God is Spirit; all spiritual things are not seen, so God is not seen. How can we know what we do not see? How then may we know God? If a man were before us, we may know what he is like; but how do we know what God is like. He is not before us — He is in heaven and we, on earth. Yea, we have His Word, and His Word declares; but not everyone has His Word. For Enoch, a man of God, walked with God and knew the LORD before any of the writings; how then did he know him? How did he understand the Way of the Most High without His Word?
Is it not through His works? Do we not live in His creation? And do not they testify? As it is written: “The heavens declare His righteousness, And all the peoples have seen His glory.” (Psa 97:6) And again, “Ask the beasts, and let them teach you; And the birds of the heavens, and let them tell you. Or speak to the earth, and let it teach you; And let the fish of the sea declare to you.” (Job 12:7-8) For although these have no utterance, they speak of God’s handiwork; although they have no mouth, they testify of greater things than the mouth can speak. For they tell of such wonderful things “which a man is not permitted to speak.” (2Co 12:4)
Trees are known by what they produce; as it says, “The tree is known by its fruit.” (Mat 12:33) A good tree produces good fruit, but a bad tree produces bad fruit. So we can likewise know a person by what they produce. For we know the weather by observing the sky: a dark sky forecasts a coming storm. So we can know God by His works; we can know Him by what He does; we know Him by His ways and His judgements; as it is written: “Let me know Your ways that I may know You…” (Exo 33:13) And, “The LORD is known by the judgments He executes.” (NKJV, Psa 9:16) And as God says by the prophet Micah, "My people, remember now (…) So that you might know the righteous acts of the LORD." (Mic 6:5) He works wonders and judgements and miracles in the land so that “you might know that I am the LORD your God.” (Exodus 7:17, 10:2, 14:4, 14:18, 16:12, 29:46; Deuteronomy 29:6; 1 Kings 20:13, 20:28; Isaiah 49:23) So His creation surely testifies, and His judgements and His ways speak of His goodness; and He who created the mouth to speak, He Himself also gives a sure Word.
As His creation speaks, “Men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they pick grapes from a briar bush.” (Luk 6:44) And corresponding to this, as it is revealed in His Word, it says, “It is by his deeds that a lad distinguishes himself…” (Pro 20:11) And as creation speaks, “Does a fountain send out from the same opening both fresh and bitter water? Can a fig tree, my brethren, produce olives, or a vine produce figs?” (Jas 3:11-12) And corresponding to this, as it is revealed in the Word, it says, the “mouth speaks from that which fills his heart.” (Luk 6:45) And, “As in water face reflects face, So the heart of man reflects man.” (Pro 27:19) So God’s Word reveals mysteries contained in the things He created from the foundation of the world; He reveals them so that we may know Him who created all things. For His handiworks testify of Him. And just as God’s creation teaches us about Him, we may also know man by His works. So if we can know a man by what He does, how much more God?
God’s works are good and steadfast. He established the earth and it is not moved. He marked out a boundary for the sea and it does not transgress; He commanded it, “Thus far you shall come, but no farther; And here shall your proud waves stop” (Job 38:11) He ordered the world and filled it with life. He gives fowl their food in due season; they are not in want. He made man rule over the work of His hands; He established him as ruler of the earth. His breath is given to all mankind, “He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things;” (Act 17:25) So His works are righteous, just as He is righteous. For from the good comes righteousness, but from the evil, badness. As it is written of the wicked: man “conceives mischief and brings forth falsehood.” (Psa 7:14) And “When lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin.” (Jas 1:15)The wicked raise up evil offspring, but the righteous, offspring after their kind. So we also can see the likeness of God through His Offspring. As it is contained in the writings: “If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone also who practices righteousness is born of Him.” (1Jn 2:29) And, “Everyone who loves is born of God and knows God (…) for God is love.” (1Jn 4:7-8)
And concerning God’s Offspring, God’s Son, it is written, “No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.” (Jhn 1:18) And the Son of God is Jesus Christ, the Messiah, who God foreordained and sent into the world to reveal the Father unto us. As the apostles seen and testified, saying, “God, who said, "Light shall shine out of darkness," is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.” (2Co 4:6) For we have the light of the knowledge of God in the face of His Son; for "He is the visible image of the invisible God.” (Colossians 1:15)
Jesus Himself testified saying, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father.” (Jhn 14:9) And concerning the Works of the Father, He says, “I showed you many good works from the Father.” (Jhn 10:32) And, "I speak the things which I have seen with My Father.” (Jhn 8:38) So He preformed the works of the Father plainly to them, not in riddles nor mysteries, so that boldly He says, "Now they have no excuse for their sin.” (Jhn 15:22) Because He has a greater testimony than all the prophets, Solomon (Matthew 12:42), Jonah (Matthew 12:41), and all of creation, for He is the One who created it all and filled it all. “For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him.” (Colossians 1:16-18) And, “By whom are all things, and we exist through Him.” (1Co 8:6)
And He is greater, just as He who comes before is greater than He who comes after. For we highly esteem our elders who came before us, and because they came before us, they are older than us; to such men we bow our heads in honor. And so Christ was before creation, the Ancient one, the Head of Days; it is evident, He who created must first exist before His creation. And as another sure testimony, the holy writings from the holy apostles speak about Him, saying:
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.” (Jhn 1:1-5)
And again, Wisdom speaks of Him, saying:
"The LORD possessed me at the beginning of His way, Before His works of old. From everlasting I was established, From the beginning, from the earliest times of the earth. When there were no depths I was brought forth, When there were no springs abounding with water. Before the mountains were settled, Before the hills I was brought forth; While He had not yet made the earth and the fields, Nor the first dust of the world. When He established the heavens, I was there, When He inscribed a circle on the face of the deep, When He made firm the skies above, When the springs of the deep became fixed, When He set for the sea its boundary So that the water would not transgress His command, When He marked out the foundations of the earth; Then I was beside Him, as a master workman; And I was daily His delight, Rejoicing always before Him, Rejoicing in the world, His earth, And having my delight in the sons of men.” (Pro 8:22-31)
And as it is written in the prophets: "His goings forth are from long ago, From the days of eternity." (Mic 5:2) And as Christ Himself testified, "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am." (Jhn 8:58) So “By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible.” (Heb 11:3) And Christ is the unseen Word who spoke all things into existence; for the Son is the Word, “The Word made flesh.” (Jhn 1:14) And in these last times, He has put on flesh that we may know the Father.
