Confidence in Christ (1 John 5:11-21)

Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet this week.

Confidence in Christ

Chet Phillips

Download

Transcript

This is the message we have heard from Him and declare to you. God is light. In Him, there is no darkness at all. This is how we know what love is. Jesus Christ laid down His life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.

I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God. So that you may know you have eternal life. Good morning. My name is Chet. I'm one of the pastors here. We are in 1 John for one more week.

This is it. We are finishing up this letter that John wrote. The Apostle John, who was one of the disciples of Jesus, wrote. Most likely to be circulated among the churches. It doesn't really have anyone he directly addresses. And this is kind of written to the churches as John was older.

And he writes this letter to the churches. And we are finishing up today. We are going to look at where John says, this is why I wrote this. So we're going to look at kind of his final conclusion. And the way this works today as we come to this section in 1 John 5 is this final conclusion. And then it's kind of like when your teacher was finished teaching, had taught everything they needed to tell you on a subject.

And then the bell rings. And they shout a few things at you as you're walking out of the room to kind of take with you. They're important. But it's like the main part of what he said is kind of concluding. And then he says, now take this with you. Here's kind of what to do from here.

And so we're going to pick up in 1 John 5. And we're going to look at verse 11. We read this last week. But we're going to look at it again as we start this morning. So we'll pick up 1 John 5, verse 11.

Let's pray. And then we'll get into the text. God, we ask that we would have ears to hear your word this morning. And that we would not be people who just hear it, but that we would respond. We pray for the work of your spirit this morning. That you would move.

That you would convict. That you would encourage. That we might draw closer to you in repentance. And that we might receive grace and joy and salvation and confidence in Christ. In Jesus' name. Amen.

1 John 5, verse 11. He says this. And this is the testimony that God gave us eternal life. And this life is in his son. Whoever has the son has life. Whoever does not have the son of God does not have life.

So whoever has the son has life. Whoever does not have the son of God. Does not have life. And John has said very clear, direct message this whole time. And I want you to see how clear this line is. There's no ambiguity here in the scriptures.

You have Jesus. You have life. If you don't have Jesus. If you don't have life. And this life here is not enjoyment and delight in this life. The way we might would say.

Yeah, I'm really living the life. Living the good life. That's not what he's meaning here. He means eternal life. Now that does bring some delight and joy in this life.

But not always. But that's not what he's talking about. What he's talking about is eternal life. That if you believe in Jesus. You have eternal life. That's what he says in verse 13.

I write these things to you. Who believe in the name of the son of God. That you may know that you have eternal life. I write these things to you. Who believe in the name of the son of God. That you may know that you have eternal life.

I'm sorry. Carlos, can you turn me down a little bit? I want to get aggressive later. And I don't want to feel like I can't. Alright. Thank you.

I was hearing myself in my head too much. I write these things to you. Who believe in the name of the son of God. That you may know that you have eternal life. That's his thesis. That's why he wrote this.

That you may know that you have eternal life. If you believe in Jesus. That's the whole point of this letter. That you really genuinely believe. And this. We need to hear this.

Because culturally. In the south. We all know some things about Jesus. Maybe you've been told things about Jesus. Maybe when you were younger. You said a prayer.

And you told him you believed in him. But the belief that is in 1 John. Is real. It's tangible. It affects life. It doesn't just mean that we know things.

That we mentally agree with some things. But it means that we're banking on. Trusting in Christ. I have several friends who work in. Financial advising kind of work. And one of them was telling me one time.

That they had a lady who was very wealthy. And she invested all of her money. In UPS. And they would talk to her and say. Hey. That's a lot of money.

You should probably diversify. And she would say. Nope. And then. UPS would dip. It would drop.

She's losing money. The price of UPS would go way down. And sure enough. Phone would ring. They'd answer. It'd be her.

And she'd say. Think I should buy some more UPS? It's cheaper now. And they're like. No. But she would.

And I heard recently. She's doing quite well for herself. UPS is doing well right now. But she believed in UPS. She's trusting in UPS. She's got hope in UPS.

And that's some of what he's talking about. When you trust in Jesus. Have you actually begun to put weight there? Is your hope actually in Christ? Or is it just something you've said. But there's no.

You have no skin in the game. You haven't actually begun to devote yourself to him. Follow him. And have this show up in your life. And this is what he says over and over again. That it looks real.

And we showed this triangle. John's love triangle. The love triangle that Christians can really get on board with. We showed this the other day. But this is what John says over and over and over again.

We said it was like Mr. Miyagi's wax on, wax off. He just goes through this over and over and over again. But he says if you believe in Jesus. You have the Father. It's through Christ that we're brought in.

It's through Christ that we're given salvation. This is not something that we earn or accomplish or do. But it's through Christ. But then once that happens. We love the Father. Father.

And he loves us. And we love the brothers. We love the church. And that by loving the church we love the Father. And if we love the Father we'll love the brothers. And then it says if we love the brothers we'll obey his commands.

And by obeying his commands that helps us love the brothers. But obeying his commands also shows our love for the Father. And John in his letter goes through and basically covers each one of those up. And says if someone tells you they have the Father but they don't have Jesus. Liar. Liar.

And then he says if they tell you they have the Father but they don't love the brothers. Liar. And then he says if they say they have the Father but they don't obey his commands. Liar. And he doesn't mince words. He's pretty clear with his this is what it looks like.

And he does not say that these things save you. He says that Jesus saves you. But that once he remakes you this is what you look like. Those are the these things that he's talking about in verse 13. When he says I write these things those are the these things that he's talking about. The stuff that he said over and over again.

That Jesus came in the flesh. That he died for sinners. That we have hope in him. That he is the Christ. That those who believe in him are forgiven. And he said all this so that if you know if you have Christ you know you have eternal life.

His whole letter was meant to be encouraging. Have you trusted in Jesus? You have life. Eternal life. Essential hope for eternity in Christ. Verse 14.

Now as we move on that's his that's his main point. And now it's like I said it's a little bit like the bell rings. And then he gives us things to kind of take with us. He's finished his main argument. And he's saying now here's some things to know and to do from here. And as he says these things there are a couple of places where if we misunderstand what he's saying we can head in some odd territory theologically.

So we'll have to a couple times try to tease some things out. But he says this in verse 14. And this is the confidence that we have toward him that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask we know that we have the request that we have asked of him. Now Jesus says this in John's gospel multiple times.

The same idea. If we pray according to the will of God he answers our prayers. He says this in John 14. John 15 twice. And in John 16. Jesus repeatedly tells them that it's God's pleasure to answer the prayers of believers.

That it's his pleasure and delight to actually move through us praying in the name of Christ and to see things happen. This is an incredibly encouraging text for him to say God hears your prayers and he responds to your prayers. Now the way we could get a little sideways with this is to go sweet. I'm a Christian. I can ask for whatever I want and he'll give me whatever I want. He says if we pray anything according to his will.

Well this has actually been beneficial in my life. When I was in middle school. Seventh, eighth grade. I used to pray. I would read my Bible a lot. And I was like.

I was like okay if you have faith you can move mountains or whatever. And if you really come to the Lord in faith he answers prayers. And I used to pray at night before I went to bed. Trying to muster up as much faith as I could. That I would wake up with a full beard. That was my prayer.

And not like the beginnings of a beard. A beard. Like I wanted to wake up looking like Gimli from Lord of the Rings or something. A ZZ Top. And God apparently didn't have that in his will for me to have that happen in seventh and eighth grade. And actually I really appreciate.

That's a kind of a trivial example of God's grace towards me in all the prayers he has in answer. Because the hope we have here is that he hears us and that he responds and that our prayers are effective. And that he's good enough to move according to his goodness and his wisdom for us. And so there's this great encouragement here on both sides. That he does hear our requests. And that you can come to him with specific requests.

Praying and trusting that in his goodness he answers prayers. Praying and trusting that in his goodness. I don't know if these are related. I like to think that they are. I have two brothers and I am the only one capable of growing a full beard. And it brings me great joy.

Now maybe they prayed that they would be able to get a tan. And I never thought to pray for that. My skin turns red and falls off. I actually passed that on to my younger son. When we took him out the first time and we put sunscreen on him. We could not tell where it went.

Like we wiped it on. And I was like oh my gosh this is going to take forever. Because there was no way to tell if it was on him or not. So anyway. Okay. Lost my train of thought there.

Let's keep going. He answers prayers and he continues with that. And he goes into verse 16. He is going to press on this idea. That we would have confidence in our faith in him to pray. And then he specifically tells us something to pray for.

Verse 16. If anyone sees his brother committing a sin. Not leading to death. He shall ask. And God will give him life. So you see your brother in sin.

You pray on behalf of your brother. And God gives life. That he works in that situation to bring about redemption. It says to those who commit sins. That do not lead to death. There is sin that leads to death.

I do not say that one should pray for that. All wrongdoing is sin. But there is sin that does not lead to death. Okay. John actually says something that is pretty straightforward here. Then he says a whole lot of other things.

As he is saying that. So that his main point here. Is if you see a brother in sin. Pray for them. And God brings about repentance. He brings about life.

He brings about redemption. That is what he said. But that is not what we heard. I know if I was in school. And John was doing this. My hand would be up before he was even done.

And he would say yes. Annoyed with me. Because I would raise my hand a lot. Just so you know. I did this in school. Yes.

What is a sin that leads to death. What is a sin that leads to death. Would be my question. What was that that you said there. And thankfully John hasn't mentioned this before. He doesn't mention it again.

This is all we get. He just says it and moves on. And I was being sarcastic when I said thankfully. That's not very helpful. This is just what he said. So you want to ask this question.

It's like I want to hear what you said. And he did say something positive. He told us a command. But what is this whole thing about sins that lead to death. And sins that don't lead to death. I feel like we should understand what that is.

So we're going to try to answer that question first. Here's the thing. This is the only place that this is mentioned. In the New Testament. It's the only place it's mentioned in John. It's the only place it's mentioned in the New Testament.

There's not even Old Testament real clear references. To what he would be talking about in these two categories. And so here's what happens. When you come across something like this. That's a little unclear. What you do is you look at the immediate context.

What came right before it. What comes right after it. Sometimes the author will define their terms. You look at the context of the book it's in. The letter it's in. You look at the context of all of scripture.

And so what we're able to do this morning. Is to rule some things out. I think we can make that category smaller. We can try to understand it a little better. But I can't give you a definitive.

Here's exactly what he meant. Because he doesn't give that to us. And nowhere in the scriptures does he give that to us. But I think we can say it doesn't mean this. And it doesn't mean this. And this is helpful.

Because what happens often with passages like this. Is that that's the correct approach. You zoom out. You try to figure out. Okay well if this says this. And it could be taken this way.

It could mean that there are some specific sins. That you commit. That are sins that lead to death. You need to know what those are. Because they're immediately disqualifying. But then you read other passages.

And you go well that actually doesn't seem like that's what that could mean. And so you change it. But there are times where people use these. Little obscure kind of passages. As if they're like the secret door. To like a speakeasy or something.

Like you know the secret knock. And then the little slit opens. And just the eyes pop out. And if you can just figure out. Oh we found it. If we just dig into this one.

And if you really understand what's going on. Then you'll be in on all the bible secrets. And it's like that's that's not helpful. And it honestly is a little weird for John to do in his letter. He just said I wrote this letter. So that you can have confidence in Christ.

That if you believe in Christ. You know you know that you have eternal life. And then he goes unless you commit one of the secret sins. Gotta go. It's like wait what? And he's like oh nothing.

It's like no that that can't be what he's doing. And so people would look at this and say. Maybe there's a list of sins. And if you commit that one. That's a sin leading to death. And people have thrown out guesses.

People have guessed murder. Adultery. Suicide. They'll try to fill that list out. The problem is we have no textual defense for that. Here or elsewhere.

The catholic church teaches mortal sin. And venial sin. Or they have the teaching of the seven deadly sins. Which would you would think. Oh maybe that's what it's talking about. Well the bible doesn't talk about seven deadly sins.

In any kind of different way from normal sin. So here's what we know about sin. All sin leads to physical death. And all sin not redeemed in Christ. Leads to eternal death. That's flat basic teaching of the scriptures.

Over and over again. The wages of sin is death. We will all die. And in Adam we are all born into that. That we inherit sin. And that we choose sin.

And that we all deserve death. But that through Christ we can have eternal life. So when he gives these two categories. He does seem to have in mind some sort of a sin. Some sort of a behavior. Some sort of an action.

That is something that leads to this eternal death. Not just physical death. But some sort of something that leads to eternal death. I don't think that we can just pick a particular type of sin. One because I don't think we have any backing for that. And two because he's already said in his letter.

That sins that are repented of are forgiven. First John 1.9. If we confess our sins. He's faithful to forgive our sins. And to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. It's not like he put an asterisk.

And said see chapter 5. Except for those secret ones. That I'm not going to tell you about. Best of luck. He's saying no. That we actually.

He says in John chapter. First John chapter 2. Verse 1. My little children. I'm writing these things to you. So that you may not sin.

But if anyone does sin. We have an advocate with the Father. Jesus Christ. The righteous. So he says if you're watching a brother.

And they're committing a sin that doesn't lead to death. Pray for them. He says but not sins that lead to death. I don't think he even. Considers that. Brothers.

True brothers. The way that he's taught us this entire time. Can actually commit. Sins that lead to eternal death. Because he consistently says. If you have Jesus.

If you're a real brother. He works in you. He brings about this redemption. He even says in. In first John chapter 2. Verse 19.

When he's talking about people who've left the faith. He says they went out from us. But they were not of us. For if they had been of us. They would have continued with us. But they went out.

That it might become plain. That they all are not of us. John seems to have a really clear line. Brothers. Stay. Brothers continue to believe.

Brothers repent. And if they don't. They weren't brothers. So here's what I think he's. Saying. If.

You see. A brother. That you understand. Because the way that we understand. Who is a brother. Is they tell us.

And then he gives us some things. As we go through. That he says. Well. They probably aren't. They're probably lying.

If. But if you see. A brother. A sister. In Christ. And they're in sin.

Pray for them. And God will respond. God will work. On their behalf. But. Then he gives us.

Category of sins. That lead to death. And I think. Textually. From John. Or from the rest of scriptures.

He meet. He has in mind. One of two things. He potentially. And. And people land.

In different areas on this. Because it's unclear. I will tell you. That. You can rejoice. In the fact.

That whenever there's. A random little. Thing like this. That uses a phrase. That isn't used elsewhere. It's not a major point.

Of doctrine. God tried to make everything clear. He came to rescue us. Paul tells us. That Jesus is the mystery revealed. Not that there's new.

Extra mysteries to find out. It's possible. That John has in mind. Because he was a disciple of Jesus. Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. It's the one sin.

That Jesus mentions. That will not be forgiven. In this age. Or the age to come. So it's possible.

John just says. I understand. There's a category. For a type of sin. That is unforgivable. And basically.

That's not what I'm talking about. I think that's unlikely. But some people say. That they think. That maybe John. Just had that in mind.

I think John. Has in mind. What he's been talking about. This entire time. Which is this. Triangle.

Of what a Christian. Looks like. And I think what he's saying. Is if you have a brother. Or sister. That he's been talking about.

The whole time. And saying. They left. They're liars. They're not really a part of us. But he's been doing this line.

In the sand. Over and over again. I think what he's saying. Is if you're walking. With a brother or sister. And they actually.

Say they're a brother. But they reject Jesus. That they have. What he calls. The spirit of the antichrist. That they.

They reject Jesus. He. First. First John. 2. 22 says.

Who is the liar. But he who denies. That Jesus is the Christ. Then I think he would say. They're committing sins. That put in the category.

Of they're actually. Walking towards. Eternal destruction. Or if he says. If they say. They're a brother.

But they. They. They. They know the father. But they hate the brothers.

Or they know the father. But they're walking in. Unrepentant. Consistent sin. The things that he's talked about. That they just say.

I don't have to repent of this. This is fine. That. And the reason I think. That's what he's walling off here. Is because of the way.

That he words this. In verse 16. He says. There is sin. That leads to death. I do not say.

That one should pray for that. So that. I do not say. That one should pray for that. Is written. In Greek.

Oddly. I don't read Greek. But I read commentaries. Of people who read Greek. And they told me. That sentence is weird.

And here's what they said. John says everything. Really directly. Forcefully. He hasn't. Minded doing that at all.

Some of you have been frustrated. With John. Because he's just been. Really clear. You can't argue. With what he's trying to say.

He just didn't like. What he had to say. Kind of like Raz. On our pastor team. He's really clear. That's what John's doing.

He's just been really clear. This sentence is not really clear. This is actually what it. If you translated it literally. Not concerning that. Do I say he should request.

And what they're saying. Is that he doesn't say. Don't pray for that. He says. That type. Is not what I'm telling you.

To pray about. Which just leaves. This weird opening. That you could pray about it. But that's not what he's talking about.

And the reason why. I think that's what he's saying. Is because. If you look back at verse 16. If anyone sees his brother. Committing a sin.

Not leading to death. Then he gives a promise. He shall ask. And God will give him life. To those who commit sins. That do not lead to death.

So he has this promise. God will give him life. In between. Not leading to death. Not leading to death. And I think the reason.

He specifies. I'm not talking about. This other category. Is because he's promising. God will answer. That's why I think.

It's worded. The way that it's worded. What he's saying is. If you see a brother. Or sister in sin. Pray for them.

And I have beautiful news for you. God in his grace. Leads Christians. To repent. God through the empowerment. Of his spirit.

Brings them. Back. Plead. On their behalf. Because I can promise you. God will not lose.

A believer. But he will bring them back. To eternal life. But. The type of rejection. Of the gospel type sins.

That he's been talking about. He's not mentioning. He's not saying that. For them. Because I don't think. He can promise.

That God will bring about. Repentance. If you're walking with someone. Who rejects Jesus. And is living out. What he calls.

The spirit of the antichrist. His antichrist. Is against Christ. I don't think. He can promise you. That God's going to.

Give him life. I think that's why. He's worded it this way. Now. There are other people. Who would.

Who would approach that differently. But that's my understanding. As I've studied it. That he's basically. Stepping around those. And saying.

If they've been living out. All the things. I've been telling you. Are the marks. Of an unbeliever. Pretending to be a believer.

I can't promise. That they'll repent. But let's not get hung up there. Because what he says. Is actually really beautiful. If you see a brother.

Or sister in sin. Pray for him. Because God in his grace. Is going to give them life. Not because he says he will. So the question for us.

Isn't to raise our hand. And ask John. What's a sin that leads to death. What we ought to do. Is ask ourselves. Do I pray for my brothers and sisters.

When I see him in sin. If you're close enough. With somebody. Their sin is usually annoying. Unless you participate in it with them. There's another category.

Where you don't mind their sin. Because it excuses. You don't do it with them. But you. It excuses some other sin. That you have.

So you're cool with them being a sinner. As long as you're a sinner. And that one's kind of okay with you. But in general. A lot of times. The sin that we have.

In church family. And with our brothers and sisters. With people we're married to. Or room with. It's frustrating. Do we pray for them?

Do we ask God to help them? Do we ask God to grant them repentance? Do we ask for the Holy Spirit. To go to work in them? Or are we just annoyed? This gives us two people.

The Bible gives us two people. That you can talk to. When you see them in sin. Them. And God. Noticeably absent from that list.

Is other people. It's just a bonus. I'm throwing in there for us today. You can go to them and say. Hey I think you're in sin. I think you need to repent.

Or you can go to God and say. Hey would you grant them. That they're fighting. And I. Would you. Would you work for your Holy Spirit.

And the promise is that he will. For those who are genuine brothers. So he says. God hears us when we pray according to his will. And then he says. Let me tell you something.

That's according to his will. Christians repenting of sin. And walking in obedience. Pray for them. It's encouragement. To walk out.

Trusting God. And praying for one another. That we would stay far from sin. And this is what he says. Verse 18. He's going to end.

With three. We know. We know. We know. We know. He says this in verse 18.

We know. That everyone who has been born of God. Does not keep on sinning. But he who is born of God. Protects him. And the evil one does not.

Touch him. Here's another passage. That's extremely encouraging. But we could get. Sideways on. So.

We just need to clarify something. When he says. We know that everyone who's been born of God. Does not keep on sinning. What he means is. Those who've been.

Made new. By faith in Christ. The Holy Spirit has indwelled them. Has renewed them. When he says. They don't keep on sinning.

He does not mean. They eventually get to where they never sin. That's. That's not in line with what he says. In the rest of his book. What he means is.

They do not make a practice. Of sin. In such a way. That they become okay with it. The genuine believers. Are never.

As the Holy Spirit indwells them. Become okay with. Sin. They can't just pick one. And say. This one's fine.

Recently. And culturally. We've had our whole denominations. Pick things that the Bible says is sin. Specifically in. In sexual sin.

And just said. This one isn't sin anymore. And he just says. That's not how it works. We're not allowed to do that. We can't just.

Pick things. And say. This isn't sin. This one's okay. This one's fine for me. He says.

No. Christians will be led to repentance. And this is what he says throughout. So. Christians do sin. First John.

Eight. And ten. I'm just going to read these. I want you to. To listen. If we say we have no sin.

We deceive ourselves. The truth is not in us. If we say we have no sin. Like a current have no sin. And then he says. If we say we have not sinned.

So like past. We make him a liar. And his word is not in us. So John starts off by saying. You're a sinner. But in the middle of those two verses.

He says this. If we confess our sins. He's faithful and just. To forgive our sins. And to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. We read this earlier.

But he says. I wrote this so that you won't sin. But if anyone does sin. He has an advocate with the father. He doesn't say. And if anyone does sin.

Kick them out. They're not really a Christian. Nobody would be here. I'm glad he doesn't say that. What he says is. In our sin.

We have an advocate. We have forgiveness. We have hope. But then he says this. In John 3. He says it twice.

No one who abides in him. Keeps on sinning. And no one who keeps on sinning. Has either seen him. Or known him. And 1 John 3.

9 Says. No one born of God. Makes a practice. Of sinning. For God's seed abides in him. And he cannot.

Keep on sinning. Because he has been born. Of God. That's what he's saying. In verse 18. We know.

That God. Leads Christians. To repentance. Not. This is the beautiful part. For Christians.

Not to say. That you gain. And lose your salvation. Not to say. That if you're. In the middle of sin.

And on your way home today. You slide off the road. And you hit a tree. And that's it for you. That you had to have been. Perfectly prayed up.

Or perfectly forgiven. Or maybe. You're doing pretty well. Until you started sliding off the road. And then you yelled out. Something very colorful.

That's frowned upon. And that was it. Those were your last two seconds. My grandmother got in a wreck one time. And she shouted out really loudly. Lord I'm coming home.

But for most of us. That's not what we're shouting. Maybe that's you. But for a lot of people. That's not you. And what he doesn't say is.

If you sin. No. What he's saying is. If you make that a practice. If that's a way of life for you. If you just become accustomed to it.

And you grow used to it. And you just say. This is mine. This is fine. I'm okay. That's what he's talking about.

But hear the encouragement here. Some of you. Are in the midst of a battle. With your flesh. And you feel like it's winning. I don't know about y'all.

I get so sick of myself sometimes. It's like. Come on. This again. Really. What is wrong with you.

I really agree with Paul. Where he says. He calls himself. Like he just says. What a wretched man that I am. There's something wrong with me.

If you're in the middle of that. Cling to verse 18. We know. That everyone who has been born of God. Does not keep on sinning. But he who was born of God.

That's Christ. Protects him. And the evil one does not. Touch him. We know. If you belong to Jesus.

Your sin doesn't win. It will not drag you. To hell. That's its claim. That's its threat. That's the power of the enemy.

But Christ has disarmed the enemy on our behalf. Verse 19. We know. That we are from God. And the whole world lies in lies in the power of the evil one. We know that we are from God.

And the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. Now that's. That's a claim. Don't miss that. There's a classic movie. With the guy from.

It's a wonderful life. Called the man who knew too much. I've never seen that. I've seen. Bill Murray's. Movie.

The man who knew too little. Which should be a classic. In the man who knew too little. Bill Murray shows up to visit his brother. In London. And his brother doesn't want to hang out with him.

Because he's Bill Murray. If you've ever watched any Bill Murray movies. You wouldn't want him to be your brother either. And so what his brother does. Is he sets him up with like one of the very first. Reality TV shows.

And basically the way it works is. He's supposed to go to this phone booth. Bill Murray's going to get a phone call. And then he's going to be taken into a situation. Where everybody's an actor. And they have hidden cameras.

And he's the only one. Who's just a regular person. And he's supposed to just live out. His. Sesbian dreams. Of being an actor.

And being on TV. And. When he answers the phone. In this phone booth. It's not that group. It's someone calling for a hit man.

And they give him specific instructions. On someone to go murder. And he gets swept up in this very. Dangerous. Multinational plot. And the whole time.

He thinks it's a joke. So he tries to redo scenes. People pull guns on him. And he's like. You'll never pull a gun on me. And he goes.

No that wasn't good. Let me try again. Like he does that. Multiple times. He argues with the cops. Someone's breaking down and crying.

And he's like. How do you do that? How do you make yourself cry? I just couldn't. Do you think about like. Maybe a puppy that died.

And they're like. Really having a hard time. And he's like. My dog died. And he's just trying to. But the whole time.

He just works his way. Through this whole situation. And everything is terrifying. And the stakes couldn't be higher. And he's oblivious to it. And there's a danger for us.

To just skim over. Verses like verse 19. And be oblivious. To what it just said to us. We know. That we are from God.

And the whole world lies. In the power of the evil one. We have a real enemy. And he has real authority. The Bible. Jesus speaks about him.

Having a kingdom. He's called the prince of the power of the air. He's called the God of this world. That he is at work. To destroy. And to rob people of joy.

And to keep people from Christ. And to drag people to hell. And it doesn't say this to us. To make us fearful. His whole point here. Is that we would have confidence in Christ.

That we would have rest in Christ. The Lord. To heal. To make us fyr a part of Christ. The Lord. Right of us.

Paracast. Walter. To. That we would have done it. We would have designed it. For34.

So. The Lord. Was. The Lord. Or after the death. By the death.

Then. The Lord. The Lord. But. During... Do not think so.

Because.

Testimony (1 John 5:6-13)

Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet this week.

Testimony

Spencer Cary

Download

Transcript

This is the message we have heard from Him and declare to you. God is light. In Him, there is no darkness at all. This is how we know what love is. Jesus Christ laid down His life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.

I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God. So that you may know you have eternal life. Good morning. My name is Spencer. I am one of the pastors here. We are in 1 John chapter 5 verses 6 through 12.

We have two more weeks in 1 John and we have completed the book. So you can follow along with us on the screen. You can also put a blue Bible around you. It will be on page 593 near the back. If you don't have a Bible at home, please take that. That's our gift to you.

We want you to have a Bible that you can read. Something that Christians struggle with from time to time, though we're not always honest about it, is doubt. It's something that maybe we're not even honest with ourselves when we struggle with this. But we do. If you follow Jesus long enough, you're going to struggle with doubt. Like, as a pastor, even pastors struggle with doubt.

And I have to ask myself sometimes, like, do I really believe this? Like, I preach this. My life is built upon this. Do I actually believe this? And I want to give you a window in into a little bit of how I think about this and some of the reasoning that I go through. My logic is certainly not infallible.

But this is how I process it. There are actually two possible options in how I've observed and studied. There's two possible options for what is true and for what is reality. The first option is that everything is the result of crazy, cosmic, random chance. That life on Earth and everything that we know in existence is just crazy chance. That in the vast expanse of the universe, we have this galaxy.

And within this galaxy, we have this solar system. And within the solar system, we have the Earth. Earth. And it's, like, perfectly positioned in the solar system and perfectly tilted at a 23.5 degree tilt to be able to sustain life. And that everything that we see is just one in, I mean, people try to run odds on this, one in trillion, quadrillion, ridiculous amounts of chance. That everything we see just is.

There's no such thing as love. There's no such thing as purpose or meaning or beauty. All of that's invented. You have to be consistent here. Everything you see just is. And then you die.

And then there's nothingness. All right. That's one possible option. The other possible option for me is that Jesus is who he said he was. That Jesus is the one true God. That when I look at this world, that it's so obvious to me that it's designed.

There's so many things that had to fall into place to the big picture of where the Earth is positioned and how it's positioned all the way down to, like, the design of the human eyeball. There's so many things that show that this was designed. And if I believe that this was designed, I need to work with who actually made this. And when you look at the different faith systems and the different creator type claims, I find Christianity to be the most compelling. Like, I studied world religions in college. I actually studied world religions and visited the different countries where these are practiced.

I studied Islam and then studied that in the context of Morocco and visited there. I studied Hinduism and visited Hindu temples in India. I studied Buddhism and went to a Buddhist temple in Thailand. Did anyone who makes the claim that all these world religions are just claiming the same thing, they don't know what they're talking about. They haven't actually studied these. They're making distinctly different claims.

And Christianity, even more so, is making claims that are distinct from the others. We believe in an eminent God who actually came. But the one thing I must concede in my faith is that my faith is built upon a testimony. That my faith is built upon the testimony of the scriptures. The testimony of our God. The testimony of people who saw Jesus live this life on this earth.

Who saw him die a death on the cross. Who saw him rise from the grave and ascend to the right hand of God the Father. That his body will never be found. I must concede that my faith is built upon that testimony. What I want us to see this morning is that testimony actually, this testimony is powerful. And this testimony absolutely can lead us to belief.

Some of you are not a Christian. And maybe you're just figuring this out. Maybe you're just exploring this. Maybe you are working through doubts. And I want to let you know this is a safe place for that. To be able to work through doubts.

And I want you to clearly hear. I think God wants to meet you here in your doubt this morning. Some of you believe the gospel. You're a follower of Jesus. But you struggle with doubt.

And it maybe shows up in a lot of different forms. I want you to hear very clearly this morning. Built upon the testimony of God. That he wants to continue to win you over. To faith in Christ. The passage that we're going to be in this morning is going to speak about the power of testimony.

My hope is that we would listen. That wherever you are in this journey. That you would listen and by faith respond. So let me read the text and then we will walk through this together. Verse 6. It says, This is he who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ.

Not by the water only. But by the water and the blood. And the spirit is the one who testifies. Because the spirit is the truth. For there are three that testify. The spirit and the water and the blood.

And these three agree. If you receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater. For this is the testimony of God that he is born concerning his son. Whoever believes in the son of God has the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar. Because he has not believed in the testimony that God has born concerning his son.

And this is the testimony. That God gave us eternal life. And this life is in his son. Whoever has the son has life. Whoever does not have the son of God does not have life. Let me pray for us.

And then we will walk through this together. Lord. I pray that you would open our hearts to the scriptures this morning. That for those who are struggling with doubt. That they would be able to listen. To your word.

To your calling. May you win each of us over. Amen. Okay. So we're going to walk through this.

And see his argument. And then I want to sit in the power. And the importance of testimony. So I'm going to go back a verse. To where Chet left off last week. In verse 5.

It says. Who is it that overcomes the world. Except the one who believes. That Jesus is the son of God. That as John is wrapping up his final arguments. In this book.

One of the things we've seen over and over again. Is that he wants us to know. What it means to believe. That Chet walked us through last week. This really this triangle. That he's hitting over and over again.

That over and over again. He's been teaching us. And telling us. That this evidence of faith in our lives. That we would love God. That we would love one another.

That we would obey the commandments. And he's teaching us over and over again. And now he's going to switch gears. And he's going to show. What this evidence testifies to. And in these seven verses in our passage.

It says testimony eight times. The word testimony in some form. Shows up eight times. Anytime that you study the scriptures. And you see a word repeated over. And over.

And over. And over. And over again. Highlight it. Right. Circle it.

Underline it. Make a mental note. The Lord is trying to teach you something in this. He's trying to show us something about testimony. Now. When you hear the word testimony.

I would argue that most of you. Probably your mind runs to. The courtroom. It's one of the most familiar. Uses of testimony that. That we have.

Is in the courtroom. Someone who is giving testimony on the witness stand. Right. There's enough crime TV. There's enough law and order. There's enough things that you're just familiar with.

Testimony is something that you give. I actually think that's probably a very helpful picture. For this passage. That type of testimony on the witness stand. Is actually probably a helpful image. For this.

I think John. What he's trying to convince us of. In belief. Is putting. He's going to try to convince us of belief. By putting three different witnesses.

On the stand. Three different witnesses. They're going to give testimony. To. Christ. And we're going to see each of these.

The first is the water. The second is the blood. And the third is. The spirit. And by verse eight. Where he's going to help us see.

All three of these are in agreement. But we're going to take them one on one. And put them on the stand. And see what each one has to. Add to this argument. To compel us over to faith in Christ.

So let's look at the first. Which is. The water. The water is the first. To take. The stand.

What does he mean. When he says. This is he who came by. Water. What is John getting at. Now.

Like other parts of John. First John. Like other parts of the scriptures. It's debatable what he means. When he says. The water.

And there's some Sundays. I think it's valuable. To take a few minutes. To get into the weeds. Of interpretation. To go a little bit deeper.

To list out all the options. And when I do that. I find it fairly exciting. And there's about 10 to 20 of you. That also find it exciting. But the rest of you.

Inwardly. Or audibly. Grown. It's like. Just. Tell us.

What. He means. And move on. Well guess what. Sunday's for you. I'm not going to get in the weeds.

