When the Lord answered Job out
of the whirlwind, from all the things that he'd been saying,
he said, who is this that darkeneth counsel with words without knowledge? That scares me. I don't want to do that. I've
entitled this message, We Know. Now there are so many areas,
to say the least, that we can't really say, we know, or I know. There's just too much information
that I do not have. And I can't make an intelligent,
I know so, on so many things. There are so many things that
are just gray. The older I get, the more gray things become,
as far as all the different issues that men and women deal with. But there are some things, and
this is what's utterly unique to the gospel, there are some
things in which we can say, we know. Isn't that a blessing? With regard
to every believer here, there are some things that we can say
we know. Now, these are the words of the
Lord to Nicodemus. Nicodemus had said, how can these
things be? And Jesus answered and said,
art thou a master of Israel and knowest not these things? Verily I say unto you, we speak
that we do know and testify, bear personal testimony and witness
to that which we have seen. Now, these are not the words
of insecurity, trying to convince somebody of something they don't
know to begin with. A lot of that going on in there.
These are not the words of false confidence, false assurance,
and even cockiness, a know-it-all. These are the words of the savior,
the creator. Him who cannot lie. And he says,
we know. Now why did he say we know? Who
is included in the pronoun we? All of the elect. He's not talking
about just a special group. He's talking about all of his
people. All of the elect. Everyone born
of the Spirit, we know. Now this is what is utterly unique
about the gospel. We know. Other people make this
claim, but they don't. They don't know. They'll speak
of their knowledge, but they don't know. But every believer
can say with regard to the gospel, we know. We speak that which we know and
we testify that which we have seen. Now there are three different
words translated to know in the New Testament, sometimes translated
see. We see, we perceive, we acknowledge,
we understand, but mostly it is the word we know. The word we know is found 931 times in the New Testament alone.
That gives you some idea of the significance of this word. And
519 times it's translated We know. We understand. We perceive. We see. We know. And these are things
that if I know them, I know them from the depths of my soul. I
have been convinced. I have been persuaded. And we
speak that which we know. Now look again in verse nine,
Nicodemus, this is his response to what the Lord said concerning
the new birth. Nicodemus answered and said unto
him, how can these things be? How can a man be born from above?
How can a man be born of water and the spirit? How can a man
be born again? How can these things be? Jesus answered and said unto
him, Art thou a master of Israel? And knowest not these things?
It's what the Old Testament's always taught. Let me read a
scripture from Ezekiel chapter 36. Verse 26, God says a new heart
also will I give you. One that was not there before,
a new heart. and a new spirit will I put within
you. And I will take away the stony
heart out of your flesh and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within
you and cause you to walk in my statutes and you shall keep
my judgments and do them. Now that's the new birth, just
as clearly as we read of in John chapter three. And the Lord says
to Nicodemus, Nicodemus, you claim to be a teacher and you
don't know these things. This is what the scripture has
always taught very clearly. Now look at the solemnity of
the way he says this in verse 11. Verily, verily. Now every time the Lord says,
verily, it catches my attention. When he says it twice, I really
want to peer in and hear what he's saying. Verily, verily. And anytime the Lord says, I
say unto you, that always catches my attention. This is the Lord
speaking. I say unto you. You've heard
it, it's been said of them of old, but I say unto you. the
ultimate authority. I say unto you, verily, verily,
I say unto you, we speak that we do know and testify that which
we have seen. Turn with me for a moment to
John chapter eight, just a few pages over. Verse 40. But now you seek to kill me,
a man that hath told you the truth,
which I've heard of God. This did not Abraham. You do
the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, we be
not born of fornication. We have one father, even God.
