What Is It to Know Christ?

I would like for you to open
your Bibles to the book of 1 John. 1 John chapter 4, I'm going to
be reading verses 6 through 8. Now this is the epistle of John. 1 John chapter 4. And my message will be on this
subject. What is it to know Christ? Now I'm not going to try to preach
to you today. I want to talk to you. I want
you to sit there and listen very carefully to what I believe the
Lord would have me deliver in this hour, in answering this
question, what is it to know Christ? And when we get through
with this message, at least in our heads, I trust and pray in
our hearts, we'll be able to answer the question, what is
it to know Christ? Now in 1 John chapter 4, beginning
with verse 6, the Apostle writes, we are of God. He that knoweth
God, heareth us. He that is not of God, heareth
not us. Hereby know we the spirit of
truth and the spirit of error. Beloved, let us love one another,
for love is of God, and every one that loveth is born of God
and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not
God. Now there are three outstanding
characteristics of the epistle of John, this book from which
I'm reading right now. First of all, it is written in
the simplest language. That's right, you'd never know,
never imagine that this man John also wrote the mysteries of the
book of Revelation. But it's the same author. He
wrote the first epistle of John. And he writes in this epistle
short words, usually only one syllable words. And it's easy
to understand. It's easy to read. It can be
understood if a person really wants to understand it. It's
simple language. And then the second characteristic
of the book of John, the first epistle, is love. All love. Every line he writes
is seasoned with love. It's all the way through this
epistle. He tries all professions by the rule of love. Do we love
our Savior? Do we love one another? By this,
Christ said, shall all men know you are my disciples if you love
one another. And this is what John's writing
about. He's writing about true Christian love, that love of
God which is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. So
that's the second characteristic of this book. It's simple language,
and then the theme all the way through is love. Every line is
seasoned with love. Now thirdly, all through this
epistle, John unravels the web of hypocrisy and the web of deceit. He will not suffer us to be deceived. He will not suffer us to be deceived
about our relationship with God. He continually shows the difference
in reality and imitation. He continually shows the difference
in a profession of faith and a true possession of saving faith. He continually shows the difference
in those who have and those who say they have. Now this is a
theme running through the book. Not only the theme of love, love
for Christ and love for one another. He that loveth not knoweth not
God. But here is a theme all the way
through this book. John is pointing out the difference
in those who say they have and those who really have faith in
Christ. Now listen to some illustrations
of this. First of all, in 1 John 1.6, he says, If we say we have
fellowship with God and walk in darkness, we lie and do not
the truth. If we say that God is our Father
and Christ is our Redeemer and the Holy Spirit indwells us and
we have fellowship with the triune and we walk in darkness, the
tenor of our lives, the bent of our will is darkness and evil
and dishonesty, we're not telling the truth. We're saying something
that is not true. Then in 1 John 2, 4, he says
this, if we say that we know him and keep not his commandments,
we lie and the truth is not in us. If we say that we know and
we do not walk in his word according to his will, we are liars, and
the truth is not in us. And then in 1 John 2.9, he says
this, He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother,
why, he is in darkness even until now. He never has been in the
light. He's in darkness even until now. He always has been
in darkness. He's in darkness right now. If
he says that he walks in the light, And he hates his brother. He's not in the light. He's not
in the light of God's love. He's not in the light of God's
mercy. He's not in the light of God's grace. He's walking
in darkness. Listen to this, 1 John 4, 20.
If a man say, I love God, I love God. And a lot of people say
that, don't they? Everybody says he loves God. Just about everybody I know.
I love God. If any man say, I love God, and
hateth his brother, well, he's a liar. Well, now, there's a
lot of liars around today because a whole lot of hate going on.
There's hatred everywhere. There's hatred among religious
organizations. There's hatred among businessmen. There's hatred between races. There's hatred in neighborhoods.
There's hatred in schools. But everybody says he loves God.
But John says, if a man say, I love God, and hates his brother,
he's a liar. Now John's very plain. That's what I said at the beginning,
the three characteristics of this book, the book of 1 John. It's written in plain language
that anybody can understand. You can understand that, can't
you? John says, if any man says he loves God and hates his brother,
he's a liar. That's plain, one- and two-syllable
words that anybody can understand. It's the truth. And the theme
of this book is love. And John all the way through
continually points out the difference in saying, I know God and really
knowing God. The difference in saying that
I believe on Christ and really believing on Christ. The Bible
doesn't promise eternal life to those who say they love God. The Bible promises eternal life
to those who do love God. The Bible doesn't promise eternal
life to those who say they believe on Christ. It promises eternal
life to those who do believe on Christ. The Bible doesn't
promise eternal life to those who say they know God. It promises
eternal life to those who know God. That's what our Lord said
in John 17 3. He said this is eternal life
that they might know God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. I pray that every one of us,
this preacher and you included, may be delivered from a profession
of faith and brought into a living possession of Christ. I pray
that every one of us might be delivered from word service.
