I'd like for you to open your
Bibles today to the book of John. I'm going to be reading a passage
of scripture found in the 8th chapter of John, verse 19. My subject is knowing God. Knowing God. In John 8, 19, they
said unto him, where is your father? And Jesus answered. Now listen to this answer. You
neither know me nor my father. If you had known me, you should
have known my father also. You neither know me nor my father."
Now this was a devastating and shocking charge for our Lord
to bring against these people because they were most religious.
These men called God their father. If you look down at verse 41,
you have them saying this, we have one father, even God. These men to whom our Lord made
this statement, you neither know me nor my father, were men who
declared we have one father, even God. And these were men
also who had a strong religious heritage. They had a strong religious
background and training in the traditions and the customs and
the ceremonies of their fathers. They said in verse 33, we be
Abraham's seed. Everybody knows Abraham, Jacob
and Isaac. Well, we're Abraham's seed. Now,
it was to these men that our Lord said, you neither know me
nor my father. Men who claimed that God was
their father, men who claimed Abraham as their father, Christ
said, you don't know God. And not only that, but these
were men who were, in their outward lives, examples of morality and
piety and orthodoxy. Listen to one of them. I thank
thee, Lord, that I'm not like other men. I'm not an adulterer,
I'm not an extortioner, I'm not unjust. I fast, I tithe, I give
alms of all I possess to the poor. Ye neither know me nor
my Father. Now that's the reason this is
a shocking charge. It's a devastating charge. These
men had a refuge. They had a foundation. They were
building a hope for eternity. They called God their father.
They claimed Abraham as their natural father. And they were
men who were steeped in the background or traditions of religion. And
they were men who lived outwardly moral religious lives. And Christ
said, you neither know me nor my father. Now the Bible is full
of examples of men who were very religious, but who did not know
God. In fact, James says, you believe
in one God, you do well. The devil believes in one God
and trembles. Saul of Tarsus reveals to us
that a man can not only believe doctrine and be very orthodox,
but he can fight for orthodoxy and not know God. Saul of Tarsus
didn't know God. educated in the best seminary
of his day. He said that he exceeded many
his equals. He was a Pharisee of Pharisees.
He was a ruler of the Jews, a teacher of scripture, and didn't know
God. And then Judas. Judas reveals
to us that a man can hold a most high office in the church. He
was an apostle. There were only 12 of those,
not any today. And yet this apostle and treasurer
of the group did not know God. Simon Magus made a profession
and was baptized, and yet did not know God. And then Herod
and Agrippa heard great preachers. You say, I've heard some great
preachers in my day. You never heard any great preachers
like Herod and Agrippa heard. They heard John the Baptist and
the Apostle Paul, and these men had great respect for the preachers
they heard. And it says in the Word of God
that they had great intentions, and yet they never knew God.
You neither know me nor my Father. Now, I want you to stay with
me this morning. This is a very important, important
statement. You neither know me nor my Father.
Even the beloved disciples, even Christ's inner circle, they were
confronted with this matter of knowing God. One day our Lord
said to them, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh
unto the Father but by me. If you had known me, you should
have known my Father also. And from henceforth you know
him, and have seen him. And Philip said unto him, Lord,
show us the Father, and it will satisfy us. And listen to what
Christ asked him. He said, Philip, have I been
so long time with you, and yet you have not known me? Have you
heard all you've heard and you don't know me? Have you seen
all that you've seen and you do not know me? Have you witnessed
all that you've witnessed and you do not know me? What a frightening
thought. And yet it's going to be a reality
to so many religious people as we've already seen through the
word. Our Lord said many, many. I don't want to be one of those,
I don't want you to be one of those, but many shall say unto
me in that day, Lord, we preached in thy name and did many wonderful
works and cast out devils in thy name. I never knew you and
you never knew me. This is what our Lord is saying
to these religious men. You neither know me nor my father. And to the disciples, have I
been so long time with you and yet you have not known me? Our
Lord said eternal life is to know God. You look at John 17,
verse 3. He said, this is life eternal
that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ
whom he had sent. Now that's the reason Paul was
so concerned about knowing God. In Philippians 3, he said, I
count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge
of Jesus Christ, my Lord. for whom I've suffered the loss
of all things, and I do count them but rubbish, that I may
win Christ and be found in him, not having mine own righteousness,
which is of the law, but the righteousness of God, which is
by faith. Oh, that I may know him, not just profess religion,
not just be morally straight, not just be an orthodox theologian,
not just have an experience of religion, but that I might know
him. and the power of his resurrected
life. I'm going to ask this question
this morning and try to give you an answer. How does a man
know the living God? David said, as the deer panteth
for the water brook, so panteth my soul after thee, the living
God. It's not just to know a God or
have a God, but to know the living God. Christ said eternal life
is to know the true and living God. Now how does a man How does
a man know the living God? Well, there are three important
things. Number one, God is revealed in his word. Now, I know the
heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament showeth
his handiwork. I know that. And I know that
the law of God is written on every heart, our conscience excusing
or accusing us. The law of God is written on
every heart. There's a light that lighteth every man that
cometh into this world. But no man can know the living
God apart from the word of God. Now that's a fact. You might
know that there is a God by the things that are made. You may
know that there is a God by the movement in your own conscience.