Jesus said unto them, if God were your father, You'd love
me. There we go. For I proceeded
forth and came from God. Neither came I of myself, but
he sent me. Now, if God is your father, you
will, I will love the Lord Jesus Christ. Now. When we speak of loving
him, I need to remind you, does anybody here feel good about
your love to him? Do you feel like you love him as much as
he ought to be loved? Of course not. You feel like your love
falls far short of what it ought to be. And I know I feel that
way. But I love who he is. I love
his word. I love his attributes. I love
his sovereignty. Don't you love his sovereignty? I love his justice. I love his love. I love his compassion. I love his power. I love his
immutability, the fact that he can't change. I love his independence,
that he has no needs. I love that he's creator. I love
him. I love him as he's revealed in
his word. And listen to this. If it were
in my power, I wouldn't change one thing about him. He's perfect. If God were your father, you
would love me. For I proceeded forth and came
from God. Neither came I of myself, but
he sent me. Why do you not understand my
speech? Good question. Why do you not understand my
speech? Even because you cannot hear my word. The reason you don't understand
my speech is because you are unable to hear my word. You are of your father the devil,
and the lusts of your father you will do. He was a murderer
from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there's
no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh
of his own, For he's a liar and the father of it. And because
I tell you the truth, you believe me not. Now, what an accusation. I tell you the truth, and you
believe me not. Which of you convinces me of
sin? Can you imagine being able to
say that? If you're around me for one minute,
you'll be able to convince me of sin and me, you as well. But he could say, which of you
can convince me, the glorious son of God of ever sinning in
any way. That's glorious. You know, uh,
I can't help but in thinking of this, thinking of the thief
on the cross, when he said, this man has done nothing amiss. Now,
how did he know he had done nothing amiss? He'd only known him for
a couple hours, just while he was on the cross. He didn't know
about the previous 33 years. I'll tell you how he knew that
because he knew him. And if you know him, you know,
he cannot sin, don't you? You believe that from the very
depths of your heart. Which of you convinces me of
sin? And if I say the truth, why do you not believe me? Well,
here's the answer. He that's of God, heareth God's
words. You, therefore, hear them not,
because you are not of God. You know the way the Lord spoke
to people? He had omniscience, he could say things, he knew
who he was speaking to, and he could say things that you and
I aren't able to say because we don't have the knowledge he
has. But don't you love the way he speaks? I think one of the
verses I love in this passage of scripture is verse 54, if
I honor myself, My honor is nothing, it's my
father that honoreth me, of whom you say these are God, yet you've
not known him, but I know him. And if I should say I know him
not, I'd be a liar, like you are. How the Lord could speak. But
I know him, and keep his saying. Now if I am of God, I will hear
and I will know. He that's of God, heareth God's
words. That's why I know every believer
will bow to the gospel, because they're of God. And they hear
God's words. And then he looked at this crowd
and says, you hear them not, because you're not of God. What
a statement. If I'm of God, I will hear and
I will know. Now, how do we know? First John
2.20 says, you have an unction from the Holy One and know all
things that are worth knowing. I have to say that because there
are many, I couldn't tell you, all kinds of mathematical equations
I couldn't get the answer for. If it took me forever, there
are many scientific things I don't know. But every thing worth knowing,
the Lord Jesus Christ, I know. Knowing Him, I know all, because
He is all. You have an unction from the
Holy One and know all things. You know Him and you know that
He is all, and we know this by revelation. This is the reason
we know this. He has revealed this to us. Do
you know that Jesus Christ is all? In your heart, do you believe
that He's all God is? Do you believe that He's all
God requires of you? Do you believe that he is all
to you? I love that hymn. I quoted that
the other day. All that thrills my soul is Jesus. He is more
than life to me and the fairest of 10,000 in my blessed Lord
I see. It's given to you to know. That's
what the Lord said, it's given to you to know the mysteries
of the kingdom. What a blessed revelation to
know all things. John chapter 17 verse 3, the
Lord said, this is eternal life, that they might know thee, the
only true God. and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast
seen." Now listen, this thing of knowing God, I'm not talking
about a bold familiarity where you feel like God's your buddy
and the man upstairs and all that kind of wicked, blasphemous
stuff, there's a fear and there's a reverence, but you know Him. You know Him in this sense. You
know when what you're hearing is not Him because you know Him. You can hear preaching and teaching,
that's not my Lord. Why? I know Him. That is how
I know. Paul said in 2 Timothy 1.12,
I know whom I have believed. And everything we believe is
predicated on who he is. Luke wrote that we might know
the certainty, that we might know the certainty of those things
wherein thou hast been instructed. And you know, this is the spirit
of preaching. Peter said, we cannot but speak the things we,
he says see, but it's the same word, know. We cannot speak but
the things we know. And we testify the things which
we have seen, which God has taught us from his word. Now you're
there in John, look in John chapter seven. Verse 16, Jesus answered them
and said, my doctrine, there's something called the doctrine
of Christ. What a name, the doctrine of
Christ. And I love the way he says my doctrine. Never speak
of God's doctrine in a negative light. It's God's doctrine. Old, dry, dead, dusty doctrine. There's no such thing if it's
God's doctrine. You might have a dry, dead, dusty heart, but
his doctrine is not dry, dead, and dusty. It's the doctrine
of God. It's the doctrine of Christ.
