Alone with the Almighty, Part 1

This past spring, on the way back from Israel, I was able to write two messages on the plane. There's a lot of time between Israel and LAX, and so I was able to sit down and begin to put on paper some of the things that not only did I learn in the Holy Land and then be able to give that to you the following week after we arrived back here in the States. It pressed upon me that there is nothing greater in all the world than knowing God and being in a relationship with Him where you are growing more in your intimacy with Him.

But to begin our time, I want you to open with me to Daniel chapter 6. Daniel chapter 6. I want to begin here because this is a very familiar story, a story that we have read about, a story that we have seen videos on, a story that we have heard about in Sunday school as children growing up, a very familiar story, Daniel and the Lion's Den. All of us know about Daniel and how he was one of the three commissioners over 120 satraps under King Darius, and he was to be a ruler there in that land. And there were some people who were upset with him and they didn't like exactly what he was doing.

They sought to look for ways to bring him down. He had distinguished himself as a man with an extraordinary spirit, the Bible says, a man who was faithful to his God and those who ruled with him did not like that about him.

And yet as they searched his life they were unable to find anything about him or anything in him that could bring him down. So they decided to attack the fact that he had a relationship with God. And so they got King Darius to make an agreement that for 30 days no one was to bow down or to pray to any other God but King Darius. And if they did they would be executed. We pick up the narrative in Daniel 6 verse number 10 that says this, now when Daniel knew that the document was signed he entered his house.

Now in his roof chamber he had windows open toward Jerusalem and he continued kneeling on his knees three times a day praying and giving thanks before his God as he had been doing previously. Daniel had heard about the agreement, known of the document, and yet he continued doing what he always did, spending time alone with his God, kneeling, praying to him, seeking the face of the Almighty God of the universe. Even though he knew that he would lose his life if he did so. And so the men who were against him went back, told King Darius what Daniel had done.

Darius had had a good relationship with Daniel but realized that what had taken place because of his signing of the document he had to throw Daniel in the lion's den. So sure enough he did. And he told Daniel, I trust that your God is able to deliver you. And sure enough, we know the story, his God delivered him. In fact the text says, in verse number 21, Then Daniel spoke to the king, O king, live forever. My God sent his angel and shut the lion's mouths and they have not harmed me inasmuch as I was found innocent before him and also toward you, O king, I have committed no crime.

Then the king was very pleased and gave orders for Daniel to be taken up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den and no injury whatever was found on him because he had trusted in his God. We read the story about Daniel. We marvel at the man's courage. We marvel at the man's boldness. We marvel at this individual and what he was able to accomplish. One man used mightily of God and yet the question comes, how was it that Daniel was able to do what he did? Why is it that God used Daniel the way that he did?

The answer is found in the 11th chapter of Daniel, which will become the key verse over our time together over the next several weeks. Daniel chapter 11, verse number 32, this latter half of the words. But the people who know their God will display strength and take action. What a promise. The reason Daniel was a man of supreme character, the reason Daniel was a man used with supreme courage, the reason Daniel was used of God in a unique way is because he knew his God. If you know your God, God says that you will acquire something and you will accomplish something.

You will acquire supernatural strength and you will accomplish supernatural service because you know me. Everything that happened in Daniel's life happened because he had a relationship with the living God that was an ongoing relationship that built strength within the man and allowed him to accomplish great feats for God because of that relationship he had with his maker. I ask you this question today. Do you display strength? Do you rise up and take action even though things around you might not even look good as Daniel did?

I come back and ask you this question. Do you really know God? Turn with me to the New Testament, Acts chapter 4.

In Acts chapter 4 there had, or in Acts chapter 3 there had been a healing of a lame man, a man who had been lame from birth. He was over 40 years of age and Peter healed this man and the leaders of Jerusalem were not pleased with what Peter had done. And so it says in verse number 5 of Acts 4 and it came about on the next day that their rulers and elders and scribes were gathered together in Jerusalem and Annas the high priest was there and Caiaphas and John and Alexander and all who were of high priestly descent.

And it says this, And when they had placed them in the center they began to inquire, By what power or in what name have you done this? Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, Rulers and elders of the people, If we are on trial today for a benefit done to a sick man, as to how this man had been made well, let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel, and by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazarene, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by this name this man stands here before you in good health.

He is the stone which was rejected by you, the builders, but which became the very cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name of the heaven that has been given among men, by which we must be saved. Verse number 13, Now as they observed the confidence of Peter and John and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were marveling and began to recognize them as having been with Jesus. As they sat and listened to Peter and the apostles, realizing that these were uneducated and untrained men.

