|
|
John 6:66-69, "As a result of this many of His disciples withdrew, and were not walking with Him anymore. Jesus said therefore to the twelve, 'You do not want to go away also, do you?' Simon Peter answered Him, 'Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life. And we have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God.'"
Today: There are so few things that we can KNOW......
Many Christians........"How can we KNOW for SURE....."
Look at all the denominations........
Many denominations are saying you can not know for sure.... therefore ..... ecumenism ...... live & let live
Creeds usually mean = What WE believe .... (but imply "you believe what you want .... that's OK too)
Creedo = "I believe" .....
What do you believe?
Can you be sure? What can we be sure of?? Can you speak with the same confidence as Peter??
We Can KNOW That
John 1:1-3 "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being by Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being."
John 1:14 "And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth."
----------Mormons - Jehovah's Witnesses - etc. "Became a god"
----------Not Just a man who became elevated to be a god
----------He was part of the plan from the beginning
Eph 3:8-11 "To me, the very least of all saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles
the unfathomable riches of Christ, and to bring to light what is the administration of the mystery
which for ages has been hidden in God, who created all things; in order that the manifold
wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in
the heavenly places. This was in accordance with the eternal purpose which He carried out in
Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and confident access through faith in Him."
We Can KNOW That
John 3:13-17, "And no one has ascended into heaven, but He who descended from heaven, even the Son of Man. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; that whoever believes may in Him have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through Him."
----------God didn't sacrifice YOURS.....Personal Investment
----------Several years ago one of the astronauts, who had walked on the moon, was being interviewed and was asked......While you stood there on the moon, so far away, looking back at Earth, WHAT DID YOU THINK ABOUT.........
"I thought about how the spacecraft responsible for bringing me home was built by the lowest bidder...."
l I'm told of a Father telling little girl about the sacrifices of Isaac by Abraham ....
.....How God provided a lamb instead
.....she said..."I don't like killing lambs..."
.....the father was speechless for a moment... then realized how traumatic it must have been for these sacrifices to be made.....
......One of the lecturers at FC told about how the sacrifices were made
1. laying hands on the lamb until dead.....crying sounds as a baby
If the killing of a pure white lamb seems horrendous.....how immeasurably more the crucifixion of the Lamb of God.
----------Don't ever forget why He had to die....don't ever minimize sin
We Can KNOW That
Back to our original text.....
John 6:68-69, "Simon Peter answered Him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life. And we have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God."
----------Christos = "Anointed"
----------Who else = Son of God; eternal, etc.
----------Messiah = Elected by God (to bring us to eternal life) together with Him
----------Napoleon once said..."I marvel that whereas the ambitious dreams of myself, Caesar,
Alexander, should have vanished into thin air, a Judean peasant, Jesus should be able to stretch
His hands across the destinies of men and nations. I know men; and I tell you that Jesus Christ is
no mere man. Between Him and every other person in the world there is no possible term of
comparison. Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne, and I myself have found empires; but upon what
do these creations of our genius depend? UPON FORCE! Jesus alone founded His empire upon
love; and to this very day millions would die for Him"
We Can KNOW That
The Apostle John said:
1 John 4:14, "And we have beheld and bear witness that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world."
Paul Wrote to Timothy:
2 Tim 1:8-10, "Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, or of me His prisoner; but join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God, who has saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity, but now has been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death, and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel,"
----------Mother before Napoleon........Son was a deserter.....sentenced to death
We Can KNOW That
1 Tim 1:1, "Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus according to the commandment of God our Savior, and of Christ Jesus, who is our hope;"
Peter said...."Lord, to whom shall we go?"
----------Someone has said that if you could convince a man that there was no hope, he would curse the day he was born. Hope is an indispensable quality of life. It is "hopelessness" that causes one to take his own life.
----------Sariejvo - Kids walking around in street while bombs falling - Interviewed
----------Years ago the S-4 submarine was rammed by another ship and quickly sank. the entire crew was trapped in the prison house of death. Ships rushed to the scene of the disaster off the coast of Massachusetts. We don't know what took place down in the sunken submarine. But we can be sure that the men clung bravely to life as oxygen gave out. A diver placed his helmet ear to the side of the vessel and listened for signs of life... He heard a tapping noise. Someone, perhaps the last to die, was tapping in Morse Code...."Is.....there.......any......hope?"
This seems to be the cry of humanity ....."Is there any hope??"
John 14:15, "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments."
John 14:21, "He who has My commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves Me; and he who loves Me shall be loved by My Father, and I will love him, and will disclose Myself to him."
---------- I used to obey Mom out of fear.......fear of punishment.
Now I'll do anything she asks of me....not out of fear, but out of love.
When I first obeyed Jesus I knew I was lost and needed salvation. My service to Him now is out
of love.
Jesus said:
John 5:22, "For not even the Father judges anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son,"
Paul Said:
2 Cor 5:10, "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad."
Judged not just on whether we BELIEVED in Him.......But also, did we OBEY Him?
Peter said:
1 Pet 4:17-19, "For it is time for judgment to begin with the household of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? AND IF IT IS WITH DIFFICULTY THAT THE RIGHTEOUS IS SAVED, WHAT WILL BECOME OF THE GODLESS MAN AND THE SINNER? Therefore, let those also who suffer according to the will of God entrust their souls to a faithful Creator in doing what is right."
And in 2 Pet 2:20-22, "For if after they have escaped the defilements of the world by the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and are overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. For it would be better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn away from the holy commandment delivered to them. It has happened to them according to the true proverb, 'A DOG RETURNS TO ITS OWN VOMIT,' and, 'A sow, after washing, returns to wallowing in the mire.'"
Jesus said in Rev 2:10, "'Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to cast some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life."