Complete Grace
Sermon • Submitted
0 ratings
· 15 viewsNotes
Transcript
Effects of knowing God
Synopsis
Knowing God has a transforming effect on a person spiritually and morally and makes that person bold in actions for God. Not knowing God in the present will result in dissatisfaction and degeneration into wickedness and in the future will bring eternal alienation from him.
The effects of knowing God
Spiritual transformation: from death to life
Col 1:9
Colossians 1:9 (NKJV) — 9 For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;
See also Jn 17:3; Ga 4:8–9; Eph 1:17; Eph 3:19; Col 2:2
John 17:3 (NKJV) — 3 And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.
Galatians 4:8–9 (NKJV) — 8 But then, indeed, when you did not know God, you served those which by nature are not gods. 9 But now after you have known God, or rather are known by God, how is it that you turn again to the weak and beggarly elements, to which you desire again to be in bondage?
Ephesians 1:17 (NKJV) — 17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him,
Ephesians 3:19 (NKJV) — 19 to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
Colossians 2:2 (NKJV) — 2 that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, and attaining to all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the knowledge of the mystery of God, both of the Father and of Christ,
Moral transformation: from evil to good
Pr 2:1–6; 2 Co 10:5; 1 Th 4:3–5
Proverbs 2:1–6 (NKJV) — 1 My son, if you receive my words, And treasure my commands within you, 2 So that you incline your ear to wisdom, And apply your heart to understanding; 3 Yes, if you cry out for discernment, And lift up your voice for understanding, 4 If you seek her as silver, And search for her as for hidden treasures; 5 Then you will understand the fear of the Lord, And find the knowledge of God. 6 For the Lord gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding;
2 Corinthians 10:5 (NKJV) — 5 casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,
1 Thessalonians 4:3–5 (NKJV) — 3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality; 4 that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, 5 not in passion of lust, like the Gentiles who do not know God;
See also Ro 16:26; Eph 4:17–24; Php 1:9–11; Col 1:10; 1 Jn 3:10; 1 Jn 4:8
Romans 16:26 (NKJV) — 26 but now made manifest, and by the prophetic Scriptures made known to all nations, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, for obedience to the faith—
Ephesians 4:17–24 (NKJV) — 17 This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind, 18 having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart; 19 who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness. 20 But you have not so learned Christ, 21 if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: 22 that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, 23 and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, 24 and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.
Philippians 1:9–11 (NKJV) — 9 And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, 10 that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ, 11 being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.
Colossians 1:10 (NKJV) — 10 that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;
1 John 3:10 (NKJV) — 10 In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother.
1 John 4:8 (NKJV) — 8 He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
Boldness of action for God
Je 32:38–39; Da 11:32
Jeremiah 32:38–39 (NKJV) — 38 They shall be My people, and I will be their God; 39 then I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear Me forever, for the good of them and their children after them.
Daniel 11:32 (NKJV) — 32 Those who do wickedly against the covenant he shall corrupt with flattery; but the people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits.
See also Ps 138:3; Pr 28:1; Ac 6:8–10; 2 Co 3:12; 1 Pe 1:13
Psalm 138:3 (NKJV) — 3 In the day when I cried out, You answered me, And made me bold with strength in my soul.
Proverbs 28:1 (NKJV) — 1 The wicked flee when no one pursues, But the righteous are bold as a lion.
Acts 6:8–10 (NKJV) — 8 And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and signs among the people. 9 Then there arose some from what is called the Synagogue of the Freedmen (Cyrenians, Alexandrians, and those from Cilicia and Asia), disputing with Stephen. 10 And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the Spirit by which he spoke.
2 Corinthians 3:12 (NKJV) — 12 Therefore, since we have such hope, we use great boldness of speech—
1 Peter 1:13 (NKJV) — 13 Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;
Biblical images of knowing God
Like parent and child
2 Sa 7:14; 1 Jn 3:1
2 Samuel 7:14 (NKJV) — 14 I will be his Father, and he shall be My son. If he commits iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men and with the blows of the sons of men.
1 John 3:1 (NKJV) — 1 Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.
God disciplines like a parent:
Heb 12:6; Pr 3:12; Dt 8:5
Hebrews 12:6 (NKJV) — 6 For whom the Lord loves He chastens, And scourges every son whom He receives.”
Proverbs 3:12 (NKJV) — 12 For whom the Lord loves He corrects, Just as a father the son in whom he delights.
Deuteronomy 8:5 (NKJV) — 5 You should know in your heart that as a man chastens his son, so the Lord your God chastens you.
