Made me awful happy to see Don
and Mary back. I told them I hope they didn't
turn Yankee on us. Would you turn back to Galatians
chapter 4. I've entitled the message, Known
of God. Known of God. Now, when he says in verse nine,
but now after that, you've known God or rather are known of God,
how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements where into
you desire again to be in bondage. Now that word turn again is also
translated return and being converted after being known of God. How can you convert back to these
weak and beggarly elements? Wherein do you desire to be in
bondage? Now, he calls the law weak and
beggarly elements. And the law is indeed weak in
that it's weak through the flesh. What the law could not do in
that it was weak through the flesh. And let me tell you what
the law can't do. It can't save you. It can't sanctify
you. It can't do anything but condemn
you. That is it. And he calls it weak,
powerless to save, beggarly, poverty stricken. That's what
he calls God's holy law with regard to this thing of salvation.
Now that you've been known by God, how could you turn back
to these weak, and beggarly elements. Now, Paul had already said in
this epistle, I marvel, I'm amazed that you're so soon removed from
him that called you to the grace of Christ and to another. gospel. And then he said in chapter three,
verse one, Oh foolish Galatians, who had bewitched you that you
should not obey the truth. And look what he says in verse
11 of chapter four. I'm afraid of you. Lest I bestowed
labor upon you in vain. Look in verses 19 and 20, my
little children of whom I travail and birth again until Christ
be formed in you. I desire to be present with you
now and to change my voice for I stand in doubt of you. Now,
that's the way he talked to the Galatians. And what I thought
about when I was thinking about this is there is such a thing
as apostasy. Beginning. And not finishing. There is such a thing as apostasy. John put it this way in 2 John
2 verse 19. They went out from us. But they were not all 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. And Paul feared
this for the Galatians. And you know what? I feared for
myself. I feared for you. I'm not going to have an indifferent
attitude about this. It's not he who begins, but he who endures
to the end. that shall be saved. Hence this poignant question,
how turn ye again to these weak and beggarly elements? Now look
in verse seven of Galatians chapter four. We considered this last
week, wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son And if a
son, then an heir of God through Christ. Every believer, without
exception, has this incredibly lofty estate. A son of God. This is better than being an
angel. This is better than being a servant.
This is better than being a friend. To be a son of God. If you're a believer, you're
actually God's child, God's son, God's daughter, a son of God
with all the privileges of sonship, an heir of God and a joint heir
with Christ. And you and I are permitted to
say what our Lord said, Abba, Father. What a blessed, amazing
thing, a son of God. the highest state of every believer,
seated in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus. Right now, seated in the
heavenlies. Now in verse 8, he says, how
be it then, when you knew not God, you did service unto them,
which by nature are no gods. Now there was a time when you
did not know God, he said. You were ignorant of God. You
had no relationship with Him. Oh, you might have believed in
God, and you believed in certain things about God, but you didn't
really believe the God of the Bible. You know, someone who
believes in free will do not believe in God. They really don't. They don't believe the God of
the Bible. They believe their will can trump God's will. You can't
believe a God and believe something like that. It is impossible.
There was a time when you did not know God. You were not ignorant
of His existence, but you had no love for Him. You did not
and could not see Him, and you said Him not. And while you were
in this dreadful state of blindness and enmity, having no hope and
without God in the world, you were still held captive in your
mind by them which by nature are no
gods. Every one of us have been here.
