Good morning.
I was really amazed after looking through everything that I wanted to talk about. I looked at this song, and every single one of those words just perfectly summarizes all that I want to talk about. So, I think I’ll expound a little bit.
This morning, I want to look primarily in the book of John. This topic of knowing the Lord—can we finish this in twenty-seven minutes or so? Not possible. Not even possible with a lifetime. Not even all of us in all of our lifetimes could truly, fully express everything that there is to know in the Lord and in everything that He has given to us.
So, I wanted to limit myself a little bit and just look at the book of John. Hopefully, we can find something new of the Lord. John 21 is where we’ll start, right at the end—John 21:12.
Jesus saith unto them, Come and break your fast.
And none of the disciples durst inquire of Him, Who art Thou? knowing that it was the Lord.
Lord, just thank You so much that it’s not about me. It’s all about You. Lord, I pray that this morning it would not just be a good word, a good message, Lord, but that it would truly be a building up of Your church by Your Holy Spirit. That’s the only way that it’s possible.
So, Lord, we trust that Your Spirit would move this morning. Lord, I just pray that we would know You, and know You more, and know You alone. We love You so much, Lord. Thank You.
When looking through John, this phrase, “Who art Thou?” really caught my attention. Seeing who is the Lord? What’s He after? Who in the Gospel knows who He is, who kind of knows who He is, and who doesn’t know who He is? It’s really interesting, all the things that you can find.
So, we’ll go through a number of stories this morning, and we’ll start right at the beginning. Go back to John 1. We’ll be staying primarily in here, so keep your Bibles open. We’ll be flipping around a lot. This is John 1, starting in verse 43.
On the morrow He was minded to go forth into Galilee, and He findeth Philip: and Jesus saith unto him, Follow Me.
Now Philip was from Bethsaida, of the city of Andrew and Peter.
Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found Him, of Whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.
And Nathanael said unto him, Can any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto him, Come and see.
This is another phrase that you see: “Who art Thou?” “Come and see.” “I believe.” “I know Him.” We’re going to be looking at those four phrases this morning. Some stories have all four; some have just two. But all in all, there are these simple steps that are leading up to knowing the Lord, and how the Lord uses that is really neat when we truly take a look at this.
Jesus saw Nathanael coming to Him, and saith of him, Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!
Nathanael saith unto Him, Whence knowest Thou me?
Jesus answered and said unto him, Before Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee.
Nathanael answered Him, Rabbi, Thou art the Son of God; Thou art King of Israel.
Jesus answered and said unto him, Because I said unto thee, I saw thee underneath the fig tree, believest thou? Thou shalt see greater things than these.
And He saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye shall see the heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.
This simple sign of the Lord—this is another word that we find throughout—that there’s a sign, they see the sign, and they believe. Nathanael declares, “You are the Son of God. You are the King of Israel.” He knows a little piece of who Jesus is now, just because of this simple little work.
And He said, “You will see greater things than these, Nathanael. Come and follow Me. There’s so much more that I want to show you.” So, there’s that initial believing, but it’s that going on to truly know the Lord that is the most beautiful and wonderful thing.
Now, looking over at John 6. In John 6, we start off in verses 1 and 2.
After these things Jesus went away to the other side of the sea of Galilee, which is the sea of Tiberias.
And a great multitude followed Him, because they beheld the signs which He did on them that were sick.
So, we see this great crowd. They saw signs, and they came. So, “Come and see” because of the signs. Then what follows after that is there are five thousand people that need to eat, and Jesus shares the five loaves and the two fishes and feeds all of them.
The men therefore, when they saw the sign which He did, said, This is of a truth the prophet that cometh into the world.
Jesus therefore perceiving that they were about to come and take Him by force, to make Him king, withdrew again into the mountain Himself alone.
See, they saw the sign, but they didn’t really know who He was. They said, “This is the prophet,” not, “This is the Son of God.” They wanted to make Him king. They wanted what they wanted, not what Jesus wanted. They didn’t want to know Him; they wanted Him to do what they wanted. They knew what they wanted, and that’s what they were pursuing after.
