God knows

Let's turn to the Gospel of John, please, chapter 10 for our first reference, John chapter 10, and come down to verse number 26, John 10 verse 26. But ye believe not because ye are not of my sheep. As I said unto you, my sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.

Notice that last verse there, 27, my sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. Now come over to 2nd Timothy, please, chapter 2, 2nd Timothy chapter 2, 2nd Timothy 2 verse 19. Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal.

Notice two things, the Lord knoweth them that are His, and let everyone that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity. You'll notice that in the context, in those verses previous, verse 14, there are words to no profit. Verse 16, there are profane and vain babblings.

Verse 17, there's wrong doctrine, their word doth eat as a canker. And against that background, verse 15 says, study to show thyself, be diligent to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. And then our verse 19, nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure.

Now come to the Gospel of Matthew, please, chapter 6, Matthew chapter 6. Matthew 6 and verse 31. Therefore take no thought, no anxious thought, saying what shall we eat or what shall we drink or wherewith all shall we be clothed. For after all these things do the Gentiles seek.

For your Heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things, but seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. Therefore take no anxious thought for the morrow, for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

And again we go back to the Psalms, please, Psalm number 1. Psalm number 1. Psalm 1 verse 6, the last verse in the Psalm, for the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish. Back to Job 23 for a verse, Job 23 and verse 10. But he knoweth the way that I take, when he hath tried me I shall come forth as gold.

He knoweth the way that I take. Now one last reference from Psalm 103. Psalm 103.

Psalm 103 and we are at verse 13. Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him. For he knoweth our frame, he remembereth that we are dust.

He knoweth our frame. The Lord will bless to us the reading from his word with what we've been privileged already to hear this morning. I want to occupy a few moments to think with you of the fact that the Lord knoweth.

God knows. The Lord knows. God is not like us.

We know so very little. Even in things, circumstances that we're involved in, we really only get a little picture of all that's involved, all that led up to that and all that will flow from that. But we're reminded in 1st John that God is greater than our hearts and knoweth all things.

We're speaking of the omniscience of God. The omniscience of God that God knows all things. Now we must guard in our thinking when we are thinking of God's omniscience to remember that it is not merely some kind of cosmic data storage base that we're talking about.

The God of the Bible is personal and he is intimate in his knowledge. And his knowledge is not merely cold data, not merely just a collection of facts, but his knowledge is filled with care. And as with every attribute of God, it is governed by holiness and righteousness.

So that his knowledge, his all-knowing view of things, is governed by holiness and righteousness. So keep that in mind as we come to the verses that we have read together. I want you to notice, first of all, that God knows his own.

The Lord knows his own. We'll think of that in just a moment. Then we'll notice that he knows our need.

From Matthew chapter 6, he knows our need. And he knows our way. We have that from Psalm number 1. And Job brings out that thought as well.

He knows the way that I take. He knows our way. And then finally, we want to notice that he knows our frame.

He knows how we're made up. And we'll consider that as well in just a moment. Commencing with the thought that we were sharing at Heightsville from John chapter 10, you'll notice that the Lord Jesus, in his teaching, he says, my sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me.

It is one of the characteristics of a true believer that we know his voice. There have been studies that have been carried out by child development experts, both in Canada, I believe, and also in China. And the results were the same.

That quote, even before we were born, we know our mother's voice and can distinguish it from other voices. That's an interesting thought, isn't it? A little baby in the womb can even learn to distinguish its mother's voice. And you know, it's the same when we come to spiritual things in this regard, that with the new birth, there has come an inbuilt instinct, if you will, an inbuilt recognition of his voice.

And as his sheep, we hear his voice and we learn his voice and we develop in our recognition of his voice. And that will occur, of course, as we're in the company of the Good Shepherd, as we're in his company and we're listening to his voice, there will develop within us a recognition of his voice as well. So it begins with that inbuilt instinct at the new birth, but it develops in our experience as we walk with him.

So not only do we hear his voice, but you'll notice this, that I know them, he said, and they follow me. Again, this is a characteristic of every sheep in his flock. In other words, a child of God.

If we belong to him, then characteristically, we listen to what he says. And not only listen to what he says, but we do it. My sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me.

Now, again, this is intensely personal. He knows his own sheep. He just doesn't know the flock as a collective group.

He knows every individual believer that makes up that flock. And he knows us personally and he knows us intimately. And the evidence of his interest in me is that he has made me his very own.

Yeah. And the evidence that I belong to him is I hear his voice and I do what he says. So that, again, characteristically, a persistent refusal to obey the voice of Christ.

And if I claim to be a Christian, that makes me a liar. But a persistent desire to obey Christ will mark me out as a Christian. My sheep hear my voice and I know them, he says, and they follow me.

He knows his own. But I'm linking that as well with 2 Timothy chapter 2. You'll notice, and this is why I get up at this point, it seems to link with what has gone before with Brother Ike's ministry. The context of 2 Timothy chapter 2 is the wrong use of words.

