Knowing Jesus

And by this we know that we have come to know him.

If we keep his commandments. Whoever says I know him, but does not keep his commandments is a liar and the truth is not any whoever keeps his word and him truly the love of God's perspective perfected by this we may know that we are in him. Whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked spray heavenly father we come before your throne tonight to praise you.

Thank you.

Just honor and glorify your holy name. What a privilege.

Lord, you've given us. On this Sunday night to come and worship you to open the word of God to look in to see what you would have a student to understand about the great truth is that John wrote about 2000 years ago that are so essential to our lives today. Heavenly father, I thank you for the apostle John a thank you for his heart. I thank you Lord that he was concerned about his the sheet that he pastored and I pray heavenly father that we might feel his heart tonight that we might understand exactly what he was teaching his people.

2000 years ago and in what you have to teach us through that same message tonight. We love you Lord, thank you and praise you for your goodness and loved us helplessly. This passage will give you praise for what you do for us in Jesus name we pray. Amen. You may be seated.

Last week I told you that John is not just writing first John second John third John as a theologian. He is writing as I asked her yes people in his church at Ephesus who were shook up about their standing with God. Some of them don't know where they are left their Savior, not some of them actually believe that they have lost their salvation answer John Walster to deal with that. John is never taught that you could lose your salvation is not just the exact opposite. This is the same John who wrote the gospel on it and by this time here the people in Ephesus is here she is the ones that he was pastoring have got a copy of the, the gospel of John.

They know John 316 for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. They know John chapter 10 verse verse 28 that says and I give them eight life and they shall never perish, neither shall anyone pluck them out of my hand. They had been taught these truths. So why are they experiencing this theory, uneasiness about their salvation about the relationship with Christ while with concerns at least some of them if they might lose their salvation will they were well be a lot of reasons, but we got into verse 19 of this chapter, I think we can see a lot is as they went out from us, but they were not of us, for they had been of us, they would have continued with us, but they went out that it might be made manifest, that they weren't of us. These were people in Ephesus that at here in verse 19 these people and they had had made professions of faith and they some of them were actually leaders in the church and they had a been baptized and have their children baptized. They had testified of the goodness of the Lord Jesus Christ. They were there and the services they sign the hams they they quoted creeds, they lifted their hands and praise and and they were. They are doing the things that everybody else was doing, but they walked away from the faith they walked away from Christ. I walked away from his church, I came to a point where they said the cost is too high. The pressure is too great. The heat is too hot. The diff the that the doctrine is too difficult and CN is too appealing, and they apostatized.

They walked away from the faith that John is like a loving daddy here who takes there is little boy and put them up on his knee and teaches them how to be a man what John's doing here you go back to verse one of chapter 2 has he start the chapter, my little children, stalking us as children hear this godly old man John.

He's probably about 80 years old at this point in time, whose mind is just as sharp as a tack understands exactly what the enemy is trying to do to his beloved people he understands what the enemies doing.

He is trying to attack their assurance because the enemy knows that if a Christian has no assurance that Christian is to be affected. Effective in his Christian life. He knows that he realizes that so that Christian will take his eyes off Christ you begin put his eyes on himself, Robert Murray McShane great preacher from Scotland died. It age 29, but he was a man of God. If ever there was one and he was preaching in an Dundee, Scotland, and we had people in his church that that were dealing and plagued with doubts he would say this to them every time you take a look at yourself. Take 10 looks at Christ Brothers and sisters, that's great advice. Everyone look at yourself.

Take 10 looks at Christ great counsel. This whole letter deals with insurance.

The one word that you to see over and over again the first. John is the word no.

First John chapter 5 verse 13 these things about Nandu you believe in the name of the son of God, that you may know that you have eternal the first thing to know is that Jesus Christ is our salvation. He is the initiator of our salvation.

