Do You Really Know Him? - Rick Hays 02/25/24

Music.

Amen.

How many of you know, this is not part of the message, but every second in your life matters?

I didn't say every minute, every hour, every day. I said every second.

Because at any moment, the enemy, even in a second, will try to slip in and

attack you with something.

So every second matters. And serving the Lord, walking with the Lord,

I'm coming to realize that all those moments matter. and that if you want to

stay close to the Lord, you have to be somewhat disciplined.

You have to want to. So remember that throughout every single day,

if you're serving the Lord, discipline yourself to stay close to him.

Don't let the enemy have even just the smallest little opening or crack in there to tell you otherwise.

And again, it takes discipline every single day to do that. But I know you can

because we have the power of the Holy Spirit in us and he wants to be close to us.

We're going to start today a

little different, and if you're new or fairly new, I'm a little different.

That kind of encompasses a lot of things, but I love the Lord,

and He's made me a little bit goofy at times.

That's part of my personality, and Sarah doesn't even get embarrassed by me

anymore when we go out in public because she just knows that's who I am,

and it doesn't bother her.

Anyway, I'm going to need some help today as we get this message kicked off,

and I know they won't tell me no so i'm gonna ask them first carla and justine.

You guys will be right up here somewhere let's see erica and alex come here

come here their family they can't tell me no let's see mike and debbie,

that's the first time i've seen him scowl at me i guess to move a little closer

this is a little couples game we're gonna play husband wife game.

So all you're going to have to do is point to the person that this is true about.

If it's you, point to yourself.

If it's your spouse, point to

them. Okay. We're playing a little game called, do you know your spouse?

We've got a little, you know, variation here. This is Sarah's cousin,

Erica and her husband, cousin. Yeah.

I thought I said something wrong. Her husband, Alex, Mike and Debbie Reed and

Carlin and Justine Loker here.

Let's give them a hand before they before things turn south.

So again answer the question by pointing to who it's true about.

Point to your spouse or point to yourself. Okay.

Alright. Who is more likely to burn the house down while cooking dinner?

Did everybody get it right? Okay. They all got it right.

Who has a crazier family?

Did they all get that one yeah did they get that right,

Who snores the loudest? All right. All right.

Who's more likely to fall asleep in front of the TV? It looks like we're doing pretty well so far.

Good choices. Who's the better driver?

Uh-oh. Uh-oh.

Who would rather be outdoors? No answer for these guys. They,

they, oh, okay. Who's more organized?

I know this one for sure. Yeah.

Who's more stubborn?

Couple more. Who's the better dancer?

And who said, I love you first. These guys aren't sure. All right.

So most, most of the questions they did pretty well on, right? They knew each other.

Why do they know these things about each other?

Live with each other, have a relationship. They know each other, right?

Like sometimes you can finish each other's sentences.

Sometimes you just know what they're going to do in this situation.

You can tell them before they do it. Let's give these couples a hand. Thank you guys.

We survived that one. But today I want to talk about, do you really know him?

And it's kind of springboarding off of this little fun game that we played. Do you really know him?

And some of the things you guys said for a spouse was you have relationship

with them. You spend time with them.

There's intimate knowing of a person.

Otherwise, you wouldn't marry them. Right?

So do you really know him? I'm going to go to John 3.16 to start.

Start and you may not need to turn there, but we're going to start there today.

It's one of the most familiar passages of scripture found in the Bible that a lot of people know.

We learned it at a young age, but I think there are still a part of this that's

still misunderstood and it's not applied correctly to our lives today. Okay.

So John 3, 16, I'll be in New King James version For God so loved the world

that he gave his only begotten son, that whoever believes in him should not

perish, but have everlasting life.

Everybody recognize that? Okay.

So over the years, this passage has been shared to teach that Jesus came to

earth and he died for our sins so that we wouldn't perish.

Agreed? And as true as this is, this verse is saying that the real reason Jesus

came to the earth and died for us was so that we could have everlasting life.

