The Goal of Knowing God - J. Dwight Pentecost

you're listening to dallas theological seminaries chapel podcast when you've been around here as long as I have you don't need an introduction maybe when you receive it some people fulfill God's purpose for their lives and their generation not too many get to fulfill God's purpose for their lives in multiple generations dr. P has taught here for 53 years would you join and welcome our dear colleague dr. Blake Pentecost why are you here what goals do you have some of you who committed yourselves to a two-year degree program that you hope to conclude in three others are committing yourselves to a four-year program did you hope you can get done in six but what goals do you have for being here to get a degree if that's your goal you'll accomplish that goal and that piece of paper will be worthless we say I'm here to study the Bible I want to know the Scriptures in order to do that I'll give myself to the original languages sweat over them but it will contribute to my goal but I want to put before you this morning a higher goal than just getting a degree or learning the Bible I want yourself I want you to set yourselves to know God tune infinite god there are crews and infinite weight of glory and that glory could not be self-contained and God delights to share his glory in order that those who receive a revelation of himself will enjoy him he wants to be enjoyed and as you go through Scripture you find that God involved himself in a process of making himself known before the foundation are a formation of that chaotic empty dark useless Speyer sphere in space God made himself known to the angelic realm he permitted them to witness his work as is recorded in the first two chapters of Genesis and when the angel saw it as job 38:7 says the morning stars rejoiced and the sons of God shouted in joy angels received a revelation of the person and in response as Isaiah so graphically portrayed it they gathered around the throne well the one who had revealed himself and his majestic glory and shouted holy holy holy is the Lord God Almighty God came to walk with Adam and Eve in the garden did you ever wonder what they talked about I think Adam was speechless because God was revealing himself in his splendid glory to Adam God wanted to make himself known and wanted to be enjoyed God appeared to Abraham personally revealed his glory as we're told in acts 7 - and in response to that revelation of himself Abraham left his country his family all that he possessed to follow God into a land that then he did not know where he was going but Abraham enjoyed a personal intimate fellowship with God God took Moses up on the Mount for forty days Moses was enveloped in the Shekinah glory that emanated from the father so much so that when he descended from that Mount he was transfigured and irradiated the glory of God from his countenance but then he had a petition which he offered to God show me thy way that I may know thee he had a hunger to know more we move on through scripture and God appeared to reveal himself the prophet after prophet Jeremiah records the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah special direct revelation of the message that Jeremiah was to convey to his people Ezekiel the word of the Lord came to Ezekiel in personal fweh and Ezekiel was able by that revelation coming directly and through visions and dreams to understand the purpose and program of God and share it with God's covenant people Daniel was challenged to interpret the dream the pagan king and Daniel went to God God revealed the dream and its interpretation direct revelation Zechariah received eight night visions in which God was unfolding his program for Israel from the prophets day until the establishment of Maasai's kingdom that was yet future but that self-disclosure did not cease in the old testament but as john 1:14 tells us God the Father sent God the son who was clothed in human flesh in order that the father through the son by the spirit might make himself known so that those who are in darkness might come to light God hungered to be known desired to be enjoyed and responded when those who receive that self-disclosure responded in worship and praise and in adoration when our first daughter was born we were under the strict regimen of a pediatrician who told us that our daughter had to be kept on the strictest of schedules 6:10 to 6:10 never very from it for our good and for the good of the child to let my wife get some rest I son I assumed the six ten to six regimen night after night our second boarder daughter was born eight years later and we had moved to the Dallas area and had a new pediatrician and one of the first things she told us about feeding our new daughter was that we were to abandon that rigid schedule and substitute what she called demand feeding it was her philosophy that when our daughter was hungry she would make it known and when she made it known it was the proper time to feed her my how different life was when we abandoned that schedule and put our daughter on demand feeding now I don't hear much about that in the apartment house where I'm privileged to dwell and I imagine that too many of you are on that rigid schedule but let me say to you that demand feeding is God's method of satisfying the appetite of his children God will not force food down our throats when there's a hunger you'll see that we're satisfying my those two a.m. feedings our daughter wanted to sleep she had no interest in the bottle that I had