He is the sustainer of our salvation, our salvation is has a foundation in that foundation is the person of Jesus Christ. First Corinthians chapter 3 verse 11 says that there is no other foundation laid, but that which is laid she is Jesus Christ. Scripture says a here in the it in the first epistle of John, for we have an advocate with the father, Jesus Christ the righteous. For he is our propitiation and not for our sins only, but also for the sins of the whole world assurance does not start with you assurance starts with Christ. Remember what John Murray said for every one look at yourself, make it 10 looks at Christ the church was shook over over these church members that that John is returned referring to in verse 19. What happened to them. They look like Christians like walk like Christians. I taught like Christians like seem to have the same value as those that were true Christians.

What happened to them that Jesus just walk away from. Did the Holy Spirit pack up just leave them or un-reborn didn't did they go back to that date of being in a in a state of spiritual deadness began in their trespasses and sins is is that what happens John says no and he shudders when he speaks. I think he said this, that these people had us fooled and they were fool themselves. He said they were with us, but they were not of us. For if they had been of us, they would have continued with us, but they did not continue. They did not persevere in the faith they did not continue on with the Lord. So what is that prudence does that prove that they lost their salvation not it proves that they never had it to begin with. So like a wise father. John tells his church. Don't let the computers shake you up. Don't let them cause you to question your own faith. But remember this truth.

The proof of salvation is in continuance. If you've been born again justified adopted into the family of God, then you belong to the Lord and the Lord is not gonna let go of you and he's going to do whatever tactics to keep you in continue to help you to persevere in the faith. He will chasten you. He will discipline you.

He will spike you.

He will scourge you if necessary, but you are he is and he does not change his mind.

The gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable, being confident of this very thing, that he was begun a good work in you will perform it to the day of Jesus Christ. So John assures them of this truth, you cannot lose your salvation.

But here's the big question. Are you truly a Christian. Are you in a state of of grace are you a new creation in Christ and in the light of those questions. John says here's a test here's a test just to take to let you know if you are a true Christian and that's what first John is pretty much all about it. It's I called a checkup from the neck up to see if you're truly a believer no idea what three questions. I think that pop up in verses three through six. The first one is the is what is meant by knowing Christ in verses three and four says this and by this we know that we have come to know him.

If we keep his commandments.

Whoever says I know him, but does not keep his commandments is a liar and the truth it's not any remember a few weeks ago, I shared with you one of the great problems and and that John was dealing with was the problem of Gnosticism. The word Gnostic is a Greek word. The word comes from the word, gnosis, meaning knowledge. These people believe that you came to know God through the intellect and so to them the body, what you did. The body was.

Not much of a concern because what God was concerned with was the mind so you had this group of people in Ephesus who were gnostics and they believe that because they understood facts about the gospel and facts about this God that that gave them the them to to live like they wanted to live to do what they wanted to do and they were getting drunk and they were committing adultery. Later they were in all kinds of terrible immorality and there was no desire in their heart at all to restrain from these actions and these things that God had absolutely forbidden in his word. I thought the 10 Commandments were 10 suggestions they didn't think they were good suggestions.

So in verse four John deals with this fallacious thinking. John said he used says he knows him and does not keep his commandments is a liar and the truth is not any I don't personally know anybody today calls itself a Gnostic but I know lots of people who live out the theology of the Gnostic. So what's the answer I think the key is correct in correcting this. The air of the of Gnosticism is getting an understanding of the term, knowing Christ. What is it mean to know Christ and in the Old Testament the word, no was used to describe the intimacy between a husband and a wife. Adam knew his wife and she conceived, and she had a son, and what is that mean does that mean that Adam facts about his wife that he knew that she was created from his rehab that that he knew that of all the other the choices that that God could have given him. She was the one. Well, that's not a whole lot of choice there, but he was the one and at adult does it mean that that the issue new things about her that that were different than him, since she had things about her that were different and she had things about him that were the same. Is that what it means that he had gathered up all these facts about about even, because he had that accumulation of facts they were able to conceive and have a child, absolutely not accumulating facts will not help conception, it will not produce a conception, but physical intimacy will and that's how he knew his wife, and they concede that had a child. So what does that tell me about this verse.