It just so happens that our sins our sins are what the barrier was between that

stood between us And this everlasting god that is mentioned in this scripture,

Now it is true that jesus died for our sins if I got up here and said something

Otherwise, i'd probably be my last sunday Right And it's also true that if we

will believe in jesus and who this book and witnesses say he was who he is We will not perish,

right But there's much more to the gospel than that.

One of the other truths in here is that God wants to give you everlasting life.

And what do most people think that is?

Be honest. I'm going to be living in heaven forever.

I'm going to talk about something different with that today.

Okay? We need to explain that a little bit.

So the night before Jesus was crucified, what was he doing?

He was off on his own, and he was praying. And if you go to John 17,

flip over a little bit to John 17, 1 through 3, it says this.

Jesus spoke these words lifted up

his eyes to heaven and said father the hour has

come glorify your son that your.

Son also may glorify you as you have given

him authority over all flesh that he should give eternal life to as many as

you have given him and this is eternal life here we are this is eternal life

that they may know you the only true God and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.

So right there in verse three, everlasting life, we said earlier,

it's going to heaven, is knowing God and the only true God and knowing Jesus Christ who God sent.

That's what it means for everlasting life. Now, a lot of people think everlasting

life is living forever, but guess what? We all going to live forever.

Sorry for my grammar, but we're all going to live forever.

And there's this misconception that when a person

dies that they cease to exist but the spirit and the soul go back

to god the body decays in the grave and

the truth is every single person who has ever lived on this earth will continue

to live in spirit form so to say that eternal life is living forever is not

the whole truth everybody lives forever and this verse also makes it clear that

eternal life is not given to everyone some would say eternal life is living

forever in heaven verses living forever in hell.

But again, that's not what this verse is talking about. Go to John 3.36.

John 3.36. You guys still awake? Okay.

Do you really know him? John 3.36 tells us, he who believes in the Son has everlasting life.

And he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.

He who believes in Jesus has everlasting life.

That is a present tense position, a possession.

I have it now because I know Jesus.

It's not something that is going to take place in the future,

but it is something that is my reality, your reality as a believer right now.

We have that right now. Go to 1 John 5.13.

1 John 5.13.

These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God,

that you may know that you have eternal life and that you may continue to believe

in the name of the Son of God.

So these scriptures that we're reading, they reveal that eternal life isn't

just living forever. It's not just living forever in heaven or hell.

Eternal life is just what Jesus said back in John 17, 3 that we read earlier,

to know God and to know his son, Jesus.

That is everlasting life.

It's more than a mental knowledge. You know, there's a lot of people that know

about Jesus, but they don't know Jesus.

There's a lot of people that may be saved, but they're actually not a disciple of Jesus.

Does that make sense? It's more than mental knowledge. This word know that we

just preached on a little while back with this eye.

No, it's used throughout the Bible

to describe the most intimate personal relationship that you can can have.

Do we have that? Do we really know him? And there's an example of this, the word no.

Look at Genesis 4.1. Go all the way back to the beginning.

Genesis 4.1.

Now Adam knew Eve, his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain.

Knew is talking about the sexual relationship between a a man and a woman, or intimacy.

So when Scripture says, knowing the only true God and Jesus who He has sent,

what it means is that eternal life is having intimacy or a personal relationship with God.

Do you really know Him? Do you have that close, intimate relationship with God

the Father and his son, Jesus.

Now, if we look at John 3.16, knowing these things now, in this context,

it says that God loves you and me so much that he gave his only begotten son

so that we would not perish, but we could have intimacy and closeness and a

relationship, a close relationship,

with Jesus and God the Father.

That's not always been the message that we've heard growing up in church,

or maybe even today in our churches across America, a lot of times we may hear

things like this, and I did growing up. I heard this.

You better repent or else.

True. Still happens today. True. Turn or burn, sucker. Right? Right?