Now look what he says. My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent
me, if any man will do his will. Now, do you hear that? You know,
Paul said, to will is present with me. If any man will do his
will, that's your desire. If any man will do his will,
he shall know of the doctrine. If I don't know the doctrine,
it's not an intellectual problem on my part. It's not because
my IQ's not high enough. It's because I'm unwilling to
bow beneath Christ. I'm unwilling to do his will. Where there's a willingness to
do his will, and doesn't the scripture say, thy people shall
be willing in the day of thy power. Wherever there's a willingness
to do his will, You'll know the doctrine, you're not gonna be
deceived. The Lord is not gonna let you be deceived. And if someone
receives that which is not what the scripture teaches, it's a
sin problem. It's an unwillingness to do his
will. The Lord said to the woman at
the well in the next chapter, chapter four, he said, you worship,
you know not what. You have no idea what it is you're
worshiping. We know what we worship. For salvation is of the Jews. Every true Jew knows. We know. The Lord said concerning
his sheep, they know my voice and a stranger
Will they not follow? I know my sheep and am known
of mine. You believe not, he said to one
group, because you're not of my sheep, as I said to you. There's,
once again, the Lord could speak in such a way that it's just
amazing. He just looked at, let me tell
you why you don't believe. You're not of my sheep. My sheep
hear my voice. I know them. They follow me. I give unto them eternal life.
My Father which gave them me is greater than all. And no man
can take them out of my father's hand. Now, I'm going to give you some
I knows. I'm not going to give you all
the I knows in the scripture, because that we'd be here for
two or three hours. Well, more than that, but I'm
going to give you some we knows from the scripture. Now, Paul
said in Romans 3.19, we know. Now he's speaking as a representative
of all of God's elect when he says, we know. And if you're
a believer, you know this as well. We know that what things
soever 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, this is something we know.
We know we have no excuse. We have no way of self-vindication,
self-justification. When we hear what God's law says,
all we can do is shut up. Somebody says that's a rude word.
Well, it's a good one for this. If we ever hear what God says
with regard to us in his law, every mouth will be stopped. No self-vindication, no excuse
for my sin, not, well, it's my nature, I can't help it. No,
you stand guilty before God. Romans 7, verse 14, Paul said,
we know that the law is spiritual. And I am carnal, sold under sin. Do you know no unbeliever knows
that? No unbeliever has any real understanding of what that means.
But a believer does. We know, and I know this, the
law, God's holy law is spiritual. And I know this about myself.
I'm carnal, fleshly, sold as a slave to sin. Every believer knows that. When I would do good, evil is
present with me. I know that in my flesh dwelleth
no good thing. Romans 8, 28 says, and we know. They may not, but we do. And
we know. that all things work together
for good. To them that love God, to them
who are called according to his purpose. Now, we know that because
the Bible says it, but we also know that because we know who
God is. He's in control of everything. All things. All things. We know. Somebody says, I don't
know that. Well, I do. I do. We know. that all things work together
for good. To them that love God, to them
who are the called according to his purpose. Paul said in
Romans 14, 14, I know and am persuaded of the Lord Jesus that
there is nothing unclean of itself. You see, we understand that sin
is a matter of the heart. It's not in things. It's not
in objects. There's not sin in a bottle of
alcohol. There's not sin in drugs. Sin's
in the heart. Out of the heart proceeds evil
thoughts, adulteries, murders, thefts, covetousness. These are the things that defile
a man, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile a man.
