This study was first taught on February 25, 2014

Topic: Why Should We Desire to Know Jesus? (2)

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Background
In our study last week, using <strong>Matthew 16:13-26</strong> as our scripture text, we made the following observations about why we should desire to know the Lord Jesus personally and intimately:
1. Different people have different views about Who the Lord Jesus is, and yet they are mostly wrong. Hence, we said that majority can be wrong! Which means that we cannot trust majority opinion, about Who the Lord Jesus is; and in any case, knowing Jesus is to be personal; not corporate!
2. There are those who we believe should know the Lord, by reason of their revelation of Him, and sometimes, their limited interaction with Him. Yet, when it comes down to really knowing the Lord Jesus, their knowledge may not have come from a firsthand intimacy with the Lord. Hence, listening to them can be misleading; and besides, nothing beats knowledge based on personal interaction and intimacy.
3. What would happen to you if you were confronted with how well you really know the Lord, as the Lord confronted His own disciples? Would you be able to effectively evangelize, or convincingly answer someone who is making enquiries about the Lord, as to Who He really is, and how having a relationship with Him is of eternal benefit? Or would you be embarrassed that all you know of the Lord is what you have heard from people, and not knowledge borne out of a personal interaction and intimacy?
4. As wonderful as a revelation is, it is only an introduction that should create in you, the desire to want to know the Lord for yourself personally. Indeed, the most trusted revelation, which carries with it, certain spiritual blessings, cannot compare with a firsthand interaction and intimacy with the Lord.
5. Unless we personally and intimately interact with the Lord, we are likely to believe that being born again is all about having a jolly good time or jamboree; whereas, that is not the case. In fact, the faith of many have crashed because they had a wrong notion of who the Lord is, and what He is about. They did not realize that a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, involves sacrifices and suffering for the sake of the gospel. As we come to know the Lord more and more personally, what is involved in having an intimate relationship with Him becomes clearer and clearer.

Scripture Text(s)
Philippians 3:3-20
Paul the apostle, who was not one of Jesus' disciples, during the Lord's earthly ministry, put in so much in order to know the Lord. Indeed, from our scripture text, Paul gave up all that he had achieved before he met the Lord on 'Damascus Road', in order to gain Christ through an intimate knowledge. Paul's attitude and desire to want to know the Lord, is worthy of emulation, and we pray that the Holy Spirit will help us to develop a hunger to know the Lord, in Jesus' name, Amen.
Reading our scripture text reveals what it must have been for Paul to have been able to interact and be intimate with the Lord Jesus in a personal way. And when we see the enormity of what the Lord used Paul to achieve in His kingdom, it is only appropriate that we emulate Paul.
2 Corinthians 11:22-33; 1 Corinthians 15:3-10; Galatians 1:11-16; Matthew 13:44, 45-46; Proverbs 8:11-35; 1 Corinthians 1:24; John 17:3; 5:39; 1 John 5:20; 2 Peter 1:8-11; 2 Timothy 1:12; Matthew 20:1-16.

Conclusion
Again tonight, we see many more reasons why we should desire to know the Lord Jesus personally.
1. When you consider Paul, the apostle, who was not even a disciple during the Lord's earthly ministry and how the Lord used him mightily in His kingdom and for His glory, you cannot but be challenged to want to know the Lord as he did; if not more than he did. Paul's intimacy with the Lord made his sufferings a non-issue; indeed, he considered his sufferings a necessary part of knowing the Lord.
2. The value of knowing the Lord Jesus personally far outweighs all the priced jewels in the world, and everything the world can offer you, all put together. Hence, as Paul labored intensely to know and serve the Lord, so should we also, seek to know and serve the Lord.
3. Your knowledge of the Lord and the expression of that knowledge for the benefit of many, can only be possible through personal and intimate interaction with Him; we must abandon human ideas and concepts about the Lord, but rather, seek intimacy with Him, if we are going to bring souls to Christ (<strong>Mark 3:14-15</strong>)!
4. Unless the value you place on knowing the Lord far exceeds all that you can possibly hope to gain in this world, you will not be willing to pay the price to know Him. Hence, you must appreciate the priceless value of knowing the Lord. And what is this priceless value or benefit?
a. Divine wisdom which will keep you on to eternity with God and Christ.
b. Eternal life, which is equated with knowing God and Jesus Christ.
c. An unimpeded access into heaven.
d. The guarantee of an unswerving, resolute, conviction about the love and integrity of God, in spite of trials, tribulations, and temptations; and your eternal security.

Our motivation for seeking intimacy with the Lord Jesus, should come from men who have themselves walked with Him, in spite of harm to their lives (men like the early apostles, and all such men as do not love their lives for the sake of Christ). Nothing can be worse than emulating men who love this present life; men who are unwilling to let go of their lives for the Lord; and men who have a non-committal relationship with the Lord. Let us therefore, emulate Paul, the apostle, and labour to know the Lord Jesus Christ, more and more. We are, at this present time, the last, and can become the first; but only if we labour more than those who have gone before us. So let us labour to know the Lord through the grace He has supplied us!

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