Clean Transcript

Knowing God

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• Jeremiah 22 and verse 16. Jeremiah 22 and verse 16. We will come back a little bit later and get the context. The title of the message is Knowing God. Notice if you would, Jeremiah 22 and verse 16. Bible says he judged the cause of the poor and needy. Then it was well with him. Was not this to know me? saith God. So I began by asking this question: Do you know God?

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• There are numerous individuals that profess to know him, but there are a number of questions that really need to be asked in order to ascertain if they really and truly know him. We could ask: How do you know him? We could also ask, who introduced you to him? We could also ask, how has the knowledge of him affected and influenced your life? And what do you know about him? And lastly, we could ask this question: Does your knowledge of him bring you into a personal and practical relationship with him? None of these questions are trivial. None of these questions are facetious. And the truth of the matter is, the question is not only important but actually is an issue of life and death. So let me just go over these questions very quickly by way of introduction. We could ask the first question: How do you know Him? You must understand that there are different kinds of knowledge. There is a mental or an intellectual assent or knowledge, and that is just a knowledge in and of itself that you hold in the mind.

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• There is a theological knowledge where people are able to discuss doctrine and things about God. But one may know the doctrine and not know God Himself. Of course, there is then this personal and practical knowledge of God. So you need to discern which type of knowledge you hold concerning God. The second question was this: Who introduced you to Him? And the reason I ask that question is because of the truth of Scripture. Matthew 11 and verse 27. Here is what the Bible says. Our Lord said, "All things are delivered unto me of my Father. And no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him." Is that interesting? So no one is able to know the Son unless the Father revealed Him. And no one is able to know the Father unless the Son revealed Him. And when you get to John 1 in verse 18, the Scripture says, "No man hath seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him."

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• Now in the strictest sense of the word, you could say that salvation is a revelation. Because the Lord says very clearly that no man knows the Father save the Son and He to whomsoever He reveal Him. So Jesus Christ is the revelator. Jesus Christ is the one who declares the Father. Now the interesting thing about the word "reveal" in Matthew 11 verse 27, it is the Greek word apokalupto. It is actually the same word that we have in the book of Revelation in a different form. Say it for me, Gary. I wanted to say apocalypse, but it's apocalypsis, the unveiling or the revealing of Jesus Christ. So this word actually means to disclose. It means to manifest. It means to reveal. It means to unveil. It means to lay open and to uncover. So it is Jesus Christ then who discloses and uncovers the Father to each one of us. So that is why I ask, who introduced you to the Father? The only one who can savingly introduce us to the Father is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself.

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• The next question would be this: How has this knowledge affected your life? It is impossible to know someone, especially the one true and living God, without being affected. In Jeremiah chapter 24 and verse 7, God says concerning the remnant that He was going to bring back into the land, He said, "And I will give them a heart to know me that I am the Lord, and they shall be my people and I will be their God, and they shall turn to me with their whole heart." So when He says, "I will give them a heart to know me," it means that they will turn to Him, and then He goes on to say that they will turn to me with their whole or entire heart. So if you know Him, you will turn to Him. If you know Him, your life will be changed. If you know Him, you will be so deeply affected that you will never, ever be the same. So, I could ask this question: What do you know about Him? Let me say it like this: It is impossible to know someone personally, intimately, without knowing details about them.

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• Just stop and think of our relationships. Alice and I will soon be married 56 years. I can only say that I know her. I can usually tell you what she is thinking. I can usually finish her sentences for her. I know her likes. I know her dislikes. Unhappily, she'd probably say the same thing about me. But the point I'm trying to make: it's impossible to know someone without knowing some intimate details about that individual. And so actually, if we truly know God, then we are going to have some intimate details that we know about Him.

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• There will be things that we have learned through fellowship with Him, through the study of His Word, and through prayer. And you will learn His likes and dislikes as well. You will know what is an abomination to Him and what is not an abomination to Him.

