John 14:8-10 (NKJV) Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works.
We usually won’t be too trusting of someone we don’t know well. However, when it comes to God, He isn’t difficult to read. He isn’t a promise-breaker and He isn’t fuzzy in His ways or hiding things from us, because that would breed mistrust. Secondly, we will normally only trust those who have proven themselves trustworthy. Because God is sovereign, there are things we will never know or have the answers to. Nevertheless, God has given us 66 books that make up the Bible to reveal Himself, His ways, and His love to us. That, in itself, will help to develop trust in Him.
God has revealed His plan of salvation clearly, and that He operates through covenant, which is the highest form of faithfulness. The Bible shows us how He has obligated Himself through the establishment of the covenant to fulfil the promises found in His Word. Our response then is to have faith in Him. We should establish our faith in His written Word (Logos) and in what He promises us personally through His Word (Rhema) as we walk closely with Him.
There is a significant difference between knowing God and merely knowing of God. We can know of God through Bible stories and theological lectures without truly knowing Him. Similarly, we might have grown up in a Christian family, listened to Bible stories in church, and even attended mission school, yet still don’t know God because we only know of Him through second-hand information. Lastly, if we attend church services and merely listen to sermons without applying the truth to our lives, we remain at the stage of knowing about Him.
To know God, we need to have a personal relationship with Him—one established by accepting Christ as our Lord and Saviour and cultivated by spending time in prayer, reading His Word, and journalling what we have prayed for and how God is speaking to us daily. When we apply His Word in our daily lives, our faith grows.
We will know God when we step out in faith to take God’s Word as gospel truth, and when we step out in faith in response to His will for our lives after we have surrendered our lives to Him. There will be constant interaction with Him as we walk in His will.
Reflection: Do you have a personal relationship with God, and how is God revealing Himself to you right now so you can trust Him more?
Sermon Series：Agreeing with the Word of God
认识并信靠神
约翰福音 14:8-10 腓力对他说：“求主将父显给我们看，我们就知足了。”耶稣对他说：“腓力，我与你们同在这样长久，你还不认识我吗？人看见了我，就是看见了父，你怎么说‘将父显给我们看’呢？ 我在父里面，父在我里面，你不信吗？我对你们所说的话，不是凭着自己说的，乃是住在我里面的父做他自己的事。
通常来说，我们不会轻易信任一个自己不太了解的人。然而，当我们面对神时，祂并不是一位难以理解的神。祂不会违背承诺，也不会以模糊不清的方式行事，更不会向我们隐藏事情，因为这些都会导致不信任。其次，我们通常只会信任那些已经证明自己值得信赖的人。因为神是至高掌权的，有些事情我们永远无法知道，也无法得到答案。然而，神已经赐给我们由66卷书组成的圣经，向我们启示祂自己、祂的道路，以及祂对我们的爱。这本身就能够帮助我们建立对祂的信靠。
神清楚地启示了祂救赎的计划，也显明祂是透过约来运行的，而约是信实的最高体现。圣经向我们展示，神如何借着设立约，使自己承担责任，去成就祂话语中所包含的应许。因此，我们的回应就是信靠祂。当我们与祂亲密同行时，我们的信心应当建立在祂所写下的话语（Logos）之上，也建立在祂透过祂的话语亲自向我们应许的话语（Rhema）之上。
认识神与仅仅知道有关神的知识之间，有着很大的区别。我们可以透过圣经故事和神学课程认识有关神的事情，却不一定真正认识祂。同样，我们可能成长于基督徒家庭，在教会中听过许多圣经故事，甚至就读过宣教学校，但仍然不认识神，因为我们只是透过他人的经历和信息间接认识祂。最后，如果我们参加教会聚会，只是听讲道，却没有将真理应用在生活中，我们仍然停留在“知道有关神”的阶段。
要认识神，我们需要与祂建立个人的关系——这关系始于接受基督成为我们的主和救主，并透过花时间祷告、阅读祂的话语，以及记录我们每天向神所祷告的内容和神如何向我们说话而不断成长。当我们在日常生活中应用神的话语时，我们的信心就会增长。
当我们凭着信心踏出去，将神的话语视为绝对真实的真理，并在将生命降服给祂之后，凭着信心回应祂对我们生命的旨意时，我们就会真正认识神。当我们行走在祂的旨意中时，我们会持续与祂有亲密的互动。
默想：你是否与神建立了个人的关系？此刻，神正在如何向你显明祂自己，使你能够更加信靠祂？
讲章系列：与神的话语一致