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Nahum 1:7-9
And the question I have this morning as we begin and turn to the book of Nahum is simply this. Does God know you? When God knows everybody, well, there is a sense, certainly intellectually speaking, that God knows everyone.
What we'll learn from our text today is that there is a certain group of people that God knows savingly, covenantally, personally. Who is that? Those who take refuge in Christ. So I want you to think about this morning as we begin.
This is not to be a discouragement to you. It should be an encouragement. It doesn't matter what you achieve in this life. It doesn't matter how many accolades you receive from the world. It doesn't matter what kind of scholarships you may get, whether they're academic or athletic.
It doesn't matter how well known. If people remember your name. It doesn't matter how many houses you have. It doesn't matter how many lands you own. It doesn't matter how many children you have. If God doesn't know you, it's all in vain.
You'll perish and you'll spend an eternity in a place called hell. Conversely, it doesn't matter how little you have. It doesn't matter how insignificant you are. It doesn't matter how small your church may be.
It doesn't matter that no one knows your name. It doesn't matter that maybe your family has abandoned you. It doesn't matter that maybe your children or your parents or your grandparents or whatever have abandoned you.
It doesn't matter the things that you just quite couldn't achieve in this life. If God knows you, that's a life well lived. Nahum chapter one, would you stand with me as we honor the reading of God's word?
I'll just read seven, eight and nine. The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble. He knows those who take refuge in him. But with an overflowing flood, he will make a complete end of the adversaries and will pursue his enemies into darkness.
What do you plot against the Lord? He will make a complete end. Trouble will not rise up a second time. Father, would you bless the preaching of your word? And as I look in the faces of the congregation this morning, I see I see there are some there, their eyes looking forward, their thinking, they're ready to receive a word from you.
And I pray that you would give it to them and you would bless them and encourage them. Even others, I see their heads are down. They're looking at other things. Lord, I pray that even today you would shake them out of complacency and they would they would see the beauty of this passage and hear and desire to live for Christ, to walk with him.
We pray, God, that you would bless the preaching of your word that we know when we hear your word rightly preached, that we actually hear you not not the preacher, but the faithful exposition of your word is your word.
And we pray that we would listen to that and that we would understand your truth today and that we would be edified, challenged. Even today, some would be converted. Some in this room even today would call upon Christ.
Lord, may we be able to answer this great question that we've started this sermon off with. Does God know you? And we pray that we'd be able to answer that in the affirmative by the time we leave this place today.
We pray in Jesus name. Amen. You may be seated. Does God know you? Does God know you? This is our third and final week here in verse seven. We've seen that it divides into three clauses. So the Lord is good.
We've talked about that. A stronghold in the day of trouble. We've talked about that. And now this morning, he knows those who take refuge in him. So we're in this last clause. Now, there's a conjunction that is not translated in the ESV, the word and so it's and he knows those who take refuge in him.
And so the idea is you have this first statement. We're looking at verse seven. So you look at verse seven and you have this first statement. The Lord is good. And now the question is, why is he good or how is he good?
And these other two clauses answer that he is good because one, he's a stronghold in the day of trouble. And secondly, he is good because he knows those who take refuge in him. So we're going to break this final clause down into three points.
First, this morning, let me speak to you of covenantal knowledge. So number one, covenantal knowledge. He knows those, the text says, who take refuge in him. So let me just remind you, I'm speaking from the text.
Look at the Bible and ask yourself this question. Who does God know? Well, answer from the text, only those who take refuge in him. The question is, does God know you? And the answer is only if you are taking refuge in Christ, the Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble.
He knows those who take refuge in him. So just jumping ahead, Christ is our refuge. God knows those who are resting in the finished work of our Lord Jesus Christ. The word for no in our text, this will bore some of you, but just walk with me for a second.
The word no in our text, it's a participle. So a lot of times in English, we translate or we say participles with an ing, with an ing, and it's communicating continual action. So the idea here is that God knows ongoingly.
So those who take refuge in Christ. Now, the Hebrew word for no in the text is the word Yoda, Yoda, Yoda. I'll get this out of the way. Right. No idea have I if related to Star Wars. This is OK. So I don't know if they took that from there or not.