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• Now, the last question that I ask is simply this: Does your knowledge of God bring you into a personal relationship with Him? If it does not, then the answer is you really do not know God. Let me show you why. I want you to hold Jeremiah 22, but I want you to look at John 17 and verse 3. John 17 and verse 3. Book in the New Testament.

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• This is the high priestly prayer of our Lord Jesus Christ. In John 17 in verse 3, the Word of God says this: "And this is life eternal, that they may know thee the only true God and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent." Now I want you to note what our Lord said: "And this is life eternal, that they may know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent." Which brings me to this statement: Eternal life is not just simply living forever. If that is your definition of eternal life, then you would have to say that the unsaved who live forever in the lake of fire being tormented would have eternal life. Eternal life is not just simply being heavenly. According to our Lord in John 17 in verse 3, eternal life is a personal intimate knowledge of God through the Lord Jesus Christ.

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• Now let me point something else out. One does not get eternal life when he dies. He has it now. And if you do not have it now, you will not have it when you die. It's just that simple. And stop and think about this. Many people tend to think that after they die, all of a sudden, they're going to love the things which they formerly hated and hate the things which they formerly loved. That's an impossibility. The point I'm trying to make is this: If you do not love the Lord God now, if you're not interested in worshiping Him and praising Him and honoring Him and glorifying Him and living for Him now, what makes you think when you die all of a sudden you're going to want to do those things? Obviously, eternal life is a personal intimate knowledge of God through Jesus Christ, and we have that life now, and we experience it in degree, not to the degree that we are going to experience in eternity when we have a glorified body, and renewed minds, and have perfect knowledge and understand things.

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• But just stop and think. In glory we will be forever learning about our great and glorious God and yet never ever fully able to comprehend Him because we will not be God even though we will be glorified. And so eternity would be basically the fellowshipping with this God through His Son the Lord Jesus Christ forever and ever and ever. So many, many Christians, many professing Christians never ever stop and think of the Father.

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• I want to give you the introduction of a sermon that was preached in January, January the 7th, 1855 in England by Charles Haddon Spurgeon. This was just his introduction. I want you to listen. He opened his morning sermon with these words: "It has been said by someone that the proper study of mankind is man. I will not oppose the idea, but I believe it is equally true that the proper study of God's elect is God. The proper study of a Christian is the Godhead."

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• "The highest science, the loftiest speculation, the mightiest philosophy which can ever engage the attention of a child of God is the name, the nature, the person, the work, the doings, and the existence of the great God whom He calls His Father. There is something exceedingly improving to the mind in a contemplation of the divinity. It is a subject so vast that all of our thoughts are lost in its immensity, so deep that our pride is drowned in its infinity."

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• "Other subjects we can compass and grapple with. In them we feel a kind of self-content and go our way with the thought, 'Behold, I am wise.' But when we come to this master science, finding that our plumb line cannot sound its depth, and that our eagle eye cannot see its height, we turn away with the thought that vain man would be wise, but he is like a wild ass's colt, and with this solid explanation, 'I am but of yesterday and know nothing.'"

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• "No subject of contemplation will tend more to humble the mind than the thoughts of God. But while this subject humbles the mind, it also expands it. He who often thinks of God will have a larger mind than the man who simply plods around this narrow globe. The most excellent study for expanding the soul is the science of Christ and Him crucified, and the knowledge of the Godhead in the glorious Trinity. Nothing will so enlarge the intellect, nothing so magnify the whole soul of man, as a devout, earnest, continued investigation of the great subject of deity. And while humbling and expanding, this subject is imminently consolatory."

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• "Oh, there is in contemplating Christ a balm for every wound, and musing on the Father there is a quietus for every grief, and in the influence of the Holy Ghost there is a balsam for every sore. Would you lose your sorrow? Would you drown your cares? Then go plunge yourself in the Godhead's deepest sea. Be lost in his immensity, and you shall come forth as from a couch of rest, refreshed and invigorated. I know nothing which can so comfort the soul, so calm the swelling billows of sorrow and grief, so speak peace to the winds of trial as a devout musing upon the subject of the Godhead." Isn't that amazing?