When we were unconverted, when we were unregenerate, when we
didn't know the gospel, we were held captive by false ideas of
God that weren't even God. Now you think about that. Any
God that's not just like the God of the Bible is no God. I'm
talking about the holy God, the omnipotent God, the sovereign
God, the just God, the gracious God. All he's revealed about
himself and his word. He's the only God. And anything
less than Him is no God. An idol. Can't save, can't do
anything for anybody. Nothing more than an idol. Now,
he said, you didn't know God, but you thought you knew some
form of God and you were enslaved to this false idea of God. Now, let me say, and I need to
say this once again, the God of a religion that has anything
to do with salvation by works or free will is a non-existent
God that cannot save a flea. No God at all. If that's the
God I worship, I'm not worshiping the God of the Bible. Now you
were enslaved by something that wasn't even real. The God you
called God was no God at all. Now look what he says in verse
nine. But now, after that you have known God. Now remember, the word know is
more than simply knowing things about God. Having accurate data,
it's a relationship. If you know God, you have a relationship
with him. This word know, both in the Hebrew
and in the Greek, is used to express the intimate relationship
between a man and his wife. Adam knew Eve. Joseph knew not Mary. There's the Old Testament Hebrew,
the New Testament Greek. Both of these express an intimate
relationship. now that you have known God. We just heard John chapter 17
verse 3, and this is life eternal, that they might know thee, the
only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. In John
chapter 8 verse 32, the Lord said, and you shall know the
truth, and the truth shall make you free. Now, Your knowledge
of the truth didn't make you free. You see, the truth is a
person. When he says you shall know the truth, he's saying you
shall know me. You shall know I am the truth. You shall know
the truth and the truth shall make you free. If the Son shall
make you free, you shall be free indeed. You're actually going
to know the truth himself. God said, for all shall know
me, talking about every believer, from the least to the greatest,
for I will be merciful to their unrighteousness and their sins
and iniquities, I will remember no more. What a glorious thing
to know God. Now that you've known God, and
then he slams on the brakes. He slams on, rather, scratch
that, that wasn't really the right thing to say. Let me take,
Now that you're known of God, big difference. Now here's the
difference in the language. I hit the ball. The ball hit
me. All the difference in the world.
I was hit by the ball. Two totally different things. Now that you've known God or
rather are known of God. Now, listen to this statement. I am relying right now, not on
my knowledge of God, but I am utterly and completely relying
on his knowledge of me. I know God. I do. I'm not name dropping when I
talk about the living God. I know him. And because I know
him, I know a little bit about myself too. And with that knowledge,
all of my hope, every bit of it, it's not found in my knowledge
of him. It's found in his knowledge of
me. The Lord said, I know my sheep,
and have known of mine. My sheep hear my voice. I know
them, and they follow me. You know, this is the very foundation
of salvation. Turn with me to 2 Timothy chapter
2. Now this is a mighty big statement,
but what I'm talking about right now is the very foundation of
salvation. Me depending upon His knowledge
of me. His knowledge of me being salvation. Now look what Paul says in 2
Timothy chapter 2. He talks about those, verse 17,
and their word will eat as doth a canker, a cancer of whom is
Hymenaeus and Philetus, who concerning the truth have erred, saying
that the resurrection is past already and overthrow the faith
of some. Nevertheless, the foundation of God standeth sure, having
this seal, the Lord knoweth them that are his. That's called the
very foundation of salvation. The Lord knoweth them that are
his. Now, we're going to come back
to this, but go back to Galatians chapter four. But now, after that you have
known God or rather are known of God, where God actually knows
you. How? turn ye again to the weak and
the beggarly elements wherein to you desire again to be in
bondage. How can you turn back to salvation by works is what
he's saying. How can you do that after God
knowing you? How could you go back to such
a weak and beggarly thing? Now, Paul called the law in second
Corinthians chapter three, the ministration of death. and the
ministration of condemnation and the ministry that had no
glory in comparison to the glory that excelleth. That's what Paul
said about God's holy law. He said it had no glory. He said
it was weak through the flesh. I think of what John said. John
said the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus
Christ. Now, why would you want to convert
to this after being known of God, Paul said. Turn with me
for a moment to the book of Hebrews, chapter 7. I want us to look
at the language used by the Holy Spirit with regard to somebody
not understanding the law, not thinking the law could do something
for them. believing they could be saved by law. And he's talking
about Melchizedek and he said in verse 16, who is made not
after the law of a carnal commandment, the Levitical priesthood. But
after the power of an endless life, for he testified power
to priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. For there is
barely a disannulling of the commandment going before for
the weakness and unprofitableness thereof. For the law made nothing
perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did. Look at
Hebrews 8 verse 7. For if that first covenant had
been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the
second. For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days
come, saith the Lord, when I make a new covenant with the house
of Israel and with the house of Judah. Look in verse 13. In
that he saith a new covenant, he's made the first old. Now
that which decayeth and waxes old is ready to vanish away. Now that's what he says about
any thought regarding salvation by law. It's weak. It's unprofitable. It's beggarly.
