Sermon Central
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Airplane Traveler Who Knows His Bible Well, ...
Contributed by Sermon Central on Nov 23, 2009 (message contributor)
Airplane Traveler Who Knows His Bible Well, Finally Understands the Goal of the Gospel--To Know Christ
And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.”
*There is no eternal life in trying to keep God’s rules, because you can’t keep them all. There is no eternal life in religious things, like coming to church, being baptized, reading the Bible, even praying. All of these religious activities are dead unless you know Jesus in a personal way.
*Michael Dean tells about sitting next to a very religious man on a flight from Phoenix. They struck up a conversation when the man noticed Michael reading a book on the history of Christianity. And they talked for hours.
*This other man had an amazing knowledge of the Bible, freely quoting verse after verse, sometimes from little-read parts of the Bible. At first Michael thought the man might have been a Bible professor at some seminary. He most certainly had to be a believer. But Michael began to wonder, and had to know for sure, so he asked him if he was a Christian. The man looked downcast and said, “I cannot say that I am.”
*He then went on to explain that he was 56 years old and had been reading the Bible since he was 6. But for some reason he just could not get to the point of belief. That man knew a lot about the Bible, but he didn’t know Jesus. So Michael pointed Him to the cross, and urged him to call on Jesus.
*Michael later wrote: “Well, the man told me he would give it thought, and he did, right then and there. He then asked me why he should put it off any longer. I returned the question. ‘Why should you put it off any longer?’
*He was again silent for a moment (in prayer). Then he lifted his head and said, ‘My wife will not recognize me when I get home. I can’t wait to call her.’ And then with amazement on his face, and on his voice, he held out his hand in front of us, as if holding the Bible. And he said, ‘I understand now! For the first time in my life, I understand. -- Now I think I can explain to my brother the questions he has long been asking me about.’ Up until that moment the Bible had always been that story. But now it is his story. The people in the Bible had been those people, but now they were his people too.’”
*Michael said, “He then leaned over a little closer to me, and in almost a whisper, he said, ‘I do not want to let my emotions get the best of me. But right now I feel as if I could run down that aisle and jump for joy!’” (3)
3. Adapted from sermons.logos.com - KNOWING GOD - Michael R. Dean - John 17:3; John 4:7-8 - January 7th, 2007
From a sermon by Rick Crandall, God’s Greatest Goals for Your Life Part 1: To Know Him, 11/23/2009
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