Go back to 2 Corinthians 2. While you're turning there, tonight
we're going to observe the Lord's Table together, and I'm going
to be preaching on the subject, Living by Faith. Living by Faith. In verse 14, we read in the latter
part of that verse, the savor of His knowledge. The sweet smell, the savor of
His knowledge. I have entitled this message,
the place of knowledge, the place of knowledge in salvation,
the place of knowledge. The Lord Jesus said in John chapter
8, verse 32, You shall know the truth. Now, it's important for
me to understand that he's not talking about a knowledge of
some facts and dogma and doctrine. When he says you shall know the
truth, what he's saying is you shall know me. I am the truth. You shall know the truth and
the truth, that's me, shall make you free. You shall know. You shall know. You've heard the statement, knowledge
is power. It is, if it's this knowledge. You've heard, it's not what you
know, but who you know. Truer words have never been spoken. It's not what you know. It's
who you know. Now, the sweet savor, the sweet
smell of his knowledge. Now, what's the Bible mean by
knowledge? Now, I want you to listen to
me real carefully. By knowledge, the Bible does not mean intellectual
cognition. It does not mean giving assent
to facts that are true. It's not simply having correct
information. That's not what the Bible means
by knowledge. Somebody says, well, I believe
that this is actually taught in the scripture. Well, that's
good, but that's not what the Bible means by knowledge. Now
listen real carefully. I can believe that the doctrine
of grace is true. I can believe the five points.
I can believe total depravity, unconditional election, limited
atonement, irresistible grace, and perseverance of the saints.
I can believe that the Bible does, in fact, teach that and
give an assent to it. I can have the right knowledge
about baptism and know the right I can have the correct information
about eschatology and church government. I can know the right
things and I can have the correct knowledge and give assent to
the fact that that knowledge is correct and perish with all
the other Pharisees. That's something I want us to
think about. I can be right. and have no true
saving knowledge. And this knowledge I'm speaking
of, the knowledge of God, certainly involves the right information
and the right doctrine. It involves the truth concerning
God and His character, who He really is, the truth concerning
myself, what I am, sinful. The truth concerning the Lord
Jesus Christ. How He is salvation. Now you cannot believe what you
do not know. It's impossible. You cannot believe what you do
not know. But the knowledge the scripture
is speaking of is more than just knowing the facts. It's an appreciation. It's a love. A love. It's relational. You see, if
God knows me, that means He loves me. If I know Him, if I know
the Lord Jesus Christ, that means I love Him. And not just saying
I love Him, but loving Him. I love him as he's revealed in
the scripture. That means I love everything about him. I love
all his attributes, everything the Bible tells me about the
Lord Jesus Christ, about God the Father, about God the Holy
Spirit. I love him if I know him. You see, it's knowing a
person. That's what this knowledge is.
It's knowing a person where I know him and he knows me. For him to know me, is for him
to love me. Now, the Lord knows who everybody
is. He knows your name. He knows everything you've ever
done. He knows everything you've ever thought. He knows everything
about you. There's not one thing about you
that he doesn't know about. But that doesn't mean he knows
you. Doesn't he say to that crowd
on Judgment Day who said, Lord, have we not preached in your
name? Have we not cast out demons in your name, and in your name
have we not done many wonderful works? And then shall I say to
them, Depart from me, ye that work iniquity, I never knew you. I never knew you. I never loved
you. I never knew you to be one of
mine. I never knew you to know me. What about the parable of the
Hebrews virgins? Remember how the Scripture says,
they'll knock on the door and say, Open up to us, Lord, open
up to us. And he'll say, Verily I say unto
you, I know you not. Now, I don't want to hear that
to you. I don't want to hear him say that to me. I want him
to say, I know you. The knowledge of God. Now for him to know me is for
him to love me. For me to know him is for me
to love him. Now God is a God of knowledge. Scripture says
by him actions are weighed. He's omniscient. He knows everything.
He never learns. He's never taken by surprise.
