Are There Some Things That Christians Know?

"And we know that the Son of God has come,
and has given us an understanding,
that we may know him who is true,
in his Son Jesus Christ.
This is the true God and eternal life."
I John 5:20

William Booth was a Methodist minister who had strange ideas about the Lord's work. Taking the gospel to London's down-and-outs in the red-light districts, Booth fell under the criticism of his fellow ministers and was called on the carpet at the church's annual conference in Liverpool. He asked to be set free from his pastoral responsibilities so he could pursue his innovative work full-time, but his church superiors wouldn't go along with him.

Booth was instructed in the Liverpool conference to confine his ministry to the small church to which he had been assigned. But Catherine, his wife, stood in the gallery and boldly called out: "Never!" On the floor below, Booth jumped to his feet, waved his hat in the air, and met Catherine at the foot of the stairs. Leaving the conference that had tried to confine the gospel to the respectable areas of London, the two of them walked out into Liverpool's damp air to found the Salvation Army which ministers to derelicts and the never-do-wells around the world. When Booth was later asked where he was going to get ministers for his Salvation Army, he replied: "Out of the saloons."

Wealth, personality, ability, and determination are important. However, they are not the things that necessarily make one great. It is what we believe that makes us great. Men and women driven by great conviction are the people who live nobly and courageously.

1. Christians Know the Lord is With Them.

"Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us,
because he hath given us of his Spirit." (1 John 4:13)

A. Some Christians doubt God because they do not always sense His presence.

B. Although few Christians feel God's presence all the time, He is always with them, He promises, "I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee." (Hebrews 13:5).

2. Christians Know the Lord is Able to Keep Them.

"...For I know whom I have believed,
and am persuaded that he is able to keep
that which I have committed unto him against that day."
(2 Timothy 1:12)

A. Many people are reluctant to accept Christ because they fear they will be unable to live the Christian life. It is true - they cannot live it by means of their own power.

B. It is only through the power of Christ that we are enabled to withstand the pressures of life. (Romans 8:37-39). "Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. (v. 38) For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come. (v. 39) Nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

3. Christians Know the Lord Answers Their Prayers.

"And if we know that he hear us,
whatsoever we ask, we know
that we have the petitions that we desired of him."
(1 John 5:15)

A. We must come to God confident that "if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us." (1John 5:14).

B. Jesus told His disciples that whatever they asked for in prayer, they should believe that they had received it, and it would be theirs. (Mark 11:24). "Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them."

4. Christians Know That the Lord Works Everything Together for Their Good.

"And we know that all things work together
for good to them that love God."
(Romans 8:28)

A. When faced with difficulties, many Christians ask, why? When Jesus was on the cross, he asked the same question.

B. We cannot always see the end result but God can. He knows what is best for us.

5. Christians Know the Lord Provides an Eternal Home for Them.

"For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved,
we have a building of God ... eternal in the heavens."
(2 Corinthians 5:1)

A. In today's destructive world, it is comforting to know that we have "an house not made with hands; eternal in the heavens." (2 Corinthians 5:1). We have the assurance of heaven.

B. Christians know the Lord is with them. He is able to keep them. He answers their prayers; He works everything together for their good; He provides an eternal home for them.

Dave Crockett, the Tennessee frontiersman who became a legend at the Alamo, was fond of saying, "Be sure you're right, then go ahead!"

What one believes - determines what one does. Being right in our convictions about God, our cause, and ourselves puts us on the road to successful living.