Sin is a matter of an evil heart. You know that, don't you? Your
heart, my heart. Romans 17, nine, or not Romans,
Jeremiah 17, nine. Jeremiah speaks concerning the
heart. The heart is deceitful above
all things. Desperately wicked. You know
that word desperately wicked? You can look this up on your
own. I found this very interesting. That means incurable. The natural
man's heart is incurable. That's why I need a new heart
that was not there before. First Corinthians 2.12 says,
now we have received the spirit. We have not received the spirit
of this world, but the spirit, which is of God that we might
know. The things freely given to us
of God. Now this we know. What we have,
God freely gave it to us. Any aspect of salvation, I don't
care, any aspect of anything in the world, what we have physically,
what I am physically and mentally, it's all what God's given to
me, but freely. It's not because I'm something
special. But this is speaking most specifically
of the things of salvation. We know what's freely, freely, being
justified freely. by his grace. Don't you know
that everything you have spiritually, God freely gave you as a gift
of his grace. And it's not in any way a result
of your works. I don't have to convince you,
you know that in the depths of your soul, you know that that's
so. 2 Corinthians 5.1, for we know
that if our earthly house of this tabernacle That means we die. We have a building
of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. Now, with regard to heaven and
things after death, there's so much we don't know. I can't describe
heaven. I can't describe what it's going
to be like to be sinless. I don't understand what it's
going to be like to behold His face in righteousness and to
have no more sin. How do you know there's a place
in heaven waiting for you? Because He said it. I don't need
another reason. He said in John chapter 14, verse
1, If our earthly house of this
tabernacle, oh no, that's, let not your heart be troubled, neither
let it be afraid. You believe in God, believe also
in me. In my Father's house are many
mansions. And that's dwelling places. Don't
look at that at all, I have a mansion in the sky, and some of those,
I despise that kind of stuff, but there are dwelling places
fit. And we know that because he has
told us There he is. You see, we can't know anything
unless he tells us, but when he tells us, we know. 2 Corinthians 8, 9, you know the grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ. You know the grace, don't you?
You know the freeness of it, the power of it. You know the
grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Though he was rich, Yet for your sakes, he became
poor. He was rich in praise, he was
rich in the son of God. For your sakes,
he became poor. That you, through his poverty,
might be rich. You know the grace. of our Lord
Jesus Christ. I love saying that because every
believer can say, yes, I do. Yes, I do. We know the grace
of our Lord Jesus Christ, though he was rich. Listen to this,
Galatians 2.16, knowing that a man is not justified by the
works of the law. Do you know that? Knowing that
a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the
faith of Jesus Christ. I'm not justified by my faith
in Jesus Christ. I am justified by the faith of
Jesus Christ. The perfect obedience of Jesus
Christ. I know that. I know that his
righteousness is the only righteousness I have. I believe that, I glory
in it, I know it. Knowing that a man is not justified
by the works of the law but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even
we have believed in Jesus Christ that we might be justified by
the faith of Christ and not by the works of the law for by the
works of the law there shall no flesh be justified. Now here's,
A reason, and I say this every time I come across one of these
verses of scripture, here's a reason why we should be using the King
James Version of the Bible. The King James Version is the
only version that does this. Even the New King James says
we're justified by faith in Christ, and that's missing the meaning.
That's why I love what Spurgeon would always call the authorized
version. It's a translation. It's not inspired like the original
Greek, I realize that, but it is the best translation. And
even when they have those italics to let us know that it was not
in the original and the translators were putting it there, I love
the King James Version. And here's why. We're justified
by the faith of Christ. And we know that. Ephesians 1.18, the eyes of your
understanding being enlightened. that you may know, there's that
word again, that you may know what is the hope of his calling.