And regarding the knowledge of the Father, Jesus Christ testified and said: "This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” (Jhn 17:3) So we know why we must know Him; and now, we know how we may know Him; we may know the Father through the Son — and the deeds which He showed us from the Father. “The thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God.” (1Co 2:11) And God’s Spirit dwelt in Christ, “in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form.” (Col 2:9); So He speaks God’s thoughts which were hidden; He speaks “by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words.” (1Co 2:13) And He taught us by parables and riddles; and His Words are written down for us today; they were written down by the holy apostles who seen Him.
For a son might be like his father in a way or two, but he may be like his mother in other ways; and a son may imitate his father in some ways, but imitate his mother in another way. But how much more do you suppose the Son of God resembles God? For Jesus Christ is the perfect Son of the Father, resembling Him completely in all His ways, walking after Him with all His heart and soul, receiving the testimony from Him, "This is My beloved Son with whom I am well-pleased.” (2Pe 1:17) And because of Him, the prophecy in the Scripture is fulfilled, which says: "They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more." (Jer 31:34)
For “God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them.” (2Co 5:19-20) For “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” (2Co 5:21) “He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.” (1Pe 2:24) So if we know a tree by its fruit, speaking allegorically, what tree would you liken to Jesus Christ, whose fruit produces eternal life in those who partake? Is He not likened to the Tree of Life? As it says, “The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, And he who is wise wins souls.” (Pro 11:30) For His work shows forth God for fruit to everybody in whom it is implanted, through faith, growing up into a tree of life. As Aaron’s wooden staff “put forth buds and produced blossoms, and it bore ripe almonds,” (Num 17:8) so God made a lifeless piece of wood which Christ died, bud, blossom, and produce ripe fruit of life, in which the tree of life in the Garden of Eden acts as a type.
So it is not through any striving work of righteousness which we do that we are saved, but through the faith of the knowledge of the Son of God by the gracious Work on the cross. For everybody who beheld the bronze serpent that Moses lifted up in the time of the wilderness were spared. "Even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life.” (Jhn 3:14-15) And so, if anyone perish, it is because they do not set their eyes on the Father God and Jesus Christ. As it was foretold in the prophets who spoke, saying, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.” (Hos 4:6) And, “My people go into exile for their lack of knowledge;” (Isa 5:13) And, “The LORD has a case against the inhabitants of the land, Because there is no faithfulness or kindness Or knowledge of God in the land.” (Hos 4:1) And David in the Psalms says, “Because they do not regard the works of the LORD Nor the deeds of His hands, He will tear them down and not build them up.” (Psa 28:5) As the Proverbs also say, "They hated knowledge And did not choose the fear of the LORD.” (Pro 1:28-29) And, “Fools die for lack of understanding.” (Pro 10:21) And, “He will die for lack of instruction, And in the greatness of his folly he will go astray.” (Pro 5:23) And, "He who sins against me injures himself; All those who hate me love death." (Pro 8:36)
But we are not among those who hate knowledge and perish, but among those who are being saved through the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. As it also says in the Proverbs, “Keep my commandments and live;” (Pro 4:4) And, The Word is “life to those who find them And health to all their body.” (Pro 4:22) And, "Forsake your folly and live." (Pro 9:6) And, “Through knowledge the righteous will be delivered.” (Pro 11:9) And the Holy Spirit speaks by the prophet Hosea saying, “I delight in loyalty rather than sacrifice, And in the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.” (Hos 6:6) And as the apostles of the Lord are on record saying, men escape from “the defilements of the world by the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” (2 Peter 2:20) And, God “desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” (1 Timothy 2:4) And they make mention, saying, we should “receive the love of the truth so as to be saved.” (2 Thessalonians 2:10) And to “Pay close attention to (…) your teaching (…) for as you do this you will ensure salvation both for yourself and for those who hear you.” (1 Timothy 4:16) For God “manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place. For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved. (…)” (2Co 2:14) (I ask you to bear with me as I piece together scripture.)
