How Do We Know That We Know God?: full transcript and answers

▶ 0:00 Now today we’re going to be talking about knowing God and Jesus Christ. This is a very very basic teaching of the Bible and very powerful. All right. Knowing— and Catholics and Protestants alike are ignoring this important doctrine. Okay. We open the book here and it’s John 17:1-4: “Father, the hour is come.” The time has come. Appointed time has come. A season has come. Okay. What time? What season? Okay. And then he explains what’s come.

▶ 0:54 “Now glorify your Son, that your Son might also glorify You.” Now God glorified Jesus by him being born of a virgin, preaching the gospel, doing miracles, bringing many into the kingdom. But mostly his death, burial, and resurrection. That’s how God honored. Glorify means honored. He honored the son with the ability to give his life. No one could take it. He had to give up his life and then he took it back again. And then how does Jesus glorify the father? By reconciling people back to the father. You see, and the time is here. We’re in that season. Jesus died on the cross. He, he went into the grave, rose again, and for the forgiveness of sin for the cleansing of sin for the freedom of sin and that we might receive him and have him living in us.

▶ 1:57 That’s how God glorify Jesus. All right. Then Jesus in turn reconciles us back to God and gives honor to God. Number two, you’ve given him Jesus authority over all flesh. Okay? Jesus has been given authority over everybody and every nation and every language upon the earth. He is the one running the kingdoms. All right, that’s number two. The hour is here and it’s been here. This season’s been here before creation. Not just when Jesus came in the flesh, but he was given this before creation. He created everything. He has that kind of authority. Number three, that he give eternal life to as many as you’ve given him.

▶ 2:52 Now, this is quite a statement. You see, he gives eternal life to as many as God has given him. So we see here that God and Jesus Christ are involved in the process of eternal life. Not your church, not your pastor, not some author, nobody on earth can give you eternal life but God and Jesus Christ. The church is simply a messenger. I am a messenger. I can’t give you anything. I know a lot of priests and the pope and everybody, they act like they have something to give. But nobody can give you anything in the Bible.

▶ 3:47 God gives it. Think on that. We have the tendency because somebody has some speaking skills or charisma to think that they possess something and they can give it to us. They can’t. There is no one on earth that can give you eternal life. Muhammad cannot give you eternal life. Nor can the Muslim religion. Only Jesus Christ can give you eternal life. And it says so right here. Ain’t that right? Very powerful. And he gives it to as many as the father gives him. Wow. So both God and the father are involved in us possessing eternal life. Then number four he says this is eternal life.

▶ 4:38 He gives a definition of eternal life that they may know you the only true God. The only true God. There’s only one God. And don’t give me this stuff that Buddha and Muslims and Hindus all lead to the same. No, the Bible explains exactly who this one God is. And when you deflect from anything that he is, you got the wrong God. Amen. See, we’re not looking for enlightenment. We’re looking for eternal life. The Buddhists are looking for some kind of enlightenment, an arena where they’re not reincarnated anymore. And the Muslims are looking for a harem in heaven, a— women.

▶ 5:34 That is stupid. You got God in heaven and you want a woman. I mean, how secular, how fleshly can you get? Are you with me? See, that just nullifies their God. See, now let’s take a look at these four things. We already know that Jesus has already died on the cross, rose again. Okay, God has glorified him and he has glorified the father by obeying his word and reconciling people by his blood to God. We already know that, right? That’s just basic Bible. Now you have given him authority over all flesh. Let’s check and see if historically in the scriptures this is true that Jesus Christ has authority over all mankind.

▶ 6:30 Matthew 28:18: “All power is given unto me,” Jesus said, “in heaven and in earth.” In heaven is the spirit world. That’s where the angels are, the seraphims are, the demons are. Satan is. So he has authority over that whole spirit world and he has authority over the earth where humans are. Amen. And he has how much authority? All. 1 Peter 3:22: “Angels, authorities, and powers being made subject unto him.” Angels are in the spirit world. Authorities, Satan, and principalities and powers of darkness are in the spirit world. Governors and presidents and kings and so forth are in the earthly world, mayors and governors and so forth. And he is what? He is the leader and ruler of all of them.

▶ 7:25 But Daniel says it the best. Daniel 7:14: “There was given unto him dominion, glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages should—“ what? “Serve him.” He has authority over all flesh. Matthew 9:38: “Pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” Jesus said, “The field is mankind.” The seed is the word of God, and the harvest is ripe, ready to be harvest. So, we need the Lord of the harvest to be involved in reaching people and harvesting them, don’t we? Yeah. It’s the Lord of the harvest that has the knowledge and the authority to plant the seed and make it grow and then cut it down and put it in the barn and then bring it out and thresh it so it to separate the stalk and the husk from the grain.