Going forward, Jesus goes to the other side of the Sea of Galilee. All these people who had just received the five loaves and two fishes—they had been fed—they got in their boats and followed Him. Jesus said to them in verse 26:
Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek Me, not because ye saw signs, but because ye ate of the loaves, and were filled.
Work not for the food which perisheth, but for the food which abideth unto eternal life, which the Son of man shall give unto you.
Work for the food which abides unto eternal life. Now, quickly, keep your finger in John 6. I want to jump over to John 17. This is another word that comes up very often. I thought about ending with this, but I think it’s so important that we need to start with this and understand this going forward.
Every time we see the words “eternal life,” this is what it really means. In John 17:3:
And this is life eternal, that they should know Thee, the only true God, and Him Whom Thou didst send, even Jesus Christ.
Knowing the Lord—that is eternal life. So, in John 6, “Work not for the food which perishes, but for the food which abides unto knowing the Lord, unto life eternal.” Life eternal is living forever. It’s never being separated. It’s no more tears. But at the heart of it, it is knowing the Lord. That is the most wonderful thing, and this is what we pursue.
Going back to John 6, they answered Him:
What then doest Thou for a sign, that we may see, and believe Thee? What workest Thou?
They followed Him in the first place because they saw signs. Then He fed five thousand. They saw another sign, and they wanted to make Him king. They followed Him across the sea, and they ask for another sign that they may believe.
Certainly, they’re not wanting the Lord. They’re not wanting another sign. As Jesus had already spoken, “You don’t seek signs. You seek what I do. You seek just more food.”
Verily, verily, I say unto you, It was not Moses that gave you the bread out of heaven; but My Father giveth you the true bread out of heaven.
For the bread of God is that which cometh down out of heaven, and giveth life unto the world.
They said therefore unto Him, Lord, evermore give us this bread.
Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life.
And let’s stop right there. In knowing the Lord, I challenge each and every one of you: go through the Bible and look up the words “I am,” that one little phrase. Every time Jesus says that, you find another little glimpse of who He is.
So, every time we see “I am,” you find out who the Lord is. If you’re taking notes, put an “I am” or a “Thou art” column, and just start writing all of these things. It’s so precious to know all of this. Anytime Jesus says, “I am,” or another one says, “Thou art,” we find another piece of who the Lord is.
I am the bread of life: he that cometh to Me shall not hunger, and he that believeth on Me shall never thirst.
But I said unto you, that ye have seen Me, and yet believe not.
They saw, but they didn’t believe.
All that which the Father giveth Me shall come unto Me; and him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out.
For this is the will of My Father, that every one that beholdeth the Son, and believeth on Him, should have eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.
No man can come to Me, except the Father that sent Me draw him.
It’s by the Father that they can come to Him. It has to be the will of God. He has to truly show them and reveal it to their heart. It’s two sides of the equation: there’s the coming to the Lord, but there’s also that open heart so that we can receive from the Lord.
Truly, these ones had a hardened heart and weren’t willing to see what the Lord was truly after. As we see later on, they continue to be stubborn, and they wouldn’t hear what He said. So, He had to give them a hard word, as we see in verse 53.
Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink His blood, ye have not life in yourselves.
He that eateth My flesh and drinketh My blood hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.
And what did they say in verse 60?
Many therefore of His disciples, when they heard this, said, This is a hard saying; who can hear it?
But Jesus knowing in Himself that His disciples murmured at this, said unto them, Doth this cause you to stumble?
What then if ye should behold the Son of man ascending where He was before?
It is the spirit that giveth life; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I have spoken unto you are spirit, and are life.
Listen to this:
For this is the will of My Father, that every one that beholdeth the Son, and believeth on Him, should have eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.
No man can come to Me, except the Father that sent Me draw him; and I will raise him up in the last day.
He that eateth My flesh and drinketh My blood hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.
Words of life. These are wonderful things that can only be understood by the Spirit. Praise the Lord that He has hidden these things from the wise and learned and revealed them unto babes. They saw; they didn’t need this. And they couldn’t hear it.
But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who it was that should betray Him.