But here's what I can tell you about this word Yoda to know in the Hebrew. It can mean intellectual knowledge. So when we say, does God know everything? Yes. Yoda, he has he has that intellectual knowledge of all things, all persons, all events.
He knows it all. He's omniscient, all knowing. Or it can also refer to situational knowledge. So it's used in Exodus 225. The Bible says God saw the people of Israel and God knew that his God was aware of the situation and he knew that it was time to act.
The word can also refer to like skillful knowledge. So in building the tabernacle, the Bible speaks of of God giving a man by the name of Bezalel a knowledge for craftsmanship. The word Yoda, you know this.
It can also mean relationships or like intimate knowledge. So, for example, it's the word used when it said Adam knew his wife or Abraham knew Sarah. Well, the word there is talking about an intimate, physical knowledge there.
So all of these are examples of how this word is used. But I don't think we've quite captured how it's being used in our text. So, again, the Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble. He, Yoda, he knows those who take refuge in him.
So I think the use here is more in line with places like Genesis 18, 19. In Genesis 18, 19, the ESV says it this way. For I have chosen him, talking about Abraham, that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord.
So listen, this word for chosen is the word Yoda. It's the word no. So the idea here is that God had a covenantal knowledge of Abraham. So I believe that's what our text is saying here, too. So when it says that he knows those who take refuge in him, it's saying he knows relationally, savingly, covenantally.
He knows those who take refuge in him in this way. Because think of it for a second. God has intellectual knowledge of the Ninevites. It's not that I don't know who you guys are. Who are the Ninevites?
You read this, read the scripture, read Nahum. He knows the Ninevites. He knows their wicked deeds. He knows their sin. He knows who they are. He knows what they have done. And he's bringing judgment upon them.
That's verse 8 and 9. But with an overflowing flood, he will make a complete end of the adversaries and will pursue his enemies into darkness. God knows his enemies in an intellectual sense. He knows their deeds.
He knows their sins, but he doesn't know them covenantally. He doesn't know them savingly. He doesn't know them, if you want to use this phrase, in a personal relationship. He's not leading them in paths of righteousness, Psalm 23, for his name's sake.
He is not providing for them and caring for them and watching over them as he does those who take refuge in Christ. That, I hope you understand, is the point of knowing in verse 7, when he says he knows those who take refuge in him.
That's the question we're trying to answer this morning. Does God know you? Does he know you in this way? And this is not unique to Nahum 1 -7. I'm going to read to you some other verses. You can jot these down, but I'll just read through them quickly.
But the word know is used like this all over the scriptures. So in Psalm 1 -6, the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked shall perish. Or how about in the New Testament, John 10 -14 -15.
I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father and I lay down my life for the sheep. First Corinthians 8 -3, but if anyone loves God, he is known by God.
Galatians 4 -9, but now that you have come to know God are rather to be known by God. So the idea of knowledge in Nahum 1 -7 is not an intellectual knowledge. God knows everyone intellectually. The idea is a covenantal knowledge, a saving knowledge.
This knowledge involves commitment and relationship and promise and love and care and defense. God knows those in this way who take refuge in Christ. John McKay puts it this way. It is the king of the covenant bestowing recognition upon those who are his.
He has chosen them and so is committed to providing for their needs. So God has chosen and cares for and watches over and loves in a special way those who are taking refuge in Christ. He knows them and our sermons question comes again to our minds.
Does God know you? Not intellectually, does he know you savingly? This brings us to our second point. So covenantal knowledge. Secondly, covenantal requirement. So the text says, he knows those who take refuge in him.
So who does God know from the text? Where are we going with this? Who does God know? Answer, those who take refuge in him. By the way, this is also a participle. So knowing, know is a participle, but also this take refuge is a participle.
So the idea is, it's not just a one-time take refuge. It's or at a VBS at one time, I took refuge in Jesus or whatever. This taking refuge is an ongoing activity. And this too actually is all over the Old Testament.
Let me read just a few verses. Second Samuel 22 31. This God, his way is perfect. The word of the Lord proves true. He is a shield for all those who take refuge in him. Psalm 2 12. Kiss the son, lest he be angry and you perish in the way for his wrath is quickly kindled.
Blessed are all who take refuge in him. Psalm 11 1. In the Lord, I take refuge. Psalm 34 8. Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him. Psalm 118 8. It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man.
