WEBVTT 00:00:01.140 --> 00:00:03.580 I thought Judy was the most beautiful girl I'd 00:00:03.580 --> 00:00:09.279 ever seen. I was 21 years old and single. Had 00:00:09.279 --> 00:00:11.580 just gone to the church where she was a member 00:00:11.580 --> 00:00:19.940 as a youth intern for a year. She had every quality 00:00:19.940 --> 00:00:25.839 I thought I could ever want in a girl. A few 00:00:25.839 --> 00:00:29.039 weeks after I arrived, however, she left for 00:00:29.039 --> 00:00:33.439 a few months in India. to visit a relative who 00:00:33.439 --> 00:00:36.140 was serving as a missionary there, and to get 00:00:36.140 --> 00:00:40.679 some experience, for she too was a college student. 00:00:42.880 --> 00:00:45.179 It wasn't long after she went to India that I 00:00:45.179 --> 00:00:49.520 got a letter one day from Judy. Oh, she told 00:00:49.520 --> 00:00:52.000 me about the things that she had been doing, 00:00:52.240 --> 00:00:54.340 et cetera, et cetera, et cetera, but it was the 00:00:54.340 --> 00:00:57.700 end of the letter that attracted my attention, 00:00:58.259 --> 00:01:11.530 for she signed it, love. Judy. I went for months 00:01:11.530 --> 00:01:16.290 on that one four letter word love. Strange, she 00:01:16.290 --> 00:01:21.129 never wrote me again. But I could hardly wait 00:01:21.129 --> 00:01:23.790 to see her when she arrived back in Spokane, 00:01:23.790 --> 00:01:26.989 Washington after being gone for those months. 00:01:28.489 --> 00:01:32.870 I soon realized after she returned that I had 00:01:32.870 --> 00:01:36.709 misunderstood what she meant by the word love. 00:01:38.810 --> 00:01:41.390 We both had the same word in mind, but she had 00:01:41.390 --> 00:01:45.049 one thing in the meaning and I had something 00:01:45.049 --> 00:01:49.290 entirely different in the meaning. It's easy 00:01:49.290 --> 00:01:52.870 to be misunderstood, isn't it? Have you ever 00:01:52.870 --> 00:01:59.430 been misunderstood? Have you ever said something 00:01:59.430 --> 00:02:02.469 using the best words that you knew how to use 00:02:02.469 --> 00:02:06.670 only to find that in the end the other person 00:02:06.670 --> 00:02:09.069 didn't get the message you were trying to communicate? 00:02:12.669 --> 00:02:15.409 Or have you ever done something that you thought 00:02:15.409 --> 00:02:19.110 was appropriate, even a very nice thing, only 00:02:19.110 --> 00:02:21.430 to realize after you've done it that the other 00:02:21.430 --> 00:02:29.689 person misread what you were doing and why? Misunderstanding 00:02:29.689 --> 00:02:33.909 is a problem in the human race. And sometimes 00:02:33.909 --> 00:02:37.870 it creates a lot of pain. Often misunderstanding 00:02:37.870 --> 00:02:42.210 occurs because of a lack of knowledge. If I had 00:02:42.210 --> 00:02:44.710 known Judy a little better, I might have realized 00:02:44.710 --> 00:02:48.650 that she wrote to everybody signing her letters, 00:02:49.050 --> 00:02:56.879 Love, Judy. The possibility of misunderstanding 00:02:56.879 --> 00:03:00.340 in fact is in direct proportion to the lack of 00:03:00.340 --> 00:03:04.240 knowledge we have of another person. The more 00:03:04.240 --> 00:03:07.639 that we know about another, the less the likelihood 00:03:07.639 --> 00:03:12.479 that there will be a misunderstanding. Maybe 00:03:12.479 --> 00:03:20.210 that's why God is so often misunderstood. Because, 00:03:20.270 --> 00:03:23.590 you see, knowing God