Download sermonpoint070107 - Southside Church of Christ

Today’s Scripture Reading
Hosea 4:6
Real Christians Are KNOWLEDGEABLE
Hosea 4:6
Do We Know What We Know?
“My trouble with
Christians isn’t what
they know, but that
they know so many
things that aren’t so.”
True Christian Knowledge
True Christian knowledge is a vital element
that is largely missing in the church today.
• Knowledge of the word of God is indispensable
to our Christian walk.
• As Christians we should never be satisfied
with, “I believe…” but only with, “The Bible
says….”
• Anyone can say they are a Christian, but REAL
Christians are KNOWLEDGEABLE.
The Dangers of the Loss of Knowledge
Hosea 4:6
“my people are destroyed from lack of
knowledge.
"Because you have rejected knowledge,
I also reject you as my priests;
because you have ignored the law of your
God,
I also will ignore your children.”
Complete spiritual destruction!
Complete National Destruction
• Invitation to the
nations to devour
Israel
• Israel compared to
mute dogs
• Their lack of
knowledge would lead
to national
destruction
Isaiah 56:9-11
Spiritual Blindness
Matthew 15:14
• Leave them; they are
blind guides. If a blind
man leads a blind man,
both will fall into a pit."
Spiritual Blindness
• Matthew 23:24
“You blind guides!
You strain out a
gnat but swallow
a camel.”
Spiritual Infancy
“Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back
and forth by the waves, and blown here and
there by every wind of teaching and by the
cunning and craftiness of men in their
deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth
in love, we will in all things grow up into him
who is the Head, that is, Christ.”
Ephesians 4:14-15
Enslavement to the “Experts”
"Woe to you experts in the law, because
you have taken away the key to knowledge.
You yourselves have not entered, and you
have hindered those who
were entering."
Luke 11:52
A Depraved Mind
Romans 1:28
Furthermore, since they
did not think it
worthwhile to retain the
knowledge of God, he
gave them over to a
depraved mind, to do
what ought not to be
done.
The Benefits of Knowledge
Proverbs 10:13
Wisdom is found on the lips of the
discerning,
but a rod is for the back of him who
lacks judgment.
Knowledge leads to wisdom
Knowledge Aids in a Righteous Walk
“And this is my prayer: that your love may
abound more and more in knowledge and
depth of insight, so that you may be able
to discern what is best and may be pure
and blameless until the day of Christ, filled
with the fruit of righteousness that comes
through Jesus Christ—to the glory and
praise of God.”
Philippians 1:9-11
Knowledge Leads to Obedience in Christ
2 Corinthians 10:5 -- We demolish arguments
and every pretension that sets itself up against
the knowledge of God, and we take captive every
thought to make it obedient to Christ.
Knowledge leads to spiritual maturity
Ephesians 4:13 -…until we all reach
unity in the faith and in
the knowledge of the
Son of God and
become mature,
attaining to the whole
measure of the fullness
of Christ.
Knowledge Is Part Of Our Spiritual Renewal
• Colossians 3:10
“…and have put on the new self, which is
being renewed in knowledge in the image
of its Creator.”
2 Peter 1:2:
“Grace and peace be yours in abundance
through the knowledge of God and of
Jesus our Lord.”
Knowledge brings grace and peace
True Knowledge and False Knowledge
1 Timothy 6:20
“Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to your
care. Turn away from godless chatter and the
opposing ideas of what is falsely called
knowledge…”
“Christianity” abounds in false knowledge posing
as the real thing.
Knowledge Tempered With Love
1 Corinthians 8:1
“…We know that we all possess knowledge.
Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.”
Knowledge Tempered With Love
1 Corinthians 13:1-2 – “If I speak in the tongues
of men and of angels, but have not love, I am
only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I
have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all
mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith
that can move mountains, but have not love, I
am nothing.”
Knowledge Carefully Examined and
Proved
1 John 4:1 -- “Dear friends, do not believe every
spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are
from God, because many false prophets have
gone out into the world.”
REAL CHRISTIANS ARE
KNOWLEDGEABLE
•Only with knowledge can we combat Satan and
his lies.
•Only with true knowledge can we find our way
safely through the murky fog of this often
troubled world.
•Real Christians are KNOWLEDGEABLE.
•How about you?