It can't do anything for you at all. Now, Paul didn't disrespect
God's holy law. I love God's holy law. I love
the Ten Commandments. I love every commandment. And
I especially love that I've kept them in Christ. That's what I
really love. I've kept them in Christ. I really
have. I don't have to worry about the law. The law is fulfilled
in trusting the Lord Jesus Christ. So we respect God's law, but
we have utter contempt for any statement regarding salvation
by law in any way. It's weak and it's beggarly. And Paul says to the Galatians,
after being known of God, how could you turn back to these
weak and beggarly elements? Look what he says to them in
verse 10. He says, you observe days and months and times and
years. You're careful. You watch, you
scrutinize days and months and times and years. And this is
a reference to all the feast days and the holy days in the
Old Testament. And he says, you were not always
like this. Look what he says in verse 12. Brethren, I beseech
you, be as I am, for I am as you are. You've not injured me
at all. You know how that through infirmity of the flesh, I preach
the gospel to you at first. I'm not real sure what all that
means. I hope I get more light on it. I think maybe he was sick, but we'll get to that in a couple
of weeks. But let's, let's go on reading.
And my temptation, which was in my flesh, you despise not
nor rejected, but you receive me. as an angel of God, even
as Christ Jesus. Now where is then the blessedness
you speak of? For I bear you record that if
it had been possible, you would have plucked out your own eyes
and given them to me." Maybe that's the temptation that was
in his flesh. He couldn't see. I don't know. He says, am I therefore
become your enemy because I tell you the truth? Now, he says to
these Galatians, there was a time when you received me as Christ
himself. You rejoiced in the gospel I
preached so much. You received me as an angel of
God, even as Christ Jesus. And you know, when you first
heard the gospel, that's how you received it from the person
bringing it to you, didn't you? I mean, it came as good news.
They came as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus. Oh, you
were so delighted. And Paul is saying to the Galatians,
what's happened? What's happened? You see, the point here, if you look at the preacher of
grace differently than you once did, it's because you look at
his message differently than you once did. That's what's going
on with them. They were critical of Paul. They
were very critical of Paul, but it really wasn't Paul. It was
Paul's message that they were critical of, and they brought
it out against Paul. He says, where is this blessedness
you formerly had? It's gone. You count me as an
enemy rather than rejoicing in the message that I'm preaching. Paul had, but look in verse 11
of Galatians chapter four. He says, I'm afraid of you. lest
I bestowed upon you labor in vain." Now Paul had bestowed
a lot of labor on the churches of Galatia. He was run out of
town. He was beaten everywhere he went.
He was stoned in one of these churches in Lystra. He said,
I bestowed a lot of labor upon you, but the direction you're
all going, seeming to leave and loosen up your grip of grace
and open up the door for other things, he said, I'm afraid that
it's all been a waste of time. And it has been if you keep going
in this direction. Now, anytime somebody loosens
up on this thing of grace and makes the gate wider, starting
to look to the law, it's to be feared that apostasy is just
around the corner. And that's what he feared for
the Galatians. That's why he said so often,
I stand in doubt of you. Now, may the Lord deliver us
from being in this place, the Galatians were. Now, I wanna
finish up by talking about this thing of being known of God.
And if the Lord will give us the grace to see what all that
means or see a little bit of what that means, it'll cause
us to be utterly offended by turning back to the weak and
beggarly elements of law. Now, David, the man after God's
own heart, said to God, thou has searched me and known me. And this is true of every believer.
God has searched you and he's known you. He knows me infinitely better
than I know myself. He knows everything about me. There's absolutely nothing hidden
from him about me. He sees, he knows, and he loves me. He loves me. The God of glory
loves me. Now he doesn't love all men like
that. He doesn't know all men like that. I think of that crowd
who thought the Lord knew them. Lord, Lord, they even used his
name twice. Have we not preached in your
name? In your name, have we not cast out devils? And in your
name, have we not done many wonderful works? And then shall I say unto
them, depart from me, ye that work iniquity. I never knew you. Now, what that means is I never
loved you. I never knew you as to have a
vital union and relationship with me. Now, most people don't
know God. And most people God doesn't know.