I'm going to tell you. What. I think he means. When he uses water. In this passage. All right.

Here's the most compelling argument. I found in the commentaries. This week. John is referencing. Baptism. When he says water.

He's referencing. Baptism. I think this encompasses. First. The baptism of. Jesus.

That initiated his ministry. And then what followed. Was a ministry of. Baptism. That John was. Baptizing his disciples.

Then he becomes lesser. Jesus becomes greater. After his disciples. Continue baptizing. And that what's being referenced. In the water.

Is the beginning of Christ's ministry. And baptism. And the continuation of ministry. That he baptized. Which is pointing to. Really.

I would argue. The whole. Of Christ's ministry. And the message. That accompanied. Those.

Baptisms. Which we saw. In the gospel of Matthew. That we walked through. Last year. And the year before.

Which was over and over again. Repent. The kingdom of heaven. Is at hand. It's this message. Of this kingdom.

That he is coming to establish. That will have no end. And all the goodness. That is found. In this kingdom. It's this message.

Of repentance. That he preaches. Over and over again. To turn from this world. Turn from your sin. Turn to me.

I am better. It's the message of the kingdom. It's the. The whole ministry. Of where he. Healed the sick.

That he cared for the forgotten. The outcasts. The outsiders. Others. It's how he healed the sick. It's how he challenged.

The self-righteous. Religious establishment. Over and over. And over again. It's like all the things. That we love.

That make Jesus. Punk rock. And awesome. We love it. That's all of his ministry. I think it's bound up.

It's summarized. In this word. Water. Jesus came. By. Water.

That's the first. To take the stand. The second. Is the blood. The blood. He says in verse six.

This is he who came by water. And blood. Jesus Christ. Not by. The water only. But by the water.

And the blood. Now. If you've been with us. In first John. For a minute. He doesn't write.

Very. Clearly. Times. It's like. Wait. What?

And this is one of those times. Where he says something. It's like. Why couldn't you just said. He came by water. And blood.

Let's move on. To the spirit. But he says. No. Not by the water only. That should clue us in.

To ask some questions. What are you getting out there? What are you not saying. When. You're saying that. Like there was a.

There was a picture. That was circulated online. A few years ago. And it was a picture. Of a. Of a notice.

At the library. At someone's public library. And it said. It said. In light of recent events. There will be.

No Oreos. Allowed. In the library. And it's like. Really. Tell me more.

What are you not saying. I want to know what happened. Like I want to know. What kind of mess was made. With Oreos. In the library.

Like I. I get a little messy. With Oreos. What I like to do. Is like to take the cup of milk. And I like to just.

I don't dunk it. I let it. I just drop it. I let it bathe. All right.

I let it. I let it get. You don't want it to fall to the bottom. Because it falls to the bottom. It gets a little messy. You got to get your hand in the glass.

And sometimes it gets stuck. And then you pull it out. Sometimes milk. And Oreo guts go everywhere. It is worth it. But it gets a little messy.

I want to know what happened. At the library. Right. When you see that. It begs the question. What's happening here.

That's what's happening here. In first John. Okay. Not by water only. What are you talking about? And if you've been with us in first John.

As we've walked through it. This should make a little bit of sense. Because what we've seen over and over again. In first John. As he's making this argument. That Jesus was real.

That he was a real physical person. That from the very first verse. All the way into the end. There's this theme. That he's hitting at. Jesus actually physically came.

Because there was a false teaching. At the time. That swept through. These churches. That John was writing to. That taught the opposite.

That taught that Jesus only came in spirit form. That he didn't come in physical material form. And we believe that was the early seedbed. The early beginnings of Gnosticism. So he's just making a point here.

Not by water only. He did come physically. In blood. So that's part of what he's saying here. But also when you get to the blood.

This is the easiest part to interpret. Because the blood is talking about. The blood that he shed on the cross. That he shed real blood. For our real sins. On a real cross.

That this actually happened. So what's happening here a little bit. Is the water. The beginning of Christ's ministry. Bringing through the ministry of baptism. Up to the event.

Which is the pinnacle event of salvation. In the scriptures. The cross. And the empty tomb that follows. That as we saw in 1 John 2. 2.

It said. He is the propitiation for our sins. And not for ours only. But also for the sins of the whole world. The blood references this. That he teaches.

Over and over again. That we deserve wrath. That Jesus stands in our place. That blood was shed for us. That he made atonement for us. That he made it right for us.

By his blood. And not our own. He came by water. Not water only. He came by the real blood. That he shed for our real sins.

That should compel us into belief in Jesus. And then the third witness takes the stand. The spirit. He says. With the spirit. And the spirit.

Is the one who testifies. Because the spirit. Is. The truth. Now. It's capital S.

It's talking about the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is. The truth. Now part of this picture. Undoubtedly goes back to when Jesus was baptized. When Jesus was baptized.

The heavens opened up. The Holy Spirit. Descends upon Jesus like a dove. This happened. And the people saw this. And this really marked.

This is the Christ. God the Father said. This is my son with whom I'm well pleased. This is the one who has come. Listen to him. That's part of the picture here.

Is the Holy Spirit. That descends upon Christ. At the beginning. But it's also a picture forward to. The Holy Spirit. That descends upon the people of God.

This is a picture. That looks forward to. Pentecost. When the fulfillment happens. Of God. And his temple.

God. And his people. The Holy Spirit. Descends upon the new temple of God. The people of God. The church of Jesus Christ.

And the Holy Spirit. Lives in his people. This spirit is the truth. And testifies. Over and over again. To us.

And through us. That he is the Christ. That he is God. Verse 7. For there are all. There are three that testify.

The spirit. And the water. And the blood. And these three agree. They're all three in agreement. When each one.

Takes the witness stand. They're all testifying. To the same. Truth. They're all in agreement. That this is.

The Christ. And then John. Goes on to say. In verse 9. If we receive. The testimony of men.

The testimony of God. Is. Is. Greater. For this is the testimony of God. That he is born concerning his son.

I think it's a general statement. That he's making to say. God's. Testimony. Is. Greater.

Than. Man's. If you are. Willing. To accept the testimony. Of mere men.

How foolish. Would we not. Would we be. To not. To accept the testimony. Of.

The God who created. All things. God's testimony. Is. Greater. And then he goes on.

To say. When you receive. This testimony. It comes. To live within you. Verse 10.

He says. Whoever believes. In the son of God. Has the testimony. In himself. Whoever does not believe.

God has made him a liar. Because he has not believed. In the testimony. That God is born. Concerning his son. When you believe in Jesus.

This is a picture. Of the Holy Spirit. The testimony. In you. The Holy Spirit. Comes.

Into your life. And makes you. New. This is the gift. That we are given. By faith.

The testimony. Comes to live. In us. If you believe in Jesus. You have this. Unbelievably.

Amazing. And powerful gift. Don't. In true. John form. You're a liar.

Which we've seen. Over and over again. In first. John. Is like. One of his.

Go to things. He's like. You believe this. Or you're a liar. Or you make God. To be a liar.

All right. As the young guns say. Cap. No cap. Which took me a minute. To figure out what they were saying.

But front run knows. What I'm talking about. Okay. Lie. No lie. Right.

That's the language he uses. Over and over. And over again. And he gets to verse 10. He says. Whoever believes.

In the son of God. No. Verse 11. And this is the testimony. That God gave us. Eternal.

Life. And this life. Is in his son. Whoever has the son. Has. Life.

Whoever does not have the son of God. Does not. Have. Life. That's how he finishes. This argument.

That if you believe this. You have eternal life. In Christ. If you believe this. You have this eternal life. That he offers.

If you don't. You don't have this. So John's closing argument. As he's finishing up. First John. Is.

Believe this. Believe this. John wants us to believe this. God wants us to. Believe this. So much so.

That three take the stand. The water. The blood. And the spirit. And the hope. Is that we would.

Believe. Now. That's the argument he's making. I want to look at four conclusions. That we can draw from this defense. That we can draw from this.

Argument. That deal with the power. Of testimony. The first is this. The testimony. Is of a real.

God. The testimony. Is of a real. God. Verse six. He says.

This is he who came by water and. Blood. Jesus Christ. Not by the water only. But by.

The water. And the blood. Y'all. This isn't just something. The early Christians. Needed to be convinced of.

That Jesus came in the flesh. We need this. Christians. We. Need. To believe this.

Because what happens is. Is that we start to. When life gets difficult. We start to believe. That God is so distant. He's so big.

He's so glorious. He's so powerful. He's so mighty. And all of that's true. That he can't possibly understand. What I'm going through.

He can't possibly understand. My circumstances. Like God. Don't you want to change. What I'm walking through right now. Like don't you understand.

How hard this is. How hard. Life. Is. And because of the water. And the blood.

He does. He does understand. How hard this life is. Because he came. Because he didn't stand distant. In the heavens.

Where. He could have rightly. Ruled and reigned from. He. Came. And he lived.

He took on flesh. And dwelt among us. And he lived a life. And he experienced loss. He knows what that's like. I mean the reason why you don't see his.

Earthly father Joseph. Pass. When he's a child. Is because he died. He knows what it's like to lose. He knows.

What it's like to endure loss. He knows what it's like to endure. Betrayal. Someone that he invested in for three years. Discipled. Loved.

Served. Sold him for 20 pieces of silver. He knows what it's like to be abandoned. It's abandoned by all but one of his disciples. He knows what it's like to endure temptation. For those of us who struggle in the.

Throes of temptation. Like I just. It's so hard. It's so hard. It's so hard. To continue.

To pursue what is good. It's so hard to endure this. He knows. What it's like to endure it. For we don't have a high priest. Who's unable to sympathize with our weaknesses.

But one who in every respect. Who is tempted and tried. And yet was without sin. Hebrews 4. He knows. What it's like.

To be human. Because he came. And when God feels distant. And he feels foreign. We need to remember. He is a real God that came.

We need to remember the eminence of Christ. Meaning that he descended in bodily form. That he knows what it's like. It's not just us that needs to know this. The world needs to know this. I mean.

He stands apart. He is not Allah. That stands distant. And demands submission. This isn't a system of Buddhism. That leads to nothingness.

This isn't any false projection. That our culture puts upon him. That he's vindictive. Or that he's cruel. Or he doesn't care. He does care.

Because he came. And the world needs to know that. That he needs to know that he came. That he was baptized. He spent three years ministering to the least of these. And that he laid down his life on the cross.

For us. And he rose to give us new life in him. That is a testimony y'all. And it speaks to a real God. The second conclusion we need to draw. Is that this testimony is true.

This testimony is true. Back in verse 6. And the spirit is the one who testifies. Because the spirit is the truth. Verse 7. For there are three that testify.

The spirit. And the water. And the blood. And these three agree. John makes this point. The three in agreement.

The spirit is the truth. They line up. This testimony is true. And that's so incredibly important. Because we live in a time. Where there's so many false testimonials out there.

There's so many false things that are put out there. And believed. I mean. Choose your adventure. I mean. There's.

I was listening to a short story. I was working in my bathroom. Remodeling. And I wanted to listen to a series of short stories. Because that's what I do for fun. And.

And I was listening to this short story that came up. Called The Egg. And it turns out this story is like one of the more critically acclaimed short stories. In the last two decades. And this story is about a guy who dies. And he immediately appears before God.

And he starts to have a conversation with God. And what he learns is. Is that he's about to be reincarnated. And he's going to return to the sixth century. And he's going to be back in time. Reincarnated in the form of a Chinese woman.

And what he learns is. Is that every human that has ever existed. Is the same consciousness. And that when she dies. He's going to reincarnate to something different. And get better and better and better.

Until the very end. He's become this God-like figure that he's talking to right now. And I listened to it. And I was like. This is the most baseless. Ungrounded.

Ridiculous. Argument. And I just. When I realized. That this is one of the more critically acclaimed short stories. That last draw their entire faith and reality.

From movies. And from novels. And as Christians. We have to winsomely. Boldly. And lovingly say.

That's not. True. That's not true. As this passage. Teaches. The testimony of God is greater.

For this. Is a testimony of God. That he has born. Concerning his son. That we say. Jesus is better than everything else.

We need to boldly. And winsomely. Argue that. That he is true. What he offers. Is better.

This testimony is true. That it's rooted in historical reality. They're not going to find his body. This is rooted in a historical reality. This is rooted. This is rooted in a supernatural reality.

The Holy Spirit at work within us. It's anchored in a living hope. And a real person. Who took on real flesh. Don't miss that. For a moment.

This testimony. Is true. The third thing we need to see. Is this testimony. Is in you. This testimony.

Is in you. Verse 10. Whoever believes in the son of God. Has. The testimony. In himself.

And as we said earlier. That's talking about the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit. That. The testimony. In us.

Y'all. The implications for that. Are. Massive. It's huge. That the Holy Spirit.

Comes to dwell. In us. Comes to minister. Within us. Is. It's a similar language.

To. To Romans 8. And the argument. That Paul is making. In the middle of Romans 8. When he says.

In verse 14. For all. Who are led. By the spirit. Of God. Are.

Sons. Of God. That when you are led. By. The spirit. That when he.

Dwells. Within you. That. You're no longer. A slave. To this world.

As he argues. For you do not. Receive. The spirit. Of slavery. To fall back in fear.

You're no slavery. Slave to this world. A slave to your. Flesh. You've been. Freed.

And more than that. That you belong. To him. The spirit. Within us. Reminds us.

Of. This. By whom we cry. Abba. Father. 16.

The spirit himself. Bears. Witness. And the Greek word. For witness. Is the same Greek word.

We have in 1st John 4. Testimony. Same concept. Bears. Witness. Testifies.

With. Our. Spirit. That we are the children. Of God. That the Holy Spirit.

Lives. And reigns. Within us. And testifies. Within us. That we are the children.

Of God. That is. Huge. Because there are moments. In this life. Where we fail to believe that.

There are moments. In this life. I feel this. There are moments. Where I'm in the midst. Of doubt.

And I. I'll go back to. My reasoning. Right. That I believe. That the faith claims.

Of Christ. Are way more compelling. To the wide leaps. Of faith. That it takes. To have.

Nothing. I'll reason there. I'm like. No. This is. The most reasonable.

Argument. This compelling argument. The reason. In and of itself. Is not enough. It's not.

Always. Enough. And sometimes. I feel. This doubt. It's like.

A dark haze. Of hopelessness. That just. Lingers. In the midst. Of that.

Doubt. The spirit. Goes. To work. One of the more. Beautiful songs.

That I've. I've heard. In the last few years. Is this song. By ghost ship. We.

We sing. Some ghost ship songs. From time. To time. They had this song. That came out.

A couple years ago. Called. Belief. And I love. What the songwriter. Works to.

Because he's working. Through this doubt. He's working. Through this. This darkness. That he's.

Struggling through. And he. In the first verse. He says. Darkness. Haunts me.

Again. Today. So. Confused. Have I lost. The way.

If you're. There. And you're. There's God. If you're there. I can't see.

Your face. I don't know. I don't know. Sometimes. It's hard. To believe.

Help me. In my. Unbelief. And he's quoting. The father. Who brought a son.

Jesus. And said. Oh Lord. I believe. But help.

My. Unbelief. Like I feel. First. Like I. I feel that.

It's just so. Hard. To believe. Sometimes. That we. We feel this.

Doubt. That just. Hovers over us. Where we question. The. Goodness.

Of God. Or the. Existence. Of God. Or the. Faithfulness.

Of God. Or the. Love. Of God. Or the. Character.

Of God. We begin to. Question. Who. God. Is.

And this. Doubt. Just. Lingers. Over us. And it.

Leaves us. In this. Place. Of desperation. And it's. In those.

Moments. That the. Holy Spirit. Comes. Into his. People.

And begins. To do. His. Work. He begins. To minister.

Within us. And I love. How this. Him. In the midst. Of his.

Doubt. And has. Gone. To work. Because he. Finishes.

The song. By saying. There are. Only. A few. Things.

I. Know. I know. That he. Rose. Which.

Is a testimony. Of true. Events. He came. By the water. And the blood.

That he. Really. Did come. And. This. Really.

Did happen. I know. That he. Rose. I know. That he.

Loves. Me. So. I know. That he. Won't.

Let. Go. And. Those. Two. Statements.

I know. That he. Loves. Me. So. And.

He. Won't. Let. Go. You. Can.

Read. Those. But the. Holy. Spirit. Makes.

Us. Feel. Those. He. Makes. Us.

Feel. The. Love. Of. God. In.

A. Way. That he. Is. Close. That we.

Can. Feel. His. Presence. He. Makes.

Feel. That he. Holds. Us. That he. Won't.

Let us. Go. That is the ministry of the Holy Spirit at work within us. And the spirit wins us over and over and over again. And he testifies to our soul. To our spirit.

That you belong to me. That you are my child. That no one is going to snatch you out of my hand. That I love you. Because I love you. Because of my great love.

And I will carry you all the way to the finish. The people of God have the Holy Spirit at work within us. Testifying at work within us. And the last thing I want us to see. Is that the testimony grants us eternal life. That this testimony gives eternal life.

Verse 11. He says. This is the testimony. That God gave us eternal life. And this life is in his son. Whoever has the son has life.

Whoever does not have the son of God. Does not have life. And as Chet is going to pick up next week. In verse 13. He says. I write these things to you.

Who believe. In the name of the son of God. That you may know. That you have eternal life. The argument he is making over. And over.

And over again. In first jump. God. Gave us. Eternal life. In Christ.

The testimony of God. Is greater. For those of us. That trust. That he came by. The water.

That he lived. A life. He fulfilled. The law. Perfectly on our behalf. For those that believe.

That he came by. The blood. That his blood was shed for us. On the cross. That our sin. Is what puts him on the cross.

And his blood was shed for us. For those who believe. The Holy Spirit comes. And makes us. New creations. In Christ.

And testifies. To our spirit. We have. Eternal. Life. The three take the stand.

The water. The blood. And the spirit. And they're all in agreement. And they're all. Compelling us.

To believe. Some of you. Some of you have never. Surrendered to this Christ. Some of you have been around church. Your entire life.

Some of you are just checking it out. For the first time. But you've never. Surrendered to this Christ. And I want you so. Clearly to hear this morning.

Jesus. Wants you. This testimony shows. He. Wants you. That he.

Desires you. That he doesn't. That your past. Does not have to define you. That your life right now. Does not have to define you.

That faith in Jesus. Is putting all of our hope. And what he has done for us. That by grace. He saves us. That there's nothing that you bring to the table.

But your sin. And he wants you. He wants to take your sin. On the cross. He wants you. Believe this.

That God has you here this morning. That he desires you. That this testimony is good. It is pure. It is perfect. And it is for you.

Don't. Stop running. Stop running from God. He wants you. Believe this testimony. It is worth your life.

Some of you. Are Christians. And you got to be honest about the doubt. That you are facing. And John so clearly. Is teaching of this morning.

He's teaching us. Keep believing. Continue. To believe. Believe is not a one-time event. That happens.

It is a continual. You believe over. And over. And over. And over again. The testimony.

Is of a real. God. Who came. Who died for us. Who took on flesh. The testimony.

Is true. And the testimony. Is in you. And this morning. He so clearly. Wants you to know.

That is true. And that what is held out. In front of you. Christian. Is a testimony. That does not end.

That heads into. Eternity. We continue. To fight. To believe this. By the power.

Of the Holy Spirit. Matt's going to come up. And he's going to. Take that song. Belief. That I just.

Read through. And he's going to sing it. Over us. And as he does. I want. Us to listen.

Listen to the voice of God. That for those of you. That are here. That have never surrendered. To who this God is. That never fully believe.

In the testimony of Christ. My hope and prayer. Is that you would. Believe. That this song. Would be a confession.

And you confess. It for the first time. Maybe. Maybe you are a Christian. You've been struggling. For.

Years. You've been struggling. With doubt. Make this your prayer. Help me in my unbelief. Help me believe.

In what the water. And the blood. And the spirit. Testify to. Help me believe. In this Christ.

May this encourage. Your soul. Remind you. Of your savior. And remind you. How good this testimony is.

Let me pray. Father. We need you. We need you. In a world. That has.

Darkness. And doubt. In our lives. Where there is darkness. And doubt. May you cut through it.

And we see you so clearly. And so beautifully. Right now. For those who have never trusted in Christ. May they believe. Right now.

For those who have trusted in Christ. But are struggling. May you help them. To continue to believe this testimony. In Christ's name. Amen.

Three Essentials of the Christian Life (1 John 5:1-5)

Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet this week.

Three Essentials of a Christian Life

Chet Phillips

Download

Transcript

This is the message we have heard from Him and declare to you. God is light. In Him, there is no darkness at all. This is how we know what love is. Jesus Christ laid down His life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.

I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God. So that you may know you have eternal life. Good morning. My name is Chet. I'm one of the pastors here. We are in 1 John.

We are coming towards the end of this letter. And we've got just a couple more weeks of walking through this. And John is kind of summing up some of his ideas. But I want to begin this sermon by talking about Daniel. And not Daniel from the Bible, but Daniel LaRusso from the Karate Kid. Also very important.

Not quite as important as the other Daniel. In the Karate Kid, the original one. Some people also like to call that the good one. Mr. Miyagi is teaching Daniel karate. Karate.

Daniel actually really wants to be like a kid who's all about karate. And so he's teaching him karate. And what he does is he makes him paint his fence. And he makes him wash his cars. Karate. And I thought, man, I could teach somebody karate.

If that's all. Chores. Come do chores at my house. But that's what it seems like. And he's having him do wax on, wax off on these cars. And he has a specific way he wants him to do it.

And he's doing paint the fence. He does this specific stuff. And he makes him do it with both hands. And there's this scene. It's one of the best scenes in the movie. It's up there with the this scene.

It's one of the best scenes in the movie where Daniel just says, I'm done. All you've done is make me do chores. I'm done. And Mr. Miyagi says, show me the stuff I've been making you do. And he starts to do it.

And he goes, no, you're doing it wrong. Show me the way I showed you. And he starts making him do the stuff that he showed him how to do. That he made him do this repetitive motion over and over and over and over again. And then Mr. Miyagi starts throwing punches at him and just starts trying to assault him.

He's throwing punches and kicks. But because he had painted the fence, he knows how to block stuff. It's a little hard to believe, but this is what happens. And this is what he does. And there's this whole scene where he shows him that I was just teaching your muscles to do this thing over and over again. That's why I said it over and over and over again.

And we're in that scene in 1 John. Because I don't know if you've been reading John. He says the same thing over and over and over and over again. He has said it over and over and over and over. And we're getting to the scene where he's the part in John where he starts going. He's just saying it again.

But he's helping us see clearly. I've been saying this repeatedly. I've been connecting this this whole time. And this is what it looks like to be a Christian. These are the identifying markers of a Christian. And he's said it so many times that at this point, if someone tried to assault us with something that was against this, we should be able to karate kid that stuff.

We should be able to say, no, this is how it works. So that's where we are. We're going to read through this section together. And we're going to kind of paint a picture to help us see. He's saying it again. But we want to put some weight in this and put this in our heads clearly as he's kind of coming to his letter.

So let's pray. And then we'll be in 1 John chapter 5. God, I pray that you would help us this morning. That you would help us to hear from your word. That you would help remove distraction and our desire to wander and to think about other things. But that you would help anchor this reality in our souls.

And then, Lord, I pray that you would, through the power of your spirit, would make it true of this church. That this is what we look like as we abide in Christ. In Jesus' name, amen. 1 John chapter 5. Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God. So he's said this idea multiple times, but he's saying it again.

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God. So that we believe that Jesus, the man who walked on earth, lived and taught, was crucified on a cross. That he rose again. That he's the Christ. That he's the one that God had promised to bring salvation through. That he's the one who is fulfilling Christ.

Jesus is a name. Christ is a theological office. It's a role that he plays. That he is the Christ who has been the promised Messiah who was going to come and fix everything for us. That from the very beginning when God promises in the garden that there's going to be a son who's going to be born. And he's going to crush the head of the serpent.

That there's this promise throughout the Old Testament that this Christ is coming. This is who John is saying. Whoever believes that that's Jesus. That he's the one who's come to save. That he's the one who redeems. That he's the one who forgives sin.

Whoever believes that. Trusts in that. Hopes in that. Puts their faith in that. And I think we've got to just appreciate that word believe for a second. Because all we're doing is coming to a news that has been told to us.

That Jesus has done this. And if we believe it. If we say no that's true. I'm going to wrap around that. I'm going to hold on to that. I'm going to anchor in that.

He says whenever that happens. Then we've been born of God. Everyone who believes that Jesus Christ. Jesus is the Christ has been born of God. That this is one of the commentaries I have on this says. To believe is to be acted upon in a dynamic transformative way by God.

That God does this. So here's what he's saying. Is that we believe in Jesus. But then this happens. So Jesus brings us to the Father.

And so that if you have faith in Jesus. And we're going to kind of draw this whole picture out. Because this is the stuff he's been saying over and over again. But Jesus brings us to the Father. You don't have the Father without Jesus. Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ.

Has been born of God. You've been made new. You've been born again. As he would say in. Jesus would say in John chapter 3. Not 1 John chapter 3.

But John chapter 3. That you are born again. That you are made new. That's this idea. That we belong to God if we believe in Jesus. Then he says this.

So verse 1. Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ. Has been born of God. And everyone who loves the Father. Loves whoever has been born of him. So if you love the Father.

If you believe in Jesus. He brings you to the Father. You're born of God. And if you love the Father. Then you love everyone who's been born of him.

So that looks like this. You love the Father. You love the Father. They are connected. You can't disconnect that. This is how it works.

So if you say I love the Father. You love the brothers. That's not a new idea if you've been here. John has said that. Over and over again. Then he says this.

Verse 2. By this we know that we love the children of God. When we love God. So by this we know we love the children of God. When we love God. So it goes the other way too.

One of the ways that you love the children of God. Or the brothers. Brothers and sisters in Christ. Is that you love God. So it goes back the other way.

You can almost put arrows. But there's this channel of love. Running back and forth. That if you love the Father. You love the brothers. And then he's going to say.

If you love the brothers. You love the Father. And this is. This is the circle he's been running. He said this over and over and over again. Then he says this.

By this is verse 2. By this we know. That we love the children of God. So this marks us as loving the children of God. When we love God. And.

Obey his commands. So it looks like that. If you love. If you love the Father. You love the brothers. If you love the brothers.

Then you'll love the Father. And. You'll obey his commands. And this is how you know. That you love the brothers. This is how you know.

That you care about your church family. You obey God's commands. That's a little startling for us. I think sometimes. To think that obeying commands. Is something different.

But he's saying. No. This is one of the things. That marks. A love. For your brothers and sisters in Christ.

Is that you obey his commands. Verse 3. For this. This is the love of God. That we keep his commandments. So then it goes.

From commandments. Back up to the Father. John has said this. So many times. This is. This is his point.

This is his thesis. This is. He's landing the plane. And. This. I.

I've said it. I don't know how else to say it. I've said it forwards. I've said it backwards. I've said it positively. I've said it negatively.

I've accused you of being a liar. Multiple times. Which we're going to read those in a second. But this is what he says. You believe in Jesus. You get the Father.

You don't get the Father. If you don't have Jesus. If you have the Father. If you belong to the Father. Then you love the brothers.

If you love the brothers. Then you love the Father. If you love the brothers. You'll follow his commands. The way you know that you love the Father. Is that you follow his commands.

Yeah. Wax on. Wax off. He said it. Over and over. And over.

Again. There is a faith. Love of God. Marking. For believers. That if you're a believer.

Then you have faith in Jesus. And you love the Father. There is a relational. There is a relational. Love of church family. Marking.

For believers. And there is a moral. Ethical. Marking. For believers. My uncle.

Who's. Yorba. People group. From Abomasaw. He's one of the last. Generations born.

That they put tribal marks on. So he has tribal marks on his face. And it was meant to be. That you could look right at him. And you would know. Right where he was from.

And that is. What this is. For Christians. That we. Are to be. Marked by.

These three things. And you can't. Get rid of any of them. But I want to show you. That John has said this. Over and over again.

I'm just going to read. I want you to listen. I'm going to try to move. Fairly quickly. But I'm going to read.

Things that we've read. In chapter one. Chapter two. Chapter three. Chapter four. To just try to refresh.

In your head. He said this. This is his whole point. And just as I read it. Try to figure out. Okay.

Yeah. That's from there to there. That's from there to there. Because he's just running. This track. Back and forth.

Different ways. Chapter one. This is the message. That we heard from him. And proclaim to you. That God is light.

And in him. There's no darkness at all. So he's talking about the father. If we say. We have fellowship with him. While we walk in darkness.

Meaning that we. Sin. And are following sin. And not obeying his commands. We lie. And do not practice the truth.

But if we walk in the light. Meaning following him. And are walking in openness. He is. As he is in the light. We have fellowship.

And you would think he would say. We have fellowship with him. We have fellowship with one another. So he runs this way. And the blood of Jesus. His son.

Then he takes us back up there. Cleanses us from all sin. Chapter two. By this. We know that we have come to know him. So you know the father.

If we keep his commands. Keep his commandments. Whoever says. This is chapter two. Verse four. Whoever says.

I know him. But does not keep his commandments. Is a liar. The truth is not in him. But whoever keeps his word.

In him. Truly the love of God. Is perfected. By this. We know that we are in him. Whoever says.

He abides in him. Ought to walk. In the same way that he walks. And he jumps down to verse nine. In chapter two. He says.

Whoever says. He's in the light. So I know the father. That's being in the light. And hates his brother. Is still in darkness.

Whoever loves his brother. Abides in the light. And that's his idea. Of walking in openness. And following the commands. And knowing God.

That's it. Being in the light. Verse 15. No. Not verse 15. 29.

If you know that he is righteous. You may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness. Has been born of God. So. If we know the father. Then we practice righteousness.

Chapter three. Everyone who. Thus hopes in him. Purifies himself. As he is pure. Again.

This following his commands. Verse four. For everyone who practice. Makes a practice of sinning. Also practices lawlessness. Sin is lawlessness.

You know that he appeared. In order to take away sins. In him there is no sin. No one who abides in him. Keeps on sinning. Then verse 10.

Whoever does not practice righteousness. Is not of God. So. You're not doing that. You don't belong to him. Nor.

Is the one who does not love. His brother. Verse 11. Chapter three. For this is the message we've heard from the beginning. That we should love one another.

Verse 23. This is the commandment. All right. So here's the commandment. And he's been talking about commandments. Is not sinning.

So it's a general idea of commandments. And then he specifically. Is going to highlight. One of the major parts of the commandment. And here's what he says. This is the commandment that we have from him.

That we believe in the son. Jesus Christ. And. Love one another. Just as he's commanded us. So he snuck the other two in the commands.

We can make this more complicated. He didn't hide them as subsections in that one. Chapter four. This is the summation of it. But he says this.

We love because he loved us. So. Us. Being loved by him. That he's done this first. He's brought us in.

He loves us. If anyone says I love God. And hates his brother. Is a liar. He who does not love his brother. Whom he has seen.

Cannot love. Whom he has not seen. And he says. This is the commandment. That we have from him. Whoever loves God.

Must also love his brother. I trimmed it up. There are more. Because it's the entire letter. This is what he says. This is what you look like.

If you belong to Jesus. This is what you look like. Jesus. Brings you to the father. The father makes you new. And now.

Your life is marked. By a love for God. A love for. The church. Your brothers. His children.

And obedience. And he specifically. Goes out of his way. And I read some of these. I'm going to read them again. To say.

If you try to remove. One of those. And say it's fine. I'm still a Christian. He says. Liar.

Like the scariest scene. In Princess Bride. Where that guy's talking. And then what's his head's dead. And then that crazy lady. Comes running out of the back.

Yelling. Liar. When you're a little kid. That's really the scariest scene. All kinds of things happen there. It's like.

Oh my goodness. That's what. That's what John does. Verse. Chapter 2. Verse 22.

Who. Who is the liar. But he who denies. That Jesus is the Christ. You try to take Jesus out. Liar.

2.4. Whoever says. I know him. But doesn't keep his commandments. Is a liar. In chapter 4.

Verse 20. If anyone says. I love God. And hates his brothers. Is a liar. He specifically covers all of them.

And says. You can't. You just can't take one of these out. Now. What. Will happen.

Mostly. Is that people. Will claim. The top one. And ignore the bottom ones. And for our purposes.

That's the thing. That's most helpful. Because. Most of us. Subtly. It's not going to sink.

Sneak in. That we're to not love Jesus. But we're to obey his commands. That. That exists. This idea.

That I can just be moral. And that's fine. Or that I can just be loving. And that's fine. But. For our purposes.

We're just going to kind of look at. Trying to claim the top. And for John's purposes. That's what he cared most about. Whoever says. They know the father.

Whoever says. They're in the light. Whoever says. They know the father. Like he's consistently saying. You're claiming this.

But you're trying to remove. One of these. But here's. Here's what you have. You'll have people say. That you don't need Jesus.

That he's not. You can. Every. Everybody. Every. All paths lead to God.

Everybody believes the same thing. So you believe in Jesus. That's fine. This other person believes in something else. But we're all going to end up in the same place.

We're all going to be in the same spot. Everything's fine. And John specifically says. No. That's. That's a lie.

That is not how it works. So if anybody tells you. Or if you're inclined to believe. Or you like the idea. That. Really what the Bible is just telling us.

