I Know Your Works

Introduction

Greg’s been using my computer again. There we go. How’s that? I think we all understand the power of words. Words can affect who we are. Words can change your day. Words can change your life. And it doesn’t take many words. You can string together five words in a sentence. And it would cause a reaction in you, one of two reactions, just five simple words. And depending upon how you view those five simple words strung together and connected in one sentence would depend upon really your outlook on life. You could have one of two reactions to five simple words. Those five words may be simply Greg Klein is preaching today. And depending upon how you view Greg and his preaching, that may determine how you view those five words.

But what about five other words? I saw what you did. How do you react to that? I saw what you did. Well, I imagine your reaction to those words, that sentence, would depend upon one of two things. Number one is who said them. That could make a big difference, couldn’t it? But also what you had just done. I saw what you did. It’s a very different sentence depending upon what you just did. In Revelation chapters 2 and 3, you might turn there if you will this morning. Revelation chapter 2 and 3, Jesus used just three words that convey that same idea. In the seven letters to the churches of Asia. They follow a formula, don’t they? You remember from studying those letters. And part of that formula are three words that are found in every, in the introduction to every single one of those letters.

And those three words are, or four words, excuse me. I know your works.

I saw what you did. What does that mean? And what are the implications for you and I when Jesus can say to his people, I know your works.

If you’ll turn again to Revelation chapter 2, let’s just start by looking at the five or the seven usages of those words. Revelation 2, verse 2, beginning to the church at Ephesus, he says, I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you’ve tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars. Verse 9, to the church at Smyrna, he says again, I know your works, tribulation, and poverty, but you’re rich. And I know the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are in the synagogue of Satan. To the church at Pergamos, he says in chapter 2, verse 13, I know your works, and where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is, and you hold fast to my name, and do not deny my faith, even in the days in which Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was killed among you where Satan dwell.

Chapter 2, verse 19, to the church at Thyatira, I know your works, love, service, faith, and your patience. And as for your works, the last are more than the first. Chapter 3 to the church at Sardis, beginning in verse 1, to the angel of the church in Sardis, write, these things says he who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars, I know your works. That you have a name that you are alive, but you’re dead. Continuing in chapter three, this time and in verse eight to the church at Philadelphia, I know your works. See, I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it. For you have a little strength and have kept my word and have not denied my name.

1. God Is Omniscient: Perfect Understanding

Lastly, in chapter 3 and in verse 15 to the church at Laodicea, I know your works. That you’re neither cold nor hot. I wish you were cold or hot. Seven times to seven different churches, Jesus says, I saw what you did. I know your works. But those words mean different things to those different churches, don’t they? Sometimes he says, I know your works, and then he begins to praise them. But other times he says, I know your works. And he begins to condemn them. Let’s talk about the implications of God knowing our works, of God knowing everything. The first lesson, the most obvious one from this passage, is that when Jesus says, I know your works, that comes from a place of perfect understanding. We begin with this premise that the Lord is omniscient.

You remember those three omni words that we use to describe the power of God. Omniscience speaks to his omni means all or all-encompassing, his all-encompassing knowledge. He is all knowing. He knows everything. We speak sometimes of the omnipotence, that is the all-powerfulness of God. A God who could just speak, and everything that we see and know could come into existence just from the power of his words. And sometimes we talk about a third one, the omnipresence of God, that God is everywhere. I to be honest with you, I don’t see a big distinction between the omniscience and the omnipresence of God. In fact, we won’t take the time, but you can go read the 139th Psalm. It seems to equate the omnipresence and the omniscience of God.

God is everywhere in the sense that God sees and knows everything everywhere. But the foundation of this lesson, the idea of Jesus saying, I know your words, comes from the position of the omniscience of God. He knows and he sees everything. In the book of Hebrews, chapter 4, the Hebrew writer states this principle of God, that nothing, Hebrews 4, verse 13, nothing, absolutely nothing, escapes his sight. Hebrews 4 and verse 13 says, speaking of God and the word of God, there is no creature, Hebrews 4 13. There’s no creature hidden from his sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of him to whom we must give account. Nothing escapes his sight. And so when Jesus says, I know your works, it’s not surprising, is it?