He never gets new information. He knows all things, but his
knowledge is more than knowing the facts. Let me quote some
scriptures to you. Galatians chapter 4 verse 9 says, Now that
you Know God, or rather, are known of God. I love the way Paul corrects
himself, almost. Now that you've known God, or
rather, you're known of God, God knows you. That's what I'm
relying on. It's his knowledge of me. 1 Corinthians
13 as well says, Then shall we know even as we are known. 2 Timothy 2.19 says, The foundation
of God stand assured, having this seal, the Lord knoweth them
that are his. Isaiah 53.11 says, By his knowledge,
by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many, for he
shall bear their iniquities. Paul said, O the debts of the
riches, both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God. How unsearchable
are his judgments in his ways past finding out? Now, I am relying
right now. I'm not relying on my knowledge
of him. I'm relying on his knowledge
of me. Isn't that exactly what the thief
meant when he said, Lord, Remember me. Now, if I'm brought
to stand before God in judgment and the Lord Jesus Christ says
concerning me, he's one of mine, I know it. What else needs to
be said? Anything? No. I'm relying on him knowing, him
loving, him undertaking for me. Now, I'm not saved by my knowledge.
I'm not. I'm saved by his knowledge. You
shall know the truth, the Lord Jesus Christ and the truth, not
your knowledge of the truth, not your understanding of the
truth, not your comprehension of the truth, but the truth himself,
the Lord Jesus Christ. He said, I am the way, I am the
truth. I love that. He doesn't say,
I'll tell you the truth or I'll teach you the truth. He says,
I'm it. I am the life, not merely I'll give you life, but I myself
am the life. No man comes to the Father but
by me. Now, I'm not relying on my understanding
and my comprehension of the truth. I'm relying on the truth, the
Lord Jesus Christ and His knowledge of me. Now, while it is not my
knowledge that saves me, I am not saved without knowledge.
Paul warned of those who have a zeal for God, but not according
to knowledge. They were ignorant of God's righteousness. Now, faith is described in Titus
1.1 as the faith of God's elect, the acknowledgement, the embracing,
the knowledge of the truth, which is after godliness. Repentance
is called in Second Timothy 2.25, repentance to the acknowledgement
of the truth. Salvation is called in First
Timothy 2.4, God will have all men to be saved and come to a
knowledge of the truth. Now, there is no salvation apart
from a knowledge of the truth. But understand this, when I'm
talking about us knowing the truth, I'm not talking about knowing
the accurate doctrine in the scripture. Although you do know
the accurate doctrine in the scripture, I'm talking about
knowing Him. I'm talking about knowing the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm talking about knowing Him. This is life eternal, that they
might know thee, the only true God in Jesus Christ, whom thou
hast sent. Paul said in 2 Timothy 1, 12,
I know whom. I know whom. I have believed, and I'm persuaded
that he's able to keep that which I've committed to him against
that day. Somebody says, well, do I know him? Do I really know
him? I mean, that's a big thing to
say you know Christ. Do I really know him or is it
just talk? Well, I can tell you how you can know whether or not
you really know him. Do you trust him only as everything in your
salvation? That'll answer that question.
If you rely only on him, The reason you do so is because you
know Him. And if you don't look to Him
only, it's because you do not know Him. Our knowledge is knowing
Him, and what we believe is determined by who we believe. What we believe is determined
by who we believe. I hope this is going to make
sense. When you know him, you know everything. When you know him, you know everything. You know all truth. You believe
all truth when you know him. And when you know him, you know
everything by intuition. You actually, you already know
the truth because you know him. And when you hear the truth,
you know it's the truth because it's what you already believed
before you even heard it. You know it's true because you know
him. Turn to 1 John chapter 2. 1 John chapter 2. Verse 20. But you. have an unction from the Holy
One, an anointing, a teaching from the Holy One, and you know
what? What? All things. Now, I know all things if I know
Him. Let me try to illustrate this.
