Sermons
Knowing It, Without Knowing Him
KNOWING IT, WITHOUT KNOWING HIM
Sermon Outline By Terry Siverd
Cortland Church of Christ / May 15, 2016
Promos:
Camp 2:52 is now just nine weeks away. If you register early (by June 1st), you can save $25.
June 5th is Friends And Family Day. Let’s pack the auditorium - - last year we had 119 (we have 121 seats).
Next Sunday PM, all are invited to prayer meeting.
This morning I want to present the first of a two part, mini-sermon series.
(Don’t get too excited, the “mini” refers to the length of the series not the sermon per se).
You can see our sermon title for this morning in your FamilyMatters - - Knowing It, Without Knowing Him.
Next Sunday our topic will be, “Knowing” Him, Without Knowing It.
Many people have created a Jesus in their image, and that Jesus doesn’t reflect the Jesus of The Bible.
I am convinced that God never intended that the Word (the Bible) was to be an end in itself.
God’s written word is a means to a greater end - - that greater end being to instruct us and
encourage us in the lifelong pursuit of being conformed to the image of His Son (Rom.8:29).
To help clarify this concept, write this quote down in your sermon notes box:
The written Word was given to us by God that we might become like The Living Word, Jesus Christ.
I am so thankful that I have been blessed richly and nurtured in our fellowship.
Those of us who are members of the church of Christ have a long and strong history of being bound
together with brothers and sisters in Christ who have a very high regard for the Sacred Scriptures.
We realize that being a Christian requires (demands) that we become keen students of The Word.
And so we attempt to fill up our minds and hearts with the written Word. We not only memorize the names
of the books of the Bible, but we also try to memorize specific Scriptures and to know our Bibles really well.
Paul admonished the church at Colosse (Col.3:16) - - Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you.
We aspire to sing sincerely and wholeheartedly the words of the song written by David in the 119th Psalm.
Thy word have I treasured in my heart, that I may not sin against Thee / vs.11
Open my eyes, that I may behold wonderful things from Thy law / vs.18
Thy testimonies are my delight; they are my counselors / vs.24
Strengthen me according to Thy word / vs.28
Teach me, O Lord, the way of Thy statutes / vs.33
Make me walk in the path of Thy commandments/ vs.35
Incline my heart to Thy testimonies / vs.36
O how I love Thy law! It is my meditation all the day / vs.97
How sweet are Thy words to my taste! Yes, sweeter than honey to my mouth / vs.103
Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light to my path / vs.105
Sustain me according to Thy word, that I might live / vs.116
To have a ravenous hunger for the written word is not just a good thing, it is a great thing.
All who thirst for the written word are be applauded and encouraged in every way.
All who desire to memorize Scriptures are to be highly commended.
Those of us who make it our aim to never miss a Bible class or a sermon are to be saluted.
Those who study the word in the privacy of our homes - - who search the Scriptures daily (Acts 17:11) - -
are engaged in the noblest pursuit known to mankind, and with such God must surely be pleased.
H-O-W-E-V-E-R, as with many good things sometimes a fly gets in the ointment and spoils a good thing.
In Acts 26:24, Festus responded to Paul’s sermon, by saying, “your great learning is driving you mad”.
Festus was wrong about Paul, but his observation has been found to be true about some.
Have you ever met a Christian man or woman (maybe even a preacher)
who’s wealth of Biblical knowledge worked to may him almost unbearable?
A person can come to the book really well, but something becomes lost in translation.
They can quote Scripture left and right, but they are harsh, unkind, intolerant and mean-spirited.
They are anything but winsome (charming and engaging - - someone other’s like to be around).
It’s worthy noting, if you will excuse the pun, “if we want to win some (to the Lord), we must be winsome.”
People are not draw to a know-it-all and others are especially not drawn to one who is quite often meaner than a snake.
And that strikes at the kernel of my message this morning.
In 2Cor.2:15, Paul states, for we are a fragrance of Christ…
If our pursuit of the knowledge the Word of God does not mold us and shape us to be the aroma of Christ,
something is seriously wrong with out study sessions - - we are not students with whom God will be pleased.
