KNOWING GOD PART 1
Study text: John 4:1-30
Introduction: the human heart always tends to do such things that are opposed to the will and purpose of God. Since the fall of man, every seed of Adam has inherent rebellion within his frame. The flesh is contrary to the spirit and unless it is brought to submission in a definite encounter with God, it will continue to make it impossible for you to walk with God. All who became friends of God were not naturally born so; they were conquered and subdued by the power of God. No man will naturally choose God; the nature we inherited from our mother’s womb is the enemy of God. If you do not have a definite encounter with God as yet, your Christian experience will be vague and without a clear foundation.
A) The woman lifestyle before she had encounter with the Lord. (vs 7-12. 16-18,19-20)
1. Argumentative, tribalistic and arrogant.
2. Ignorant of God’s gift, through religious with much head knowledge.
3. A life of hypocrisy and cover up.
4. She had unstable marriage and had married several men, and yet was not at peace even with the present man.
5. She faithfully followed the tradition of her fathers but without knowing the God of her father Jacob.
6. She gave attendance to places of worship rather than a personal knowledge of who they worshiped (vs 22)
7. She would fall for anyone who foretells or had a word of knowledge of her situation, even if it does not get to the root of getting her personally connected with God (vs 18-19)
8. She had a faint knowledge of the scripture concerning the Messiah, but not a personal encounter with Him. (vs 25)
9. She was eager to receive the water that solves her immediate problem of not coming to the well to fetch physical water again, but not the quenching of the real thirst of her spiritual life.
10. In all her troubles, she looked for the Messiah in all the men she had met in life, but found none that could satisfy.
- This woman could be typical of any religious, zealous person who is always in church but having not yet a deep life- changing encounter with the Lord.
B) How Her Encounter Came About
Vs 1-7, 16-26
1. Jesus left the crowd and deliberately came her way. He waited to meet her at a place of ordinary activity and at the point of her need.
2. “Give me a drink” was just the bait to get her into this unforgettable encounter with the Redeemer. Christ draws her to the point of conviction with great patience.
3. The particular need in her life was the point which Jesus caught her. She was overwhelmed when Jesus caught her in craftiness of telling lies or using “diplomacy” to evade a pointed question.
4. Jesus went beyond the hook to actually bring her to submission to the purpose of God vs 21-26
-An encounter that only ends with the hook without bringing a man to the point of total surrender is too superficial to bring a lasting effect in life.
C) The Outcome of the Encounter with Christ (vs. 26-30, 39-43)
1. She dropped the water pot she had carried for years and ran with a personal testimony of what had happened to her as she met the Lord.
- A real encounter with God will be able to release the past things and come into the midst of God’s people with the Joy of a changed life.
2. She became the herald of the good news.
-Many cannot be an effective witness today because they have not experienced such encounter that radically changed their lives.
3. She was no more defensive and argumentative. She was no more seeking theological explanations, she had a simple message “come and see the man......”
- A genuine encounter with God will make you a living evidence of His grace.
5. She became (so to say) the gateway unto the Samaritans.
-your encounter with Christ may be the link and the open door for the salvation of many around you.
- your personal encounter with God may also be the hope for the deliverance of may. Acts 9:15-16, 22:14-15
Notes:
-The woman came to the well confused but left with joy as she encountered the lord.
-check if you have ever had any such encounter with the Lord. What lasting impact did it leave with you?
- a deep encounter with God will immediately make you His witness.
Conclusion: apart from the encounter that brings a man to experience salvation from sin, there are several encounters for spiritual growth, for divine call into the service of God, for correction and reproof. Some wasted their encounters with God and went through irreparable damages in life. If you waste an encounter with God today, you may spend several years groping in the dark for direction. You may be given another chance but not without a scar.
KNOWING GOD PART 2
Study texts: Phil 3:7-10, 2 Pet 1:2-3
Introduction: God can be known and owned as our possession personally. The implications are unimaginably glorious. Whatever God has, you then have. Whatever God is, you then are, for as He is, so are we in this world (I John 4:17). Whatever God does, you then are able to do. You share the life of God. This is eternal life. This is genuine prosperity. In this study we shall consider the basic conditions for knowing and possessing God and the practical means of knowing God.
