Know That You Know Series

I want to give you a little quiz just to see how much you know. If you have a pen and paper, you can write down your answers if you want. Here are the questions:

a. How long did the Hundred Years War last?

b. Which country makes Panama hats?

c. From which animal do we get catgut?

d. In which month do Russians celebrate the October Revolution?

e. What is a camel's hairbrush made of?

f. The Canary Islands in the Pacific are named after what animal?

g. What was King George VI's first name?

h. What color is a purple finch?

i. Where are Chinese gooseberries from?

j. How long did the Thirty Years War last?

Let’s see how well you did. Here are the answers:

a. The Hundred Years War lasted 116 years, from 1337 to 1453.

b. Ecuador is the country that makes Panama Hats.

c. Catgut comes from sheep and horses.

d. The Russians celebrate the October Revolution in November. Their calendar was 13 days behind ours at the time.

e. A camel’s hairbrush is made of squirrel fur.

f. The Canary Islands in the Pacific are named after a dog. The Latin name was Insularia Canaria: Island of the Dogs.

g. King Georges VI’s first name was Albert. When he came to the throne in 1936, he respected the wish of Queen Victoria that no future king should ever be called Albert.

h. The purple finch is distinctively crimson.

i. Chinese gooseberries come from New Zealand.

j. The Thirty Years War lasted thirty years, of course, from 1618 to 1648 (www.sermonnotes.com)

How did you do? Sometimes you think you know something when in fact you don’t.

There’s an old Arab proverb which says, “There are four kinds of people, three of which are to be avoided and the fourth cultivated: There are those who don’t know that they don’t know (these are the most dangerous); There are those who know that they don’t know (it’s a sad state in which to be, but at least they’re teachable); There are those who don’t know that they know (they have the knowledge, but they don’t realize it, so they don’t do anything at all); and finally, there are those who know that they know – these are the true experts, who are a true help in a time of need. The question is:

How do we get to the point where we know that we know? How do we become true experts who are truly helpful? How do we develop such knowledge and confidence in the Lord? Well, if you have your Bibles, I invite you to turn with me to 1 John 2, 1 John 2, where the Bible tells us how to know that we know.

1 John 2:3 And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. (ESV)

If you want to know that you know the Lord…

LISTEN TO HIM.

Keep His commandments. Obey His Word.

1 John 2:4-5a Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. (ESV)

It’s not what we CLAIM to know that counts. It’s what we actually DO that demonstrates our knowledge of and our love for God. You may claim intimacy with Christ, but if you do not live out that intimacy, then you are lying. On the other hand, if you do what Jesus tells you to do, then God’s love is perfected in you. It is made complete. It comes to full maturity in your life.

This is how Warren Wiersbe put it in his commentary on 1 John. He said, “Obedience to God’s Word is proof of our love for Him. There are three motives for obedience. We can obey because we HAVE to, because we NEED to, or because we WANT to. A slave obeys because he HAS to. If he doesn’t obey he will be punished.

“An employee obeys because he NEEDS to. He may not enjoy his work, but he does enjoy his paycheck! He needs to obey because he has a family to feed and clothe.

“But a Christian is to obey his Heavenly Father because he WANTS to – for the relationship between him and God is one of love. ‘If you love Me, keep my commandments’ (John 14:15).

“This is the way we learned obedience when we were children. First, we obeyed because we HAD to. If we didn’t obey, we were spanked! But as we grew up, we discovered that obedience meant enjoyment and reward; so we started obeying because it met certain needs in our lives. And it was a mark of real maturity when we started obeying because of love.