Now, he knows everything about everybody. He knows everything
you've ever done. He knows everything you've ever
thought. But this knowledge we're speaking of is salvation. to be known of God. Now, to not know God is a crime.
Did you know that? To not know Him is a crime. 2 Thessalonians 1.8 says, He
came to take vengeance on them that know not God. And if we
don't know Him, it's because we don't want to know Him. We
could know Him if we would. 1 Corinthians 1.21 says, The
world by wisdom knew not God. It pleased God
by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. Now
turn with me to 1 Corinthians chapter 13. This is where I'd
like to spend the rest of our time in considering this thing
of God knowing me. now that you've known God or
rather are known of God. Now look in verse 12. For now we see through a glass
darkly. Now this is where we get the
word enigma from. We see in a riddle. We see through a glass darkly.
We know in part. Isn't that just so? Don't you
know that's so? We know in part. We see through a glass darkly,
but then face to face, now I know in part, but then shall I know
even as also I am known. Now, we know. Paul said, I know
whom I have believed. And I know the Lord. I know him. I know whom I have believed.
I'm not just I know what I believe. I know whom I have believed.
I know the Lord and he knows me. And this is true of every
single believer. We know him. We know him. But we know him. Partially. And the scripture says, if any
man thinketh he knows anything, And the rest of the verse, he
knows nothing as he ought to know. We know him, but we feel
like our knowledge is so partial and so minute. He's so glorious
that he said, no man can know me but the Father. Neither can
any man know the Father, but the Son, and He to Whomsoever
the Son will reveal Him." But Christ is so glorious in His
person. Our knowledge of Him is just
a little bit. And we feel that way too. We
feel like we know Him. We know Him enough to cry to Him for
mercy. We know Him enough to believe on Him. We know Him enough
to commit the salvation of our souls to Him. But our knowledge
is so partial. We know a little bit about ourselves.
You see, if you know Him, you'll know something about yourself.
And you want to know about yourself? You're going to know that you're
a sinner. Somebody doesn't know Him, they don't even really know
they're sinners. They don't know anything about themselves. They're
completely self-deceived. But you see, your knowledge of
yourself comes from your knowledge of Him. If you know Him, This
always happens. This is never absent. If you
know him, one thing you know about yourself is you know that
you're a sinner. You know that. You don't have
to be convinced of it. You know it's so. But you know me and
you don't really much know about how sinful we really are. Not
really. And we don't want to know either.
We don't want to know. And as a matter of fact, the
only one who can take the view or the only one who knows is the
Lord himself. And I don't want to know how bad I am. Ignorance
is bliss. I want to know enough to drive
me to Christ, but I don't want to know any more than that. Our
knowledge of ourselves is partial. Our knowledge of others is partial.
Really, really. I mean, I was thinking, you know,
I get somebody might do something
that I get offended by or something like that. And if I had proper
knowledge, I probably wouldn't get offended, probably wouldn't
get upset. If I had proper knowledge, I
probably would. You know, there's so many factors involved with
everybody all the time that we don't know what's going on with
those people. We don't know why they're acting the way they are.
We might know them, but our knowledge is partial. Every time I get,
somebody's thinking, well, who's he getting upset about? Don't
worry about it. Don't even think, I mean, nobody in this room.
So, but the point I'm making is when we get upset with somebody,
really, we don't know enough to really even get upset, you
know, because we don't know what they're going through, what's
happened to them, what's caused that. And our knowledge of God
is partial, our knowledge of ourselves is partial, and our
knowledge of everybody else is partial in it. It's just partial. We don't know that much. We see
through a glass darkly. But one of these days, face to
face, I love that hymn by Fanny Crosby,
the blind lady. Face to face with Christ my Savior. Face to face, what will it be? When with rapture I behold him,
Jesus Christ who died for me. Now, right now, we see through
a glass darkly. But then face to face, Right
now we know in part, but then shall we know even as we are
known. Now, how are we known? This is true of every believer.
Every believer is known of God. How are we known? Well, first of all, he knows
us eternally. He said to Jeremiah before, I
formed thee in the belly. I knew thee. You know, the Lord always has
known me. This is true of every believer.