Is just to love each other. And that if you really read the Bible. All you'll get out of it. Is it to love each other. And to. To just have a good relationship with God.

And with others. John says. That's a. That's a lie. That's not. That's not what this is saying.

You need to know Jesus. You need to believe in him. He's the one who. Who brings us. To the father. Now the southern version of this is.

Oh I'm a Christian. Oh I love me some Jesus. What church are you a part of? Well. Well. I don't really do that.

Follow that up. We don't ask this. We follow that up with. How's obedience going? Don't really do that either. I mean.

Unless you mean. The way I vote. America. It's like. Okay. Hold on.

We can't. We can't just. Separate. Like there's. We have to follow these things. Like.

You can't. It can't just be. I say I know Jesus. Because you will meet people that say. I'm a Christian. And those other things don't show up at all.

So let's just. Let's take one. Sometimes they show up a little bit. Sometimes they'll have one. But let's just pick on one for a second.

Let's just cut out brothers. And let's talk about what this looks like. This is the. Oh I love Jesus. Church messes me up. Church is just a bunch of hypocrites.

You know. I tried to be a part of church. It just made it worse. I found that a church. Was a hurdle. To me loving Jesus.

And I'm just better off without the church. Because all that stuff is just man made. Just practices. And stuff that just ends up. It just messes me up. And I want the authentic stuff.

I want the real stuff. I want just me and God. John says. That doesn't exist. You don't get the father without the family. That's not how it works.

See. If you love him. Then you love his people. But this shows up all the time. I read this article this week. It was by John Pavlovitz.

And it's. It's. The title of the article is. Relax Christian. You don't have to go to church. It says.

This Sunday. You may be snuggled in your bed. With your family and dog. Telling stories. And giggling away the morning. You may be jogging with your best friend.

Through the wooded paths. Just coming to life. In the early morning sun. You may be driving through the empty back roads. With the roof open. Blasting the 80's metal.

That reminds you. Of when you had hair. For the breeze to blow through. You might be having breakfast with friends. And giving thanks for life. And family in the day.

You might be in the garden. Your knees pressed to the damp soil. Smelling the leaves. Just popping up. Through the ground. These places are all sacred.

They are all waiting sanctuaries. For God to be seen. And heard. And experienced. They are common cathedrals. Fully saturated.

With the presence. Of the divine. Part of us really likes that idea. Because part of that. Is kind of true. There is nothing magical.

About this building. It doesn't have like a funnel. That makes our prayers work better. If we decided as a church. To meet in the evening. Or in the middle of the afternoon.

On a Saturday. Okay. There is some historical reasons. Why we get there on Sunday morning. There is some flow of life stuff. But.

The church is the people. But to argue. That you don't need that. He says later. It is good to have some community. I read this to Spencer earlier.

And he almost lost his mind. He started frothing at the mouth. He was so mad. And he was like. A group of friends. That you have brunch with.

Is in a church. So. If you kind of like this idea. And you want to get yelled at. Go talk to Spencer about it. But the truth is.

Some of this is evil. And unhelpful. To try to weasel in. And say you don't really need that. You can be a Christian. By yourself.

That's a tactic of the enemy. Because everything I think is a good idea. Is a good idea. When I'm by myself. I need some people around me. To go hold on.

That's not helpful. I need some people. Who I know are going to ask me some questions. If you've walked in church family long enough. And you've been around people. Who are going to ask you.

How things are going. You have learned. That that helps you not sin. And you've learned. That there are things. That you have chosen to obey.

Because you love your church family. You've actually begun. To live some of that out. Where it's like. No I actually am showing. That I love my church family.

By following this command. And so what happens is. There's this tendency. For us to say. Well we don't really need that. Now.

We're all here. Some of us were like. Wait. Can I just. Lay in bed. And giggle.

Or whatever he said. Is that. Where's this going. Now this is good for us. To belong to a group of people. But let me show you.

Where it gets sneaky. Where it can creep in. Where this idea. You might would have like a. Not as bright little X. It's penciled in.

You don't really need that. Let me show you how this. This shows up. You can show up on Sunday. And participate. Because you're trying to do the bottom right.

That you think that being here. Is just about your personal devotion. To the Lord. There's a way for us to do that. It shows up in some sneaky ways. You might would say.

I don't get there early. I like to just show up. And walk right in and sing. Because I don't want to talk to people. But that betrays a little bit of.

You think that talking to people. Is just for you. And not also for them. There's some people who show up. On Sunday mornings. That are a part of our church.

That need to be talked to. That need somebody to come by. And care about them. And if all we care about. Is how I'm interacting. With things that are happening here.

We can miss it. Some of you haven't committed to a group. Because you don't really need that. I'm doing okay. I feel fine. I don't feel like I'm missing anything.

I get that that's good for lonely people. I'm fine. I'm stable. I had. I had a person. That I was.

When we were talking about. Planting a church. And I told him. We were going to be group space. He said. Groups are great.

He said. But I have a question for you. He said. My dad. Teaches seminary level classes. What would you have for him?

Because he doesn't need to be a part of a group. And I was young. And in seminary. Now I'd say. Liar. He needs to belong to a group of people.

Where he can love them. They need him. And you'll find. That as he. Commits to loving a group of people. He also needs them.

That. A love for the Lord. Is not just mental. We. We hear this show up sometimes. In the way we talk about church.

Sometimes we'll talk about it. Like it's a gym. You should be a part of my church. The way we would talk about. You should be a part of my gym. Oh.

You should be a part of my gym. The fees are low. It's 24 hours. They have the best machines. The smoothie. They sell smoothies.

Some people are like. You should join my gym. Because we don't work out. And we eat pizza. And it's cheap. People have pitched that to me.

It's like. I can do that at my house. For cheaper. But we do that with church. You should come to my church. The music's the best.

Oh. You should come to my church. The preaching. You should come to my church. We renovate it. Now everybody knows where the bathrooms are.

We pick. Pick different things. To try to highlight for somebody. As if. The church is just the experience. And what I'm getting out of it.

And not. You belong to a group of people. And I'm not saying it's bad to like things. And some of you are like. I'm doing great. I don't like any of this stuff.

That's what I mean to say. It's not bad to like things. And to appreciate stuff. But if that's the way you think about it. There's a possibility. That you are just approaching it as.

What am I getting out of this? And this is just about personal devotion. And has nothing to do with me loving people. And you can't. You can't get rid of that one. This is actually.

One of the reasons why I appreciate some things. That I don't like. On Sundays. I'll give you some examples. On Sundays. I like.

And always enjoy. When I go to a church. And they cut off all the lights. And we sing in the dark. I like that. But I actually appreciate.

That we don't do that. Because part of the reason we're singing. Is because we're singing to each other. And we're being reminded. We all believe this. And this isn't just true for me.

And it's not just about my relationship to Jesus. It's about us. That's why we're told in the scriptures. To address each other in Psalms and hymns. And spiritual songs. Part of the reason we're singing.

Is not just singing to God. We're singing to each other. I don't like corporate readings. I think they're kind of awkward. I definitely hate leading them. I accidentally led one one time.

I wouldn't even plan on people reading them. It wasn't even underlined. But I had like cued everybody in. Read this with me. And it was just like. Oh my gosh.

I don't. I don't like them. But I appreciate them. Because we're collectively saying. We believe this together. And this isn't just true for me.

It's true for us. And it's true for all who belong to Jesus. And we belong to each other. And that's what we're practicing. When we get together with our community groups. So that when your group's doing something.

It's like. If you just only want to show up to your group. If you know they're studying stuff. You might have tricked yourself into thinking. It's just about your personal obedience. If you say.

Well I don't have to go to that. Because I don't like board games. Do you love your brothers and sisters? I don't have to go to that. I don't like. I don't like that show.

But do you enjoy. Like can you go serve. And love them. And connect with them. And pour into them. Right.

So we do that. And sometimes we miss. That we belong to people. Sometimes we talk about churches. If we belong to the philosophy. Or the type of music.

Or we belong to the type of preaching. Or whatever. And we miss that we actually belong to a group of people. That's why you should show up early. Talk to people. Sing songs you don't like.

Because that's part of us. Of loving one another. Well. Okay. Sometimes we remove commands. We just say.

We don't really need that part. And what we'll say. It's just about loving God. And loving people. And he says that. Right.

Like he says. To love God. Love people. That's all the commands. John even highlights those as really important ones. And so what we'll say is.

Really all God wants. Is for us to get along. For us to love people. For us to be kind. For us to be open. For us to be accepting.

And that when we add in all the rules. That's when people get bigoted. And angry. And prideful. That's when we get the mean old. Stereotypical church lady.

Excuse me. It's from the rules. And there's some truth in. That it's not about rules. Rules don't save us. And there is a way to be pharisaical about the commands.

There is a way to get this wrong. And to be bigoted. And angry. And hurtful. And think that the rules somehow save us. He's actually going to get there in just a little bit.

But he includes this. This is still here. So you can't just say. Well there's a bad version of that. So get rid of it.

You say there's a bad version of that. Well then what the heck is he talking about? What's the good version? What's this supposed to look like? Because you'll hear things like. Well it's not about the rules.

And rules just divide people. Or. One of my personal favorites. I prayed about it. And it just. I don't feel like it's wrong.

I prayed about it. And I just don't feel convicted. I know you're like reading a verse at me. But I prayed about it. And I feel fine. Which is really.

Verbally the claim. I know the father. He and I talked about it. I'm cool. I don't have to do that one. John says.

Liar. That's not how it works. And I know we get there sometimes. And I will tell you what I always tell people. You should be terrified. That you've so drifted from God.

That even when you're looking at a direct command. You don't feel anything. Repent. And repent quickly. Don't look at me and say. Hey my heart's cold and dead.

And I feel fine. It's like. Oh my. Oh Lord help us. But that's what we say.

I prayed about it. I don't feel. I don't feel like it's wrong. We'll also say. Well I know God just wants me to be happy. I know God just wants me to be happy.

I've been looking at this. And I just don't see. How I could be happy without it. And I know that God loves me. And he wants me to be happy. So I can have this thing.

God does want you to be happy. I used to yell. When we first planted this church. If you've been around a long time. I yelled at you. That God doesn't care about your happiness.

I'm nuancing that now. Because he really does. He just doesn't care about it the way you're defining it in that moment. God loves us so much. That he would die. For our delight.

In him. And he actually knows that you won't be happy. Outside of him. He's willing to go to greater lengths for your happiness than you are. And his commands fit in that category. They're for our good.

So there's some assumptions that come in. When you're going to obey the commands that the Lord gives you. One. We assume that he's good. That he loves us. That he's for our good.

The cross definitively proves that. John says that multiple times. This is how we know love. This is how we know that he loves us. That he died for us. But we're assuming he's good.

Because if you're going to obey his commands. You've got to start there. I've got to assume that he's good. And that he's for my good. Secondly. I've got to assume that he knows some stuff I don't.

Considering I can't create things by speaking. Or keep them together. I'm just going to go ahead and assume he probably knows some things I don't. And he's capable of doing things that I can't. There's some jokes about people who posted on Twitter. I finally got to perform a tracheotomy at 3,000 feet or whatever.

Like someone asked if there was a doctor. And I stood up and I was able to perform this. And they'll put being a doctor of philosophy. That was a wild ride. And it's this idea that you just claim you're a doctor and just go for it. And there's with any lack of information that you would actually need to do this well.

And so sometimes when I'm saying I just want to chase after this thing that he tells me no. What I'm saying is I think I have all the information I need. And that I'm now smarter than him. Or maybe he's smarter than me. But he's not for my good.

But Christ on the cross definitively proves that he is. So that we can just put his commands in the category of I have a three-year-old, a four-year-old. This is easier for me because he only wants to eat the four food groups. Waffles. French fries. Pizza.

And Swedish fish. Which at my house, and this is why I tripped up for a second, they're called poop fish. Because we use them to teach him to be potty trained. That's all he wants to eat. He'll say yes to any of those. I have a rule at my house, which is you can only eat waffles one time a day.

I'm a very strict parent. But there's a reality to it. His older brother would never choose to sleep. So this one is going to eat just junk all the time. His older brother, I mean, he could look ragged. And be like not able to talk without crying.

And be like, buddy, you need to go to bed. No. I'm fine. It's like, okay. We have rules. Because I'm smarter than them.

And I love them. Really. Eating Swedish fish for dinner might make you happy right now. That will ruin your life. It just will. That path does not lead to joy.

It does not. It leads to a lot of places. Joy is not one of them. And there are times where God steps in and all we can see is what would be on the plate right in front of us. And he says, I love you. And that path does not lead to joy.

And so to say, well, he wants me to be happy. So obviously this universal command can't apply to me is silly and short-sighted. So we obey. And that's why obeying displays our love for him. I love you and I trust you. And even though I don't understand why you're saying I can't have that or do that or why you're not letting this work out right now.

I'm in. And we obey in a way that helps us love his children. And I want you to see this. That's what John has said over and over again. And we can't get rid of any of those. We've got to keep all of them.

But I want to add something. Or he adds to it. So I want to read it and talk about it. What he says at the end of verse 3. So he says, this is verse 3.

For this is the love of God that we keep his commandments and his commandments are not burdensome. That's what he says next. So we keep his commandments, but his commandments are not burdensome. Now he's going to define that for us. Because some of you are like, then I must be doing them wrong. Because I've got a few I really do not like.

And I have found quite, I would describe them as a burden to try to keep doing them. He's going to define this. For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. So that for is very important. His commandments are not burdensome. For.

He's not changing the subject. He's defining what he's talking about. For. Everyone who has been born of God. Who's been born of God? We read this earlier.

Everybody who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God. So. Everyone who believes in Jesus has been born of God. That's the same group here. For everyone who believes in Jesus or who has been born of God. Overcomes the world.

And this is the victory that has overcome the world. Our faith. Hold that for a second. Here's what he means by it's not burdensome. When he talks about the world. What he means is the stuff that would tempt us to sin.

Evil desires. Which tempt us to sin. He also means the enemy. He talks about the antichrist. He talks about the devil being sons of the devil. That we have an enemy that's.

Trying to destroy us and lead us to hell. And we have ourselves. That's trying to destroy us and lead us to hell. Like our own desires. Corresponding with the world. This is what we're trying to do.

And if it's you going toe to toe against that. Via obedience to win. You lose. If you've got to beat the world. Save yourself through obedience. You lose.

That's a burden. The reason his commands are not burdensome. Is they do not carry the weight of our salvation. They do not bear that burden. He does not mean they are not difficult. This is where Jesus can say.

Truly. Come to me all who are weary and heavy laden. And I will give you rest. For my burden is easy and my yoke is light. And he can truly say. That the path is narrow.

And the way is hard. And that those who find it are few. That there is some difficulty. To obedience. There is some hardship to obedience. There is some difficulty to following Jesus with our life.

But it does not bear the burden of our salvation. There is great freedom and hope in this. If you believe in Jesus. You overcome the world. And in a real way. Not like when Americans announced themselves world champs of things.

That we only. Only us competed in. But like in a real way. That you overcome the world. That you are not. Destroyed by sin.

And if you have made any real effort. To fight your sin. You know. There are moments when you think. Oh. I am going to be lost.

I am going to. I am going to. I don't. There is something wrong with me. And that is when he steps in and says. Do you love Jesus?

Do you believe in him? These commands are for your good. But they are not able to carry the weight of salvation. Jesus carries the weight of salvation. So then he goes on.

Verse 5. Who is it. That overcomes the world. Except the one that believes Jesus. Is the son of God. Do not read John.

And look at this triangle of identity. And go. I am going to do better. All I got to do is. I am going to go do better. Truth is.

We can get together on Sundays. We can yell. Go do better. And you will. A little bit. Ish.

For a while. You will have some more motivation. You will have some energy. You will have some. I don't know. Guilt.

Or pride. Or something that is driving you to. I am going to show my group. I will love better than any of them. Okay. You are mad at them.

To love. I don't. Good luck. But ultimately. That just adds to the burden. That I am going to go do better.

Just adds to the burden. This is an invitation. Into an identity. That has been accomplished. By faith in Jesus. And being born.

Again. By the power of God. So. Faith. Is what you need. You need faith in Jesus.

And then this is an identity. That is why John doesn't say. If you do not do these things. Get it together. He says. If you do not do these things.

If this. If your life is not marked by love for the brothers. And I am trying to help you see where they can creep in. And where we need to grow some. But he says.

If your life is not marked by this. Not marked by obedience. Not marked by the brothers. It is not. Do better. He says.

You are a liar. And what you need is Jesus. What you need is him at work in you. What you need is the empowerment of the spirit. Not. I am going to do these things better.

So if you are in here. And you are going. I believe in Jesus. Then what you ask. Is for his help. For him to empower you.

For you to grow in your love. Not. Watch me. Watch me do this. That is not the response. The response is faith.

And delight. In the fact. That through Jesus. We overcome. That you are not destroyed. By your sin.

So I don't know. If this is your first time. Being around. Or if you have been around for a while. I don't know where you are. But.

Don't leave with. I am going to do better. Leave with. I am going to love Jesus. And I trust him for salvation. And this was so encouraging for me.

As I worked on this. Because y'all. That is our church family. Sometimes kicking and screaming. That is our church family. Some of you have seen that in yourself.

And people in your group. Some of you. For real. You are obeying commands. That you hate. Some of you.

That is you being here this morning. You had to fight. Your children. And your wife. And yourself. To get here.

Or your husband. Or traffic. Or whatever. Not traffic. It is not busy on Sundays. But to get a group.

Sometimes. Yeah. And you are like. I don't know why I am here. I will tell you why you are here. You have placed your faith in Jesus.

And the Holy Spirit is changing you. That is why you are looking at some commands. And you are going. I don't like this. I still don't like this. This is one of the ones I said.

I would never be a Christian. Because. And I actually now believe that he is good. And so I am going to try to follow this. Some of you are like. I don't.

I hate people. But I love these people. And I hate that. But I love it. And it is so weird. It is like.

Yeah. It is the Holy Spirit. It is working you. Some of you. Every time. It is time to go be around people.

You are like. I do not want to do this. And then you show up. And there is something magical. It is not magical. It is Holy Spirit empowered.

And it is good. This is us. Because this is what Jesus does. Among a group of people. I am going to leave you with this. I found it.

So. It is an encouraging. I was reading. The Pilgrim's Progress. A children's version. So it is a big poem.

Of the Pilgrim's Progress. To my son. And we read through it. And we talk through it. And it is confusing as mess. So we get a lot of discussion about.

What the heck is he talking about. But then there is a guy named Evangelist. And he sings this. There is a guy named Christian. Who is trying to become a Christian. He has got a burden of sin on his back.

That he is trying to get rid of. Somebody told him. Just go follow the law. Go do. Go obey. And you will be fixed.

And then Evangelist sings this to him. He says. To run and work. The law demands. But gives us neither feet nor hands.

Far better news the gospel brings. It bids us fly. And gives us wings. Obedience. Loving others. They are in response to the work of the Holy Spirit in our heart.

Because we place faith in Jesus. He is calling us to fly. But he is going to give us the wings to do it. It is not the thing that saves us. It is not the thing that rescues us. Jesus does that.

But it is good. And it does work among his people. And where we see us drifting in a direction. We need to repent and run towards the joy that is offered to us in him. Matt and Kelly are going to come back up. We are going to sing.

Because we have a champion in Christ who has gone before us. And who has rescued and redeemed. And made the way for us. And we are going to delight in the fact that this is who we get to be as his people. And yeah. If there are some areas where you see.

I need to grow here. Then ask the Lord to help you. And if you don't have any of those markings. Then place your faith in Jesus. And let him go to work. Because he is our only hope.

In a moment we are going to take communion. Which is where we celebrate collectively. That Jesus Christ redeems sinners. That he has. The gospel has called us to fly and given us wings. That he has rescued us from our sin.

That he has given us hope. That he has given us a new heart. That we have been born again. And that we are not saved by our work but his. That is why we picture it. With the bread and the cup.

That we remember his body and his blood. Work that he accomplished for us. And so we come and we once again say. Lord I need the gospel. I don't need to be better. I don't need to be smarter.

I don't need to be stronger. I have a hero. I have a savior. I overcome the world through faith. I just need you. And I need you to cleanse me.

And I need your mercy. And I need your grace. And I need your empowerment. And I need the gospel. So if you are a believer.

We would invite you to come. After you have taken a moment to reflect. After you have taken a moment to maybe repent. To talk to the Lord. To adjust your heart as you go before him. But then come.

And celebrate that you are saved through his work. Not yours. That his commands are not burdensome. And that we get to be born again. Into the work that he has accomplished. Let's pray.

God we thank you for. The faith. That saves us. We thank you that we get to come. And trust in the work of Jesus. And that you then make us into a new people.

And Lord we pray that we would look like that. And that for those who have. One of those completely missing. And it does not Mark their life. Lord we pray that they would not say. Well I'm going to get it together.

But that they would come to Jesus. And be saved. To not try to carry the burden. Of their salvation. But to let him accomplish it for them on the cross.

May we grow. In our love for one another. May we grow. In our love for you. And may we grow. In our obedience.

Through the empowerment. Of the spirit. In Jesus name. Amen.

The Love of God for Others (1 John 4:19-21)

Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet this week.

The Love of God for Others

Chet Phillips

Download

Transcript

My name is Chet. I'm one of the pastors here. Excited to be here this morning. We're in 1 John chapter 4. We're going to pick up right where we left off last week, and we'll spend most of our time in 19 through 21 today. But I do want us to go ahead.

We're going to look at verse 7. We read this last week. We're going to start there and read from verse 7 to verse 11 to kind of recap this idea that John's talking about in this letter about the love that God has for us and how we know love and abide in love. Because what we're going to look at today, what he says at the end of chapter 4, kind of anchors in this. And so we'll start there. Verse 7.

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. So we read this last week, this idea that love comes from God. All the human love that we enjoy and partake in is downhill from the love of God. And so whoever knows God abides in love, lives in love. Whoever's been born of God knows God. Whoever loves, it says anyone who does not love does not know God because God is love.

So that we can't claim to know God and be unloving because God is love. In this, the love of God was made manifest among us that God sent his only son into the world so that we might live through him. So the way we see and know the love of God is through the person and work of Christ. That he makes the love of God palpable, tangible, visible. And so that it's in Christ that the love of God is made manifest. And John's kind of said these ideas over and over again.

He's talked about the love of God over and over again. He talked about it in chapter 2. He talked about the love of God. And he talked about how we see the love of God in Christ who gave himself up for us so that we might give up our lives for the brothers. He keeps going here in verse 10. In this is love, not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins.

That's the atoning sacrifice for our sins so that we know the love of God in the work of the cross where he takes our sin on himself, is punished for our sin and offers us forgiveness. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. So that's what we looked at last week, and he keeps going, but let's pick up in verse 19. We love because he first loved us. I want us to read that so that we understand the love that he has for us is shown to us in the cross. It's a sacrificial love.

It's a love that gives up yourself for the sake of another. That's the love that we know that we have in Christ for us. That we love because he first loved us. If anyone says, I love God and hates his brother, he is a liar. John just calls it how he sees it, doesn't he? He's done this the whole, his whole book.

He'd be like, if you say this and you do that, lie. You will lie. That's what my dad would say to me growing up. You will lie. And that's what he says. You will lie.

You say you love God, but you hate your brother. You're a liar. For he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. What he's saying is that your brother is in front of you. You see them. You see their needs.

They're actually on the same level with you in sinfulness and neediness. That you actually get to show your love to them in tangible ways. And if you say, no, I don't love them, but I do love God. He's saying you're actually, that's not how it works. That if you genuinely love God, then you will love your brother. And anyone who doesn't love their brother, but says they love God is a liar.

That's not, because that's not how it works. That it's in some ways harder to love God, to genuinely relate to God. And that if we do love God and relate to God, then we will love each other. Verse 21. And this commandment we have from him. Whoever loves God must also love his brother.

So John has said this over and over again. And now he's saying this is the commandment we have from him. That whoever loves God must also love his brother. You have to love your brothers that you have seen. Now, this is a beautiful theological reality for the church. That if you belong to Jesus, that every person in this room who's placed their faith in Christ, who's been redeemed by him, who's had him be the propitiation for their sins.

That every person gathered in the city and other rooms to proclaim Jesus. That every person around the globe, throughout all of history, who's placed their faith in Jesus, is our eternal brother or sister in Christ. That that word brothers in the Greek includes both male and female. That it's siblings. That's the way that word works. So that we belong to each other as family.

And that's a beautiful reality. That's why we talk about we want to be in community groups where we practice this reality. Where we try to walk out commands like this to love one another. We try to live in light of the fact that we belong to each other eternally. That there is no single solitary Christians. I always say that yes, you can be a Christian on an island.

But you aren't on an island. Which means that yeah, you can be a Christian with no one else around. But that's not your circumstance. So you actually have to have other people around. That you're meant to be in real relationships. Loving your brothers and sisters in Christ.

And I want to say that I'm so grateful to have been a part of this church. Where we try to live this out. Where it's not, we don't just get together on Sundays. Leave, see you next week. But we try to be in relationships with each other.

Try to commit to community groups where we're around one another. Try to make our community groups where we don't, aren't just meeting once a week with them. But trying to be around each other in life. And sometimes we get that going better. And sometimes not as well. But we're actively shooting for practicing this together.

This is something that we've taken seriously. That we're going to practice being in real relationships with each other. And it's one of the best things about our church. And it's quite possibly the most annoying thing about our church. That if you've been a part of our church for a while. The best thing that's been most helpful and most life giving.

And most joy filled for you. Is the relationships that you've built. Is you've committed to people. And the thing that you have been most frustrated with. Most annoyed by. Most often try to talk yourself into not being around.

Is because of the people that you've invested with. And built relationships with. That's what makes this so beautiful. And so good. And so helpful. And so what I want to do this morning.

I want us to look at this idea. And let's take seriously this command. To love one another. This is the seventh time. John in this letter. It's not a long letter.

I know we've made it seem like a long letter. With how slow we're going through it. You're thinking no this is a long letter y'all. It's not a long letter. This is the seventh time he's told us to love one another. It's the seventh time we've been commanded.

To love one another. To love the brothers. Love the brothers. Love the brothers. Love the brothers. It's the fourth time he's said it negatively.

Which is. If you don't you ain't. You don't love. You a liar. He's done that four times. Seven times he's said it in a positive direction.

Four times he's been aggressive with the. You don't get to be a part of things if you don't love people. Why? Well. My first answer to that. Is I think it's because it's important.

I think it's close to the heart of God that we love each other. I think it. It's as serious as he says it. Which is if we don't love the brothers. Then we don't know God.

So it matters that we're loving. But secondly. And encouragingly. I think it's because it's difficult. Isn't that encouraging to you? It's encouraging to me.

At times I think that you know the first. The early church just had it together. And everything just worked for them. And we're scrubs. And they were great. And the Holy Spirit was really working.

And they didn't have to try to. Like they just said no to sin. And when they saw their brother. They just bubbled up with love juices all inside. And how much they cared for each other. And it was just like.

I just came to our group. And I just looked at you. And I just love you so much. Seven times. The apostle John. It's the apostle who walked with Jesus.

Is going love one another. Love one another. It's a command y'all. Do it. And quit saying that you love God. And not loving each other.

He's repeatedly saying this. Because we need the correction. And the encouragement. And because this does not necessarily come naturally to us. Tim Keller in his book. King's Cross.

Where he's walking through Mark. I love one of the ways that he talks about this. He says that there are few people in your life. That are a genuine delight to love. That they're great. You enjoy them.

It's easy to love them. They enhance your life. He says that's wonderful. Love those people. Everyone else. It's going to be a trial to love.

It's going to be hard. It's going to take sacrifice. It's going to take difficulty. That loving people is difficult. And so I want us to look at this. We're going to put these verses together.

It's the beginning of 19. We're going to kind of hold this in our head. We love because he first loved us. And the reason I want that there. We're just taking out the negative statement in the middle. Where he says.

If you say you love. Then you don't. Then you're a liar. But I want us to have that there. Because as we talk about taking seriously the command to love one another. There's going to be a genuine temptation.

To try to anchor. Our ability to love people. In ourselves. Okay. I'm going to be loving. I'm going to do this.

And if we try to anchor this in ourselves. It will not work. We have to understand that the energy. The power to love is empowered by the Holy Spirit. Through the work of Christ. That we love because he first loved us.

That's got to be in your head as we talk through this. And then. That's the command we have for him. Whoever loves God. So secondarily.

First he loves us. Secondly we love him. That's the appropriate response to the love of God. Is that you see the love that he has for you. And you respond loving him. Because he's so wonderful.

Then. Whoever loves God. Must also love his brother. So third. Is that we love the brother. So.

There are. I want us. He said this a lot. We've talked about it a lot. We've talked about the theology of it. We've talked about the straightforward ideas of it.

And what I want to look at today. Is as we look at this. And hold in our minds. This idea. And take seriously this command. To love one another.

I just want to bring up four things. That I think. Make it difficult. Culturally. For us to love each other. That there are four kind of.

Currents. In culture. That we're used to. But that actually. Harm. They're enemies of.

Our ability to love each other. Things that we've gotten used to. That seem normal to us. As Americans. As Americans in 2022. But.

Ultimately though. Aren't in step. God. With the scriptures. And this. This happens to us.

I am. My wife and I. Have been married. For. I don't know. Just a year or two.

Something like that. And we went to go eat. Dinner. At my parents house. And when we got there. My dad said.

Hey I want to show you something. Come here. And he took us over to this. Like. Glass. Hutch.

Display case. Thing. That my mom has precious moments in. Precious moments. Are little big headed glass dolls. Uh.

My dad would give my mom. One every year. To celebrate. A precious moment. That had happened that year. So she has this little display case.

Of precious moments. He says. Come over here. I want to show you something. He says. Look at that.

And he points. And in this little display case. With light shining on it. Is a dead hummingbird. And he says. Look at it.

Isn't that cool? I found that. You don't usually get to see hummingbirds. Up close. And their wings flap so fast. You can't see them.

Look at how pretty their wings are. And I was like. Yeah. That's great. That's beautiful. You know.

Moved right on with our time there. We ate. We get in the car. We're riding home. And my wife goes. Oh my goodness.

I could barely even eat. While we were there. I said. Why? I said. What do you mean?

Why? Why? Because there's a dead hummingbird. Four feet from me. And I was like. And she goes.

That's weird. And it was at that moment. That it clicked. Oh yeah. No. That is kind of weird.

It's not weird to me. Because. That's not weird at all. To find a dead hummingbird. And put it in a glass case at our house. That was the.

The last in a long line. Of dead animals. My dad had excitedly shown me. But I had to have her next to me. To go. Do you see that this.

You see. You can see this right. Please tell me. You can see that this is a little bit. But. And that's what John's.

In some ways. I think if he were to sit next to us. In American culture. He. He'd have some things. Where he goes.

You see how that's going to make it hard. To love each other. Right. And so I'm just pulling out. This is just things that. I think.

We need to take. As we take the command. To love seriously. We need to be mindful of. There's some things. That we have gotten used to.

In culture. That are actually. Counter. To our ability. To follow. What he's telling us.

So. First one. Busyness. Busyness. Is an enemy. To your ability.

To love people. If you are. Moving at a frantic. Hectic. Pace. You cannot.

Feel loved by God. Spend time with him. Rest in the love that he has for you. And you do not have the time. To love other people. And we're busy.

It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. Age group. Gender. Race. You talk to people.

How are things going? Good. Just been really busy. Things are fine. I'm just really busy. I've just got a lot going on.

That's the pace of life for us. That we are busy. And we have a lot going on. And we. You may be the type of person. Who tells yourself.

I won't be busy. Soon. And you've been telling yourself that. For years. And to borrow a phrase from John. You're a liar.

If you're more honest. You'd say. Well I'm busy now. But in a couple of weeks. I'll be busy also. But after that.

I'm going to be even more busy. But eventually. I'll die. That's the pace of life that we have. And if we have that pace of life. That's an enemy.

To our ability. To love one another. That if you are. Frantic. And hectic. It messes you up.

If we are hurried. I got some of these ideas. That I'm about to share with you. From a pastor named John Mark Comer. He wrote a book called. The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry.

That would be helpful for. Everyone to read. But. There's this concept of hurry sickness. Which was. First brought around by a doctor.

Who was a cardiologist. In the 50's. He started connecting. Being hurried all the time. Being busy all the time. With heart disease.

He started realizing. That stress. Of always having things going on. Was causing problems. And so there's a book. Written by Rosemary Sword.

And Philip Zimbardo. They are time perspective therapists. So that's a thing. But they said this. They said. These are three ways to tell.

If you have. Hurry sickness. One. When you're. In a checkout line. You move from one checkout line.

To another. Because that one's moving faster. The second one they give you. Is that when you pull up to a light. You count how many cars. Are in each lane.

And you swap lanes. To be in a lane. That has fewer cars. The third one they give. Is that you multitask. To the point.

That you forget. What some of the tasks are. And when I heard this. My first thought was. Those are so normal. Why would you.

Why would I be in a line. At the grocery store. That was longer. What kind of an idiot. Does that. But that's the whole point.

Is that we are moving. So quickly. That this is so normal. For us. To be at such a. Breakneck pace.

We have no ability. To relate. To people. One of the ideas. He brought up. Which I had never considered.

Is he says. We do a thing. Called energy hoarding. Which is. We know. We're going to be.