Keep up what you're doing. You're going to go straight to hell,

you old sinner. And I'm sorry, but goodness, maybe that'll work 0.02% of the time.

But I think we can do better. Does it work sometimes?

Yeah, yeah. But sometimes our delivery of the gospel just plain sucks.

I can't imagine walking up to somebody and just yelling, turn or burn.

And they say, I want to love Jesus. I want what you have.

We can do better. And I guess because some people are drawn to the Lord out

of fear of going to hell, they confess Jesus as Lord out of desperation because

they don't want to go to hell. So that may happen.

And I'll say this, if the only benefit of salvation is getting your sins forgiven,

so you will not go to hell, then that's actually more than what we deserve.

So even if that was it, it's more than we deserve. And that'll still preach.

It would still be the goodness of God and still be worth preaching and sharing with people.

But the Bible reveals to us that there is so much more to salvation than just

getting your sins forgiven.

If all a person does is come to the Lord to have their sins forgiven so they

won't perish, and that is their only motivation.

May be born again and have a ticket onto heaven, but they're going to miss out

on the real purpose and the fullness of knowing God. They'll miss out on those things.

The real purpose of salvation is not just to avoid hell.

The real purpose of salvation is not just living forever in heaven,

as great and wonderful as that's going to be. I'm looking forward to it.

The real purpose of salvation is so that we can have intimacy and have a close

relationship with the Lord.

There are so many people who have cried out to God for the forgiveness of their

sins and cried out to be saved, but they have never had intimacy or that close

relationship with God as their goal.

Save me, Lord, save me. And then they never know him beyond that.

And they're missing out on so much.

And by us not explaining this to people, we're actually doing a disservice to the gospel of Jesus.

When we go up to someone and we try to witness, and we only discuss salvation

salvation as something spiritual that only benefits us in the future, in eternity?

How are we really helping people?

Reach, teach, serve. How in that way, turn from your sins so you can go to heaven

and live for eternity in heaven, how is that helping people in the here and now?

There are people that we know right now that are dealing with some hell on earth,

that are struggling, that are going through some hard things.

They're in the midst of some some difficult things in their life right now in this moment.

You know, there's so many people that are depressed, that people that are living

in poverty, dealing with their grief and sorrow and strife and rejection and

hurt and failed marriages, and we can go on and on and on about things that

people are dealing with.

There are people out there hurting, in here hurting, and just trying to survive another day.

They're trying to keep their heads above water so they don't drown in their problems.

And for us to just make salvation something that deals with it's only something

in the future, many people are going to put off that decision until later in

life because they need some help right now.

Jesus came to affect our eternal destination so that we can live forever in

heaven and blessing instead of punishment and the curse of hell.

But, but, but, but Jesus also came to deliver us from this present evil world.

Back to the Kingdom Come series. We can bring heaven to earth in this present

here and now time while we're going through those difficult things.

People want help. help. People need to know there's hope, and they can have that here and now.

Galatians 1 verse 4.

Galatians 1:4

Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us.

If you're there, you're seeing it. That he might deliver us from this present

evil age, according to the will of our God and Father.

Jesus came to give us intimacy and personal relationship with God today.

I don't have to wait. Oh, I can't wait to get to heaven.

Now, now I can have this relationship with God.

I don't have to wait for heaven. We are not saved to sit.

We're not saved to sit and wait.

As my brothers at NYOC say, we're not saved to be silent, right?

You guys are doing a lot of sitting and being quiet right now.

We are not saved to sit and just sit there.

We can have a close relationship with the Lord, and he can take the gifts that

he's put within us and utilize those for the kingdom of God now.

To develop this relationship with Jesus and draw closer and closer to Him.

And as we do that, God's Word said that He draws closer and closer to us.

I long for all of us to know Him more, to have such a dynamic relationship with

God that we would do anything for Him, even die if it came down to it.