Peter said, knowing this first, that no scripture is of any private
interpretation, but holy men of God's papers, they were moved
by the Holy Scriptures. or by the Holy Spirit. I know the Bible
is the Word of God because I know Him. I know His voice. I'll read
this book and I know this is God's Word. Somebody says, I
don't know that. Well, that's because you don't know Him. Because if you know
Him, you know this book is the Word of God because you know
His voice. The Lord said, I know my sheep
and have known of mine. You know For instance, Paul said
in Romans 8, 28, and we know. We know that all things work
together for good to them that love God, to them who are called
according to his purpose. How do you know, Paul? Because
you know him. If you know God, you know he's
in control. He's in absolute control. Somebody
says, I don't believe that. Well, then you don't know God,
because if you know God, you say, we know, we know. There's so many we knows in the
scripture. Here's another example. Knowing the Lord Jesus Christ,
knowing the Lord Jesus Christ, I know that if he died for me,
I must be saved. I must be. I mean, I have to
be because of who he is. I know that. That's why somebody
who, for instance, if somebody believes in universal redemption,
They believe that Jesus Christ died for people, and they might
end up in hell anyway if they don't do their part. The only
reason they believe something that foolish is because they
don't know him. If you know him, you'll know if he died for you,
you must be saved because of who he is. It is Christ that
died. What else needs to be said? It's
Christ that died. Now, if I died, we wouldn't be
any good at all. What good does God do? But if Christ died for
you, You must be saved. You see, this knowledge of Him
makes us know everything by intuition because of our knowledge of Him.
And when we hear the truth, we might not have ever heard it
before, but when we hear it, we say, that's right, you already
knew it. You already knew it. From knowing Him. Salvation is
knowing the Lord Jesus Christ. Turn with me to Ecclesiastes
chapter 3. Ecclesiastes chapter three. Verse 14. I know, Ecclesiastes 3 verse
14. I know. That whatsoever God doeth. It shall be forever. Nothing can be put to it, added
to it, nor can anything be taken from it. And God doeth it that
men should fear before him. I know that. I know that. I know
that whatever God does, it's eternal. It's forever. I know
nothing can be added to it. What can you add to what God
has done? Nothing can be taken from it. What can you do to take
something away from what he's done? How do you know that? Because
I know God. That's why. That's why. I know
God. That's the way God is. 1 John chapter 3. You know, the scripture speaks
so often in this language. I know. I know. You know, we
speak that which we do know and testify what we see. We speak
We know. We know. Now somebody says, well,
I don't know. I don't believe that. Well, that really, I want
you to. I don't mean to say this as if
I don't care. I want you to believe that if
you don't believe it doesn't bother me. I still know. I still know. I'm giving testimony to what
I've seen. This is not up for discussion. This is not up for debate. This
is, I know. I know that is the way the believer
speaks. I know because we know him. Now,
if you're a believer, you know, you know that if Jesus Christ
died for you, your sins are gone. You know that. You know that.
Look in 1 John chapter three. Verse four, whosoever committed
sin. transgresses also the law, for sin is the transgression
of the law, and you know that he was manifested. You know he
was manifested to take away our sins. Did he do it? Yes. So in him is what? No sin. You know that, don't
you? In him is no sin. If I'm in him,
Though my sin stares me in the face that I committed even this
morning, I got no sin. You know that, don't you? You
know that in Him is no sin. Now, we speak from the position
of we know. We know. Now, let me give you
two reasons why every believer can speak with this language
of We know. And remember, this knowledge
is not just knowing the right information, knowing the person
is loving the person. It's relational. It's relational.
It's him knowing me and me knowing him. That's what this knowledge
is all about. It's not just knowing the facts,
but here's why. Turn with the Hebrews chapter
eight. Hebrews chapter eight. This is a quotation from Jeremiah. Verse 11. And they shall not teach every
man his neighbor and every man his brother, saying, Know the
Lord. For all shall know me. From the least to the greatest.
And here's how it comes. For I will be merciful, I will
be propitious is the word to their unrighteousness. Now what
does that word mean? Big word. I will be propitious.