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• And that was his introduction. And when you stop and think of how excellent the study of God is, and yet how great and how vast the subject, we do say, Lord, we are unable in and of ourselves to even comprehend the least little bit. And it is indeed a very humbling study, that is for sure. But the truth of the matter is this: Most Christians really do not have any detailed knowledge concerning God their Father. Our knowledge is so skimpy, so sparse, and so small that we are often satisfied with what you and I would just simply call basic information.

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• Let me give you an illustration. In his book, Knowing God, J.I. Packer shares five basic truths which serve as a foundation for knowing God. And I want you to listen to these five basic truths. Think with me. Number one, God has spoken to man and the Bible is his word given to us to make us wise unto salvation. So actually number one encompasses the first two presuppositions of Scripture. Number one, God is, and number two, God has spoken. So he says the Bible is God's Word, God has spoken. Number two, God is Lord and King over His world.

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• He rules all things for His own glory, displaying His perfections in all that He does in order that men and angels may worship and adore Him. Well, that is true. God is absolutely King of Kings and Lord of Lords. 3. God is Savior, active in sovereign love through the Lord Jesus Christ, to rescue believers from the guilt and power of sin, to adopt them as His sons, and to bless them accordingly. 4. God is Triune.

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• That is three persons in the Godhead. God is triune. There are within the Godhead three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. And the work of salvation is one in which all three act together, the Father proposing redemption, the Son securing it and the Spirit applying it. 5. Godliness means responding to God's revelation in trust and obedience, faith and worship, prayer and praise, submission and service. Life must be seen and lived in light of God's Word.

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• This and nothing else is true religion. Well, let me just say something again. This is what I would call basic information and fundamental information. There is no way that anyone can be a Christian without knowing this basic information. J.I. Packer's book is an excellent book. I have it. I read it many years ago. I recommended it. But like I said, these truths are what you and I would call exceedingly basic and fundamental.

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• Now, let me give you and ask you a very legitimate question. Do you understand that there is a vast difference between knowing God and knowing about God? There is a vast difference between knowing God and knowing about God. For instance, we could sit here all day long and discuss His communicable and incommunicable attributes. We could talk about His infinity, His immensity, His omnipresence, His omniscience, His omnipotence, His eternality, His sovereignty. We could talk about His creation, His providence, His salvation. We could also discuss His love and mercy and goodness and power and justice and kindness and grace. We could sit here all day and talk about all of these attributes. And while they do indeed reveal God, or aspects concerning God, just simply knowing those attributes and knowing about those attributes does not necessarily mean that you know Him personally and practically. For instance, I can tell you all about a friend of mine. I could give you detailed information concerning that friend. Could give you so much information that you would sit there and think, "Wow." But with all the information that you have, you still would not know him unless you had met him and personally communed with him and discovered things about him for yourself. It is the same way with God. We have to

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• know Him in such a way that that knowledge affects us personally and practically. Now with that background in mind, I want you to go back to Jeremiah 22 and I want you to look at verse 16, and I'm going to tell you the context. But let's read verses 15 and 16. Look at the question God asked: "Shalt thou reign because thou closest thyself in cedar?"

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• "Did not thy father eat and drink, and do judgment and justice, and then it was well with him? He judged the cause of the poor and the needy, then it was well with him. Was not this to know me, saith the Lord." In the context, which we are going to read in just a moment, God is condemning King Jehoiakim and rightly so. King Jehoiakim had many advantages and ruined them all. Jehoiakim was the son of godly king Josiah. It is absolutely astounding as you read scripture to find out how many godly kings and godly men produced children that were entire reprobates. Alice and I have often talked about this, and one of the leading illustrations is King Hezekiah. One of the greatest revivals that took place in the Old Testament took place under King Hezekiah. But yet his son who succeeded him was wicked, vile, reprobate Manasseh, the most ungodly king in the entire southern kingdom.