So stressed out. That we won't give energy. To anybody. We have the time. Right now. But I know my week's so busy.

I just can't spend energy. On you. I. I just got to. Hold on to this. Because I know.

What's coming. In the next couple of days. Because we're so busy. It robs our ability. To love each other. I'm probably going to.

Pronounce this wrong. There was a. A man named. Kosuke. Koyama. Who wrote.

A series of essays. Called the three mile an hour. God. And he titled it that. Because. That's the speed.

At which you walk. Is three miles an hour. And he said. God walks. Slowly. Because he is love.

If he was not love. He would have gone much faster. Love has its speed. It is an inner speed. It is a spiritual speed. It is a different kind of speed.

Than a technological speed. It is slow. Yet it is the Lord. Over all other speeds. Since it is the speed. Of love.

And I just appreciate. The concept of. Jesus came and he walked. We're told to walk with God. We're told to. To wait on God.

We're told to be still. And know that he is. God. That there's this. Franticness. That we've all accepted.

That. Robs us of the ability. To be loved. And to love. And if we're going to take seriously. The commands.

To love one another. We're going to have to evaluate. What's in our schedule. And how fast we move. And we're going to have to figure out. How to walk a little bit.

And to not base. All of our value. Off of our productivity. Have you ever not been busy. And you felt like. There's something wrong with you.

That's. That's a cultural sickness. That's not a biblical concept. We're meant to have time. To love one another. Second one.

Self-care. Because. Of our chaotic. Frenetic. Pace. We have responded.

By needing to care for ourselves. And. That's kind of true. So. If you. Use this term.

The self-love. Self-care. And what you mean by it is. I need to exercise some. I need to eat. Healthy foods.

And the appropriate amount of foods. I need to sleep at night. I need to rest. Self-care. Okay. I mean.

If the idea that you have. Is like. When you're on an airplane. And they say. When the cabin pressure drops. And the bags drop down.

Put your mask on. Before you put on the little kid's mask. It's not because you love yourself more. It's because if you pass out. No one puts the kid's mask on. So.

If that's what you mean by self-care. Is that. I actually need to be a healthy person. Who's mindful of this. So that I can love.

Okay. Then. Then that's not what I'm addressing. What I am addressing. Is the. I have run at such a chaotic pace.

So anxiously flipped through my phone. So anxiously kept up with my calendar. That I now have no more energy for anyone. And what I have to do is cut ties with everyone. And just be a hermit for six months. I just can't.

I just got to care for myself. So I can't talk to you. If what you mean by self-care is. Relationships shouldn't be difficult. So if there is any difficulty in relationship.

Then I don't have to have that relationship. That sounds good to Americans. And it's very foreign to the scriptures. That if Jesus' approach was. If relationships are difficult. I don't have to have them.

We're not here. We're not singing to his glorious name. For redeeming sinners. There is no hope in propitiation. We don't even understand what love is. Because he shows us love.

And that he gave himself up for us. There's a book called boundaries. That I've recommended to people. It's been around for like 30 years. It's a good book. It is helpful for people who.

Don't have any boundaries. And don't understand how to say no to people. And how to set up kind of being a coherent. Separate entity from the people around them. It is a helpful book. But sometimes what happens is people read that book.

And they go I have boundaries now. I'm no longer friends with anyone. I'm just completely cutting everyone out of my life. And it's like yeah. That's a boundary. It's a bad one.

And the reality. To being a believer. And to loving others. Is that if you love people. They're inside your boundaries. For us to love people.

They're inside our boundaries. That's how it works. That there are some amounts of inherent difficulty. In loving others. And yes. There are some people who need to grow.

That are in your community group. And the first time they ask for help. You need to absolutely just help them. And the second time. Everything's an emergency with them. Well love is not.

I either give you everything you ask for. Or I cut you off. Love is. Hey. I actually am invested in helping you grow. So I'm here.

I can't help you. Bail you out every time this way. But I'm here. And we're going to help you become a more healthy person. That's. That's love.

And that's carrying out some boundaries. But this idea of. Love shouldn't be costly or difficult. Or. I'm exhausted. I'm just worn out.

This is too hard. That's a reality. To following Jesus. That there are times when we're exhausted. That we're pushed beyond what we can bear. And that we have to lean into him.

To feel the love that we need. To be able to move forward. And that he empowers that through his spirit. That there are times. That you're going to get hurt. If you think.

You know. I didn't realize this was going to be so painful. That's. That's. That's part of love. That if we're actually going to know people.

And care for people. That's part of love. And that brings us to our next one. Which is. Consumerism. Third enemy.

Of love. That culturally. We're just. So used to. We talk at. Give series.

Every year. We're raising money. We talk about consumerism. We're mostly having in mind. Just the spending money on things. We don't need.

That kind of. Our whole. Economic system. Is built around consumerism. That you. Buy more shoes.

Than you have feet. That general idea. And you buy shoes. Based off of the way they look. Not that they've worn holes in them. That kind of a thing.

So. It's consumerism. But it's a broader category. Which is a way to understand the world. In a materialistic way. And what I mean by that is.

The world. And this is all around us. It's not what we say we believe. But it's creeping in. It's infecting how we believe. It's that the world.

Is only what we can see. And feel. And taste. And experience. That there is nothing transcendent. There is nothing spiritual.

There is no eternity. This is what our culture. Beliefs. So that. You want to get rid of suffering. As fast as possible.

Because there is no purpose in suffering. Because there is nothing that happens after that. There is no eternal hope. There is nothing beyond. What we have right in front of us. So we should pursue pleasure.

We should get stuff. We should. This is the advice columns that will say. If you're not getting what you want out of your marriage. You're free to go. Because it's a belief that.

I'm only here for a limited amount of time. I got 60, 70, 80 years. And I better enjoy what I can enjoy. And I better not stay in a difficult relationship. And this has. Soaked into us.

Tim Keller says. That there's sometimes when it's raining so hard. That even if you're wearing a raincoat. And you're holding an umbrella. You're going to still get wet. This is one of those culturally.

Where it's raining so hard. That even as much as we try to defend ourselves against it. This still soaks into us. That we are consumers. One of the ways that I know this. Is that you could tell me you went to a new restaurant.

And I could pepper you with questions. And you'd be able to answer almost every single one of them. And you did not walk in there thinking. I'm going to write a Yelp review. I need to pay attention to everything. But you did.

You absorbed price to value ratio. How much food did you get? How did that compare to other places you've been to? If you would tell me this fried rice was good. But it's not as good as that fried rice at this other place.

And they were able to get things quickly. But the ambiance wasn't as good. Like you'd be able to tell me all kinds of information. About how much you enjoyed and appreciated your experience. The reality is you've done that this morning. That we everywhere we go.

We soak in how much am I enjoying this? How much do I appreciate this? This chair is comfortable. Didn't like that song. Did like that song. But they didn't like that part.

We just do this. The coffee is good. The coffee is bad. Coffee is too hot. Coffee is too burnt. I like this place because I like the coffee.

We constantly are taking in the information and processing it from a consumeristic viewpoint. Because we've been trained to do this. So what happens if you approach the church that way? Is you destroy your ability to follow this command. Because love is not about consumption. It's not about taking.

It's about giving. There's a real danger for us to read passages like this in John where he says, I command you to love and go, yes, I want to be a part of a church like that. Yes, I want to be a part of a place that loves. But somehow have flipped it in our head to not be a command about loving like I'm supposed to love, but to be a command about receiving love. I'm supposed to be in a loving place. Yes.

And if this place doesn't love me the way it's supposed to, I'm free to go. I've pastored long enough that I've sat down with multiple people who would say to me, we say we're a church family, we're a family, we need to be family, who would say to me, I just can't be a part of this group anymore because they're not being family. They just aren't family. And can't hear that that statement is the most unfamily statement ever. What is the qualification for family? Who your daddy is?

What are the other qualifications that have to be met? The bar for family to get in is so low. You're just in. Expectations are really high. But when someone says I'm going to leave because they're not being family, it's a consumeristic mindset of I'm not getting out of this what I want, so I'm free to go.

And if you want to be miserable and if you want to miss out on love, that's a good way to approach it. This is one of the reasons why we just place people in groups. We do a little bit of like what night can you meet? Where do you live? But then we just say get in this group.

And people are like, well, I want to go visit a couple of different groups. We really discourage that because it's like, well, that's putting you in sideways because you're going to somehow trick yourself into thinking you're looking for a group that meets your needs. And you'll set yourself up on the wrong foot to be miserable wherever you are. But if you show up with I'm supposed to give, I'm supposed to pour out, I'm here to love these people, you're going to love your group. Isn't that crazy? That if you just choose to love your group, you'll love your group?

See how that works? That there's a reality to a joy that's offered to us in this and that when we're looking for what we're getting out of it, we're robbing ourselves of it. It becomes transactional rather than sacrificial. And I don't know how we, and I'm including myself in this, how much we can talk about sacrificial love and appreciate the idea of sacrificial love and then balk every time I have to sacrifice to love. Yes, Jesus. Thank you so much.

Sacrifice, love. Yes. Hey, can you help me with this? Nah. Hey, I need to talk to you again. You too needy.

I can't be, you know, giving of myself. That might make me love you and then I would have something that Jesus offers to me. Like, I don't know how. We just, we roll out of it every time we get the opportunity. Last one. Freedom.

We have been sold that the route to happiness is freedom. And there are times in history and around the world where what people need is freedom. I'm a fan. I loved Braveheart. I'm good. Like, freedom is good.

But we have an unprecedented amount of freedom. And we're still told what we need is more freedom. I mean, off the charts amount of freedom. To go where we want to go. Do what we want to do. Wear what we want to wear.

Fit in, not fit in. You can pick the thing that you want to make you the weirdest person you can possibly be. There's 30 other people that will go do that with you. Like, it just, we have the amount of mobility that we have to pick a different Job, to move, to go on vacation, to choose. We have so much freedom. And what you're told over and over again is you just need a little more.

The reason you're unhappy in your marriage, you need a little more freedom. The reason you don't like your job is you need a little more freedom. You need a job that offers you a little bit more, a little bit more openness, a little bit. Well, guess what? You have to give up freedom to have a relationship. You have to.

Like, I couldn't have asked my wife when I proposed to her, I want to marry you. I love you. I want to spend my life with you, but I don't want you to infringe on my time. I want you to be there for me when I want you there for me, but then I want you out of my face when I don't want you there. Will you marry me? Like, if you're going to have the depth of joy that comes with having children, which it's not for everybody, and the Lord doesn't have that for everybody.

But if you're going to have that, oh, boy, you're going to sell some freedom. I remember looking at my wife when we had like a five-month-old and being like, I didn't realize how much I used to sit down. Why won't he let me sit down? Like, I don't feel like I've sat down. Like, what has happened here? But if you're like, I want the depth of relationship that comes with having a child.

I just don't want that to affect my time. Okay. You can have one or the other. And if we're going to have meaning and relationships, if we're going to have love, we've got to give up some freedom. I want to be a part of a place where people know me and I know them, where we serve each other, where we really love the way the church is meant to love. But I also want to be able to join an adult sports league and not be around my group for six months at a time.

Okay. You can have freedom or you can have a relationship. You can't have both. I want them to be there when I need them. I want to be able to show up and have everybody there. But I don't want to have to be like, I have to be there when they need me.

But it short circuits everything. You actually need to commit. If you are a Christian, you need to commit to a church. And if it's not here, you need to find another one, but you need to do it quick. You don't need to shop around because you'll convince yourself the way you're looking for is something that meets your needs and you will miss out on what he's commanded us to do. But you need to commit to a church.

If you want to commit to this church, you need to commit to a group. Because that's where we actually try to live this out. And by commit to a group, I don't mean just say I'm going to be in a group. I mean show up, be around, get to know the people, talk about yourself, be honest, listen, commit. And let me tell you what will happen. Love.

Empowered by the Spirit, life-giving love. And we will miss out on it if we don't do that. And some of you have been, I've been a Christian forever and I feel so dry and I feel so empty. I've been a Christian for however long. I've been a part of this church for however long. And by a part of this church, I don't know what you mean.

But if you haven't been pouring yourself out, Jesus says blessed. It's more blessed to give than to receive. That there's something that he does as we sacrifice and pour ourselves out where he fills us back up. And I want to help you see something. Some of you are like, no, I tried. I tried to love those people.

I tried to love those people and they just didn't reciprocate. That's not how this works. It says we love because he first loved us. That the power for our love comes from him. Whoever loves God must offer love his brother. It doesn't say whoever loves his brother will also be loved by his brothers.

That there's a personal freedom to the responsibility to love that isn't dependent on the response. And that actually sets us free and gives us the ability to love in a way that's so much better than if it's transactional. Well, I'm going to love them and we'll see. We'll see. I'll give it three months. I'm going to love them and then we'll see.

It's like, well, you're setting yourself up. That's not how it works. I'm going to love them because he loves me. And when I don't feel loved by them, I kind of expected that anyway. I'm going to go back to being loved by him and be empowered by him. And every time for some of us, we've had the opportunity to actually pour ourselves out and to have the power of the spirit to dump love in us and to channel love through us.

Every time we had that opportunity, we just moved out of the way. Because it was going to be too hard. I got a lot going on right now. I can't do that. And we've missed out on being filled with the empowerment of the spirit to know the love of God for us as we dig deep to pour it out for others. Because that's one of the best ways that we learn it is that as we love others, we get to see the love that he has for us.

We get to feel the love that he has for us. We get to know the love that he has for us. But for us to do that, for us to take this seriously, I do think, and there may be other ones. I'm sure there are. But I think you need to look at how busy you are.

I think you need to evaluate whether or not you're worried more about yourself than others. That if your love is based off of a self-love rather than a selfless love, I'll tell you that it's incompatible with what he's called us to. And if you're consuming, you're here to get what you can get, you miss out on what he's actually called us to. And if you want all your freedom, you won't have relationships. Those are things that were normal for us that we need to overcome, be mindful of, so that we might have what he has offered to us in our church family. And here's what's beautiful about this.

John needs to say it to us seven more times. The Lord's going to have to tell us over and over again this is how we're supposed to act. And he's going to have to empower it through his spirit for us to do this. And we're going to have to know the love that he has for us in order for us to be able to do this. And we don't love because we're loving. We love because we were first loved.

The empowerment for this is the gospel. And if you haven't trusted in Jesus and had him go to work in your heart, you will not be able to do this. And you will miss out on the real love that is eternal, that redeems, and that brings us home. Let's pray. God, I pray that we would be a people that love. That we would be, we would take seriously the command to love our brothers and sisters.

We're thankful that you have made us into a family and that we have hope in you. We thank you that you love us. And so the energy and the power and the ability to do this is not that we are loving people or that we're the good ones who can get it together. But that we are so loved by Christ who came to redeem sinners from self. That we get to live in that and be empowered by you to love one another. And may we pour ourselves out so that we might enjoy and delight in the love that you have for us.

In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Band's going to come back up and we're going to sing together.

The Love of God for Us (1 John 4:7-18)

Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet this week.

The Love of God for Us

Chet Phillips

Download

Transcript

Music Well, good morning. My name's Chet. I'm one of the pastors here. Grab your Bibles, go to 1 John chapter 4. We've been working our way through the letter, 1 John, and we'll be on page 592 if you have one of the blue Bibles that's tucked under the seat in front of you. We are going to start in verse 7.

And we've made it. We've made it to the place in 1 John, the place in the Bible, where we're told that God is love. And if you live in the United States, which most of you do, we love this. The Western world loves this idea that God is love. Even people who don't really believe in God aren't Christians. They're fine with this idea.

They appreciate this idea. You'll hear things like, well, if there is a God, He's a God of love. Or you hear things like, well, all I know is that kind of the core of all faiths and all religions is that God is loving. Or people would say, well, if I was going to believe in a God, the only God I'm willing to believe in is a God of love. And so we've made it to that passage where we're going to learn about and talk about the love that God has for us. And this is good news.

This is a good morning for us to study this together and try to sit in this idea, to soak in the idea that God loves us. But we're going to see that John anchors this love of God, that he has the foundation of this love of God, that he rests this love of God on something that culturally we're less excited about. And when we say God is love, everybody goes, yes, yes, He is. And then we say, and we know that because, and we finish this out the way John finishes it out, our culture goes, ooh, no, stop it. And so we're going to get to see what John says is the anchor of this love. So let's go ahead and we'll pray and we'll jump in and discuss the love that God has for us and how we know this love.

So let's pray. Father, I don't think that conceptually we have a problem with the idea that you love us or that you're loving. I don't think that we have any kind of issue as we come this morning with the concepts that you in general are loving or that your disposition is loving. Lord, I do think that there's a good chance that personally some of us don't feel loved or that personally some of us have a hard time understanding how greatly we are loved or that practically we don't live as if this is true. And so Lord, we ask for your Holy Spirit to minister this morning. That you would do a work this morning as we study your word, that it would come alive.

And that we would know the love of God that is for us. And we ask this in Jesus name. Amen. First John chapter four, verse seven. Beloved, let us love one another for love is from God. And whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.

And anyone who does not love does not know God because God is love. Now, we're going to spend the majority of today on this concept of God's love for us. And then next week, as we kind of study through this passage into the next passage, we're going to talk about this command for us to love one another. So today we're going to try to wrap our head around that he loves us first, that God has love for us. And then out of that, so he says, beloved, let us love one another for love is from God. And whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.

So he's anchoring this idea of us loving each other in the love that God has for us and the love that is God, that God is love, the character and nature of God. And so if you're here this morning, that's what we're going to talk about. And next week, we'll talk about our response and how we love one another. And some of you were like, that sounds great. I get to hear today that God loves me. And next week I was planning on having COVID.

So I won't be here for the stuff I'm supposed to do. So I'm glad to be here this morning. But they tie together, but we're going to look at this idea of God's love for us. So he says, anyone who does not love does not know God because God is love. This defining character trait of God is that he is loving. That when God Acts in love, in kindness, in mercy, when he pursues in love, when he has his position of love towards us, he's acting inside of his own character and his own nature.

And every example we've ever seen of love, every beautiful picture we've ever seen or experienced of love is all downhill from God because he is the fountainhead of love. That God is love and that love is from God. And what he's pointing, he's making here is that if we aren't loving, you can't say, you know, God, you can't say that he dwells in you. You can't say that you abide in him. You can't say that you're facing him. You can't say that he's redeemed your heart and changed your heart.

If you aren't loving. And so he's going to press on this idea of us loving one another. But let's keep following this idea that God is love. And therefore, as it is something that marks him, it's something that marks his people. That those who belong to God are loved and loving. That because we belong to him and because he's like this, we're like this.

I in seminary, I had a friend named Darby Jurels. And I remember he and I got along. We weren't the best of friends, but we talked in class. That's kind of how I've had a lot of friends, which is I'm your friend while I see you. And then as soon as you leave, I'll see you when I see you again. Kind of friendships.

I used to have friends in high school when summer came, they'd be like, see you when school starts because they knew they wouldn't see me all summer. And I'm sorry. That's the problem I have. But anyway, he's my friend in school and we were walking out leaving one day and his wife showed up and started unloading children from the car. And it was one of the most amazing things I had ever seen. She she unloaded three boys and it was like you had taken Darby's face and just stamped it on a two year old, a four year old and a six year old.

And not like, oh, I could see how they're your children. And one day they'll grow up to look like you. No, like your little kids have little man faces. And it was amazing. And at that moment, I thought, I hope one day I have a child that runs around and looks exactly like me. It was like a life goal of mine when I saw this.

I mean, they looked so much like him, like he wouldn't have even been able to. Maury Povich wouldn't even let him on the show that he just said, we're not paying for a paternity test. Those years get out of here. But that's the way as Christians, we're supposed to look. If we belong to God and he is this loving, we're meant to look like him. It's meant to be stamped on us that we belong to him.

We love in this way that God is love. And therefore, it flows out of those who belong to him. But let's keep going, because this is where it takes a bit of a turn for us in our culture. And if you're familiar with the Bible, it doesn't. But if you've kind of bought into some of this idea of just a general love of God, it does.

So let's see. Verse. Nine. In this, the love of God was made manifest among us. We have to talk about the word manifest in just a second. That God sent his only son into the world so that we might live through him.

So John says, this is how we see it. This is how we know it. This is how, this is when love puts skin on. That we had these promises of God that he was loving. We had these promises in the Old Testament that his love was renewed. His love was everlasting.

That he had this love for us. And then we, in Christ, we see it. We know it. It was made manifest for us that God sent his only son so that in him we might live. In him we might have life. So the love of God is anchored in the person of Christ.

But it's not just the person of Christ. John's going to carry this further. So he says this. This is where it showed up. This is how we know it. This is how we, as he says at the beginning, we saw it.

We touched it. We felt it. We heard it. This is the love of God for us is that Jesus came so that we might live through him. Verse 10. In this is love.

Not that we have loved God. But that he has loved us. And sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins. Okay, so there's a handful of things that we have to define and kind of unpack from that passage. First. First.

One of the beautiful bits of news here is that in this is love, not that we have loved God. That should wash over your soul and refresh and restore and give you hope. The promise of the love of God, of the hope of scriptures, that the declaration of what God has done for us is not. God loves those who love him. If you'll understand how holy he is and you'll change your life to pursue him, to follow him, he'll love you. He'll respond to your initiative.

If you'll see what he's like, if you'll change your behavior, if you'll turn from this, if you'll change how you are, if you'll become like this, if you'll... He'll love you. That's not what it says. It says in this is love. Not that we've loved God. But that he's loved us.

That's good news. It doesn't come from you. It's not initiated by you. It's not fixed by you. It's not solved by you. It's not recognized by you.

It's that he pursued us. That he chased us. That he came for us. That's how we know love. The other thing that he says is in this is love. He's about to define love for us.

And this is extremely helpful for us. Because we get this backwards culturally. It says God is love. And then we have to trust the Bible to define love for us. By who God is. But what we want to do is take our definition of love and decide that's who God is.

God is love. Love isn't God. We don't get to take our understanding of love and say, well, this is how God would act. Because this is how I understand love. This is how God would act towards me. This is how he would act towards others.

We don't get to do that. That we understand that God is love. So then we have to see how God Acts. And what he does. So that we can fill in our definition.

Learn the definition of love. And then he says this. We've already talked about this once as we went through 1 John. I'm glad he talks about it again. Because it is so good. In this is love.

So he's about to define love for us. Not that we've loved God. But that he's loved us. And sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins. Propitiation is a wonderful reality for us in Christ. Propitiation is that Jesus was the atoning sacrifice that absorbed the wrath of God.

The atoning sacrifice that absorbed the wrath of God. Meaning that through Jesus he has made us right with God. He has been the sacrifice for our sins. And the wrath of God for sin was poured out on Jesus. So that in Jesus we're forgiven.

And loved. So this is how the Bible defines love for us. And pictures love for us. It says this. It says we have sin. Judgment and wrath.

Sacrifice and forgiveness. That you have sin. And I have sin. That we've actively worked to make the world worse. That we've stepped out of the bounds of what God designed for us. That we've messed things up.

That we've broken God's good design for the world. And that God Judges sin and sinners. And that there is wrath coming. We read this together. This idea that we were by nature children of wrath. But that God in his great mercy made a way out of that.

That there was sacrifice and forgiveness for us to redeem us from the wrath of God. God. So. You say. We know God is love. And really.

Nobody. If you meet one of your neighbors. And you're talking. And you say you're a Christian. They for a second. Might you know twitch a little bit.

They might not. But they might. And if you say. I just believe that God is love. They. They untwitch.

Okay good. And if you go. Because he sent Jesus. To take the wrath of God in our place. They retwitch. Like we.

We can gain and lose people. If you're doing a talk show. If you see someone say. Well I just believe that God's loving. And that he just. You know.

He sends out good. Energy. Sparkles into the universe. And every morning. I just soak him up. And I just know that he wants me to be happy.

Everybody goes. Yeah. And if you say. I know that God is love. Because he sent. His one and only son.

It's like. Well hey look. We're running out of time. There's technical difficulties. We got. This is where we lose people.

But this is where John anchors this. But I want. I want to take a second. And I just want to address the concept. Of a loving God. Without.

The sacrificial work of Christ. Which is a cultural concept. That we seem to be okay with. But I want to help. Point out. That that has no legs to stand on.

So I'm not addressing. This is this middle ground. Of there is a God. And he is loving. But without the sacrifice of Christ.

Without the effective. Manifested love of God. In the person and work of Christ. On the cross. We're going to remove that part. And we're going to talk through this.

First of all. The concept. That there is a God. Who is loving. Comes from your Bible. It does not come.

From anywhere else. There are no other world religions. That teach that. Islam teaches that God can be merciful. But not that he knows you personally.

Loves you. Cares about you. That you can talk to him. Like this personal relationship. Seems a little foreign. And in some ways.

Seems like it degrades God. Buddhism doesn't have a personal God. Most other cultures and religions. That have. Creation didn't come out of love. It came out of strife.

And struggle. There's. There's this idea. That we have a loving God. Comes from the Bible. First of all.

Also. You just wouldn't look at history. And pick that. None of you would look at your life. Or the way history is played out. And say obviously.

So this idea of a loving God. Comes from here. And then what happens is. He anchors it in the atonement. And when you remove the atonement. When you remove the work of Christ.

If he says. Work of Christ shows it. Love of God is displayed. And sets it on top. And if we remove that. Then we're just hoping.

That the love of God floats on its own. Without what was holding it up. To display it. And to show it. And to give us. So here's what happens.

You remove. Sacrifice and forgiveness. But you're going to still have God. Now you need to remove sin. So that you can get rid of judgment.

And wrath. So that we just kind of say. Okay. We have a God. And he's loving. But we have to remove sin.

Because. We need him to just kind of be okay. With everything. We need like. Sleepy. Compliant.

Doting. Grandpa God. That whatever you want to do. Is good. If you really believe it. And if it's in your heart.

And you know. The people say like. God made me this way. And God doesn't make mistakes. Which we only apply to certain things. Like.

You. You. You nod along when someone says that. About certain things. Like God made me this way. And he doesn't make mistakes.

Part of us culturally wants to go. Yeah. You're right. You feel that. You find that in your heart. But we don't nod along when someone says.

Yeah. I just hit women. God made me this way. And he don't make mistakes. We're like. No.

No. You got. You got to stop that. And so the reality is. If we want to get rid of sin. We ultimately just want it to be.

Certain cultural sins. That we've decided are okay. We want to draw the lines differently. But we can't fully get rid of sin. Because every single one of us. No matter where we draw the lines.

We do draw a line. If you're going to believe. That there's a God who made things. At some point you're saying. This is wrong. Because it's wrong.

Not because we've culturally decided it's wrong. We actually at times. Have culturally been okay with it. It was still wrong. Slavery. Oppression.

Abuse. Assault. They're wrong because they're wrong. And we're going to draw that line somewhere. Well as soon as we do that. And again.

We may draw it further out or closer in. But as soon as you draw the line. And say there's sin. As soon as sin comes back. Okay. Well if we have sin.

And we say there is sin. And then we go. But God doesn't judge. He's not a God of judgment and wrath. Well now we have another problem. Is he good?

Is he powerful? Because if he's good. And he's powerful. And he loves us. But he doesn't care about actual bad sin.

That's questionable. People say. Well it's bad for him to be angry. Well I want to read a quote. That I think is very helpful. This is from the book.

Hope has its reasons. It's a quote from Becky Pippert. She says. Do you think how we feel. When we see someone we love. Ravaged by unwise actions.

Or relationships. Do we respond with benign tolerance. As we might towards strangers. Far from it. Anger. Isn't the opposite of love.

Hate is. And the final form of hate. Is indifference. God's wrath. Is not a cranky. Explosion.

But the settled. Opposition. The settled. Opposition. To the cancer. Which is eating out the insides.

Of the human race. He loves with his whole being. That if something. If something harms. Something you love. It's actually the love.

That produces the wrath. Now we can love things. That we shouldn't love. But this makes perfect sense. I have two little boys. If I saw one of you attack them.

I wouldn't go. Hey dude. Quit. You're hurting him. I would respond. With anger.

Because of love. And that's. The reality of God. Is that if he loves us. And if there are actual wrong things. That need to be addressed.

We actually want a God. Who has judgment. And wrath. That is actually his wrath. Sits on top of his love. That without his love.

You wouldn't have wrath. And if you have love. Genuine love. Then you do have wrath. For the actual sin. That is destroying.

And harms. And that we want a God. Who rightly Judges. So then what happens is this. If you're going to try to keep. That there's a God.

And that he's loving. You got to get rid of sin. But if you say. Well no. There are actually things that are wrong. Then you have to suddenly.

We need God to. To love. Which means we need God. To have some. Wrath and judgment. So then what happens is.

We kind of try to draw this line. Between like. Misdemeanor sins. And felony sins. Like these are the ones. That he just needs to forgive.

That God. You know. He just. He forgives all of us. We draw a line around some things. That we say.

Those aren't even sins. The Bible says they are. No they're not. And then we have this section. Of like misdemeanor sins. Where it's like.

Yeah it was wrong. And it was bad. And you shouldn't have done that. But. God loves us. He forgives us.

But then we've got to turn at some point. And go. Okay these are like the. And so we have this giant list. Of kind of unforgivable sins. These are the ones.

These are the ones. These are the ones. These are the ones. Disind Šok. Those are the ones I need him. To be angry about.

And the reality is. We do have sins. That we need him to be angry about. But the problem is. The Bible says. That all sin works like that.

That all sin. Is wickedness. And brokenness. And works to destroy. The world. And that God.

Isn't just loving. But he's also righteous. And a righteous judge. Condemns sin. And if we're honest, if you've been in enough relationships, if you have enough self-awareness, you understand that you have made things worse. You haven't just been a restorative part of creation that's made everything around you better.

Like a magical Disney character that the flowers bloom when you walk by. Like there's something, if you're self-aware enough, there's something wrong with you. One of the examples that I think of is how self-centered I am. Like I will hear news and there's no way I have yet to be able to filter it without thinking of myself first and how that news affects me. You ever hear bad news but it's not bad news to you and you're like, oh, okay. And then someone has to state out loud for you the thing you were supposed to notice about how that's terrible for another person that you care about.

You're like, oh, oh, that is bad. One of the real simple examples of how self-centered we are is the ability for us to take a group picture, look at the picture, and say, this picture is good. But you've only looked at your own face. If there's a group picture and they say, what do you think? You just look at your face. I've done this with my wife.

She's taken a picture and I've said, this is a good one. And she said, my eyes are closed. And it's like, oh, I forgot you were in this picture. You had to bring your existence to my attention once again. I just meant I'm handsome. That's all I got.

Like this immediate self-centeredness that we have, that we've actively made things worse around us, that there's something wrong with us, that we only care about ourselves, that we've lied, cheated, stole, harmed people. And honestly, if you'll see it, the people you've hurt the most are the people you would say you care the most about. It's like, I love you. I want you to marry me so that I can inflict everything wrong about me on you for the rest of your life. I picked you out of all the people so that I could most aggressively harm you. I wanted to know what you cared most deeply about so that I could destroy it in front of your eyes.

That's really, that's what we do. And God is righteous and he has judgment towards sin. And we don't want the picture to stop there because if it does, we just get judgment. If he actually loves. Now we can have, we can stop here and he can be righteous.

He can be good. But what we're told is that he loves us. And here's how we know that he loves us. Jesus came to be the propitiation for our sins. That he came on a rescue mission. He's not a benign, sleepy, foggy, vague love.

It is a specific, redemptive, rescuing love. He's the, he's Liam Neeson in Taken. He doesn't get the phone call and go, oh, well, okay. You know, don't, I, you know, I care about her, but you know, y'all got to do what you got to do. You know, keep your, your trade going or whatever. He doesn't do that.

He, he says, I, I'm going to destroy you. And, and not learn my lesson because I'll have to do this four or five times. But that God redeems because he loves. He rescues because he loves. He comes to, to bring us home because he loves. So we can ask the question, why does it play out like that?

If he really loves us, why is there sin in the first place? Why is there so much pain? Why does it, why does it play out like this? And the reality of the Bible, the answer for us is we don't know. But we know that it's not because he doesn't love us.

Because he stepped into the story to take the brunt of the pain and the wrath and the brokenness and the sin on himself to bring us back. I don't know. I know he's wiser than me. I know he has good reasons. I know he's good. And I know that he loves me because he came to make a way to pay for my sin that I actually deserve punishment for.

He came to be a propitiation for me so that I don't receive the wrath of God that I deserve. I know that he loves me. And I know that I know that anchored in the person and work of Christ. So I want you to settle that in your heart if you are a believer. If you've trusted in Christ, I want you to settle in your heart the way that you know that he loves you is that Christ came. That's how we know love.

That's how we know what love is. That's how we know that we're loved. Don't anchor it somewhere else. Don't let people tell you that it comes in, does he answer your prayers or not? Don't let it come in, are we blessed or not? Some people look and go, well, why did this happen to me and it didn't happen to them?

I don't know if God loves me. It's like, no, he doesn't say that's the way to know that you're loved. He says, I came to rescue you out of your sin that you deserve just punishment for. And I came because I loved you. That while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. This is Jesus who has taken the wrath of God for us so that we might be made whole and we might have life.

And so that we cherish and love and worship him and know that we are loved. So this is where it goes from here. 11. 11. Beloved. If God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

No one has ever seen God. If we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us. I want you to see that. He says, beloved. I want to address that. No one has ever seen God.