heeded and had put in her mouth and I tried every trick imaginable to get her to take that bottle I did it because I was told that was the thing to do how much easier to man feeding but that's God's method this is so clearly illustrated in the experience of Moses in Exodus 33 verse 11 says God talked with Moses face to face can you imagine it face to face direct communication intimacy closeness as God was reaching out to make himself known to Moses you think after those forty days he would say I've had enough I've had all that I can contain but in verse 13 he added a petition show me thy way that I may know thee and then he went on to add show me thy glory what more could be given to Moses than he'd had in those 40 days of personal intimate fellowship with God the Father but there was an appetite a hunger to know even more received that by your quest you cannot exhaust all that God has to reveal about himself to you but it'll be in response to an appetite no force feeding I think you're the psalmist he spent so much of his time alone with sheep sheep don't talk to you don't tell you anything but there was David surrounded by God's revelation of himself through nature and in contemplating and on the creator David had vastly expanded his concept of Jehovah yet as he writes in psalm 42 as the heart or the deer pants after the water Brooks so panteth my soul after thee o God all that he saw God's revelation through nature generated a deepening appetite to know more and he likens his hunger to that of a deer that had been pursued by a predator to the point of utter exhaustion when every fiber of his being desires too deep to drink deeply of a running brook and he said that's my appetite he said I'd rather be a doorkeeper in the house of god than to dwell in the tents of wickedness the tents of wickedness would provide luxury and plenty satisfy every physical appetite but he pictures himself as one who has taken up residence at the door from which the master will emerge so that in passing he might not only get a glimpse of the master but that he might receive benefit and that beggar that sat at the rich man's gate could be considered a doorkeeper he hoped that he will receive something from the owner of the house I'd rather be a doorkeeper and dwell the tents of wickedness the Apostle Paul had had such a glorious fruitful ministry he was obedient to God's call to leave the familiar and go to the unfamiliar to minister among the Gentiles at the end of his ministry Paul could say as he said to the Colossians the whole world has heard the gospel fully satisfied in the ministry that God had given to him but as he writes in Philippians 10 he said it's not successes in ministry not fruits of ministry to satisfy my deep hunger because the passion of my heart is that I might know him an appetite an appetite when Jesus chose 12 his mark 3 tells us he chose them that they might be with him and being with him 2 presidents over being sent out to minister for him it was necessary that they come to know personally intimately deeply the one who will send them out to proclaim the message that he had come to proclaim but they must spend time with him and I see this epitomized in what would seem to be an almost insignificant incident in the record of Jesus life Matthew doesn't record it mark doesn't record it John doesn't record it seems as though is rather insignificant but in Luke chapter 10 verses 38 to 42 - which I'm particularly addressing your attention now we find as Jesus and the disciples went they entered into a certain village and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house she granted Jesus and those are with him hospitality that would mean food to eat without doubt a place to sleep provide fellowship together now there are the Old Testament the show hospitality was an evidence of righteousness that's why Jesus when he sent the disciples out to minister said to them when you go to a village you inquire who in this village is righteous and then you go to his house and ask him for hospitality and if he invites you into his home go even though you're a stranger to him because hospitality was a demonstration of agape love response to the need of another Martha seems to be the head of this household and I have to conclude that it was a very large household because she could accommodate Jesus and His disciples for a meal and perhaps overnight accommodations it would have been a wealthy home it must have been an influential home because when the brother died multitudes made the trip from Jerusalem out to the suburbs to bring consolation to Martha and Mary now I can't imagine that a large wealthy influential household like that didn't have a multitude servants but Mary and Martha were in the kitchen preparing what must have been a lavish meal because the preparation had gone on for such a long time Martha realizes that Mary is not there helping and I view her going throughout that house from room to room looking for Mary where does he find her at the feet of Jesus what was Jesus doing sharing himself with her teaching her instructing her why because she had an appetite to know him Martha shows that she still possessed an old nature because she came to Jesus and seems to me she's rather peevish you said Lord does not care that my sister has left me to serve alone now that implies she had been helping but she interrupted what help she had been giving in order to take her place as a student at the foot of the rabbi bid her that she held me jesus replied Martha