diminishes the possibility 00:03:23.590 --> 00:03:27.930 that we will misunderstand Him. Not that we will 00:03:27.930 --> 00:03:31.590 ever fully know God, of course, because He is 00:03:31.590 --> 00:03:34.310 beyond our ability to know, but there is some 00:03:34.310 --> 00:03:37.310 limited sense in which we can and ought to know 00:03:37.310 --> 00:03:40.849 God. And Jeremiah tells us that if we're going 00:03:40.849 --> 00:03:44.490 to boast, let it not be in our riches, our might, 00:03:44.550 --> 00:03:48.030 or our wisdom, but of the fact that we discern 00:03:48.030 --> 00:04:00.680 God. and have an intimate knowledge of Him." 00:04:00.680 --> 00:04:03.219 Misunderstanding God was graphically illustrated 00:04:03.219 --> 00:04:05.620 in a letter that was written to dear Abby a few 00:04:05.620 --> 00:04:09.740 weeks ago. A letter which she printed in her 00:04:09.740 --> 00:04:17.899 January 15th, 1991 column. It was written to 00:04:17.899 --> 00:04:22.410 dear Abby from a bereaved mother. And she writes, 00:04:22.509 --> 00:04:26.730 Dear Abby, I am troubled with something. A reader 00:04:26.730 --> 00:04:30.709 wrote, quote, what right do we mortals have to 00:04:30.709 --> 00:04:33.910 demand an explanation from God? Close quote. 00:04:34.769 --> 00:04:38.610 Abby, that writer has never known the gut -wrenching 00:04:38.610 --> 00:04:45.009 pain of losing a child. In 1988, my beautiful 00:04:45.009 --> 00:04:47.689 22 -year -old daughter was killed by a drunk 00:04:47.689 --> 00:04:52.290 driver. At first I screamed, He not only killed 00:04:52.290 --> 00:04:58.269 her, He killed me too, only I can't die. I then 00:04:58.269 --> 00:05:03.089 got on my knees and begged God, You can do anything. 00:05:03.209 --> 00:05:06.529 You can perform miracles. You can bring my daughter 00:05:06.529 --> 00:05:10.189 back to life. Please God, let me trade places 00:05:10.189 --> 00:05:14.589 with her. Please let me lie in that coffin. Let 00:05:14.589 --> 00:05:19.329 her get out to live. Her life. She's only 22, 00:05:19.410 --> 00:05:22.550 God. She has never been married or experienced 00:05:22.550 --> 00:05:26.149 the miracle of being a mother. I am old. I have 00:05:26.149 --> 00:05:30.449 lived. I've had my chance at life, but she hasn't. 00:05:30.810 --> 00:05:33.470 Please, please, let me trade places with her. 00:05:33.810 --> 00:05:37.089 You can do it. You can make it so that all the 00:05:37.089 --> 00:05:39.269 people who thought she died won't be surprised 00:05:39.269 --> 00:05:42.569 that it's me in the coffin and not her. Please, 00:05:42.610 --> 00:05:45.569 God. Let her have a chance to live. She didn't 00:05:45.569 --> 00:05:50.389 deserve to die. And as you can see, Abby, I'm 00:05:50.389 --> 00:05:54.430 still here. And not because I want to be either. 00:05:55.290 --> 00:05:57.389 Mostly because I didn't have the guts to pull 00:05:57.389 --> 00:06:00.550 the trigger or take the pills to get me out of 00:06:00.550 --> 00:06:03.410 this terrible pain and loss that I live with 00:06:03.410 --> 00:06:07.370 every minute of my life. God didn't see fit to 00:06:07.370 --> 00:06:10.730 bargain with me. God doesn't plea bargain like 00:06:10.730 --> 00:06:14.250 men do. The drunk who killed my precious daughter 00:06:14.250 --> 00:06:17.810 and me too spent less than six months behind 00:06:17.810 --> 00:06:23.649 bars. Today he walks in the sun while my little 00:06:23.649 --> 00:06:28.610 