It tells me the Gnostic understanding is totally wrong. Dead wrong. I cannot come to know Christ, just by studying the theology book, I come to know Christ through the word of God and through the power of the Holy Spirit. That's how I come to know Christ. The Scripture teaches us that we are saved by grace through faith. Romans 1017. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. First Peter 123 have been born again, not by corruptible seed but incorruptible through the word of God which lives and abides in you, and if you truly been born again. What happens your new creation. Your new creation for demands in Christ is a new creation.

Old things are passed away bold, all things are become new.

Now think key to understanding what it means to know Christ is found in the biblical understanding of the relationship between husband and wife I was your turn with me if you would first Peter for just a minute.

Chapter 3 and with a look at verse three, four and then 7B Peter says do not let your adorning be external. The brightening of hair and the putting all of gold jewelry or the closing you wire but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's side is very precious. Verse seven. Likewise husband lived with your wise and understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered.

When I do marital counseling or premarital counseling. One of the first places that I go in the Scripture is to first Peter chapter 3. In fact, I think it's one of the most important passages in all the Bible concerning marriage.

I believe that if you want to have a godly marriage.

If you want have a marriage that's gonna work ethic you want have a marriage can be satisfying to you and to your spouse, you need to spend some time learning the principles that God sets down for married here in first Peter chapter 3 in one of the things that he says to the wife is this a said don't be overly concerned with apparel with what you wire with your makeup with your hat your head as you do your hair with the dresses that you wire in the jewelry that you where in all of this that that doesn't mean that those things are not in hope. I think that a wife should is physically attractive for husband as she can possibly be always saying is this, that's not the most important thing he said this is the most important thing wives reveal to your husbands. The hidden man of the heart and what is that the hidden man of the heart ladies is what you are is a woman. I look at it like inside a woman there's all these buttons like on the elevator panel and are all these different buttons and those buttons get pushed. It brings out different reactions and and different feelings and and and different ways of thinking in the lady is a security but the insecurity button so joy but not gloomy button. There's a a vulnerability, but there's all these different buttons then on the inside of the lady they that there they are, and the lady has the responsibility of of helping the husband to see what the hidden man of the heart is to show him where the buttons are to show him what she is is dead on the inside so that he will know her inside and out.

Every wife has a desire to do that every wife would love to be able to reveal to her hut, but oftentimes she doesn't that and why doesn't she do that. I think sometimes because the Y thinks will if he knows I feel that way, or if he knows this causes me to react in a certain way than he laugh at me or he'll mock me or he'll use me or he'll take advantage of me most was don't want to open up. I remember years ago when I was in my former church we had a prayer meeting, Bible study, a 101 evening Wednesday evening and I got finished with my Bible study and and I just look back. There's a lady in the church. It was sit back, they are not as admin, would you close us in prayer tonight and as soon as I did that. Her face turned as red as a beet, and she looked at the floor and I knew I had just messed up royally ice all know, I've called on this woman to pray she doesn't want to pray publicly and she is terribly upset and I started thinking what in the world to do hammock to get out of this and without anybody saying a word. Her husband was standing or sitting right beside her stood up and he said let's pray and he begin to pray and he prayed finished praying that time he was coming to a close out my and I could see that her face it had gotten all the right color back in it again and she seemed to be fine. It was very interesting to me that when he stood up to even say you know my wife generally let me just do it.

It he just knew that this was an area where his wife didn't feel comfortable and he stood up and he was strong in area where she was weak limitation. What happened in that situation.

That woman felt cherished. She knew that that her husband knew her heart and that husband felt greatly respected and I believe they walked out of that service at night with a stronger, stronger marriage than they did when they came in. I personally believe that this this problem in marriages in America today, men don't know their wives.

I know they look like they know what they sound like that they owe them in a physical sense but so many times they don't really know them in a spiritual sense of share this with you before, but when Cindy and I were dating and I started falling in love with her. She she said look we need to talk and so set that on it for about several hours. She begin to just share with me every wrong thing she's ever done in her life and when she was finished she said well I she said I guess you probably don't have anything to do with me anymore and I said on just the exact opposite. I said your EI. I don't expect you to be perfect because I'm certainly not nested, but what you have done is used in me that your transparent you showing the property's that you want me to know what's down inside of you that you're going to reveal to me the hidden man of the heart, and I said if a marriage is going to work. That's the way it's gotta be in that same chapter and verse six. The Scripture says that Sarah bade Abraham and called him Lord and that that cannot, I will do an agreement That Always Scares Ladies the Death Owe No Woman to Call Him Lord of the Word for Lord. They Are in in in the and and in the Not Only the Greek but Go Back to the Hebrew.