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• And you look around and you think, how in the world could this be? Now I want to just show you, in order for you to understand this context, the godliness and the obedience of King Josiah. So I want you to turn back in your Bibles to 2 Kings chapter 23. There's a lot that we could say about Josiah. In fact, he began reigning when he was eight years of age. He is the one who—the priest found the law, a copy of the law in the temple, and read it, and he repented, and of course God spoke to him and God blessed him greatly. But look if you would in 2 Kings chapter 23, and let's begin reading there with verse 1, and we'll read the first 16 verses. And let me just show you the things that Josiah did in order to restore the true worship of God. Notice if you would 2 Kings 23 beginning with verse 1: "And the king sent, and they gathered unto him all the elders of Judah and of Jerusalem. And the king went up into the house of the Lord, and all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him, and the

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• priests and the prophets, and all the people, both small and great, and he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant, which was found in the house of the Lord." So here's the king now reading the word of God to the princes, to the people, when that book was found in the Temple. Watch verse 3: "And the king stood by a pillar, and made a covenant before the Lord, to walk after the Lord, and to keep his commandments, and his testimonies, and his statutes, with all their heart, and all their soul, to perform the words of the covenant that were written in this book. And all the people stood to the covenant." So, the people now followed the king. The king and the people entered into a covenant to obey God. Watch verse 4: "And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, and the priests of the second order, and the keepers of the door, to bring forth out of the temple of the Lord all the vessels that were made for Baal, and for the grove, the Asherah, and for all the host of heaven, and he

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• burned them without Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron, and carried the ashes of them to Bethel. And he put down the idolatrous priests, whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense in the high places in the cities of Judah, and in the places round about Jerusalem; them also that burned incense unto Baal, to the sun, and to the moon, and to the planets, and to all the host of heaven. And he brought out the grove from the house of the Lord, without Jerusalem, unto the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron, and stamped it to small powder, and cast the powder thereof upon the graves of the children of the people. And he broke down the houses of the Sodomites that were by the house of the Lord, where the women wove hangings for the grove. And he brought all the priests out of the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where the priests had burned incense, from Geba to Beersheba, and broke down the high places of the gates that were in the entering in of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which were on

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• a man's left hand at the gate of the city. Nevertheless, the priests of the high places came not up to the altar of the Lord in Jerusalem, but they did eat of the unleavened bread among their brethren. And he defiled Tophet, which is in the valley of the children of Hinnom, that no man might make his son or his daughter to pass through the fire to Molech. He took away the horses that the kings of Judah had given to the sun, and at the entering into the house of the Lord, by the chamber of Nathan-Melech, the chamberlain, which was in the suburbs, and burned the chariots of the sun with fire. And the altars that were on the top of the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars which Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of the Lord, did the king beat down and break them down from thence, and cast the dust of

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• them into the brook Kidron. And the high places that were before Jerusalem, which were on the right hand of the Mount of Corruption, look now, which Solomon the king of Israel had builded for Ashtaroth, the abomination of the Sidonians, and for Chemosh, the abomination of the Moabites, and for Milcom, the abomination of the children of Ammon, did the king defile. And he brake in pieces the images, and cut down the groves, and filled their places with the bones of men. Moreover, the altar that was at Bethel, and the high place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, had made, both that altar and the high place he broke down, and burned the high place, and stamped it small to powder, and burned the grove.

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• And as Josiah turned himself, he spied the sepulchers that were there in the mount, and sent, and took the bones out of the sepulchers, and burned them upon the altar, and polluted it, according to the word of the Lord which the man of God proclaimed, who proclaimed these words. Wow, all you can say is King Josiah was very, very thorough. Anything and everything that was unbiblical and contrary to the covenant and contrary to God's Word, he destroyed. He took it out of the way.