Our quest for piety must never create within us a sense of pomposity or self-righteousness.
Those who aim to live sanctified lives must be diligent to guard against being sanctimonious or smug.
This was the very short-coming (sin) that afflicted the scribes and Pharisees of the first century.
Their lives were immersed in the sacred writings, but their studies in the word make them ungodly in their behavior.
Some of the strongest condemnations ever spoken by Jesus were directed at them.
Mt.23:1-3 records these words:
Then Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to His disciples, saying,
‘The scribes and the Pharisees have seated themselves in the chair of Moses; therefore all that they
tell you do and observe, but do not do according to their deeds; for they say things and do not do them’.
In the verses that follow (Mt.23:13ff), Jesus goes on to speak seven woes against them.
He refers to the Jewish religious leaders as hypocrites … blind guides … whitewashed tombs … and a brood of vipers.
This text bears out the potential peril and danger that confronts us 21st century Christians as well the first-century Jews.
Yes, God expects us to know the word (inside and out), but He also demands that we be doers of the Word (Js.1:22).
God forbid that we should know the Word but fail to speak & act in keeping with the words & deeds of our Lord Jesus.
Peter reminds us (1Pet.2:21) that Christ has left us an example, that we should follow in His steps.
Paul charges us (Eph.5:1-2) to be imitators of God - - to walk in love, just as Christ loved you and gave Himself up for us…
In another text (1Cor.11:1), Paul says, be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ.
We are not just caretakers of the Word, we are to be the light of the world (Mt.5:14), with a responsibility to, let our
light shine before men in such a way that they may see our good works and glory our Father in Heaven (Mt.5:16).
It is a sobering thought to think that we are called to let others see Christ in us - - to see Christ through us.
It is not enough to know the word, we must know intimately THE LIVING WORD, JESUS.
The word became flesh, and dwelt among us and we behold His glory,
glory as of the only begotten from The Father, full of grace and truth / Jn.1:14
Being a Christian means to be a “Christ One”. We are called to have our thinking processes governed by the mind of Christ (1Cor.2:16) and to have our daily behavior educated and influenced by the attitude of Christ (Phlip.2:5).
We must, like Jesus, be a friend to sinners (Mt.9:10-13) - -not to condone evil but to befriend the lost.
We must be good Samaritans, willing to risk our neck for the well-being of others (Lk.10:30-37).
We must guard against wanting to call down fire upon those we dislike (Lk.9:54-56).
James and John said to Jesus, “Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them.”
Jesus said to James and John, “You do not know what kind of spirit you are of;
for the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them.”
This matter about which we are speaking has serious consequences - - either for good or for ill.
How sad to think that others could be turned off by our lacking the heart of Jesus in spite of our knowledge of Scripture.
As Christians we are not just repositories of the oracles of God - - we are representatives (ambassadors) of Jesus Christ.
How wonderful and humbling to contemplate that others make come to Christ, not just because we taught them a few
Scriptures (which is vitally important), but, in reality the magnet that drew them in was that they saw Christ in us.
The key to genuine discipleship and the “secret” to church growth and leading others to Christ,
is to really mean the words of the song we sang a few minutes ago:
Let the beauty of Jesus been seen in me, All His wonderful passion and purity;
May His Spirit divine all my being refine, Let the beauty of Jesus be seen in me.
In a moment, after we pray together, we will sing another song about ancient words.
The whole design of God’s ancient words is to change me and to change you.
Howard Hendricks has written (Living By The Book, pg.326).
“God gives us His word not to make us comfortable but TO CONFORM US TO THE CHARACTER OF CHRIST.”
Dear Heavenly Father,
We love Your Word and we long for it to be our meditation day and night.
But this morning, our prayer is that You would use this sermon to remind us
that our ultimate aim is to be imitators of The Living Word, our Lord and Savior.
May we long to have the mind of Christ and the heart of Jesus.
May we determine to live in such a way that others might truly come to see Christ in us.
Through Jesus, The Word who became flesh so that we might learn to be like Him, we pray. Amen.
