TO KNOW HIM

Posted on Aug 27, 2024 by Shane W. Roessiger | Comments (0)

“That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death.” Philippians 3:10

Everybody thinks they know Him, but on the day of judgment, He will say, "Depart from Me because I never knew you, workers of iniquity" (Matthew 7:23). They will be shocked because they thought they knew Him but there was no fellowship between them and Jesus. It is impossible to know Him if He does not know you; unless you think it is Him you know, when all you really know is from your own understanding of who He is. When we are one, we bear the image of the One we know! In the religious system, they have fellowship with the letter, not knowing the Word became alive! Some people know the letter but stumble at that Word, at that rock that the builders rejected (Matthew 21:42). Now we are joined to the rock, the chief cornerstone to which is the start of the building (the church), which is the new and living way (Hebrews 10:20). Those that speak from within their bellies, from rivers of living water, are now the stones of offense. Those stones are being rejected not only by the world but by those who know Him only by their minds and not by the Spirit. These are cessationalists and antichrist believers who have a form of God but deny His power (2 Timothy 3:5). These are those who follow just the written Word and think they know Him. They keep walking blind because there is no light, no lamp, no water, clouds without water (2 Peter 2:17). There is a rock on their path, the rock of offense, the Truth, and they stumble on it and fall because they are religious and have not the Spirit of Revelation.

Jesus is the rock of offense, and all the lively stones are being placed on that Rock that His church is being built upon! The same rock that the builder rejected is the chief cornerstone. Paul got the revelation of knowing Him, and he starts explaining it in Philippians 3:1-19. If there is anybody who knows about being zealous without revelation, it’s Paul. Paul, still Saul at the time, he heard Jesus asking, "Why are you persecuting Me?" Not those who believed in Him, but He said, ME (Acts 9:4).

Babylon is rising; so is the kingdom of God. Revelation 17 tells us to come out of her and touch not the unclean thing. It is time to come out of religion and stop ignoring the chief cornerstone. We are now those stones that many will reject - the world and the religious reprobates. We must know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His suffering and being conformable unto His death (verse 10 of Philippians 3). I don't want to know about Him. I want to know Him. It is not good enough to know about Him; we must know Him! We know that when we know Him, He will know us. He knows everybody, but I am not talking about that kind of knowing. I am talking about THE KNOWING, a deep, personal, communion knowing! This is what He meant when He said to some in the Word, “I never knew you!” In the Old Testament, when someone knew someone, there was a covenant involved. It was an intimacy that led to offspring and multiplication. But now, Jesus is speaking of Him and the Church, the Lamb’s wife. Not only to know Him but Him and Him crucified! We receive Jesus not for fire rescue! He is not a security option, but we must receive Him as an eternal plan for a deep knowing. We receive Him to know Him, to love Him, and to become Him. When we start talking about becoming like Him, religious folks start shaking. Knowing Him is to honor Him, to follow Him, to serve Him, to be loyal to Him, to be faithful to Him, and also to reproduce Him.

Let's read Hebrews 10:19-25. We enter into the holiest not by natural, cultural, or religious ways, nor by our flesh, by striving, or by the letter, but by a new and living way (verse 20). We were all made high priests of our own house (our lives), priests not ordained by the will of man but of God. If God had not set us apart, man could not set us apart. If there are no fruits, you will know that there is a lie. The letter kills, but the spirit brings life and brings resurrection (2 Corinthians 3:6).

“Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.” Hebrews 10:22

What is the pure water? The water of the Word. It is the rivers of living water. We must have our bodies washed, not by a dead river, not a dry river, but by the Words that proceed out of the mouth of God, today and forever! The same mouth, the same Word, the same unchangeable God. We need to hear the sound of many waters! Do you hear Him, the sound of many stones, many rivers? Because when you hear Him, you know Him. When you don't hear Him, you will hear strange voices! Strange voices produce strange fire. But His fire produces His image. When He sees you, He sees Himself in you! Our enemy is not just the devil; it’s our old man, our old nature, because the devil is defeated, but your flesh has to be crucified. How do we do that? By the fellowship of His suffering! We cannot be consumed by the lust of our own flesh (James 4:1-8). Flesh must die so our spirit can live.