girl is in a dark grave with no sun. And though 00:06:28.610 --> 00:06:31.449 I also walk in the sun, my heart and soul are 00:06:31.449 --> 00:06:35.449 in that dark grave with her. God didn't answer 00:06:35.449 --> 00:06:38.769 my prayers and I resent being told that I have 00:06:38.769 --> 00:06:43.759 no right to question God. If there is a God and 00:06:43.759 --> 00:06:46.439 if I ever get to meet Him face to face, you can 00:06:46.439 --> 00:06:49.800 bet your life that I will have plenty of whys 00:06:49.800 --> 00:06:54.300 for Him to answer. I want to know why my little 00:06:54.300 --> 00:06:58.060 girl died and that drunk was allowed to go on 00:06:58.060 --> 00:07:02.620 living. I love her more than my life and I miss 00:07:02.620 --> 00:07:06.740 her so. I am mad that I am having to live in 00:07:06.740 --> 00:07:09.959 a world where she no longer lives and I want 00:07:09.959 --> 00:07:13.930 to know why. Why shouldn't I have the right to 00:07:13.930 --> 00:07:17.730 ask God? Are we supposedly created in His image? 00:07:18.649 --> 00:07:21.370 If so, surely He has a heart and soul that are 00:07:21.370 --> 00:07:24.730 capable of hurting just as I hurt. Why would 00:07:24.730 --> 00:07:29.870 He not expect me to question if He has anything 00:07:29.870 --> 00:07:34.610 to do with miracles? I don't fear the Lord, and 00:07:34.610 --> 00:07:37.970 I don't fear hell either. I know what hell is 00:07:37.970 --> 00:07:40.750 like. I've already been there since the day my 00:07:40.750 --> 00:07:47.170 precious daughter was killed." Signed a bereaved 00:07:47.170 --> 00:07:55.930 mother. Here we have an illustration of a lady 00:07:55.930 --> 00:07:59.350 who is crying out against God and we understand 00:07:59.350 --> 00:08:06.240 her hurt, her sense of desperation. But she is 00:08:06.240 --> 00:08:11.860 one who has misunderstood God because she doesn't 00:08:11.860 --> 00:08:18.180 really know God. Knowing God is your highest 00:08:18.180 --> 00:08:21.720 privilege and your greatest necessity. Somebody 00:08:21.720 --> 00:08:24.759 says, I don't want to learn about theology. Listen. 00:08:25.519 --> 00:08:28.620 Listen to the words of George Verwer. There is 00:08:28.620 --> 00:08:31.579 an unfortunate tendency, some of us have, to 00:08:31.579 --> 00:08:35.899 look down upon theologians. I have heard some 00:08:35.899 --> 00:08:39.340 young people say, I don't need theology. How 00:08:39.340 --> 00:08:42.480 ridiculous. They don't need to study about God. 00:08:45.220 --> 00:08:49.460 There's no greater study that can take our minds 00:08:49.460 --> 00:08:54.519 and our spirits than the study of God. What does 00:08:54.519 --> 00:08:58.019 this knowledge of God do for us? We saw last 00:08:58.019 --> 00:09:00.539 week that it transforms our relationship to God 00:09:00.539 --> 00:09:03.960 in the first place. For one who knows God has 00:09:03.960 --> 00:09:07.080 great energy for God, has great thoughts for 00:09:07.080 --> 00:09:10.279 God, has great boldness for God and great contentment 00:09:10.279 --> 00:09:14.740 in God. All of those thoughts coming from the 00:09:14.740 --> 00:09:21.039 book of J .I. Packard, Knowing God. We also saw 00:09:21.039 --> 00:09:25.059 that knowing God results in our lives and their 00:09:25.059 --> 00:09:30.240 values being transformed. No longer do we live 00:09:30.240 --> 00:09:36.039 for riches, for might, for wisdom, but we live 00:09:36.039 --> 00:09:38.940 