You have strife about the use of words in verse 14 to no profit. You have profane or worldly chatter in verse 16. And you have the words of these two men, Hymenaeus and Philetus, and concerning their wrong teaching about the resurrection, we'll be considering in the Bible reading, but in verse 17 it says this, their words to eat as a canker, as gangrene.

As gangrene, their words will eat and gnaw and just consume and deaden those that they have an effect upon. Against all that the man of God should be diligent about, he should be diligent about his study of the word of God, so that he's able to rightly divide the word of God, lest he would become destabilized by such influences, you see. And that is the context where we get our statement that we want to come to in verse 19.

Nevertheless, the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, two things, the Lord knoweth them that are his. That's number one. And then number two, that everyone that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.

Now what is the foundation of God? Well, I take it that the foundation of God, very simply, is truth about Christ and all that is built thereon. Truth about Christ and all that is built thereon. All the purposes of God that are founded upon Christ.

The foundation of God standeth sure. And so Timothy need not fear for God's work against the opposition of men that have infiltrated and they're teaching wrong things. Timothy need not be destabilized by that, because the foundation of God standeth sure.

But Timothy was to keep himself from the effects and the contamination that would spread from these false teachers. And to endorse that then, we find the apostle, he quotes from Numbers chapter 16, when he says, the Lord knoweth them that are his, and then again, let them that name the name of Christ depart from iniquity. The background is Numbers chapter 16.

I'll remind you of the context there. It's the rebellion of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. Remember, they had challenged Moses and Aaron, and they were saying, who do you think you are taking the lead in the people of God? Are we all not equal? Can we all not function like this? And there were 250 men with them.

So it was a groundswelling of rebellion, really, against God's leadership in the nation. Moses is convinced of this, that the Lord knoweth them that are his. And then there was that challenge, you see, where every man would bring his censer, and then we have the departing of the people from the tents of these wicked men, and the ground opened up her mouth and swallowed them and they went down alive into the pit, departing from iniquity.

There's the idea. So you have a separation from evil, and that marks them that belong to him. The Lord knoweth them that are his.

Whether it's immoral evil, you could think of 1 Corinthians chapter 5, and you remember that Paul speaks of it there as leaven, that leaveneth the whole lump, the spread and permeation of moral evil. Or you could think of it as the evil sin of bitterness. And in Hebrews chapter 12, verse 15, the writer points out that where that is found, it springs up, and many are defiled by it.

Bitterness has a way of spreading too, and many are defiled by it, the spread of evil. But here, against the background of what Paul is invoking in 2 Timothy chapter 2, koradathon anabarim, criticism of leaders, those that God have appointed to go before his people, it resulted in God's judgment upon those men, didn't it, as they went down alive into the pit. Paul is bringing that in here to show that you and I also should depart from iniquity.

So we need to be careful about what we listen to, the criticism of leaders, we should remove ourselves from that, because the Lord knows his own, and the Lord knows all that they do. He knows all about it. So we leave that.

It has practical implications for us, not just the mere fact that the Lord knows us, but he knows all about us, and he knows all that we're involved in, even in a practical way, even in how we use our tongue. He knows all about it. He knows our need.

Matthew chapter 6. The Lord Jesus in his teaching is saying, take no thought, no anxious thought, for what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, or wherewithal ye shall be clothed. For after all these things do the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.

What is the importance that we place upon the things of this life? That's what he's dealing with. What are our priorities in life? And again, that will be regulated by knowing this, that our heavenly Father knoweth what we have need of. And he knows, not merely in a cold, clinical sort of a way, but he knows with care.

He knows intimately what we need. He has a personal care in that. And our heavenly Father is good.

He is good to his children. When we reflect upon that, the goodness of God, we are assured that he loves us, he loves me, and he will provide, therefore, for what we stand in need of. And we are not to be anxiously worrying about the mundane things of life, even, because we think they're so important.

But our heavenly Father has the overall picture, and he knows exactly what we need. He knows what we need. Therefore, the teaching goes on, but seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.

So the most important thing is not to be all taken up with material things, but a right relationship with God. Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. Because when the conduits of communion with our heavenly Father are open, then he and his faithfulness will see to it that our need will be met, and everything else will fall into place once that relationship is right.

Psalm 139 is praise of God's omniscience. It is a psalm of praise of God's knowledge. And you remember in that psalm, the psalmist says, Thou knowest my down-sitting and my up-rising.

And again, in verse 17, he says, How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! How great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand. When I awake, I am still wisty. And really, when you think of it, brother and sister, as you look back on your life and think of how God has supplied your need, all the way through, how good is our God? How good he is.

And if we were to try to reckon them up, they are more than can be numbered. And so we have plenty of reason to engage our tongues in the praise of him who meets all our need. He has met our need spiritually, thank God for that, eternally.