Even the word “To know” in the Old Testament has a meaning to have personal intimacy with someone. It was not about knowing by name but having a personal, intimate relationship with someone, which means to bring together. Look at what was spoken in this passage: “And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the Lord” (Genesis 4:1). This is what God is looking for! Deep relationship that will produce reproduction of Himself. Many sons and daughters. With an old mind, you will never be able to understand the mysteries of the Bride of Christ and to reflect on the communion of the blood and Body!

In verse 4, Paul was talking about knowing more about the world than God Himself. This deep relationship, this blood covenant, gives access to be with God forever. “The veil was torn and now you must know ME for me TO KNOW YOU,” says God. No way to say, “Oh… God knows my heart,” if we then continue down a path that leads to destruction. This knowing means deep calling deep (Psalm 42:7). For Jesus to know you, you need to know Him. Not just know about Him.

Paul said, I forget my old self and I press towards my high calling! Cleanse your hands and your hearts. He is talking to us (verse 7).

Submit yourself to the cross, to the power, to the anointing, to the Spirit of God, then you will be able to resist the devil. God says, "Resist the devil." The system tells us, "Try to resist our flesh." God never said that. God says resist the devil (James 4:7)! He never said, “Resist the flesh.” He is really saying, destroy it, annihilate it, crucify it. He is saying mortify it, deny it! The religious folk always keep the flesh on the throne and separate us from the power of God. The truth is the devil will be around until he is taken out of the way, but your flesh can be killed, denied, and mortified today. The devil cannot have power over that which is crucified!

Galatians 5:15-26 shows us how to kill our flesh daily and remove it from the place of dominion. Verse 24 says THEY that are CHRIST'S HAVE CRUCIFIED the flesh. They are not trying to do it; they have done it! Meaning, forget about your flesh, bury it! Kill it! Paul left all things behind and considered himself as a brand-new man. He was dead to all that he knew. It is saying, in John 12:24-26, to fulfill your destiny means to know Him. Our legacy is to be ordained to bear fruit and have a spiritual heritage! And these fruits must remain. This is the fruit of the spiritual womb, and they are the fruit of the spirit.

A church, a body, or any denomination that doesn’t preach the cross does not have the power. Without the power, we don't have the Word; without the Word, we don't have the power. "I did not come with enticing words...." (2 Corinthians 2:3-5). There is no way to be the Church by denying the power. Run from any so-called church without power because you may find strange fire infiltrating their places. You may even find strange power. It may even be false deliverance, meaning demons manifest to show power, but if it is only a show, then demons go back to hiding. But the God of peace shall rule and reign. I am not saying every demon that manifests is supposed to come out, but what I am saying is that the fruit of the ministry of Jesus will be alongside the power with the preaching of the cross. When the cross is part of the message and is preached with the power, we know it is from God. The cross means nothing to those that are perishing, but to us who believe it is the power of God (1 Corinthians 1:18).

We have seen that the cross represents persecution, weakness, denial, shame, affliction, and death of the old man! But after the cross is Glory! This is the good news! The minute Jesus took His cross, He received all of the glory! The same glory He received He wants to give to anybody that picks up their cross! To know Him is to know the cross, is to know the power and the resurrection. It is impossible to know Him and not know the sufferings, the power, and the glory because they walk together! It is impossible to know the pop without knowing the corn. You must know the corn first so you can experience the pop of the corn! Taste and see that the Lord is good. We have two cups to drink: one of the blessing and one of the suffering. If the world hated Him, they will hate you, too (John 15:18). Satan will make you feel like you are doing something wrong. Because the spirit of this age turns your truth into their lie, and their lies become their truth. By doing so, they are changing God into the image of their own making.

Here is the answer: Romans 12:1-4: “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.”

