Our Church School Theme

Seek To Know God

             "We must seek, in studying God, to be led to God. How are we to do this? We must turn each truth we learn about God into matter for meditation before God leading to prayer to and praise of and for God."

J. I. Packer

            If we, as a congregation of the body of Christ, would seek only the welfare of our denomination's doctrines, we'd be poor stewards of the word of God and enemies of the great commission. In all that we teach and do, we must always put the word of God above our understanding of it. We must never be so quick to interpret God's word that we instantly know how every line of scripture will or won't apply to any given situation.

            As with anything that is manmade, all Baptist doctrines are not godly. Whether they've been adulterated by pagan practices, or they were wrong from the outset is irrelevant. What does matter is that many of them are ungodly.

            All doctrines and dogmas must be checked against the teachings of the word of God. Since God is alive and is well able to speak for Himself, we must allow The Holy Ghost to illuminate our hearts and spirits with the reality of the word of God as it applies to us. Jesus did not die for Baptist doctrines or any other manmade denomination.

            "Seek To Know God" is far more than just our theme. It is our duty, we owe it to the Lord. Jesus died that we might know Him. How can we teach others about what we don't know ourselves?

Ez 18:23, 32; I Ti 2:4; Tit 2:11; II Pe 3:9

(23)     "Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? saith the Lord GOD: and not that he should return from his ways, and live?"

(32)     "For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord GOD: wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye."

(4)       "Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth."

(11)     "For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men."

(9)       "The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance."

            The gospel of Christ has never been one of exclusivity. Jews were chosen to prepare the entire world for the advent of Jesus. They chose to exclude the gentile world from their interpretation of "world." That exclusionary strategy didn't work for the Jews and it won't work for the Christian church either. No matter how loud an incorrect doctrine is proclaimed, it cannot withstand the scrutiny of the truth of God's word.

            We are obliged to teach all creatures to seek to know GOD. Our faith is not to be the guiding principle for others to follow. Knowing transcends believing. There are those that know, and there are those that believe: those that know are far more secure in their knowledge than those who merely hold to a belief. God wants us to know Him.

            Belief and faith are only gateways to knowledge. In our initial encounters with the gospel, we are everywhere admonished to have faith and believe. It is well established that one needs only to believe on the Name of the Lord Jesus to be saved. The gospel is replete with discourses urging us to have faith in God. But, beyond these "threshold" experiences, there exists the call to know God in His fullness. It is the call of God upon the lives of every creature by Jehovah Himself throughout the centuries. Most everything that God has ever said He would do to or for mankind has been suffixed by the phrase; "...And ye, (et al), shalt know that I Am Jehovah."

Ps 46:10;

(10)     "Be still, and know that I Am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth."

            For God to be exalted by His own, they must know Him for What and Who He is. We cannot let our beliefs cause us to refuse to know our God.

Ps  47:6-7;

(6)       "Sing praises unto God, sing praises: sing praises unto our King, sing praises.

(7)       For God is the King of all the earth: sing ye praises with understanding."

            Knowledge is the substance upon which all understanding is based. How can one say, "I understand", when one has no knowledge OF the subject, let alone any truthful information ON the subject. Without knowledge one cannot sing praises with understanding: one can only sing those praises with an unenlightened hope.

Ac  17:16-31; (22-23);

(22)     "Then Paul stood in the midst of Mar's hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I

            perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious.

(23)     For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an alter with this

            inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, Him declare I unto you."

            It is quite unfortunate that many children of God worship Him in like manner. They erect shrines to "THE UNKNOWN GOD", and then abandon all ties to Him if their knowledge of Him is ever questioned or put to any real test. Religiosity and church-ianity have replaced true devotion to God. The only way to close the breech and stem the flood is by returning to the efforts exemplified in our forefathers: To seek to know God: and to know Jesus in the power of His resurrection.

I Joh 5:11-13; Ph'p 3:9-10a;

(11)     "And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.

(12)     He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.

(13)     These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God."

(9)       "And be found in Him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:

(10a)  That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection."

            By these proofs and many others, we know that we CAN know our God personally. Jesus spoke about our being able to know His voice that we may follow Him. He said that if we don't know Him, it is because we never believed Him. We must always seek to know Him and learn not to merely continue to hope that our faith in an "unknowable" God does not fail us.

Joh 10:1-30, 38; (14, 25-30, 38);

(14)     "I am The Good Shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine."

(25)     "I told you, and ye believed not: the works that I do in My Father's Name, they bear witness of me.

(26)     But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I have said unto you.

(27)     My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me:

(28)     And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand.

(29)     My father, which gave them Me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of My father's hand.

(30)     I and My Father are One."

            We are required to study the word of God; "Study to show thyself approved unto God." Take heed thereto; "How can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed thereto, according to Thy word." And keep up a healthy conversation with God at all times; "Pray without ceasing."

            We all demand that others respect us for who we are. Do we respect God the Father and Jesus the Christ for who they are? How can we when we don't know them for who they are? If you wish to know me; you must come to me. If I wish to know you, I must come to you. If we wish to know Jesus and God the Father, we must go to Them.

(37)     "If I do not the works of My Father, believe Me not.

(38)     But if I do, though ye believe not Me, believe the works: that ye may know, and believe, that the father is in Me, and I in Him."

            Seek to know God. Start with His works. No one has been able to discredit any of them. By them you will know, and believe, that Jesus and the Father are One.

            The care of this world can stop us from doing the will of the Lord. Ask anyone why they don't serve the Lord and they will say; "Something Came Up." No matter the circumstances, no matter who is blamed, the answer will always be the same. The answer is rooted in the care of this world. Knowing that Jesus and The Father are One frees us from the pangs of doubt that are possible through the care of this world. Knowing Jesus gives us the victory over this world.

M't 13:7, 22; Joh 16:33; I Co 15:57-58;

(7)       "And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprang up, and choked them."

(22)     "He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful."

(33)     "These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have over come the world."

(57)     "But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

(58)     Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is   not in vain in the Lord."

            Jesus has overcome this world. In Him, we have overcome it also. By this we know that we can accomplish anything we seek to do in the will of God to glorify Him. Our work in Him is not in vain.

Seek To Know God.

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Last modified: 10/18/07