That's damnable service. Our Lord said, you call me Lord
with your lips, but your hearts are far from me. I pray that
God will bring us from an empty profession of religion to a living
knowledge of Jesus Christ. That's what Paul wanted. He talked
about his religious experience, his religious heritage, his religious
works. And he says, I do count them
but done, that I may win Christ, and be found in him, not having
mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that righteousness
which is by the faith of Jesus Christ my Lord. Oh, he said that
I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, that I may
know him, and the power of his resurrection. Not know the catechism,
but know the Christ. Not know all of the doctrine,
but know the deliverer. Not know all of the reasons for
morality, but to know the Redeemer. That's what Paul wanted. To know
Christ. That I, he said, might attain
unto the resurrection of the dead. What is it to know Christ? Let's get right down to answering
this question today. What is it to know Christ? Job
knew Him. He said, I know my Redeemer liveth. Paul knew Him. He said, I know
whom I have believed. John knew Him. He said, I know
we've passed from death unto life. Peter knew Him. He said,
I know that I'm not redeemed with corruptible things such
as silver and gold, but with a precious blood of Christ. David
knew him. He said, the Lord is my shepherd. Do you know him? Do you know
him? Well, what is it? All right,
preacher, what is it to know Christ? It's more than making
a profession of religion. It's more than joining a church.
It's more than walking an hour. It's more than changing your
doctrine. It's more than changing your lifestyle. To know Christ,
what is it? Let me give you four things.
First of all, to know Christ is to acknowledge him. That's
right, that's where we begin. To know Christ is to acknowledge
him. Now, in the book of Exodus, chapter
1, verse 8, the scripture says, Now there arose up a new king
over Egypt, who knew not Joseph. What does that mean? Well, it
means that Israel was down in the land of Egypt, and they fared
well. under Joseph, and he died, and
under the pharaoh that was after him, and he died, and other pharaohs
arose, and they had heard about Joseph, and knew Joseph, and
acknowledged Joseph, the promises made to Joseph, the work done
by Joseph, the obligations they had to Joseph. But one day there
arose a king, a pharaoh, who knew not Joseph. Does that mean
he didn't know Joseph existed? No, sir, he knew Joseph existed.
Did that mean he did not know about the work that Joseph had
done? He knew about the work Joseph had done. But he did not
acknowledge it. He did not acknowledge Joseph.
He did not acknowledge what had been done by Joseph as being
the salvation of Egypt. He did not acknowledge any obligation
to Joseph, nor to Joseph's people. He did not acknowledge any promises
made to Joseph. He did not acknowledge Joseph. So the scripture says, he knew
not Joseph. Now our Lord said, my sheep know
me. They know I am the good shepherd.
They know I am the great shepherd. They know I am the chief shepherd.
They know my voice. They acknowledge my voice. They
acknowledge my office. They acknowledge my substitutionary
work. They acknowledge my Lordship.
My sheep know me. They acknowledge me. A lot of
people know about Christ, but his sheep know him. In the same
way that this Pharaoh knew about Joseph, but he didn't acknowledge
him. He didn't acknowledge any obligation
to him, any promises made to his people, or any dependence
upon what he has done. He did not acknowledge Joseph
at all. He said, we don't need Joseph.
Who cares about Joseph? The believer acknowledges Christ. First of all, he acknowledges
Christ to be God. One day Thomas came and fell
at his feet, and he said, My Lord and my God, I acknowledge
that Jesus of Nazareth, who died on the cross, was buried and
rose again, is my God. I acknowledge that Jesus of Nazareth,
who died on the cross and rose again, is my Lord. He's King
of Kings and Lord of Lords. I acknowledge that. That's right,
the believer acknowledges the Lordship of Jesus Christ, the
Deity of the Son of God. And then the believer, secondly,
acknowledges Christ to be his Savior, and his only Savior. It is Christ who restores our
souls. It is Christ who leads us in
paths of righteousness. It is Christ who leads us beside
the still waters. Peter said, neither is there
salvation in any other, for there is none of a name under heaven
given among men whereby we must be saved. Paul wrote, Other foundation
can no man lay. than that which is laid Christ
the Lord. Peter said we are redeemed with
the precious blood of Christ as a lamb without spot or blemish.
He is our Savior. We acknowledge that. He is our
only Savior. He is the only life giver. He
is the only Redeemer. There can be no other. He shares
his glory with no other Redeemer and no other mediator. We acknowledge
that. And then thirdly, The believer
acknowledges Christ as his prophet, priest, and king. Now in the
Old Testament there were prophets who came to preach and to reveal
God, the will of God and the way of God. These Old Testament
prophets were types of Christ. They were pictures of Christ.