Before time began, before the creation of the universe, every
believer has been known and loved by God. I heard Greg Elmquist
make this statement and I thought about it. I don't know. I like it. I don't know. I mean,
it's just it's beyond me. He said, when we get to heaven,
we're going to find out we've always been there. That's glorious. I mean, but
it's true in the sense that he's always known me. No surprises. He's always known me. He knows
us. Eternally, he knows us completely. He knows us completely. I know
I've told this story before. There's a guy that I worked with
in the summer at a steel mill. And I remember he got married
that summer. We worked a lot together. I liked him. I can't
remember his name now. But he was a nice guy. And we
worked together. And he got married. And he was
all excited about getting married. And a week later, he went on
his honeymoon. And a week later, he came back.
And I said, man, how was it? He said, man, I married a monster. I didn't, I didn't know her.
I didn't know her. And, well, I hope it got better.
I mean, I hope it got better for him. I mean, maybe the problem
is his, I know, but the point is, there's a lot of things about
that woman he didn't know about. And I'm sure there's a lot of
things about him she didn't know about either. There isn't anything about me
that God doesn't know about. And the scripture says in Psalm
103, he knoweth our frame. He remembereth that we are dust. He knows every weakness, every
inconsistency, every fear, every, he knows us completely. And that does not in any way
hinder him from loving us. No surprises for him though.
No surprises, he knows it all. And it does not in any way hinder
him from loving us. He knows us by name. He said to Moses, I know thee
by name. Lord knows my name. That means
he knows me personally. He calls me by name. I am my
beloved's and he is mine. He knows us graciously. He said to Moses in Exodus 33,
I know thee by name and thou hast found grace in my sight. Grace, the grace of God, the
favor of God. If salvation is by grace, that
means I have all of God's favor. Every bit of it. It means God
is pleased with me in every way. I'm justified by His grace. I'm
sanctified by His grace. I'm glorified by His grace. I'm
elected by His grace. I'm born again by His grace.
I'm preserved by His grace. I'm kept by His grace. God's
grace. He knows me graciously. Oh, there's
never a time when He looks at me in any other way but graciously. God's grace is eternal. It's
eternal grace. He saved us and called us with
a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to
His own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus
before the world began. He knows me graciously. And here's why all this is true.
He knows us in Christ. That's why all those things are
true. I have never been separate from Christ. According as He
has chosen us in Him, before the foundation of the world. He knows me in Christ. When He
sees me, you know who He sees? He sees Jesus Christ. Really? Really. Really. Accepted in the Beloved. And this is why we know him.
He made this statement in Hebrews chapter 8. All shall know me. And this is a quotation from
Jeremiah 31. All shall know me. Talking about all of God's people.
All shall know me from the least to the greatest. And here's how
it comes. For I will be merciful. And that word merciful is actually
propitious. I will be propitious to their
unrighteousness. He doesn't deny the reality of
our unrighteousness. He says, I'm removing my reason
for anger through the blood of my son. That's what he means
by that. He says, here's why they're going to know me, because
I will be propitious to their unrighteousness. and their sins
and their iniquities, I will remember no more. And the only way that can be
is for there to be nothing there to remember, because God remembers
everything. He's got a perfect memory. He
never forgets. But regarding our sins and our
iniquities, he says, I remember no more because they've been
blotted out and put away and canceled, cast behind his back,
separated as far from us as the East is from the West. Their
sins and their iniquities. I will remember no more. Now, In light of His knowledge of
us, why would we turn again to those
weak and beggarly elements? Doesn't make much sense, does
it? Doesn't make much sense. Now think of this scripture in
light of everything you've heard. From Isaiah 53, by His knowledge shall my righteous servant justify
many. For he shall bear their iniquities. It's by his knowledge that we're
saved, his knowledge of us. And so I can understand why Paul
said, now that you've known God, let me restate that, now that
you're known of God, how turn ye again to those weak and beggarly
elements? We'll do that if the Lord doesn't
prevent us from it. Let's pray. Lord, do you think that you actually
know us and your Son is so overcoming, overwhelming? Lord, give us grace to believe.
Give us grace to simply rely on your Son and believe what
you say in your Word. Lord, give us that childlike
faith. that is quick to believe everything
you say, how we thank you for your gospel.
Bless these words for Christ's sake, in his name we pray, amen.
We got Dwayne? Page to page, 511.