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• He made absolutely sure that there was absolutely nothing left. So Josiah is the man that fulfilled all of his duties, all of his obligations, all of his responsibilities before the Lord. He followed God's law and he wrought righteousness and he wrought justice.

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• Now this was the father of Jehoiakim. Now I want you to stop and think: Jehoiakim now knew all of this firsthand. So Jehoiakim wasted his education, his inheritance, and his heritage.

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• Now, let me just make something clear. Jehoiakim was not made king by Josiah. In fact, the truth of the matter is, Josiah was killed in battle with Pharaoh Necho, Pharaoh of Egypt. The people then took one of his sons and made him king, Jehoahaz. But Pharaoh Necho took Jehoahaz into Egypt and he died in Egypt. Well, how did Jehoiakim get to be king? And the answer is the king of Egypt just simply made him king.

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• If you will look in 2 Kings chapter 23 and verse 34, note if you would what the Bible says: "Pharaoh Necho made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the room of Josiah his father, and turned his name to Jehoiakim, and took Jehoahaz away: and he came to Egypt, and died there." So now we have a king that God did not put on the throne. In other words, God did not designate him as the king. Josiah did not make him king. The people did not make him king. A foreign ruler made him king.

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• Now let me just tell you some things about Jehoiakim in order that you can understand Jeremiah 22 just for a moment. It was Jehoiakim that betrayed Nebuchadnezzar and violated his oath to him and turned to Pharaoh king of Egypt. And God held him liable for this betrayal. It was Jehoiakim who murdered Uriah the prophet. You'll find that in Jeremiah chapter 26. Now, Uriah was preaching exactly the same thing that Jeremiah was preaching. And the problem was the king, Jehoiakim, did not like what Uriah was preaching.

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• And so he says, "I'm going to kill you." And Uriah fled. He got out of the authority and jurisdiction of Jehoiakim. In fact, he fled to Egypt. But Jehoiakim sent men down to Egypt and brought him back. And King Jehoiakim personally killed Uriah with a sword. So, he murdered a prophet of God. It was Jehoiakim whose life was filled with a multitude of abominations. You will find that in 2 Chronicles 36 and verse 8.

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• Here is a man who is just absolutely, totally corrupt. Moreover, I want you to see this one. It was Jehoiakim who took a pen knife and cut up the scroll Baruch had written at the mouth of Jeremiah and cast it into the fire. I want you to turn to Jeremiah chapter 36. Jeremiah had been cast into the prison. He could not preach, and so he called Baruch. God spoke to Jeremiah, and as Jeremiah spoke to Baruch, Baruch wrote the words down. And Jeremiah told Baruch, "Now you go and read these words to the people in the temple." And he did.

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• And the princes heard it. And so they took the scroll and they hid it and they went and told the king. Well, the king didn't like what was being said. So if you look at Jeremiah chapter 36, begin there with verse 20. Jeremiah 36 verse 20: "And they went in to the king into the court, but they laid up the roll in the chamber of Elishama the scribe, and told all the words in the ears of the king. So the king sent Jehudi to fetch the roll, and he took it out of Elishama the scribe's chamber. And Jehudi read it in the ears of the king, and in the ears of the princes which stood about the king."

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• "Now the king sat in the winter house in the ninth month, and there was a fire on the hearth burning before him. Now watch: And it came to pass, that when Jehudi had read three or four leaves, he cut it with the pen knife, and cast it in the fire that was on the hearth, till all the roll was consumed in the fire that was on the hearth." Never even got to read all of it. Now watch the next verse, verse 24: "Yet they were not afraid, nor rent their garments, neither the king, nor any of his servants that heard all these words." Jehoiakim was a wicked man.