You may know there is a God because he has given you that light of
creation when you were born into this world. But to know God,
In his saving grace, in his saving mercy, in his true attributes
and character, you cannot know him apart from the word. And
the scripture says in Romans 10, listen to it, whosoever shall
call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. But how shall
they call on him in whom they've not believed? And how shall they
believe in him of whom they've not heard? And how shall they
hear without a preacher? A man cannot believe in God if
he has not heard of God, if he has not heard the word of God.
Listen to Romans 10, 17. Faith cometh by hearing, and
hearing by the word of God. Listen to John 5, 24. He that
heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting
life, and shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from
death unto life. He that heareth my word. God hath chosen by the foolishness
of preaching to save them that believe. So you can have absolutely
no right thoughts about God. Now you can have some thoughts
about God, but the Scripture says His thoughts are not our
thoughts. And there's a way that seemeth right unto men, and the
end is destruction and condemnation. God said in Psalm 50, You thought
I was altogether such a one as yourself. Now you can entertain
some thoughts about God. But you cannot know God apart
from what God has been pleased to reveal, and that is through
His Word. God is revealed in His Word,
and the Bible is the only source of information about God, about
life, death, judgment, eternity. All spiritual questions and all
spiritual matters must be referred to the Word of God. We must look
to His Word. The Word of God is the only rule
of faith and practice. The Scripture says that man was
created in the likeness of God. That's the only information we
have about that. The Scripture tells us that man
was tempted by Satan and fell. What other information do you
have on that? The Scripture tells us God has been pleased to elect
a people in Christ and determined to save them and make them like
his Son. He's predestinated that all whom
he has chosen will be like Christ. Where do you have any other information
on that subject? God Almighty sent his Son into
the world, and Christ lived on this earth, died on a cross,
was buried, and rose again, and ascended to the right hand of
the Father, where he is the only mediator between God and men.
What other source of information do you have on that? The only
source of information, the only accurate, serious source of information
about anything spiritual is the Word of God. God is revealed
in his Word, not apart from the Word, but through the Word of
God. Isaiah said in chapter 8 verse 20, if they speak not according
to the word, it's because there's no light in them. All right?
Secondly, how may a man know God? First of all, through his
word. Secondly, God is revealed in
Christ. God is revealed in Christ. Philip
said, Lord, show us the Father. And our Lord Jesus said, he that
had seen me had seen my Father. I am in the Father, and the Father
is in me. Again, he said in John 10.30,
I and my Father are one. My friend, I boldly declare unto
you that Jesus Christ is none other than God incarnate in human
flesh. Who is this? Who is this man
of Galilee? Who is this carpenter of Nazareth?
Who is this son of the Virgin Mary? This is God Almighty incarnate
in human flesh. God was in Christ. I and my Father
are one. He that hath seen me hath seen
the Father. And the Father said of the Son,
Thy throne, O God, is forever. And when Paul left the elders
at Antioch, he charged them to preach the gospel. He charged
them to feed the Church of God, which God purchased with His
own blood. God was incarnate in human flesh. In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, and all things
were made by him. Without him was not anything
made that was made, and the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among
us, and we beheld his glory. God is revealed in Christ. In John 12, 45, the Savior said,
He that seeth me seeth him that sent me. And Paul declared in
Hebrews chapter 1, God, who at sundry times and in different
manners or ways, spake in times past to our fathers through the
prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son,
by whom he made the worlds, whom he appointed heir of all things,
who being in the brightness of his glory, and the express or
exact image of his person, Jesus Christ reveals the Father. You want to know God? Go to his
word. You want to know God? Come to
know his Son. A man cannot know the Father
except as he knows the Son. He that seeth the Son seeth the
Father. He that honoreth the Son honoreth
the Father. He that worshipeth the Son worships
the Father. He that adores the Son adores
the Father. He that believes on the Son believes
on the Father. Because Christ came to reveal
the Father. Every attribute of God is seen
in Christ. You can take his whole life and
you can see every attribute of the Father. You see omnipotence. Our Lord Jesus Christ could still
the waves, still the storm, quiet the waves. Our Lord Jesus Christ
had omniscience, that is, he knew all things. He knew people's
thoughts. Our Lord Jesus Christ had omnipresence. He said to Nathanael, when you
were under the fig tree, I saw you. Our Lord Jesus Christ had
perfect righteousness. He knew no sin. Our Lord Jesus
Christ had perfect holiness, perfect love. He loved even his
enemies. He had perfect grace, perfect
justice, and perfect mercy. Every attribute of God is seen
in the Lord Jesus Christ. He reveals the Father. You want
to know the Father? Come to know the Son. Christ
Jesus not only came to reveal the Father, but he came to reconcile
the Father. Listen to 2 Corinthians 5.19. God was in Christ, reconciling
the world unto himself. You see, we were under the judgment
of God. We were under the wrath of God.