These are men who displayed strength, unparalleled to what they had seen before. These were men who were able to rise up and take action and stand against the rulers of the day. And they had marveled that these men had been with Jesus. These men were the ones who were with their Messiah. These ones were men who were doing the same kinds of things that their Messiah had done. If you read on through the text, they threatened Peter and the apostles, telling them that they are not to speak any more of what they had been speaking.

And Peter would say in verse number 19, Whether it is right in the sight of God to give heed to you rather than to God, you be the judge. For we cannot stop speaking what we have seen and heard. And when they had threatened them further, they let them go, finding no basis on which they might punish them on account of the people, because they were all glorifying God for what had happened. For the man was more than forty years old on whom this miracle of healing had been performed. Now if you go over to chapter 5, after these men had been imprisoned and were supernaturally released from prison, it says in verse number 27, We gave you strict orders not to continue teaching in the name of the Lord.

And behold, you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and intend to bring this man's blood upon us. But Peter and the apostles answered and said, We must obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom you had put to death by hanging him on a cross. He is the one whom God exalted to his right hand as a prince and a savior to grant repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And we are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.

You read down, they decide that they're going to beat them. And so it says in verse number 40, They flogged them and ordered them to speak no more in the name of Jesus, and then released them. So they went on their way from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for his name. And every day in the temple and from house to house they kept right on teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ. So here again you have men able to display strength, to take action.

Why? Because they knew their God. They thought it was great that they were able to be counted among those who suffered for the sake of their Messiah. And so with bloodstained robes they would continue going into the marketplace, preaching and teaching Jesus Christ, even though their lives were threatened, even though they had been imprisoned, even though they had been beaten. Why? Because they knew their God. The Bible promises to those who know their God, they will acquire something, they will acquire strength, and they will accomplish something.

They will do services for me that are supernatural, that are beyond the normal, because they have a relationship with the living God. And so I ask you again, do you know God? Do you know Him? I want you to know God. I want you to know Him in such a way that your life displays significant strength. It's supernatural strength, because it's God who works in and through you. I want you to be able to take action, to stand firm for God, no matter what anybody else says, because you believe in God, trust God, obey God, as Daniel did, as Peter did, as the apostles did, as Paul did.

You can read on through the book of Acts and you can read about the apostle Paul, who even though he knew that bonds and afflictions awaited him in Jerusalem, Acts 20, he says, I am going there anyway, because I must fulfill the ministry that God has called me to accomplish. Men of supernatural strength, how did they get that way? Men who are able to stand strong for God, and are set up as heroes of faith, as pillars of faith in the scriptures, how did they get that way? They got that way because they knew their God.

Do you know Him? Turn back with me if you would to the book of Jeremiah for a moment. Jeremiah the ninth chapter. In Jeremiah chapter nine, listen to the words of the prophet. Verse number one, oh that my head were waters, and my eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain daughter of my people.

Jeremiah says my people are in big trouble. My people are hurting deeply. My people are goners. Once they were strong for God, but now they're weak. Now they're about to be destroyed. Read on. Oh that I had in the desert a wayfarer's lodging place, that I might leave my people and go from them. Jeremiah was saying in modern day vernacular, if I just had a home in Palm Springs, that I could just get away from my people for a while. Just go out there and rest a while, and get away from them because everything is bad concerning them.

He says this, for all of them are adulterers, an assembly of treacherous men, and they bend their tongue like their bow, lies and not truth prevail in the land, for they proceed from evil to evil. Jeremiah says I wish that there was truth in the land, but there is falsehood. I wish there was faithfulness in the land, but there is unfaithfulness. I wish they were true to their God, but instead they are living an adulterous relationship, or in an adulterous relationship. Why? Very simple, yet very profound.

It says in verse 3, they do not know me, declares the Lord. Why are they that way? They don't know me. Why are they weak and not strong? Because they don't know me. Why won't they stand strong against the enemy instead succumb to the enemy? Because they don't know me. That's why, that's why they're unfaithful. They don't know me. Over in Hosea, Hosea chapter 4, you know the story of Hosea and Gomer. Hosea was to be that individual who represented God to the nation of Israel. Gomer, his wife, who left him and engaged in all kinds of parlor trees, was a representation of Israel.

And God told Hosea, do not divorce your wife, instead you go after your wife. Because you are going to picture to my people the kind of God that I am. One that continually goes after his people, even though they turn their back against me. Listen to Hosea 4 verse number 1. Listen to the word of the Lord, O sons of Israel. For 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. There is swearing, deception, murder, stealing and adultery.

