At about the end of May and the first part of June hundreds of thousands of students walk across stages and platforms to receive a diploma. This is something they have been working hard for.
During the WMU graduation on May 21, Mr. Probasko’s last statements to the class of 2006 was, “Would the WMU class of 2006 please stand and as a last gesture of meeting the requirements to receive your diploma, would you please move your tassel on your hat from the right side to the left.”
And there was a loud cheer, they had received their education and their heads were filled with knowledge.
It is often said in our society “knowledge is power.”
Most people value education because there are benefits and rewards in having knowledge. The more you know in certain areas the more earning potential a person has.
I can change the oil in my pick up, but if I were to tear the engine a part, I would never get it back together.
I know a little about medicine, I can stop a wound from bleeding and I can open a bottle of Tylenol, but I am not a brain surgeon. You don’t want me operating on you.
Doctors do make a lot of money with the medical knowledge that they have acquired over the years; I can’t make any money with my medical knowledge.
There is correlation between knowledge and income.
Charlie knows how to build bridges, Leonard and Irene know how to make pizzas, Dan knows how to work on cars and small engines.
The correlation between knowledge and income is so strong that it is a motivation for a higher education. Today most people don’t go to school to get an education; they go to school to get a better job.
How does this relate to us spiritually? Is there a correlation between knowledge and getting to heaven? Do people learn about God to earn merits in their walk with God? Have we replaced knowing God with knowing about God?
Which is more important, a relationship with God or a religion?
(Ask)
How would you describe religion?
Religion has been described as following a set pattern of dos and don’ts, an outward expression with no inward authenticity, or the human effort to reach God.
Religion knows about God without knowing Him.
PRAY
Father we ask for Your anointing on us today. Place Your anointing on me as Your messenger today.
Open our eyes so that we may see Your Word. Open our ears so that we may hear Your Word. Open our minds so that we may understand Your Word. Open our hearts so that we may receive Your Word today. AMEN
Many years ago, a man whom we will call John graduated from Oxford Seminary and he went into the mission field.
His ministry was not very fruitful; some even say that he was a failure in his early years.
He looked like the real deal. He looked religious. He would wake up to pray every day at 4 AM and he would pray for 2 hours. He would read his Bible for an hour before he preached or taught and he would teach and pray for people and help people during any hour day or night.
He was on his way home for being a missionary when a bad storm began to sink the ship he was traveling on. The boat was sinking and John was afraid that he was going to die. He was afraid because he did not know what was going to happen to him when he died.
But he went to Bible School and he was a missionary!?!
Despite all he had done to this point in his life, he was not ready for death.
There were some men on the ship during this time and they were singing some worship songs and John asked them, “How can you sing the very night you are going to die?”
The men answered, “If the ship goes down, we will go up to be with the Lord.”
John could not believe it. He had left his home to convert the heathens and now he wondered who would convert him.
They ended up surviving the storm and they made it home. John was walking along one day and he came across a small church and he could hear the message. The sermon was describing faith as a person relationship with Jesus.
John suddenly realized that all these years he had been doing things the wrong way. He was wrong. He had been religious, he knew about God, he was well educated in spiritual matters but he did not know God personally.
The man gave his heart to Christ that day in London. Who was the man? John Wesley.
Back in the First Century there was another religious man. His name was Saul of Tarsus.
Saul was the man! You can read his resume in Philippians 3:4b-6. “If anyone else thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regards to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless.”
He was educated, informed, knowledgeable, and intellectual. During his time, he was the man.
But was that enough for Saul? He had enough to make a good living but was he going to heaven?
It is not what you know that counts, it is who you know.
That is the thing that so many people forget today when it comes to Christianity. It is not about what you know, it is all about who you know.
It all starts with a relationship with God, facts are useless without faith.
Saul understood this and he accepted Jesus as his personal Savior and he dedicated his life to following God but this time it wasn’t just about the rules. This time it was about the relationship he had with God through Jesus.
It impacted Saul’s life so much and changed him so dramatically that Saul changed his name to Paul.
The new relationship he had with God through Jesus caused Paul to change his entire view on everything.
Look at what Paul says in Philippians 3:8, “What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish that I may gain Christ. “
Knowing Christ Jesus… To know something means to have a personal knowledge of that thing.
Paul, when he was Saul, was walking along the Road to Damascus one day and Jesus Christ introduced Himself to him.
From that moment on Paul made it his mission in life to know Christ more personally and more intimately.