We were enemies of God. God was angry with the wicked.
And the Lord Jesus Christ came into this world to reconcile
us unto God. He is the Prince of Peace. He
brought peace from heaven to earth between God and me. He enabled God to be just and
justifier of those who believe on him. He came not only to reveal
the Father, but he came to reconcile an angry God. He came to reconcile
an angry God and enable God in his righteousness to be both
just and justifier. Not only that, but he came to
redeem sinners in the fullness of time. God sent forth his son
into the world, made of a woman, made under the law to redeem
them that were born under the law. You see, my friend, Jesus
Christ is not just an example. He is an example, but he's not
just an example. Jesus Christ is not just a martyr. He's not a reformer. Jesus Christ
is a sin offering and a substitute. He came to reveal the Father,
to reconcile the Father, and He came to redeem sinners. There
are two words that every person needs to learn in relationship
to Jesus Christ and His person and work. That is the word substitute
and the word satisfaction. Charles Spurgeon once said the
gospel is summed up in these two words. Christ is our substitute. He's our substitute before the
law, He's our substitute before justice. He's our substitute
before the courts of heaven. He takes our place. And everything
that God commands of us, Christ fulfills. Everything that God
demands of us, Christ produces. Everything that God requires
of us, Christ produces. And then He's our satisfaction.
The perfect law of God demanded perfect obedience. Christ rendered
it. And the justice of God demanded
that every soul that sinneth shall surely die, and Christ
died. He's our substitute in our stead. He was wounded for our transgressions.
He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of God's peace,
of our peace, was upon Him, and by His stripes we're healed.
He's our substitute and our satisfaction. And you remember these two things.
God Almighty, being a holy, just, and righteous God, cannot accept
any man as righteous until that law has been fully satisfied. Now that's so. God cannot, will
not, accept any man as righteous until his holy law has been satisfied. And that's what Christ did for
us as our representative, as our substitute. And the second
thing is this. God cannot accept any man as
justified until the justice of God, which requires that man's
is fully satisfied. He cannot accept us as justified. He cannot accept us as pardoned.
You see, the Lord God cannot just erase sin as if it never
existed. He cannot just put sin away.
Sin has got to be punished. His justice and righteousness
have got to be honored and satisfied. And this is what Christ did.
You want to know God, the righteousness of God, the holiness of God,
the grace, the truth, the mercy of God? You understand that as
you understand Christ, as you come to know Christ. How does
one come to know the Living God? By His Word. By His Word. Bury yourself in God's Word.
Study the Word of God. Somebody said to Mr. Spurgeon
one day, Mr. Spurgeon, salvation is to be
found somewhere in the pages of this book, and I'm going to
bury myself in this book until I find the way that God saved
sinners. God is revealed in His Word.
And God is revealed in the person of his son. Now watch the third
thing, and this is most important. God is revealed to the heart. Now Philip, our Lord Jesus Christ
said to Philip, Philip, have I been so long time with you,
and yet you have not known me. He that has seen me has seen
the Father. Now watch the next question,
verse 10. Believest thou this? Do you believe? He said, Philip,
do you believe? Do you believe? You can't speak
for another person. I can't speak for you, and you
can't speak for me. Do you, Philip, believe that
I am in the Father, and the Father is in me? Do you believe that?
I want to know the living God. I don't want to hear Christ say
to me, you need to know me nor my Father. How am I going to
come to know Christ? There's only two sources, and
these two are really one, because Christ is the Word. He is the
Word incarnate, and He is the revealed written Word. So the
Word of God and Christ, that's how, the only way I can come
to know Christ. Not through experience or visions
or dreams or new revelations or through preachers or literature. I've got to come to know Christ.