A) The Basic conditions for Knowing God.
1. The New Birth John 3:3-7, I John5:12-13
- The issue of knowing God and possessing Him is a kingdom matter. It belongs only to the children of the Kingdom. I Cor 2:12-14
- It is the new birth experience that ushers us into the realm of the spiritual and gives us the potential to be able to know God and possess Him as our inheritance.
2. Intense desire and earnest longing for God. Ps 4:1-2
- knowing God and possessing Him demands an intense desire, consecration, serious heart concentration above the matter of service and suffering.
- you will seek the Lord and you will find Him when you search for Him with all your heart.
3. Humility of heart. IPet. 5:5-7, James 4:6-8
- Humility of heart draws God nigh to a man, and draws down God’s mercy.
4. Bring your neck under the Lord’s yoke. Matt 11:28-30,Mk3 :13-19, 4:11
- You must accept to live within the circumference of His will for your life.
- You must be ready to forsake all and follow Jesus.
Be ready to walk alone and as a person with the Lord because many of your friends may not be able to come along.
5. Prompt and total Obedience James 1:19-25, Matt 7:24-27, I Sam 15:22 -23
- Obedience is another quality of life, which draws the Lord God to man and turns His attention towards him.
- An obedient man is the one that will be blessed in his deeds while the disobedient will be put to shame.
6. Build your personal altars. Ex 25:16-22, Mk 1:35, Matt 14:22-23
- Learn to give priority to your personal quiet time with the Lord.
- commune personally and regularly with Him in prayer and in His word. Don’t ever let the fire your consecration goes out.
B) Practical Means of Knowing God
1. The Word of God.
- It is God’s means of achieving His purpose
- A deep longing and a progressive learning from and submission to the word of God is necessary in knowing God and obtaining the things of the Kingdom. This is because:
a) It is the Word of God that testifies about Him John 5:39, 2 Cor 3:18
b) Our inheritance in Christ Jesus is parcelled and kept in the word of God. 2 Pet 1:3-4, John 5:39
c) Progressive knowledge of the Lord and His word makes a believer fit to handle his divine inheritance. John 17:3, 2 pet 3:18, 2 Tim 3:16-17
d) Consistent and progressive study of God’s word is a necessity in Kingdom pursuit. Rom 10:17, Joshua 1; 8
2. Prayer
- This is another important means of pursuing the knowledge of God and for obtaining things in the Kingdom of God. Lk 11:1-13, Dan 6:10
a) By prayer, our knowledge of God is enhanced Ex.33:12-23
b) By prayer, we make our request known to God. Phil 4:6-7
c) By prayer, we pursue the purpose of God for our lives. Lk 3:21-22, 6:12-13
-No one can grow in the grace and knowledge of God without praying consistently to God.
3. Fasting
a) Fasting means abstaining from food or other pleasures for a period of time for kingdom purpose. Matt 4:1-2,Lk 4:1-2, Dan 9:2-3, Dan 10:3
b) Fasting must be combined with prayer so that the purpose of it could be achieved. Mk 9:29
c) Fasting helps to make us spiritually sensitive and concentrate on the Lord as we seek to know Him. Lk 5:34-35
4. Practical Obedience to God’s word Phi 2:8-11, Heb 5:7-8
-Growth in life and in the Knowledge of God comes when we obey Him.
-Obedience to the Lord and His word gives us practical experience and spiritual maturity.
5. Fellowship with other believers
a) We have been called by God into the Fellowship of His son, Jesus Christ our Lord. I Cor 1:9, Eph. 2: 18-19
b) Unity, progress and kingdom treasures are release to us as we fellowship with other believers. Acts 2:41-43, Heb 10:24-25
6) Discipleship. Gal 4:1-4
-If God will hand over your own inheritance in Christ to you, you have a need to submit to the moulding hands of trustees and guardians in discipleship relationship.
-Discipleship is God’s method of making His men. It is as you learn of Christ under the hands of more matured Christians that your own inheritance will be handed over to you.
Conclusion: It takes God to reveal Himself to a man; before he can gain an intimate knowledge of Him He will not reveal Himself unless you seek Him with all your heart. Cry to the Lord to visit you in a new way and reveal Himself to you afresh.