Now, do I know the hope of his calling? Well, scripture tells
me what it is. Whom he called, then he also
justified. That's the hope of his calling.
and whom he justified, then he also glorified. This is how secure
and complete my salvation is. I'm already glorified. I know
the hope of his calling. It's already being glorified
in the person of my Redeemer. Philippians 4.12, Paul said, I know both how to
be abased and I know how to abound. Now what do you think of that
statement? I know how to be abased. You know what I do when I'm abased? I look to Christ only. But you
know what? I know how to abound, too. You
know what I do when I abound? I look to Christ only. Same thing,
no variation whatsoever. 1 Thessalonians 5 says, for yourselves,
know perfectly that the day of the Lord cometh as a thief in
the night." Now, we know that because He told us. Anytime I
hear people making predictions about when He's going to come,
I think, what are you doing that for? He told us no man knows
the day or the hour, not even the sun. Now, somebody says,
explain that to me. I can, but I believe it. The
Lord Jesus Christ doesn't know the day of His return. Only the
Father, as a man, He did. Now, I know all kinds of people
say, I don't know how to explain that, but I believe it. And whenever
somebody makes a prediction about his coming, I know they're wrong
because the Lord tells us the day of the Lord comes as a thief
in the night. And don't you love it that way?
1 Timothy 1, 8 and 9, Paul says,
we know We know that the law is good if a man use it lawfully. And he's talking about the Ten
Commandments. Don't ever speak disrespectfully of God's holy
law, which is a reflection of his holy character. Now we know that a man is good
if a man use it lawfully. Well, what is the lawful use
of the law? Well, he goes on to tell us,
knowing this, he uses that word again, knowing this, that the
law was not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and
disobedient, for whoremongers, for murderers of fathers and
murderers of mothers, for manslayers or man-stealers, for perjured
persons, anything that be contrary to the sound doctrine. Now, here's
what, I know. I know that if I need law, I have
no love to Christ. That's what I know. Martin Luther
was the first person to say this, and it needs to be explained.
Trust Christ and do what you want to. Now somebody says, does that
mean that if we trust Christ we can go ahead and sin without
restraint because the sins are under the blood and we don't
need to worry about that? Of course it doesn't mean that.
Of course it doesn't mean that. What does it mean? I want to
follow him. I want to be with him. I want
to take up my cross. and follow him. I want to deny
myself and I want to follow him. I want to be poor. I want to
mourn over my sin. I want to be meek before God.
I want to hunger and thirst after his righteousness. I want to
be pure in heart. I want to be a peacemaker. I
want to be merciful. I want to be persecuted for righteousness'
sake, his righteousness' sake. That's what I want. The believer
has a different want to. Trust Christ. Listen to me. Law
never produced love, not once. Only resentment, only feeling
like you're falling short somewhere, it's never produced love. The
law was not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and
disobedient. 1 Peter 1, 18 through 20, for as
much as you know, you know that you were not redeemed with
corruptible things. Don't you know that? Such as
silver and gold, the commerce of the natural man received by
tradition from your fathers. But you were redeemed with the
precious blood of Christ. as of a lamb without spot or
blemish, who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the
world, but was manifest in these last times for you. You know this. You were not made
redeemable. You were redeemed. Big difference. Infinite difference. You were
redeemed, and you know how you were redeemed. with the precious
blood of Christ. God said, when I see the blood,
I will pass over you. Now, I'm gonna ask you to turn
to 1 John. These are our last ones, 1 John
chapter four. There are more of these in the
scriptures. And every one of them, you can look at these and
say, we know, we know it. When the Lord said we know, he
was speaking as a representative of all of God's elect, we know.
