In this sermon, the preacher emphasizes the importance of knowing, receiving, and believing in Jesus Christ. He highlights the need for repentance and belief in the gospel as commanded by God. The preacher emphasizes that it is by the grace of God that individuals are able to see their own shortcomings and come to a realization of their need for salvation. He emphasizes that knowing and receiving Jesus Christ is not based on human effort or will, but is a result of God's work in the hearts of believers. The sermon encourages listeners to have a deeper understanding and rooted knowledge of these truths in their relationship with Christ.

Don't forget to be praying for our praise and worship leader as he flies to Ecuador to fetch his woman and they'll be wed the 26th, 26th and so Just we just that's a answer to a lot of people's prayer Because Tim, you know, Tim has desired expressed that years ago To have a life a godly wife and and he was picky and uh He inquired to the lord as to what he would like to have it as a wife and the lord was Faithful and has brought that woman Took the lord a while to find one And she was in ecuador Actually, if you hear the story and I would like for them sometime to share that whenever she comes back as mrs shanker The story about how even years ago that god gave her a a vision Somewhat of a vision about her husband and it was tim pretty amazing pretty amazing and so god is in the business of Putting people together for his glory and um Marriage is is a great great gift Those of you that are not married Marriage is a great gift those of you that have been married. It's still a great gift And god purposed it really not for happiness but holiness And I think that's why we are so upside down in culture And while we see such a divorce rate Is because people don't understand that God purposed marriage the pinnacle purpose of marriage is for a man and a woman to be holy in marriage And that happiness is a subjective thing and not objective in marriage and um Marriage has a unique way of knocking down our offensive spines And to smooth them out and um I often refer to stacy as the second holy spirit That points out things to me And that and I need them I really do and I try to be a good a good pupil after the pouting goes away That uh I think I think i'm learning And so anyway, i'm thankful for having a 26 year blessed marriage and then hoping for at least 26 more and so my guys at work asked me the other day said Chief when you're going to retire I said Will you guys be praying for me that I can make it to a retirement 25 under my belt and 25 to go 25 under my i'm just kidding I don't think i'll I don't think i'll make 25 more years of what i've been through in the first 25 years Well, let's go to the to the uh lord and ask him for help and we're going to continue in our exposition of the gospel according to john Lord you're quite familiar with weakness The lord you are mindful regarding men that stand in pulpits That you've assigned there that stand in complete weakness The lord you and your wisdom have chosen the foolishness of preaching For the salvation of those who are being saved You've chosen it. It's something that you have in your perfect wisdom Chosen That You've chosen to put men in pulpits that are men that have sin and foolishness bound in their inward most being And lord you have called them knowing that they are such And placed them in these offices lord that are perfect and much larger than they But lord, I ask that you would give me grace sufficient lord today For the colossal task at hand and that is to give exposition Of the word of truth in a way that brings honor to your name. I have no ability Inside of me natively to do this Hide me in christ. Oh god Hide me in christ clothe me with christ and I pray that the power of the holy spirit would come upon a weak vessel such as I Father I pray that you would do a work in the hearts of the listeners and the hearers lord They would hear the voice of the holy one of israel resounding through the text resounding through the scriptures and that they would receive it lord as the voice of god the word of god that they would allow Their heart to be transformed because of it Father I pray that your name will be greatly glorified as your word lord is proclaimed faithfully today Not by the strength of the wisdom or intellect of man But lord by the demonstration of the power of our god that is manifest even in and through the preaching of the scriptures So lord, I pray that today would not be a day without gain but a day with great gain lasting fruit For the name and glory of our lord who is altogether perfect lovely and worthy of it And we give you the praise in jesus name. Amen Now we have uh Progress beyond john the baptist i'm not going to thunder out about repentance today Breathe deeply but I do want to make mention that last week's sermon Is imperative for the body of christ? It's not the word of a man It's the word that comes from our lord. It's the message of the hour Amen, but today we're going to Move on forward in our study of the gospel according to john we have Gone past we've progressed beyond the ministry of john the baptist and I know that all through the first chapter of john's gospel it emphasizes and then it It goes on forward Away from john the baptist and then again it brings john back into the picture Backs out of it a little bit and goes back brings john back in um I probably unless the lord would Interrupt And say I think you need to go a different direction I probably am done Even though there is not this has not been an exhaustive Uh four parts on john the baptist four hours for the greatest prophet that ever walked on on On earth and soil I I don't like it It could be exhausted, but I think that we've done it justice and I don't know that i'll revisit it again While we're in first john, so but today i'm going to start part one of um Starting in verse 9 and we're going to go through verse 13 and this This is so rich and it's so deep and it's it's colossal it's large It has so such doctrinal value in it There is no way that I can accomplish this in a week or two And so we're going to be camping out on verse 9 through 13 probably for the next month or two And so today i'm we're