If you had a job that paid $4,000 a week, would you give it up – if that was necessary to become a Christian? If you were President of the United States, but you knew that if you chose to become a true disciple of Christ you’d ruin your chances of reelection, would you still submit yourself tot the Lord Jesus? If you were a professor at a prestigious university, would you give up your position and return the PhD they gave you, simply because you wanted to learn more about a man who died 2,000 years ago than you did about the subject you were tenured to teach? Would you be willing to suffer the loss of all your friends and most of your relatives, because you told them you wanted to know more about the Lord Jesus Christ? Jesus once said, “The kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls. Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it.”
Paul makes a profound and scarey statement here: He was looking at everything that the best Hebrew of the Hebrews ever had when he said, “But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.” He was saying, “The best that I possess I sacrifice for the sake of Christ.” “I need the Lord Jesus Christ, so much, I am willing strip myself of every award, every dignity, every promotion I have been given or might ever be given.” “Yea doubtless, and I count all thing but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord; for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ.” THAT was the Christianity of the Apostle Paul. He knew that in Christ is the righteousness he needed to stand before the Judge of Heaven and Earth. He knew that In Christ was his visa to participate in Christ’s resurrection, and in Him was his passport to Heaven.
In verse 10, to his statement about knowing Christ, Paul adds, “that I may know Him even BETTER.” Verse 12 adds even more to the thought: “Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect, but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also ia am apprehended of Christ Jesus. “Forgetting those things which are behind, I and reaching forth unto those things which are before. I press toward the mark for the prize of high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” Apparently, Paul had a purpose in his earthly life to know Christ better than he did at the moment.
And this is the scarey part: If history’s most successful missionary and church planter, didn’t know Christ well enough, then who does? If someone who spent nearly as long with Christ in the wilderness of Arabia as the rest of the disciples did, and still he claimed to want or need more knowledge of the Lord, then what about us? If the penman of more books in the Bible than any other, didn’t know Christ very well, then who can? And if the one who said, “I KNOW whom I have believed and am PERSUADED that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him” wanted to know more, then why we are satisfied with what we know?
Some of the confusion is swept away in realizing that there are three ways, or three levels, of knowing Christ. Paul had mastered two of those varieties, setting an example for us. But the truth is – no man on earth is a authority on that third level of knowledge. Those three ways of knowing the Lord Jesus include: a SIMPLE knowledge; a SAVING knowledge; and an INSATIABLE knowledge. By “insatiable” I refer to knowing the Lord well enough to know that we will never be able to completely know Him, while at the same time continuing to learn of Him. Until we agree with Paul – willing to count all things but loss of the excellency of the KNOWLEDGE of Christ, then we are going to be less than what the Lord exhorts us to be. And for millions of Americans, their lack of the right kind of knowledge means they aren’t Christians at all.
There is a knowledge of Christ that is nothing more than a SIMPLE AWARENESS that He exists.
That knowledge may range on a scale anywhere between one and a hundred. The Jewish leadership in Jesus’ day, Governor Pilate and Judas Iscariot all knew things about Christ. Of course, Judas knew far more than Pilate or Annas, the high priest. His knowledge may have reached 78 on the Rchter scale, while the Jews were at 54, and Pilate was 26. But none of those people knew enough to “count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus the Lord.” None of those people were Christians. Christ was not considered to be the Lord by any of them.
Most JEWS today will say that there was a pretended messiah living in Galilee 2,000 years ago. And in the theology of the average Muslim, Jesus is an acknowledged prophet. The LDS church recognizes Jesus as one of their gods. And even many atheists will say that Jesus was an important teacher of ancient morality. But these people remind us there is a difference between knowing about Christ and actually knowing Christ.
What knowledge of Christ do we share with the average Roman Catholic? We know He was virgin born, and that his mother was Mary of Nazareth and eventually the wife of Joseph. But at that point – what we know of Mary differs from what they think they know of her. We both agree that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God. And that leads to other agreements we have on the nature of God. Both Catholics and Bible-believing Baptists know that Jesus Christ performed a great variety of miracles. We both know that Jesus was crucified by the Romans. And we mutually know that it is through the blood of Christ that sinners are saved. But we disagree on the extent, and what was actually accomplished, in the crucifixion. Both Catholics and Baptists know that the Old Testament is filled with prophecies about Jesus. We might even agree about Christophanies and the Old Testament “Angel of the Lord.” But knowledge of these things does not guarantee the eternal salvation of either Baptists or Catholics.