rather and put as the highest value in our life 00:09:38.940 --> 00:09:42.379 knowing Him and understanding Him that He is 00:09:42.379 --> 00:09:47.799 the Lord. Jeremiah 9, 23 and 24. But today I'd 00:09:47.799 --> 00:09:51.299 like to suggest a third thought and that is that 00:09:51.299 --> 00:09:53.419 this knowledge of God that we're talking about 00:09:53.419 --> 00:09:57.940 also transforms your response to God's dealings 00:09:57.940 --> 00:10:02.320 in your life. For as you learn of God and His 00:10:02.320 --> 00:10:05.980 sovereignty, His faithfulness, His mercy, His 00:10:05.980 --> 00:10:11.360 justice, and so on, the circumstances that once 00:10:11.360 --> 00:10:16.679 frightened you or angered you, the situations 00:10:16.679 --> 00:10:22.460 that once mystified you or wounded you, can then 00:10:22.460 --> 00:10:27.879 be accepted. as part of a larger scheme, the 00:10:27.879 --> 00:10:31.379 breadth of which you and I cannot now fully appreciate 00:10:31.379 --> 00:10:35.700 or see. That's why Joseph was able to respond 00:10:35.700 --> 00:10:38.019 the way that he did to his own brothers who sold 00:10:38.019 --> 00:10:42.980 him. For when he had the opportunity to get even, 00:10:44.340 --> 00:10:46.779 you remember he said to them, you intended it 00:10:46.779 --> 00:10:53.779 for evil, but God intended it for good. Joseph 00:10:53.779 --> 00:10:58.960 had come to know God. And those circumstances 00:10:58.960 --> 00:11:01.120 in his life over which he could have remained 00:11:01.120 --> 00:11:06.740 angry and bitter were accepted by him because 00:11:06.740 --> 00:11:10.480 he saw the broader scheme of what God is like. 00:11:11.879 --> 00:11:16.379 God meant it for good. Or consider the apostle 00:11:16.379 --> 00:11:20.259 Paul who writes to the Philippians from a jail 00:11:20.259 --> 00:11:24.980 cell in Rome. being chained to a guard on each 00:11:24.980 --> 00:11:30.179 side of him. And instead of wondering what God 00:11:30.179 --> 00:11:36.379 was up to and questioning the Almighty, he said, 00:11:36.559 --> 00:11:41.179 the things that have fallen out to me have accomplished 00:11:41.179 --> 00:11:49.039 the furtherance of the gospel. The loss of a 00:11:49.039 --> 00:11:55.059 loved one the unexpected reversal of fortune, 00:11:57.419 --> 00:12:01.940 the news of a life -threatening illness, the 00:12:01.940 --> 00:12:07.799 collapse of a relationship, the betrayal of someone 00:12:07.799 --> 00:12:14.139 you trusted. These and many other life situations 00:12:14.139 --> 00:12:20.820 become tolerable and even embraced. to the one 00:12:20.820 --> 00:12:27.279 who knows God. Because knowing God transforms 00:12:27.279 --> 00:12:30.639 our response to God's dealings in our lives. 00:12:32.879 --> 00:12:36.580 I wish that bereaved mother might come to know 00:12:36.580 --> 00:12:44.600 God. It wouldn't bring her daughter back, but 00:12:44.600 --> 00:12:47.240 it would help her to deal with the great loss 00:12:47.240 --> 00:12:54.269 that she has It would help her to surrender her 00:12:54.269 --> 00:13:01.330 loved one to God and to accept her admittedly 00:13:01.330 --> 00:13:06.029 sorrowful circumstances as having meaning and 00:13:06.029 --> 00:13:11.269 purpose in God's sovereign and providential plan 00:13:11.269 --> 00:13:15.830 for her life. Knowing God doesn't mean there's 00:13:15.830 --> 00:13:20.519 no pain. Don't misunderstand. The emotions that 00:13:20.519 --> 00:13:26.799 accompany life's circumstances can run the gamut. 