It Is Not the Greek Word Despot Test That That Means Sovereign Master and Ruler Is the Hebrew Word Had an Eye, and That Word Means When You Break It down to Opponent Parts in These He Sees Me in My Need the One Who Anticipates What My Needs Are and Meets My Needs without Even Having to Ask How Many Women Would Love to Have a Husband Is an Ad Now That's a Glorious Thing Knowing Jesus Is Similar. We Are the Bride of Christ.

He Desires for Us to Reveal to Him the Hidden Man of Our Heart to Be Transparent with Them to Confess the and When We Have Sin Took to Open up to Him to Quit Being Hypocritical to Just Be Transparent Performing and Then We Need to Know Jesus. I Know Jesus. I Know Jesus but I Want You Know I Don't Know Him near like I'm Going Knowing in the Day Is Coming When I'm in Eternity Where I I'm Good. It Is Is Good with Greatest Thing about Heaven Is That Every's Day the Lord's Gonna Pull the Veil and Show Me a Little More of His Glory, and a Little More of His Glory so That When 10 Million Years Have Passed by. I'm Gonna Realize I Don't Even Have a Smidgen of Understanding How Great This God and Have Glorious He Is. This Is Why the Scriptures Tell Jesus Seek the Lord, the Scripture Tells Us with You.

If Yorty Save 20 Need to Seek the Lord, You Need Just the Lord, Because You Need to Know Him Better. You Need to Knowing Better. We Need to Seek to Know the Hidden Man of Jesus Heart, We Need to Know What What What Motivates You What You Hate What You Love, What Are Your Attributes. What Is Your Nature. We Need to Desire to Know Him Is What Moses Pray for Lord Show Me Your Glory That I Might Know You.

I Look at Verse Three.

Again. By This We Know That We Have Come to Know Him.

If We Keep His Commandments Were Not Talking about Sinless Perfection Were Talking about Your Desires Are Surrender to Christ. Your Your Willingness to Fight the Flash Your Willingness to Be Obedient to God. Do You Know Jesus.

One of the Test Is Is Are You Striving to Keep His Commandments.

You Might Say Will Cash It Sounds like Salvation by Works Know Were Saved by Grace through Faith Plus Nothing but If You Genuinely Had an Experience with Christ Where You Been Born Again by the Spirit of God. There's Got to Be Fruit Your Life and Jesus Said That He Would Know Us Better Hit Know Those That Are He Is by What by Their Fruit.

One of the Fruits of Genuine Christianity Is That You Have a Desire to Keep the Commandments That You Don't Do It Perfectly EU but You Have the Desire to Want to Please Him to Keep the Commandments. I Secondly How Does Knowing Jesus Produce Obedience. Look at Verse Three. Again Now by This We Know That We Know Him. If We Keep His Commandments, and I Will Not Look at Another Verse in Connection with the Essen and First John Chapter 4 Verse 16 Says, and We Have Known and Believed the Love That God Has for Us. God's Love and He Will Bods in Love Abides in God and God in Him to Know Jesus Is to Know That He Is Love That He Is Love. Verse 16 Says We Believe the Love That God Has for Us.

Here's the Key You Will Obey His Commands. If You Know That the One Who Gave Them Is Christ, and He Loves You so Much That He Knows Absolutely What's Best for You. I Remember Several Years Ago for When the Ministry We Had a Bible Study at My Workplace and We Met Every Day during Our Lunch Time and One Particular Season I We Were Going to the 10 Commandments, and That We Were Just Ready to Jump on the Seventh Commandment, Thou Shall Not Commit Adultery, and a New Guy Came in. He Sat down. I Could Tell That He Was Just Empty Look like He Was Searching and We Started Going through This Commandment. His Face Got Red and He Got Angry and He Said Your God Is a Cosmic Killjoy Patient, Look What He Does. Payee Takes It Takes Us Men at Any Gives Us All These Desires. He Puts These Hormones in Our Body. And Then He He Does All of This and Then You Get Married and Then He Says Okay Ha Ha I've Got You Nail and All the Other Women on the Earth Are Off-Limits for You and You Stuck with This One. He Said That's Mean That's on Fire and He Left.