He means the unadulterated, full view of being in the majesty of God. That we have seen God through Christ, that he's the perfect imprint of God's nature, but that we haven't been able to just see God in his full glory. But that we have seen the glory of God in Christ. That's what he's getting at. But that we live this out as we love one another.

That we don't get the opportunity to love God in the way that we ought to, but we get to love one another. That's what he's pushing on. But I want you to look at verse 11. Beloved. This is your title. We don't use that word.

But it means loved one. Cherished. Apple of his eye. He lights up when he sees you. That he cares about you in Christ. That he delights in you.

Because of the work of Jesus. And don't theologically try to diffuse that by saying, yeah, but it's beloved like the whole church. It is. It is beloved like the whole church. Are you in the church? Beloved.

Do you belong to Jesus? Personally loved. I love where he says that he redeemed the church and he washed her and made her clean without spot or wrinkle or blemish or any such thing. Because I love that when anybody says, well, I'm in the church, but I'm secretly a wrinkle. It's like, not if you belong to Jesus. Jesus, I'm kind of a spot at the back of the dress just trying.

Nope. Not how it works. You are personally loved. This is why Paul says that he, Christ, loved me and gave himself up for me. And you get to say the same thing if you belong to Jesus. He loved me and gave himself up for me.

That you are beloved and you are atoned for. You're forgiven. That there's propitiation for your sins. He doesn't just have vague, warm feelings for you. He's made you clean and whole and new. So let's talk about some of our humility when it comes to kind of having our head down in the church.

This kind of, I'm a Christian, but I'm the worst. I'm a Christian, but I'm just so covered by sin. I'm a Christian, but I'm just, Lord, have mercy on me. Yeah. Yeah, that's how it starts. That's how we come in.

That's a reality for us that we need to see. But if we don't ever lift our head, we're missing it. That humility actually becomes hubris. It actually becomes some form of self-focused pride that somehow you sin in such a great degree. You're small to such a great degree that he can't handle it. That he can't redeem me.

I'm so, uh, uh, uh. No, we can start there, but we turn and we celebrate with confidence that we have been atoned for. You say, I keep sinning. Yeah. He loves you. He's been the propitiation for your sin.

That's what he says at the beginning of this book, this letter. He says, I say this to you, you won't sin. Sin causes a problem. He goes, but if he does sin, we have a savior, Jesus Christ, who's the propitiation for our sins. That we are covered and atoned for. That we have confidence, not in ourselves, but in him.

Periodically when I'm doing pastoral counseling, I have to say, put your head up. Throw your shoulders back. Do you belong to Jesus? Don't, don't anchor that in yourself. But have a little bit of confidence in the fact that Jesus can redeem.

He can save to the uttermost those who call on his name. So he says this, by this, this is verse 13. By this we know that we abide in him and he in us because he's given us his spirit. So the Holy Spirit, it works in us. It testifies this to us. It applies this to us.

It works through us to continually lead us to repentance and to joy in Christ. He says, we have seen and testified that the father has sent his son to be the savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the son of God, God abides in him and he in God. So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. All right.

This idea of a confession is not confessing sins or like when you watch a crime drama and they're like, confess. It's not that. It's a, it's a belief. It's, it's what, it's our confession, what we hold to, what we believe. In some ways, it's where do we anchor our hope? That all of us actually have a confession, whether you know it or not.

You have something that you believe. This is my hope. That God knows exactly what you would say. This is what I trust in. This is how I believe the world works. So we all have a confession.

And in some ways, it's like this. When you eat a meal out at a restaurant with some people and the server comes up at the end and goes, is this together? Or they go separate. You know, sometimes they guess. Sometimes they give you both options. It's that moment of, how's this bill going to be paid?

That there's a reality in judgment that we stand before God. And there's this moment of, how's this going to be paid? How's this debt going to be covered? And you know, that moment of awkwardness when this happens at your table. My uncle's from Nigeria and he told me that in Nigeria, if anybody invites you out to dinner, they're paying. That's just how it works.

But he learned in America, that was not the case. People would be like, hey, and also, just so you know, most of my understanding of Nigeria is like 30 years old. So it may have changed drastically. I realized that recently when I met a guy from Nigeria who spoke Yoruba. And it dawned on me that all of my phrases that I use might be from like 1985 or something. I might be saying off the hook and all that and a bag of potato chips and just random things that no one says anymore.

But whatever. So, but it used to be that if anybody invited you out, they were paying. And so he had to tell his fiancee when she came to the U.S., he said, if anybody invites you to eat, you have to have money in your pocket. Because you do not know. They may pay. They may not pay.

People invite me to eat. I said, that sounds good. I was hungry. I go. He paid for himself. He walked off tall.

And that's the truth. We don't know. We don't have a cultural way to know how this is going to work. So we wait until the end. And they say. And then sometimes you just say separate.

Sometimes you wait a second. Like you defer to the, if anybody was going to pay for everybody, it's this person. So there's like this moment where you act like you're getting a drink or like just like eye contact. You ever have the moment where you both say it at the same time, but it's different things? So then you're like, oh.

The worst is a few times I've been with people and they deferred to me. It's like, what are you? I'm not paying. What is this? Separate. Separate.

But there's that moment. That's a confession in Christianity is we confess Jesus, meaning I'm covered by him. That when judgment comes that I stand before God, he pays the debt. That's propitiation. He's absorbed wrath on my behalf. I'm covered.

I just, the name of Jesus over me, the name of Jesus, the work of Jesus, the process of what he has done to come to redeem me, that I proclaim Jesus. This is what he says. Verse, back half of verse 12, verse 16. He says, God is love. And whoever abides in love abides in God. And God abides in him.

By this is love perfected with us so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment. Because as he is, so also are we in this world. There is no fear in love. But perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment. And whoever fears has not been perfected in love.

In Christ, we don't fear punishment. And we have confidence for the day of judgment. And it's unshakable confidence. Because it's not based on, do you love him enough? Did you figure it out? Did you behave well enough?

Did you get it together? Were you Christian enough? Did you spend enough time in church? Did you volunteer enough? Did you become a deacon? Did you serve in this way?

Did you participate in that way? Did you join a community group? None of those things that are good for our souls. None of those things hold up before the Lord. We don't get to stand and say, I'm here to show you that I've been good enough. We stand and we confess.

I'm here to show you that Christ has redeemed me through the blood of his sacrifice. And we have confidence. Can you imagine that? The sky is pulled back. We see God in all of his glory. And there are going to be those who are redeemed by Christ who walk forward like this.

Finally, the day of judgment. Finally, he's come to set all accounts right. And we don't walk forward. If I had to walk forward on my own account, I would hide in fear. I would fall. I would fail.

But we walk forward going, thank you that you're here to redeem those who you've covered by the sacrifice of Christ. I look forward to the day of judgment because there is no fear of punishment. Because that punishment was poured out on Christ on the cross. You say, well, I deserve punishment for what I did. You do. But it was that wrath was poured out on Jesus.

And that's why we gather and we sing his name. We celebrate how good he is. Because he redeems sinners. If you are in this room and you don't have confidence for the day of judgment. If you've anchored that in your good work. If you've anchored that in your morality.

If you've anchored that in your church attendance. If you think for one second you will stand before the king and announce you're a Baptist. I would invite you to trust in the name and the work of Jesus. And to have his blood shed for you in your place. So that you might have confidence for the day of judgment.

Where you were redeemed by the work of the redeeming king who came to save us and who loves us. I would invite you to leave today and be forever marked. Not by your sin. And not by what's been done to you. But be marked as beloved and forgiven for all eternity.

The band is going to come back up. And we're going to sing to Jesus. And we're going to celebrate communion. Where we remember this manifest reality. That God came. That he put on flesh.

That he died to redeem sinners. And we're going to celebrate this manifest reality. That he was seen. That he was touched. That he was heard. That he could be felt.

That's one of the reasons why we have this. It's real. It's tangible. At times it can feel a little messy. But it's to remind us that he was real.

And he was tangible. And he came to redeem. And that we have the love of God for us anchored forever in the person and work of Christ. That his blood was shed for us. So what we celebrate in communion is we take some bread.

And it reminds us of the broken body of Christ. The incarnation of Christ. And we take the juice or wine juice for us. To remember that his blood was shed for us. That it was spilled for us. That we have had the propitiation of our sins.

That we're covered by the work of Christ. As Paul says that we proclaim his death until he comes. That we're covered by it. And I want you to know that this is personal. And it's also collective. As you see the church going.

And you watch them go up. Participate together. As we understand that he has redeemed us. That we are loved. And that we get to live this out together. That we are rescued by his work.

So take a moment. Where you need to confess. Confess. Where you need to confess sins. Confess. But then don't end on that confession.

End on the confession of the work of Christ for you. If you are not a Christian. We would invite you to become one. To trust in Jesus. To place your hope in him and nothing else. And then you may partake in communion.

If you're not a believer. We would ask that you don't partake in this. Because it's a profession of Christ. And you haven't yet partaken in him. Let's pray.

God as we.

Test the Spirits (1 John 4:1-6)

Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet this week.

Test the Spirits

Spencer Cary

Download

Transcript

Verses 1 through 6, you can go ahead and flip there. There should be a Bible around you. You can go on the Blue Bibles to page 592. 1 John is in the back. We're working our way through 1 John, and we've got six more verses to get through this morning. So, when I was 17, I came to faith in Jesus.

And I was a part of a youth group that really was into this one particular popular preacher at the time, this kind of Christian figure whose name was Rob Bell. And we, like our youth group, we loved him. And I was a new Christian, and I was like, man, I like what this guy has to say. He had kind of a punk rock type of vibe. Like, he dressed a little edgy, said some edgy things. And at 17 years old, the stage of life I was in, I kind of dug it.

He wasn't like kind of a stodgy, boring, Baptist pastor. And I was like, all right, like I kind of am into this guy. So, I devoured his stuff, loved it for about a year and a half, and then I got to college. And my freshman year, stepped on campus. I met some people who were Christians, and I met this girl. And I was like, man, she's a Christian.

I'm going to try to impress her, kind of show some game here. And quote kind of something like Rob Bell, which kind of tells you the kind of guy I was in college. They're thinking that was how you impress girls, just to quote your favorite preacher. But whatever. So, I did. And she went, Rob Bell, that guy is sketchy.

And I was like, what? And we had this whole conversation. She started to point out all these things that she had heard from talking with her youth pastor. This guy, he said this, and he said this. And I was like, I'd never heard this before. I'd never realized that there was a different take on this guy.

But he did. He would push the envelope on things. He would say things like, you know, I believe in the virgin birth. But do we really need that in our faith? Do you really need the virgin birth to be a Christian? He's like, I'm not saying that I don't believe the virgin birth.

But we actually, do we need that? He would press in on things like that. Whereas a young believer, I didn't really think anything of it. I was like, oh, he's just being edgy. But as a more mature believer, I'm now, I'm like, that's crazy.

Like, the Bible clearly teaches this. The church has believed this for 2,000 years. This is something that is fundamental to our faith. Absolutely, it matters. And he would do things like this. And basically, the next four years got to be a little bit of a case study for me.

Because I watched this guy continue to push boundaries, continue to say things that were a little bit edgy, a little bit more crazy, a little bit more crazy. Until finally, my senior year of college, he released this book called Love Wins. And if you've ever seen the bumper stickers that say Love Wins, this is where it comes from. It comes from this book that kind of took on his own ideology. He wrote this book, Love Wins, and it was like, oh, man, he's gone. Like, he is out the door.

He is leaving the faith. And he did. He left his pastorate. He moved to L.A. And like, got on Team Oprah and became like this guru for Oprah. And he's gone.

Like, he's just, he's gone. And at the time, as a young believer, as he was saying these things early on, I didn't have discerning ears to be able to hear, wait a second, to have red flags go up and say, I don't think this is actually biblical. I don't think this is actually good. And that happens all the time. And Rob Bell, he's out the door. He's gone.

But like, it's whack-a-mole. One goes down, 15 pop up. I mean, there are absolutely all kinds of false teachers all across American Christianity. And that has always been. False teaching has prevailed for the last 2,000 years in different parts of the world. And we see it here in 1 John 4 as he's addressing this head on, trying to help them, prepare them to be a people that actually discern what is good.

We're going to see the phrase, test the spirits in a moment, to discern what is actually good and true and worth orienting your life around between the difference of something that is going to lead you towards death and destruction. So we're going to sit in this passage and hopefully it encourages us and hopefully it equips us to be a more discerning people. To not just believe everything that we hear, but to actually grow in discernment as we grow in testing the spirits. So let me pray for us and then we will walk through this together. Lord, we love you. And we thank you that you give us the word to be able to grow us and instruct us.

God, I pray that you would help us listen. That you help us grow in being a wise, discerning people. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. All right, so.

I'm going to pick up where we ended two weeks ago in verse 24 of chapter 3. And then we'll go into verse 1. So he says, And by this we know that he abides in us by the spirit whom he has given us. So we talked about this a couple of weeks ago. That passage is to help give us assurance. The assurance comes from God.

The spirit in us helps us know that we are in Christ. That gives us assurance. That gives us confidence. That comes from him. And then he moves into chapter 4 to see where this confidence should lead us as we grow in this type of discernment. In verse 1 he says, Alright, so.

There's a case change in how he uses spirits. So he has capital S spirit. That is the Holy Spirit. And then he's got lowercase s spirits. So what is he getting at when he says lowercase s spirits?

A very just direct application of what he's saying there. As he's talking about don't trust everybody. Spirits there is just generally people. Right? So what he's drawing from is that each of us have a body and we have a spirit.

Right? We have a spirit. And that is either influenced by, empowered by the Holy Spirit. Or it's influenced and empowered by, we talk about this quite a bit in our church, kind of these three different influences in our life. Which is our flesh, our sinful nature. The world.

Which is the culture of the world around us. And the devil. The evil one. Satan. So you're either empowered by in your spiritual life the Holy Spirit or these three domains.

It's one or the other. And he's using spiritual language here to say don't trust what anyone says. Just don't, don't, don't just, just blindly trust. You have to test the spirits. And that's general good advice. Period.

Right? Just don't, don't be gullible. Don't believe everything you hear. All right? Because if you ever have a friend or a family member that, that shares something on Facebook that is obviously false. It's like, oh honey, no.

No. Don't, don't, don't do that. No. Like that, that is obviously not true. And it's just like, don't, don't be gullible. Don't fall for anything that you see, that you read.

Test everything that you hear. Test, discern whether it's from God or it's from the evil one. It's from the world. It's from your flesh. Test everything. John is commanding them.

Don't believe every spirit. Don't believe every spirit. Test. Because there are, are false prophets who have gone out into the world that are deceiving people. You need to know this. Test the spirits.

And, and, and we saw this in John early on. That there was some false teaching that was sweeping through the church. So much so that there were people that were in the church that looked like Christians that ended up leaving the church. That's why in 219 he says, they went out from us, but they were not of us. For they had been of us. They would have continued with us.

There are people that came through with false teaching that deceive people. And they end up leaving the faith all together. Discern. So he says, test the spirits. Discern. And then he gets specific on how they are to do it in verse 2.

He says, by this, by this you know the spirit of God. All right? So here's the test. Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God. And every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already.

So the test is a doctrinal test. It's what are you confessing? Do these people who are around you, do they confess that Jesus came in the flesh or not? Do they believe he was a real, literal person or not? And as we saw early on in 1 John, what looks like the false teaching that had swept through the churches that John was writing to is some form of Gnosticism. And there's a lot of things that Gnosticism taught.

But some of the key teachings of Gnosticism is that Jesus did not come in the flesh. That he came in spirit only. That he didn't literally suffer on the cross or literally bleed or literally die or literally rise. That's why in the very first verse of the entire letter he says, That which was from the beginning, referencing Christ, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon and have touched with our hands. He's trying to help them see Jesus is real. Like he literally came.

So when you hear of people that are saying he didn't come in the flesh, red flags should go up. Immediately, you should wait a second. This is not true teaching. This is actually false teaching. So he gives this doctrinal test to see are they in the faith or not?

Are they claiming that Jesus came in the flesh or not? Because if they are claiming that he did not come in the flesh, well, what they're being influenced by is quite insidious. It's quite evil. He says, this is the spirit of the Antichrist. What you heard was coming and now is in the world already. So we talked about the Antichrist in chapter 2 as we were walking through this, that in the New Testament, there's, I mean, consistently this teaching throughout the New Testament, that there are false teachers.

Jesus comes on the scene and talks about in Matthew 7 that there are going to be wolves in sheep's clothing who are amongst you. They look like the children of God. They look like a sheep, but they're actually a ravenous wolf who will destroy you. Paul gives multiple warnings against false teachers. Peter in 2 Peter 2 gives a warning about destructive heresies that will sweep through the church. So that's taught consistently throughout the New Testament.

But then there's this concept that shows up that there's actually like a false teacher of all false teachers, like the false prophet of all false prophets. And Paul in 1 Thessalonians calls him, he calls him the man of lawlessness, calls him the son of destruction. The book of Revelation talks about this figure as a figure who will rise up and kind of deceive the nations. And oftentimes that figure is called the Antichrist. That's what we most commonly know it as, the Antichrist. But as we saw in chapter 2, that Antichrist actually isn't the word that, that word doesn't show up in the book of Revelation, doesn't show up in 1 Thessalonians.

The word Antichrist only shows up in 1 and 2 John. This is the word that he uses only. And he's talking not about necessarily a person here, but actually a spirit of the Antichrist, a spirit of rebellion. Now, he's referencing that, yeah, there is someone who is coming, which you heard was coming, referencing this figure. But what's more concerning at the moment is the spirit of the Antichrist that is at work.

And I feel like that's something that we should absorb because there's a lot of people that get really excited about this kind of stuff. They get really excited about the book of Revelation, have like charts and stuff, and have seen all the movies and read all the books. Like, is the Antichrist coming? Is he here? Is he the president? Is he this actor?

Is he amongst us? And it's like, just breathe. All right? More pertinent question. All right?

How is the spirit of the Antichrist already at work in your life right now? How are you believing false teachings that are all over the American church right now? That's a more pressing and concerning question to ask because the spirit of the Antichrist is already at work. That's what he's trying to help him see. It's already at work now. And it's continued over the next 2,000 years to continue to be at work in the church.

So, he goes hard after any false gospel that claims that Jesus did not come in the flesh because the implication is huge. Like, if you don't believe that Jesus didn't come, if you don't believe that he came in the flesh, I mean, you've lost everything. You've lost the literal life that he lived to fulfill the law. You've lost the literal death that he bled for us, that he suffocated on the cross. You've lost his literal death, his bodily resurrection. Like, our faith hinges upon that hope.

Our faith is built upon that truth. And when you remove the offense of the cross that he died for sin, if you remove the fact that he was raised from the grave to free us from slavery to sin, if you remove the offense of that by removing his literal life, you've lost everything. And what happens with heresy is when you lose this essential truth that our faith is built upon, you replace it with something that is lesser. You replace it with a false gospel. He's trying to help them see the importance of that here. And the importance of that has not changed in 2,000 years.

It's continued to be important. Because there are false teachings that even are prevalent throughout the American church today and show up in many different forms. I talked about this a couple of weeks ago. A couple of weeks ago, probably the most prevalent false teaching in our time is the prosperity gospel. It's the idea that minimizes the offense of the cross, that minimizes the literal death of Jesus and focusing on that. And what it does is it actually focuses on faith equaling blessing in this life.

Faith as an exchange for being blessed and happy in this life, being prosperous in this life now. And Jesus in this teaching becomes a genie. And if you believe in him, if you trust in him, then you'll get the prosperity that you want in this life now. And it doesn't look at the literal life, death, and resurrection as our only hope. But it looks at things as our only hope.

And in a twisted spin, the things that Jesus died to save us from, which is the love of money, it actually replaces that as our hope. And what happens, I've seen this in our generation. So if you're under the age of 40, you're like, I wouldn't fall for that. Because when you think of prosperity preachers, kind of the stereotypical thing that comes to mind is the 80s and the 90s, when you had some guy in a nice Armani suit, on TV, on a channel like TBN, which is just kind of a garbage channel. They put people up there that don't even believe the Trinity. You got somebody on TV, it's got a 1-800 number at the bottom, and it's like, we wouldn't fall for that, that's so obvious.

He's peddling lies, he's peddling foolishness. And like any generation, at any time, there's always this arrogance of looking at those who went before you to say, I wouldn't fall for that. I wouldn't be like this. But no, we don't fall for that. We fall for a guy on Instagram who has $1,000 sneakers, who's just, you know, taking selfies of himself in the gym and talks about himself a lot and preaches the same message, repurposed and repackaged in different ways. That's exactly what we fall for.

And we fall for this, and we go after what they present as the good life. It's sick, and it shows up in so many different forms. There's another one that's a really close cousin of the prosperity gospel. It's really this man-centered gospel that's really come to life in the age of social media. But it does the same thing.

It takes the focus off of Jesus as our only hope. Like the literal crucified Christ as our only hope, and it replaces it with a mirror. And it says, you're your only hope. And that shows, I mean, there are so many people that have grabbed hold of social media who have done this, who have podcasts and blogs and books. You've got social media influencers that go and write books like, girl, wash your face, which I picked up that book and read the intro and the first chapter and went, oh my goodness. You're the hero of your story?

And that book's not unique. There's 50 of those books that get dropped every year in the Christian publishing industry. It's all over the place that you are your only hope. Like you should have red flags go up. For anyone that says they're Christian, that's on Instagram, that talks a lot about themselves, even if they do it in a self-deprecating way, right? Because that's kind of a popular thing to do now, is kind of make fun of yourself.

But if they talk about themselves, and they don't talk about Christ as our only hope, they push this, it's narcissism on steroids. And ultimately, what they peddle is these solutions that become man-centered. These strategies that are focusing on your works to get yourself to a place of happiness for your life. And it happens over and over and over again. I mean, these things pop up, and there are pastors and pastors who use the church of Jesus Christ as a platform for their own personal brand. There are worship ministries that craft this personal worship experience.

It's all about you and your feelings. I mean, it's just, it's everywhere. It's everywhere. It's all over the American church. And you have to have ears to hear, to listen, to be discerning, to see who is replacing the hope that we have in Christ for lesser things. That's the spirit of the Antichrist that is at work.

It has been at work, and it's going to continue to be at work. It is opposed to Jesus as our only hope, and it has infected churches for 2,000 years. So we have to have ears to hear, to receive the advice that he is giving, the commands he's giving to this church, and apply it to our days so that we might not fall for similar things. And then in verse 4, he pauses for a moment to give some encouragement. It says, Little children, you are from God and have overcome them. For he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.

And I love that, that moment of encouragement that he gives here. It's not just that, like he said a couple of weeks when we walked through it, it's not just that our conscience, that we have the spirit in us, that our conscience doesn't condemn us. He's like, Jesus isn't just greater than your self-indicting conscience, which we saw a couple of years ago. He is greater than the one who is at work in this world. And he's referencing Satan there. He is greater than Satan.

He's greater than the spirit of the Antichrist. And you roll with him. You will overcome him. You will prevail. He gives this moment of just encouragement that reminds us of how this ends. Then he jumps into verse 5 and he says, They, talking about false prophets, they are from the world.

Therefore, they speak from the world and the world listens to them. We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us. Whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. False prophets are from the world.

They speak in the language of the world. And language taps into identity. And that's true just in general. Like if you, you get around people that, like for instance, if you get around a couple of guys that are from the same branch of the military and they both realize it, like, Oh, you're army? Oh, I'm army too. The language changes immediately.

It just does. They start speaking in acronyms. And like, as a civilian, I'm like, I, it's hard to follow. Yeah, my, my CEO used to be an MP. He was in the DMZ back in 03. And it's like, what?

CEO, commanding officer, military police, demilitarized zone, Iraq. Got it. 2003. And they just keep going. It's just like, yeah, I got some R&R, little TLC, watching MTV. And it's just like, you're just making up stuff now.

But it is, you see their face light up and they start, they speak in a lingo that taps into an identity that I, that I'm not a part of. It taps into this identity of being in the military. Language taps into identity. And false prophets know the world. Like they know the language of the world. They know how to bring out worldliness in you by speaking in a way that appeals to the flesh, that appeals to the fallenness in us, so that we might be captivated and enslaved to the things of the world.

He's like, you gotta be mindful of this. You gotta be mindful of the language that they use. And he ultimately says, don't listen to them. Verse six, he says, we are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us. That we there, there's a progression built into we.

When he's talking about we, he's referencing, first the apostles who received the teaching of Jesus, who received the word from the word who became flesh, and then preached that message to the church of Jesus Christ. And then we came to encompass the whole church as a whole. But there's a progression that is built into that when he says, we, we includes the teachings of Jesus that they received from the beginning. So that you, whoever is not from God, does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. That receiving this from the apostles, receiving the teachings of Christ helps us discern what is true from what is error.

What is good from what is evil. He's arguing for discernment. That we need discernment and the foundation for discernment. The foundation. If you want to grow in foundational discernment, you need the word of God. You need the teachings of Christ that show up in his word.

Like you, if you want to grow in testing the spirits, John argues, you, you need the word of God. That is foundational discernment right there. You need the Bible to be able to discern what is error from what is true. because there are a lot of false teachings out there. Now, for the last 2,000 years, there are tons of them. But it would be foolish to try to focus on all of those first.

Right? Like if you, if you start at a brand new Job and you get your employment packet and you show up day one, you could make a list of all the ways you could get fired. Right? You could make a list and say, ah, don't open up an email from a spam because that might cause ransomware. We might lose all our company data. Don't run over my supervisor's foot with a forklift.

Don't insult the boss's wife. Like you could go down the list of all the ways that ends poorly for you. Or, more wisely, just focus on what you're supposed to do and do that well. Focus on the little things well and then as you grow in that, then you'll actually grow to be able to know the things that can take you out. So as a Christian, we focus on the word of God.

That's foundational discernment. You don't have to know every single false teaching from 1st century to 5th century to the Reformation to today. Just focus on the word of God. And when you know the word of God so well that when you hear something that's outside of the word of God, you get a red flag. Wait a second. I don't know about that.

You've got to grow in foundational discernment as you follow Christ. As you get serious about your faith, get rooted in the word. Read your Bibles. That is the best defense that is the best defense from falling to false teaching. And we talk about this all the time. We talk about gospel fluency in our church.

That you would be, as you're fluent in a language where you think in that language, where you process in that language, like you'd be fluent in the gospel, so fluent in it that you would know it so well that you would think in it, that you would process in it so that when false teaching creeps in, you go, no, no, no, no, not about that. I'm going to have to test that and see if that holds up against the word of God. That's why I'm in our Bible verse for the month is, our memory verse for the month is Isaiah 48, which is the grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of God will stand forever. And it's true.

The word of God stands forever and we need that long-standing foundation so that we can test the spirits. We need that foundation because here's the truth of the matter. Here's the reality. You are probably never, ever, ever going to hear anyone that stands in this pulpit and pushes false teaching. It's just, you will have to take the pulpit out of my cold, dead hands before anybody stands up here. Same with Chet.

And Chet's bigger than me and stronger than me. Okay? Like, no one's coming up here to teach false teaching, but the difference between us and the early church is they didn't have the internet. And we do. And it is so easy for you to pick up your phone, to surf through Instagram and find somebody who says nice things, who looks nice, who can quote a Bible verse. Y'all, just because someone can quote a Bible verse doesn't mean they're legit at all.

I mean, Satan quoted the Bible. Like, when he's tempting Jesus in Matthew 4, he quotes Psalm 91. I mean, I mean, he, I don't, the Bible, I don't know this for a fact, but it seems logical. Satan probably knows more scripture than any of us in this room. He knows the Bible. Just because someone quotes scripture doesn't mean they're good, doesn't mean they're legit.

You should test everything. You should test what we say as preachers. Like, test what I say against the Word of God. Definitely test what Chet says against the Word of God. Test everything through the Word of God and ask questions, y'all. Ask questions as you're listening to people talk.

Ask questions like, do they make much of Christ or do they make much of themselves? Because if they talk a lot about themselves, there should be a red flag that goes up. Do they shy away from subjects like the blood of Christ? They don't talk about the blood. They don't talk about His sacrifice on the cross. And it's like, man, there should be a red flag that goes up.

Some people are like, yeah, I just don't want to be so negative and focus on the negative things of the Bible. And it's like, oh, I don't think you should focus. I think you should just stop talking. Like, no. Shut it down. Unfollow.

Don't listen. Not at all. Do, are they afraid to talk about sin? That's another thing in this whole positive, oh, let's just be happy, positive things. Like, never talk about sin. It's like, man, if they don't talk about sin, Jesus talked a lot about sin, so much that He died for it.

I mean, do they talk, are they afraid to talk about sin? Do they believe the Bible is true? If you're listening or reading anything of anyone that questions the validity of the Scriptures, the truthfulness of the Scriptures, you should be running for the door. Red flags should go up. Is the solution that they give for your problems found in your work and what you can do are found in Christ? Because there's a lot of things you can find on the internet that says, here's the strategies for you to be the best version of you and figure this out.

You're going to be great, man. It's like, no, no, no, our hope is Christ. We build it off of that. I'll give you one more. Do they talk about happiness more than they talk about holiness? If they're so concerned with you being happy that they never talk about growing to be more like Christ, there should be red flags that go out.

We are not called to mindlessly accept what anyone says no matter how nice they say it, no matter how many verses they know. Discern everything through the word of God. Everything. And then go back to verse 4 and be encouraged where he says, little children, you are from God and I've overcome them. For he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. We need that.

In the midst of a tough call to discern and test the spirits, we need that type of encouragement. I'm going to give you two reasons. One is the lesser reason. We'll get to the bigger one in a moment. But I think the lesser one is more specific to our church family.

So here's the first reason. We need that encouragement. We are discerning. We're called to discern between those who have the spirit of God in them and those who have the spirit of the Antichrist. It's a pretty wide gap. Pretty black and white difference there. spirit.

Okay? Here's why that's important. That calling is not filled with fear. That is not a fearful calling because there are people that are fearful that the church, the American church is going to be taken over by heresy and these people make a living, have a hobby of just dunking on weaker theology because it's fun. And these things are, this is broadly called discernment ministry. And it's more, it's more of a problem for churches that love good theology.

We talk about theology a lot and one of the dangers of being a church that talks about theology a lot is you can get, go down the rabbit hole of some of their whole YouTube channels and blogs and Instagram pages, feeds, whatever they're called, that are devoted to this right here, to discernment ministry. And discernment ministries drive me insane. They are so annoying because it's like they read this passage and don't read verse 4. They're like paralyzed by fear. It's like they don't read the rest of the Bible. And here's the problem with these discernment ministries that are always pointing out, always going after, always going after weaker theology.

Here is the, here's the problem with this. They don't differentiate between those who are false teachers, who don't have the Holy Spirit and those who are genuine brothers and sisters in Christ who just got it wrong on a few things. Who just agree to disagree on a few things. Like there are secondary, tertiary, and lesser issues in theology that are not, not worth just going after with other people. It's not worth hammering them for. And for discernment ministries, everything's a nail.

If it's not, everything's a nail and they're a hammer and they go after everything. And the problem with this is it's foolish arrogance. And Jesus in Matthew 5 says, whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council. Whoever says you fool will be liable to the hell of fire. And woe to the person that insults other Christians. Woe to the person that belittles other Christians.

I'm not against being impolite. I will call out the Joel Osteens of the world because they are false teachers and they deserve to be called out. But woe to the person that goes after other Christians who you don't agree with. And that is a problem that can creep up in churches like ours that love good theology. Don't go down that rabbit hole. Seek wise Christians, not those who make a living off of these type of things.

Alright, that's the lesser one. This is not as big a deal. Here's the bigger reason. We need this reminder of verse 4 because we need to remember how this ends. Like, remember how this ultimately shakes out. Because what can happen is you can start to look at, like you can look at the Christian publishing industry and look at all the books that get pushed out and go, oh my goodness.

You can see all the popular preachers and go, oh my goodness. You can start to freak out. And you forget how this thing ends. Like, if you've ever watched something that you've seen ever and ever again, like an epic, like Harry Potter, like Lord of the Rings or whatever, you've seen it over and over and over and over again and you watch it and you're like, there's a moment where there's a tension where it's like, oh, is he going to win? Like, is he going to win the battle? And you're like, no, I've seen this ten times.

I've read this book over and over again. I know he wins. You have to step out of yourself. And that's what, you've got to step out of yourself and remember, little children, you are from God and have overcome them for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. And that is good news because you roll with God. You are with him and the spirit of the Antichrist is always going to be at work in this world.

It is always going to be at work and you're going to see it, you're going to pop up with every new following in American Christianity. It's going to keep happening. But the power of the risen, literal Christ is greater and he will build his church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it and the kingdom of light will pierce through the darkness. Little children, we are from God and have overcome it and will continue to overcome. We need that truth and until then, we do what we're supposed to do. We read our Bibles, we preach the gospel, we contend with lies because we ultimately overcome and Jesus wins.

So let's be a church that tests the spirits, that discerns everything, that boldly and winsomely proclaims truth in the midst of opposition and let's do that with a confidence that comes from him, not from a spirit of fear, but from a spirit of absolute victory that we have in Christ.