00:13:27.299 --> 00:13:30.620 Even for those who know God, there are deep human 00:13:30.620 --> 00:13:34.740 feelings that are very, very real. But those 00:13:34.740 --> 00:13:39.460 feelings you see are contained and they are channeled 00:13:39.460 --> 00:13:47.419 by a spiritual grasp of God so that those feelings 00:13:48.500 --> 00:13:52.500 become healthy and God -honoring expressions 00:13:52.500 --> 00:13:58.559 of the human heart. The lady who sang this morning 00:13:58.559 --> 00:14:04.539 before the message gave me a little card almost 00:14:04.539 --> 00:14:06.860 four years ago now upon the death of my mother. 00:14:09.139 --> 00:14:11.519 On the card are printed some simple words by 00:14:11.519 --> 00:14:14.539 a lady named Glenna Oldham. They're entitled 00:14:14.539 --> 00:14:18.049 Our Sovereign God and Ms. Oldham writes these 00:14:18.049 --> 00:14:53.600 words, has come upon me. There is no greater 00:14:53.600 --> 00:14:56.059 blindness than the blindness that comes to the 00:14:56.059 --> 00:15:01.580 human spirit because one does not know God. An 00:15:01.580 --> 00:15:05.019 intimate knowledge of God does not come quickly 00:15:05.019 --> 00:15:10.799 or easily or cheaply. There's no shortcut for 00:15:10.799 --> 00:15:15.610 it. You can't buy a pound of God to get familiar 00:15:15.610 --> 00:15:17.769 with so that you can then consider if you want 00:15:17.769 --> 00:15:22.710 to know the rest of Him. You can't pick up a 00:15:22.710 --> 00:15:27.190 second -hand understanding of the Almighty. Knowing 00:15:27.190 --> 00:15:31.710 God is time -consuming, it requires discipline, 00:15:31.710 --> 00:15:37.149 and it demands that everything is first on the 00:15:37.149 --> 00:15:43.139 altar. Knowing God requires of me in the first 00:15:43.139 --> 00:15:47.940 place that I acknowledge that I poorly understand 00:15:47.940 --> 00:15:53.779 Him now. That I admit that I know Him very little 00:15:53.779 --> 00:15:58.679 and greatly need to know Him more. And secondly, 00:15:59.740 --> 00:16:02.340 that I then determine to seek Him with all of 00:16:02.340 --> 00:16:08.879 my heart. That is required. We seek Him in the 00:16:08.879 --> 00:16:16.620 Word and through prayer. Why is it necessary 00:16:16.620 --> 00:16:20.940 to know God this way? Why can't we take a course 00:16:20.940 --> 00:16:27.159 on God in small church or in a Bible school or 00:16:27.159 --> 00:16:31.340 seminary? Why can't we simply take a course and 00:16:31.340 --> 00:16:35.600 pass it and say, now I know God? Well, the answer 00:16:35.600 --> 00:16:39.379 to that is that God is not merely a subject to 00:16:39.379 --> 00:16:43.679 study. He is not merely a theory to examine. 00:16:45.600 --> 00:16:53.200 He is not an idea to explore. But God is a being. 00:16:55.639 --> 00:17:02.139 He is a being. He is a personal being. who is 00:17:02.139 --> 00:17:05.259 capable of being known only through personal 00:17:05.259 --> 00:17:12.160 communion. And so if we would know God, it means 00:17:12.160 --> 00:17:17.980 that we must practice communion with Him regularly. 00:17:19.940 --> 00:17:23.400 Just as we practice getting to know our friends 00:17:23.400 --> 00:17:27.000 or our loved ones by spending time with them. 00:17:29.960 --> 00:17:33.400 On a merely human level, the process can be complicated, 00:17:33.420 --> 00:17:37.319 can't it? Because we can only know another person 00:17:37.319 --> 00:17:39.859 to the degree that that person desires to be 00:17:39.859 --> 00:17:43.420 known by us and is willing to reveal himself 00:17:43.420 --> 00:17:47.160 so that we might know him. So it can be complicated. 