going to talk about one word And i'm going to I don't want to rush through this and to put you in information overload I want to walk Through the scriptures and have the spirit of god help us to gleam from and for this to be unpacked and that we can learn from it and to have a gate to gain an Understanding of what what the apostle is trying to say to us And so let's go to the text We're going to start in verse 9 and it says that was the true light Which lighteth every man that cometh into the world? He was in the world and the world was made by him And of course, we know that Because of the former text that we did Give some time to expound upon namely the supremacy of jesus christ in creation That this does indeed tie with that That the light that has come into the world it lightens every man He was in the world the world was made by him and the world knew him not He came unto his own And his own received him not Now there there is several weeks in that But as many as received him To them gave he the power to become sons of god Even to them that believe on his name which were born not of blood Nor of the will of the flesh Nor of the will of man but of god And so within these four passages There is tremendous truths that I believe are beneficial to the church that's been neglected in our our modern culture Within what's called the church And that needs to be brought out taught instructed And expounded upon that we may come to the knowledge of what the spirit of god is trying to reveal to us In these truths that I think that we may skim over but yet not have any roots growing down into the depths Of the knowledge that should be bursting up forth from them And so today we're going to hone in on one part of three things and i'm going to hone in on for the next three weeks and the message entitled Title is knowing and receiving and believing and these are three Things that are made mention of here in john chapter one And the world the word of god says the world was made by him and the world knew him not There's a lack of knowing a lack of knowing and then it goes on to say but as many as received him to them He gave power to become the sons of god And so there is our receiving and then even to them that believe on his name Which were born out of blood nor the will of the flesh nor the will of man but of god there is your believing part and so I spent a little time in contemplation and prayer regarding how to address this whether or not I should Breeze through them quickly or take some say law moments and to Pause and meditate upon them one at a time and I came to the inward conclusion That it would be most beneficial for the church and those that will be listening abroad via the internet For us to take time and to just relax for a moment And to set and to receive the instruction that comes And to have a little bit more depth and root regarding these three truths and characteristics regarding our relation to our lord and savior jesus christ now These passages right here have everything to do with our relation to christ Do they not It says that he gave the power to become sons of god Even to them that believe on his name and we're living in a day and time where there's a lot of talking about the knowing of jesus christ And i'm not too sure that we know what the knowing is and so I want to camp out just for a few moments today and to I believe give a scriptural and a biblical revelation to us about what it means to know christ And I want you to note the progression Everything in the prologue of john builds up on what has been formerly laid. That's how prologues work And so he talks about this knowing and it is the most elementary of all of the characteristics that define Our relation to our lord and savior jesus christ there is the knowing and then you progress and it really it becomes a A flower that blooms and it matures into a receiving which then begins to migrate and to mature Into a believing and all of them are different by definition But it all works towards the transforming of the heart that is dead and trespasses and sins into the new life that he gives in To us and puts on the inside of us in the new birth to whereby we are called then the sons of god and so I'm I made mention in my notes that in this text here where it says that the world knew him Not the knowing of christ is the lowest level Characteristic that is mentioned by the apostle in his gospel regarding our relation to jesus christ But notwithstanding beloved understand this it's vital It's vital And I I was reading through one of the great fathers of the faith Regarding some of these texts and he he made a very a very good statement He says in christianity so often the church Preaches the gospel that wants to bring in someone midstream without having these elementary or these Fundamental truths laid down to where they begin at the beginnings and then go on through and mature at the rate of grace But we want to bring them through To a place where they don't have capacity to be And I agree with them. I believe it's imperative that we lay down the and Spend time giving comments and gospel oriented or biblical revealed remarks about what does it mean? To to know christ. What does it mean? We're living in a generation where the terminology is being tossed around a lot But you know christianity is not a religion it's about knowing christ and I agree with that But only if you're knowing christ is knowing christ How do you define knowing christ and we'll talk about it a little bit more? But we're living in a culture to where people are being taught if you can just give mental assent to a few theological Propositions and that you can agree to a denomination standards regarding them and submit yourself to water baptism Whether by sprinkling or dunking then they say that you know him and beloved. That's not biblical It's not biblical and we need to understand. What do the scriptures say about these things? and so John is telling us here that that knowing christ is a requisite For us to become sons of god And in order that we become we must begin at the beginning We must understand the fundamental characteristics and then we'll later on move towards the two characteristics that are latter namely receiving jesus christ and believing