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• He did not fear the Lord. He was unrighteous. He was a crook. He was covetous. He was proud. He was arrogant. He was materialistic. I want you to see the context. Let's go back to Jeremiah 22. I want you to understand now what is happening. Jeremiah 22, and let's begin reading with verse 13, and we'll read through verse 19. This passage is a condemnation of King Jehoiakim. Verse 13: God says, "Woe unto him that buildeth his house by unrighteousness, and his chambers by wrong; that useth his neighbour's service without wages, and giveth him not for his work; that saith, I will build me a wide house and large chambers, and cutteth him out windows;

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• and it is ceiled with cedar, and painted with vermilion." Now look what God asked Jehoiakim: "Shalt thou reign, because thou closest thyself in cedar? Did not thy father eat and drink, and do judgment and justice, and then it was well with him? He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well with him: was not this to know me? saith the Lord. But thine eyes and thine heart are

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• not but for thy covetousness, and for to shed innocent blood, and for oppression, and for violence, to do it. Therefore thus saith the Lord concerning Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah; They shall not lament for him, saying, Ah my brother! or, Ah sister! they shall not lament for him, saying, Ah lord! or, Ah his glory! He shall be buried with the burial of an ass, drawn and cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem." I don't know about you, but reading that I would try to think that God did not have too much respect for Jehoiakim, because Jehoiakim was indeed wicked and vile.

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• Now, here's what I want you to see. Jehoiakim was a king. He lived in a palace. His pride was this great house that he had built for himself. He had wealth. And yet at the same time, he defrauded, he oppressed, he treated people unjustly. He did whatever he wanted to do in fulfilling his heart's desire. But like the wicked, he thought somehow, some way, the judgment of God would be stayed against him.

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• But certainly it was not. Now, go back to verse 15 and verse 16. So look at these questions. Look what God says to Jehoiakim: "Shalt thou reign, because thou closest thyself in cedar?" In other words, do you think all there is to life is materialism and you've got a beautiful home and a great house? "Did not thy father eat and drink?" He enjoyed his life. "But he did judgment and justice."

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• "And then it was well with him." What else did he do? "He judged the cause of the poor and the needy. Then it was well with him." And then God asked this question: "Was not this to know me? saith the Lord." Here is the point of the entire message: Knowing God is not mental assent. Knowing God is not an intellectual acknowledgement. Knowing God is not a theological persuasion. Knowing God is not being able to discuss the finer points of theology. No. Knowing God is something very personal and very practical and very real. It is simply applying the Word of God to your everyday life. Josiah was doing justice and judgment, visiting the sick, taking care of the poor and the needy. What is it to know God? It is to have the knowledge of Him. Yes, it may be in your mind, but it filters down so that it involves and embraces the entirety of your life. Knowing God is not church attendance. It's not being at church on Sunday and then forgetting Him and living like the devil or living like

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• the flesh for six days a week and then putting on your pious face and coming back to church on Sunday. No, no, no. Knowing God is something that you live seven days a week. It is the application of His truth and His Word to your life. James, in James 1 and verse 27, said it like this. Listen carefully: "Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world." So pure religion and undefiled before God the Father is this—what's he talking about? A practical application of truth. And as you practically apply that truth on a daily basis, you keep yourself unspotted from the world. Now I want to give you three quotes. After I give you these three quotes, I want to make some applications, and I want you to think with me, please.

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• The first one is by John Gill. John Gill said this, and he's commenting on the statement, "Was not this to know me, saith the Lord?" "Was not this to know me, saith the Lord? It is not by words only, but by deeds that men show that they know the Lord. For some in words profess to know Him, who in works deny Him. When princes do the duty of their office, they thereby declare that they know and own the Lord by, and under whom they reign, that they have the fear of Him before their eyes.

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• This is a practical knowledge of Him, and is well pleasing to Him." So he is just simply saying that, look, knowing God is being very practical as well as being very personal. It is doing what you're supposed to do, living the way you're supposed to live. Here's the one by Calvin. He says, "But this passage deserves to be noticed as it shows the piety that leads men to all duties of love." Listen carefully: "Where God then is known, kindness to man also appears. So also, on the other hand, we may conclude that all regard for God is extinguished and all fear of Him is abolished when men willfully do wrong one to another and when they seek to oppress and defraud one another."