00:17:48.680 --> 00:17:53.059 But the fact is that on the divine level, God 00:17:53.059 --> 00:17:57.799 is willing that we might know him. And God has 00:17:57.799 --> 00:18:01.200 already revealed Himself to us so that we might, 00:18:01.599 --> 00:18:04.200 through His Word and through the person of Jesus 00:18:04.200 --> 00:18:12.019 Christ, the Almighty desires to be known. Now 00:18:12.019 --> 00:18:15.779 remember that to know a person is more than merely 00:18:15.779 --> 00:18:22.839 knowing some facts about his history. To know 00:18:22.839 --> 00:18:27.680 a person means to Understand how that person 00:18:27.680 --> 00:18:35.119 thinks. How that person reacts or responds or 00:18:35.119 --> 00:18:41.720 behaves under specific circumstances. And that's 00:18:41.720 --> 00:18:48.839 how we need to know God. J .I. Packer again helps 00:18:48.839 --> 00:18:51.720 us when he says the Bible puts flesh on these 00:18:51.720 --> 00:18:56.680 bare bones of ideas. by using pictures and analogies 00:18:56.680 --> 00:18:59.720 and telling us that we know God in the manner 00:18:59.720 --> 00:19:06.200 of a son knowing his father, a wife knowing her 00:19:06.200 --> 00:19:11.740 husband, a subject knowing his king, and a sheep 00:19:11.740 --> 00:19:19.119 knowing its shepherd. Those four analogies are 00:19:19.119 --> 00:19:21.480 throughout the Word of God telling us that we 00:19:21.480 --> 00:19:26.650 know Him. in the same way that those analogies 00:19:26.650 --> 00:19:30.390 work. And it's interesting as Packer points out 00:19:30.390 --> 00:19:32.990 that each of those analogies involves the one 00:19:32.990 --> 00:19:36.529 who is knowing the other, looking up to the other. 00:19:37.869 --> 00:19:40.609 And the other promising to provide for the needs 00:19:40.609 --> 00:19:45.230 of the one who desires to know him. And so it 00:19:45.230 --> 00:19:52.480 is with God. Isn't it great to know that God 00:19:52.480 --> 00:19:57.940 never misunderstands us? People misunderstand 00:19:57.940 --> 00:20:02.420 us from time to time. Because they don't know 00:20:02.420 --> 00:20:08.480 us, perhaps. But God never misunderstands you. 00:20:08.700 --> 00:20:11.640 Because He knows you. He knows you better than 00:20:11.640 --> 00:20:16.140 anyone. And so God is never surprised at you. 00:20:17.779 --> 00:20:25.430 You never pull one on God. And God is never frustrated 00:20:25.430 --> 00:20:30.029 by you. You'll never catch God wringing His hands 00:20:30.029 --> 00:20:35.509 over you. And God is never confused by anything 00:20:35.509 --> 00:20:44.069 you do. Because He knows you. He knows you. He 00:20:44.069 --> 00:20:50.150 knows you. And yet He loves you more than anyone 00:20:50.150 --> 00:20:54.039 in the world. That's one reason I love that Gaither 00:20:54.039 --> 00:20:56.759 chorus that we have sung from time to time around 00:20:56.759 --> 00:21:05.000 here That says I am loved I am loved I Can risk 00:21:05.000 --> 00:21:10.619 loving you? For the one who knows me best what? 00:21:11.819 --> 00:21:18.099 Loves me the most Isn't that great what comfort 00:21:18.099 --> 00:21:21.720 there is annoying that the God who knows me through 00:21:21.720 --> 