Source of Assurance (1 John 3:19-24)

Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet this week.

Source of Assurance

Spencer Cary

Download

Transcript

Good morning. It's good to see you guys again. It's good for the church to be back together. We planned last week to be together and I was going to take a break from 1st John and try to do some just encouraging wisdom from the first missionary journey of Paul in the book of Acts and then COVID swept through our church and that ship has sailed because we got a schedule to keep to get to Easter. So we're back in 1st John which I know has been a rather intense book for many of us and it will continue.

So we're going to be in 1st John chapter 3 verses 19 through 24. We're going to finish out this chapter. Sometimes when you study the Bible and you're looking at it, you're reading it, you're trying to understand it, that things jump out right off the surface, that it's easy to understand, it's easy to digest. There's things that, you know, application comes very quickly from it and then other times that's not the case. Other times you've got to dig a little deeper. You've got to be like the Goonies and just got to go deeper into the cave, deeper into the cave.

If you want to get to the treasure, you've got to go farther. And when we do that, it takes a lot of work, but oftentimes the work is rewarded. Like there's gems beneath the surface and that's what's happening today in this passage. As we've seen a few times in 1st John, we've got to dig a little deeper to see what's going on here. Today, this passage is probably one of the more difficult passages in the New Testament to actually interpret. So it's going to feel a little Bible study-ish for a little bit because we've got to spend some time understanding what's happening here.

When we look at, I mean specifically 19 through 21, we'll spend a lot of time in this one. It says, By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before Him. For whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart and He knows everything. Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God. That's hard to understand. When you get a text like this, you've got to study it.

You've got to understand that it's written in a context, right? That it's not, we don't just look at that and isolate it from the rest of the text. That's what we call isodoting. We want to look at it next to the rest of the text. What came before it? What has the book of 1 John been teaching us?

All that is kind of built into understanding this well. You've got to ask questions. I would encourage you as you study the Bible this year to write in the margins of the Bible and ask questions of the Word. Ask questions like, What does by this mean? What is this referring to? What does He mean when He says reassure?

All these kind of help us understand what's happening. And this text in particular, there's really only one of two directions as you're looking at it and trying to interpret it. It's either going to further this conviction that we felt a lot in 1 John, but definitely felt during our gift series. In our gift series, we walked through 1 John 3, verses 11 through 18. And it was heavy. It was convicting, right?

To love our brothers and sisters in Christ by laying down our life. It's either going to further that conviction with a little intensity or it's going to feel like a little breath of encouragement. Like the tone is shifting. But there's not really a middle ground here. It's either one way or the other. So we're going to look at this.

We're going to study it. And then hopefully by the end of it, I will convince you where I have landed and where I think that the text is actually going tone-wise and why it's good for us to hear. So let me read it all together. We'll pray and then we'll jump in. So verse 19 says, Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God.

And whatever we ask, we receive from Him. Because we keep His commandments and do what pleases Him. And this is His commandment. That we believe in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another just as He has commanded us. Whoever keeps His commandments abides in God and God in Him. And by this we know that He abides in us by the Spirit whom He has given us.

Let me pray and then we'll jump in this together. God, I pray you would open our hearts to receive your word. God, I'm thankful that we have the word of God to pierce our hearts, to be exposed before you. And I pray that you go to work and you help us respond. We ask in Jesus' name. Amen.

Okay, so. Let's look at this. 19, it says, By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before Him. Now there's a few phrases right there that are really important to understand. They're going to either point us towards further being convicted. Or it's going to send us in the direction of encouragement.

So we've got to look at this. We've got to, I've already referenced a little bit. We've got to look at the phrase, by this. And we've got to look at the word reassure. There's going to be huge in understanding what He is saying here. So first, what is by this?

By this. What is He referring to when He says this? Is He referring to what He just said in verses 17 and 18? In 17 and 18, this is where we are in the gift series. It says, But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk, but in deed and in truth.

We sat in that for a month. And it was convicting to see, do we love the church? Do we love our brothers and sisters in Christ that we might lay down our lives for them? Is He saying, by this, by this truth right here that I just said, that you will know you are in the truth. Right? That's another way of saying that you are a Christian.

Is it by this that you will know the truth and be reassured? Or is He pointing forward to what He is about to say in verse 20 and 21? Is He about to say, by this, relating to for, verse 20, for whenever our heart condemns us. God is greater than our heart. And He knows everything. Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God.

Is that what He is referring to when He says, by this? Either way you go, it is going to take you in some different directions. Okay? Then you've got to ask yourself, what does He mean when He says reassure? That's the second thing I want us to look at. What does He mean when He says reassure?

All right. So, the Greek word for reassure, the translation that we use, the ESV, they chose to translate it reassure. So, just to let you know how translations come to be, I think it's just helpful to know, because we're really blessed in the English language to have lots of very good translations. translations, the way the overwhelming majority of translations come together is that a bunch of Greek and Hebrew scholars, godly people, come together, and over a long period of time, they translate the Bible together. They have debates over different parts of it, because the Bible is an ancient text, and it's hard to translate at times.

And they were so blessed to have so many good translations. The people that argue and fight and pull out their swords to fight one another over what translation is better. It's like, chill out. They're really good. And we're really blessed to have what we have. But they chose reassure.

Now, when you look at a Greek-English lexicon, just think of it as a dictionary of sorts that helps us understand the translation of words. When you look at the word for reassure, there's two main meanings that pop up. The first is convince. Okay? Convince. Alright?

Now, oftentimes, that's how that word is translated in the New Testament, this idea of convince. The second is to put at rest, to set at ease. And those are a little bit different, right? Put those side by side. Look at it. It says, By this we shall know that we are of the truth, and convince our heart before Him.

That's one way to look at it. The second is, by this we shall know that we are of the truth, and put at rest our heart before Him. Now, the ESV, they chose reassure, which I think is split in the middle. They kind of chose this word, because that word can kind of go either way. Like reassure, you can use that word as like, like Shane Beamer, coach of the Gamecocks, had to reassure the fan base. After Clemson destroyed us, the program, who's that?

No. Enough of that. Now, he had to reassure the fan base that the program was going in the right direction. He had to convince us that it was going in the right direction, because the offense was so bad to watch. And then the bowl game happened. And it's like, okay, maybe.

There's hope. There's always hope as a Gamecocks fan. Whether it's a valid hope or not is up for debate. But he had to convince us. That's how reassure can be used, is to convince you. But it also can be to put at ease, right?

Like if I told you, listen, I want to reassure you of something. Chet Phillips is not mad at you. That is just his face. His resting face looks angry. He's not mad at you at all. Be reassured.

Put your concerns at ease. He actually does like you. He's not mad. Like that, those are two different ways of using the word reassure. And here, it kind of can go either way. So, that's some of the info you needed.

As you're digging deeper in this, you've got to ask some questions. Now, I'm going to give you two different versions of how this can read. I'm going to give you the convicting version first. I'm going to read the text. I'm going to give you some commentary for how many godly interpretives of the Bible have taken this right here. All right?

Here's the convicting version. By this. Meaning by what John just said in verses 17 and 18. By this. By you loving and laying down your life for your brothers and sisters in Christ. By this evidence right here.

That's how you know you're in the truth. And reassure your hearts before him. Convince your hearts. The way that you love your brothers and sisters in Christ is what helps you know that you're in the truth. And what convinces you that you're in the truth. Verse 20.

For whenever our heart. Now heart here is your conscience. That's how heart is being used here in this passage. He's talking about your conscience. He says, for whenever our heart, whenever our conscience condemns us. God is greater than our heart.

He's greater than our conscience. And he knows everything. And the convicting version of this is. If your heart. If your heart is condemning you. Boy do I have news for you.

That God's judgment is stricter. His judgment is stricter. Because he knows everything. He knows all the times that you have. There's been a lack of love. You've not loved your brothers and sisters.

He knows this. Boy oh boy. The courtroom of God is much stricter. Verse 21. Beloved. If our heart does not condemn us.

We have confidence before God. Meaning. Alright. This should call you to repentance. So that.

You can stand before God. Confident. Because if your heart doesn't condemn you. Your heart being influenced by. The power of the Holy Spirit. If that doesn't convict you.

Then you can stand confidently before the Lord. Meaning. This is a deep. Furthering. Like. They're saying that John didn't change his tone in chapter 3.

He's continuing this. To hammer home conviction. And this. Listen. There are a lot of. I mean.

Augustine. Church father. John Calvin. Theologian for the Reformation that we love. Matthew Henry. Puritan.

I mean. Looked at this and said. No. John is not changing his tone. He's been doing this all. Hammering home.

That you need to love your brothers and sisters in Christ. Matthew Henry. The old Puritan says. If our heart. God. Condemn us.

God is greater than our heart. Superior to our heart. And conscience. And power. And in judgment. If conscience.

Condemn us. God. Does. So. Too. And listen.

It's a biblical argument. It absolutely is. I mean. There is this idea. That absolutely. Like.

We've sat in chapter 3. For over a month. And seen that. One of the chief identifying markers. Of what it means to be a Christian. Is that you might.

Lay down your life. And love your brothers. In Christ. If you don't. Love the church. You don't know.

Christ. He's made that abundantly clear. And a lot of godly people have looked at this and they've come to that conclusion. And I have gone back and forth. Like at the beginning of the week I'm just like, oh man, I read this commentary and it would say this. I'm like, oh, that's convincing.

Look at this commentary. I'm like, oh boy, that seems good too. And I went back and forth. I talked to Chet and I looked at this. I had other people in our church read this and study this. After spending some time in this, I don't think that's where he lands.

I think that he's actually taking a moment and the tone is changing and he's actually providing a brief moment of encouragement to us. So, let me give you the version that I think is most biblically accurate that is actually meant to be read as an encouragement for us. Verse 19, by this. Now, by this, I think it's certainly, I mean, it's certainly connected to what he just said in 18. Right? It's certainly connected to let us not love in word and talk, but in deed and truth.

Okay? I think by this is actually pointing forward. I think it's pointing forward to what he's about to say. We're going to walk through that in a moment. And I think that's the case for a few different reasons, but one of them is, is that not all the time, but a lot of the time, the majority of the time that John says by this in 1 John, he's actually pointing forward, not backward. Saying by this, and then he gets to what he's going to say.

Doesn't mean that's how he's always, it doesn't mean it's a flat rule, that's always how it has to happen, but it looks like here, that's what he's doing. He's continuing this pattern of pointing forward. By this, by this, we shall know that we are in the truth. That's what he's about to say. And, reassure our heart before him. I think that reassure here is actually not convinced, but to put our hearts at rest.

To put our consciences at ease. So, by this, you know that you're in the truth. Point forward. This is to put your heart at ease. Verse 24, whenever. And actually, looking at this this week, I looked at the versions like the NASB and the NIV, and they say, by this.

And after looking at this, I think that's actually probably more accurate. So, by this. Or, sorry, but if. Sorry, that's what I meant to say. But if.

But if our heart condemns us. That God is greater than our heart, and He knows all things. And what He's arguing for here is that if our conscience condemns us. If it condemns us for a lack of love, for not loving our brothers and sisters in Christ, like we are called to do. If our conscience condemns us, God is greater than our hearts. He's greater than our conscience.

And what He's not saying is, is that greater is actually more judgment. I don't think that's what He's arguing for here. I think what He's saying is He is greater, and that He knows all things. And because He knows all things, He has chosen to be merciful. Chosen to be gracious righteous towards us. Because condemnation, as you look in the New Testament and how that word is used, it literally means judgment against.

The majority of the time it's used in the New Testament, it's actually, it's referring to unbelievers. The condemnation is for those who are outside of Christ, those who don't know Christ. And He's talking about our, John's talking about himself, and He's talking about these Christians. It says, our hearts condemns us, that God is greater than our heart. He knows all things. And then He goes on to say, following the logic, beloved, verse 21, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God.

The logic is not if your love is so pure towards your brothers and sisters in Christ, if your actions are so pure, that is the basis for your confidence? No. That doesn't fit with the rest of the New Testament at all. It doesn't follow the logic of what He's saying here. He's saying, if your conscience condemns you, no, God, no, no, no, if your conscience condemns you, it's wrong. It doesn't have the final say here.

And if your heart cannot condemn you, God doesn't. And by His power, you stand confidently before God. Now, I've spent a lot of time in this and it's like, oh, goodness, can we just move on? I won't get into all the details of this, into the nerdy, kind of biblical Greek details of this. There's one more thing that happens in this that I think actually points to the encouraging side of this. There is a tense change in the Greek that's happened twice already.

And after looking at it, the two times that it happens in 1 John before this, He's actually doing encouragement. So it's a tense change called direct address. He's directly addressing us. It happens here in verse 21. And both times He does it in the beginning of 1 John, He is encouraging. I think the tone is the same.

It's kind of like if you watch a movie and it's a tense movie and then all of a sudden the music, the score just kind of changes a little bit, it lightens the mood. And you're like, oh, I'm not supposed to feel tense now. Like this is a moment, that's what's happening here. The tense is changing. He's being encouraging the people. Alright, so that's the evidence.

I think that John is absolutely being encouraging here. So the question is, is why? What is he doing here? I would argue and I think that John is taking a moment for the sensitive here. Alright, for those who have a sensitive conscience, alright, for the sensitive heart that hears this, that's been hearing this, convicting truth over and over and over again. He's taking a moment to just pause and to remind you of the bigger picture here.

To remind you of the goodness of the gospel. To remind you of how good our God is towards us. That he is greater than our hearts. Greater than our sensitive consciences. I love what the theologian John Stott says about this. John Stott says, our conscience is by no means infallible.

It's not inerrant. It's not infallible. Our conscience absolutely can be wrong. He says, our conscience is by no means infallible. Its condemnation may often be unjust. We can, therefore, appeal from our conscience to God who is greater and more knowledgeable indeed.

He knows all things including our secret motives in deepest resolves. He knows it all. He knows all the secret motives, all the things that are happening beneath the surface and it is implied will be more merciful towards us than our own heart. His omniscience should believe not terrify us. His all-knowingness, the fact that he's omniscient, he knows all things, that's not meant to terrify us. The fact that God knows all things is actually a comfort to us.

I think that John has been hammering at us, he's been hammering at us, he's been saying this is what it means to be a Christian, this is what it means to be a Christian, this is what it means to be a Christian, and it takes a moment just to provide some encouragement, which is so good because the sensitive conscience that hears this, I mean, goodness gracious, if you have a sensitive conscience and you've been journeying with us through 1 John, it's like every week it's like, oh man, am I even a Christian? Right? Who's felt that? We sit in this and it's like, this is what it means to be a Christian, it's like, oh goodness, it's like this existential crisis, like am I even a Christian?

Do I even believe this? Like I'm the worst. And I think John would say, listen, we do stink, and so our sin, our sin is the worst, 100%, but that's not the final say on us because that's not the record that stands for us. The record that stands for us is the beautiful, perfect, spotless, record of Christ, it was paid for by His blood, that it was Jesus that went to the cross and took condemnation on our behalf, that it's not you that absorbs the condemnation. I think He's trying to help us see for the sensitive conscience, to help us realize and remember the bigger picture of the gospel. And listen, that's 1 John in a nutshell.

It's what he does. It's like body blow, body blow, conviction, conviction, conviction. It's what it means to be a Christian. Encouragement. I mean, like 1 John 2, 1, when we sat in that, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. That's one of the big goals of this is that we might grow to know more of Christ, we might not sin, but if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.

Remember, in your sin, you have an advocate. You have someone who advocates for you, who's on your team, whose perfect record stands for you before the Father. So, gives this encouragement, this confidence that comes from God, and then it goes into verse 22 and following. He says, and whatever we ask, we receive from Him, because we keep His commands and do what pleases Him. And this is His commandment, that we believe in the name of the Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He has commanded us. Whoever keeps His commandments abides in God and God in Him.

And by this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us. John, throughout this entire letter to these churches, has been calling us to have this proper alignment, that the church needs to align with the will of God, the character of God. He's been calling us to this alignment with God. And we see that here, throughout the rest of 1 John. We've got one more landmine that you've got to work through to understand this truth that He's saying here. Because He says, whatever we ask, we receive from Him.

And there are a lot of prosperity gospel preachers, that prosperity gospel is, that if you believe in God, if you have faith in God, if you do this, then you get material blessings in this life. A lot of them have taken this passage and said, see, this is what it means. That if you believe in God, if you have faith, if you obey His commandments, if you do what's right, then you get blessings. Then your prayers get answered. Have enough faith, blessings will follow. Numbers at the bottom of the screen, come and give.

That's what they do with this. Now, just be very blunt, that is a dumb take. It's just a dumb take. Like, I don't know how you could look at that and go back to verse 17 that He said just a few seconds ago, when He's talking about giving up the world's goods for your brothers and sisters, and then come a few verses later and say, oh, this is about praying and receiving worldly goods. No, that, not even close. That's a dumb take.

No. So let's examine this with a bit of thoughtfulness. He says in verse 22, whatever we ask, we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do what pleases Him. Okay. So let's take that.

All right? What have we asked to receive? Do His commandments. What are His commandments? Funny you should ask. He defines His terms in the very next verse, in verse 23.

This is what He means by commandments. And this is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He has commanded us. That's how He's using it right there. He defines it. And the first thing He says is, believe in Jesus. The first thing He references is, the gift of faith that God gives us through the finished work of Christ, that we don't earn on our behalf, but He graciously lavishes upon us.

It's the gift of faith and belief and the fruit that comes out of that, this chief identifying marker that we've seen over and over and over again, is that you love your brothers and sisters in Christ. That if we're in alignment with God through faith, that He gives us the outflow, that working of faith, which is loving one another, that He's working in our heart in a way that we understand our needs and our everything in light of eternity, yes, whatever you ask, you will receive. Now, we don't have a lot of time to look at this, but we will spend more time on this in chapter 5, because in chapter 5, verses 14 and 15, He's going to reference this again. He's going to say, and this is the confidence that we have toward Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.

And it's like, boom! That's what He's talking about. In accordance with His will. We'll spend more time on that. There's no way that you take this and take it in the direction of prosperity preachers. It's a bad take.

It's not good. No. So, this type of alignment gives us a confidence in prayer that's in alignment with His will. And then He finishes this in verse 24. And He says, Whoever keeps His commandments abides in God and God in Him. And by this we know that He abides in us by the Spirit whom He has given us.

This abiding where we are living in community the way we're supposed to. We're obeying the commands. Faith in Jesus. Loving one another. You can ask yourself, okay, but what is the force behind all that? Like, what is the force and the engine that is driving all of that?

And He's like, it is the Holy Spirit. That's it. The Holy Spirit for the church of Jesus Christ. Chet referenced this morning that we're the new temple of Christ. The Holy Spirit resides in the temple, this new temple of Christ. The Holy Spirit is the power that works in us.

That adds to the argument that it's not by the way that we love one another that reassures us. The ultimate reassurement closes here in verse 24. By the Holy Spirit who is in you. That is the force. That is the one who binds us together in harmony. That's the one who causes us to love one another with a deep love of laying down our life, of laying down the world's goods.

That is what we point to. That is whom we point to for our assurance. So, there are two types of consciences that are going to hear this. Two types of consciences that are going to hear 1 John as we walk through it. There is a sensitive conscience and there is a seared conscience. Sensitive, seared.

Okay? Let's go to the latter one. The seared conscience. Seared meaning burnt. This idea that your heart, your conscience is burnt. Like when you get a deep burn, alright, and it's a real serious third degree monster of a burn, you can't feel in that area like you used to.

It's not sensitive anymore. For the seared conscience that's been burnt, what's been happening as we walk through 1 John is that it's been one thing after the other. These teachings have just been thrown out and it just bounces off your heart. It doesn't take root because you're not sensitive to the teachings, to the commands, to the gospel. It's just bouncing off and it's easy for you to just close your heart and say, no, I'm good. And for the person who has a seared conscience, that is more likely to just say no to the teachings of the scriptures, my hope is that you would pray and ask God to soften your heart.

You pray and ask God to soften your heart to the teachings of scripture, the parts that you don't like, the parts you don't want to agree with, that you would pray that God would soften your heart so that you can walk this out in faith and repentance. But I think that this text is going after the sensitive conscience. And there are those who have a sensitive conscience that every time you hear a teaching like this, you just spiral. Every time you hear a teaching that's really difficult, it just causes you to freak out. It's like, oh man, you go through this cycle of doubt and self-loathing and frustration and just panic.

And I think God's just trying to help us see for a moment that who's actually in control here? Like who actually has the power here? Like when I put my children on my shoulders and we run around and be silly, every now and then they like lose their minds, they freak out, their arms start flailing. My youngest just like death grips my face. She like grabs my, she covers my eyes and my nose. I'm like, that's not a good strategy.

And I have to tell my kids sometimes when they freak out about that, this is fun, but every now and then they just freak out. I'm like, listen, I have a, I don't say this, but I have a social compact with my children that when you go on my shoulders, I'm not going to drop you. Like I'm not, I'm not, you're not going to fall off. It's like, listen, you're not strong or coordinated enough to be able to stay up there. It's me. I've got you.

You're not going anywhere. We can run around, we can be silly. You're not going to fall because you're not the one that's holding you in place. And I think that God has just taken a moment to help us see that, that he's the one who's in control. He's the one that has us and he holds us and he promises that he's never going to let us go but he promises that he's going to carry us home to completion. The power comes from him.

It doesn't come from ourselves. And for the sensitive here that forgets that, he's just saying, look, you abide in God and God and you and the Holy Spirit is in you. Be assured of that. Be assured in that knowledge. Don't forget where the power comes from. The power is and it says that we believe in the name of Jesus Christ. whose name are you trusting in?

Whose name are you trusting in? Are you trusting in the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, the author and perfecter of our faith? That means the one who authored it, who began it and the one who perfects it, who finishes it and completes it. Are you trusting in the finished work of Christ and the name and the power of Christ or are you trusting in your own name, your own abilities? Like we sing what a beautiful name it is. It's a song we sing every now and then.

If we sing that song, what a beautiful name it is. What a beautiful name it is. The name of Spencer. Like if Matt was up here, Kelly would say the name of Matt or Kelly. Like you have permission to come up here and just wreck the stage. Like just no.

Absolutely not. It's foolishness. No. We trust in the name of Christ and that is where the power comes from. God is bigger than our sensitive self in doubting hearts. His sacrifice is bigger than ours.

His love is greater than us. He loves us because He loves us because He loves us because of His great love and not our own. If you have a sensitive conscience, you need to absorb that. The conscience that hears teachings and just spirals. Maybe you're an anxious person and you just hear it and you freak out. Like I don't know if I trust this.

I'm not believing in God enough. I'm not trusting God enough. I've got to muster up enough strength. I've got to figure this out. If that's your heart, maybe the kind of person that is stuck in this sin cycle that's just self-destructive where you're tempted by sin and then it lures you in and then you sin and you fall for it and then you decide, you resolve after being sad about it that I'm not going to do this again. I'm going to change and then you get tempted again and it's this cycle that happens over and over and over again and you're just so deeply discouraged.

For the person who just feels gross, I think God looks at them and sees them as gross or dirty or unwanted. For the person who feels like a failure, feels like a failure to God, a failure to others. For the person who thinks that their work is never going to be enough and you work and you strive and you hustle and you do to try to prove because you think it's never going to be enough. I want you to hear the words of the 19th century preacher Charles Haddon Spurgeon and when he talks about this, he says, sometimes our heart condemns us, but in doing so it gives a wrong verdict. And then we have the satisfaction of being able to take the case into a higher court.

For God is greater than our heart and knows all things. For the person this morning that's just been struggling, December was a kick in the face and you've been beating yourself up and beating yourself up and beating yourself up. Your heart does not have the final sin. Your heart is not perfect. Your heart is infallible. Your conscience is not perfect.

And it is not the final courtroom. The final courtroom is what happened at the cross and the empty tomb. And when belief in Jesus, when your faith stands before God the Father, that's the perfect courtroom. That is the perfect God. That's the merciful judge. You take your case there.

And then you walk this out in peace.

Love Problem (1 John 3:16-18 & Luke 14:1-6)

Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet this week.

Love Problem

Chet Phillips

Transcript

Well, good morning. My name's Chet. I'm one of the pastors here. If you'll grab a Bible, go to 1 John. We've been zooming in on this same passage we've been looking at for the past couple weeks. We've been working through 1 John, and then in our gift series, we usually do something a little different, but we hit a passage in 1 John where he really kind of zooms in on the same idea.

So we've just tried to dig into this same passage we're going to look at again today. But before we start in the text, I want to talk about something very important to me. Sugar cookie eggnog. My brother one time, it's amazing. Sugar cookie eggnog is delicious, and it used to every year at Christmas would get to get sugar cookie eggnog. And I tasted it, and I was like, oh my goodness, I've wasted my whole life eating sugar cookies when I could have been drinking them.

And it is wonderful, and it meant a lot to me. It was very, I had a very special, wonderful bond with sugar cookie eggnog. It was delicious. I actually took a picture at one point. This is me sitting in front of my white Christmas tree with sugar cookie eggnog. And you're thinking, did you go get the thing out of the refrigerator just to pose it in front of the Christmas tree?

There are some drinks. You just bring the whole bottle with you because you know you're going to refill. And so sugar cookie eggnog is like that. It's amazing. My whole family loved it. And then it started being harder to find.

But you could get online. You could figure out what stores it was in. And we started figuring out, okay, I've got to go to this store to get sugar cookie eggnog. Then it got to where there weren't any stores around us that had it. And I received a phone call from my brother one time, and he was in Maryland. And he said, I just found a store that has sugar cookie eggnog in Pennsylvania.

It's only like an hour and a half from here. I've called them. They have it. I'm buying a case. He gets off the phone with them. They get in the vehicle.

They go get a case of sugar cookie eggnog. He brings it back to South Carolina. My family hoists him on our shoulders. He's doing this thing. It was wonderful. It was the last time I ever had sugar cookie eggnog.

They've stopped making it. I have contacted the company about this, but there was nothing I could do to change it. They stuck with their decision. Now, if you were to think that sounds crazy to ride an hour and a half one way to get sugar cookie eggnog, if you were to say that to me, you would sound an awful lot like a person who's never had sugar cookie eggnog. Because if you had it, I think you would change your mind on that. But there's a reality to there are certain things that are worth it to us.

It's worth it. It's valuable that we go. This this is absolutely worth it. And then there are other things that you go. No, that's that's not worth it. That's crazy.

You do what you wake up at five a.m. to run. What is someone chasing you? Stop it. Like like for me, expensive sunglasses. It's not worth it. Every time someone's like, look at this, they're super expensive.

I'm like, they're going to fall off your head in the water like I don't that you're going to lose. You're going to sit on. Why do you have these? But I might get caught spending some money on a watch or a pair of boots because that seems worth it to me. At any given time, you might see me and all of my clothes came from Walmart except for my watch and my boots, because that's worth it to me. That's worth the exchange.

We're doing this all the time. And I don't know what it is for you. I don't know if it's vehicles or vacations or video games. I don't know what you pick to say. This is worth. This has value.

This is something I'll give up time for. This is something I'll give energy to. But we're doing that all the time. And that's something that first John's pressing on here is he's helping us see our value system. And he's kind of poking at it. He's saying, I want to point something out to you.

I want to help you see something because there may be an issue here. There may be some breakdown here on how we're valuing things. There might be something wrong with our math when it comes to deciding what's worth it and what isn't. So let's pray and then we'll read this text together. God, I ask for your help this morning. In order for us to do what John's going to call us to, we need you at work inside of us.

That we cannot generate what we need, but we need you to help open our eyes to it and to fill us. And so, Lord, we ask for your help. We pray that you'd help us to see it. But then we pray that ultimately through your spirit you'd help us to respond. In Jesus' name. Amen.

So 1 John 3, verses 16 and 17. He says, By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. Okay, so he says this is the Christian picture of love, is what Christ did for us on the cross. That's how we define love. That's how we understand love. That's how we've come to know love, is this self-sacrificing love.

It's love that lays down its life. And he says, Therefore, that's the type of people that we are, and so we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. Now, in the Bible, it tells us to love our enemies. It tells us to love our neighbors. But John here specifically has in mind this distinct love that is to happen inside the household of the church.

Inside the household, the family of those who belong to Jesus. And so he says, This is how we ought to love our brothers and sisters, our siblings in Christ. That is supposed to be this type of love, this sacrifice and lay down your life kind of love for our church family. This is one of the reasons why Charles Spurgeon says that the church is the dearest place on earth. That it's meant to be this type of love, where there's grace and joy and service. He keeps going.

He says, But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him? So he says that negatively. But the positive picture of that is that as God's love abides in us as Christians, we're just open-handed with each other. That we're just generous with each other. That if we see Christian brothers and sisters who have need, stuff just flows through our hand to them. That's what he's saying.

And he says, If that doesn't happen, If you see a brother or sister in Christ in need and you have the stuff but you don't help, He says there's something wrong with your math. You're doing the value wrong. You're not looking at this correctly. That's what he's getting at. And I want us, we're going to jump to Luke chapter 14. And then we'll come back to 1 John.

But I want us to move to Luke chapter 14. Where Jesus is interacting with the Pharisees. And we see this same kind of thing. That he presses on this same idea. So it's Luke chapter 14 verses 1 through 6 is what we're going to look at.

But it's the same idea. And he's going to interact with the Pharisees on this same idea. And then we'll come back to 1 John. Because 1 John, they're both kind of pointing out the same thing. So I want us to spend a little time in this story this morning.

So it says this. One Sabbath, when he, that's Jesus, Went to dine at the house of a ruler of the Pharisees. They were watching him carefully. Okay. If you've been following along in Luke. If you know what's happening at this point in Luke.

You understand that we've just set this story up to be some conflict. Because we have Jesus. We have rulers of the Pharisees. And it's on a Sabbath. Every time you're reading in the Gospels. And it says on the Sabbath.

There's a good chance there's about to be some tension. Because Jesus, when he interacts with the Pharisees. The Pharisees were the religious leaders of the day. And he's actually at the house of a ruler of the Pharisees. He's been invited to his house. So the Pharisees didn't quite know what to do with Jesus.

He obviously had some spiritual authority. He was a teacher. He was performing miracles. So all that was good. He was proclaiming some good news. But he wasn't acting the way they wanted him to act.

And so there was part of them that was drawn to him. And wanted to kind of incorporate him. But they wanted to kind of get him to fall in line with them. And so when he didn't or when he wouldn't. It was a problem. So they're still kind of keeping an eye on him.

And testing is he really from God. And is he doing things right. And one of the primary markers for the Pharisees at this time. Because they were aggressively going to keep the rules. Was the Sabbath. It was one of the only things that marked them as distinct.

Or one of the main things. Not one of the only. One of the main things that marked them as distinct. From the rest of culture. That they took Saturday as a Sabbath. It was a holy day.

They didn't work. They didn't sell. They didn't buy. They didn't even cook. They cooked the day before. And then they would have the Sabbath.

Where they would go to the synagogue. And they marked them as distinct from the Roman Empire. And so when Jesus showed up. And started breaking some of their Sabbath regulations. Not sinning. But breaking some of the Sabbath regulations.

The Pharisees did not like that at all. So they invite him to their house to eat. He's at the house of a ruler. But they're watching him closely. Not. Not.

This isn't a nice watching. They're not adoring him. They're trying to catch him. And so here's what it says. And behold. There was a man before him.

Who had dropsy. Now. It was common. For them to eat. On like a porch. Quite possible.

That they're eating kind of outside. And that people. Would be able to kind of view. What was going on. It doesn't seem likely. That this guy is a guest.

Of the meal. But he could be. But it doesn't seem likely. But he's there in front of Jesus. And seems. To want to be healed.

He has dropsy. Which. The common word. We would call this. Edema. Which is.

Certain parts of his body. Would fill up with fluid. And so that his whole arm. Might swell up. Or his legs. Might swell up.

Or both. And it can get very. Big. And very painful. And it can. Go to a lot of your limbs.

Or it can go to just one. But. It would have been a big. Noticable. Painful. Encumbrance.

And so he's there. In front of Jesus. And he's. It just says. He's in front of him. He's before him.

And it says. Jesus responded. To the lawyers and Pharisees. Them staring him down. I guess. He says.

Is it lawful. To heal. On the Sabbath. Or not. That's why they're watching. Let me see if he's going to break the Sabbath.

So he says. Let me ask you a question. Is it lawful. To heal. On the Sabbath. Or not.

But they remained. Silent. Which usually. When they remain silent. Is that they have an answer. They just don't like their answer.

They don't have to go on record. Saying it out loud. They hadn't learned. What our politicians. Have learned. Which is just answer.

A different question. That you want to talk about. But. They didn't do that. So they just stare at him.

Then he took him. And healed him. And sent him away. That sending him away part. Is one of the reasons. Why I think he probably.

Wasn't invited to the meal. I think he was hanging out. Jesus heals him. Sends him home. Because if it was part of the meal. He would just heal him.

And then be like. Pass the potatoes. Jesus. So he heals him. And sends him home. Then he turns back to them.

And he says to them. Which of you. Having a son. Or an ox. That has fallen into a well. On the Sabbath day.

Will not immediately pull him out. And they could not reply. To these things. Okay. They didn't like that he healed him. They caught him.

He's a Sabbath breaker. Gotcha. But he looks at him. And he says. Which of you. Who has a son.