Jesus became our sacrifice and demonstrated it on the cross. Now when we pick up our cross, we experience the demonstration of the power, and we can be transformed by the power of the cross! We need to prove that we know Him by dying! Because dying is love! Dying is serving even people we don't like. Dying is denying self. It’s the cross! Dying to self is living proof that we know Him and that we are His disciples. He even said, in Matthew 16:24-26, “If any man wants to come after Me, He must deny himself and pick up his cross.” Without the cross, He said, you cannot be His disciples. Dying is serving even people we don’t like! It is always being there for people even if it messes up our plans! It’s reaching out to people!

It is communicating and checking on them! Dying is love: it does not hide, it does not ignore, it does not make excuses. It is not rude. Dying does not complain. It tells the Truth. It is not self-seeking. It’s not easily provoked! It is laying down our lives for our friends or for people around us. It hopes. It prays. Dying does not get offended. It is not jealous. Look at the life of Jesus, and you will see a dead man picking up His cross even before He had been hung on it. If you look at Him, you will see your purpose. All our purposes are to be transformed into His image, and likeness, and character! This is the glory of God. This is how He gets His glory.

Ordained to bear fruit (John 15:16-17). We all minister now! We are not just standing up here and going to church. We are all ministers. God has ordained me and you. It was not a suggestion. It is a command from God TO KNOW HIM. To be changed is a command. It is not something from the Old Testament. Seeing Him is to know Him. They want us to be powerless, just as the Sadducees. All the real Christians must KNOW HIM for real, not just know about Him. That’s our purpose. We all have the same purpose as real Christians! We are crucified with Christ. It is no longer us that live but Him (Galatians 2:20). Is this becoming a reality to you, or is it just something you read about? If it is just something you are reading in a book, then you are not a doer of the Word. Then you will not be known. You will never know Him.

When the stones were rolled away, we know His words are true and power! Now, He is raising us up with the same power and glory, not to die in the flesh (in the natural), but to mortify its deeds, to get done with it, to kill the old man, and to experience this new and living way! If you deny His Truth, you deny Him. If you deny His power, you deny Him! Only if you know Him, you have Him. There is no substitute for the incarnation and the new creation because old things are passing away, or you do not know Him.

Many people say they know Him, but they don't have power. It is impossible. Because He is power, if we know Him, we must have power because we have Him. His Words have one purpose: to change us.

All things work together but only for those WHO KNOW HIM (Romans 8:28-31). To love Him, you have to know Him. It is not about your pastor, your denomination, or your family purpose, but there is a divine purpose, HIS PURPOSE! We are predestined to be conformed to His image, but we must know Him, and He must know us. If God is for us, that means HE KNOWS us. It is impossible for Him to be for us if He does not know us. Only when we fight the cross, when we don’t pick it up, is when we start to lose our purpose! Our purpose is predestined to be transformed, and God uses anything else in this world as fire so we can be changed into His image. Your religion will not cut it in the last days. Whatever is written will be manifested in those who know Him and the power. His power sets us free. His power makes us look like the Word of God. It makes us the image of the invisible God. Our purpose is to know Him and this transformative power. When all we are doing in life is all the things God is telling us to do, then we need to do it all for the Glory of God! That’s what produces the Joy of the Lord that comes from the anointing! Oil of Gladness is in the cross! Just as Mary anointed Jesus for His burial, so is the Holy Spirit doing it to us but now as a living sacrifice. That is what the cross means: The Power to be changed, the power to know Him. Let's pick up our cross every day and be transformed as we have been predestined to look like Him, the one who created us.

“Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ.” Philippians 3:8

One thing we need to pursue is to know Him and Him crucified! Choose today to lose everything so you can reach the excellency of the knowledge of Him, for the knowing of Him, not by name, not through religions, but through a deep intimacy with Him! Count it all dung until you win this eternal knowledge of who He really is, so you can know who you really are. So, you can know Him and be known by Him!

TO KNOW HIM

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