▶ 8:31 And then he puts it to the grinder and has all those kernels of grain ground into one body, one [unclear], losing their identity. And he knows how to put yeast in it, his spirit, and impregnate that, and put it in his oven, his fiery trials, so that it bakes and makes bread for the master’s table. That’s the Lord of the harvest. And you try leading people into eternal life without going through the Lord of the harvest, you’re wasting your time. You get it? He does have this power. And too many churches and too many ministers are skirting the Lord of the harvest just trying to get the churches filled. Folks, that don’t work. The Lord of the harvest has got to be involved in this.

▶ 9:25 He’s the one that can do the job. We are just messengers. Could that be true? And if we do our part and message right, he will do his part and save those that will believe. So we find that’s true. Now what authority does Jesus have to benefit mankind through his death, burial, and resurrection? See, what kind of authority does he have to benefit mankind? And he has authority over all flesh. It says in point number three that God gives people to Jesus to give them eternal life. And so I turned that around and I asked the question, how are you interested in how God’s going to do this? How does God give people to Jesus and then Jesus gives them eternal life?

▶ 10:25 Have any interest in seeing the answer to that question? See, this is imperative for us. Mark 4:23: “If anyone has ears to hear, let him—“ what? “Hear.” So, we need what? A hearing ear. And then he explains what kind of hearing ear. He said to them, “Take heed what you hear.” Now that word take heed is a complex word meaning you got to understand, you got to consider it. You got to understand it, you got to apply it and then you experience the result of it. Okay? For instance, now I know you guys go to school and you’re really intelligent.

▶ 11:16 What does it say on that can? Organic pumpkin. Organic pumpkin. All right. What does it say? Organic pumpkin. So, he was right. Right. Okay. So, what are we going to find when we open this can? Pumpkin. Organic pumpkin. But how are we going to know unless we what? Apply and find out what’s really in the can. Okay, here you go. You guys know how to use a can opener? There you go. Open that can up for me. Now, guys, is that pumpkin? No. No, it’s not. No, but the can says pumpkin. It looks like salsa. It looks like tomatoes. Huh? Yeah. Is it tomatoes? Maybe. Is that a tomato? No.

▶ 12:07 Yes. Huh? That looks like it. Yeah, looks like tomato. You see, too many of us do not dig deeper and find out if what preachers are telling us is the truth. We don’t apply, we don’t put time into it, and so we don’t experience the truth. See, a lot of people think they’re good on the inside until their inside is open. All right? So, we need to put time in to what we’re hearing. Could that be an amen, church? You can’t just believe the pope. The pope just said that homosexuals is an acceptable thing. You know, the Catholic Church has got to change things for— The pope has no authority to do that.

▶ 13:00 You cannot change the word of God. Amen. See, the can doesn’t have the right stuff in it. Now, “with what measure you mete”: measure means a standard of measure. See that’s like this cup here. This is the two cup— cup. This is a teaspoon. All right. What standard of measure you meet? Which means to give out— what measure you give out is going to be measured, [unclear] given back to you. So, we want to clean the barn. All right. So, we get a teaspoon. We get a teaspoon and we’re going to clean this barn.

▶ 13:59 Doesn’t do anything, does it? Okay. We go back to God and say, “God, it didn’t work.” You know, he said, “Well, get a bigger measure.” Okay, so instead of putting two minutes a day into God, we put five. And so we get more water. And God says, “Now clean your house. Clean the house.” So we didn’t work. There’s not enough water to get the job done, is there? Okay, God, it didn’t work. What do I do now? Well, get a bigger measure. Okay. All right, God. I’m going to get a bigger measure. Here we go. And I want you to clean yourself. Hallelujah.

▶ 14:56 Clean the house. It didn’t work. See, we put 15 minutes into the day of seeking God and we got more, but we don’t have enough to get the job done. So then God says, “Have you ever read in the scriptures out of your innermost being, rivers of water would flow out?” Okay, God, I got it. I get a hose that has an endless supply of water. Now, can I clean the church? Yes. Yes. You see, we’re looking for teaspoons in cups. David said, “My cup runneth over.” Elijah filled the barrels with water. But Jesus said, “Out of your innermost being, rivers of water would flow.” A continuous flow of water that can not only cleanse us and our house and those around us, but the whole nation.