Are you hearing me today? The people of God take refuge in God. God is their stronghold, he is their delight, he is their comfort, he is their treasure when all the world is going crazy, when culture is going out of control, when we don't know what the presidential election is going to be, when we don't know what the doctor report is going to be, when we don't know how our job is going to be on Monday, God is a refuge.
We trust. When we fear the wrath that is to come, Jesus is our refuge. And so taking refuge in God could be summed up with one word. And that's what the thrust here of the text trust. God knows those who trust him.
Or we can use the word faith. God knows those who place their faith in Christ. Are you listening this morning? Does God know you? Let's do some work here in the scriptures. Keep your spot in Nahum and flip to your left to the book of Jeremiah chapter 31.
Jeremiah chapter 31. Let's just look at that for just a second. Jeremiah 31. And let's consider this promise of the new covenant. Jeremiah 31. I'm just going to read 33 and 34. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days declares the Lord.
I will put my law within them and I will write it on their hearts and I will be their God and they shall be my people and no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother saying, know the Lord, for they shall all know me from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord, for I will forgive their iniquity and I will remember their sin no more.
OK, this is the promise of the new covenant. This is the covenant of grace that is inaugurated in the blood of Jesus Christ. It's not the covenant of works. It's not the Abrahamic covenant, though this covenant points us forward to the new covenant.
It's not the Mosaic covenant, though this points us to our great need for the covenant of grace. But Jeremiah 31 promises to us the new covenant, the covenant of grace. This is the covenant by which God pardons our sins, writes his law upon the hearts of his people, by which he knows his people.
And the text says in Jeremiah 31, his people from the least to the greatest know him. This is the covenant by which God has always saved his people. In the Old Testament, he saved his people by looking forward to the accomplishment of this covenant.
He saves his people in the New Testament by looking at the completion of this covenant in the life, death, burial and resurrection of Christ. Now, for some of you, that's theologically, that's a lot of weight just to think through.
But what I'm getting at is this, and this is what's very important. So we can work through that. But you need to listen carefully to this. This covenant that's promised in Jeremiah 31, this covenant of grace, it comes with a requirement.
You say what? It's grace. It comes with a requirement. Just hear me out. The requirement of the covenant of works is law. That is, do this, do this, do this, do this, do this. And if you fail in one point, you perish forever.
But here's the requirement of the covenant of grace. It is faith alone in Christ alone. You see, God, we said somewhere in the scripture, doesn't it? That God has done what the law weakened by the flesh could not do by sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh.
And for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us. What is that text saying? Listen carefully. The text is saying that God in the covenant of grace has not lowered his standard.
Please hear me. He's not said, well, you can't make the covenant of works, so I'll just lower my standard and I'll let you people in. No, he has not lowered the standard in the covenant of grace. Rather, what he has done is he has met the standard in the covenant of grace by fulfilling the law and every part in the God, man, Christ Jesus.
He has not said they can't do it, so I will just let him in and I'll grade on the curve. Rather, he has said they cannot do it, but Jesus can do it. And then he has silenced the accusations of the evil one by fulfilling his own righteous demands of the law.
Against that, the law has against sinners, you violate the law, you deserve death, so he has. Silence these accusations by punishing Jesus in our place, the law demands perfection, Christ has given perfection, the law demands death for those who've broken it.
Christ has given death and he has triumphed over sin and death and hell by rising again on the third day from the grave. This is the gospel. This is what needs to be thundered from the pulpits. This is the message of grace.
But how? Is this good news to me? How do I participate in this? How is it that Christ is made mine? How do I come to know God and have God know me? How do I receive forgiveness of sins? How do I have all the promises of the covenant of grace applied to my soul?
How is this done? Well, from God's side, the answer is sovereign grace. From God's side, it's it's not looking down in time and seeing who is good and seeing who is bad because we're all bad. It's out of his sheer mercy and effectual grace that this is brought home to unworthy sinners.
But what you need to listen to even more carefully is that from our side, the answer is what I just said a minute ago. What do I do to have the benefits of Christ applied to my soul? Faith. Faith. The only way that you get in is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.
And this is what our text is pointing us to. He knows those who take refuge in him. We take refuge in imputed righteousness. That is, Jesus, who fulfilled the law on our behalf, who obeyed on our behalf.