People that don't have a close, intimate relationship with the Lord Lord would

not die for him, will not die for him.

They won't. They just won't do it.

Now, spouses, all of you in here, would you die for your spouse?

Most of you in here would say yes. If you're shaking your head no,

get in that committed couples class next Sunday because your your spouse is

not happy with you right now.

Parents, would you die for your kids? Yes.

In an instant, we would. And most people would say they would because they have

such a close, intimate relationship with those people.

Would you die for your faith in the relationship you have with Jesus?

Does he mean that much to you?

That's what I'm trying to get at. Do you really really know him? Do you really know him?

You know, way back in the first century that there are stories of Christians

who would fight over who would be the first to be martyred because they loved the Lord that much.

They had such a quality of relationship with God that I believe is the true

intent of Christianity.

We're supposed to have this same love and intimacy and closeness with God that

we're sometimes missing out on today in our churches and in us us as believers.

Again, Jesus didn't come only

to forgive you of your sins, and that's a wonderful thing that he does.

But sin was just a barrier that stood between you and this relationship with

God and that intimacy that you can have with him.

And Jesus came to bring you back into relationship with God, and he loves you.

He wants to know you personally, wants to give you a quality of life that is

greater than anything you could obtain through any other source on this earth.

Do you you really know him? John 10, 10.

You guys know this one too. The thief does not come to accept to steal and to kill and to destroy.

I have come that they may have life, life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

That is now.

God wants to give you eternal life. God wants to give you abundant life.

And we need that today in the world that we live in.

And I believe that most people want that.

He died not only to forgive you of your sins, but he also did it to be close to you.

Relationship with you? Do you really know him? And if you don't,

you're going to have an opportunity in just a few minutes to know him as your Savior and best friend.

I love him more than I love my wife.

You should love God, Jesus, your Savior, more than you love your spouse,

more than you love your kids. You got to get that in order.

This morning, you may be saved, but you haven't developed that relationship with God at all.

You don't have this closeness, this intimacy with him. you can choose this morning

to take that relationship more seriously and enter into everlasting life with

the father by really getting to know him from this day forward,

you know if if hypothetically i come to the lord at 20 years old i come to know him as my savior,

and here i am at 47 now and i have not got any closer to him since the day i

asked him into my my life, I have not grown as a believer.

I have not taken that relationship with God seriously and with His Son seriously

and grew that and matured in that over the years. And He wants that with us.

He gives us His Word.

He gives us the Holy Spirit.

He gives us opportunity to commune with him often, often throughout our days.

And when you meet Jesus and you really take the time to get to know him, it changes you.

He changes you. Your want-tos change.

How do you know that these things happen? Or how do these things happen?

When you come to Jesus, he's wanting to to change you into his image.

You are to be a disciple of Jesus.

That is a, to me, a lifelong learner of Jesus and his ways, right?

He wants this relationship with us.

And we do that. Like I may have all these issues, all these problems,

all these sins in my life.

And I come to know Jesus and I learned, Hey, he's forgiven you of these things.

You are a new creation in him, which is wonderful.

Now, how do I learn about how I can be that new creation?

Through His Word, through talking with Him, through letting the Holy Spirit

minister to you and tell you what's good for your life and what is not.

Do that as you build relationship with him. And then the things that I might've

been involved in in my life, as I study God's word and I understand who I am

in him, I start changing my want-tos.

Like this, this goes against God's word and what he has from my life.

He wants to cut this out of me.

You know, there's pruning that happens as believers too, but that's for something better to grow.

God will cut away things that don't need to be there, that don't line up with

his word. as you know him more and more, but it's for an opportunity for you to grow closer to him.

So he changes you. When you get to meet him, you develop that relationship,

he changes you, and nothing in your life will ever satisfy you like Jesus, if you really know him.

You can try alcohol, guess what? Still going to leave you empty.

You can try drugs, still going to leave you empty.

You can try pornography, still going to leave you empty.