on his name each of which I want to reiterate differ by Definition and also by responsibility Now I want you to note that the apostle has put this forth to us in negative terms Regarding the unbelieving jews. He was in the world The world was made by him And the world did not know him and I was just looking over at uh at the pharisees and John answered it and says I i'm baptizing with water because the pharisees of the sadducees have sent people out to ask john Who are you? You didn't go to the prophet school. You didn't attend baptism 104 point b section c a levitical school of the pharisee sadducee isms Who do you think you are and john answered them saying I I baptize with water But there is one standing among you whom you know Not the one that created them and all seen things and all unseen things was standing in their midst and they did Not know him And there are those in the church that sing songs about him week in and week out and throw his name around that yet Do not know him And this is an elementary thing, but it's progressive but yet it's vital for us to become the sons of god children of god and so I want you to remember historically where we were at that. John the baptist was in the wilderness He's thundering out repentance Submission to a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins He's addressing the pharisees and the sadducees and he's calling them broods of vipers for Envenomating the people of god the chosen of god namely the jews with false doctrines that they had a just standing in the eyes of almighty god because of ancestry or Ancestral genealogy and this is the doctrines that were being taught in the schools this is what was being preached and john the baptist immediately says the acts need to be laid to the root because There is unbelief you are not even recognizing the one that is amongst you You are having and you hear repent and you say within yourself. There's nothing wrong with me I am a jew. I have a lineage that ties all the way back into abraham The father of the faith and and here we see this great man of god bringing these tremendous insults of them saying that you are nothing Your ties to abraham mean nothing If you were abraham's sons, you would do the works of abraham, but you do not and you are of your father the devil Look, if you can imagine saying that to the theological leaders today I'm sure it went over quite well because they were maintaining justification through genealogy Their just position before god was due to abraham and their Kinship to him But nonetheless john called him a brood of viper and they had to put an axe to the root They were cut off as it says in romans chapter 11 because of their unbelief The root the axe was laid to the root. They were cut off because of unbelief. Their hearts were hardened against god They rejected the the the mighty one of israel. They rejected the one that had come to atone for their sins And so they would not repent The pharisees and the sadducees would not submit to john's baptism The axe indeed was laid to the root because of their unbelief now in this prologue We find that he came into the very world that he had made And the world did not know him And even though this is given to us by the apostle and the negative tense. It's purposely given to us to know that We must receive christ if we're to experience the tremendous privilege of becoming sons of god Now I mentioned earlier i'm, not too sure that we Understand what it means in the biblical sense to know jesus christ as the christ In most evangelical circles that I made mentioned earlier of this It simply means that we give a mental assent to a few theological propositions And that we follow the organization's prescribed methodology Such as a short repeat prayer followed by a baptism in water whether it is sprinkling or whether by by immersion And then we ascribe to them that they indeed at this moment in time know and have received jesus christ Albeit, there's no scripture to support it and Because of that I'm going to take my time today And we're going to slow things down And we're going to lay down what knowing jesus christ truly means in the biblical sense Why? So that our cultural notions Can be overcome Because we have them we have them now If you have your notebook out begin to take notes now Knowing has much to do with recognition With recognition in regards to the advent of christ the jews didn't recognize jesus. They didn't know who he was He wasn't known to them the word of god says in john chapter 7 verse 11 through 16 The jews sought him at the feast if you'll go back to john 7 1 It talks about that the the feast of tabernacles was nigh And the people all would come together and they would assemble and they would celebrate the feast of tabernacles But jesus withheld himself from it because he knew that the jews were unhappy with him Anyway, so he withheld himself and it says That they they sought him at the feast and they said where is he? And there was as much murmuring among the people concerning him for some said he is a good man Others said nay, but he deceived the people How be it no man spake openly of him for fear of the jews Now about the midst of the feast jesus went up into the temple and taught Look at this and the jews marveled Saying How knoweth this man letters having never learned jesus answered them and said my doctrine is not mine But his who sent me and so here we see the jews Seeking christ at the feast of tabernacle There was much talk regarding christ who others thought that he was or who he was some were positive although they were Theologically amiss they're positive. But yet we see others that were quite blasphemous Saying that he deceives the people Nevertheless, the jews marveled at the teaching of jesus saying how knoweth this man letters Having never learned and what are they making mention of that jesus there has never been a man On the face of the earth that was more of an expert at the law Namely the letters than jesus of nazareth We're talking about god incarnate That the law is pointing that he is the fulfillment of the self-same law that was given to us by moses at the very will of god And jesus knowing the law perfectly was standing with great authority in the uh In the temple