I Found out Later That This Young Man Had Been in an Adulterous Affair, and the Lover That He Was with Was Expecting His Baby. She Didn't Care for Him and Left Him and All She Wanted from Him Was Child Support His Wife. After That Is Too Little Girls Walked Out Of His Life and Wanted Nothing to Do with Him Again. It Was a Heartbreaking Thing.

He Came Back about Two Months Later and Sat down with Us to Tears in His Eyes and He Said You Know What I Was Wrong Is a God's Not a Cosmic Killjoy.

He Wasn't Trying to Destroy My Fun He Was Trying to Keep Me from Destroying Myself John Piper and First Said This about First John 416. So When God Commands You to Do Something and You Ignore It or Go against It Can Only Conclude One Thing You Don't Believe That God Is Love, and Therefore You Don't Knowing If You Believe That God Is Love, and You Would Believe That All His Commandments Were the Very Best Thing for You and You Would Follow Them. When You Turn Away from the Commandments of God. You Say, in Effect, a Loving God Would Not Command Me to Do That and so Our Disobedience Displays Our Lack of Trust in the Plan God Has for Us and It Shows That We Do Not Know God, the Parable Jesus Told in Luke Chapter 19 Where the Is a Master of Some Land Was a Boss and He Had Three Guys Working for Amon and He Gave Each One of Them a Mine, Which Is about This Money Worth about Three Months Wages and so We Gave It All of Them and Then He Left.

He Went Out Of Town for A While. He Came Back Later and He Wanted in the County. What Did You Do with Your Your Money That That That I Gave You in the First Gossip Law Took the Mind of That You Gave Me and I Invested It and Now I Have 10 Minus Because of the Investment and He Said That's Great. He Says I Give You Authority over 10 Cities and Then the Second Guy Jumped up and He Said What Took Your Mina and I Invested It Not.

I Have Now Five Minus from That One and Said That's Great to Get Him Authority over Five Cities with the Third Guy Had a Completely Different Story. Listen to What He Said. Then Another Came, Saying, Lord, Here's Your Mina Which I Laid Away in a Handkerchief Brow Was Afraid of You Because You Are a Severe Man.

You Take What You Did Not Deposit and You Reap What You Did Not Say That Man's Problem. He Didn't Trust the Masters Heart. He Thought the Master Was Cruel.

Don't You Listen to the Essen Final Say Anything Else You Hear Anything Else They Please Hear What I'm Saying Right Here.

The Reason behind All of Our Disobedience of God's Commands Is That We Don't Believe That God's Commands Are an Expression of God's Love. We Think That They Are Are the Word of the Severe God Who Enjoys Withholding from Us the Happiness That We Crave.

So We Disobey. We Prove That We Are Liars Because We Say We Know Him. Third Last Question. In What Sense Is Are Keeping God's Word Perfecting the Love of God. Verse Five but Whoever Keeps His Word, Truly the Love of God's Perfect Beginning. By This We Know That We Are in Him. You Obey the Commandments, and You Keep God's Word in the Love of God Is Going to Be Perfected in You Only Ask You Question Christian What Change Most in Your Life When You Got Saved. I Had a Alcohol Problem before I Came to Know the Lord Came to Know the Lord, the Lord Delivered Me from That Set Me Free from That It Was a Great. It Was a Glorious Thing in My Life, but It Was Not the Greatest Change. I Know a Man Who Was Homosexual and the Lord Saved Him and There Was Genuine Repentance and Genuine Brokenness and Genuine Deliverance in Was a Great Change That Was Not His Greatest Change. I Know a Guy Was a Womanizer Who Just Went after One Woman after Another after Another and Just Totally Took Advantage of Them Came to Know Christ the Lord Broke His Heart. He Repented and It Was a Great Change in His Life, but It Was Not the Greatest Change.