Ps 2:7; Ps 27:10; Ps 68:5; Ps 89:26; Ps 103:13; Is 49:15; Is 66:12–13; Ho 11:1; Mt 5:45; Mt 5:48; Mt 6:6–9; Mt 6:18; Mt 6:32; Lk 15:11–32 the parable of the lost son; Jn 14:21; 1 Co 1:3
Psalm 2:7 (NKJV) — 7 “I will declare the decree: The Lord has said to Me, ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You.
Psalm 27:10 (NKJV) — 10 When my father and my mother forsake me, Then the Lord will take care of me.
Psalm 68:5 (NKJV) — 5 A father of the fatherless, a defender of widows, Is God in His holy habitation.
Psalm 89:26 (NKJV) — 26 He shall cry to Me, ‘You are my Father, My God, and the rock of my salvation.’
Psalm 103:13 (NKJV) — 13 As a father pities his children, So the Lord pities those who fear Him.
Isaiah 49:15 (NKJV) — 15 “Can a woman forget her nursing child, And not have compassion on the son of her womb? Surely they may forget, Yet I will not forget you.
Isaiah 66:12–13 (NKJV) — 12 For thus says the Lord: “Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, And the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream. Then you shall feed; On her sides shall you be carried, And be dandled on her knees. 13 As one whom his mother comforts, So I will comfort you; And you shall be comforted in Jerusalem.”
Hosea 11:1 (NKJV) — 1 “When Israel was a child, I loved him, And out of Egypt I called My son.
Matthew 5:45 (NKJV) — 45 that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.
Matthew 5:48 (NKJV) — 48 Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.
Matthew 6:6–9 (NKJV) — 6 But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. 7 And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words. 8 “Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him. 9 In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.
Matthew 6:18 (NKJV) — 18 so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.
Matthew 6:32 (NKJV) — 32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.
Luke 15:11–32 (NKJV) — 11 Then He said: “A certain man had two sons. 12 And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me.’ So he divided to them his livelihood. 13 And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living. 14 But when he had spent all, there arose a severe famine in that land, and he began to be in want. 15 Then he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. 16 And he would gladly have filled his stomach with the pods that the swine ate, and no one gave him anything. 17 “But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! 18 I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, 19 and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.” ’ 20 “And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. 21 And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ 22 “But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet. 23 And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry; 24 for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ And they began to be merry. 25 “Now his older son was in the field. And as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 So he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. 27 And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and because he has received him safe and sound, your father has killed the fatted calf.’ 28 “But he was angry and would not go in. Therefore his father came out and pleaded with him. 29 So he answered and said to his father, ‘Lo, these many years I have been serving you; I never transgressed your commandment at any time; and yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might make merry with my friends. 30 But as soon as this son of yours came, who has devoured your livelihood with harlots, you killed the fatted calf for him.’ 31 “And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours. 32 It was right that we should make merry and be glad, for your brother was dead and is alive again, and was lost and is found.’ ”
John 14:21 (NKJV) — 21 He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.”
1 Corinthians 1:3 (NKJV) — 3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Like husband and wife
Is 62:5; Je 3:14
Isaiah 62:5 (NKJV) — 5 For as a young man marries a virgin, So shall your sons marry you; And as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, So shall your God rejoice over you.
Jeremiah 3:14 (NKJV) — 14 “Return, O backsliding children,” says the Lord; “for I am married to you. I will take you, one from a city and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion.
See also Is 54:5; Je 2:2; Je 3:20; Je 31:32; Ho 2:16; Eph 5:25; Re 19:7; Re 21:2
Isaiah 54:5 (NKJV) — 5 For your Maker is your husband, The Lord of hosts is His name; And your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel; He is called the God of the whole earth.
Jeremiah 2:2 (NKJV) — 2 “Go and cry in the hearing of Jerusalem, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord: “I remember you, The kindness of your youth, The love of your betrothal, When you went after Me in the wilderness, In a land not sown.
Jeremiah 3:20 (NKJV) — 20 Surely, as a wife treacherously departs from her husband, So have you dealt treacherously with Me, O house of Israel,” says the Lord.
Jeremiah 31:32 (NKJV) — 32 not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the Lord.