Or an ox. That falls in a well. On the Sabbath. Will not immediately get him out. Now. It's a good question.

If your son falls in a well. That's terrifying. I recently went. I like roller coasters and stuff. I recently went. On the scariest.

One of those kind of like. Amusement park rides. I've ever been on. In my entire life. Absolutely. Thrill ride of doom.

Terrifying. You know the fair. The one that's right over here. I pointed. Hold on. This is going to mess me up.

I get turned around in this building all the time. I'm not going to point. Take me a second. I really want to point. The fair. The fair.

All right. You know the fair. Fair. That has a little like chair lift thing. That's like a ski lift thing. But it just takes you from one side of the fair to the other.

I rode that. But with a little twist. I took a three-year-old. Yeah. So. I saw other people doing this.

And I was like. It'll be fun. They got little kids dangling up in the sky. I can do that. I was terrified. I get up there.

All there's this one little bar. And I don't know if you've ever like sat with a kid at a picnic table. But they're going to find a way to fall out. And smack their head on something. So this is just awful.

And I'm holding a three-year-old. So I put him in my lap. And I like. Kung fu monkey death gripped him. He's not going anywhere. And the whole ride.

I'm just like. This was a mistake. We should not be on this. Because there's a couple things that are just extremely terrifying with children. Heights is one of them. Water is another one.

It takes an inch of water and 30 seconds for a child to drown. Water is terrifying. And so I just held on to this kid. So if you ever want to have like a really, really scary ride. Take a small child on one of those things. It was terrifying.

I was like. Afterwards. Like I was about to get in a fist fight or something. Had adrenaline pumping. So he says if your son falls in a well.

Let me tell you what happens if your son falls in a well. You do immediately exactly what you need to do to get your son out of the well. No hesitation. I don't care what that is. You jump in the well. If your son's down in a well.

And you can't see him. And he's not responding. And he's not old enough to swim. You're in that well. Very, very quickly. Holding the kid above your head.

If my son's going to drown in a well. If that's what's going to happen. I'm going to have to drown with him. That's what happens when your son falls in a well. And he says. How many of you.

If your son falls in a well. Go. Hold on. Ah. It's the Sabbath. None of them.

He says the same for your ox. Your ox falls in a well. You're not. You're just. You're going to save it. No questions.

No considerations. But what's the response. When he says. How many of you. If your son or your ox falls in a well. What's.

But it's my son. It's my son. And if you follow that up. What's the response. I love my son. Jesus says.

Exactly. That's what he's pointing out to them. The problem. Isn't that this is the Sabbath. The problem is. You don't love this man.

That's what he's getting at. We haven't run into a Sabbath issue. We've run into a heart level love. Issue. Y'all don't care about this guy. You care about your ox.

But you don't care about him. And I want us to see something. Jesus. Sees this man. And loves this man. Because that's who Jesus is.

And he heals this man. Because that's what Jesus came to do. When Jesus is healing people. In the gospels. It's a foretaste. Of ultimately.

What he's going to accomplish. On the cross. It's a foretaste. Of what his kingdom. Is going to be like. If you were hiring.

A chef. You might would talk about. Where they'd studied. You might would talk about. Other jobs they had. But eventually.

They'd cook you some food. Not all the food. That they know how to cook. But some of it. To give you a taste. Of the way that they can cook.

And when Jesus comes. What he's doing. When he heals somebody. When he. When he offers salvation to somebody. In a certain way.

When he casts out the enemy. Or when he brings somebody back to health. What he's doing. Is giving us a foretaste. Of what he's ultimately come to accomplish. And he's ultimately.

Going to pay with his life. For this. Type of healing. But not just for this man. But for all of us.

That all of us. Are in need. Of Jesus's redemption. He sees this man. He loves this man. And he.

Heals this man. Because ultimately. What he came to do. Is to see you. And to love you. And to heal you.

But the Pharisees. Don't see it. Y'all. They miss the miracle. They see somebody. Healed from dropsy.

Goes from being swollen. And in pain. To just fine. Jesus turns. Jesus turns. While he's at lunch.

And heals somebody. If you were. Eating with somebody. And they just had to perform. Like. I don't know.

A tracheotomy. On somebody. Or they did some quick heart surgery. And then they just came right back. To eating. And they.

They don't even acknowledge this. They don't see. How wonderful. And glorious. And beautiful this is. They don't see the power.

That Jesus has. All they can see. Is that he broke the Sabbath. They miss the miracle completely. Because they don't care about this guy. They don't celebrate.

He does. His family does. I'm sure. But they don't. Because they don't care. How often.

Do we do that? We're in the presence. Of some miraculous work of the Lord. And we just can't see it. You ever hanging out. With your community group.

Somebody brings up. The same sin struggle. They've been bringing up. And you think. Oh here we go again. Here's your same old mess.

Do what? Here's a person. Who Jesus is bringing along. Who is actively fighting sin. Which I don't know. If you've ever tried to do.

Is difficult. Actively fighting sin. Walking in community. Saying it out loud. In front of a group of people. And I'm sitting over here.

Saying here we go again. Or worse. They show up. And they're finally. Getting out of some of this. They're finally changing some of this.

And my thought is about time. Really? Jesus is actively working. Redemption in someone's life. Helping them break free from sin. Helping them change who they are.

Which I don't know. If you've ever tried to change. Something about yourself. But it's difficult. And Jesus has to miraculously work in us. To make us different.

And instead of celebrating joyously. For the work of Christ. In the life of somebody. We just sit around and go. Yeah okay. About time.

Thanks. Maybe you'll be less annoying. We're with someone. And they give generously to someone else. Someone asks of them around the street. And they give to them.

And what do we think? They're just going to waste it. You're really helping that person? There's a reason why they're in this position. And we miss the grace. And the generosity.

Of Jesus at work in somebody. To hand some stuff away. We miss it. You see. The answer that they have. They don't answer him.

But the answer that they have. Is well I care about my son. I care about my ox. And that's the exact problem. Is they don't care about this man. And John's pressing on the same idea.

He's not looking at the Sabbath. He's looking at our stuff. The problem wasn't that Jesus broke the Sabbath. The problem was that their hearts were off. And John in 1 John. If we go back to 1 John.

Chapter 3. He's got in mind. He's holding up for us. Worldly goods. The things that you own. And brothers and sisters in Christ indeed.

And he says if the things that we own. Won't just be handed over. The problem. Is a love problem. The problem is that we. Care about our stuff.

Don't care that much about them. He says this. How. How. How. Does God's love.

Abide. In him. Says if he closes his heart against him. How does God's love. Abide in him. See the.

The response to this. Is not for you. To muster up more love. Because it's not your love. It's God's love. It's not for you to go.

Okay. I gotta be more loving. I gotta just figure out. How to make myself love this person. Let me just stare at him. And see if I can fall in love.

And then maybe I'll give him my iPod. Or whatever the heck. I'm supposed to do here. It's not. It's not your love. That animates this.

It's God's love. In us. That animates this. It's his love. Abiding in us. That overflows.

Out of us. And that's the type of love. We have to have. Because the reality is. That loving sinners. Is extremely difficult.

But Jesus does it excellently. And so those of us. Who are overwhelmed. And filled by the love. Of Christ. Get to do that.

Get to participate. In this type of love. So I want to take just a second. And not try to tell you. That you need to be more loving. I want to take just a second.

And tell you the type of love. That our God has. For you. This is written to Christians. If you are a Christian. God's disposition.

Towards you. Is. Love. He's not frustrated with you. He's not upset with you. He's not looking at you.

And saying about time. Get it together. You are not. Welcomed into the family of God. On some sort of technicality. It's not like everybody else.

Was welcomed in. And you get to sneak in. At the back of the pack. He. Loves. That if you belong to Christ.

You're the son. Or the daughter. That fell in the well. And he didn't think twice. About diving in. To rescue.

And to redeem. Because of his great love. For us. That he paid for your sins. Because of his great. Love.

For you. Paul. Writing in Ephesians. Says. Here's my prayer for y'all. I pray that y'all.

Would just begin to. Have be filled. With the power of the spirit. To wrap your head around. The length. And breadth.

And height. And depth. And to know the love of Christ. That surpasses knowledge. He says. This is.

His love. Is unfathomable. And I hope you can just start. Getting your head around it. You ever stood. On the edge.

Of the coast. And just stared at the ocean. And saw how big it was. Paul says. I wish you'd get in a boat. And go out there.

And be in a place. Where all you can see is ocean. I wish that you would start. To dive to the depths. And go until it crushes you. And you realize.

That there's no way. You could have gotten to the bottom. I wish that his. Power of his spirit. Began to fill you. To understand.

How wide. And how deep. And how miraculous. And how unending. His love is towards you. Because that's the kind of love.

We have in Christ. God's love poured out for us. In Christ. That he would redeem sinners. That he would purchase sinners. And you say.

Well I'm not that lovable. He probably doesn't love me. Do not belittle the love of Christ. Do you see a child. Protecting a cricket. It's not that the cricket is glorious.

It's that the child is kind. And Jesus Christ is glorious. And he redeems. And he saves. Because he's good. And because he loves.

And that love is for you. It is a wildfire of love. For you. A love that does not destroy. But protects.

A love that keeps. A love that claims. A love that holds. A love that brings you on. Unendingly into glory with him. Jesus says.

Not only that he came and died. To redeem us from our sins. But he says. I go to prepare a place for you. He says. You're moving into my house.

I love you so much. You're going to stay forever with me. That he prefers us. I don't know if you have someone in your life like this. But if you pick up the phone.

And you call them. They want to talk to you. And they just want to keep talking to you. You have people in your life. That they're hard to get off the phone with. God's love for us.

Is a preferential love. That he pours out on his children. That he wants. Us. That's what he says in 1 John 3. He says.

See what great love the father has lavished on us. That we should be called children of God. And that is what we are. This love for us in Christ. That redeems us. And that makes us part of the family.

Is the animating love. That is at work in our hearts. And so we are first loved. And then we get to respond in love. That's what he says in verse 18. He says.

Little children. Let us not love in word or talk. But in deed. And in truth. That verse gives me a lot of courage. A lot of comfort.

You ever feel like. I must be the only Christian. Who is getting this wrong. I must be the only Christian. Who when someone asks for something. It just catches in my soul.

And I really don't want to give up the thing. Like maybe everybody else here. Really loves their brothers and sisters in Christ. And they are super generous. And I have a hard time with this. You ever feel like that?

Just me? So I really am the only one. Alright. It's cool. I love that these verses are in the scriptures. Where he corrects a thing that's wrong in me.

Because it means it was also wrong in them. And that God and his grace is at work in them. And he's also at work in me. That if there was no sin. If there was no trouble. If there would be no need to write it.

There would be no need for him to pen this letter. And say. Y'all need to grow a little bit. You need to change a little bit. If it was always just perfectly worked out by the spirit. And Christians never had a problem.

He'd never have to pen this letter. But he writes and says. Y'all need to grow a little bit. You need to soak in this love a little bit. You need the love of God to abide in you. We need to respond this way.

This is what we ought to look like. And this is what makes the church beautiful. That we love each other. Because we're animated by this unending. Deep. Forgiving.

Gracious. Forever. Ferocious. Love. Of Christ. For us.

And so we just get to swim in it. So someone in your church family needs something. We ought not to hesitate. We ought to just say. Yeah what do you need? How do I get it to you?

I've got one of those. I've got two of those. Come on. I can handle that. I can help pay that. Someone in our church family is sick.

So we just go spend time with them. We take some food to them. Or we go sit with them in the hospital. There's part of us that thinks. I've got better things to do. Than to sit in the hospital.

And the reality is. Inside the love of Christ. No you really don't. This is a glorious thing to do. Somebody in your church family needs some help. So you give up.

A very very precious Saturday. You answer the phone in the evening. And you go to someone's house. Or you have them over to your house. Somebody in your group is down or sad. And you know it.

So you go get around them on purpose. We're taught by culture to avoid sad people. But Christians don't. And you know what happens. If you're happy. And you go hang around a sad person.

You trade some of your happiness. For some of their sadness. You leave a little more sad. It's just how it works. But when you leave there a little more happy.

That's the type of substitutionary love. That we see in Christ. That he trades out his righteousness for our sin. And we leave righteous. And he leaves in sin. To be crushed on a cross.

And to rise victorious. We are animated by this wonderful love of God on our behalf. The band is going to come back up. The response to this is to not try to muscle up love. The response to this is to try to sit in. And wrap your mind around.

And be filled with the power of the love of Christ for you. If you are in Christ. You are dearly loved. And you are empowered by his love to love. This is how we get to respond. This is how we get to live.

If you are not a Christian. This love is offered to you. This welcome is offered to you. This invitation to be a part of this family is offered to you. This redemption is offered to you. It will not forever be offered.

But it can be forever yours if you will accept the offer. The king has come. He has been born among men. To redeem men. He has come to earth to redeem humanity. He has paid the price of our sin.

And he has offered amnesty. And salvation and forgiveness to all who will come to him. Come. Ask him to forgive you. Ask him to redeem you. And feel the overwhelming love of Christ for you.

And be brought into this glorious home. And Christians. May we celebrate. That our king has come. And that he has worked his love for us. And that his love fills us.

And then may we respond. As those who are overflowing. With the love of Christ. In generosity. And graciousness. And kindness.

And service. To one another. In the church family. The dearest place on earth. Let's pray.

God. God. God. We thank you for your grace. We thank you for this love. That lays down your life for us.

This love that redeems us from our sin. This love. That invites us. To be your children. And calls us into your home. And may we live.

As if our sins are forgiven. Our eternity. Is set. Our home. Is secure. Our hope.

Is held forever. In the resurrected Christ. So that worldly things. Possessions. Our stuff. Our money.

Does not matter. But your people do. And may we be able to respond. In love. As you fill us. And lead us.

In Jesus name. Amen.

Lay Down Your Life (1 John 3:16-18)

Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet this week.

Lay Down Your Life

Spencer Cary

Transcript

Good morning. My name is Spencer. I am one of the pastors here. We are in our Give Series this month and every year we get to pause from whatever sermon series we're doing and we get to walk through the Give Series together. It is our opportunity in the season that we celebrate the gift of Christmas that Jesus was gifted to humanity. We get to respond to that generosity by setting in the call as Christians to live generously towards others.

We get to tackle a Give project every year which is a real action step for us to live generously towards others. We get to have awesome bumpers made like that that just celebrate the season. And it's a fun time for us to pause every year and do this. We typically or sometimes we'll jump into a completely new set of texts but we've been going through 1 John over the last few months and we got to 1 John 3 and it lines up fairly well with where we are in this Give project. So we are in verses 10 through 18.

That's what Chet introduced last week and we're posting up in the back end of that in 16 through 18 today to look at this a little more closely. He says in 1 John 3 verses 16 through 18. He says, By this we know love that He laid down His life for us and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but indeed in truth. But Chet introduced this last week and we're going to spend more time on it today that God loves the world.

He loves the world but there's something special and specific about the people of God. That He loves us specially and deeply and as Christians we're called to love everyone. But there's this elevator we see in the New Testament, this sense of you're called to love deeply your brothers and sisters in Christ. So we introduced last week that in line with that idea, this Give Project specifically, we are tackling blessing. Some brothers and sisters in the faith who are in need. And then we stumbled upon an opportunity with Bethel Christian Camp.

So Bethel Christian Camp is a camp we've been connected to for years. Isaac Hill, who's on staff with us. His dad Jarl Hill is the executive director of Bethel Christian Camp. Their mission is to help make disciples throughout the summer of campers. And specifically they have a lot of focus on under-resourced families. So we love them.

We've partnered with them for years. And an opportunity came to us when Jarl said we're hiring a new program director. His name is Jason Earhart. So Jason, his wife Christine, and their four kids are moving down from Virginia. And they're going to move into an 1,100 square foot house. Jordan, you can go ahead and throw that up there.

They're going to move into this house. Okay. So it's a family of six moving into this 1,100 square foot house. And this house in particular needs a lot of love. So they said we need to do a lot of renovations on it.

We heard about it. We said, all right, we're in. How much do you need us to raise? So we need about $17,000 to renovate this house for this family who's moving down here to partner with Bethel Christian Camp and make disciples of children. So we're excited about this, this opportunity.

This family is making a sacrifice. So Jason is taking a pay cut to come down here. And a family of six is going to live in a smaller house. But they care deeply about the mission of Bethel. They care about making disciples. And we said, you know what, we want to bless this family.

Before they move down in February, let's raise the money. In January, let's go over there. Let's do some work. It needs HVAC. It needs renovations on the inside. Completely paint.

Kitchen. You name it. We said, all right, we're all in on this. Let's do this. That's the gift project that Chet introduced last week. We are excited about it.

But before we continue in this, I want to sit specifically in this idea that would compel us to actually love them well. That would compel us to rally around this and actually bless this family. And it is this specific idea of laying down our lives for our brothers and sisters in Christ. I want to sit in that and then examine some of the reasons why we actually might struggle to do this. So, let me pray. And then we will jump in today.

Lord, we love you. We are thankful for your goodness and your kindness towards us. God, I pray that you would help us worship this morning, knowing that that is true. Worship you because you're worthy. Worship you because you are generous towards us. But that you would stir in us a desire to want to love one another well.

We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. Alright, so pull the text back up. Let's walk through this. It says, By this we know love. That he laid down his life for us.

And we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. This is brothers, brothers and sisters in Christ. The family of God. But, verse 17. If anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk, but in deed and in truth.

At Christmas, we get to celebrate that God in his love and his humility came for us. And that doesn't register like it should. Because God is big. He made everything. He made the universe in all of its glory. A few weeks back, I was reading Garden and Gun, which is a magazine that I get.

It's a magazine that I like. And I was reading it and it said that 80% of Americans have never seen the Milky Way. And I was like, I've never seen the Milky Way. You can see that with a naked eye. And then you like go to different, like there are different places that have, around the world that are called dark sites that have less light pollution. You can look up when the sky is right and see the Milky Way.

So I like went all in and looked at pictures and videos and started making plans. Like I want to see this because it's unbelievable to look up at the heavens and see the galaxy. And when you look at that, you just feel so small because the sight is so big. And when you take a step back as a Christian, you realize God made that and it's small to him. Like it doesn't compare. It's a passing worth and his glory.

That's how big our God is. When you understand how big our God is, you understand how much he loves us. That he came for us. That Jesus left the comforts of heaven. And he came for us. Like when you sit in that reality, it's just overwhelming that at Christmas, Jesus loves us so much that he laid down his life and he came for us.

Once you press into that, it says, by this we know love that he laid down his life for us. By this we know Christ who is love. When you understand and believe and are immersed and are infatuated with who he is, it says that his love is going to abide in us. And more specifically, the things that he cares about. We're going to care about. That's what happens when you love someone.

Like a few weeks back, I got to officiate my sister's wedding and it was an exciting time for me. It was the most fun wedding I've ever been to. I thoroughly enjoyed it. The ceremony was beautiful. I was so glad that I got to be a part of it. One of the things I got to share with the people who were there was that I knew that my sister was falling for this guy.

When one weekend I was talking to my mom. I was like, what's Kat? What's my sister? What's she doing this weekend? I said, well, she's at a NASCAR race. I said, wait, what?

Huh? She never, like NASCAR was never on her radar. She was a beauty pageant. She queen. She was a cheerleader. Like, she was dainty.

Like, she, no. Like, at a NASCAR race. And I found out later, oh, yeah, she's also, she goes camping with him. Camping in the outdoors. Are you serious? I was like, man, she's falling for this guy.

That she would, and that's what happens. When you love someone, you become about what they're about, right? You start to love their interests. You start to care about the things that they care about. When you love Christ, you care about what he cares about. You're all in.

And when he says, love your church family. Love your brothers and sisters. That's what you care about. And he's highlighting this is what we should do. Yet you close your heart. That's what he's saying.

You close your heart. The KJV here says, shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him. When you look at all the translations alongside that, it's like, man, that one's a little different. But actually, it's probably the most closest to the text. What it's conveying there is that the innermost part of you. That the love of Christ should impact the innermost part of you.

And when you shut your heart, when you close that off, you are stopping the love of God that should flow through you. And we feel this. When you see something, you're like, man, someone should do something about this. When you see a Compassion International ad and you see children that are in deep need. Whatever thing that you come across that just starts to prod at your heart. You feel this feeling rise up inside you.

That someone should do something. And then something stops us often. And that's the closing of our heart. It damns up the river of compassions that should flow through us. We should look at Christ. Behold him for who he is.

And when we're doing that, his compassion flows through us. But we stop it. That's the problem that John is addressing here. And he has a question for us. He says, how can God's love abide in you if you're willing to close your heart? How can the love of God reside in you, flow through you?

How could Christ be the most important, beautiful, worthy of worship being in the universe for us if you don't love his people? If you don't love the church? If you love Christ, he will capture your heart. And you absolutely will. But there's something in us.

There's something in us that guides to break down the walls that we close off towards showing compassion towards others. And he goes on to say in verse 18, like this isn't a compassion that flows through you that is just talked about. This is not mere words. This isn't just saying someone should do something about this. Someone with means should do something about this. That the heart of a Christian breaks for his brother and sister and says, amen, what can I do?

What do you need from me, Lord? How can I help? That's what John's trying to inspire in these churches he's writing to. That's what the scriptures are pleading with us to do as well. Especially in the American church. In the American church, we have some of the most collective, the highest collective wealth of almost any church in the history of humanity.

And we have a lot of wealth in America and in the American church. And in our church, we're not, you know, we're not killing it, right? We're just not. Like we were a blue collar, middle class. Like that's who we are. But so you might think, okay, well, other churches can go for this even harder because they have more.

But the reality is when you look at us compared to the global church, it's like, no, we have an incredible amount of means. We have incredible ability to bless other Christians, to invest in other ministries, to do, to give. But there's something in us, even in our own selves, even in our own hearts, that stops us all the time. And that's what we're trying to see. That's what John's trying to diagnose. And it's what he's trying to help us see.

There's something in us that keeps us from doing that. So I want to ask some questions. I want to diagnose this a little bit to see what it is that actually keeps us from having a heart that's filled with the compassion and love of Christ. And it's extended towards others. And it's not to, hear this, it's not to do a guilt trip. Okay?

A guilt trip might get you to open your checkbook for this gift project. And that's fine for a moment. But what we need is God to continue to mold and shape and break our hearts so that we might continuously live in generosity and tap into the benefits and the goodness that is found in that type of obedience. We need that. But we need to look at when he says, by this we know love, that he laid down his life for us.

That phrasing there, we need to actually sit in that. That if Jesus is the one by which we know love and his sacrifice and his laying down of his life is something that we need to stare at, be consumed with, and to learn from. That I want to take a few minutes to walk through a few different teachings, a few different things that Jesus did to help us see how Jesus modeled this so that we might be a people that can do this well. And as we walk through a few different things, there are four things I want us to see. If we examine kind of the problem beneath the surface within us that keeps us from doing this, then we have a chance at seeing the love of Christ flow through us.

There are four things I want us to see as we walk through this. First, I want us to see this life in light of eternity. See this life in light of eternity. Second, I want us to see our stuff in light of eternity. We're going to see that's two sides of the same coin there. Three, I want us to see church family as family.

And fourth, I want us to see the sacrifice of Christ. So, four things I want us to see. All right, four. The first two things I want us to see this morning. I want to look at one text from Matthew 6, the Sermon on the Mount, when Jesus is teaching in verses 19 and 20. He says, Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal.

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. All right, let's sit in this passage for a moment. Let's first see this life in light of eternity. One of the things that we fail to see as Christians is that eternity, okay? 60 million plus years into infinity. That is greater than 80 years.

That equation makes sense on paper. That millions and billions of years is greater than just 80 years. But we don't functionally live like that's true sometimes. We miss that. And when he says, But if anyone has the world's goods, We don't see that. That eternity is longer than just 80 years in this life.

So I want it to be very practical for a moment. When you enter the workforce, Okay? 18, 20, 25, whenever that is for you. When you enter the workforce, You've got 60 to 70 years ahead of you, If you are fortunate. And here's what happens. This is what the world sells us on.

Make as much money as possible. So that you can purchase comfort now. And have some comforts now. And throw money ahead in the future. So you can have a nest egg of comfort later.

That's the American dream. Buy what you can now. Store up for the comfort that you can have later. Go hard after this. It's the reason why right now you see a ton of advertisers on TV that are selling you on. This is what makes you feel good.

Like you see a Lexus commercial. And it says, Buy this with a big red bow on it at Christmastime. It feels good. Which those commercials annoy me for various reasons. First off, Who springs a Lexus on their spouse and gets away with it? Like that, You've got to be in a way different tax bracket to pull it off.

Secondly, Those commercials are almost always with a snowy backdrop. And it's like, Listen, That is only some parts of the country. Like y'all are missing it. It's neither here nor there. But, You get sold on this idea of purchasing comfort. Now, Make sure you save enough for later.

Make sure that when you're 65, You can buy an RV and go all around the country. That you can play golf as much as you want. So that you can travel to Europe. That you can see all the parts of the world. So that you can get the most out of this life right now.

That's the American dream that is given to us. And I want to be very practical here. Nobody here is in the 1%. Alright? We're just, None of us are killing it. Here's why this is really important.

Because if I was speaking to a bunch of people who were absolutely loaded, Packed in the ceiling, It would be a different thing. I would touch different things. But I want to be real practical for us for a moment. If you go hard after that American dream, As middle class people, You can't live generously. The margins aren't there. You can't do it.

You don't have the means to do it. If you've got to upgrade your car every three to five years, If you've got to upgrade your house every three to five years, Which when I was doing more real estate, I saw over and over again, When you've got to continuously throw large chunks of money at your retirement, And do the basics. Like eat. Feed yourself. Feed your family if you've got family. Eat your home.

Which is really painful these days. With inflation and everything that's happening. And then you've got to subscribe to like 15 different things. Because that's now the basics for us in America. But, When you do all of these things, And then you look at your budget if you have one, Or you look at your bank account if you don't. You're like, I don't know how I can live generously.

I don't know how I can give to anything. And you see a need that arises. Or the Christians need help. And it's like, I don't know how I can swing this. The reason we can't swing this, Is because of all the things, That we gear our lives toward in this life right now. Because we've lost sight that we're going towards eternity.

We've lost sight of that eternity is greater than, The 80 years that are in this life. So here's how this could look differently for us. You enter the workforce. Alright? And you've got 60 to 70 years. Or right now, You're rethinking your life.

You've got 30, 20, 40, How many of your years left you've got in front of you. You say, I am going to make an impact for the kingdom, With the time that I have on this earth. Randy Alcorn in the, I think it's the treasury principle, He says, Nothing makes a journey more difficult than a heavy backpack, Filled with nice but unnecessary things. Pilgrims travel light. Like, you own that. And it's like, There's a lot of unnecessary things that I could accumulate, But I don't live for this life.

Like, I don't need this. I'm living for eternity. I'm going to travel light. So what you do is, Is you leverage your life for the kingdom of God. You leverage your life, Your time. And you organize that in a way that you can serve the local church.

You structure your budget in a way that reflects your values. That you don't take positions and jobs that consume your life, That make your job your object of worship. That you leverage your life for the kingdom. That you pass on goods. The world's goods. And everything that will be offered to you, On a regular basis.

Why? Because you believe that that life in eternity is better. Because you see Christians that are in front of you that are eternal. Pitted alongside the things that you could purchase. Like, no, I want to be able to bless those who are in need. That you orient your life around this understanding that life is eternal.

And every decision you make for work and for spending and everything flows through that. That you live modestly because your eye is on the eternal prize. Because you believe that temporary comfort is less than eternal joy. And that is the anthem for how you live. And in the world's goods, that's just a tool. Money.

Stuff. That's just things. That's just a tool. That allows you to take care of your needs and your family and your life. But also be generous towards others.

That we miss this when we exchange it. When we mess this up and we say the end is the things we can purchase. That's how we fall prey to the American dream. We travel light because we know this life is temporary. We pack. And this life has a Christian understanding that it is light because we're living for the next one.

My wife and I, we're getting ready to go to Disney World on Saturday. Which I think I said this two weeks ago. Don't tell my kids. Because my wife will harm you. But it's a surprise of them.

But we are getting ready to go to Disney World. We are going to pack with that in mind. After my wife spent all week packing, I said, Babe, guess what? I want to take the piano with me to Disney World. She'd be like, You are crazy. What are you thinking?

It's a temporary trip. Here, we pack accordingly. In this life, we carry the things that we need. Because our mind is in eternity. Alright, here's the second side of that coin. Second, see our stuff in light of eternity.

So you've got to see your life in light of eternity, but you've got to see your stuff in light of eternity. Alright. Our economy is built off of consumerism. Not a huge shock. Alright. Our economy is built off consumerism.

Advertisements are geared towards helping you see that if you had this product, how good would you feel? How much better would your life be? Right? You see something, scroll across on Instagram, and they're previewing the product. And you're like, I want that. That's going to be good.

Like you see something on TV, and it's like, man, I would look so good in that, driving that. Like that's the whole goal. To help create this need or want in you, and for you to buy that, to fulfill that need. Now, this is what I would love to see happen. Is that if you purchased something, or if you saw something that they wanted you to purchase, and they advertised that product, and then they fast-forwarded like a year, or two years, or three years, or ten years, and they showed you the same product. They showed your iPhone all cracked up.

They showed your car with a bunch of dents in it. Like we need that. Like if the buy now button on Amazon showed the product that they were selling first picture, like let me see the second picture, and it's you throwing it in the trash in six months. Like how much money would you not spend at Amazon, right? Like the picture for us would be six months later selling it on Facebook for sale or wanted for like $5. Come buy it.

Like if we had that, like I want to show you, this is the side-by-side. This is a Samsung phone, right? It looks very sleek and nice. I've never owned a Samsung phone, but that looks very nice. And you look at this, and it's like, man, I want that. But if you just had, I took a screenshot for sale for sale for you wanted.

And that's, that, I don't know how long ago a Galaxy S9 was. But when that was out, man, that was happening. Like that was it. And this person is sadly selling it. There's no way they're going to sell that. But they're selling that for $80.

Please buy this. Like if you just had that mindset, the things that you purchased just don't last. Man, how much more freeing will we live? How much easier it would be to say no to things? It's like, that's why I love how practical Matthew 6 is. How practical Jesus' teaching is.

He says, why would you leverage your money and your hope and some of your anxiety about buying that? Why would you leverage it for things that moth and rust destroy? Translation. Translation. Things that end up, end up in a landfill. Why do we do this to ourselves?

It doesn't last. I mean, it's, I mean, it doesn't last like it did 30 years ago. They don't even build things for you to like buy and repair things now. Like I, I buy something and I want to repair it. And it's like, no, you can't. You must replace it.

I'm like, this is rigged. Like I want, this is ridiculous. Like do you buy, now you just got to buy things and replace things. Like it doesn't last. Like we need to see that. Because what happens is, is that we close our hearts towards other Christians who are in need for that.

We close our hearts towards other Christians in need for stuff that will not last. You need to see that picture right there pitted against a brother or sister in need. And Jesus says, sow up treasures in heaven. That's better. And the New Testament teaching on that is, is that listen, we, we believe that that by the blood of Christ, by grace through faith, he redeems us, he rescues us and brings us into the family of God. But once you are a Christian, there is this teaching that you are storing up riches in heaven.

That your works matter now in Christ. That there's some kind of heavenly reward. And we don't know what that is. Like we don't have real strong pictures for that. But Jesus says it's good.

He says it's eternal riches. Live as if eternity is true. Live as if the stuff that you can buy in this life will not last. It's not worth your hopes. It's not worth your desires. Don't fall for it.

Three. Three. See church family as family. See church family as family. It's going to be difficult for us to actually love to lay down our lives for brothers and sisters in Christ. If you don't view them as brothers and sisters.

We don't have a shot at doing that. If we don't see family, church family in the way that Jesus calls us to. Jesus in Matthew 12. His family is trying to get a hold of him. And we walked through this in the Gospel of Matthew a few years ago. I want to read this.

Because I think this is incredibly important for us to understand. He says. It says while he was still speaking to the people. He's been teaching. It says behold. His mother and his brothers stood outside.

Asking to speak to him. But he replied to the man who told him. Who is my mother? And who are my brothers? And stretching out his hand towards his disciples. He said.

Here are my mothers and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my father in heaven. Is my brother and sister and mother. Now. Jesus. Loves.

His mama. Okay. Fact. Go to the end of the Gospel of John. Jesus. Loves his mama.

He honors his family. He's not denigrating his family. Not doing that at all. He is elevating. The eternal family of God. He's trying to help us see.

That the eternal. Family. Of God. Matters. We need that. Alright.

Because a cultural southern value. For us. Is family. Like we care a lot about it down south. I love when Hollywood tries to write. TV shows.

And movie scripts. And capture. That idea. It's just like. They. They think everything for us is Hatfields and McCoys.

That if you cross your brother or your cousin. You're going to kill somebody. It's like. We're not. That unhinged. Right.

But they. Are making some observations. That are accurate. We do care about family. More so than different parts of the country. Like we.

Love. Our family. There's a lot of love. And loyalty. And care that we have for our earthly family. And we should.

Absolutely. The Bible teaches this over and over again. But that love. And loyalty. And care. And devotion.

That we have for earthly family. Jesus says. Take that. Step it up. That is elevated also. For the family of God.