▶ 15:59 It’s an endless supply. But then you got to put in more time to get that water. Are you there? You got to read the word and you got to understand the word. So this is how they give us eternal life. They become involved and they respond with the response that you respond back. To you who hear, more will be given. See, they that hear and then they take what God has given them. Though God gives back more than he gave them. And when they respond and give God back, he responds and gives us more. And that’s how we grow in grace and things.

▶ 16:56 For whosoever has whosoever has what? Faith, grace, a big church, a little church. No. Whosoever has ears to hear, more will be given. You see, we have to hear, understand, apply, and then we experience the results of what God said. Whosoever has not has not what? A hearing ear. Even that which he has will be taken from him.

▶ 17:47 That little bit of faith that he has will be taken away. That little bit of grace that he has will be taken away because they’re not growing in faith. They’re not growing in grace. Now, isn’t that pretty clear? And that’s how God gets involved in our life and gives us eternal life by your response. Do we really know him? This is eternal life. The fourth principle was the fourth thing that we’re in the season of that they may know you, the only true God and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. That’s a powerful emphasis. Powerful. I can know God and I can know Jesus Christ. I can really know. See, these guys knew what was in the can when they opened the can. They knew it wasn’t pumpkin. They knew it was tomato.

▶ 18:40 One of them said salsa. And that was close cuz salsa is made of tomatoes. And you can make some good salsa with what’s in that can. See that? But they knew it wasn’t pumpkin. And see, us Christians, we have got to dig deep enough to know what these preachers and these books are saying. We got to get understanding and we apply it. And if it doesn’t work, we know they’re wrong. And if it does work, we know that’s right. Now, we’re going to ask the question, how would I get to know God and Jesus? Well, God promised I could know him. How can I know him? 1 John 4:13. Hereby— by this we know that we dwell in him and he in us, because he hath given us his Spirit.

▶ 19:38 This spirit that raises up a standard against our enemy. We know Jesus lives in us. And we live in him by that spirit. See, that spirit is involved. And it’s promised in Ezekiel 36:27. Hundreds of years before God promised that he would put his spirit within us. I will put my spirit within you. And what that spirit will cause you to walk in my statutes. Cause you to keep my judgments, cause you to do them. See, it’s God coming to my life that gives me the desire to obey his word to do that what’s pleasing to him.

▶ 20:36 It’s not me trying to mentally make up my mind to do this. It’s him providing the empowerment, the desire, the compelling to please him. And see, when I make a mistake, that compelling picks me up and moves me on. I don’t stay in my mistake. I don’t stay in my failure. Why? Cuz the Holy Spirit’s there causing me to get up and keep pursuing his word, his righteous judgment, his righteous moral truths. Hallelujah. So, it’s important that I know God and God is spirit. See, so when God says, “I will put my spirit,” he’s going to he’s what?

▶ 21:27 I’m going to put myself in you. 1 John 2:3-4. Here it is again: “Hereby— by this we know that we know him.” You see, we can know if we know God. We can know if we are participators of that promise to know God and Jesus Christ if we keep his commandments. Now Ezekiel just told us when God comes to us, he’s going to cause us to keep his commandments. It’s not going to be, you know, well, I just got to figure this out. I just got to grunt and do this on my own. No, no, no. There is a spirit within you.

▶ 22:19 There is a force within you that keeps compelling you and driving you to keep his word. And so therefore, I know I know him. Why? Yes, I’ve messed up three times in this area and I’ve asked forgiveness three times and here I did it again. But that spirit what? Compels me to repent. Compels me to ask God to forgive me for compels me to ask God to cleanse me and free me from this. And I get back up and I tackle that sin again. And then one day, the spirit has given me authority over it. Set me free from it. That’s how I know I know God. He that says, “I know him,” and keeps not his commandments, is a what?

▶ 23:13 Liar. You know, homosexuals that say they’re going to heaven, and they’re living in habitual sin, and prostitutes and incest people and pedophiles and all this, they say, “Well, you know, God loves me and all this.” Listen, God loving the world has nothing to do with where you’re going. If you don’t respond with a hearing ear, you’re going to be everything’s going to be taken from you, including eternal life. Isn’t that what we read? And look at this last part. The truth is not in him. The truth, you see it up there.

▶ 24:06 Truth. The truth is not in him. John 16:13, when he, the Spirit of truth is come, he will guide you unto all truth. So what’s not in him? When truth is not in him, what’s not in him? The spirit. See, he doesn’t know God. The spirit’s not in him. And John 14:6, I am the way, the truth, and the life. Jesus is the truth. So, who is not in them? Jesus and the spirit’s not in them. And they know it because they live in habitual sin. They’re not Christians just stumbling and making mistakes and getting back up.