Christ's righteousness imputed to us by faith alone. When I stand before God in filthy rags of my own, but what my hope is not my filthy rags, but the righteous robes of Jesus Christ applied to me by faith.
That is my refuge. The covenantal requirement of being known by God is to take refuge in Christ, to trust Christ, to have faith in Christ, to turn away from sin, to repent of sin and to turn to Christ alone as your only suitable and all sufficient Savior.
He knows those who take refuge in him. Does God know you only if you turn to Christ? Some of you need to do that today. Some of you hear this message and the response that you need to give to that message is to flee from sin, flee from the wrath to come and flee to Jesus Christ, to repent and believe the gospel that you've heard.
To be known by God is to be clothed in Christ's perfect righteousness. Our safety today is not in our works, but in his imputed obedience to the law and refuge in his sovereign grace. This is the shelter the scriptures promise us.
Refuge in Christ. Jesus saves. And some of you, you remember, I'm up here, I'm looking, I'm preaching. Some of you, I can tell. You're just thinking through this or whatever, you're listening. Some of you, you don't seem to care, right?
Like you could care less. Maybe you could be somewhere else today. You're like, well, I could be doing something else. I'm pleading with you. Listen, listen this morning. Listen, children. Listen, adults.
Listen to the gracious promises dripping from the scriptures. And that is the God of the universe. The triune God of heaven knows you. If you take refuge in Christ. And here is the offer today. Go to Christ.
This is the requirement, faith. And notice, too, in the text, it's refuge in him. The Hebrew uses the preposition here, so it's it's important. God knows those who take refuge, the preposition in him.
And we have New Testament verses like Ephesians 1 7 in him, meaning Christ. We have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace. God knows in a covenantal, saving, personal way, only those who are listen in him, in Christ.
So Jesus is not an umbrella. So this is what people treat Jesus as an umbrella, right? So you some of you have an umbrella in your car. Some of you left your umbrella back there in the foyer. But you have an umbrella and you pull out the umbrella when it rains.
And some of us are tempted to treat Jesus like an umbrella. So I've got the umbrella. It's in my car. And if it ever rains, I'll pull out the umbrella and I'll use it. But that's not Jesus is not meant to be a refuge just in the storm of life.
Rather, we put him on as shelter every day. He is an everyday stronghold. We rest continually. He knows those who are taking refuge that is continually in him. We rest continually in his work. We need the work of Jesus.
We need the obedience of Jesus to the law every morning on your best days. You need this refuge on your worst days. You need this refuge when things are going great at work. You need this refuge when things are going terrible at work.
You need this refuge when there's peace and prosperity in your nation. You need this refuge when there's when there's controversy and conflict and and just you're not sure what's going to happen. You need this refuge.
And Jesus is the refuge of the church. You need him. We live in him. We keep on taking ongoing refuge in him. That's faith. Faith is not this one time action. Sometime I signed a card, I checked the box, I raised my hand.
I was listening. Not long ago, there was a situation where there was a speaker and he said, you know, if you want to be saved, everybody, every head down, every odd eyes closed. If you want to be saved, look up at me.
You know, and so people looked up at him and it's like, that's not that's not the response. It's not a one time thing. Saving faith keeps going. Yes, I believe it's not the labors of my hands. It's it's not my good deeds.
It's it's not my works. It's it's not what I've done. It's Christ. It's all Christ. Give me Christ. I need his righteousness, not my good deeds. I need Jesus. Christ alone is the only way. It's all Christ.
I trust him. I don't trust for my salvation, my pastor. I don't trust for my salvation, my children. I don't trust for my salvation, my family. I don't trust for my salvation. Things I do, I trust Christ alone.
It's not Jesus saying this is the point of the text, he knows those who take refuge in him. James Boyce says it this way, the only refuge from the wrath of God is God's mercy unfolded at the cross of Jesus Christ.
Is this where your faith rests? Does God know you? Thirdly. We've considered covenantal knowledge, we've considered covenantal requirement. Finally, let me mention covenantal people. So just a note here in the text, verse seven, he knows those who take refuge in him.
And my point here that I want to get you to understand is that God does not merely know individuals, though he certainly does. And he does not merely know the choices of individuals, though, of course, he does.