They employ violence so that bloodshed follows bloodshed. Therefore the land mourns and everyone who lives in it languishes. Why? Verse number 6. My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. They don't know me. They are being destroyed. If they knew me, they would live for me. If they knew me, I would use them. If they knew me, they would stand strong for me. If they knew me, they would stand strong for me. But they don't know me. Let me ask you a question.

Do you know God? Do you know? Not do you know that he exists. That's not knowing God. I mean I guess it's a part of knowing God. You got to believe that he is. So I'm not talking about the fact that you know that God exists. Everybody knows God exists. Romans 1 teaches that. There is no such thing as an atheist. God doesn't believe in atheists. So there is no such thing as an atheist. You missed that didn't you? You'll get it on the way out believe me. God doesn't believe in atheists. You guys are slower than I thought you were.

But anyway, the fact being is that there is no such thing as an atheist. Everybody believes in God. So we're not talking about that. We're not talking about getting a whole bunch of information about God. There's a lot of people who have got notebooks and written books and know a lot about God and they can recite verses and they can tell you different things about the history of Israel. They've got a lot of information stored up in their brains but that's not knowing God. Knowing God as the Bible depicts it is knowing God in such a way that his life rubs off on your life.

That's what it means to know God. You think as he thinks. You talk as he talks. You walk as he walks. There are a lot of people who say they know God yet they live very insecure lives. Yet God is a God of love. If you know God as a God of love you'll never be insecure. There are a lot of people who live a life of fear but yet if they know God who is the all powerful God of the universe they have nothing to fear for he is on their side. There are a lot of people who say they know God but yet they live foolish lives and our God is a God of wisdom.

And if God is a God of wisdom then he instructs us on how we should live our lives. Not as fools but as wise men. There are a lot of people who live their lives with no direction yet our God is a God who knows everything and if he knows everything then he will instruct me and teach me in the way that I should go. If I really believe that my God is awesome then he will alter my life. Do you know God? Do you know him intimately? Do you know him in such a way that he has rubbed off on you? And that he has rubbed off on you so much that you reflect his life through your conversation, through your life, through all that you do?

Thank you dear. That's my prayer for you and me. That we know God in such a way that we reflect his life. I can't think of a better series of messages to give than to help us know what it means to know God, to walk with him, to grow in our relationship with him. Seek to become acquainted with Jesus Christ for in him all the fullness dwells. Everything you need to know is in Jesus Christ. I ask you, do you know him? Do you spend time with him? Do you cultivate a relationship with him? That's what I want to see happen in your life.

That's why we're devoted this month to helping you understand what that means. Let me read to you what A.W.

Tozer said concerning your pursuit of God. He says, in my creature impatience I am often caused to wish that there were some way to bring modern Christians into a deeper spiritual life painlessly by short easy lessons. But such wishes are vain. No shortcut exists. God has not bowed to our nervous haste nor embraced the methods of our machine age. It is well that we accept the hard truth now.

The man who would know God must give time to him. He must count no time wasted which is spent in the cultivation of his acquaintance. Tozer said, if you want to know God, you'll spend time with him. He says, God has not bowed to our machine age. We want a God that's like our ATM machine. We'll put in a card, press a few buttons, get out what we want and be on our merry way. We'll go to church, sing a few songs, read a few verses, get what we want and be on our merry way. It's not the way God is. If you want to know him, you've got a purpose in your heart to spend time with him.

That takes work. That takes discipline. On your part, and on mine. We want to teach you what that means. We want to cover two main points with you over the next several weeks. One is the essence of my time with God. The essence of my time with God. What are the components? What are the elements that make up my time alone with the Almighty? There are seven of them. We're going to give them to you over the next several weeks. And then we're going to look at the consequence of my time with God.

Everybody wants to know what's in it for me. So after we look at the essence of my time with God, we're going to look at the consequence of my time with God.

And there are seven components to that one as well. Why is there seven? Because seven is the number of completion. The number of perfection. So we'll give you seven components that make up the essence of your time with God and seven components that describe for you the consequence of your time with God. And I promise, listen very carefully, I promise that if you adhere to the principles of God's Word, your life will change. Everything about your life will change and you will begin to know your God.

And that's my prayer for you and for me. I pray that in the next few weeks you will grow deep in your knowledge of God because we are covenanted to teach you what that means on a daily basis. Let's pray. Father, we pray you for the Word of God. We thank you, Lord, for the opportunity you've given to us to examine our lives in light of the Word of God. We realize, Lord, that in order to know you we must be saved by you. We are saved by you, not because of us, not because of anything that we have done, but through the washing of regeneration, through the renewing of the Spirit of God, we are born again.

And we thank you for that. In Jesus' name, amen.