I will be merciful. I will be appeased. I will not
be angry with them for their unrighteousness. Because I have
propitiated their sin. I've removed the reason for anger
is what the word means. I'll be merciful. The reason
for anger is removed. And now I'm fit for fellowship
with God. And their sins and iniquities,
I'll remember no more. Now, here's why I'm going to
know Him. Here's why I do know Him. Because He put away my sin. And now I have none. And I'm
fit for fellowship with God. I'm fit for communion with God.
I'm someone God can look at and be pleased with through the Lord
Jesus Christ. Now, that's why I know him, because
he made me able to know him. And here's the second reason.
The first reason, because he put away my sin. And the second
reason is revelation. The reason we know is because
he made himself known. I can't possibly know him unless
he makes himself known. I'm completely dependent upon
revelation. I can't figure this out. I can't
read and study about him to where I know him. I'm totally dependent
upon him to make himself known to me. Matthew 11, 27, the Lord
says, No man knows the father, save the son, and he to whomsoever
the son will reveal him. It's given to you to know the
mysteries of the kingdom of God. Ephesians 1, 9 says, Having made
known to us the mystery of his will. Now, if I know him, it's
not because I'm smarter than somebody else. It's not intelligence. It's him making me fit by his
blood and him making himself known to me. Now, that's how
someone knows the Lord. And because we know him, there's
a lot of other stuff we just know. For instance, turn to Romans
7. Verse 18, For I know, I'm dead certain of this, I know
this. For I know that in me, that is
in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing. I know that. And if you've seen Him, you know
that. And if you don't know that about
yourself, it's because you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ.
Because if you know Him, you'll be dead sure of this, that in
you, in your flesh, dwelleth No good thing. Nothing but wounds
and bruises and putrefying sores. In your flesh there is nothing
but sin. And if I've got to convince you
that, you've never seen the Lord Jesus Christ. That's simple.
If you know Him, you know that's true about yourself. And that's
why Paul said, I know and am persuaded of the Lord Jesus that
there's nothing unclean of itself. You understand that sin's not
in things. Sin's what you are. That's why you know things about
things. It's in your heart. You know that. I don't have to
convince you of it. You know it if you know Him. Paul said in Romans chapter 3
verse 19, we know. There's another one of those
we knows. We know that whatsoever things the law say that say to
them that are under the law that every mouth may be stopped and
all the world stand guilty. before God, no excuses, no extenuating
circumstances, stand guilty before God. We know that. Do you know? The Bible speaks of, we know,
they may not, but we do. We know. Galatians chapter 2
verse 16, would you turn over there? And knowing who he is, knowing
who we are, verse 16 of Galatians chapter 2 says, knowing, 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 shall
no flesh be justified. Now we know that. We know that. We know no one is saved by anything
they do. I can't be justified by something
that I do. I know that we're justified by
the faithfulness of Jesus Christ. Don't you know that? You know,
the only reason if you're a believer, you know, the only reason you
stand just before God is because of the faith, the faithfulness
of the Lord Jesus Christ, his obedience, his gospel. You know
that. I know it. I can I can speak with
such conviction about that because I know it. I know it. But in the first Corinthians,
chapter two, Now we have received, not the
spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God, that
we might know the things that are freely That
word freely means without a cause. Without a cause. That we might
know the things that are freely given to us of God. Now if we
know Him, we know the only way He can give us something is if
He gives it to us freely. We know ourselves. There's no
reason why we can merit what He gives to us. And we have some
understanding that whatever we have, he gives to us freely. You take any blessing of the
gospel justification. Being just before God. He gave
that to me freely. The forgiveness of sins. The
forgiveness of sins isn't given to me because I asked for it.
He gave me the forgiveness of sins freely. It's every blessing
of the gospel. We know. We know that whatever
we have, he gave to us freely, without a cause, without merit
in us. He did it for Christ's sake.
