Well, if you are my friend on Facebook, unless you’ve been hiding under a rock for the last few months you know that our lectureship at Phillips Street starts this Wednesday. That night James Watkins will kick off a weekend full of rich material and great fellowship that ultimately will conclude on Sunday night (for more information check our website – http://www.phillipsstreetcoc.com/). Our theme this year is one about which I am extremely excited. We’re going to spend the weekend “Getting to Know God.” The concept of God is so incredibly difficult to fully grasp that sometimes we just assume that it cannot be done and do not spend as much time considering it as we should. Thus, we are going to have fifteen general lectures and three special ladies’ lectures on various attributes and characteristics of God. However, I wanted to make sure that we kick the weekend off with a good foundation; thus yesterday I preached a general sermon on “Getting to Know God” to begin focusing our minds on that great theme. The outline is included below:
Title: Getting to Know God
Text: Proverbs 2:1-5
Main Point: Who is God? Is He real, an apparition, merely a force of energy, or is He simply a figment of our imagination? If this question was to be asked of any number of people representing all different walks of life it would garner any number of answers. That’s because society’s perception of God is weak at best and nonexistent at worst. This is what happens when any positive discussion of God is all but outlawed in a public forum. Skeptics like to make incendiary remarks about the infinite nature of God saying that because we cannot understand every vital aspect of who He is that He must not be real. After all if we cannot understand it the easiest thing to do is to mock it and deny it! This was how the Athenians reacted to Paul’s preaching of the resurrection (Acts 17:32) because the preaching of the cross to them was foolishness (1 Corinthians 1:23). To such people a particular judgment is waiting in reserve. To them Jesus will ultimately say, “…depart from me, ye that work iniquity…I never knew you…” (Matthew 7:23). The only reason God would have to say He didn’t know us is because we never got to know Him. Can such a knowledge be found? Where is it at? What will it do? Why should we search for it so diligently?
Discussion Points:
- Knowledge Supplied (Proverbs 2:1) – 1 Corinthians 15:34 – God has called man to search Him out because He has made His existence and His very nature an open book, doing so even though He knows our mortal minds cannot fully grasp His infinite nature because He knows that just to take a meager glimpse into who He is will bless us immeasurably. But Paul said to not do so is a shame! But how could we be shamed to not search out something that has not been supplied? Would God be just to expect something of us that He has not made possible? No, but it is a shame to not know God because God has supplied us with the knowledge we need of Him (Ephesians 1:15-18). As a father to his Son, Solomon pleads that we receive the words of knowledge that have been supplied.
- Knowledge Sought (Proverbs 2:2-4) – Knowledge never comes easy – it requires intense effort and an insatiable appetite. Many claim to want knowledge, but few are willing to play the price to obtain it. Specifically Solomon uses four descriptive phrases to indicate the manner by which we can seek a knowledge of God:
o Proverbs 2:2 – “…incline thine ear unto wisdom…” – prick up your ears
o Proverbs 2:2 – “…apply thine heart to understanding…” – stretch out towards
o Proverbs 2:3 – “…if thou criest after knowledge,” and “liftest up thy voice for understanding…” – beckon for with great emotion
o Proverbs 2:4 – “…if thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures.” – strive after
Each of these indicates an intense desire, earnest want, and relentless pursuit. Getting to know God is a demanding responsibility but a fulfilling opportunity – one to which we must be dedicated without hesitation.
- Knowledge Satisfied (Proverbs 2:5) – There has never been a person who earnestly sought a knowledge of God who ultimately did not have their thirst quenched. John 4:5-14 records a conversation between Jesus and the Samaritan woman concerning the living water that He was able to provide. And upon hearing of that living water she said, “Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw” (John 4:15). Matthew 7:7 states that we must “ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you…” James 4:2-3 likewise says, “…ye have not, because ye ask not. Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.” Knowledge demands being proactive and taking initiative. We must ask, seek, and knock; putting forth the effort of pursuit and doors will always be opened by which we may obtain. And as our thirst for knowledge is satisfied our thirst for a greater relationship with God will too: we will know that we know Him (1 John 2:3); we will know we are keeping His commandments (1 John 2:3); we will know that His love is perfected in us (1 John 2:5); we will know that upon His appearance we will be like Him (1 John 3:2); and we will know that we have eternal life (1 John 5:13).
How much more motivation do we need to get to know God? What an opportunity lays before us! If you can be with us this coming weekend please plan to do so. You will not be disappointed as we spend some time “Getting to Know God!”