Do You Know Him

In Texas, a mother lures her three children one by one out of the comfort of their beds and the warmth of their home and stoned them to death. And then when asked why she did it, she said God told her to. A man in California is accused of murdering his pregnant wife and throwing her and the unborn baby into the ocean. Homosexuality is so rampant that is has become common and acceptable. Every two or three months there is a new disease or epidemic to be afraid of. Mississippi ranks 1st in teenage pregnancy. Mississippi ranks 1st in High School dropouts. It is so bad that it makes you believe that we are living in a world that has forgotten God. The problem today is not that people have forgotten Christ. No, the problem is that they never really knew him. Once you’ve met Christ, you can’t forget him. He has a magnetic personality. He will leave a lasting impression in your mind. He affects your life in such a way that you find yourself worshipping him whenever there is an opportunity.

Oh, don’t get me wrong, the world has heard of name Jesus Christ. They know of him, but don’t know him. They know only his biography. They can tell how he was born in manger in the little town of Bethlehem. His momma’s name was Mary. They know he turned water into wine. And that he walked on water. And how he raised Lazarus from the dead. Even how on the third day morning he rose from the dead himself. You see they know biographical information about our Savior. But they don’t know him. They can sing about how Jesus loves the little children. And how Jesus loves me this I know. They can even sing of his amazing grace. But they don’t know him. They can say the Lord’s prayer. And tell you to turn the other cheek. And love thy neighbor. But they don’t know him.

How can you tell? It is by the way they live their lives. You see knowing Jesus makes you do things a little different. You can’t go back to your old ways and things feel right.

You feel uncomfortable, restless when you go near your old life. If you are able to go to the club Saturday night and sing the world’s songs and then come to Church Sunday morning and go in the choir stand and sing God’s songs; and you don’t feel uncomfortable. You don’t know him. Do you know how else you can tell? Those who know Christ want to be around other people who know Christ. I believe you don’t have to beg people who know God, to come to Sunday school. You don’t have to beg people who know Christ to support Wednesday night Bible study. When you know Jesus you want to talk about Jesus. You want to share with other believers how Jesus has affected your life. You ought to be at Sunday school saying, “Guess what he did for me this week.”

After Jesus died the disciples became depressed and distressed. That fire and that zeal they had when Jesus was alive had began to dwindle. And even though they knew he was resurrected and that he had appeared to them twice before, they were still depressed.

So much so they stop doing the work Christ had left them to do and went back to what the use do. Look at verses 2 and 3-Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin (that’s doubting Thomas), Nathaniel of Cana, the sons of Zebedee (James and John) and two other disciples were together. Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him “We are going with you also.” Sometimes when Christians find themselves in situations where things aren’t going right or things aren’t happening the way they think it should, they go back to their old way of living. They began to struggle with their spirituality and they want to cling to an old familiar.

Instead of immersing themselves in the work of the Lord, they go back to the bottle. Instead of doing God’s work they go back the other woman. Or the arms of someone else’s husband. Or to the casinos. Or to just sitting at home feeling sorry for themselves on Sunday morning. They run back to things they did before they knew Christ. Remember we are not talking about men that had forgotten Christ. They knew him. Spent time with him. Ate meals with him. Even laid their heads on his chest. But sometime even those who know Christ back slide. Even those of us who have shared intimate moments with Jesus find ourselves down in the dumps. We know he’s alive. We’ve seen him work miracles in our own lives. But still we may find ourselves heading back to from whence we came. Even the Apostle Paul said when he tries do good, evil is all around him. It is not always outside evil trying to get us. Sometimes it stuff in our past trying seep back into our life.