John 17:3

Getting to know God

Robert Pitts – 7/27/2011Upper Springs Ministries.org

John 17:3

"And this is eternal life, that they mayknow You, the only true God, and JesusChrist whom You have sent.‖

What is the Purpose of Knowing God

Jesus said in John 10:10 - "The thief doesnot come except to steal, and to kill, and todestroy. I have come that they may havelife, and that they may have it moreabundantly.

LIFE is the purpose of knowing God.

Who is God and how can we know Him?

First of all we see in Matthew 28:18-20,that we can know God in the Three Personsof the God head:

The Father

The Son

The Holy Spirit

This does not mean there are 3 differentGods, but 3 Persons of the same essence.

There is no shadow of turning in God.

We come to know the 3 Persons of theGodhead as we experience them.

We come to know the Father as Jehovah,just as Israel in the Old Testament.

We come to know the Son as ―Immanuel,which is translated, "God with us.‖ OurSavior.

We come to know the Holy Spirit as ourComforter, Teacher, Counselor and guide.

God revealed Himself to Israel as theyexperienced Him.

Abraham experienced God as JehovahJireh, The Lord our provider, In Genesis22:14, .

In Exodus 15:2 Israel experienced God asJehovah Rophe — the Lord our healer.

In Judges 6:24 Gideon experienced God asJehovah Shalom — the God of Peace

In Jeremiah 33:16, God reveals Himself as Jehovah Tsideknu - the Lord our righteousness

In Exodus 17:15, Jehovah Nissi — the Lord our Banner

Some other names by which God revealed Himself are:

Jehovah Shammah — the Lord is there

Jehovah Saboath — the Lord of Host

Jehovah Kawdash - The Lord who sanctifies

Jehovah Nekaw-maw - The Lord who avenges me

Jehovah Bara — The Lord the Creator

El Shaddai — Almighty God

The Everlasting Father

Prince of Peace

Faithful and True

Alpha & Omega

Lamb of God

The Way

The Truth

The Life

The Bread sent down from Heaven

The Author and Finisher of our Faith

The Great High Priest

The Head of the Church

Spirit of Christ

Spirit of faith

Spirit of Truth

Spirit of grace

Spirit of the living God

Spirit of holiness

Spirit of judgment

The Seal of the covenant

How do we know Him?

1 Corinthians 2:14

But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

This is the reason many people cannot, nor do not believe the Bible.

The natural mind of man cannot understand nor receive the things of God.

Hebrews 1:1-2

God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, (2) has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds;

The Lord can speak anyway He chooses.

He can speak through the Bible, the church or life itself.

The Lord can speak through dreams or through words of knowledge.

The Lord is speaking to us all the time, the problem is we are not listening, nor hearing

We have to train our spiritual ears to hear

Read 1 Samuel 3:1-14

Just as Samuel had to learn to recognize the voice of the Lord, so do we have to.

The difference between Samuel & us is that we have the Holy Spirit living in us.

John 14:26

"But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.‖

The Holy Spirit is the one who stirred your heart to come to salvation.

You did not just wake up one morning and decide to trust Jesus.

You were chosen and called by God

Psalms 14:1

The fool has said in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt, They have done abominable works, There is none who does good. (2) The LORD looks down from heaven upon the children of men, To see if there are any who understand, who seek God. (3) They have all turned aside, They have together become corrupt; There is none who does good, No, not one.

Left alone man will not choose God.

To Know God is to Experience Him, so how do we do this?

By Him intervening in our lives

He does so by the things He has done in the past for others

He does so by the things He does for us

John 14:6

Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

If this is true, then Jesus is our life and our prayers should be:

Lord, what do you want me to do?

Lord, when do you want me to do it?

Lord, how and where shall I do it?

He leads us one step or one day at a time

If we were shown the big picture, most of the time, we would run the other way.

Matthew 6:33-34

"But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

―

(34) "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

How do we do this?

First we must agree on a few things.

We must agree that God is absolutely trust worthy

Jeremiah 29:11

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.

We must agree that we will follow even when we don’t know where, how or why.

This is called faith.

Hebrews 11:6

But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

We must agree to follow Him one day at a time.

God’s timing is always perfect.

2 Corinthians 4:16

Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day.

We must agree that we will allow Jesus to be our way

2 Corinthians 5:7

For we walk by faith, not by sight.

Some things we need to remember:

John 5:17

But Jesus answered them, "My Father has been working until now, and I have been working."