And He said, For this cause have I said unto you, that no man can come unto Me, except it be given unto him of the Father.
Upon this many of His disciples went back, and walked no more with Him.
Jesus said therefore unto the twelve, Would ye also go away?
Simon Peter answered Him, Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life.
And we have believed and know that Thou art the Holy One of God.
“We have believed and known.” Here is one who knows the Lord. Here is one who truly saw Him and knows who He truly is—not only believing, not only seeing Him, but truly knowing Him.
As it says in another passage, “Who do you say that I am?” “You are the Son of God. You are the Christ.” And flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father in heaven. As we already read, it’s by the Father that these things are revealed.
And what happens right after that? “Get behind Me, Satan. Your mind is on earthly things, not on the things of heaven.” So, we see here these Jews: their eyes were on the things of earth, not on the things of heaven, and they couldn’t hear this hard word.
Going back to John 4, we see the woman at the well. Jesus and His disciples come to Samaria. The disciples go in to get some food, and then a Samaritan woman comes out to draw water from the well.
Jesus says to her, “Give Me to drink.” She says, “You’re a Jew. I’m a Samaritan. We shouldn’t be talking. This never happens.” And He responds to her:
If thou knewest the gift of God, and Who it is that saith to thee, Give Me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of Him, and He would have given thee living water.
She said, “How can You give me this living water? You don’t even have a pot. Art Thou greater than our father Jacob, who gave us this well?” Jesus answered and said to her in John 4:13:
Every one that drinketh of this water shall thirst again:
But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall become in him a well of water springing up unto eternal life.
The woman saith unto Him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come all the way hither to draw.
Going down to verse 25:
The woman saith unto Him, I know that Messiah cometh, He that is called Christ: when He is come, He will declare unto us all things.
Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am He.
And jumping to verse 28:
The woman therefore left her waterpot, and went away into the city, and saith to the men, Come, see a man, Who told me all things that ever I did: can this be the Christ?
He told her that she had had five husbands, and the man whom she had right now was not actually her husband. This is not a thing to be proclaiming, but that was her gospel. That was what she wanted to share: “I found Him. He’s the Messiah. He told me all things that I’ve ever done. Come and see.”
And what happened later? Verse 39:
And from that city many of the Samaritans believed on Him because of the word of the woman, who testified, He told me all things that ever I did.
So when the Samaritans came unto Him, they besought Him to abide with them: and He abode there two days.
And many more believed because of His word;
And they said to the woman, Now we believe, not because of thy speaking: for we have heard for ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Saviour of the world.
So they came, they saw, they believed. And then when they heard from Jesus, they knew Him. They knew who He was. They knew that He was, “Thou art the Savior of the world.”
Going forward to John 8. Now, just one interesting note I wanted to mention: back in John 4, the woman at the well asked Him, “Art Thou greater than our father Jacob?” In this chapter, it says, “Art Thou greater than our father Abraham?” Two people asking the same question, but very different reactions to what He says thereafter.
In John 8:2, we see that He is in the temple, and many came to listen to Him. Moving forward to verse 12:
Again therefore Jesus spake unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth Me shall not walk in the darkness, but shall have the light of life.
The Pharisees therefore said unto Him, Thou bearest witness of Thyself; Thy witness is not true.
They’ve already written Him off—not worth listening to.
I am He that beareth witness of Myself, and the Father that sent Me beareth witness of Me.
There’s the two witnesses.
They said therefore unto Him, Where is Thy Father?
Jesus answered, Ye know neither Me, nor My Father: if ye knew Me, ye would know My Father also.
Here’s another thing we see very often through this book: if you know Me, you would know My Father. If you know Me, you know My Father.
Ye are from beneath; I am from above: ye are of this world; I am not of this world.
I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for except ye believe that I am He, ye shall die in your sins.
They said therefore unto Him, Who art Thou?
You say, “I am He.” Who art Thou? Here’s that question.
Jesus said unto them, Even that which I have also spoken unto you from the beginning.
I’ve already told you who I am. I am the light of the world. I am One who bears witness concerning Myself. I am from above. I am not of this world. I already told you, but still you don’t believe because you have your idea of what you want Me to be.