To him gave all the prophets witness. In the Old Testament
there were kings who ruled over the people, who reigned over
them, kings like David and Solomon. In the Old Testament there were
priests who went about the temple and the tabernacle, offering
the sacrifices, the high priest offering the atonement. These
men were pictures of Christ. Now Christ is come, that prophet,
to reveal God. He that has seen me has seen
the Father. Philip said, Show us the Father,
and Christ said, He that has seen me has seen the Father.
Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father
is in me? I and my Father are one. Christ is that prophet. Christ is that priest, the only
substitute, the only sacrifice, the only sin offering, the only
atonement. By one offering, he has perfected
forever them that are sanctified. And Christ is our King. He reigns
over us. We submit to him. We bow to his
scepter. We bow to his rule. He's the
sovereign Lord of our lives. My times are in thy hands, said
the songwriter. My God, I want them there. So
the believer acknowledges Christ. That's what it is to know Christ.
It's to acknowledge who he is. It's to acknowledge that he's
from all eternity. It's to acknowledge that he is
our representative. As in Adam we die, so in Christ
we're made alive. In Adam, death and condemnation,
judgment passed upon all men. In Christ, peace, righteousness,
justification passed upon all who believed. By one man's disobedience,
we were made sinners, representation. By one man's obedience, we were
made righteous, representation. We acknowledge that Jesus Christ
came to save, and he's the only Savior. He's the God-anointed
and God-ordained and God-appointed Savior. He's our substitute.
He bore our sins in his body on the tree. He was buried as
our scapegoat. He rose again as our justifier.
He ascended as our mediator. He's coming again, our great
King. We acknowledge that. And when
in his beauty I see the great king, and join with the ransom
his praises to sing, all through the ages my tribute, with all
who believe, I'll bring, and that will be sunrise for me. What is it to know Christ? First
of all, it's to acknowledge him. Secondly, what is it to know
Christ? It's to believe on him. It's
to trust him. Now in Isaiah chapter 53, verse
11, the scripture declares, By the knowledge of him shall my
righteous servant justify many. By the knowledge of him. In other
words, he who does not believe Christ does not know Christ.
To know Christ is to believe him. He who does not trust Christ
does not know him. For to know Christ is to trust
him. He who does not rest his soul
in Christ does not know Christ, because to know him is to rest
our souls in him. One day Mr. Spurgeon was talking
to a man about salvation. He talked to him about sin and
salvation and the work of Christ on the cross, and finally the
man said, well, I'd like to be a Christian, but I just can't
believe on Christ. I just can't trust Christ. Spurgeon
looked at him and said, Sir, what do you mean you can't trust
Christ? Do you find a flaw in his character? Do you find something missing
in his work? Do you find a flaw in his substitutionary
work? What do you mean you can't trust
him? If you can't trust him, tell me why. Because I've trusted
him, I've trusted and committed my soul to him. I've trusted
my salvation to him. I've trusted my life to him.
I've trusted all things to him, and if you find something in
his character that cannot be trusted, you tell me, for I've
got a right to know." And the man said, Oh, no, sir, I don't
mean that at all. I don't mean that. I don't mean Christ can't
be trusted. Spurgeon said, That's what you
said. You said, I can't trust Christ. I can't believe on Christ. Why don't you say what you really
mean? I won't trust him. I won't believe on him, because
I tell you, my friend, he can be trusted. And to know him is
to trust him. And a man does not know Christ
who has not committed his soul to Christ. He that seeth the
Son, and believeth on him, and to see him is to believe on him,
hath everlasting life. To see him is to trust him. One
day our Lord was preaching to thousands of people. I don't
know how many were there, but there were thousands of them.
And they were offended by what he preached. He preached his
glory, his grace, his sovereignty, his sacrificial work, and they
began to leave, they began to walk off. And all of them were
gone, but just the twelve. And our Lord turned to his disciples,
and he said to them, Will you also go away? And Peter replied,
Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal
life. They knew him, and they trusted
And they saw in him the only hope that a sinner has. They
saw in him the only righteousness a sinner can plead. They saw
in him the only foundation upon which a sinner could build. If
there was no hope in Christ, then there's no hope. If there's
no mercy in Christ, then there's no mercy. To see him is to know
him, and to know him is to believe on him, and to trust him. And
like Paul said, to commit my soul to him. I know he said whom
I have believed, and I'm persuaded he's able to keep that which
I've committed, committed unto him against that day. Thirdly,
what is it to know Christ? It's to acknowledge him. It's
to believe on him. And thirdly, now this is important,
and this is where I believe that most religionists today are missing
the boat. It is to experience him. Now
the word of God says concerning Christ, He knew no sin. He knew no sin. Does that mean
he didn't know about sin? He knew about sin. Does that
mean he didn't know what sin was? He knew what sin was. But
he didn't know sin. What does that mean? It means
he didn't experience it. He didn't feel it. It was never
felt by him at all. It was never experienced in his
life. He was never influenced by it. His life was never changed
by it. He was never under its power.