The Lord is always working around, in and through us.

We have to learn to see what He is doing and where He is working

Then what are we to do?

Jesus gave us a pattern to follow.

John 5:19-20

Then Jesus answered and said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner. (20) "For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself does; and He will show Him greater works than these, that you may marvel.

John 12:26

"If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor.

Works do not save us, however, they can show our love for Christ.

Without a love relationship with Christ our works will not help us.

We were saved for good works!

John 15:16

"You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.

Jesus chose us.

God always takes the initiative in every relationship.

Again, God chose us, called us and saved us

Amos 3:7

Surely the Lord GOD does nothing, Unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets.

When God gets ready to do any work, He always tell or invites someone to join Him

The moment you hear God’s voice is your invitation from God to join Him in what He is doing.

This is why we must have spiritual ears to hear and spiritual eyes to see.

What kind of people does God work through?

Does God only work through those who have a lot of education?

Does God only work through those who have a special talent?

Does God only work through those who have a lot of money?

We will see that God works through people just like us.

Elijah was one of God’s most anointed prophets.

And yet James 5:17-18 tells us that Elijah was an ordinary man like us

Peter and John were apostles of the Lord and wrote several books in the Bible.

Yet Acts 4:13 tells us they were ignorant, unlearned fisherman.

Amos was an herdsman and a gatherer of sycomore fruit:

Jesus said John the Baptist was one of God’s greatest prophets, yet his ministry was only about 6 months in duration.

Many of the Old Testament prophets had short ministries.

Some had ministries when they were young and some when they were old.

Jeremiah told the Lord he could speak for he was too young.

Moses told the Lord he was too old (80) and could not speak.

Don’t use the world’s standards to measure success of:

Your Life

Your ministry

Your spiritual gift

Your church

Just remember 1 Corinthians 1:26-31 says that the Lord uses the weak things to put to shame the mighty things of the world, the flesh & the devil.

John the Baptist said in Matthew 3:11 that Jesus will baptize us with the Holy Spirit and with Fire

Every Christian I know wants the Holy Spirit, but hardly anyone wants the fire.

1 Peter 4:12

Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you;

So what is the purpose of the fire?

One reason is found in 1 Peter 1:4-6, it is a trial or test of your faith

Another is found in 1 Corinthians 3:13, the fire is to test our work

Another is found in 2 Corinthians 1:3

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, (4) who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

Often times the Devil and the powers of darkness place temptations in our path that are a type of fiery trial.

But 1 Corinthians 10:13 tells us about God’s provision.

No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.

God does for us everything we cannot do for ourselves.

Psalms 10:17

LORD, You have heard the desire of the humble; You will prepare their heart; You will cause Your ear to hear,

We can trust the Lord to prepare our heart

James 4:10

Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.

We can trust the Lord to lift us up when we fall if we come before Him in humility.

Psalms 37:3-5

Trust in the LORD, and do good; Dwell in the land and feed on His faithfulness.

(5) Commit your way to the LORD, Trust also in Him, And He shall bring it to pass.

(4) Delight yourself also in the LORD, And He shall give you the desires of your heart.

In Isaiah 65:24 the Lord said before they call — I will answer.

We must go through the fire because God:

Is Holy — His anger burns against sin

Is Righteous — His judgment fall on those who rebel against His Word

Is Faithful —His Word is fulfilled (even His warnings)

Is Omnipotent — no one can resist Him successfully

Is Omniscient — no problem can master Him or baffle His wisdom

Is Omni-present — Nothing, nor no one is hidden from Him

Is Love — He sent His Son to die for us & gives us a portion of faith to love and know Him

Jesus told us two things about hearing:

Mark 4:24 – Then He said to them, "Take heed what you hear. With the same measure you use, it will be measured to you; and to you who hear, more will be given.

Some things are not worth hearing, but the things that are worth hearing should be heeded.

Luke 8:18 – "Therefore take heed how you hear. For whoever has, to him more will be given; and whoever does not have, even what he seems to have will be taken from him."

When we get distracted by the world, the flesh and/or the devil, we do not always hear the way we should.

Jesus told us that not every person has ears to hear.

Matthew 13:15 – For the hearts of thispeople have grown dull. Their ears are hardof hearing, And their eyes they have closed,Lest they should see with their eyes andhear with their ears, Lest they shouldunderstand with their hearts and turn, Sothat I should heal them.’

Matthew 13:16 – "But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear;

We need to learn to hear & see the Lord.