Because we serve an omniscient, an all-knowing God. He sees everything. And this is not the point of our lesson, but we understand that that omniscience, that all knowing is not limited by space, that’s the omnipresence, nor is it limited by time. That’s the foreknowledge of God. God doesn’t just see what is happening in the present. God doesn’t just have knowledge of everything that’s transpired in the past. The scriptures tell us that God has not just perfect knowledge, but perfect foreknowledge. He knows what will happen in the future. That boggles the mind, doesn’t it? Like many of the attributes of God, I can’t fully comprehend. Now, when the scriptures speak of the foreknowledge of God, I believe it speaks of it in two senses. Sometimes God knows what’s going to happen because God’s going to cause it to happen.

Judgment against some peoples or judgment against some nation in the Old Testament, God could say, I know this is going to happen to this nation because God was the one who’s going to cause it to happen. But God’s foreknowledge is not limited to his foreknowledge of the actions that he would undertake. He knows everything. And our puny little minds just can’t comprehend that, can we? I can remember as a kid, the house I grew up in had a front porch, as all good houses in the South did. Had a front porch, and that front porch, we lived on the side of a hill, so that front porch was kind of a drop-off there. And I can remember as a little kid jumping off that front porch was always fun because it was just high enough that it would sting your feet a little bit when you landed.

And I can remember one day, I’m assuming that there would have been a sermon recently, or maybe something in a Bible class, one of my Bible class teachers had said something about that idea that God knows everything, including He knows what’s going to happen. And I can remember as a young theologian standing on the edge of that front porch thinking, God knows I’m going to jump off this front porch. And so I won’t jump off of it. But then I thought, but then God knew I was going to not. And so I will jump off. But God knew that I would change my mind and I would jump. So I won’t. And so I went back and forth. Probably a surprisingly long period of time. And I have to tell you that my maturity, my spiritual maturity, my understanding of the foreknowledge of God hasn’t progressed much from that scene on the front porch.

2. God Will Not Be Mocked

It’s one of those areas of life, one of those areas of God where we just have to accept by faith. That He knows and sees all. Does not affect my forek, my free will. In the book of Romans, chapter 8, it speaks of the foreknowledge, the knowing before of God. Romans 8, verse 29 says, For whom, speaking of his people, his disciples, for whom he foreknew. He also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. God knows everything. But the second implication from those that statement repeated over and over again in Revelation 2 and 3 that he says, I know your works. If God knows everything, then it needs to be established that God will not be mocked.

You can’t get away with it. What’s the old saying? You can fool some of the people some of the time. Fool all of the people all the time. But you can’t fool God.

You ever hide the English peas off of your dinner plate so that your mom didn’t see you didn’t eat them. And she didn’t catch you.

Several years ago we lived in the Birmingham area. We’d gone into Hibbett Sporting Goods. I forget why we were there, but we went in the sporting goods store to do some shopping. And about the time we walked into the door, there was a ruckus in the store. A couple of young men had grabbed Nike tennis shoes. They were the big thing back then. Grabbed, had a box of Nike tennis shoes under each arm, and they hit the door running. There was a car waiting for them outside. They jumped in the back seat of that car and sped away. The employees were running to the front of the door, running to the phone. And it had all of the excitement. Nobody got the license plate of the car.

Nobody had a good description of the boys that had done that. And our kids were young enough, they were just like, what’s happening? What’s going to happen to them? Are the police going to get them? And we had to be honest and say, no, probably not. By the time the police get here, they’ll be at home wearing those shoes.