But what he knows here covenantally in verse seven is a people. He knows those who take refuge in him. And there's a distinction between those and then those in verse eight, nine. So he knows those who take refuge in him, but that's the contrast.
He knows those who take refuge in him, but with an overflowing flood, he will make a complete end of the adversaries and will pursue his enemies into darkness. What do you plot against the Lord? He will make a complete end.
Trouble will not rise up a second time. God has had a plan from the beginning to rescue a people for himself in Christ as trophies of his sovereign and undeserved grace. This is here right there in our text.
There's another text. I think this will help you understand another text in the Bible. Turn to Romans eight. We memorize Romans eight. We're memorizing one through eight. But in Romans chapter eight, verse twenty nine, it has this funny word and you might be like, well, I don't really understand what's being communicated there.
Maybe Nahum one seven will help you. Romans chapter eight in verse twenty nine. It says this for those whom he foreknew. That's the word that people don't know sometimes. For those he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of a son in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.
OK, so think about our text. Nahum one seven. God knows those who take refuge in him. And these are the ones, the ones that he knows who are taking refuge in him. These are the ones he foreknew in eternity past.
So Romans eight, twenty nine is not teaching that God foreknew a choice. A lot of people read Romans eight, twenty nine and say those he foreknew. Oh, that means he knew the choices. That's not what the text is saying.
It's not saying that he foreknew choices, but that he foreknew a people. Those he predestined them in Christ in time by his grace, he calls them to himself in a way that they take refuge in him by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.
So the other day I was driving to G .B .T .S. on Monday. I was listening to a Christian song. It said these words, I know who I am because I know who you are. The cross of salvation was only the start.
And then it said this. And I'm just going to pick at it a little bit. Now I am chosen, free and forgiven. But the reality is this. When you come to Christ, the answer is not now I am chosen. It's you came to Christ because you were foreknown.
You came to Christ by the sovereign electing love of a good God. And your salvation is totally and completely and wonderfully in the hands of God. God foreknew you and in time by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.
God knows you and keeps on knowing you and you keep on trusting him. That's just how it works. You say, well, I disagree with that. That's what the scriptures are teaching. But what I'm trying to capture here is that God knows a people.
God knows his church. God has only and always had one true people. That is, if we read the scriptures rightly, then we understand that the true sons and the true daughters of Abraham are only those who take refuge in him, not refuge in Moses, not refuge in the Mosaic Covenant, not refuge in the law.
It's refuge in him. Those who trust him, those who have faith in Christ. This is true. The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble. He knows those who take refuge in him. I'm so glad this is in the Old Testament because it reminds us that the way of salvation has always been the same.
The only people that God saves are those who take refuge in him. And it's always been that way. And it's always been true. The gospel has always been our only hope. This people included the Ninevites in Jonah's day.
Remember when they repented? It includes the Jews, those who repent and believe the gospel, believing Jews. It includes every tribe, tongue, language and nation today who calls upon the name of the Lord.
These are the ones that make up the people of God. This is who God knows salvificly. Only those who take refuge in Christ by faith. He knows those who take refuge in him. What about everyone else? They're the ones who refuse to take refuge in him.
And God says of them, with an overflowing flood, he will make a complete end of the adversaries and will pursue his enemies in the darkness. What do you plot against the Lord? He will make a complete end.
Trouble will not rise up a second time by the way. The word for trouble in verse nine is the same word for trouble in verse seven in the ESV. The final day of trouble will come. It will come once. It will not rise up a second time.
And those the Lord knows will be protected. And those he does not know will be condemned. There's only two ways to live. Do you hear me today? There's only two ways to live. You can either live in the refuge of the son of God and be known by God or you can live outside the refuge of the son of God and be unknown by God and perish and spend eternity in hell.
There's no other way. Now, I cannot think of this text about knowing God and God knowing you and not think about Matthew seven. Alex touched on it briefly in Sunday school, but let's turn there to Matthew seven for just a moment.
And let's consider I think it ties into this text. Let's consider what the Lord Jesus is saying here as he concludes the sermon on the mount. So on Matthew chapter seven, let's listen to the language here.
Matthew chapter seven, verse twenty one says this. Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my father who is who is in heaven on that day.