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• "There is therefore no doubt but that gross impiety will be found where the offices of love are neglected. For when Jeremiah commended the piety of Josiah on this account, because he executed judgment and justice, he doubtless condemned Jehoiakim as though he had said that he was an abandoned and irreclaimable apostate. For had he retained a spark of religion, he would have acted more justly and humanely toward his people." Well, let me say this another way.

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• Calvin pointed out carefully: where God is known, kindness to man also appears. And he also pointed out the opposite. But let me give you another scripture. You remember that passage in Luke chapter 18 where the Lord is teaching men that we ought always to pray and not faint. And he said, "There was a certain judge in a city who feared not God nor regarded man." So when you do not fear God, you have no regard for man. When you fear God, you do have regard for man.

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• So why did Jehoiakim not do judgment and justice? Why did he not take care of the poor? Because he had no fear of God. Why is it that we do not have a practical application in our lives? And the answer is because we really have no fear of God. Here's what Matthew Henry said. I love this. He says, "The right knowledge of God consists in doing our duty, particularly that which is the duty of our place and station in the world."

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• And then he said this: "It was Jehoiakim's pride that he had built a fine house. But Josiah's true praise was that he kept a good house." There's a vast difference between a fine house and a good house. But God asked Jehoiakim, "Was not this to know me, saith the Lord?" So here's my first application: If we know God really and truly, it is going to manifest itself in our everyday life.

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• We will be doing our duty in all things. We will fulfill our responsibilities and our obligations, and we will do so faithfully and practically.

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• Now, it was John Gill who actually quoted part of this verse, which I want to quote in full. We need to be aware of this verse: Titus 1 in verse 16, where the Bible said, "They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate." Now notice what he said: "They profess that they know God." So we're talking about professing Christians. They profess that they know God, but in works they deny him. In other words, you say one thing with your mouth and your life says something entirely different. They profess that they know him, but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate. The second application is this.

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• Blessings, wealth, prosperity, and success are worthless unless we're serving the Lord Jesus Christ and applying His Word to our lives on a daily basis. I've often quoted the old Puritan saying, and I will quote it again: God often curses His enemies with riches. And you say, how can riches be a curse? Because they end up trusting in their riches instead of God. And that's exactly what Jehoiakim did. He trusted in his wealth. And God condemned him and he said, "You do not know me."

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• The third application is this: Likewise, it does not matter how much theology you know. It does not matter how many doctrines you can expound. Nor does it matter how fine you can split hairs theologically. If there is no practical application of the Word of God in your life on a daily basis. What God is saying in Jeremiah 22 verses 15 and 16: If we know Him, it's going to evidence itself in our lives. It's going to affect us. It's going to change us.

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• David said in Psalm 116, "I believed, therefore have I spoken." We actually speak what we believe, but we not only speak what we believe, we actually live out what we really and truly believe. So God asked, "Was not this to know me?" I think our Lord said it very plainly in Luke 6 and verse 46 when He said, "Why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?" And the word "Lord" is the Greek word kurios, which literally means boss, owner, master, sovereign. Why are you calling me master? Why are you calling me sovereign? Why are you calling me boss if you're not obeying me? The evidence that Jesus Christ is our Lord is that we will obey Him, and we will do so on a daily basis. Our lives will not only have a personal knowledge of God, they will have a very practical knowledge that will be expressed in how we live, and what we do, what we think, what we say, and how we act. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we bow to thee this day.

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• We thank you for your word. We thank you, Father, for your truth. And we ask, Father, that you would indeed make your word very practical to each one of us. May we live it. May we understand it. May we apply it. And may we praise and glorify thee in it. We will give thee the praise and honor in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord, in whose name we pray. Amen.

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• so

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deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-04T16:57:41Z