They got away with it. Well, that didn’t seem fair to our children. And they kept saying that. Well, that’s not fair. That’s not fair. We saw that as a teaching moment, and we said, now you need to understand. Sometimes bad people do bad things. And this in this life, sometimes they get away with that. But we stepped into young Bible class teacher mode and we said, but who else was watching? Who else saw that? Don’t be deceived, the Apostle Paul says. God is not mocked. For whatever a man sows, that shall he also reap. God knows everything. We need to understand that principle. God’s not going to be mocked. We may get away with things for a time being. But we’ll stand before God in judgment.

3. The Importance of Forgiveness: Expungement

A God who saw everything. I know your works. And that’s kind of scary, isn’t it? It’s not kind of scary. That is scary. To think that God saw everything that I did, and your mind may be going with my mind, and that they’re not thinking of all the good things I did. God saw all the bad things I did, or God saw all the good things that I didn’t do. What hope do I have? But when Jesus said, I know your works, we need to understand that there’s a positive to that as well. The fact that God does have perfect knowledge, the fact that God will not be mocked in judgment, that he sees and knows everything. That brings fear, but it also should help us to understand, to be keenly aware of the importance of forgiveness.

Of forgiveness, of the remission of sins. And a term, a legal term that we don’t use a whole lot, but I think it’s a biblical term, and we’re going to find the biblical basis for it, is the term expungement. Expungement is used again, it’s a legal term that if you’ve done something and there’s something on your record, you can just be let go, but you could also have that expunged from your record. That means it’s just gone as if it was never there. Not only we’re letting you out of jail or you don’t have to pay the fine, but we’re wiping your record clean. That’s what forgiveness is. It’s not just that you did it, but you’re getting away with it, you won’t be punished for it.

It’s an expungement. It’s a washing. Think of the terms that the Bible uses. Remission, which really means removal. Washing away of our sins. And look at this term. Look with me in the book of Hebrews, chapter 10. If our minds are boggled at the perfect knowledge of God, consider this concept. In Hebrews 10, beginning in verse 11, it says, and every priest stands ministering. This is the Old Testament priest, stands ministering and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But this man, that may be capitalized in your Bible, referring to Jesus Christ, our priest, this man, after he’d offered one sacrifice for sin, sat down at the right hand of God. From that time waiting until his enemies are made his footstool.

For by one offering he has perfected forever those who are being sanctified. But the Holy Spirit also witnesses to us. For after he had said before, this is the covenant that I will make with them in those days, says the Lord, I will put my laws in their in their hearts and in their minds, I will write them. Then he adds, their sins and their lawless deeds, I will remember no more. There’s our hope. Forgiveness. The removal of those sins. That a God who is all knowing that nothing escapes his knowledge is saying, I’ll remember that no more. And so I know your works can take on a new meaning. And greater hope.

4. I Know Your Works Takes On a Comforting Tone

That I know your works takes on a comforting tone. Look back in the book of Revelation, but now to chapter 14. I saw what you did depends again upon who is saying it and what you just did. But it also depends on the relationship between the two parties. Revelation 14 and verse 13, to those who were undergoing persecution, who were serving God, failing, but repenting and coming back, Jesus would say in Revelation 14 and in verse 13, and then I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, Write, blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on. Yes, says the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors and their works follow them. Jesus saying, I know your works. If you die in the Lord, that means that your sins and iniquities he will remember no more.

But what he will see is your faith. And the James chapter 2 works that accompanied and established your faith. So God’s perfect knowledge shouldn’t just be viewed in the negative. This gives comfort to us. The statement in the New Testament that says, Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord, was not intended as a negative fear based statement. It was a statement of solace and of comfort. That those I see what they’re doing to you, I will repay, says the Lord. God’s knowledge. It’s not just frightening. It should be comforting. Turn with me to 1 John chapter 3. And let’s see how we can be comforted with God’s perfect knowledge. 1 John chapter 3. Let’s begin in verse 19. 1 John 3, verse 19. It says, By this, that is the deed and truth of verse 18, by this we know that we’re of the truth.