▶ 25:01 They habitually live in sin. Now, isn’t that clear? And we can know him. And this same chapter of John 14 tells us we know him. Okay, let’s go to verse 16 of John 14: “I will pray the Father, and he will send you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever.” Now this Holy Spirit’s not only spirit of truth but he’s a comforter. He’s a friend. He’s there to mend up the brokenhearted, set the captive free. He’s there to encourage you when you think all is lost and there’s no hope.

▶ 25:57 He comes as a comforter. He doesn’t come as a quitter. Might as well just quit. Give up. No, the Holy Spirit’s an encourager, an inspirer. “Even the Spirit of truth.” See, that’s what he’s talking about in John 14. The spirit of truth, the Holy Spirit. Whom the world cannot receive because it sees him not, neither knows him. And they know they don’t know him because they don’t keep his word. The comforter and the spirit of truth, the Holy Ghost, the Holy Spirit’s all the same thing. But you know him. Oh, for he dwells with you and shall be in you.

▶ 26:58 You know him. Hallelujah. Now, what does he mean when he says he’s talking to his apostles and he says this Holy Spirit is with you. The spirit of truth is with you, but it’s going to be in you. Now, let me answer this by asking you this question. Who was with the apostles at the time he said this? Jesus, who is truth. The Spirit is truth. You see, God says, “I’ll pour out my Spirit.” It’s God’s Spirit. You know, the Muslims say that Christianity has three gods because they use the word trinity to try to express, you know, God. But the Muslims lying.

▶ 28:02 Us Christians do not believe in three gods. We believe in one. And he identifies himself as the father, the son, the Holy Spirit, and the word. He identifies himself. So when we speak, we speak his identity. He’s the father. He’s the son. He’s the Holy Spirit. And he’s the word. Jesus said, “My word is truth.” In John 1:1, it says, “The word became flesh and dwelt amongst us. The word was with God and the word was God.” So the word is God. Jesus is God. God is God. And the Holy Spirit is God. Make no mistake, we worship one God. Can I hear an amen? Amen. Now Jesus is with them.

▶ 28:58 So what is he talking about shall be in you? Well, he had told them to go and tarry in Jerusalem until they be clothed with power from on high. He had told them that there was going to be a pouring out of the Holy Spirit. When he was glorified, you see it says in John 7, he that believeth on me out of his innermost being what? Rivers of life-giving water would flow. This spake he of the spirit which had not come yet because he had not been glorified. He hadn’t died on the cross and rose again. So there is a promise of Jesus coming back and empowering us, filling us with his spirit.

▶ 29:50 But we also have him with us. Amen. Do you guys get this? Let me give you an illustration of this. I mingle a lot with other denominations and so especially when I was younger and I invited Father Fred, a Catholic priest in the community to come in and speak at the church. And he spoke a good message of faith and you know and in that message he said he’d been filled with the Holy Ghost. All right. And so after the service, me and him are talking, and he lights up a cigarette. And then he uses profanity like a truck driver. Blankly blanket this and blankly blanket that. And I go, “Uh, Father Fred, how did you get the Holy Ghost?” I said, “Number one, the first name of the spirit is holy.

▶ 30:50 Holy Ghost. He said, “Well, I went down to the Anaheim Convention Center where the spirit-filled Catholics gathered together.” And if you haven’t been there, it was it’s powerful. These Catholics that were filled with the spirit 1968, God just visited denominational churches and just poured out his spirit on that. He didn’t ask anybody’s permission. He just did it. And so these Catholics would get together and they’d have a a big convention. I mean, there’s 10 or 12,000 down there, man. We walk in there and they’re worshiping Jesus and all that. The power of his presence is there. But see, that’s the presence with us. And that’s what he said. I walked into that and man, the spirit of God was just came all over me and I just felt God’s presence. And I said, “Father Fred, that is not the baptism of the Holy Ghost.

▶ 31:47 That is his presence with us. Everybody can have that. When the church gets together, Jesus said, “I will be in the midst.” Presbyterians, Baptists, Methodists, Cath— I don’t care who you are. If you gather together and you acknowledge Christ, his presence will come. That doesn’t mean your doctrine’s right. I said, “Father Fred, Jesus said that the spirit would pour out of us.” I said, ‘You haven’t got the baptism of the Holy Spirit. You just experienced the first time the presence of God. And there’s a big difference. Hallelujah. And that’s what Jesus is telling his apostles. Now, there is some spirit-filled churches that believe if you don’t have the baptism of the Holy Spirit with speaking in tongues, you’re not saved and you’re going to hell.