Hosea 2:16 (NKJV) — 16 “And it shall be, in that day,” Says the Lord, “That you will call Me ‘My Husband,’ And no longer call Me ‘My Master,’
Ephesians 5:25 (NKJV) — 25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for h
See also 1 Sa 8:7; Ps 5:2; Ps 10:16; Ps 29:10; Ps 44:4; Ps 84:3; Ps 95:3; Ps 99:1; Ps 145:1; Mt 6:33 Jesus Christ’s teaching on seeking first his kingdom; 1 Ti 1:17; 1 Ti 6:15
1 Samuel 8:7 (NKJV) — 7 And the Lord said to Samuel, “Heed the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them.
Psalm 5:2 (NKJV) — 2 Give heed to the voice of my cry, My King and my God, For to You I will pray.
Psalm 10:16 (NKJV) — 16 The Lord is King forever and ever; The nations have perished out of His land.
Psalm 29:10 (NKJV) — 10 The Lord sat enthroned at the Flood, And the Lord sits as King forever.
Psalm 44:4 (NKJV) — 4 You are my King, O God; Command victories for Jacob.
Psalm 84:3 (NKJV) — 3 Even the sparrow has found a home, And the swallow a nest for herself, Where she may lay her young— Even Your altars, O Lord of hosts, My King and my God.
Psalm 95:3 (NKJV) — 3 For the Lord is the great God, And the great King above all gods.
Psalm 99:1 (NKJV) — 1 The Lord reigns; Let the peoples tremble! He dwells between the cherubim; Let the earth be moved!
Psalm 145:1 (NKJV) — 1 I will extol You, my God, O King; And I will bless Your name forever and ever.
Matthew 6:33 (NKJV) — 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.
1 Timothy 1:17 (NKJV) — 17 Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.
1 Timothy 6:15 (NKJV) — 15 which He will manifest in His own time, He who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords,
Like shepherd and sheep
Ge 48:15; Ps 23:1–2; Is 40:11
Genesis 48:15 (NKJV) — 15 And he blessed Joseph, and said: “God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, The God who has fed me all my life long to this day,
Psalm 23:1–2 (NKJV) — 1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2 He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters.
Isaiah 40:11 (NKJV) — 11 He will feed His flock like a shepherd; He will gather the lambs with His arm, And carry them in His bosom, And gently lead those who are with young.
See also Ps 28:9; Ps 80:1; Eze 34:16; Mic 7:14; Jn 10:11; Re 7:17
Psalm 28:9 (NKJV) — 9 Save Your people, And bless Your inheritance; Shepherd them also, And bear them up forever.
Psalm 80:1 (NKJV) — 1 Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, You who lead Joseph like a flock; You who dwell between the cherubim, shine forth!
Ezekiel 34:16 (NKJV) — 16 “I will seek what was lost and bring back what was driven away, bind up the broken and strengthen what was sick; but I will destroy the fat and the strong, and feed them in judgment.”
Micah 7:14 (NKJV) — 14 Shepherd Your people with Your staff, The flock of Your heritage, Who dwell solitarily in a woodland, In the midst of Carmel; Let them feed in Bashan and Gilead, As in days of old.
John 10:11 (NKJV) — 11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.
Revelation 7:17 (NKJV) — 17 for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
The peril of not knowing God
Lack of satisfaction and degeneration in the present
Ro 1:21–32; Tt 1:15–16
Romans 1:21–32 (NKJV) — 21 because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Professing to be wise, they became fools, 23 and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things. 24 Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, 25 who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. 26 For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. 27 Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due. 28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; 29 being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, 30 backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, 31 undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; 32 who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.
Titus 1:15–16 (NKJV) — 15 To the pure all things are pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure; but even their mind and conscience are defiled. 16 They profess to know God, but in works they deny Him, being abominable, disobedient, and disqualified for every good work.
See also Ex 5:2; Je 4:22; Ro 10:2–3; 1 Th 4:3–5
Exodus 5:2 (NKJV) — 2 And Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, nor will I let Israel go.”
Jeremiah 4:22 (NKJV) — 22 “For My people are foolish, They have not known Me. They are silly children, And they have no understanding. They are wise to do evil, But to do good they have no knowledge.”
Romans 10:2–3 (NKJV) — 2 For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. 3 For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God.
1 Thessalonians 4:3–5 (NKJV) — 3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality; 4 that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, 5 not in passion of lust, like the Gentiles who do not know God;
Eternal punishment in the future
Mt 7:22–23; Ro 1:18–19
Matthew 7:22–23 (NKJV) — 22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’
Romans 1:18–19 (NKJV) — 18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, 19 because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them.
See also Ro 2:5; 2 Th 1:8
Romans 2:5 (NKJV) — 5 But in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God,
2 Thessalonians 1:8 (NKJV) — 8 in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.