Praise God for Changes in Our Behavior, but Let Me Tell You about the Greatest Change, the Love of God Enters the Heart and the Desire to Fight Sin Is No Longer Just a Desire to Gain a Better Reputation. It's Not Just a Desire to Be Free from the Sin That Has Us in Bondage and It's Not Just to Be Healthier, Physically and Spiritually. Here It Is. You Will Desire to Keep His Commands. Because the Love of God Rules of Your Heart and You Will Desire to Please Him Because He Loves You That Much. Here's the Truth, the Love of God Produces a Love for God Will Close with Martyn Lloyd Jones Commentary on Verse Six He Says He Abides in Him on Himself Also to Walk As Jesus Walked. Martyn Lloyd Jones Says If You Say That You Are in Him. If You Say His Life Is in Your Life If You Say You like the Branch to the Vine, Then You Will Bear the Character of the Tree That Is Inevitable. See How Our Lord Walks through the Pages of the Four Gospels.

The First Thing You See Is a Humble Lowly and Meek Person. A Bruised Reed Shall He Not Break the Smoking Flax Shall He Not Quench Coming to Me.

He Says Learn of Me for I Am Meek and Lowly in Heart, It Is As We Look at Him As We Begin to Examine Our Sales That We Feel That We Have No Right to Be Here at All. There Is so Often a Hardness about Our Testimony.

We Think We Are in Him We Imagine We Are Testifying to the Power of the Christian Life. But the Great Thing We Know about Him Is That He Was Meek and Lowly World Does Not Encourage Modesty. I'm Afraid That at Times the Church Today Does Not Do so Either We Try to Imitate the World and We Become Self Assertive. We Are so Afraid of Being Called Weaklings by the World That We Develop into a Boisterous, Christian, but I Do Not See That the New Testament Meek and Lowly. We Are Anxious to Impress and It's As True the Church As It Is of the World. The Church Would Turn the Preacher into a Man of Great and Dominating Personality. How Different That Is from What We Find Here We Ought to Walk As Christ Walked His Great Concern Was to Do the Will of God to Please Him and Not to Please Men Is a Man of Sorrows and Acquainted with Grief He Mourned Because of the Sin of This World. It Hurt. It Pained Him, We Share Something of His Godly Sorrow Because of the State of the World.

Paul Puts It like This in Second Corinthians 54 We Do Grown Be in Burdened Do We Grown Do We Give the Impression of Being Burdened Because of the Sin and Iniquity That Is Rampant around Us and about Us.

That Is How He Walked and That Is How We Ought to Walk and above All We See in Him. Love to God and Love toward Men and Women Is Compassion Is Sympathy His Patients. His Lovingkindness This Is an Inevitable Test That John Does Not Say If You Live That Life You're Making Yourself a Christian, but Route Rather. If You Are Christian Then This Is How You Really a Man Must Pray Heavenly Father We Thank You for This Great Passage of Scripture and We Thank You Lord for John's Heart.

Lord John Walk with Christ and John Had a Desire to Be like Jesus. That's Why Was Able to Write the Things That He Did Because He Experienced It Firsthand. Heavenly Father, Help Us, That That We Might Have That Same Desire That That Lord We Might Realize That You Don't Treat Us like a Severe Balls but Ural Loving God Who Always Desires for Us What's Best Not Always What We Want, but What's Best. What Will Bring Us Ultimate Joy and Will Bring Glory to the Name of Christ Help Us Heavenly Father That We Might Look to You and Not Look to Self That Lord We Might Desire to Be Obedient to You, Not Just to Gain a Good Reputation, Not Just to Get Physically Healthier Spiritually Healthy Lord That Jesus Christ Might Be Glorified That Our Life Might Be Pleasing to Him That We Might Realize His Love and That It Might Show in Our Account. It's in Your Holy, Precious and Wonderful Day and Would Pray, Amen