If you had one hour to communicate the greatest truth, the most edifying word you could possibly communicate, to someone you deeply care about but will never see again, what would that word be? That was the question Holy Spirit posed to me as I prepared to speak last weekend. After the opportunity to preach at least in part this message twice, here is the written version.

And when they had come to him, he said to them: “You know, from the first day that I came to Asia, in what manner I always lived among you, 19 serving the Lord with all humility… Acts 20:18-19 NKJV – the beginning of Paul’s ONE HOUR sermon to the Ephesian leaders.

If I had one hour to preach to you the most important message, the essence of the exhortation would be this – KNOW GOD. Know Him experientially, know Him intimately, know Him and see Him, know Him and love Him fully. Get beyond all doubts about Him. Hid nothing from Him. Invest yourself fully in Him. Know God!

…but the people who know their God shall be strong and carry out great exploits. Dan 11:32 NKJV

Salvation is a much more complex subject than one ever hears preached, especially in the Pentecostal or Charismatic movements. The salvation of the soul can be lost while the salvation of the spirit remains. All of life is a test, down to the moment-by-moment daily living of life and it’s all about Him, and our relationship to Him. So, we begin our study with some warning scriptures. This is going to be a fun study, but you must understand these warning scriptures and…take them seriously.

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.  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 (Grk. GINOSKO) you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ Matt 7:21-23 NKJV

Jesus answered, “If I honor Myself, My honor is nothing. It is My Father who honors Me, of whom you say that He is your God.  55 Yet you have not known (Grk. GINOSKO) Him, but I know (Grk. OIDA) Him. And if I say, ‘I do not know (Grk. OIDA) Him,’ I shall be a liar like you; but I do know (Grk. OIDA) Him and keep His word. John 8:54-55 NKJV

GINOSKO and OIDA. GINOSKO means to know by experience, while OIDA means to know intuitively, literally ‘to see.’ Jesus says to those miracle workers ‘I never experientially knew you! Depart from Me.’ There is a very possible outcome for some born again ones, as sons of the kingdom (Mt.8:12, 13:38) to miss the millennial reign of Christ by being cast out into outer darkness for the season. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth! The outer darkness is not hell, but a place where apparently some will reside as they miss the millennial kingdom. Interestingly, ‘lawlessness’ is defined as being not led by the Spirit. It is a critical truth for all of us to avoid this consequence, and is worthy of our ONE HOUR consideration…

Jesus confronts the leaders of Judaism by saying that they don’t experientially know ABBA Father. There is a distinction that must be made between head knowledge and heart knowledge. People say, why does God allow evil in the world? My response is that all life is a test, and it’s all about Him. Evil, trouble, bondage and problems are stark opportunities to turn to the God of Israel, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Paul said I rejoice in troubles, because when I am strengthless, then am I empowered by His strength (1 Cor 12:7-10). ABBA doesn’t cause the trouble but stands with open arms to receive us as we turn in those moments to Him. The religious leaders were too comfortable, too enthroned in religious authority, to have enough trouble to drive them to the arms of the God of Abraham. Don’t make that mistake! Jesus intuitively knew the Father. He was in the bosom of the Father, and knew His heartbeat, His will, and the passion and love that drove that will. He knew Him!

Beloved, let us love (Grk AGAPAO) one another, for love (Grk. AGAPE) is of God; and everyone who loves (Grk. AGAPAO) is born of God and knows (Grk. GINOSKO) God. 8 He who does not love does not know (Grk. GINOSKO) God, for God is love. 9 In this the love (Grk. AGAPE) of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. 10 In this is love (Grk. AGAPE), not that we loved (Grk. AGAPAO) God, but that He loved (Grk. AGAPAO) us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 1 John 4:7-11NKJV

You always live out of what is in you, in your nature, and if you don’t you are miserable. We love one another because the nature of love has been born within us, and as we live that out experientially, we come to know Him who gave us that nature. All true loving is expressed in giving, a giving which seeks the benefit of the receiver. Father gave the Son that we might live through Him by being the payment in full for our sins. That’s love! I heard the ‘prosperity gospel’ again recently, where giving is described as an ‘investment’ – totally selfish, no love in that! – and the preacher chose to twist our arms to come up with thousand-dollar gifts. I was not happy! Knowing God through loving people with genuine gifts for their benefit positions you to receive the favor of God, and know Him…

KNOW HIM AS FATHER

No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him. John 1:18 NKJV

I grew up in a middle-class neighborhood with two siblings where both of my parents worked and stayed married. I never worried about food, clothing, or shelter because my father took care of those things well. I worried about girls and making the baseball team. I trusted my father, and he took care of me. All my needs were met. When I left home at seventeen, I simply transferred my trust to my heavenly Father. Things were bumpy at times – one time on a snowy, icy road my car spun and I went off a cliff, only to be saved by kind passersby – as I’m sure they were for my father, but ABBA always took care of me; I was never alone! Jesus was in the warm embrace, the bosom of the Father. When you hug someone, you can feel their tension, but there is no tension here, only the warm confidence and tender love that comes from being almighty God. Knowing ABBA as Father puts you in the warm embrace of God!

KNOW HIM AS LORD

Therefore, submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. James 4:7-8 NKJV

There are three stages of learning in being led by the Spirit: submission, obedience and joyful, willful cooperation. In the submission phase a new believer is learning that he is not the lord of his life, and that he must surrender that lordship to another, Jesus. In the second phase he learns that the Lord’s suggestions are really commands and must be received in detail and carried out explicitly. But as he grows he comes to realize that what the Lord seeks is joyful, willful cooperation on all levels of life. That cooperation builds as he realizes who he is in Christ, and life becomes a partnership with Him, and running with Jesus becomes a joy with limitless possibilities. As you live in that state of joyful cooperation then fruit accumulates and grows, and you have more articles for your miracle wall.

KNOW HIM AS HELPER

 Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. John 16:7 NKJV

I’ve always thought that this verse was the most astonishing verse in the NT. To think that it would be to our advantage that Jesus leaves us! The second thought I have always had about this verse is how little we have allowed the Helper to help us. If Jesus were physically present, we would put Him to work six days a week, just like my earthly father, and life would be grand. But He leaves us with the Helper, and we do nothing with Him! So, we struggle to meet our needs, while the Helper stands back with arms folded saying, “Dude, I’m here. Can I help?” We are deceived into thinking we must struggle with our strength, instead of being in joyful cooperation with the Helper.

…He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.  John 7:38-39 NKJV

The Lord intended that each NT believer be filled with all nine gifts from the Helper. Indeed, the promises embodied in the Church Epistles, the lifestyle of triumphant glory, necessitates the gifts of the Spirit. The trouble is we have tried to live a Spirit filled life without being Spirit filled, and we’ve made doctrines out of our unbelief. Know God, dear one! As we wrap up our hour, let me encourage you to seek Him first thing every morning. A good hour in the presence of God daily will solve so many problems that you will kick yourself for not doing this years ago. As you open up to Him, making yourself known to Him, He will open up to you, causing you to know Him. As you rejoice in Him, He will rejoice in you. Know Him, dear one. This is the simplicity of the greatest thing I could convey to you, in the shortest amount of time – one hour – because I love you. Amen?

Remember dear ones, we must be about our Father’s business…