and was expounding But they're like, where did this man come from? He didn't graduate with a doctoral degree He doesn't come to us wearing tassels about him as the pharisees do He doesn't dress as they do. He doesn't speak as they do this man speaks with tremendous authority and wisdom And it says that the jews were astonished by him but yet They still didn't know him And they still didn't know him They were marveling at the teaching of jesus Saying how know what this man letters having never learned What are they marveling at what are they admiring Christ didn't have any teachers of the law. He didn't sit under the great Prophets in the schools in jerusalem. Neither did he travel around the world to study under the great philosophers of the day But they were amazed at him And this brings out a great discovery. I think we need to think upon It's all together possible to be amazed and impressed by jesus and still be ignorant regarding recognizing him for who he is You can be amazed. You can be perplexed you listen, you can think that he's a good man But still not know him They were amazed they they were Totally gripped by everything that he had to say but still although they were amazed Although they were somewhat mesmerized by the authority in which he spoke and his learnedness in the letters They didn't recognize who he was Could it be in the church of our lord and savior jesus christ today? That we sing songs about a lord that we don't know And it's possible it's probably not for us, but it's possible And so they were ignorant about recognition They didn't know who jesus was The jewish doctors of the law there. They were amazed they were bewildered, but they were still in darkness regarding who jesus christ was They noted a great distinction But that distinction was not Known the distinction is that there is one among them who's holy there's one amongst them That's god clothed in the flesh. There is emmanuel god with us amongst them and they knew him not They did not know him The very one that created everything both seen and unseen that is standing in their midst and they did not know him And the apostle paul in his first letter to the church of corinth addressed The jewish leaders leaders the religious leaders of the day and he also addressed their inability To recognize who jesus was if you'll turn with me in your bibles to first corinthians chapter 2 We'll take a look at this The apostle says in verse 7 that we speak the wisdom of god in a mystery even hidden wisdom Which god ordained before the world unto our glory Which none of the princes of this world knew? Or had they known it There's that word. No Had they known it? They would not have crucified the lord Of glory, so none of the princes of the world knew him He was not recognized for who he was And it's one of our great inward wrongs that we have in our native capacity or incapacity to know jesus christ for who he is I'd love to listen to me if you being one of his followers Would like to test this very truth today that in your native condition, you cannot know him Go after the service go to walmart Find someone that's unconverted and begin to speak with them about jesus Talk about him and his person talk about jesus in his ministry talk about jesus and his message And then look into their eyes You'll either see bewilderment Or just altogether a lack of care A lack of concern And you know those to be true, right? And why is this? It's because they're in darkness Remember the passage that the supremacy of jesus christ and darkness that the light has come into the world, but the darkness has not comprehended it They're in darkness they're blind They're blind concerning who he is their scales upon their eyes regarding his supremacy and his lordship the darkness within them Is binding them they it's incomprehensible to them. They do not know him The apostle says this in second corinthians chapter four verses three and four but if our gospel be hidden It is hidden to them that are lost In whom the god of this world has blinded the minds of them which believe not lest the light of the glorious gospel of christ Who is the image of god should shine unto them? Now beloved this knowing goes even beyond recognition It also lends itself to acknowledgement It goes beyond recognizing it goes to acknowledging to the acknowledgement christ is not only Recognized but he also becomes acknowledged christ as deity And this is the thing The self-same author that i've just been been reading You know, dr. Jones was making mention he said do you find it Intriguing Somewhat intriguing that the people in our modern culture and this was back in 1963 They make inference to they'll talk about jesus But they won't talk about his lordship That jesus helps me with my football games Jesus helps me with my bowling tournaments It's a jesus that's formed in our own image He says he's there's very little Reference to his lordship and him being master overall that Culture as it is is perfectly content for jesus as a man But it's absolutely indifferent or hostile to that. Jesus is 100 percent god The spirit of god must quicken a man before we can recognize Know who he is as god Not as a good man, but as god God in the flesh that the word became flesh and dwelt among us The spirit of god must quicken Make alive the man that is dead in his sins because we are blind regarding it It says this he's the god of this world's blinded the minds of them which uh, believe not Lest the light of the glorious gospel of christ who is the image of god Should shine to them And so again This goes beyond recognition. It begins to deal with acknowledgement christ is not only recognized He's also acknowledged knowing, uh Knowing is It's just more than recognition Although it is recognition It's acknowledging But it's even more than acknowledging It starts to lend itself to valuing It starts to lend itself to valuing and we'll see this more next week in the week after that beloved Knowing has to do with valuing him for who he is as the spirit of god begins to open up your Understanding as the gospel of jesus christ Is being proclaimed to you as you're being instructed as you're being taught that the lights are just starting to come on that you are Beginning to know him. Is there a