▶ 32:46 And I’ve had to deal with these people. I’ve had to deal with parents, good parents, that told their child, they had two children. One got filled with the Holy Ghost and spoke in tongues, the other one didn’t. And they told this other daughter that she was going to hell. And I knew that girl. She was a fine Christian girl. And I’m pretty sure Mr. Barnes knows who I’m talking about. And I had to— you know, I had to deal with this thing. I can’t have this girl going through life thinking she’s going to hell because she don’t speak in tongues when the Bible says not all speak in tongues. My God, church. It doesn’t take a genius to figure this out, does it? Amen. In Acts chapter 2, yes, they spoke in languages. In Acts 4, they didn’t.

▶ 33:38 They spoke in their own language. They didn’t speak in other languages. Are you with me? And that couple, as tremendous a couple as they was, and the guy was a successful businessman and they were very educated and knowledgeable, they stuck with their church doctrine over scripture because they didn’t take time to find out and get the understanding. See, that’s what Paul meant when he— or Peter meant when he said, “Unstable and unlearned people, twist the scriptures and bring destruction.” But I finally got to the young lady. Hallelujah. And she’s the one that needed to hear.

▶ 34:31 And when mom and dad’s wrong, they’re just what? Wrong. Now this is what evangelicals, fundamentalists, spirit-filled churches, they all believe that God must be involved in your salvation. Can’t just be head knowledge. Can’t just be, you know, getting your name on a church and joining some group. God has to be involved. And we all use this scripture that Jesus said, you must be born again. Unless a man is born of water and of the spirit, he can’t enter the kingdom of God. You see, this is what separates Protestants from other Protestants. And this really separates the Protestants from other Protestants from Catholics because Catholics have the tendency to believe because they join that church and they do the rituals.

▶ 35:30 They’re going to heaven. And folks, you got to be born again. That’s what the scripture says. And that born again, you got to be born of the spirit. See, God’s got to be involved in your salvation. And he’s involved as you what? Respond. See, if we confess our sins, he’s what? Faithful and just to forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Not just forgive us, but cleanse us, wash the sin away. He will set us free from sin. And John 1:12 says, “To as many as receive him, to them gave he power.” Now, this is God coming and dwelling with us. This is not the baptism of the Holy Ghost. He will give them power that receive him to become sons of God.

▶ 36:22 See, sons of God, when you know the interpretation of the sons of God in the Bible, the sons of God live right. They live holy. And so he empowers us to keep the word is what he’s saying. So when you invite Jesus, that initial presence of God comes. Hallelujah. And so this is what being born again is. You admit you’re a sinner. If you [unclear] admit you’re a sinner, God can’t cleanse you. He can’t forgive you. You got to admit you’re wrong. Even Christians that need areas of their life straighten out have to admit they’re wrong. That’s the formula. Hallelujah. Then after we get saved, if we seek him and we seek the word, we will grow in the word.

▶ 37:14 See, desire the sincere milk of the word that you may grow by that. You’ve got to have the word to grow and you got to have the water, the spirit to grow. And unless you go to church and get in Bible studies and you’re not going to grow. So, you got to take heed what you hear. 1 Peter 1:23, born again by the word of God, which lives and abides forever. You see, we’re born again by the word of God. Remember Jesus said, “My word is spirit. The spirit is spirit. The word is spirit. All this is spirit.” All this is God’s involvement with us, folks. And he promised this is the season. You live in it. And if you’ll respond to me, I will respond to you. And if you respond more, I will respond more.

▶ 38:07 So what’s the conclusion? There’s a time and season that has come. Jesus has already died on the cross for the sins of the world. But we have to confess we are sinners and come to him for cleansing. No one can save you but Jesus. All right? And if you will admit and come to him, invite him into your life, he will back it up and he’ll come to you, forgive you, cleanse you, and live in you. He will give you eternal life. This is the season to possess eternal life. Not only to live with him forever when you die, but to know him. This is the season you can know God. And we are given these promises and other promises in proportion to our hearing ear. That’s the conclusion. You have out of God what you put into God.

▶ 39:02 That’s what Jesus said. We know. We know God by the spirit in us and our hearing ear to keep his word. We know we should be honest. We know we should be truthful. We know we should not be doing wrong. So, we know God is in us cuz he’s putting that in us. He’s compelling us. He is causing us to rise up. Rise up, son. We heard it Friday night. Rise up, son. And finish the race.