Jesus therefore said, When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am He, and that I do nothing of Myself, but as the Father taught Me, I speak these things.
And He that sent Me is with Me; He hath not left Me alone; for I do always the things that are pleasing to Him.
As He spake these things, many believed on Him.
Jesus therefore said to those Jews that had believed Him, If ye abide in My word, then are ye truly My disciples; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
They answered unto Him, We are Abraham’s seed, and have never yet been in bondage to any man: how sayest Thou, Ye shall be made free?
Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Every one that committeth sin is the bondservant of sin.
So they believed on the Lord, but they wouldn’t receive what He was saying. “We don’t need a Savior. We don’t need to be set free. We’re already free.” They couldn’t see beyond themselves what they wanted to know.
And then we see this difference. Jesus goes back and forth with them: “I speak what I have seen from My Father, and you do what your father has done.” “Abraham is our father.” “Well, if Abraham really was your father, you would have done the works of Abraham. I am of My Father in heaven, and I do His works.”
“We are not born of fornication. We have one Father, God.” Jesus says to them:
If God were your Father, ye would love Me: for I came forth and am come from God; for neither have I come of Myself, but He sent Me.
Why do ye not understand My speech? Even because ye cannot hear My word.
Ye are of your father the devil.
And so, He had to give them that hard word because they could not hear Him when He was speaking these things. They couldn’t see beyond themselves. They had to unlearn what they had already learned. They had to put aside what they were standing in, and Jesus had to show them the truth.
And what do they respond in verse 48?
The Jews answered and said unto Him, Say we not well that Thou art a Samaritan, and hast a demon?
They obviously don’t know the Lord. They are fully rejecting everything that He is saying.
Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep My word, he shall never see death.
He shall have life eternal. He shall know the Father.
The Jews said unto Him, Now we know that Thou hast a demon. Abraham died, and the prophets; and Thou sayest, If a man keep My word, he shall never taste of death.
Art Thou greater than our father Abraham, who died? and the prophets died: whom makest Thou Thyself?
In other words, “Who do You think You are?” Not, “Who art Thou?” “Who do You think You are?” There is no way that this is true—fully rejecting everything that He has said.
Jesus answered, If I glorify Myself, My glory is nothing: it is My Father that glorifieth Me; of Whom ye say, that He is our God; and ye have not known Him: but I know Him.
And if I should say, I know Him not, I shall be like unto you, a liar: but I know Him, and keep His word.
Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day; and he saw it, and was glad.
The Jews therefore said unto Him, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast Thou seen Abraham?
Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was born, I am.
The ultimate hard word, right here: “Before Abraham was, I am.” I didn’t stop. That’s the end of the sentence: “I am.”
They took up stones therefore to cast at Him: but Jesus hid Himself, and went out of the temple.
Here is this word that is one hundred percent of heavenly things, that they cannot at all understand unless it be revealed to them by the Father. They were willing to take stones and cast them at Him. They fully did not believe in Him at all and truly rejected everything that He said.
Moving on to John 9, one of my favorite stories is the man who was born blind. The disciples ask, “Who sinned, he or his parents?” And He said, “Neither, but he is like this so that the Father might be glorified.”
As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.
Having said these things, He spat on the ground, made mud of the spittle, and put mud as ointment on his eyes.
Go, wash in the pool of Siloam, which is by interpretation, Sent.
Now, what did the man born blind do? “Jesus, I’m sorry, it’s the Sabbath. Does this ointment last till tomorrow, maybe?” Or, “Well, actually, the Messiah was supposed to come from Bethlehem, and since You’re from Nazareth, I don’t know how true this is.” Is that what he said? No. He went and washed his eyes.
Here is a heart that was truly ready to receive the Lord, not holding on to anything of himself, because he was a beggar. He was nothing. He had nothing that was built up, that was a wall against the Lord—something that needed to be torn down: “I need to break down all these things that I thought I knew about the Lord so that I can know Him.”
He had nothing, so he could just start off afresh, ready to know the Lord right from the start. He went and washed his eyes, and he came seeing.