knowing apart from the word of god? No God reveals himself to us through the glorious gospel of christ who is the image of god And so so I want to make mention that knowing not only sees And knowing not only recognizes christ as god's son The glorious king of kings the king of all kings and the glorious lord of all lords and the one who became flesh and dwelt Among us there is an acknowledging in so much that we become filled with a sense of awe and wonder That he is not a man such as we that he is deity among us that has come to rescue us from ourselves And so it produces a delighting It produces a delighting in him Now, let me give a um a short scriptural account of this knowing and recognizing and acknowledging That lends itself to the production of a sense of wonder and awe if you'll turn with me in your bibles to matthew chapter 16 right quick Matthew 16 It says in verse 13, let's look at it together when jesus came Into this coast of cesare philippi. He asked his disciples saying who? Do men say that I the son of man am And they said some say that thou art. John the baptist some elias And others jeremiah's are one of the prophets Do you see this they did not recognize him? They did not know him. They noted something distinct Did they not? I mean not everyone is It not everyone says that you're like one of the prophets Jonah or elijah? No, no, there's a distinction but then jesus says that Who do you say that I am? Who do you say that I am and simon peter answered and said thou art the christ the son of the living god Now listen to jesus's reply And jesus answered and said unto him blessed art thou and let me note something Anytime you see that word blessed it's having to do with those that are redeemed Never in scripture. Will you see that word blessed tied together with those who are Are given unto perdition or unbelief. It's always the blessed Are always those that have been brought into a state of grace with our god Blessed art thou simon bar jonah for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee But my father which is in heaven now you can go and I could spend time. I'm not going to But I will in weeks to come this ties directly into what jesus is saying that this is a work of god It's not by the will of the flesh This is a work of god Salvation is a work of god And I believe that we press adequately some weeks ago about about regeneration And then we stress the importance of it regeneration is a work of god And yes, beloved we believe yes beloved we repent. Oh, don't ever misconstrue that Don't misconstrue that but salvation is a work of god It's not a work that we do. It's a work that he does god saves Amen, god saves salvation is of him Now I believe the text is quite self-explanatory Jesus was putting his his disciples to a test of recognition Do you know who I am You see because he he made inquisition of the others Who do they say and they were giving all of these great and even admirable, uh answers that you're a good man You're a prophet. You're a teacher But he says no, but who those that are that are closest to him. He's speaking now to the 12 He says but who do you say he is putting them to a test. Do you even you know me? Do you even know me and so he was revealing himself to them And in and through his walk with them he was revealing himself to them and and he was He was inquiring about did even his own disciples know him Do you know me? Jesus knew the answer why he already knew what was in man He already knew what was within man he knew their thoughts from many times in scripture We'll see that jesus perceiving their thoughts He knew the answer But they needed to know the answer He was dealing with them. Do you recognize who is amongst you? I am not just another prophet I am not john the baptist. I am the king of all kings and lord of all lords I'm the one that has come from heaven I am the very man that's been sent by god for you to feed upon that You might have life eternally and life abundantly. Do you recognize who is in your midst? And beloved we if we are if we know christ we must recognize Who he is we must know him. We must acknowledge him and we must desire him and value him and glorify him Nevertheless, we see simon's retort And he says that thou art the christ the son of the living god And then we see the response of jesus and it is a staggering response at that. He says thou art the christ I'm, sorry He said blessed art thou simon barjona because flesh and blood hasn't revealed this to you my father in heaven has shown you Illuminated within you you have had an awakening inwardly You now see what you have not seen before that. I am he who the prophet spoke of I am He who the law pointed toward I am he who the psalmist wrote songs about I am he that is soon to die Up on the tree for the sins of the world that I am god in the flesh And he says that you have not gained this knowledge from your own inward intellect My father has given this to you And so this is an important truth The natural man is blinded by sin The natural man has no ability within himself to know christ He simply cannot recognize him I was reading over a while ago It was just by sheer accident That I looked at luke chapter 24 i'll venture away from my notes and Look there if you want to go with me, I promise I won't make a big to do with this Y'all have to forgive me that i'm fixing to become a roast turkey up here Is it hot in here to you That's a stupid question. I think i'm having a hot flash It is Now look at verse 13 with me and behold to the disciples that same day Came to a village called emmaus Which was from jerusalem about three square furlongs and they talked together of all the things that happened in jerusalem in the crucifixion the resurrection And it came to pass that while they communed together and reasoned Jesus himself drew near And went with them Verse 16 says but their eyes were holding that they should not know him They're walking with jesus his disciples and they don't know who he is And then you turn on over to verse 31 it says and then after this discourse their eyes were opened And they knew him Their eyes were opened and they knew him So here we see that their eyes were withheld They could not know him. They did not know him And then we see once