And we shall assure our hearts before Him. Let’s pause there and see what He’s saying. How do I know that I’m in a right relationship with God? How do I know I’m a child of God? I can just look in the mirror, he says. My words and my deeds, again, that’s verse 18. Those are a gauge that I have to know whether or not I’m doing what I need to do in my service to God. But I have imperfect knowledge. I have imperfect eyesight. And so that’s not the real gauge, he says. Continue reading. 1 John 3, verse 20. For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart and knows all things. Now commentators are divided somewhat. I don’t think they’re divided equally, but they’re divided somewhat into what verse 20 means.

If our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart and knows all things. Let’s talk about the two possible interpretations. The one is the negative. That’s saying, if you know bad things you’ve done, think about what an all-knowing God knows. He knows stuff, bad stuff you’ve even forgot about. That’s the negative interpretation of 1 John 3, verse 20. The positive interpretation, which by the way, I think is the only correct interpretation of 1 John 3, verse 20, says that if your heart condemns you, if you feel like God can’t forgive me for what I did. Because either I did something so bad or I did so many bad things that God can never forget those. He’s so holy, I’m so unholy. If our heart condemns us, he says, God is greater than your heart.

God has a greater capacity for knowledge, but also God has a greater capacity for forgetting than you do. God is greater than our hearts and knows all things. Let me establish why I think that’s the only correct interpretation, the positive one of that verse. Go back to chapter 1. This is a short letter. In 1 John chapter 1, verse 4, he begins this letter by saying this, 1 John 1, verse 4, these things we write to you that your joy may be made full. In a letter that he says is intended to fulfill your joy.

And the letter that ends this way, turn over to chapter 5, and in verse 13. These things I’ve written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God. Now you tell me a letter that begins with that your joy may be made full and ends with saying that you may know you have eternal life and that you may continue on in the middle of that. What would the inspired writer say? You don’t have a shot because God knows everything. Or would he be saying, God is greater than your heart. And he knows everything. But what he knows is your heart.

And what he knows is that he sent his only begotten Son. What he knows is that your sins and iniquities he’ll remember no more. The Lord knows. And he’ll give you rest.

5. He Is With Us

Means He is with us. In Revelation chapter 1, that sets the scene for the seven letters that are written to the seven churches. He says in Revelation 1, now remember, he had said that seven times, I know your works. Sometimes that was a good thing, sometimes it was a bad thing, depending upon their condition. But he said, I know your works, churches, because of Revelation 1, verse 12. Then I turned to see the voice of that that spoke with me, and having turned, I saw the seven golden lampstands. He’ll later tell us that these lampstands are the churches. And so I saw the churches. I saw the seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the seven lampstands, one like the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to his feet and girded about the chest with a golden band.

Conclusion

Where is our Lord? He is there walking among his people. He knows us because he’s with us. He is in our midst, we sing sometimes. He knows us. And he loves us. What a comfort. What a solace to know that our Lord is both with us. And as the Hebrew writer would say, He is also with the Father. As our sympathetic high priest pleading on our behalf. I know your works. I saw what you did. What do those words mean to you? To know that He walks and lives among you. And that He has the very hairs of your head numbered. He knows who you are. Would you pray with me? Dear God and Father in heaven, we’re so thankful for your Son, for your and his perfect knowledge, for your and his perfect love.

That not only, Father, do we recognize you as all-knowing and all-powerful, but we recognize you as all loving. And though you know us, you love us still. And that you’ve promised that you’ll remember our sins and iniquities no more if we come to you. Put within us a heart of knowledge, Father, that we might know our sins, that we might confess them openly before you, and that we might seek your loving remedy. Help us, Father, to have your heart, your heart of love and forgiveness toward others. And help us that our joy may be made full and that we might know that we have eternal life if we’ve come to you in loving, faithful obedience. We love you, Father. We marvel at your power, your majesty, and your knowledge.

And we’re humbled at your love. Thank you for knowing us. Thank you for being with us and comforting us and saving us. This is our simple, loving, humble prayer in Christ’s name. Amen. We’ll now be dismissed to our classes.