And this is utterly unique to the gospel. Only the believer
can say, we know. No unbeliever can really say
with confidence. He might say it, but deep down,
he can't say with confidence, we know. He doesn't know if he
has enough to measure up. He's afraid, he's scared. He
may say, I know. He may speak dogmatically. He
may speak with confidence, but only the believer can say, We
know. Look in 1 John chapter 4. I love
this. Verse 5. Well, verse 4, ye are of God,
little children, and overcome them. And here's why, because
greater is he that's in you than he that is in the world. You've got one in you, Christ
in you. God, the Holy Spirit in you,
and he's greater than anyone in the world. They are of the world. These
false prophets is what he's talking about. People who do not confess
that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh. They are of the world. Therefore speak they. of the
world, and the world heareth them. Good message. Good message. I agree with that. The world
heareth them. That's what I believe. We are of God. He that knoweth God, heareth
us. He that's not of God, heareth
not us. Don't you love the way John speaks
here? I'm sure people mash their teeth
on that. But he said, we're of God. He that knoweth God hears
us. He that's not of God doth not
hear us. That's God the Holy Spirit inspiring
John to say that. Hereby know we the spirit of
truth and the spirit of error. Verse 18 of chapter five. We know that whosoever is born of God
sinneth not. Now we know that. Can God give
birth to anything sinful? Well, the very thought of that
is blasphemous. God can't give birth to something sinful. We
know that whosoever is born of God, sinneth not. Now, I think it's so sad that
it says, well, that means they don't practice sin. Or sin's
not the bent and tenor of their life. That's not what it says.
It says, he that's born of God, sinneth not. The new man, that
which is born of God, does not sin. We know that. We know that. And here's why we know it. Born
of God. We know who God is. This is not something that, well,
I, no, we know it. He that's born of God sinneth
not. But he that's begotten of God,
birthed of God, keepeth himself. And that wicked one toucheth
him not. Do you know Satan himself cannot
tempt your new man to sin? Now he's got plenty to work with
with the old man. but he can't touch the new man. Just as the
Lord said, the prince of this world has come and found nothing
in me, he can't find anything in the new man. That's that new
man that looks to Christ, that loves Christ, that rests in him. Now, he goes on to say, here's
another no, verse 19, and we know that we are of God. And the whole world, anybody
that's not of God, lieth in wickedness. We know that. And we know, verse
20, we know that the Son of God has come. He was before he came,
he came in the flesh, and he did what he came to do. We know
that, don't we? The Son of God has come and hath given us an
understanding, and here's what it is, that we may know Him that
is true and we are in Him that is true. We know Him. We know
who He is. Listen, somebody can say something
that's contrary to Him. I know it's not Him because I
know Him. We know Him that is true. No lies of the truth. We know Him that is true. And we are in Him that is true. All of our salvation, we know
this, is in the Lord Jesus Christ. Do you know that? You know that
all of your salvation is in the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be
the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed
us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ
Jesus. We know that the Son of God has
come and has given us an understanding that we may know Him that's true,
that we're in Him that's true, this even in His Son, Jesus Christ,
this is the true God. This is. Eternal life. We know. Because he revealed. Himself. And we know him. No other religion can say that,
but every believer can. We know. Let's pray. Lord, we ask that you would take
your word and let us, as we lay our head
on our pillows tonight, say we know the Son of God has come
and has given us an understanding that we might know him, that
is true. And we're in him that is true,
even in his son, Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and this
is eternal life. In Christ's name we pray, amen. Let's close with number 258,
He Hideth My Soul. Number 258. ? A wonderful Savior is Jesus my
Lord ? A wonderful Savior to me He hideth my soul in the cleft
of the rock where rivers of pleasure I see. He hideth my soul in the
cleft of the rock that shadows a dry, thirsty land. He hideth my life in the depths
of His love, And covers me there with His hand, And covers me
there with His hand. A wonderful Savior is Jesus my
Lord, He taketh my burden away, He holdeth me up, and I shall
not be moved. He giveth me strength as my day. He hideth my soul in the cleft
of the rock that shadows a dry, thirsty land. He hideth my life
in the depths of His love, and covers me there with His hand,
and covers me there with His hand. With numberless blessings
each moment He crowns, and filled with His fullness divine, I sing
in my rapture a glory to God, for such a Redeemer as mine. He hideth my soul in the cleft
of the rock that shadows a dry, thirsty land. He hideth my life
in the depths of His love, and covers me there with His hand,
and covers me there with His hand. When cold in His brightness
transformed, I rise to meet Him in clouds of the sky. His perfect salvation, His wonderful
love, I'll shout with the millions on high. He hideth my soul in
the cleft of the rock that shadows a dry, thirsty land. He hideth my life in the depths
of His love, And covers me there with His hand. And covers me there with His
hand. you