00:21:25.539 and through is the God who loves me more than 00:21:25.539 --> 00:21:29.700 anyone in the whole universe. He never misunderstands 00:21:29.700 --> 00:21:37.240 me. But the fact is that I can and too often 00:21:37.240 --> 00:21:42.740 do misunderstand Him because I don't know Him 00:21:42.740 --> 00:21:49.049 like I should. The fears that you and I have, 00:21:49.250 --> 00:21:52.049 our failures to trust, our reluctance to obey, 00:21:52.910 --> 00:21:56.809 our complaints against Him, our propensity towards 00:21:56.809 --> 00:22:00.529 self -direction and self -fulfillment, all of 00:22:00.529 --> 00:22:05.289 these stem from a lack of knowledge of God. For 00:22:05.289 --> 00:22:10.089 if we knew Him like we could and should, none 00:22:10.089 --> 00:22:15.599 of those things would be a problem. To know Him 00:22:15.599 --> 00:22:20.380 is to lose all things that mean nothing and to 00:22:20.380 --> 00:22:25.640 gain something that means everything. Read about 00:22:25.640 --> 00:22:29.420 it in Philippians chapter 3, where the apostle 00:22:29.420 --> 00:22:32.559 adds up all of the benefits and advantages of 00:22:32.559 --> 00:22:36.400 his life. He draws the line under them and his 00:22:36.400 --> 00:22:43.660 summation of them all is manure. Dung. He says 00:22:43.660 --> 00:22:47.000 that's what they're worth compared to the one 00:22:47.000 --> 00:22:49.799 other thing on the side of the ledger, the other 00:22:49.799 --> 00:22:56.319 side of the ledger, knowing Christ. To know Him 00:22:56.319 --> 00:23:01.980 is to lose all things that mean nothing and to 00:23:01.980 --> 00:23:06.299 gain something that means everything. I do feel 00:23:06.299 --> 00:23:13.819 sad for that grieving mother. I feel sad that 00:23:13.819 --> 00:23:17.619 she blames God for her daughter's death and expects 00:23:17.619 --> 00:23:22.619 God someday to give an account to her for why? 00:23:24.599 --> 00:23:32.759 Because she doesn't know God. And she misunderstands 00:23:32.759 --> 00:23:38.559 Him and the depth of love that He has for her. 00:23:40.970 --> 00:23:43.329 There may be somebody here who says, well, I'm 00:23:43.329 --> 00:23:47.670 kind of like that too. I don't know God very 00:23:47.670 --> 00:23:50.950 well. But the problem is I don't feel like I 00:23:50.950 --> 00:23:55.609 can know God very well. I'm too unworthy. Listen. 00:23:57.109 --> 00:24:01.890 God wants you to know Him. And the degree of 00:24:01.890 --> 00:24:05.869 intimacy that you have with Him is limited only 00:24:05.869 --> 00:24:15.829 by you. You. By your choices, determine the kind 00:24:15.829 --> 00:24:21.130 of knowledge you have of God. How intimate with 00:24:21.130 --> 00:24:34.930 God do you choose to be? There's a poem that 00:24:34.930 --> 00:24:38.609 captures the words from Psalm 46. that we sang 00:24:38.609 --> 00:24:41.809 earlier, be still and know that I am God. It 00:24:41.809 --> 00:24:45.650 goes like this. I don't know the author. Be still 00:24:45.650 --> 00:24:49.750 and know that I am God. Where you now tread, 00:24:49.910 --> 00:24:54.549 I too have trod. I know your griefs. I have a 00:24:54.549 --> 00:24:58.690 part. I know the anguish of your heart. Did I 00:24:58.690 --> 00:25:02.950 not walk the toilsome road, a wanderer without 00:25:02.950 --> 00:25:07.529 abode? Did I not stand in Pilate's hall? though 00:25:07.529 --> 00:25:11.910 innocent, hear judgment fall? Did I not hang 00:25:11.910 --> 00:25:16.509 on yonder tree at Golgotha to die for thee? Did 00:25:16.509 --> 00:25:19.950 I not break the bars away on that first resurrection 00:25:19.950 --> 00:25:24.049 day? Ah, yes, my friend, I've journeyed far to 00:25:24.049 --> 00:25:27.589 break the might of death's cold bar. It was all 00:25:27.589 --> 00:25:31.609 for you I paid the price. For you I made such 00:25:31.609 --> 00:25:36.710 sacrifice. In me You'll find your source of power 00:25:36.710 --> 00:25:40.230 to gird you in this trying hour. Let not your 00:25:40.230 --> 00:25:45.250 heart then trouble to be. Believe in God, and 00:25:45.250 --> 00:25:49.789 so in me. Where you now tread, I too have trod. 00:25:50.470 --> 00:25:59.970 Be still, and know that I am God. Let's pray. 00:26:04.839 --> 00:26:07.200 It may be that you have come to this worship 00:26:07.200 --> 00:26:15.299 service today misunderstanding God. And your 00:26:15.299 --> 00:26:20.259 feelings are not too far from that grieving mother's, 00:26:20.259 --> 00:26:22.900 although the situation may be entirely different 00:26:22.900 --> 00:26:33.240 for you. Do you understand that our misunderstanding 00:26:33.240 --> 00:26:37.440 of God arises out of our lack of knowing Him. 00:26:39.119 --> 00:26:41.480 And that our greatest necessity, our highest 00:26:41.480 --> 00:26:45.240 privilege, is to know Him. And God invites you 00:26:45.240 --> 00:26:50.920 to know Him. Yet you find yourself today struggling 00:26:50.920 --> 00:27:00.400 and even fighting God. Be still and know that 00:27:00.400 --> 00:27:06.200 He is God. And open your heart to Him. If you've 00:27:06.200 --> 00:27:08.740 not received Him as your Savior and Lord, do 00:27:08.740 --> 00:27:12.660 that today. If you've done that, open your heart 00:27:12.660 --> 00:27:18.200 still further to Him now and ask Him to show 00:27:18.200 --> 00:27:21.359 Himself to you in a new and deeper way that you 00:27:21.359 --> 00:27:27.299 might truly know Him. Let's sing again that chorus, 00:27:27.680 --> 00:27:31.279 standing together please. Be still and know that 00:27:31.279 --> 00:27:37.210 I am God. While you're standing there with your 00:27:37.210 --> 00:27:45.069 head bowed, will you talk to the Lord? Ask His 00:27:45.069 --> 00:27:48.150 forgiveness for the complaints or the fears, 00:27:49.849 --> 00:27:56.410 the fighting, the struggling, how He loves you. 00:27:57.809 --> 00:28:00.490 Oh, He would embrace you. He would wrap His arms 00:28:00.490 --> 00:28:04.900 around you today. and whisper in your ear how 00:28:04.900 --> 00:28:08.700 much he loves you. If only you would let him 00:28:08.700 --> 00:28:15.480 close enough. Let him. Right now. Let him take 00:28:15.480 --> 00:28:21.220 you in his arms. That you might know him better. 00:28:24.079 --> 00:28:29.059 Lord, we would trust you and not run. We would 00:28:29.059 --> 00:28:34.180 yield to you and not fight. we would know you 00:28:34.180 --> 00:28:40.420 and not any longer be blind. So teach us of yourself 00:28:40.420 --> 00:28:45.079 and bring us to that point in each of our spiritual 00:28:45.079 --> 00:28:49.720 journeys where we can acknowledge and will acknowledge 00:28:49.720 --> 00:28:54.559 our need and seek you with all of our hearts 00:28:54.559 --> 00:28:59.380 above everything else in the world and with nothing 00:28:59.380 --> 00:29:06.000 between us. and all in the altar. In Jesus' name 00:29:06.000 --> 00:29:08.240 I pray, Amen.