again that he opens their eyes and they know him and the point I want to bring out is that our god must do the work of Awakening us bringing us to the knowledge of who jesus christ is It's a work of god It is the paradigm miracle in the new birth that we come to a place to where we don't associate Jesus just with a good guy that helps people whenever they run out of money and can't can't buy Food or whatever it might be know that he is the supreme Creator of the universe that he is deity that he is god in the flesh god alone has to bring this Awakening and this knowledge to us It's not something that we have on the inside of us natively I think one of the great maladies of our generation is is that we truly don't have a clue what's in us natively If we knew what was within us natively we would be in fear and the reason that this is not a A shocking statement is because we still don't know what's within us. The bible says that the heart is deceitfully wicked It's ugly. It's evil who can know it the heart the human heart Word of god talks about a man and his sin is dead Dead separated alienated cut off without god that hope in this world Hostile against god and enmity with him hating everything that comes forth from him And but people don't believe that you take a poll take a consensus and people believe that they're good It's antithetical to the bible It's antithetical to scripture Beloved if we don't come to an awakening of the depth of our depravity our inward need and beloved How shall we ever call upon him who has come that we might be saved through him? People will go to church and they will confess of jesus that will give them a bigger house and a nicer new car But beloved whenever it comes down to take up your cross and deny yourself and follow me and the new car gets totaled out And you don't even have a car anymore. How far are we going to go with jesus? How far will we go? jesus didn't die on the cross to to bind us with Temporal things And that's what temporal things with the love of them does the pursuit of them. It binds people and so The natural man doesn't have any capacity within himself to know christ. He cannot recognize christ The unsaved man may hear jesus christ and admire him as a good man or a prophet or some great religious icon But his eyes are blind and his ears are deaf regarding the very deity of christ that he's god incarnate the self-same Simon peter when asked by our lord once the crowds were all offended And they left jesus because he's preaching about eating his flesh and drinking his blood But Many things that jesus says as an offense I was talking about the underbar boys wednesday night. I said this book will divide families This book will divide friends Jesus said I did not come to bring peace But I came to bear a sword and swords divide when you take a stance with christ beloved you will embark upon a life of Of people hating you and persecuting you when you are walking with him You'll when you're walking with christ and righteous you beloved even those of your own house will come against you. Jesus said Don't measure the spirituality of a man by his popularity The word of god says take heed when all men speak highly of thee Beloved when you're walking with jesus christ when you're acting and living in a way that god's called you to live upright and godly before Man, the culture that you and I live in will not only have crucified christ. They will crucify you You will not person you would not you will not get past it you cannot avoid it It's the cross. It's the cup that we drink true christianity cannot be culturally palatable It's an offense it's a stumbling block And church-going people don't believe this And we don't proclaim it from pulpits and whenever someone comes and makes a confession of faith or we walk him through The principles that we build And tell him that he now is knows and believes and has received christ and he goes out into an unbelieving world And begins to talk about this christ. He gets he gets crucified If he has no root if he's not begun in the beginning he will quickly fade away He will quickly have a change of mind regarding whether or not he's even going to follow jesus christ and sadly Make statements such as I hear from time to time from parishioners That make statements such as this. I don't even know If I want to be a christian anymore But we see here That they're all leaving. Jesus. His followers are all leaving him They've all become offended because of the radical statements that jesus is making inference of eating flesh and drinking his blood And that is quite the statement I must say but I love the impromptu nature of peter Many of his disciples turned back john 6 66 and they no longer walked with him verse 67 Then jesus said to the 12. Do you want to go away? Also, do you want to go away as well? And so i'm with peter and his impromptu Nature that was within him said lord to whom shall we go? Listen to this. Listen what he says You have the words of eternal life who would we go to It says that we have believed listen to this terminology and we have come to know That you're the holy one of god We've believed and not just that we have come to know We where would we go? We are just now beginning to see the very reason that god created us is for this very purpose to walk with you To honor you to glorify you to do those things which you command of us That's the very we're just now beginning to get this you have the words of life We're just now getting to know this That you're god That you're god that you're not just a prophet you are the messiah You're god's messiah. You're the deliverer of israel. You are the soon coming king And listen to this Talked about I don't like I made mention of this In the last four weeks about john the baptist. There was a point in time when john was in prison He was in prison about six months and i'm sure that he probably didn't feed him anything if they fed him anything. It was probably Deprived prisoners of food. I mean this was a barbaric system And in darkness probably in isolation John the baptist is and God revealed him to me. I didn't know him. There's that word again I did not know him But god showed me and god spoke to me while I was in the desert the one that you the spirit