I Don't Know But I Know

Introduction:

We live in uncertain times. I guess all times are uncertain, but our world feels chaotic right now. There’s so much that we don’t know. Last Sunday, we didn’t know that we’d be closed down this week. There are so many things that we don’t know, and sometimes we get worried about the things we don’t know.

We don’t know when Jesus will come back.

We don’t know if we’ll be alive when Jesus returns.

We don’t know how the Afghanistan fiasco will turn out.

We don’t know if we’ll make it to our next birthday.

We don’t know if or when we’ll get COVID.

We don’t know how long COVID is going to be a major issue in our world.

Here are some of my own personal “I don’t knows.”

I don’t know if or when my daughters will each find a godly man to marry.

I don’t know how to explain some parts of the Bible.

I don’t know when my mom will invite us over for gumbo again (maybe soon if she’s watching).

Lastly, I don’t know if Dustin’s going to stay awake throughout this whole message.

We have much uncertainty in our lives, and there are a lot of things which we don’t know. However, there are some things which we DO know which can give us peace in the middle of the chaos in our world. The Bible has some awesome “I know” verses. There are lot of things I don’t know, but there are some things that I know and am certain about.

I know that I’m sinful.

Romans 7:18—For I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh. (CSB)

Most of you don’t have to be convinced of your sinfulness. You see it staring at you every day.

I think sinful thoughts. I say sinful things. I do sinful things. I sin sometimes by not doing something. I’m a sinner, and you are, too.

To add to this fact of our badness, our sin deserves punishment, and sinning against the eternal God deserves punishment in hell.

I know that I’m sinful and so are you.

I know God is just.

Psalm 119:75—I know, Lord, that Your judgments are just and that You have afflicted me fairly. (CSB)

Here’s the deal: God is just and holy, and therefore, must punish our sin.

Hell is our rightful punishment for sinning against the holy God, so we have a major problem that we can no way fix.

The good news is that God is not just just.

I know that God is greater than anything, including my sin problem.

Psalm 135:5—For I know that the Lord is great; our Lord is greater than all gods. (CSB)

God didn’t let a big or a little problem get in His way. God is just and must punish our sin, but God is love, too. In His love, He made a way to punish our sin through Jesus.

God sent Jesus to the earth to live the perfect life which we all fail to live. Then He died the death which all deserved to die. Because Jesus lived perfectly, He was able to take our place on the cross as the substitute for God’s punishment against us. Then Jesus was buried and rose again on the 3rd day—proving that He’s the Lord and that His sacrifice for us was acceptable to God.

Our sin problem was huge, but God is bigger than our problems.

I know that Jesus lives.

Job 19:25—I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end He will stand on the earth. (NIV)

Do you believe that Jesus lives today?

Job could say with certainty that the Lord was living, and in the end, the Lord would be standing upon the earth. Jesus didn’t die and stay dead. He rose again on the 3rd day.

When we believe in Jesus and in the good news of what He did for us, we become a child of God.

Do you have a personal relationship with Jesus?

I know Jesus.

2 Timothy 1:12—I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to guard what has been entrusted to me until that day. (CSB)

Paul didn’t say that he knew what but that he knew whom. He knew Jesus.

When you become God’s child, you enter into an experiential relationship. You don’t just know about Him, but you begin to actually know Him by experience as you interact with Him.

Some of you know about Dustin because you see him playing and singing on Sunday. You’ve heard him get personal as he shares between songs, but many of you only know about Him. You don’t really have a personal relationship with Dustin.

Do you merely know about Jesus, or do you really know Him?

I know that God is for me.

Psalm 56:9—This I know: God is for me. (CSB)

I’m for my daughters. I’m for a personal relationship with them, and that’s why I pursue a relationship with them. I want to spend time with them.

I’m for my daughters. I’m for their walk with God, and that’s why I try to train them to follow God in their daily lives.

I’m for my daughters. I’m for their prosperity and success in life but not at the expense of their spiritual lives.

I’m for my kids (and my wife is, too).

To an infinite degree more, God is for…HIS…children.

If you’re a true believer in Christ, God is for you. Never forget that.

Understand this: God was against you because of your sin, but when God the Son died on the cross for you, God the Father was against Jesus for you. Jesus took your place with the Father being against Him. That’s why Jesus said, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?” Jesus had become sin for you in that moment, and God turned against Him. The wrath of God was poured out on Jesus for you so that by your response of faith God could be for you.

I don’t know if you got that totally, but through faith in Jesus, God is for you.

I know that God’s work will continue.

Ecclesiastes 3:14—I know that everything God does will last forever; there is no adding to it or taking from it. (CSB)

Job 42:2—​I know that You can do anything and no plan of Yours can be thwarted. (CSB)

When God saves you, He keeps you. No one can undo what He does—not even you.

Philippians 1:6—I am sure of this, that He who started a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. (CSB)

God will keep that work going until He’s complete. You’re a work in progress. You still have rough edges. Now don’t use that as an excuse to push back against the Holy Spirit, but also don’t give up on yourself either.

God’s going to keep revealing flaws in you, and He’s going to keep helping you work through those flaws. The problem comes when we resist Him or ignore Him.

Conclusion: Vietnam Soldier

We know a lot of things, but we also don’t know a lot of things. God knows all things, and He still wants a relationship with us.

A story is told about a soldier who was finally coming home after having fought in Vietnam. He called his parents from San Francisco.

“Mom and Dad, I’m coming home, but I’ve a favor to ask. I have a friend I’d like to bring home with me.”

“Sure,” they replied. “We’d love to meet him.”

“There’s something you should know,” the son continued. “He was hurt pretty badly in the fighting. He stepped on a land mine and lost an arm and a leg. He has nowhere else to go, and I want him to come live with us.”

“I’m sorry to hear that, Son. Maybe we can help him find somewhere to live.”

“No, Mom and Dad, I want him to live with us.”

“Son,” said the father, “you don’t know what you’re asking. Someone with such a handicap would be a terrible burden to us. We have our own lives to live, and we can’t let something like this interfere with our lives. I think you should just come on home and forget about this guy. He’ll find a way to live on his own.”

At that point, the son hung up the phone. The parents heard nothing more from him. A few days later, however, they received a call from the San Francisco police. Their son died after falling from a building, they were told. The police believed it was suicide.

The grief-stricken parents flew to San Francisco and were taken to the city morgue to identify the body of their son. They recognized him, but to their horror they also discovered something they didn’t know—their son had only one arm and one leg.[1]

· Again, the good news is that God knows everything about us, and yet He still wants us to have a relationship with Him.

· And in the middle of our chaotic world, there are some things which we know, and we can know the One who offers peace and hope to help us navigate the uncertainties of our time.

[1] Rice, W. (2010). Hot illustrations for youth talks: 100 attention-getting stories, parables, and anecdotes. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.