God Almighty, He's revealed in His Word and in His Son. In His
Son. Now the question comes, do you,
do you believe that I am in the Father and the Father in me?
The Word of God declares it. Christ Jesus, the Lord, declared
it, but do you believe it? Listen to Paul as he lays the
burden on every one of us, that if thou shalt confess with thy
mouth, with thy mouth, Jesus to be Lord, and believe in thine
heart that God raised him from the dead. He's no ordinary man. He was raised from the dead.
He's no ordinary man. Behold, God will give you a sign,
a virgin shall be with child, and I shall call his name Emmanuel.
God with us. God with us. Unto us a child
is born. Unto us a son is given. His name
shall be called Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting
Father. Do you believe that? If thou
shalt confess with thy mouth Jesus to be Lord, and believe
in thine heart God raised him from the dead, thou shalt be
saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness,
and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. It's
a heart belief. It's not just giving mental assent
to some facts. Well, I believe the Bible preacher,
that's not enough. Well, I believe there's a God,
that's not enough. With the heart man believeth
unto righteousness, with the mouth confession is made unto
salvation. Now, I'm not going to play upon
your emotions. I'm not going to stand here and
talk about meeting mother in heaven and and talk about the
mansions in glory and talk about the straits of gold. I'm not
going to play upon your fears and play upon your emotions and
take advantage of your bad health. I'm just going to state some
facts to you. I've got a message from God, and that message is
this. This is the record. God hath
given us eternal life, and this life's in his Son. And he that
hath the Son of God hath life. And he that hath not the Son
of God hath not life. These things are written to you
that believe on the Son of God, that you may know that you have
eternal life. Would you know God? Would you
know God? Then my friend, I say this to
you, study his word. You have no other source of information.
The Bible is the only rule of faith and practice. There's no
other source of information about life and death and the fall and
eternity and heaven and hell. There is no other source. The
philosophers may tell you what they think. And the religionists
may tell you what they think. And the old fathers may tell
you what they think. But God's word tells you that
which is true. Christ said, I speak that which
I've seen and testify that which I know. This is not guesswork. You've got to go to the source,
the word of God. God is revealed in his word,
and God is revealed in his Son, and his Son not only reveals
the Father, but he's the substitute and sacrifice who has reconciled
the Father. So we meet not an angry God,
but because of Jesus Christ, we meet a reconciled God. We
don't meet a God who will punish us, we meet a God who will forgive
us in the Lord Jesus Christ, because he came to redeem us. Boy, our sins and sorrows, our
sicknesses and our diseases, our sins and our transgressions
and iniquities in his body on the tree, that we might know
God. If you would know God, look to the Word. Look to his Son.
If you would know God, here's the third thing. Commit yourself
to him. Now this, I'm not asking you
to take my hand or write me a letter or fill out a card. I'm asking
you to settle this issue between you and the Lord Jesus Christ.
You know what Paul said to Timothy? In his last epistle, we believe
that the book of 2 Timothy is the last epistle that Paul wrote. He wrote 14 of the books in the
New Testament. This is the last one. And in
his last epistle, he said this, I'm not ashamed. I'm not ashamed. I know whom I have believed.
I know that Christ is my rock and my fortress. I know that
Christ is my refuge and my foundation. I know Jesus Christ. He is the
Son of God. He came into this world to be
my Redeemer and my Savior. I know Him. I know who He is.
I know who He is. I know where He came from, the
throne of glory. I know why He came into this
world. And I know where He is now. He's at the right hand of
God as our Mediator. I know whom I have believed.
And I'm persuaded, I'm convinced by the Word of God and by the
testimony of His Spirit, I am convinced that He's able to keep
that which I've committed to Him, I'm convinced of it. Christ
is able to save to the uttermost them that come to God by Him.
Christ is able to keep you from falling. Christ Jesus is able
to present you holy, faultless, without blame, before His throne
with exceeding glory. And Christ is able someday to
raise your vile body and make it like unto His own. And to
as many as received Him, for I know He came and the world
knew Him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him
not, but as many as received him, to them gave he the right,
the privilege, to become sons of God, even to them that believed
on his name. Christ looked at the religious
people of his day, with all their heritage and background and tradition
and orthodoxy and all of their customs and ceremony and rituals,
and he said, you don't know me, and you don't know my father.
Don't let that be said to you. I hope it's not said to me. I'm
going to the book, and I'm going to the son, and I'm going to,
with my heart, commit my soul to him, and all that I have,
surrender it, commit it to the Lord Jesus Christ.