Note the words here. Many will say to me, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and cast out demons in your name and do many mighty works in your name? And then I will declare to them, I never knew you.
Depart from me, you workers of lawlessness. Now, let's just be real, this is one of the most sobering passages in all of the Bible. So I'm not trying to scare you. Look, here's the reality. Years ago, well, a long time ago, 1698.
So do the math. There was a young woman who had been caught in adultery. I think I told you this story. Hopefully I have. She was caught in adultery or actually she wasn't caught in adultery. Sorry. She she committed adultery.
But here's how she was caught. She had a baby out of wedlock. Her husband had been captured by Indians. And so like he was gone. So it was like obvious you've committed adultery. She had a baby out of wedlock or outside of marriage, I should say.
And here's what she did to the baby. She murdered the baby to try to cover up her transgression. She's committed an evil act. And so they they put her in front of the magistrate and she was condemned to die for murder.
OK, so murderers there deserve the death penalty. She was condemned to die for murdering her child. And a pastor came and preached the message, her execution message message. His name was John Williams.
He preached. And of course, he preached condemnation, condemnation for wickedness, condemnation to the town for, you know, wickedness and sin. But he also preached the hope of Christ. If you'll turn to Christ, you'll be saved.
And some accounts now there's different stories here. But some accounts say that what this woman did during the sermon, you think when she's on her deathbed, she she's about to die. She turned to Christ, didn't she?
No, some accounts say this while he was preaching. She slept. She didn't care. Her heart, her heart was hard. So I'm I'm telling you that to say I'm not trying to be a fear monger. I'm not trying to think that, man, if I could just really just really get you here, I can talk people into following Jesus.
But I am just trying to give you this sobering passage of Scripture that says there will be many people who say you believe the Bible. There'll be many people who profess to know the Lord, whom the Lord says to them, I never knew you.
And here's what they're going to try to argue with. Well, I did this. I taught Sunday school. My my dad was a preacher. My son was a preacher. My uncle was a preacher, whatever the case may be. I went on a mission trip.
Hey, I gave money. Hey, I helped clean up after Wednesday night meals. I served on a committee. I tried to be a good person. I tried to be a kind person. I was nice to people. And you know what Jesus says those works are?
It's from the text. Depart from me, verse 23, you workers of law less ness, lawlessness. And he says to them that he never knew them. He never knew them ever. They never took refuge in Christ. They did all this religious stuff.
Most people in the Bible Belt today, what they want to go to is not to church. They want to go to a religious rally. Some people that has involves heavenly highway hymn books, and they want to just sing and be waving hands and all the all the case that all the situation that that that involves, but they don't really want to church.
They just want a religious rally. They want to go. They want to maybe get pumped up. They want to feel a sense of community or whatever the case may be. They want to be encouraged. But then what they do, they wouldn't want to do.
They want to get back to their life. They don't want to live in Christ. They just want to go live for themselves. They never take refuge in Jesus. I never knew you. They weren't saved and then messed it up.
They were never saved. Jesus never knew them. They never sought Christ as their true refuge. They never placed their faith in what God has done in Christ. They thought that they could get away with with the sins of the culture.
They were okay with the drunken parties that were going on during the day. They were okay getting drunk with their friends. They were okay with sexual immorality. They were okay with with the lust of the of the heart or whatever the case may be.
And we go on and on and on and on. The point is, they didn't care. And they never placed their faith in what God had done in Christ. And their heart was never born again. And they never had a true love for what Christ loves his word, his glory, his local church, his kingdom.
They could have even been listening to preaching like is happening today and thinking in their minds, well, that's not me. That can't possibly be me because I because I because I because I and they failed to ever understand that in I and in me, there is no help.
There's nothing in me that brings me closer to God in and of myself. I have nothing. But here's the gospel. Christ is everything. And he's offered to you. Take, have him. And in him is salvation. In him is life.
In him is full and free forgiveness of sins. In him is hope. In him is our refuge. Does God know you? The saving faith keeps on seeking Christ. We seek Christ through the means that he has given us. So we seek him through his word.
We seek him through prayer. We seek him through preaching. We seek him through biblical fellowship with other believers. We keep on seeking Christ. Are you seeking Jesus today? Is he your treasure? Is he your light and wisdom?
