The Don't K.i.s.s. Method

The “Don’t K.I.S.S.” Method – Proverbs 1:20-33

“Simple” – def.: one without moral direction (or one that chooses not to follow it) and who is inclined to evil

Intro.: Job’s friend Elihu had it right when he said, “Behold, God is great and we do not know him.” When we get hit right in the face with the reality of who God is, we come to the realization that we have only had a tiny taste of Him, if that! Here’s how to tell if you have EVER really encountered God or if you have only experienced a brush of His glory… If you have ever truly encountered God Himself, you are driven by an unrelenting force to be brought into a deeper and more intimate knowledge of Him. If you have only experienced a brush of His glory then you feel the thrill of His presence. It may provide a temporary “rush” of weeping, laughter or shaking. You may even find yourself living above your previous level of righteousness temporarily. But without the “power revelation” of the knowledge of God, things always are driven back to a place of mediocrity in our pursuit of God.

I. Spiritual Arrogance is a huge hindrance to achieving this revelation

A. We like to think that we spiritually pretty healthy

1. Spiritual hunger determines spiritual health - READ: Matthew 5:6

B. There should be an ongoing cry for the knowledge of God in our hearts

C. Humility (poverty of spirit) is required to acknowledge our need of this

1. We must realize that we can’t achieve this revelation on our own

NOTE: Mike Bickle says… “Finding the knowledge of God can be a painful process. We have to give up everything and forsake dead forms of religion that deny the power of godliness and true knowledge.”

II. “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge…” Hosea 4:6

NOTE: The church misses the mark in many areas and our lack of the knowledge of God has kept us living in the past or using wrong approaches.

• Relevance to today’s world has fallen off the grid

• Preachers in $3000 suits are demanding widow’s social security

• The method is idolized while the message is watered down

• We have become sensitive to the seeker rather than the Sought

A. “Business as usual” will not bring the knowledge of God

1. Proverbs 1 calls for us to get our heads out of the sand

2. The “ignorance is bliss” mentality is a spiritual death wish

B. God, in His kindness, continually cries our for us to turn our hearts

1. When we do, He runs to us & sweeps us up in His arms for a dance

2. When we choose our own way… our refusal, not God’s lack of

concern, makes us vulnerable to the enemy’s attacks

III. What is the purpose of pursuing the knowledge of God

NOTE: Later in Proverbs 2 we see that the purpose of pursuing wisdom, knowledge, discernment and understanding is to deliver us from immorality

A. The strength of the church is being undermined by immorality

1. Pornography, fornication, adultery, emotional soul ties

2. It is also being undermined by “permissible pleasures”

3. A false knowledge of God also fosters immorality

NOTE: A naïve or unconcerned attitude regarding the power of the spirit of immorality that has been loosed in the world and that has invaded the church is dismantling ministries, families and our society as the church looks the other way.

B. We must wake up to the seducing power of the spirit that is waging

war against us

1. Being filled with the knowledge of God is the only safe way to live

2. READ: Proverbs 2:11, 16-19

Concl.: “Behold, God is great and we do not know Him.” Job 36:26. But, because of Jesus, God now invites us to get to know Him intimately. Jesus’ High Priestly prayer of John 17 reveals this.

Go for the living encounter rather than the brief touch

We need to KNOW God and it will most likely cost us something we presently draw pleasure from to truly find Him. Count the cost of giving up the temporary to gain the eternal.

Our level of humility will determine our level of hunger and our level of hunger will determine our level of spiritual health.

Ignorance is not bliss, it is a spiritual death wish

The true knowledge of God will protect us from the immoral magnet so we must wake up to the power of its seduction

Don’t be “simple” in your ways – refer to def. at beginning…

Let’s get hungry for the knowledge of God. An encounter with the Most High God will redirect your life and purpose.