They asked him, “How can you see?” He said, “A guy named Jesus came and put mud on my eyes, and now I can see.” And they said, “Where is He?” He’s like, “I don’t know.” He didn’t know much.
Then they asked him, “Where is Jesus?” He was brought before the Pharisees, and he said, “He’s a prophet.” He didn’t know much. Going down to verse 34:
They called therefore a second time the man that was blind, and said unto him, Give glory to God: we know that this Man is a sinner.
He therefore answered, Whether He is a sinner, I know not: one thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see.
That was all he knew. That’s all he needed: “I was blind, but now I see.” He talked with them and pleaded with the Pharisees, but they would not hear him, and they cast him out.
In John 9:35:
Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and finding him, He said, Dost thou believe on the Son of God?
He answered and said, And Who is He, Lord, that I may believe on Him?
He didn’t even know. And here’s that question: “Who art Thou? I want to believe.”
Jesus said unto him, Thou hast both seen Him, and He it is that speaketh with thee.
And he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped Him.
And Jesus said, For judgment came I into this world, that they that see not may see; and that they that see may become blind.
Going forward to John 14. Remember, this is a question from Thomas and a question from Philip. Starting in verse 4:
And whither I go, ye know the way.
Thomas saith unto Him, Lord, we know not whither Thou goest; how know we the way?
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, and the truth, and the life: no one cometh unto the Father, but by Me.
If ye had known Me, ye would have known My Father also: from henceforth ye know Him, and have seen Him.
You know the Father, and you have seen Him. Then what does Philip say? This was the one who led Nathanael to the Lord back in John 1.
Philip saith unto Him, Lord, show us the Father, and it sufficeth us.
Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and dost thou not know Me, Philip? He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father; how sayest thou, Show us the Father?
Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I say unto you I speak not from Myself: but the Father abiding in Me doeth His works.
Believe Me that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me: or else believe Me for the very works’ sake.
We see Jesus ask him, “You don’t know Me? You haven’t seen? You don’t believe?” These are all the things—we’ve been together for thirteen chapters now. How do you not know Me? You must know these things. It must be revealed to you by My Father, and later on, after He ascends to the Father, by the Holy Spirit.
We see a similar thought in John 10. I’ll just read that real quick:
The Jews therefore came round about Him, and said unto Him, How long dost Thou hold us in suspense? If Thou art the Christ, tell us plainly.
Jesus answered them, I told you, and ye believe not. The works that I do in My Father’s name, these bear witness of Me.
But ye believe not, because ye are not of My sheep.
My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me:
And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, and no one shall snatch them out of My hand.
If I do not the works of My Father, believe Me not.
But if I do them, though ye believe not Me, believe the works: that ye may know and understand that the Father is in Me, and I in the Father.
Even if you don’t believe Me, at least believe the works, because you can see them. This is evidence. So, I just want you to know the Father. I want you to believe just so desperately. Even if you don’t believe in Me, at least see so that you can believe.
Who does this remind you of? John 20, verse 24:
But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came.
The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord.
But he said unto them, Except I shall see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.
And after eight days again His disciples were within, and Thomas with them. Jesus cometh, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you.
Then saith He to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and see My hands; and reach hither thy hand, and put it into My side: and be not faithless, but believing.
Thomas answered and said unto Him, My Lord and my God.
Jesus saith unto him, Because thou hast seen Me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.
The Lord wants us to believe. The Lord wants us to know Him. Even if we don’t believe, He’ll try to show us in some earthly way, just so that we can come to Him. But when we come to Him, when we believe, we must press on to knowing Him.
Now, we’re at John 21. Let me read John 20:30–31 real quick before I move on:
Many other signs therefore did Jesus in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book:
But these are written, that ye may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye may have life in His name.
Ye may know Him truly.
In John 21, we see that the disciples went fishing. But which disciples were there? Simon Peter—this is in verse 2—Thomas, and Nathanael. We’ve looked at all three of them. There are a few others as well, but let’s look at Simon Peter.
