Date: 21-06-26
Preacher: Ps Ong Kian Kee
Title: Knowing Him
Knowing Him
This morning’s main biblical reference is from Ephesians1:15-17.
Indeed, to carry on the work of Jesus, one must know Him deeply and that was the crux of Ps Ong’s message this morning.
Ps Ong’s lead-in was on Charles Blondin, a Niagara Falls’ tight rope walker. Although he was so good in his work, when he asked for a volunteer to carry on his shoulders to cross the falls, there were no takers. Then a young person volunteered and Charles successfully brought him over to and fro the falls. Later when the young person was interviewed, he revealed that Charles was his father so he knew he would not fall in harm’s way. Do we know our Heavenly Father the way the boy knew his dad?
Paul's prayer talked about a ‘Complete Knowledge’ of God and not just a superficial one. We need to know that Christianity is a relationship with God and not a religion. Hence, it is important for us not to lose that first love when we first started to know Him.
Ps Ong shared that Ephesians has 6 Chapters and Chapters 1-3 are very much theoretical whereas Chapters 4-6 offer the practical aspects.
His focus was on Ephesians Chapter 1 which is divided into 2 parts. The 1st half from v1 to v14 centres on praising God for all His blessings and the 2nd half from v15 to v23 asks God to grant true knowledge to us.
- "Believe and follow Lord Jesus"
- "Love fellow believers dearly"
(Actually, for me it is impossible to do the second without fulfilling the first condition.)
- "Lord" refers to His God nature and,
- "Jesus" refers to His human nature.
Fulfilling the second condition of loving those born of God is to obey God's command.
How then do we truly know God? It is through prayer and the Holy Spirit.
To whom do we pray? We pray to God of Lord Jesus Christ. He contrasted that in the Old Testament, the address before a prayer was a lengthy one when believers would refer to the ‘God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob’. We pray to a God that is both our Glorious Father whom we treat with reverence and one that has a Fatherly Nature for intimacy.
Ps Ong then spent much time sharing that we need to engage our prayer life to a level that is well pleasing to God. He himself shared that he would normally spend 10 hours praying before preparing a sermon and another 10 hours preparing it.
The knowledge of the Holy Spirit is vital too. Ps Ong talked about the gift of the Holy Spirit and mentioned that although Jesus’ disciples were with Him for 3 and the half years day in and out, their knowledge of spiritual matters were only made good after the Holy Spirit dwelt in them. We have to know and concede that the Wisdom of the Holy Spirit is different from worldly wisdom and it originated from a God-fearing spirit.
The Holy Spirit is active in letting us be born again in the Spirit based on John 3:5 so that we can all enter the kingdom of God.
However, the Holy Spirit will not fill all believers as that requires the earnest seeking of each believer to be filled. Here it refers to the passive side. On this point, Ps Ong gave the illustration of the sponge in water. If we hold tight, the sponge has little water in it. As we let go of our hands, water begins to soak the sponge. Similarly, it is only when we surrender more and let go more that we can be filled with the Holy Spirit.
Before concluding, Ps Ong shared the lives of Job and Horatio Spafford. They were spiritual giants, who despite great setbacks in their personal lives, continue to uphold their faith to the end.
