This study was first taught on January 7, 2014

Topic: What We Are Talking About (3): A Knowing About Jesus?

(use the audio to study)

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Background
In our last meeting, we said that when we talk of “Knowing Jesus”, we are not talking about ‘knowing of’ Him. We said that to ‘know of’ a person is to have a mere mental ascent of the existence of that person, without a reaction or action which corresponds to who that person really is; it is to intellectually know someone without any meaningful interaction with the person. We noted that when we really know someone as against ‘knowing of’ a person, there will be a meaningful reaction, when we hear about or see that person. For example, when devils came in contact with the Lord Jesus, they trembled and were in trepidation, proving that they knew the Lord Jesus to be the Son of God (Mark 3:11). Unfortunately, there are people who say that they are Christians, who are neither in awe of God nor reverence Him; which suggests that they only ‘know of’ God, and do not really know Him for Who He truly is. These kind of ‘religious talking’ people who only ‘know of’ Jesus, will usually seek to prove that He was a great man—not God; and, while they profess to know Christ, they live at variance with everything that He stands for. These mere ‘professors’ of Christ think that the name of Jesus is a talisman that can be used by anybody for their protection, or for the demonstration of ‘power’. People who ‘know of’ the Lord Jesus, betray their ignorance of His divinity, because they act in a manner that would suggest that they think that the Lord Jesus does not see or know what they do in secret; they have no qualms telling lies and acting deceitfully in the house of God, and the fear of God means nothing to them!

When people only ‘know of’ the Lord Jesus, they don’t acknowledge Him as the Creator; neither do they know His power and the extent of His salvation. They don’t know, neither can they fathom His ability and willingness to reward those who diligently seek Him; nor do they realize that the Lord is a consuming fire! Do you really know Jesus? Or do you just ‘know of’ Him? We pray that our knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ will manifest in our love, reverential fear of, and, obedience to, Him; and thus, make us to live holy before Him all the days of our lives.

Scripture Text(s)
1 Kings 10:1-7
Tonight, we shall be looking at a kind of knowledge of the Lord Jesus, which many Christians have, but which cannot compare with really knowing Him. We pray that the Holy Spirit will reveal the Lord Jesus to us, as He truly is, in Jesus’ name, Amen.
When the Queen of Sheba heard about King Solomon, his wisdom, and wealth, she did not believe it, but when she went to Jerusalem to prove (or disprove) what she had heard, and came face-to-face with the king, she then confessed that what she had heard was not even up to half of what she had seen and experienced, having come into King Solomon’s realm. And yet, “a greater than Solomon is here”—the Lord Jesus Christ (Matthew 12:42)!
Job 38:1ff; 42:1-6; Matthew 15:21-28; Mark 6:1-6; John 12:20-34, 37-41; 5:39; 4:25-30, 39-42; 20:1-18; Luke 24:1-40; John 20:24-29; Matthew 16:13-15; 1 Corinthians 15:1-8.

Conclusion
When we talk about “Knowing Jesus” we are not talking of knowing about Him. To know about someone is to have heard some things about that person, without necessarily having any interaction with the person. All we know about that person is really hearsay, which we propagate to others and sometimes may even add our own unfounded opinion about the person. The Queen of Sheba heard about King Solomon, and even though she did not believe what she had heard, she nonetheless travelled to Jerusalem to prove those things which she had heard. By the time she met with King Solomon, she confessed that they had not even told her up to half of his majesty, wisdom, and wealth!

Ever heard of the saying, “The taste of the pudding is in the eating”? Hearing about the Lord Jesus through sermons, as laudable as that is, is not enough to prove that you know Him. It simply means that you have heard about Him! Until Job met with God, all his knowledge of God was merely in the realm of hearing about Him.

Many Christians who know about their Lord from the sermons of their pastors, but who have not proven those things which they had heard, are unable to convincingly speak of the Lord Jesus to people who don’t know Him. This is because they have not interacted with Him one-on-one! Let us emulate the Samaritans who were not just content to hear about Jesus from “the woman at the well”, but went out to look for and hear Him for themselves. Let us emulate Mary Magdalene, who refused to go away, but sought the Lord’s body, and in the end, became the first person to see the risen Lord! Let us not be content to only hear from other people about the Lord, but let us go further to prove those things which we have heard about Him through personal encounters. It is time for Christians to move from a mere belief about the Lord on to a conviction of Who He really is, otherwise, our witness will be weak and ineffective! We need the Holy Spirit to convince and convict us of Who the Lord really is.

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