Martha thou art heir philantropy the Martha was doing all that she could to show her love and her devotion to Jesus by recognizing that he had appetites that needed to be satisfied they've come from a journey at the end of a journey you're hungry Martha wanted to demonstrate her love to Jesus and so she occupied herself on his behalf then Jesus concludes though you're careful and trouble about many things one thing is needful and Mary hath chosen that good part which shall not be taken away from her now what Jesus is saying is this as important as Martha's ministry was to serve Jesus and meet the physical needs of Jesus that paled into insignificance in Mary satisfying the appetite of our heart to enter into personal intimate deep fellowship with Jesus it was more important to be occupied with Jesus than it was to be occupied for Jesus may I repeat that it's more important to be occupied with Jesus than to be occupied for Jesus the disciples could not have a successful ministry when they were sent out to serve unless their appetite to know the one whom they are serving had been satisfied by their intimate relationship with him now I'm afraid this possible for you to enroll in the course in systematic theology was you study all about God his attributes his power his authority you can take the course and know all about God and not know him it's possible for you to get an A+ and Christology distinguish yourself in your papers of your exams and know all about Jesus but not know him personally intimately it's possible for you to complete the course in pneumatology and know all the doctrines of the person and the work of the Holy Spirit all seven of them and not know the spirit and my deep desire for you I know is shared by those who share this platform with me is that your time here will be dedicated to coming to know the father the son the spirit that only happened if you have an appetite such as Moses had David had or Paul had let me ask you a question let me see your hands how many of you are single oh look at that I'm going to ask you a second question but I'm not going to ask for a show of hands how many of you hope to leave seminary with a loving wife at your side I know the answer to that usually that was difficult because we had a student body made up of males but I can tell you there was a well beaten path from this campus to the nursing school at Baylor and many who came to Dallas to get a nursing degree ended up not the bedside of the sick but as a pastor's wife now that's changed and grass has grown in that path why travel a few blocks when there's such good pickings right here but how's it going to happen you got to class a few minutes early fellas and you saw a young lady came in and she didn't realize it but she gave just a hint of a smile and wonder who she is and then you found out it as a single she had her meals at Mitchell Dining Center and you went in and as you looked over that crowned oh here were number tables occupied by fellas where they had an empty chair but you happened to see an empty chair where she was sitting and you asked can I share your table today and you enjoyed it and wasn't too long before he would say could I meet you at the cafeteria for lunch and a process begins do you say well it's so noisy here it's hard to talk over the crowd and and and I'd like to be able to talk talking with you personally privately could I take out to dinner and she was willing and things began to develop and first thing you know you're choosing a special card for a special occasion then you're calling a florist and presenting hair with a beautiful bouquet but it was slow now the first time she smiled you didn't make arrangements to meet her at an older but now the time has come when you're going to beat her to the altar by sea selecting a jewel from the jeweller and offer it to her long period of time slow process it took persistence and patient endurance and I'm so bold as to suggest the cultivating intimacy with a father is not so different from cultivating intimacy with a person there has to be an appetite it has to be pursued that does not suggest that God is hiding himself all the revelation of Scripture shows that is eagerly mating making himself known in order that you might know him enjoy satisfy him by your response to all as you know may I challenge you said it as your goal as long as you're here not just a no theology but to know God not just the know Jesus but to know impersonally intimate not just to know about the spirit but to experience intimate deep personal fellowship with him a good question to ask at the end of the semester would be do you know any more of the Father the Son and the spirit today than you knew the first day of class and when you walk across that platform and receive that piece of paper from the president be good to ask yourself the question how much more do I know of him personally than I did when I began you see you need daily exercise let your daily exercise be the walk with God father create in each one of us an ever deepening desire to know you deeper more intimately personally teach us that persistence and patient endurance that will unite us to yourself in an intimacy that satisfies your desire to be known to be loved to be enjoyed I pray in Jesus name Amen you

Channel: Dallas Theological Seminary

Views: 38,226

Keywords: purpose, priority, commitment, doctrine, theology, Dallas Theological Seminary, Dr. Dwight Pentecost

Id: U22CCYxj1aE

Length: 40min 29sec (2429 seconds)

Published: Fri May 11 2012