He confessed, “Where else can we go? You have the words of eternal life.” But then—it’s not in this Gospel, but in Luke 22—the woman said, “You were with Jesus. I’ve seen it. You were with Him.” And what does he say? He’s standing around the fire, listening to Jesus’ trial. He says, “Woman, I don’t know Him.”
I don’t know Him. The most wonderful thing that we can do is to know Him, and Simon Peter said, “I don’t know Him.” And he was one that came in this boat.
Thomas questioned the Lord: “Where’s the way? Which way do we go?” “I am the way.” Thomas said, “I won’t believe unless I see the marks in His hands.” “Be not unbelieving, but believing.” Thomas was in this boat.
And Nathanael believed Jesus because he saw him under the fig tree, and then he fled when Jesus was taken. They’re all in this boat.
Jesus calls to them from the shore, “Children, have you anything to eat?” And they said, “No.” He says, “Cast your net on the right side, and you will catch.” They cast it on the right side of the boat, and they caught so many fish that they could not draw it up.
And what does John say? “It is the Lord.” They saw the works. They didn’t recognize His voice when He called from shore. They didn’t recognize His appearance when they saw Him standing on the shore. But when they saw the works, when they saw what He did, they knew that it was the Lord.
Simon Peter immediately jumps into the water and swims to shore. They get into the little boat and drag all the fishes—one hundred fifty-three in total—and even with all those fish, the net was not rent.
They come, and they see that Jesus has already prepared a fire. There are coals, and there’s fish already on the fire, and there’s already bread there. Jesus says, “Come, take of the fish which ye have caught, and let’s eat.”
“Come and dine,” is what He says. Rather than “Come and see,” “Come and dine.” Come and be with Me. Come and know Me.
This is just a little picture of who the Lord is: we catch the fish, we think we’ve done all this, but the fish that they caught—it was because of the Lord. They come to shore, and the Lord already has fish and food for them. But it was His desire: “Come, bring in the fish which ye have caught.”
“I know it was Me that told you to cast it on the right, but come, bring the fish which you have caught. I want you to take part in My work. I want you to be a part of this. Even though it wasn’t you, it was Me—but you believed, and that is enough.”
And what did they say afterwards? Verse 12:
Jesus saith unto them, Come and break your fast. And none of the disciples durst inquire of Him, Who art Thou? knowing that it was the Lord.
Finally, in Acts 9, we see Paul—another one. This is Acts 9:4.
And he fell upon the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me?
And he said, Who art Thou, Lord?
From there, he went into Damascus, and he was three days without seeing, and neither ate nor drank. He couldn’t see, he didn’t eat, and he didn’t drink, so that Jesus could be the living water, the bread of life, and the light of the world—so that He could truly be everything for Paul.
And Paul believed. The scales fell from his eyes, and he could see.
And what is Paul’s testimony? In 1 Corinthians 2, a very familiar passage—most of you probably already know what I’m going to say. First Corinthians 2:2:
For I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.
There is nothing better to know than the Lord. There is nothing else. That is our testimony: knowing the Lord.
And if I were to summarize the leadership training conference, the most wonderful thing was hearing Christ—just another little snippet of knowing who He is—from every single believer. Just as Josh said, the church needs the church. We need each other.
We need every single one of you to share what you know of Christ. It’s not one; it’s not a few. It’s every single member of the body of Christ who knows the Lord. Each of you has seen the Lord. Many of you have believed, and a few of you have known Him. But may we all come to know Him.
May we all pursue after this Book, the most wonderful treasure that we have: to know Him, and to know Him alone, is the greatest thing that we can do. Praise the Lord.
Lord, we thank You that You have revealed these things to us. That is not by us. It’s not by our wisdom, but it’s fully by Your Holy Spirit. It’s by Your Father. It’s by You. It’s by the Trinity.
Lord, it’s by all three of the Trinity working together, and it’s by all of us working together—this beautiful communion of Your desire for the church, that we would all share in this fullness of who You are.
Lord, all the books in the world could not contain the greatness and all the works that You have done.
Lord, knowing You is the greatest thing that we could ever know, that we could ever do. We love You, Lord. May we pursue You with all of our heart and pursue to know You just a little bit more every single day. In Your name we pray.