of god come upon and remain at baptism It is he he is israel's savior and then we see john the baptist pointing jesus out knowing him saying Here's the land of god that takes away the sin of the world But john the baptist in prison and he sends two of his disciples of jesus questioning saying are you he? And there are times under duress that even a true christian can question Are you who god promised you to be who god says that you are there's times You know, I don't want you to think that if you've ever had that question enter into your mind that you're You're a hopeless lost cause Because even john the baptist the greatest of all prophets Questioned are you with me even though he knew he still questioned And you can understand the reason for that john the baptist was a jew He was taught his whole life he he read the law That jesus was to come and to be in jerusalem and set his kingdom up And jesus didn't come the way that he thought He was spending his time in galilee He didn't come with this great power and authority to bring rome under subjection to where his kingdom overtook the roman kingdom And thrust it out and then that he set up his kingdom from jerusalem to where he would rule and reign physically It's a spiritual kingdom. They missed it And john is starting to think on these things in isolation and in prison and deprivation And now he's starting to question and there's times in your life when you're going to undergo Very very difficult times and that's what the enemy will come taunting and tempting you with Is he really the christ is he really the christ the son of the living god How did jesus get tempted himself satan came to him three separate times in the wilderness? Are thou the crowd thou are if you're the christ if you're the christ if you're the Challenging his sonship challenging his position as god And so back To john 6 it's worth noting that the other disciples departed from christ They didn't walk with him any longer They did not know him While peter continued and you must ask yourself the question why because he knew christ and they did not Jesus said for flesh and blood has not revealed this unto thee but my father which is in heaven I love it. Listen, i'm almost done knowing christ is it's revelatory It's not just simple mental agreement it's revelatory it's a gift that god gives to us It's a heart knowing it's deep inside the very fabric of your dna it's something that's Supernatural and not just natural something it's a gift that god Puts in you it's a an awakening as it might be it's not native to us The apostle paul says in first corinthians 2 14 what is native to us This is what's native to us. The natural man receiveth not the things of god The natural man receiveth not the things of the spirit of god for they are foolishness unto him neither can he know them There's that word again, no The natural man does not receive the things of the spirit of god for they are foolishness unto him Neither can he know them because they are spiritually discerned beloved there is no knowing in the accurate and biblical sense of knowing in The conjuring of thoughts in the mind or even the esteeming of certain things are characteristics about jesus It is a work of god in the human heart As the gospel of jesus christ is being proclaimed god facilitates god uses this gospel to bring alive People to hear the gospel and then for them to believe and repent The preaching of the gospel of jesus christ is god's chosen means that we might know him God does the giving of life. We do the believing that's responsive to the proclamation of the gospel and beloved That's that's a bible way of knowing It's a bible way of knowing we preach the gospel We preach the gospel and because the gospel is being preached we believe are you with me? We know We know we receive and we believe because of the gospel and the power of it Paul said i'm not ashamed of the gospel Of jesus christ for it is the power of god unto salvation To the jew first and then to the greek He said i'm not ashamed. It's a power of god You think well the folly of it the foolishness of it the limitations of it the weaknesses of the man that's preaching it But god's chosen it and so knowing him As the christ god incarnate is none other than god revealing himself to us Through his son in the face of jesus christ It's not a natural phenomenon. It's a supernatural act of god By nature, we don't receive the things of god. They're folly unto us So when god begins to do this heart work, it's beyond our sphere. It's beyond our sphere of recognition We do not have the capacity to recognize christ as god until god comes and does something in our heart And the beginning work of that is the gospel of jesus christ being preached the gospel of jesus christ being preached The apostle says neither can he know them Why they are spiritually discerned and i'm about done and i'll conclude with a couple things Knowing is a entry-level characteristic of our relation to jesus christ It builds upon that It necessitates it But it builds up on it knowing him Lends itself to receiving him which lends itself in believing on his name That we may have the the privilege of being called sons of god as it goes on to declare But this entry-level knowledge And work is crucial it's imperative If we do not know him, it's because we are remaining in darkness And so I end this with this simple questions Has god's spirit Revealed Christ to you And has he revealed christ to you as god? Do you know him Have you recognized him? Have you acknowledged him? Have you preferred him above all in your life? This is knowing This is knowing that god is revealing these things to you and giving you a spiritual discernment Do you value him above everything in your life If the answer to that question is no Then you do not know him and you yet remain in darkness If you recognize that he is god that you value prefer him above everything beloved god has done this work In you fall to your knees in gratitude But if you don't know him this way You are remaining in darkness And even in this moment the spirit of god's calling you to faith and repentance This question is the most important question in all of eternity Do you know jesus christ Do you know jesus christ i'm not asking you