast, and said, Now, Lord, let Thy servant
depart in peace. I've seen Thy salvation. Have
you seen it? That's what he's talking about
here. That man who's seen this, he's born of God. He's born of
God. And He loves all that's begotten
of Him. He loves them. That man who rests his soul and all that
he has, his future, his life, commits all those things into
His hand. We don't rely on this flesh.
this world or any future potential in it, we rely completely on
Him. Completely on Him. He's my wisdom,
righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. I find in Him
the full sufficiency to save my soul. We talk about knowing Christ.
Let me see if I can illustrate this. I know my wife. We grew up together. I know my
wife. And I know her in two ways. I
know her by historical facts. I can give you some facts. I
know she was born in Gallion, Ohio, August the 5th, 1952, in
Gallion, Ohio. I know that. I know where Gallion
is. I know where that hospital is.
I know when she was born. I know that she was born the
daughter of Ronald and Dorothy Murphy. I know where they lived. Been in the house. I know that. I know where she lived, because
I lived on the other side of the road, on down the road just
a little bit. We lived on the same road. I knew her grandparents, her
uncles, her aunts, her cousins. I know her favorite foods. I
know where she likes to go. I know the things that appeal
to her. But none of these things have anything to do with this
holy union we share as husband and wife. None of them. We don't
sit around the house now. You remember when I was born?
I remember when you was born. We don't sit around and do that.
Y'all do that. I have trouble sometimes remembering
where I was born. We don't do that. That didn't
have anything to do with this union. None of us, none of these
things had anything to do with this union we share as husband
and wife. That knowledge, that knowledge
was only known as I manifested my affection for her, and she
manifested her affection for me. That's how that's learned. Huh? I saw her, and a light came on
in my heart. And I manifested that to her,
and she manifested that affection back. And then I called her, and we
talked. And we went places, and we walked,
and we talked. And that relationship grew. And one day, having manifested
even our deepest secrets to one another, we went down before
Preacher and was married. We gave ourselves to one another
to have and to hold. Best I can remember the marriage
ceremony, it said to have and to hold from this day forward
till death do us part. Huh? You know what still holds
that together? The same thing that brought us
together in the beginning. We got no, I don't have no laws
on there. You got to keep, you got five
o'clock, I got to have supper. No later than 5.30. We don't
have all that. We love one another. If I don't get myself in trouble,
we've been married 41 years. Huh? 41 years. This April. 41 years. We love one another. That's what
this thing of knowing Christ is Christ. has to manifest His
self to you. You manifest your love for Him.
You see Him. You see all the facts concerning
Him. But you see them as a revelation of the very heart of God. His
heart towards you. He died for me. God gave Him
for me. He shed His blood for me. And
you express that to Him and He expresses His love to you. Huh? That's the only way you're going
to know Him. If He manifests His affection for you. And when
he does, it goes way past facts, don't it? Huh? Oh, it goes way
past facts. It comes down to here then. Anchors
here. And then you can just take that
old mosaic law and throw it out the yard. This ain't about that. This is about love. This is about
the everlasting love of God and that union of faith. That's what
faith is. That's what faith is. It's a
union. What holds you together? Love.
Love. That's what holds you together.
She's free to go. Ain't nothing I can do if she wants to leave.
Ain't nothing she can do if I want to leave. The whole basis of that whole
thing is our love for one another. That's right. And that's the
whole basis of this knowing Christ. It's love.