Previous Service
Welcome
“We are connected to the Lord by His Holy Spirit whose power is evident in our lives. Let’s stay connected and adore Him at all times for He is the King of kings and Lord of lords.”
Stella
Worship
Word
How do we get to know God?
We finished off last week by stating that it is not enough to know God exists, we must get to know Him personally! How does a person get to know God personally, intimately? If we want to get to know another person we communicate with that person which means spending time with them; likewise, with God. And the good news is that God has communicated much about Himself especially in His Word, the Scriptures. So, we need to find out what He has revealed about Himself.
But there is more to it than that for we are told that naturally speaking we cannot understand the things of God.
For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know Him … 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.
1 Corinthians 1:21, 2:14
So we need the Holy Spirit to help us. Before we can receive the Holy Spirit, our sins have to be dealt with. Isaiah indicates how sin breaks the communication with God:
Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save, nor His ear too dull to hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.
Isaiah 59:1-2
John the Baptist first spoke of Jesus:
John saw Jesus coming towards him and said, ‘Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.
John 1:29
He is the ‘Lamb’ who has been sacrificed for us, sacrificed in our place, so we need to come to Him like they came to Him in the NT, e.g., Blind Bartimaeus shouts out to Jesus several times,
“Jesus … have mercy on me.”
Luke 18:38-39 cf. Mark 10:47-48
We read that,
Jesus said to him, ‘Receive your sight; your faith has healed you’.
Luke 18:42
The word for ‘healed’ here also means ‘saved’ as used in e.g.,
She will give birth to a son, and you are to give Him the name Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins.
Matt. 1:21
And we have evidence that this man was saved from his sins as well as healed of his blindness for,
Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus, praising God. When all the people saw it, they also praised God.
Luke 18:43
That’s what Christians do, they follow Jesus and praise God! Later, believers received the Holy Spirit following the outpouring of the Spirit on the Day of Pentecost (see Acts chapter 2). Until then the Spirit had not been given because Jesus had not yet been glorified,
On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, ‘Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.’ By this He meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.
John 7:37-39
The Person of the Holy Spirit living in the believer’s heart (cf. Rom. 5:5; 8:9) is what makes all the difference for those who have faith in Jesus Christ. Then you will know that God exists; Then you will know Him personally; and then you will know Him as intimately as you so desire, Amen!
Quote of the week
“How much more of God is disclosed by the cross of Jesus than by a star-lit sky.”
Bruce Milne, Know the truth
Verse of the week
He who has seen me has seen the Father.
John 14:10
Let’s Pray
Heavenly Father, we thank and praise You that You have revealed Yourself, and made a way back to Yourself, that we can know You intimately in and through Your Son and the enablement of Your Holy Spirit. Help us to daily walk with You and draw close to You in Jesus Christ, Amen.