We know that. And if he's given anything to
you, you know, he gave it to you freely. Turn to 1 John chapter
4. The sweet savor of his knowledge,
his knowledge of us and our knowledge of him. It's a real knowing. First John, Chapter four. Verse 16. And we have known. And believed, or you can just as
easily say relied upon. We have known and relied upon
the love that God hath to us. God is love. And he that dwelleth
in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. Now herein is our
love made perfect, that we might have boldness in the day of judgment,
because as he is, so are we in this world. Oh, I love that scripture.
However he is, that's how I am right now. There's no fear in
love. The perfect love casts out fear. His love to me, it
casts out this slavish fear. Fear hath torment. Even fear
is not made perfect in love. We love him because he first
loved us. You know that, don't you? You
know that if you love him, it's because he first loved you. You know that. 2 Corinthians
chapter 8. I want you to look at these scriptures
with me. Paul says in verse 9, for you know, you know, the grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ. Now, you can't know him without
knowing something of his grace. Isn't that so? You know the grace
of our Lord Jesus Christ. And I love what it says next.
That though He was rich. You know this. Rich. He's God. Rich in love. Rich in praise. He's God. He's rich. Infinitely rich. You know the grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ. That though He was rich, yet
for your sakes, He became poor. He became poor. Now, what all was happening on
the cross? Well, I know this. He became
poor. And all that that means. Preacher,
tell me what all that means. I don't know. I don't know, but
I know this. He became poor. That means he
became without. He was made sin, and the reason
God killed him is because he was made sin. He was made poor
of righteousness, poor of the Father turned his back on him.
You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he
was rich, yet for your sakes, he became that you, through his
poverty, might be rich. And you know the riches that
you have is only through his poverty. That's the only way
you have the riches of God's love and the riches of God's
grace and the riches of forgiveness and all the blessings of the
gospel. They come through his poverty. You know that, don't
you? Do I have to convince you of
that? No, you know it's so. Peter said you know you were
not redeemed with corruptible things. You know that. You were
not redeemed with corruptible things such as silver and gold
received by the vain conversation and tradition by your fathers,
but with the precious blood of Christ. You know that. You know
you were redeemed by the precious blood of Christ. Not by works
of righteousness, which you've done. You know that you were
redeemed only by the precious blood of Christ. And I love precious
blood. I know his blood is precious
to God. Don't you know that? His blood is precious to God. You know who else it's precious
to? Every believer. Is his blood precious to you? You were redeemed by the precious
blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. John said, First, let's go ahead
and turn here. I want you to look at this. 1
John 3. Verse 1, Behold, what manner
of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called
the sons of God. Therefore, the world knoweth
us not. Because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons
of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when he shall appear, we
shall be like him. For we shall see him as he is. Now, here's what we know. We
know that there is such glory and power and excellency in the
person of the Lord Jesus Christ, that simply to see Him as He
is will change us into His image. We know that that's how glorious
He is, that just to see Him, that is what's going to take
place. Now, you're there in 1 John chapter
3. Go back to chapter 2. I want
us to see what this knowledge of Him does. Chapter 2, verse 1. My little children, these things
write I unto you, that you sin not. What's that mean? Exactly what
it says. Make it your aim to never sin
again. These things write unto you that
you sin not. Not in thought, not in word,
not in deed, not in action. To never sin again. To be perfect. in all respects. Somebody says, that's asking
too much. No, it's not. No, it's not. When's it okay to sin? When is sinning acceptable? It
ain't. These things write unto you that
you sin not. Now, when you do, if any man
sin, that if is also translated, when? When you do. When you do. It's not saying
it's okay. It's not saying go ahead and give in to sin, but
when you do, when you do, you realize with Paul that you have
an evil nature. When you do, what's it say? We have an advocate, a lawyer,
a representative with the Father. Jesus Christ the righteous. He's
no crooked lawyer. He's the righteous. And what's
glorious about this lawyer, there's no lawyer like him. He makes
you plead guilty and then he justifies you. No lawyer like
that is there. He makes you plead guilty and
then he justifies you. He shows the Father his hands
and feet and nothing else needs to be said. He's mine. His knowledge
of me. I don't have to say a thing.
