Against the Knowledge of God II Cor. 10: 3-6 CLICK TITLE FOR AUDIO
There are imaginations that exalt themselves against the knowledge of God and then you can’t see him or his hand in what you are doing. You have to know God in your life and in every circumstance of your life. God is in control and he is always there. But often you don’t know that because your own imaginations exalt themselves against the knowledge of God. Your imagination is against the knowledge of God when you are:
Uncertain – Prov 3:5-6 – in all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy paths. When you hit a crossroad and you need the Lord’s direction you need the knowledge of God. He is right there to give you direction [Rom 8:14] but you cannot sense his direction when you cannot acknowledge him. Forget stressing over the decision and find the knowledge of God. When you do you will readily be able to discern his direction.
Suffering – Phil 3:10 – Paul said, “… that I may know him… and the fellowship of his sufferings.” It is in times of your suffering that you really get to know God. But often our imagination about our suffering dominates our knowledge of God. Rom 8:28 is never more doubtful to you than in times when you are suffering. Magnify the knowledge of God and diminish the thoughts of your suffering and you will learn something about God that you never knew before and couldn’t have known without the suffering.
Alone – Gen 28:16 – Jacob said, “Surely the Lord was in this place and I knew it not.” Sometimes you get to the place where you feel so alone [Jacob had to leave his family] that you forget God is right there with you. In Ps 139 David shows us that there is no place you will ever be that God isn’t there. God allows us to be alone sometimes so that we can get to know him in a way that we would never have known him if we were continually surrounded by friends and family in fellowship. In Heb 13:5 the Lord said, “I will never leave thee nor forsake thee.”
Afraid – Mk 4:38-41 – You can get in a panic over things that scare you and forget who the Lord is. And it doesn’t take a stormy sea to cause you to panic. Some of us are more naturally “spooked” than others. We deal with high anxiety all the time. And this panic, dread, and fear can overwhelm our knowledge of God. Once you can pray through the fear you will see God right there with you in a way that your imagination had overshadowed while you were scared.
Entangled – 2 Tim 2:4, 2 Pet 2:20 – this is a two-fold application. You can become so entangled with the affairs of this life that you forget about God altogether. Your mind goes round and round with the stuff you have to do. You can also become so entangled with sin that you get pulled away from the knowledge of the Lord. The sin exalts itself against the knowledge of God and you are helpless to get out of it.
Successful – Deut 8:11-14 – the Lord warned Israel about prosperity. He said lest “thine heart be lifted up, and thou forget the Lord thy God.” Success plagued the kings and it has plagued the USA. Solomon really fell into idolatry when he multiplied gold, wives and horses to himself. David warned that “The wicked shall be turned into hell and all the nations that forget God.” Our imagination about the prosperity and success of the USA has exalted itself against the knowledge of God. It’s hard for wealthy, successful people to know God.
Deceived – Jer 9:6 – the Lord said to Jeremiah, “…through deceit they refuse to know me.” You are hearing about the Lord right now but what you are hearing is not revealing the true God to you if you are deceived. Your religious instruction is exalting itself against the knowledge of God. The Pharisees prided themselves on their knowledge of God and his words. Yet, when Jesus Christ showed up it was obvious that they had been deceived because they didn’t even know him!!
Unsaved – Ex 5:2 – Pharaoh didn’t know the Lord. Yet he could have known him. God gave him 10 plagues to know him and he refused because his heart was hard. Is your heart that hard? When you are unsaved, you don’t know the Lord. Your own righteousness and sin exalt themselves against the knowledge of God. Christ died for you and shed his blood that you might be saved. You can know him as you Savior today if you will turn from your sin and receive him by faith.
Conclusion: if one of these things is exalting itself against the knowledge of God, turn from it. If a decision, or a fear, or your schedule, or something you are suffering has exalted itself and you cannot see God in it, magnify him and get to know him in your trouble. If you are not saved, you can know him today it you will call upon him to save you.