You can think new relationships or old relationships are going to be the answer,

but you'll still be empty.

Nothing that the world has to offer you will compare to knowing Him.

He isn't enough for you, nothing ever will be.

But I know that he can be. He is enough for us. He is enough.

Our praise team would come back up.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer said this, salvation is free.

Discipleship, or being a dedicated follower of Jesus, knowing Jesus,

Jesus, that will cost you your life.

Do you really know him this morning, or do you just know about him?

Is he your Savior and Lord? There's a difference.

Making Jesus Savior without making him Lord means I'm limiting him to only save

me from something, which is hell, but never saving towards anything.

If he's Lord of your life and you truly know him, you will not only want to

be saved from hell, but you'll want to pursue a life in him, relationship with him.

And don't miss out on this everlasting life in him that you can have right now.

One of the definitions I've hit on that word life, one of the definitions of

life is vitality, vigor, energy.

Does your relationship with the Lord look like life?

Is there energy? Is there excitement to it? Is there a joy in it?

If there's not, do you really know him?

Because living for the Lord is exciting.

His mercies are new every day. We get to learn more and more about him.

And every time I read the word, I could read a scripture 15 times throughout

my life and still get something something out of it the 16th time because it's alive.

It's active. He wants relationship with us.

I long for the day. You guys have heard me say this in my time here,

that there is so much excitement and joy and love and energy every time we come

together that God can't help but just say, boom, have some of me today.

Don't come in and just go through the motions because we understand how important

that relationship is with him.

And we understand that as we show, I've been changed, I've got the joy of the

Lord, that that infects other people.

And it spreads as a good virus. The Jesus virus.

Music.

Life. With vitality, vigor, energy, you have life in Jesus.

Are you excited about him, church?

Would you stand this morning?

Does it show, does he show in your life? Are you trying to know him more every single day?

I told you every second matters, every second counts in life.

And the reason that is too is because every single moment it's either flesh

or spirit every moment what are we obedient to.

Music.

Flesh or spirit every single second life in jesus relationship with him,

do you want to know him more if you don't if you're not a believer and you want

to know him Tim, you want to know Jesus as your Savior. You can do that this morning.

Me and the deacons, other people here in the church will be here,

right here to meet you in this altar and to encourage you to call on the name of the Lord to be saved.

Maybe you've known Jesus for a long time about Jesus. You believed on him 20

years ago, but your relationship with him has not went anywhere. Good news.

You can grow that today.

He's waiting,

let's bow our heads and pray as we get ready to worship Father I thank you for

your word I thank you for sending your son Jesus,

to die for us to forgive us Father that his blood washes us clean that we are

a new creation in you Father, but it doesn't stop there.

It doesn't stop there.

Because Jesus paved the way to restore relationship and fellowship with God the Father,

we have opportunity to know you, to know your ways, to know your love,

to experience that in our lives and to share it.

Music.

So father we open up the altars for anybody that may not be saved and not believe

on Jesus to come To pray to believe on you And for their life to change from

this day forward father.

I pray for ones that are in here that have just been showing up Maybe out of obligation God.

They've just been coming But the relationship with you has not grown It's not

grown God and I pray this morning father.

Music.

Sometimes people need a little kickstart. They need a little encouragement.

And I'm telling you to look around, humble yourself a little bit, and ask for that help.

You have a pastor, you have deacons, you have people in this church that want to help you.

And I'm saying this trusting this is true, want to help you grow in your relationship with the Lord.

Music.

Sometimes you need accountability in that. I have found that when I actually

want to work out and have motivation to do it, it helps to have a partner.

Right, Alex?

When you have somebody helping you in that walk, it holds you accountable to continue on forward.

So if you don't have somebody and you want to get to know me a little bit more,

fellas, shoot me a message.

Talk to me after church and we will get to studying together.

We will get to know Jesus together and we will grow together so you can get

into everything that God has for your life don't.

Music.