Is he sanctifying you? Are you growing in him? Do you love him more? Do you love his people? Do you love his church? Do you love what he is doing in the world today? Does God know you? This is a sobering question that you must answer today.
And I hope that whatever it is going through your mind right now, that you'll just take a pause and just ask yourself this question and answer it. Does God know you? Now, listen, for some of you, maybe children, maybe adults, maybe you've played pretend, maybe teenagers.
If the answer is no. So you say, does God know you? And you answer that no. You must at this moment turn your heart to God. You must at this moment confess your need of him. You must at this moment understand your lack of righteousness and your need for the righteousness that he offers in his son by grace alone, through faith alone in Christ.
You must repent of your lawlessness. You must receive all that God is for you in Christ by faith. You must trust Christ alone, not Jesus and Christ alone for your salvation. And then and then as a result of that, you seek to follow him in believers baptism and you unite with the local church because that's what saved people do.
People who have Christ as their refuge. That's what they want to do. They want to follow God. The Lord is good. A stronghold in the day of trouble. He knows those who take refuge in him. OK, I'll close like this.
What if you ask that question and the answer is yes. I've kind of hit the other side a lot, but let me just land the plane with this. Does God know you? You answer no. The response needs to be repent and believe the gospel.
Does God know you? And you answer yes. You're in Christ. Yes. OK. Then let me encourage you with something. God has an unimaginable love for you. Whatever it is that you're going through today, wherever your kids are, your family is, whatever is going on at work, whatever it is that you're dealing with, whatever it is, it's weighing on your mind.
Know this. God knows those who are his and God knows you and there's nothing greater. God loves you. God knows your circumstances. God knows your troubles. God knows it all. But here's the most important thing.
God knows you. He knows you. He knows those who take refuge in him. You're taking refuge in Christ. Therefore, the triune God of the universe knows you. You don't got to complain. You don't got to grumble.
You don't got to be frustrated. Why? Because God knows you. Is there anything greater in this world today than to rest your head on a pillow at night and you go to sleep, fall asleep with this thought.
God knows me. God loves me. God is for me in Christ. Things don't go my way. I get the flat tire. I get sick. I don't get the job that I thought I had. My child messed up. He didn't score the touchdown or whatever the case may be.
But I go to sleep with this. God knows me. Isn't that encouraging to you, believer? God loves you. He loves you. And he has called you to be part of something bigger than you can even fully comprehend.
He's called you into his church and he's working everything in your life ultimately for your good and his glory. Hey, if God is for us, who can be against us? I can't answer every detail you're dealing with.
I can't explain every circumstance that you're facing. But I can say this. There is not a more glorious reality today in this life than that the God of the universe knows you, cares for you, watches over you, protects you, loves you.
He cannot forget you. Your name is graven on his hands. It's written on his heart. He is for your growth in him. He is for your sanctification. He is for your holiness. He is for your family worship. He is for your time in his word.
He is for even this church. He is for Providence Baptist Church. He knows those who take refuge in him. What glory! Can't you trust a God like that? Can't we keep on seeking a God like that? Can't we love one another with a love that goes deeper than just family ties?
Since the God of the universe loves us, ought we not give this God our all? Since God knows us, ought we not seek to know him all the more and to declare his glory among the nations? Does God know you?
Let's pray. Father, I pray that we would understand this text, and I pray that this would be a supernatural sermon, that all sermons would be that. That it's not just a speech, it's not just somebody up here talking for the sake of filling time, but that the Spirit of God, Holy Spirit, we pray that you would be present in this.
That some will have considered the words that they heard today, and the Holy Spirit, that you would prick their hearts, convict them of sin, convict them of their absolute incapacity to come to Christ in and of themselves, but that they would see that Christ is available to them and that he will save them if they'll trust him.
And I pray even now as I pray, Holy Spirit, that your working faith in the hearts of some and that they would repent and believe the gospel. I pray for believers, those who took refuge in Christ a short time ago or a long time ago, that you would encourage them, encourage them mightily with the love of God.
That they would just not get over this great fact that God loves them, that they would live for his glory, that you bless our church, that you help us to grow spiritually and numerically. May we be the church that you've called us to be, and may we declare the glory of Christ in this city, and may you save many.