He never knew sin. And when we know Christ, we experience
Christ. Christ is felt in our hearts
if we know him. Christ is experienced in our
lives. Christ influences us. We are
influenced by his presence. Salvation is not a doctrine,
it's a person. Salvation's not a ceremony, it's
a person. Salvation's not just feeling
good, it's feeling Christ. John said, we know Him, our hands
have handled Him, and we've touched Him, and we've fellowshiped with
Him, and we have been under His power. To know Christ is to feel
His presence in the heart. Christ, live it in me. That's
what the Apostles said. It's to know Christ's experience
in our souls. It's to be influenced by His
person. If any man be in Christ, He's a new creature. He's a person
who loves the word of God. He's a person who loves God.
He's a person who loves his neighbor. He's a person who loves the gospel.
He's a person who's panting after holiness. He's a person who hates
sin. He feels Christ in his heart.
He's a new creature and all things pass away and behold all things
become new. If any man be in Christ, in Christ,
he's a new creature. And the scripture says, if any
man have not the Spirit of Christ, he's none of his. So to know
Christ is not only to acknowledge him, it's not only to believe
him. And I didn't say believe about
him, I said believe him. Abraham believed God, and it
was counted to him for righteousness. Paul said, Sirs, I believe God. Not just believe in God or about
God or there is a God, I believe him. And salvation or to know
Christ is to experience Christ. It's for Christ actually to come
in and dwell. He said, My Father and I will
take up our abode in you. It's to walk with Him. And that
brings me to the fourth thing, to know Christ. What is it to
know Christ? It's to fellowship with Him. Now suppose I'm in
a strange city, and I'm walking down the street. It's a busy
street. There are hundreds of people on the street. And I walk
by hundreds of people. I walk by them, hundreds of them.
And I don't stop and talk to any of them. Why? I don't know
them. I don't know them. I've never
been introduced to them. They're not my friends. I don't stop
and talk with them. But I see coming down the street
a man whom I know. He's a friend of mine. I know
him. He knows me. And I smile, and he gets closer
and sees me, and he smiles, and then we stop and begin to talk.
We begin to communicate. We begin to fellowship. We fellowship
because we know each other. We know each other. We have something
in common. We have an intimate, personal
relationship. And we talk together. And we
enjoy one another's presence. There's a difference in knowing
about a famous person and knowing a famous person. And there's
a difference in knowing about Christ and knowing Christ. Yes,
sir, when the weight of sin, to those who know Christ, when
the weight of sin, when the guilt of sin just overflows, and that's
the word the scripture uses, where sin did abound, grace did
much more abound, that is, where sin did overflow, grace did much
more overflow. And when the weight of sin just
overflows our broken spirits and we're pressed down by the
sense of our guilt, Christ is there, our friend, our brother,
to speak peace to our hearts. My peace I give unto you, let
not your heart be troubled. And then when the clouds of failure
and personal faults are made so real that to seem to hide
the son of his love, he's there to speak merciful to us. Father,
forgive them. If any man sins, we have an advocate
with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. If we confess
our sins, he's faithful and just to forgive us. It's all right.
It's all right. It's all paid for. It's all forgiven.
And when the waters of sorrow press on our hearts till they
can weep no more, He is there with his promise and his purpose.
All things, my child, work together for thy good, for thy eternal
good, to those who love me, who are called according to my purpose.
And when men forsake us, as David said, if my mother and father
forsake me, my Lord will take me up. He's mine, and I'm his,
and we know each other. And there's an infinite personal
fellowship. And when I come to the river
at ending of day, and the last winds of sorrow have blown, There'll
be somebody waiting to show me the way. I won't have to cross
Jordan alone. I won't have to cross Jordan
alone. Jesus died all my sins to atone. When the darkness I
see, He'll be waiting for me, and I won't have to cross Jordan
alone. He's my friend, and I fellowship
with Him. That's what it is to know Christ.
It's to acknowledge Him. It's to believe on Him. It's
to experience Him. And it's to have such a personal,
vital union and living fellowship that we commune with him. And
he never leaves us nor forsakes us. Now this message is on cassette
tape. Two messages on each tape. We'll
send them to you if you'll write to us. The cost is three dollars
for both messages. The address will be given to
you at the close of the broadcast. Until next week at this same
time, I bid you a very pleasant good day.

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What Is It to Know Christ?

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