When it comes to ATHEISTS, what they know of Christ today may be different from what their fathers knew. Deists like Voltaire and atheists like Bertrand Russell and Jean-Paul Sartre (sartu) knew our Bible better than their children today. In the 17th and 18th centuries, before cell phones and video games, theology was many a gentleman’s hobby. The well-known unbelievers of three centuries ago, could tell you about the life of Jesus. So what makes your knowledge of God, or of Christ, any different from any well-educated atheist? I hope that it is a difference of about 18 inches – the distance between your head and your heart.
There is a SIMPLE knowledge about Christ, and there is a SAVING knowledge of Christ.
When the Lord Jesus was praying in John 17, He said in verse 3: “This is life eternal, that they might KNOW thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.” Was the Lord saying that if someone learns and knows a certain number of facts, they earn eternal life? If this was all that the Bible said about the criteria for salvation, then the there would have to be some annexation of property around the heavenly city to accommodate all of its eventual residents. But knowing Christ is not merely knowing about Him, theologically, historically or biographically.
In John 3 there was a very highly educated Jewish theologian who ventured to visit the Saviour. He began by saying, “Rabbi, we KNOW that thou art a teacher come from God, for no man can do these miracles which thou doest, except God be with him.” Jesus’ reply to Nicodemus’ knowledge was, “Ye must be born again.” There is knowledge of Christ that will only come when the cold, dead heart is regenerated with spiritual life. When someone is born again that person becomes a part of the family of God, and as such knows the Father and the Son in an entirely different way than what he might learn in a religious classroom. No one truly knows Christ, who has not learned of Him through faith and submission.
Let’s say that for some foolish reason you’d like to write a biography of Kenneth David Oldfield. To do your research, you could google my name and gather a few little facts. You could study my tiny presence on social media. You might try to access FBI files, but I don’t think there is very much there. You could chat with my parents, looking for insight on my childhood – no, wait, that won’t be possible. My wife, Judy, of course, could give you a lot of information. But, by far, the best source of information about me, would have to come from me. And what if I didn’t want to share?
Similarly, no one is going to know Christ, who has not personally met Him. No one is going to know Him who has not been taught by his biographer the Holy Spirit of Christ. And He is not going to teach anyone who does not bow before the Lord in faith and repentance. In fact, it isn’t so much OUR knowing of Christ, but HIS knowing of us that is important. Christ said to a bunch of unbelieving Jews, “Ye believe not because ye are not of my sheep.” – John 10:26. It is because we are known of Christ, that what Jesus said earlier in that chapter is true: “I am the good shepherd, the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. And when (the Shepherd) putteth forth his own sheep, be goeth before them, and the sheep follow him, for they KNOW his voice. I am the good shepherd, and KNOW my sheep, and am KNOWN of mine.”
Two men entered into the Seminary to pray, one was a sinful publican and the other a professor of theology. The theologian stood and prayed thus with himself: “I thank thee, God, that I know thee backwards and forwards, and up and down, unlike this theological nincmpoop. I even use Biblical pronouns.” When he was finished, the visitor beat upon his chest, and said: “Please God, be merciful to me, a sinner, in the name of the Lord Jesus.” I tell you the theologian went home proud of all that he knew about God. But the humble sinner, who knew only Jesus the Saviour, went home to his house justified.
God said in Jeremiah 9 – “Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches. But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understand and KNOWETH me, that I am the Lord which exercise lovingkindness, judgment and righteousness in the earth…”
I once read that at a society dinner, among the guests were a famous actor and the local Baptist preacher. As the night wore on some of the guests asked the actor to give a rendition of some famous material. He turned to the preacher asking for a recommendation; and the man suggested Psalm 23. The actor knew the Psalm from his youth and began with the most sonorous and stately tone. It was wonderfully presented with every word enunciated perfectly and with pauses at appropriate points. When he was done there was a rousing ovation. Then that actor demanded that the preacher quote it as well. Reluctantly the man of God began to speak; he faultered and began again. He slurred a few words, pausing and hesitating in places where the actor had passed straight through. There were tears in his eyes, and his voice choked a couple times. As he finished there was no clapping or backslapping, but there were a few additional tears. Humbly, the actor had to admit that although he knew the Psalm – the preacher knew the Shepherd.
