God s Gypsy Christian Church November 13, 2017 World Wide Bible School Keynote Speaker: Steve Clark The Great Commission Ministries Matthew 7:21-23 KJV 21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? 23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. Although there are many threads we can follow with the above passage, we re going to focus on one, and our focus is going to be on the word Knew Strong s #G1097 ginṓskō properly, to know, especially through personal experience (first-hand acquaintance). 1097 /ginṓskō ("experientially know") is used for example in Luke 1:34, "And Mary [a virgin] said to the angel, 'How will this be since I do not know (1097 /ginṓskō = sexual intimacy) a man? " After reading from Matthew and doing a small word study on the word knew it begins to open a door to a wider range of thought and understanding, You see the reason why Jesus denied these men entrance into the the Kingdom of Heaven is because of this one thing, this one word, it is clear that this condition is vital to salvation, and the absence of it is a deal breaker so to say So after technical the break down of this small word Knew and looking at the context of scripture it is clear that Jesus is not merely referring to the fact rather he know s these people s names or not in a general sense, and furthermore the context of words used in these passages from Matthew 7 can bring you to the following understanding
Jesus is not saying i need to know you as much as he s saying you need to know me because you see it s Jesus desire know us and thats very clearly pointed out to us in the seventeenth chapter of John John 17:1-3 KJV 1 These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee: 2 As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. 3 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. You see again in verse three we come to the same word Know and its still Strong s #G1097, And the seventeenth chapter of John is Jesus final prayer before he was betrayed, you should read the seventeenth chapter of John because it a a very powerful one. Now lets turn back a just few pages in the Bible and see how far back can we find this concept of To Know Genesis 4:1 KJV 1 And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the Lord. Now from Genesis its Strong s #H3045 but it s coming from the Hebrew since thats a old testament passage, and there are some variations in the technical break down, but again when considering the context of scripture we can understand the same point. The clear concept here in the seventh chapter of Matthew is this To Know Jesus is to have a intimate relationship with the person Jesus Christ. Look the whole plan of redemption was to make a way to be reconciled to God, to be brought back into a intimate relationship with him, and the scripture is very clear here that if that is not the case, some people, even those who know his name and understand the he is Lord will not be able to enter into heaven, to enter into eternity with him, again I'd like to remind you of John 17 And this is eternal life..
So those who lack this Genuine Intimate Relationship with Christ, won't inherit eternal life, but instead by contrast inherit eternal death, complete separation from the presence of God John 10:26-27 KJV 26 But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you. 27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: Matthew 25:31-33 KJV 31 When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: 32 And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: 33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. This small word Knew might be overlooked in the scripture, but this is very serious business here. Now Look at how Jesus prayer concludes in John 17 John 17:24-26 KJV 24 Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world. 25 O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me. 26 And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them. Do you see how powerful this is, do you see the heart behind it, this isn t merely just words, to be a Christian isn't merely a mission to collect knowledge of the Bible, but a call to come into a love affair with Jesus, this is what Jesus desires, this is truly The Lord s Prayer, This is what Jesus prayed and this is what he finished at the cross, This is what he accomplished with His death and resurrection, He made a way when there was no way to forgive us from our sins and reconcile us so that we can have and experience this relationship intimately with him, here and now on earth and in eternity forever, Yes its the greatest love story.
When you experience this relationship intimately with God, repentance comes naturally and willingly, and the grace and mercy that comes from true repentance becomes the empowerment for you to be diligent and zealous for God. When you repent, times of refreshing will come from the Lord s presence as areas in your soul that were previously given over to sin are surrendered to the Lordship of Christ. Acts 3:19 Amplified Bible (AMP) 19 So repent [change your inner self your old way of thinking, regret past sins] and return [to God seek His purpose for your life], so that your sins may be wiped away [blotted out, completely erased], so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord [restoring you like a cool wind on a hot day]; When we think about the presence of the Lord, we often think about how wonderful it is for us to be in His presence, we often think about how where the presence of the lord is there is freedom, liberty and healing, refreshing, revival; And thats all true but did you ever consider the fact that as we come into the presence of the Lord, as we spend time in His presence in worship and prayer, praise and thanksgiving it also a time for God to enjoy you? The concept of a relationship between two people goes both ways, one enjoys the other s company, and its clear in the scripture that God s desire is to have this relationship with us and to have time with us to enjoy and love us, because he does love us and he wants to express that love and one of the things he does to express that love is to bless us with his presence when we humble ourselves, when we take the time in prayer and worship and say God, i want to spend some time with you, i know this is what you desire also; and i know your always ready and waiting for me; so I'm making this time for you and in these next few moments i come to worship & praise you, To magnify you, and stand in your presence John 4:23-24 KJV 23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. 24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
You see its God who seeks such worship, its God who seeks such a time with you, dedicate some time to give him what he wants, not just with the intentions of gaining a blessing (and his presence will bless you) but because you want to, because you love him, this is how a person comes to know and love the person Jesus Christ, to experience him first hand for yourself, to hear His voice in prayer or by reading his word, to be in your room worshiping, praying then suddenly he walks in room and the atmosphere shifts and everything changes its times like this God desires to have with you, and i can tell you from personal experience, its those times you spend with the Lord that will be the greatest blessings of your life while here on earth, and if you haven't experienced such a time with the Lord where you come to him through prayer and worship when its just you and him one on one, then you have no idea what kind of life changing experience and blessing your missing out on You know there s just somethings you have to taste for yourself, can someone really explain to you what a apple or a orange taste like if you never ate one before?, even the bible uses such an example Psalms 34:8 KJV O taste and see that the Lord is good: Blessed is the man that trusteth in him.
Strong's Number G1097 occurs 246 times in 208 verses in the Greek concordance of the KJV suddenly Assignment: lookup and meditate on these words Know / Knew (Strong s #1097) Intimate / Intimacy Relationship (between a husband and wife)