There are some truths that are, well, we call them common knowledge. Things that everybody knows. It’s truths that are most obvious; very plain. 2+2=4. Common knowledge. Sun rises in the east and sets in the west, or at least appears in the eastern horizon to be more accurate. That’s common knowledge. Four seasons are in the year—common knowledge. It’s pretty common knowledge that the United States entered World War II after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Most Americans know that. That’s common knowledge. The state bird of New Mexico is the? It’s common knowledge. The roadrunner.

But other truths aren’t so plain, not so obvious, unless you have a knowledge that is special and apart from what others know. An example: there was an artist who had his work, original paintings, in an art gallery and he decided that he would go one day down to see if any of them sold because they hadn’t been selling. Art can be expensive. Well when he went down to the art gallery and he talked to the owner, he noticed that there was none of his paintings hanging up in the gallery. Well he was puzzled and he said well what’s up? Where are my paintings? And the owner said well I’ve got some good news and some bad news. Yesterday a man came in with an interesting question. He said is it true that works of art go up in value once the artist is dead? I thought that was an odd question. I said well yeah, that’s common knowledge. When somebody dies, their artwork, if they’re an artist, goes up significantly. And then the man proceeded to buy all of your paintings. Well the artist was puzzled. And the owner of the gallery said now that was the good news. The bad news is that that man was your personal doctor. So you see the doctor had some knowledge that the artist did not have. It was not common to him.

Number one, true life will come by death. True life will come by death. That’s the first plain truth. Second, true words are hard to hear. Number three, true motives will be discovered. And number four, true disciples will not leave.

There was a man who left church one Sunday after the sermon and he’s going out to the car and he’s grumbling about the sermon. He didn’t like it. Maybe it was one of those hard word sermons. He’s grumbling about the sermon, gets in the car, grumbles about the sermon, then he grumbles about the traffic he has to put up with, then he grumbles because the day is so hot. Then he goes home and his wife serves him lunch and he grumbles about the food and then he says to his family, well let’s pray before the meal. Now his little son’s watching this. You can imagine what a little boy is thinking especially when his father bows his head. He goes Lord, thank You for today. Thank You for the message and thank You for this food. And then said Amen. So the little boy said Daddy, excuse me, but when you were fussing about the sermon and the day and the traffic, did God hear that? Well now the father’s embarrassed. He goes, well, yeah. And then the little boy said and when you thanked God for the food and the day and the sermon, did God hear that? And he said yes God heard that. And so the little boy would naturally ask this question: then Dad which of those did God believe? Which of those did God … who’s the real you, Dad?