What kind of knowledge of Christ do you have? Is it SIMPLE or SAVING knowledge; is it a knowledge of your head or is it of your heart? The difference between these two are as great as the difference between the light of the moon and the light of the sun. Again I’ll quote John 17:3 where Jesus prayed, “And this is life eternal, that they might KNOW thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent.” A couple verses later Jesus said to the Father, “I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them and have KNOWN surely that I came out from THEE, and they have BELIEVED that THOU didst send me.” Christ’s disciples know Jesus, because they know Him as their Lord and Saviour. The kind of knowledge we might call “saving” involves more than knowing a few facts with the MIND; it involves a HEART of faith. It is that faith which permits us to enter into the divine library, where all the important information is stored.
So there is a difference between simple knowledge and saving knowledge. But there is a still greater difference between saving knowledge and that of which Paul speaks in Philippians 3:10. As someone whom the Lord had already saved, Paul said, “Oh, that I may KNOW him.”
Paul is referring to an INSATIABLE hunger for more of Christ.
He says from his Roman dungeon, “I want to KNOW Christ.” But that is AFTER he has testified, “Christ Jesus is my LORD.” It is after he said, “I rejoice in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh.” It is after, “I have suffered the loss of all things for Christ.” The men and women in the Bible who had this yearning were actually growing in their possession of the Lord. Like Paul, they were the people who accomplished great things for Jehovah. They were the ones who passed through the difficulties of life joyfully and successfully. They were the people who most clearly glorified the Lord – the One we are supposed to glorify. But how can a Christian of average intellect come to possess something for which Paul yearned so much? If he didn’t have it, can we ever attain it?
There is a sense in which the blessing of this knowledge is not in the having, but in the obtaining. Picture the Lord like the oceans of the world and knowledge of him like the purifying and drinking of those oceans. For every cup that we drink, the oceans are filling by ten cups or ten gallons. The Lord is inexhaustible. Unlike human knowledge and the sciences which diverge into many branches, in Christ Jesus all knowledge converges into one magnificent nucleus. There is no man on earth capable of knowing the Lord absolutely. We would have to be equal to the Lord to know the Lord in that way.
As I may have said last week, the Gospel of John essentially closes with the words: “And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen.” Thomas Edison once said “We don’t know a millionth of one percent about anything.” Edison was not a Christian; he was what was then called a “Free Thinker” – rejecting the Bible. If he had known God and His Word, he might have added that when it comes to the infinite God we don’t know a million millions of one percent of Jehovah. If the world could not contain all we might know of Christ, then how could our little finite minds contain it? Yet at the same time, knowing what we know by faith in Him, having a desire to know Him better is proof of spiritual life. And to have a little progress in that knowledge is the fuel we need to continue on in our Christian lives. This growing knowledge is the source of true happiness and peace. This expanding knowledge is essential in our bearing the image of Christ. Through his knowledge is the essence of the glory of God.
Conclusion:
“Paul,” who at the time was known as “Saul”… Saul, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews, as touching the law a Pharisee… Who was also at the time as dumb as a rock, both in mind and heart… Saul met the Saviour on the road outside of Damascus, and he instantly knew Him as his Lord and Saviour. “Lord what would you have me to do?” Christ might have answered, “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.” That is the point of beginning; that is the elementary school of Bible theology. Saul was a sinner, just like you and me, and he needed a redeemer, the sacrificed Lord Christ Jesus.
At that point Paul began his journey learning more about the Son of God. And that education became the never-ending passion of his life. That yearning for more of the Lord in every way possible, was a proof that he knew the Lord as his Saviour.
Have you met Saviour? Has the Saviour met you? Has he become your shepherd? Are you listening to His voice? Are you listening FOR His voice? As the Holy Spirit speaks to your heart, won’t you bow in repentance before Him today, putting your trust in Him?