It's his knowledge of me. And He is the propitiation, He is
the appeasement for our sins, and not for ours only, but also
for the sins of the whole world. Jew and Gentile, no difference. And hereby, look at this, verse
3, and hereby we do know that we know Him if we keep His commandments. He that saith, I know him, and
keepeth not his commandments, is a what? Liar. And the truth is not in him. Now, somebody's thinking, well,
what all does he mean by his commandments? What's that mean? It doesn't say He knows the commandments
or hasn't memorized or admires them or anything like that. It
actually says keep them. Keep them. If you don't keep them,
if you don't actually, you yourself, keep them, then you're a liar.
And God's truth's not in you. You've lost all credibility.
Nobody believes you. Look in 1 John chapter 3. Verse 19. And hereby know we
that we are of the truth. and shall assure our hearts before
him. For if our heart condemn us,
verse 20, if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart,
and he knoweth all things. Beloved, if our heart condemn
us not, Then have we confidence toward God and whatsoever we
ask we receive in him because we keep his commandments and
do those things that are pleasing in his sight. And this is his
commandment. That we should believe on the
name of his son, Jesus Christ. And love one another. As he gave
us commandment. Do you keep those commandments?
Do you believe on the name of his son? You can answer that. Do you love
his people? Do you love? Now, if a man doesn't keep those
commandments, he's a liar. Paul said in Ephesians chapter
5 verse 5, for you know that no whoremonger, nor unclean person,
nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom
of Christ and of God, let no man deceive you with vain words.
For because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children
of disobedience." Now, this knowledge that we have of Him isn't a bare
speculative knowledge that leaves us the same. It just isn't. He that keepeth
my commandments, He it is that loveth me, our Lord said. Now let me give you one final
I know. In Ecclesiastes 8, verse 12,
the wise man surely I know it shall be well with them that
fear God, with them that fear before him. Do you fear God? Well, what's that mean to fear
God? I'll tell you exactly what it means to fear God. If you
fear God, that means you're afraid of sin. That's why you're afraid
of yourself. You're afraid of sin. That fear you have of sin comes
from a fear of God. You're afraid of sin. And you're afraid to look anywhere
but Christ alone. Now, if you fear God, it's going to be well with you. Grow in grace and in the knowledge
of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Now, isn't God's, the
knowledge of God, the knowledge of the gospel, the knowledge
of Christ, a sweet saver? His knowledge of me. Oh, to think
that he knows me. That's what I'm relying on. Just
the same thing the thief was relying on when he said, Lord,
remember me when you come into your kingdom. That's my same
plea. Lord, remember me. Nothing else. I'm not going to talk about the
things I've done. Lord, remember me in your mercy. Remember me
when you come as a mighty reigning king. You know, the thief, people
say, well, he didn't believe much. He believed everything.
He believed everything. He knew the Lord. And there's
an example. Somebody says, well, the thief
didn't know much. He knew everything because he knew the Lord. He
said, Lord, those other fellows didn't know he was the Lord.
Those people who crucified him, but he knew he was the Lord. He could
look at the Lord on the cross and know he's the Lord. His visage
was so mud you couldn't tell he was a man, but the thief knew
he was the Lord. And he knew he wouldn't stay dead. He said,
you're going to come back as a ruling, reigning king. He knew
that, didn't he? He knew he's God. He said to
the other thief, don't you fear God, seeing you're in the same
condemnation? He knew Christ never sinned.
He said this man had done nothing amiss. He knew that. He knew
because he knew him. And he said, Lord, remember me
when you come into your kingdom. Oh, his knowledge of me. That's what I'm relying on. And
isn't it sweet to be able to say, we know. Not just I know,
but we say corporately, as the people of God, we know. We know that all things work
together for good. To them that love God, to them who are called
according to his will, we know. Oh, the sweet savor of his knowledge. Let's pray together.