To know Christ means that we are active in a dynamic, intimate relationship with Him.
Intimacy with Christ is more that just saying you believe in Him. It is more than just being impressed with creation. It is more than gathering the facts.
Knowing Christ means that you are involved in a day-to-day relationship with Him that is based upon your personal experience with Him.
God made Himself known to you through His Son and hopefully you accepted the invitation to an awesome relationship and hopefully you made a commitment to stay in this relationship and work at developing the intimacy between you and your Savior.
Often times stories come across the e-mail that are actually worth something.
I am not talking about the ones that say Madelyn Murray O’ Hair is trying to stop Christianity. That one isn’t even true.
This one talks about a great actor that was traveling through the States, he always ended his performance by reading the 23 Psalm. He would raise and lower his voice to get the most powerful effect.
When he finished the crowds would always applaud. One time after he had finished an older man came to the platform, he was an old, retired preacher.
He asked if he could recite the 23 Psalm for the audience.
The actor agreed and stepped aside.
The old preacher’s voice wasn’t as strong as it used to be and he didn’t raise and lower his voice like the actor, but he recited the Psalm by memory, “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want…”
He recited the whole Psalm and as he ended with “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever,” not one person made a noise. No one clapped or cheered, instead people began to wipe away tears from their eyes.
It was incredibly moving. The actor asked the old man, “When I recited the Psalm the people cheered with great applause, but when you recited it they were moved to tears. What was the difference?”
The old pastor replied, “It was because you know the Psalm and I know the shepherd. He has been with me in the good times and in the bad, on the mountaintops and in the valleys.
This man knew Jesus. It wasn’t just head knowledge he had heart knowledge of the one who died to save his soul.
He had more than a religion, he had a relationship with the living Christ. The knowledge that he had only served to transform his life.
He was a different person, a changed man. Just like John Wesley and Saul of Tarsus, they were all changed.
There are some awesome benefits of knowing Christ like this.
The first is that when you know Christ you have a great energy for God.
Philippians 3:10 Paul said, “I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings , becoming like him in his death.”
Paul did not want to speculate about Christ, he wanted to know Christ in the most deep way possible. Everything else was worthless.
And Paul knew that if he knew Christ there would be some awesome benefits.
If you are tired, if you need energy, if you need some power in your life then notice here that there is a promise of great power when we come to know Christ.
It is a power that can change us, it is the power to transform our weaknesses into strength, it is the power to heal us, and it is the power to witness to others that knowing Christ isn’t a waste of time.
How many of us need that kind of power? We all do!
The second thing is that when you know Christ you can experience a constant fellowship with God.
Some people may have a different opinion than I do, but I believe that one of the top needs of humans is companionship.
In the current issue of the Message Magazine there is a story of a young man who is now in Bible College whose mother and father changed the locks on the house when he turned 18. They kicked him out, they did not want him around.
All this young man ever wanted from his family was companionship.
In our society information is increasing and community is decreasing.
People want to know that someone loves them. They want to know that someone cares for them. And in Christ we will always have that promise.
Paul mentions fellowship in Philippians 3:10, “the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings…”
The word fellowship here is koinonia and it means partnership and companion.
In Christ we have the promise that no matter what we are going through He will be there with us. He will be a partner, a companion and He will walk with us through whatever we are going through.
It doesn’t matter what suffering, trial, or persecution we are experiencing, Christ is there. He is always there because He promised that He would never leave us or forsake us.
He is always there in constant fellowship with us.
And the last thing is that when you know Christ you receive eternal life.
Philippians 3:11 “and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.”
I saved the best for last. This is the most awesome benefit of knowing Christ.
Religion may increase our knowledge but it does not save us. Knowing Christ is the one and only thing that gives us the certainty of eternal life.
There was another religious man in the Bible, his name was Nicodemus. Listen to what Jesus told him.
READ John 3:16-21
Jesus told Nicodemus that God’s plan was to save the world. How was God going to do this? He would do it through His Son.
Those people who accepted Jesus enter into a relationship with the Father through the Son.
There are only two kinds of people in the world, those who have everlasting life as a result of their faith and relationship with God through Jesus Christ and those who choose not to enter into a relationship with Him and as a result stand condemned.
Which kind of person are you?
Are you condemned or are you blessed?
Are you religious or do you have a relationship with God through Jesus?
You may have been coming to church for years and still don’t have a relationship with God through Jesus or this may all be brand new to you today.
Would you consider looking to Christ today?
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