But even in material things, we have plenty of reason to give God thanks and praise. He knows our need. But then again, he knows our way.

Psalm number 1, The Lord knoweth the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish. The way of the ungodly. When we think of the way, what we are thinking of, really, is the whole manner of life, including that which directs the course of life, what it produces, our way.

And the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous. And over against that, the worthless life of the ungodly shall not endure, will not be able to stand the test of divine assessment and divine judgment. But the Lord knows the way of the righteous.

He watches over the way of the righteous. And that stands in opposition to the way of the ungodly. The way of the wicked shall perish.

It will not stand his scrutiny. In fact, throughout the psalm, you'll notice that the ungodly are contrasted with the righteous. And there are clear distinctions that separate them.

1. The blessed man walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly. Rather, he is walking in the good way, like the Prophet Jeremiah exhorted the people on his day of departure. 2. The blessed man walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly.

Rather, he is walking in the good way, like the Prophet Jeremiah exhorted the people on his day of departure. Acts chapter 20, the Apostle's teaching. He did not shun to declare unto them the whole counsel of God.

The blessed man will walk according to that. 3. Nor standeth in the way of sinners. Rather, his way is the way of the righteous, and he will persevere in that.

4. Nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. He's not sitting there with the scorners, but rather he is reveling in his position in Christ, seated in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus. That's occupying his thoughts.

He's delighting in that. 5. And his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law doth he meditate day and night. I wonder what we delight in, brothers and sisters, this morning.

You know, if we're found delighting in the latest movie or in the latest score of the big league game, I suggest this, that it's not likely that we're delighting in the law of the Lord and meditating therein day and night. Is that right? The way of the righteous, the road to true blessedness, is meditating in his law day and night and carrying it out. So what do we delight in? How do we think? Because that will determine the way that we take in life.

Job is conscious that the Lord knows the way that he takes. The Lord knows. And when he has tried me, Job is in a trial, isn't he? Such trial as Job had.

So that it has reached the point even in the early part of this chapter where he cannot discern God. From his heart there is rung that cry, O that I knew where I might find him. The trial has come right in upon Job so that even his perception of where God is and how he can get to God is obscured.

And I don't know, maybe there's a believer here in such trial today and you're even doubting God or where God is. Where is God in the trial? Job was there. But maybe you could take comfort from the very place where God or Job took comfort as he comes to this in his thinking.

But he knows the way that I take. He knows. I may not know where I may find him, but he knows the way that I take and when he has tried me.

He'll not always be in the trial. And we know that historically. Looking back now on the book of Job, God blessed the latter end of Job.

But even in the midst of the trial, Job has grasped this when he has tried me, I shall come forth as gold. And what comforts his heart is this, not only that God knows, but God has a purpose in it all. And the purpose will result in his good.

As tried gold, when he has tried me, I shall come forth as gold. So, the Lord knows the way that I take. He knows our way.

And then finally, he knows our frame. This links in with Job as well. Like as a father pitieth his children, we read in Psalm 103, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him.

For he knoweth our frame. He remembereth that we are dust. We're just dust.

In bodies that will not last for very long, really. They wear out. They grow old.

They wear down. Fade away. But the Father knoweth.

And as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that are his. You know, our Heavenly Father is not capricious. He's not like some sadist that delights in inflicting pain and suffering.

That's not our Heavenly Father. He knows that we are but dust. He is not the cause of sin that is the root cause of all suffering and pain.

And as part of a fallen creation, brothers and sisters, that falls on our lot as well. We're part of a fallen creation. While we're in the body, we're in that fallen creation.

But here on earth that is contaminated with sin. You and I are in the school of God. And at times we may be called upon or permitted to pass through trial and suffering as part of a fallen creation.

But let's always remember that there will be lessons for us to learn in it. Lessons about his faithfulness. Lessons about his care.

Lessons about his goodness in it all. And while we're on earth, there are opportunities to learn of him until he takes us out of it altogether. So like as a father pitieth his children, the Lord pitieth them that fear him.

For he knoweth our frame. I don't know what aches and pains you may have in your body today, what anxiety plagues your thoughts, but I do know this, that the Lord knoweth our frame. He knoweth.

And he pities. And he remembers that we are but dust. Paul wrote to the Corinthians and he said, there hath no temptation, no trial taken you, but such as is common to man.

That's part of the fallen creation. Such as is common to man. But God is faithful.

And he will not suffer you to be tried above that which ye are able, but will with the trial also make the way of escape. The definite article is there. There will be the way of escape for every trial that ye may be able to bear it.

So may God comfort our hearts this morning by thinking of the knowledge of God. He knoweth his own. He knows our need.

He knows the way that we take. And he knows our frame. And because God is good, we can take comfort from it.

And we will find lots of opportunity to praise him for his goodness, for his faithfulness, and for his care. The Lord bless his word.