So this divine knowledge of God is power unto us who are being saved; and grants to us “everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.” (2Pe 1:3) So through the knowledge of God comes our righteousness; and “By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments.” (1Jn 2:3) As the Holy Spirit speaks by the prophet Jeremiah, “He pled the cause of the afflicted and needy; Then it was well. Is not that what it means to know Me?” (Jer 22:16) And as it also says in the Proverbs, concerning the knowledge of the fear of the LORD, it says, "The fear of the LORD is to hate evil.” (Pro 8:13) “And by the fear of the LORD one keeps away from evil.” (Pro 16:6) For who would not fear such an awesome God! So “By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments.” (1Jn 2:3) For the knowledge of the LORD works in us to fear Him and depart from iniquity. Who can know such a great God and not fear Him? For the fear of Him is wisdom and the knowledge of Him is understanding; as Job says, ”Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; And to depart from evil is understanding." (Job 28:28) And, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” (Pro 9:10)
So through the knowledge of the fear of God, we begin to grow in wisdom and understand knowledge. For, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge;” (Pro 1:7) And through it, we are preserved from evil and saved from trouble; as it says, “The fear of the LORD leads to life, So that one may sleep satisfied, untouched by evil.” (Pro 19:23) And, “The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life, That one may avoid the snares of death.” (Pro 14:27) So through the knowledge of God we are saved, not through knowledge alone, nor through faith alone; for we are warned that our character ought to be “neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (2Pe 1:8) And that we ought not to “believe in vain.” (1Co 15:2) Nor, “receive the grace of God in vain.” (2Co 6:1) For knowledge is useful if one uses it for good; as it is written, “to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin.” (Jas 4:17) And, “It is not the hearers of the Law who are just before God, but the doers of the Law will be justified.” (Rom 2:13) So therefore, “The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person.” (Ecc 12:13)
For in the end we won’t be judged by who we know or what we believe, but by what we do. And we won’t gain entrance into this marvelous kingdom by knowing the King, but rather, we will enter if we are known by Him. For He will say to many, saying, "I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.” (Mat 7:23) However, beloved, concerning you it is written, “He knows those who take refuge in Him.” (Nam 1:7) And, “If anyone loves God, he is known by Him.” (1Co 8:3) So love the LORD with a pure heart. For who can know the love God has for us and not love Him? “We love, because He first loved us.” (1Jn 4:19) For this is how we know we love Him, “that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome.” (1Jn 5:3) As Christ says, “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.” (Jhn 14:15)
Brethren, do not think that you can keep His commandments through observing them. For it is not through observing the commandments, but through observing Jesus Christ that we keep His commandments. For the religious folk thought through knowing the law they had life; as they said, “This crowd which does not know the Law is accursed." (Jhn 7:49) But Christ was always reproving them; at one time He said, "You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me; and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life.” (Jhn 5:39-40) And in their pursuit after a law of righteousness, “They did not arrive at that law. Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as though it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone,” (Rom 9:31-32) Which is Christ. “They profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny Him, being detestable and disobedient and worthless for any good deed.” (Tit 1:16) And, just as it is written of them, ”THE NAME OF GOD IS BLASPHEMED AMONG THE GENTILES BECAUSE OF YOU.” (Rom 2:23-24)
So let us not stumble over the stumbling stone as they did; but let us be among those “who did not pursue righteousness” and “attained righteousness, even the righteousness which is by faith.” (Rom 9:30) But let us pursue Jesus Christ; for through faith, we establish the law by resting in His finished work which has been completed since the foundation of the world. Of which the Sabbath day is a testimony: for God worked six days in the world’s creation and rested the seventh day. And without question: one rests when work is completed. And God’s work has been completed since the foundation of the world. And speaking of Christ's redeeming work on the cross, He said, "It is finished!" (Jhn 19:30) And now He is seated at the right hand of the Father at a position of rest. And “we who have believed enter that rest.” (Heb 4:3) And we rest from our labors as we abide in Him; and “in Him you have been made complete.” (Col 2:10) For the seventh is a day of perfection, a day of completion and holiness — God worked six days and His works were completed and perfected by the seventh, so He hallowed it. So it is, by faith we are sanctified; He is perfecting us into His likeness through faith. As God speaks concerning the sabbath, “You shall surely observe My sabbaths; for this is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the LORD who sanctifies you.” (Exo 31:13) For on the sabbath, men rested from their works and God sanctified them. And likewise, we abide in Jesus’ finished work on the cross and rest in Him — for He sanctifies us.
“See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is.” (1Jn 3:1-2) As it is also written, “I shall behold Your face in righteousness; I will be satisfied with Your likeness when I awake.” (Psa 17:15) What a great hope we have in Jesus! Grace and peace be to you. Amen.