if you have christian parents this is not by The the issue of lineage the will of man your parents may have desired to bring you up in the nurture and the admonition of The lord but invariably beloved you must understand that your specific relationship With god and your knowing him is a work of god And because you were raised in a church going family and a christian family where your parents were born of god Is no insurance that you yourself will be saved Has do you know Christ as god Do you prefer him? Oh beloved examine your heart to see whether you'll be in the faith or not Have you searched your heart? Do you know him search the scriptures and then give an honest assessment to your heart? Do you know him? Do you prefer him above all have you acknowledged him? Do you recognize that he's god and that he has an absolute right for you to bow your knee to him? 24 hours a day seven days a week and his supremacy is supreme over you Do you delight in it or is it a dreadful thing? Do you delight in him do you admire him it's his value and worth above all in your life If so, you know him if not, you do not you remain in darkness. Do you know him? Do you know him in the biblical sense not in the cultural? God could care less about your walking the aisle. You're praying the prayer. Don't go to hell with baptism water all over your face The axe is laid to the root. Do you know him do you know him? If you're measuring your heart with honest assessment and you come up short saying No god commands All men everywhere to repent and to believe the gospel Your obligation Is as god is beginning to open your eyes if you are seeing that you're missing the mark It's by the grace of god. You're seeing it because you've not seen it as under this moment And the gospel of jesus christ and the mercies of god that's being displayed and through the gospel It's illuminating your mind and your understanding and your heart and it's a very gift that you're seeing that you are yet in darkness Call out upon him who will indeed save you that shall and by no means cast you out And he will save you and you shall know him He is god He is god He is supreme above all things. He's even supreme above darkness and dwelling us He is supreme He is supreme and he demands loyalty. He demands commitment. He demands repentance He has a right because of his supremacy That's what the apostle's showing us We're coming off of the hills of john. The bible is pointing out saying there he is know him I did not know but now I know I know him. You do not know him know him This is the one who's saying why i'm not worthy to lose from his feet I made mention about three or four weeks ago. They didn't have time to unpack that i'll give a little short unpacking of that that in old judeo judaism That a slave Only was allowed to take the sandals off of the feet of a sojourner But a servant never had to touch their feet only a slave John's calling men into repentance But then he sees christ coming And he says I am not worthy Even to loose the sandals from his feet. He places himself lower than a slave With bonds of love To the messiah of god the lamb of god that takes away the sin of the world. Do you know him? If you do not know him you cannot receive him if you cannot receive him you cannot believe on his name Therefore you cannot become a son of god And that includes the ladies too he's using 1611 vernacular Do you know him Beloved this is the This is the message the church needs And we're all so good in our trite cliches That we post on facebook and i'm the king of them That christianity is not a religion it's a relationship The beloved define that do we know him in the sense that we not only recognize and acknowledge But that we value that we love and that we stoop ourselves low as john the baptist say i'm not even worthy As to be to be a a slave to take his shoes off his feet. I'm not even worthy I'm, not even worthy Because of his glory his supremacy his greatness his eternity. He's i'm not worthy What shall we do What shall we do I see things differently than a lot of preachers I see biblically that i'm to call men to repent I see biblically that i'm to call men to believe and to put their faith in jesus christ and to believe the gospel And I see nowhere in scripture That i'm supposed to save anybody The old puritans The reformers The great protestants They've all believed that you preach the gospel of jesus christ and then you take your hands and do not touch the ark of god And that god will convict And that god will convert That the work of salvation lies within the hands of a supreme savior Who loves his people who loves his people with an everlasting love and that he will in fact save his people and listen to me And you don't have to get somebody down front to get them all worked up and to go through Some mechanical prayer For them to be saved Many of you are are Are fully cognizant of what i'm saying because god saved you His spirit moved upon you his word convinced you you saw who he god gave you a recognition. You were so broken You called upon him and he saved you apart from a sinner's prayer I Agree with what ian murray says He says i'll be it Men may get saved because of the sinner's prayer. He says they get saved in spite of it and not because of it I think he had a handle on something there that most folks need to hear And it's a shame that the marketing has become they're putting notches in our belts of preachers How many we save and how many we baptize and how we can report to headquarters? And even the beloved billy graham who I admire Said that he doubted less than five percent of people coming forward in his meetings were truly converted Billy graham himself said that and so I don't want to just keep muddling If you're here and you don't know jesus christ It begins with your recognition because of the gospel Being proclaimed and heralded faithfully that he is the messiah of god that jesus is god in the flesh And see that you are apart from him that you don't know him call upon him call upon him Turn your heart to him Call upon him while he's nigh And believe the gospel repent and believe the gospel He is the savior of the world He is the savior of the world And we stand in great need of his salvation, don't we let's stand