For the people of God. For your brothers and sisters. That love. And loyalty. And devotion. Is meant for your church family.

In a way that you would. See your brother in need. And lay. Down your life for them. So that you would see another Christian need.

And say. What can I do? We don't have a shot of that. If we don't see church family as family. If we don't see extended church family. A global church family.

As the family of God. We don't have a shot of that. If we see. What we do right now. As a social aspect. Of what we do.

Like if Sundays. Are just a social thing. That we do. If groups. Are just a social aspect. Of our lives.

We're missing it. We're missing it. And how easy. Will it be for us. To close off our heart. Towards another brother and sister.

In Christ. Who is in need. We have got to see family. As family. Four. We have to see the sacrifice.

Of Christ. That's pinnacle. That's the basis. For all of us. To see. What Christ has done.

He says. By this. Verse 16. We know. Love. That he laid down his life for us.

And we have to lay down our lives. For the brothers. We will never understand the sacrifice. We will never live out this sacrifice for others. If at the forefront of our mind. And our soul.

Isn't the sacrifice of Christ. It's not just that. He left heaven for us. It's not just he left heaven. When we celebrate at Christmas. And came for us.

It's from the manger. To the cross. And everything in between. God lays his life down. Up into the pinnacle sacrifice. Of Christ.

On the cross. For us. His blood spilled out. For us. If we don't hold that out. In front of us.

And have that as the basis. For why we should lay down. Our lives. For our brothers and sisters. We don't have a shot at this. We'll fall for lesser comforts.

And lesser things. Over sacrifice. Towards others. We're called to lay down. Our lives. And our own self-interest.

Which is harm. That's a radical call. That Jesus calls us to. So. I know from time to time. That somebody stands up here.

The other guy who preaches half the time. He likes to play up. That I like weird movies. And it's. He's. He likes to play it up.

He's a funny guy. And he has lots of jokes on. On I like sad movies. Depressing movies. And all. You know.

They have to be called films and cinema. He has all kinds of things to say about. The things I. Watch. I was watching over the day. This indie film about.

This woman who dies of cancer. And. I knew it going into it. Like I chose this. I read this article. On the Gospel Coalition.

Which is a. Is a helpful site. For a lot of different articles. And theology and stuff. And there's this movie. Movie review of this movie.

Called Our Friend. That probably none of you have seen. Because it didn't do well at all. And it does sometimes fit. In the category of movies. That I watch.

But. I can watch this. Because they said. Listen. This movie embodies. This sacrificial.

Friendships. Like I'm going to watch this. Which disclaimer. It's got some language in it. But it does embody this.

It's a true story. Okay. It's a true story. About three friends. And. Three friends from college.

Two of them are married. One of them goes on. They stay connected for years. Then all of a sudden. The wife. Gets.

Terminal cancer. And. And it's. Incredibly hard on him. This is a younger family. They're like late 30s.

They've got kids. And he's trying to take care of his wife. And his friend. Their friend says. I'm going to move in with you. So he moves from New Orleans.

To Alabama. And he. He lives with them. For the last 12 to 18 months. Of her life. And it's just this.

This. Sacrifice. That he. He quits his job. And he moves there. And he.

Serves her. And he serves him. And he watches their kids. And gets them to school. And helps with. Cancer treatment.

As she's slowly fading. And as she's. Her mind is. Falling apart. He. Serves them.

And loves them. All the way to her. Final. Last. Breath. And it's this.

This choice. To sacrifice. Because he. Loves. Them. And he lays down his life.

And when you see that. It's like. That's it. That's a picture of the gospel. That you would lay down your life. That you would.

Moved on their city. If it required it. That you would lay down your life. For. Someone else. Because you see them.

As eternal family of God. And we as Christians. Have a higher ideal. That. That we are bound together. By this.

Jesus. Who laid his life down for us. How much more. Should we. Lay down our lives. For those who are in need.

Like we. Need this. And when we do this. We tap into something. That is eternal. And good.

But it takes some self reflection. It takes looking. At the ways we don't want to die. To ourself. The ways we don't want to sacrifice. I feel this.

Y'all. I feel this. I. I say I'm in a busy season sometimes. It's really just a busy life. Just the reality of it.

And I. And I. And I. And sometimes. Like I. I look at my schedule.

And needs come up. And I'm like. I've got things. I need to do. And I'm so convicted. Because I've got people in my life.

That don't do that. Like they. They move outside of their schedule. Because they love people. And it's like. I need to.

Grow in this. That I wouldn't value. My. Time. So much.

That I would. Not look. At a brother in need. A sister in need. And have compassion towards them. We.

Need this. We need to see the unmet wants. And the unmet needs. And the things that we want to buy. And the things we want to purchase. And the things that we want to accumulate in our life.

We need to say. That is. Less than. Than other Christians in need. That is less than. Than my brother.

Or my sister. Who is in need. We need to see the opportunities that we have in front of us. Some of which come at great personal cost. I mean. Sacrifice is that.

Is great. Personal. Personal. Cost. To you. Just as Jesus.

Had great. Personal. Cost. To him. We get to. Live that out towards others.

And we got an opportunity in front of us. With this. Give project. And some of you might be thinking. Listen. I.

Renovate a house. I got stuff. That needs renovated. I got stuff. That needs to get done. I got.

I got things that I. Want to do. And I want to. Impress upon you. That part of this. When we have opportunities.

To give. It isn't always. About what we're committing to. It's about our heart approach. It's about our heart approach. That says.

Even when I don't have. I give. And I sacrifice. And I choose to do that over. And over. And over.

Again. We got an opportunity in front of us. With the Earhart family. You can build a picture up to them. This. This.

Family. Is sacrificing a lot. To come down here. It's taking a pay cut. Moving into a smaller house. And they're going to sacrifice.

For the mission of Christ. At Bethel. And we got this house. We got this opportunity. And it's a real. Tangible thing.

That we get to do. To live out the gospel. We get to raise. Some money. To be able to bless them. The house needs a lot of work.

And it's just a way to love them well. That as they sacrifice. For the mission of Christ. We get to sacrifice a little bit. To be able to. Serve them.

So they can come in February. Ready to go. But it's not about this. Alone. This is a tangible thing. We get to grow in.

But we get to use this. As a springboard. Into a lifestyle. That understands eternity. The ten trillion years. Is greater than just a few.

That our stuff. Will. Faith. And it's not worthy of our worship. We get to use this. As an opportunity.

To see that. Family. Eternal family. Matters. And we get to use this. As an opportunity.

To look. At the sacrifice. Of our savior. And let that. Flow. Into our heart.

And that compassion. Flow out. In a lifestyle. That chooses. To live generously. Towards others.

Love the Brothers (1 John 3:11-18)

Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet this week.

Love the Brothers

Chet Phillips

Transcript

Good morning. My name is Chet. I'm one of the pastors here. It is our Give Series. We are excited every time, every year around this time and every time around this year. That's what I almost said.

Go to 1 John chapter 3. We've been working through 1 John and usually we would pause and focus just on Give Series stuff and go somewhere else, but John went there anyway, so we're going to just keep going through John because he's going to talk about what we would have paused to talk about. Our Give Series is around Christmas. We want to celebrate Christmas and we want to respond a little bit to how our culture celebrates Christmas because our culture, Christmas is a Christian holiday and culturally we have a lot of Christian background, a lot of Christian history. And so you have this idea of generosity and sacrifice and love and kindness and peace that all comes in with Christmas.

We have this idea of worship that Jesus would come and that he would humble himself to come redeem sinners, this idea of hope, this idea of light in darkness, that all kind of comes in. And then what happens is culturally we try to pull out the Jesus part. We want to keep peace. We want to keep joy. We want to keep life. We're cool with all of that.

But then we also want to infuse consumerism. And so it's like you bought a filet mignon and you cooked it perfectly and then you pour strawberry syrup on top of it. They just don't go together. It doesn't work right. Certainly Christmas is a time for celebration. Certainly it's a time for feasting.

Certainly it's a time for giving. But we've, we've amped it up so much with consumerism because our whole culture runs off of us buying things we don't need. Buying shoes before other shoes wear out. Buying shoes for this type of occasion. Buying shoes to be this type of person. Buying this shirt that makes us this type of person.

Buying things that help us have an identity. Buying more things than we need and replacing the things that aren't bad with new things. That's our, that's our whole system. It's what it's built off of. And you're a good American. If you go spend money, the news comes out and says, Hey, y'all hadn't been consuming like you're supposed to.

And you go, well, I got to do my duty. I said, I was thankful yesterday and now I got to go get some new stuff. It's just, that's, that's the system that we have culturally. And then we have as Christians, we're supposed to approach this differently. We're supposed to see this differently. And so at our gift series, we try to just push back on consumerism and amp up generosity.

We want some of our money to just walk out the door and to go towards things that don't benefit us. That's why I love the song that was just sung on that little video. It's from citizens. It's called, why don't you marry Christmas? It says, I see the writing on the wall. We've been through all of this before longer lists and grander gifts, brighter lights, entitled kids.

Well, if you love it so much, why don't you marry Christmas? The happy feelings that we had, are they just boxed up in the past? Buying more we can't afford. That's American. The pressure's high, but what's it for? Well, if you love it so much, why don't you marry Christmas?

So our hope in our gift series is to push back on some of this just consumer driven stuff and say, Hey, let's remember what this is actually about. And then let's respond as Christians with generosity. Let's give some money away at this time of year. We bring in money and we give money out for a Lottie moon. It's a Christmas offering, which goes towards the international mission board and towards international missions. It goes directly towards sending missionaries overseas.

And then as a church, we also come together to do our gift project, which is where we've helped church plants in Tennessee and downtown Columbia. We've helped people who had had some flood damage to their home. We came together and raised money for that. We were able to raise some money for some children's gifts and a party that we were able to throw in, in Columbia as well. We raised money for a women's shelter. We've raised money for overseas missions in Honduras and in Egypt.

So I get the distinct privilege of announcing our gift project today. Later. First John chapter three, we're going to pick up in verse 11. I'm going to pray and we're going to walk through as John presses on this idea. And then we'll get to talk through how we're going to be able to practice it together. So let's pray.

God, we ask for joy and delight. As we read your word, we pray that you would help us to see Christ clearly. You might change our hearts. Help us to be loving people in Jesus name. Amen. So John in this section is going to give us one big picture and then one practice.

So he's going to give us one big picture, something for us to see, and he's going to give us something to do the way that this ought to show up in our lives. So he says this in verse 11, for this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. This most likely the beginning of these talking about is the beginning of the proclamation of the gospel, the beginning of Christ's work that we would have love for one another in the church. But it's connected to the call in the old Testament to be loving and gracious to the people of Israel and to the people around you.

We should love one another. Verse 12, we should not be like Cain who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brothers righteous. Do not be surprised brothers that the world hates you. So he says this kind of big picture, we shouldn't be like Cain who murdered his brother.

And it's like, okay, sound advice. But he's, he's painting up on one side, the epitome of worldly approach to others. That's why he says, don't be surprised when the world hates you. He's saying, this is kind of the epitome of non-Christian approach. And then he says, and here's the epitome of a Christian approach that he keeps going. Verse 14, we know that we have passed out of death into life because we love the brothers.

Whoever does not love abides in death that the brothers, there is the church that there is supposed to be a distinct, special love for Christians in the church. Now, Christians are told by Christ to love our enemies, to love our neighbors, and to love the church. So you're, you're told if you're a Christian, that's everybody. They fit in one of those categories. He expands neighbor to whoever's around you. Enemies are all the people that dislike you.

And then you're Christian brothers and sisters. So we're supposed to love everybody, but the, the, the Bible presses on this idea that the church should have distinct, special, greater love, protection, care, defense for those who belong to Jesus. Those are the brothers. And this idea that we are all children of God is not a biblical idea. The biblical idea is that we are all made by God and that all humans are made in his image and therefore have value, dignity. But to be a child of God is a blood bought gift from Jesus to those who believe.

That's what John says in chapter one of his, uh, the gospel of John, that for those who believe, he gave him the right to be called children of God. That's what he says at the beginning of chapter three. And this is that he says that we, how great is it? How good is God to us that we get to be called children? And so we are, but it's through the work of Christ that we're children of God. And so there's this family of God that we're meant to show love to one another.

So he keeps going. Whoever does not love abides in death. Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer. And you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. That's a bold claim. We're going to look at that in a second.

By this, we know love that he, that's Christ, laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. One big picture. Cain on one hand, Christ on the other. That our approach is going to be more like Cain's or more like Christ's. That's what he's getting at.

That you're going to look like a disciple of Cain or a disciple of Christ. He says, we know that if we hate, we're murderers. Did we know that? That your heart posture matters. That just painting a smile on your face while you loathe someone is still a problem for you because God sees your heart. That he actually cares about your heart, not your actions.

This isn't just about your morality. Can you act out the right things? It's like, no, he cares about who you are. So for those of you who are unfamiliar with Cain, so far, you know that he murdered his brother. Well, I'm going to tell you that story a little bit. That's from Genesis chapter three.

Adam and Eve have sons, Cain the oldest, then Abel or Abel. My uncle Abel fusses at me because it's spelled Abel and it's probably pronounced Abel or Abel. So I'm going to call him Abel just for the sake of my uncle. Then sorry. So Cain and Abel, they both at some point come to the Lord to give him a sacrifice.

Abel brings sheep from his flock. It says he brings the first. And then it says in some time, Cain brings some fruit. God has regard for Abel and not for Cain. Cain immediately, it says his face has fallen. He's frustrated by this, that God was pleased by Abel's sacrifice, but not by his.

It seems as if Abel was genuinely worshiping the Lord, was delighting in the Lord, brought the first of what he had. And that Cain thought, okay, well, this may be a good thing for me to do. And somehow it'll garner some favor because as soon as it doesn't work, his heart does not tender towards the Lord to say, what's wrong? What did I do? Like to respond well, he hardens himself towards the Lord, which seems as if it was, he came in it self-interested and when it didn't work, he was frustrated. Then it says he talks to his brother, takes him out in the field and murders him.

That's crazy. But it's the epitome, the physical manifestation of Cain's idea of how the world works, which is you exist for his good. Everything's about me. Therefore, everyone else is expendable. If they benefit me, if they help me, if they bring joy to my life, they get to stay. What's her name?

Marie Kondo. He does that with people. Does this inspire joy? No, in the trash. That's what he does. Christ is the opposite of that.

When you look at a manger, when you look at a nativity scene, that's Christ coming and saying, I'm not here to be served, but to serve. I'm here for everyone else. Therefore, I'm expendable. I'm here to sacrifice so that they might be satisfied. I'm here to suffer for them. Whereas Cain says, you need to sacrifice so that I might be satisfied.

You need to suffer for me. That's his big picture, that we're going to have one of those postures. I'm going to show you a few ways that kind of shows up. If you ever had a friend who knew a guy, maybe you're this person, you know a guy, you have a guy, you have a guy that gets you tickets to things. You have a guy that gets you out of tickets for things. You have a guy that, that can help you fix a car.

You have a guy that can, like, I, oh, I know this person to help us get a deal on this. I know, I know a shoe guy. I know a person who can help, like, and that's, you ever been around that person and you've, I've thought, that must be nice. He's got like a bullpen of perks. Oh, you're going to Disney World? Let me make some phone calls.

Who do you, do you know Mickey? What, who do you do it? But the reality of that is I've got these people around me and I appreciate the fact that they enhance my life. I'm going to make a phone call. They're going to make my life better. I don't know what they do on their end, but be honest with you, I don't care.

Just want this thing. Have you ever been the guy that someone knew? You ever been the only person who owned a truck and a group of friends? I have. When we first planted this church, we were part-time movers. It's just a thing.

And you have to work on your heart in those moments because you're getting a phone call and it's, hey, I'd love for you to sacrifice for me. And there's part of us that really wants to be in the Cain position and really dislikes being in the Christ position. I'd really like for you to sacrifice for me. That would be excellent. And I'd really like to not have to sacrifice for you. Honestly, if you make me suffer and sacrifice too much for you, I don't want to be your friend anymore.

Now, if you sacrifice and suffer for me, that's actually how I define a good friend. I don't want to be a good friend. I want to have good friends. So he writes and says, Christians, do we look like Christ or should we be called Cainians? He didn't say that because it's dumb, but that's what he's getting at. Do we look like disciples of Cain?

People exist for my benefit. All right. I'm going to, I'm going to say a thing that may not garner me some friends. Let me get a drink of water first. Let's talk about wedding vows.

All right. I'm not a huge fan personally of people who write, people of when people write their own wedding vows and I'll explain why. Vows are promises, promises that you make so that you'll keep them when you don't want to keep them anymore. That's the point of a promise. When people write their own vows, they often don't write promises. They write poems about how much they like the other person.

And that's fine. Those are great. Some of them are very beautiful. I've listened to some and thought that's beautiful. It's just not a vow saying, I love how much you love my friends. I love how much you love my dog.

I love how much you love me is nice, but it's not a promise. If anything, it puts pressure on them. I'm going to need you to keep loving my friends, my dog and me. I want my, my wife to think I'm attractive. I want her to think I'm fun to be around, but at our wedding, I want her to promise to stay with me when I'm unattractive and no fun to be around. That's what I want.

I want her to look a lot more like Christ who sacrifices for the sake of love. Then I appreciate what benefits I get. Now we certainly should appreciate that. That's a part of relationships. I get that. But what I'm saying is there's this idea that this is the good stuff and this isn't, but this is where Christ went and it's where he invites us to go because it's actually the good stuff.

There's actually joy here. There's actually freedom here. There's actually delight here and Christ is there. So in the sacrifice, we get more Christ because we need more Christ in suffering. We get more Christ because we need more Christ in generosity. We get more Christ because we need more Christ and he's actually what is good.

That's what he's saying. That's the big picture. Then he says this, we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. That ought to be what this looks like. Jesus refers to it at one point as a city on a hill, that it ought to be beautiful to behold, that it ought to be warming and welcoming and joyful, that people ought to come and be around the church for a while and go, oh my goodness, I have to have that. That's one of the reasons why we invite people who are not believers to join community groups.

If you're not a believer, we want you to join a community group. And yes, this is a terrible, terrible trick because if you join a community group and you stick around one for a while and you see what real Christians look like in life and you begin to see how they love each other and how they love you, we're convinced that you'll see how Jesus loves you and you'll begin to love Jesus. And we want Jesus for you because he's wonderful. But that's what it's supposed to be like. It's supposed to be this beautiful thing that draws you in, that we're to love one another. There's supposed to be grace and sacrifice and generosity flowing out all across the board all the time where everybody shows up thinking, I'm here for your good.

And when you do that, you're free and there's delight and there's joy and there's love and it makes everything better. I've said this all the time and I'm convinced of it. If you want to be miserable, think everything's about you. Show up right now and ask, how much do I like this? How much do I appreciate this? How much do I wish things were like that?

And you'll just be miserable. If you show up thinking, I'm here to serve, guess what? You'll have a lot of opportunity for it and you'll be free and there'll be a lot of joy. We're supposed to be marked by this. John was marked by this. The night before Jesus, the night Jesus was betrayed, the night before he dies, he gets his disciples together and he says, the world's going to know that you belong to me by the way you love one another.

And he says, no man has a greater love than this, than that he lay down his life for his friends. And the next day, the disciple John, at a very young age, stands at the foot of the cross, watching his friend die. Not understanding fully why this had to happen, not understanding fully what was going on, but knowing that a man that had magnificent power and strengths, that he understood to be God in the flesh, was willingly laying down his life and dying and that he was intentionally doing this. John sees him rise from the grave. And John says, that's us forever. That's what we were born out of.

That's who we are. That's the blood that pumps through our veins is sacrifice and suffering and generosity for the good of others and the glory of Christ. That's what John calls us to. So he gives us this big picture and he says, we're either going to be in this posture, our heart's going to be bent towards wanting from others, taking from others, towards exalting self, or our heart's going to be bent towards sacrifice and selflessness. So he gives us a test.

But verse 17, if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him? This just got real tangible. Takes this big picture that we ought to be selfless, that we ought to love one another, that we ought to be laying down our lives for others. And then you say, okay, yeah, I'll lay down my life for others. And he says, okay, hand over your stuff. And it's like, I thought you said life, not stuff.

It makes it real tangible, real fast. He says, we ought to look like Christ. And you're like, yes, we ought to look like Christ. Hallelujah. Hand me your wallet. What?

For, for, no. What? This is a trick. He says, no, this is an indication of where your heart is. Do you have stuff and see someone who needs that stuff? Do you keep that stuff?

That's the thing about stuff. It's the thing about money. It's the thing about tangible items. If you have it, I don't have it. If you eat the last cookie, I don't eat the last cookie. Because you ate it.

I wanted that cookie. That's how that works. If I, if you need $200 and I have $200 and I give you $200, that $200 does not pay my electrical bill. Or let me go to that concert I've been saving up for. Let me go eat at Ruth's Chris. Or Cracker Barrel eight times.

Or Taco Bell 150 times. I think I covered all of, all of us here now. Made it really, made you really feel it. That's the reality of if we have the things and we give away the things, we sacrifice. We don't have it anymore. We, we suffer because it was taken out of us.

Have you noticed that? That's one of the things they teach you in sales is a hand of the person, the item that you're selling because when they touch it, it becomes theirs. I sold swimming pools. If by the end of the night I had you hugging the item I had handed you, I was selling you a swimming pool. If I handed you stuff and you just put it in your lap, oh buddy, there was a pool in your backyard because it became yours. You ever seen somebody hurt some of your stuff and you felt it?

Invite kids over to your house. You'll see what I'm talking about. You'll watch them start doing something and you'll feel it in your body while they do a thing to a wall. It's like, and if they're your kids, you can respond appropriately. If they're not your kids, you have to look at their parents. Like, are you going to hit them?

But you can feel it. That's why he takes that here. He says, do we love people? Let me ask you a question. Do you give stuff away? Does all your money go to you?

You ever see somebody needing the thing and you just gave them the thing? Do you have a spot in your closet where your favorite coat used to be? Do you have fewer shoes because somebody else has more shoes? Do you not do a thing every month so that someone else can have something like electricity every month? He says, that's how you know if you love. If we can see that someone needs something and we have that something and we can talk ourselves out of giving them that something, he says something really scary.

He says, if you can close the door on your heart like that, I'm not sure Christ is inside there. So he says, let's paraphrase. Yet closes his heart against him. How does God's love abide in him? This idea that the love of God is flowing out from your heart and if you close the doors, it bursts the doors back open. But if you can close the doors and they stay closed, he just says, the love of God's like the Kool-Aid man.

It's coming through. And so if you can just turn that off and keep it off, I don't know if you know Jesus. I don't know if you've been overwhelmed by the love that he has for you because that's what overwhelms us. It's what pours through us. This love that doesn't end. This love that captures us.

This love that saves us. This love that redeems us. This love that flows. And so he says, when you see someone needs, you just think, this is my moment. This is the type of person I am because this is what Christ came to do for me and I get to do it for you. That's what Jesus says in the Sermon on the Mount.

He says, we're supposed to give to the ungrateful. We're supposed to give to our enemies. This idea that we're just supposed to give. They don't deserve it. Yes. Absolutely.

Isn't that why you became a Christian? Didn't you run headlong to Christ because you didn't deserve it? Isn't that what overwhelmed your soul? He says this, little children, let us not love in word or in talk, but in deed and in truth. Don't just tell people you love them. Don't just show up and sing about it.

Let's do it. My wife and I got to go to stay in a little mountain cabin thing for just a couple of days. It was Airbnb. We had a good time because our children weren't there. I love my kids, but this was nice. And we got to stay there for a couple of days and we were riding down to go try to find some food in the evening.

We rode over and we saw, it was beautiful. It's like nestled in the mountains. It was glowing. It looked like something out of like Disney World magic. Like it seemed almost fake. The city just glowing and we were heading down towards it and it was like, this is, look at this.

And when we got closer, it was a paper mill. It was a lot closer than we thought. It glistened beautifully, but you got close and it was like smoke and pipes and all the things that were little twinkling lights were just so that I guess people wouldn't like run into them or whatever. And it smelled like a paper mill. We're supposed to be a city on a hill that gets more and more beautiful and sweet and delightful the closer you get. Not that seems neat on the outside and the further you get in, the faker it becomes.

That's why he says, let's not love and word and talk. Let's not seem good. Let's not have and have nothing. Let's actually have the good stuff. Let's love and deed and truth.

You actually don't have to talk about it at all. Jesus says, it's better if you don't. Let's just do this stuff. Let's just look like we belong to the king of the universe who gave up everything so that we could belong to him. Let's look like people who were purchased by blood so money doesn't mean anything.

If you've been purchased by the blood of God, green things with Uncle Sam on them just doesn't matter as much. If we can rest in Christ and delight in Christ then the world's goods are just the world's goods. We're going to spend a couple of weeks just looking at this and talking about this and we want this to be who we are and how we practice all the time but we're going to pick one thing to do together right now. So we said John says is there some brothers who have a need? That's a good thing for Christians to jump in on and you may actually know of that. You may have that in your group.

You may have that around you where you say this is a Christian brother that have a need. It's Christmas time. I'm going to help but the reality is that should happen in January and February and March. It should be a hey these people around me they have needs. I have this stuff. Let's go.

And just constantly joyously looking like Christians but we're coming together for gift series to practically apply this in one specific way. So we just said do we know some Christians around us that have a need and anything that fits those categories a brother with a need works. We heard Raz Bradley brought this to our attention because he's on the board at Bethel Christian Camp and he said this is a little weird he said because I'm on the board there and we just said no it's not because all the things we've ever done have been with people that we've known that we knew about that's how this works and this one specifically is who's around who's a brother that you see and need do you see the need so Bethel Christian Camp is a camp in Gaston it's named Bethel and it's a Christian camp they do a lot of during the summer they do a lot of stuff with underserved children most of the children that come are on some form of a scholarship they have a couple of weeks during the summer where all the kids are on scholarship they run a really tight budget so that they can be very generous their director retired program director retired and they're hiring a new one and this new program director this is him and his wife Jason and Christine Arrington they're taking a pay cut moving from Virginia they're moving out of a nicer home into a smaller home they're taking a bigger budget making it a smaller budget so that they can be a part of what's happening and to join and serve and we found out that they were things are tight but they're trying to renovate this home a little bit Bethel is and so we just said hey if it serves them well as they serve y'all well and serve these kids well we want to help renovate that home we want to help make that a little nicer these are their four children and they're moving down with them in the background you can kind of see the home where I think they're coming from and then this is the one they're moving into and so we're going to go in as they try to renovate some of that and we're going to just help because they need some of the world's goods and we have some of the world's goods and we're the type of people because we belong to Christ who give things up so that other people can have them because Jesus gave stuff up so that we can have him and that's just how we act so we're going to practice this specifically together now we asked Jarl who's kind of head of things over there to send us some information what he sent us was a four minute video that explains a little bit of the heart behind Bethel and introduces us to the Arringtons and tells us a little bit about what they're going to do so we're going to watch that it's four minutes then I'm going to come up and say a few more things and that's it that's our gift project this year so we'll watch this hello Mill City my name is Jarl Hill some of you might know me as the director at Bethel Christian Camp some of you might know me as Isaac's dad and some of you might know me as Scott and Kit's son but most important of all is that I'm a child of God I'm a follower of Jesus Christ you see I think that who we think we are who we really believe that we are is vitally important it forms everything that we do we all know the story of how our great great great grandparents Adam and Eve were created by God and given a beautiful kingdom in which to live but that they decided to snub God because they thought they knew better and that's

Adopted for Glory (1 John 2:28-3:10)

Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet this week.

Adopted for Glory

Spencer Cary

Download

Transcript

Good morning. My name is Spencer. I am one of the pastors here. So we care about knowing more of Christ. And one of the things, one of the language you use is spiritual formation, that we would grow to be more like Christ. We have, when you walk out that door over there, a bookcase.

It's called our Spiritual Formation Bookcase. All right, we just made this and it's got some resources in it. It's got a link to our virtual bookstore, which has some recommended reading on it. It's got some stuff for care and counseling. It's got some stuff for Roadmap, which is our kind of guide to home family discipleship. Just wanted to highlight one of the resources we have over there.

This is 10 Questions Every Teen Should Ask and Answer About Christianity. This is on the side where there's family discipleship. If you have teenagers, it's a really good resource. All right, if you have teenagers, as parents, both of you can read this together. It's helpful. We have some display copies that are over there, but you also can go online and purchase this.

But just wanted to point that out over there for you all to check that out. We'll continually rotate books over there because we want to be people that know more of Christ. And one of the ways that we pursue Him is through word and prayer and then looking at godly authors who have written things that we think are really helpful for our souls. We're going to be in 1 John today, chapter 2, verse 28, all the way through chapter 3, verse 10. So you can go ahead and turn there in your Bibles.

It's on page 592 in your Blue Bibles. You can also follow along on the screen with us. So I want to jump to the end of this passage because I want it to frame up where we are going today. So starting off in verse 10 of chapter 3, it says, This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are. Anyone who does not do what is right is not God's child, nor is anyone who does not love their brother and sister. So it's another week in 1 John, another heavy passage that is a lot to work through.

And he comes out swinging here, differentiating that there are two categorical different groups of people. There are the children of God and the children of the devil. Now, if that's true, if the Bible speaks truthfully and authoritatively, and we as a church, we believe that. If this is true, then understanding where you land in that is one of the most important things you could ever possibly want to understand. It is incredibly important for us to understand this passage and what he is getting at. Like much of 1 John, he is really showing some identifying markers of what it means to be a Christian, and specifically today, what it means to be a child of God.

It's one of the main reasons we exist as a church, is to understand this, to understand what it means to be a child of God and all the benefits that come with that. We believe that being a child of God, being in the family of God, is better than everything else. So we want to know what this looks like. We want to see the unbelievable love and grace and mercy and joy and attainable peace that comes with being a child of God, pitted against what he shows here is belonging to the devil, which is a road that is lined with a lot of self-inflicting pain on a collision course with destruction. So, like much of 1 John, the text is heavy.

And in the midst of this, I don't want us to miss, as we self-reflect, as we look at some of the observations that he's going to make about these two different groups of people, as we look at this, I don't want us to just see what it is saying as a set of observations without missing that in the middle of all of this is an invitation. And it is an invitation into being in the family of God. And that invitation is sweet and it is good and it really is better than everything else. We believe that wholeheartedly. So I don't want us to miss that as we walk through this.

So let me pray as we prepare for this and then we will walk through this together. Lord, we love you. We thank you for your word. Even when it is hard to absorb, it is true and it is good. Lord, I pray that we would put down defenses that we have against this. I pray that we would be present.

You would speak to us. By the power of the Holy Spirit, we would respond. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. All right, so let's start off in verse 28.

It says, And now, dear children, continue in him so that when he appears, we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming. All right, so we've seen this over and over again in 1 John. He has this dear children, this dear friends kind of language. Remember, he is writing this letter to different churches. And John, being an apostle, has been a father to many of these Christians. A father in the faith.

And it's a term of affection. He says, dear children. He charges them, continue in him. This is continue in the faith. So that when he returns, he may stand confident and unashamed.

So the language there, and some of the language we're going to see today, is forward looking. This is when he returns. We take a step back from this. This is when Jesus comes. This is the second coming. When he comes to make all things new.

When he Judges heavens and the earth. When he Judges everything. And he establishes his kingdom. When all of this happens. When judgment day comes. He says, I'm writing you to stand firm in this.

So that you might stand firm in the confidence that Jesus provides. When I was in high school. No, I've mentioned this a few times. When I was in high school, I was a late bloomer. Did not hit my growth spurt until junior, senior year. So I was five foot tall coming into high school.

A hundred pounds. But, was feisty. Like, I didn't take anything off anybody. No matter how. You could outweigh me by a hundred pounds. And eight or nine inches.

I wasn't going to take anything off anyone. So that, I had a mighty mouse kind of heart. No way shows up today in any form or fashion. But, I had this position. But I also had a brain.

And I knew that if I ever got into something that was real. That being a hundred pounds less than somebody. Was not sufficient. For any type of defense. So I knew.

The people I rolled with. Was of great importance. And they were bigger. One of them. His dad owned a karate studio. So he knew karate.

Like, we'd spar with him. Throw punches at him. And he'd just deflect everything. That was huge. I knew that if we ever got into anything. I had guys that would back me up.

I could stand confident. That this is the picture that we're giving here. That when Christ is for us. We stand confident and unashamed. Confident. Because Jesus destroyed the power of death of the resurrection.

Unashamed. Because Jesus, when he went to the cross. He bore our sin and our shame. So on judgment day. We can point back to the work of Christ. And say, that's what my sin was paid for.

This eternal life that I'm entering into. Was conquered at the resurrection. I stand confident because Christ has my back. That's what he's saying. Stand confident. When that day comes.

This is where you stand. In the confidence that Christ offers. And then he continues in verse 29. He says, If you know that he is righteous. And that everyone who does what is right has been born of him. Since we're going to start to see as we work through this passage.

This differentiating. What the people of God look like. What the family of God looks like. Versus what sons and daughters of disobedience. Sons and daughters of the evil one look like. Now.

When you do a first reading of this. There's some tension. Within us. Because we bang the anthem of the Bible. That says that you are saved by grace through faith. It's not of your works.

If you've been in this church long enough. You've heard that over and over again. That we don't earn the favor of God through our good works. It is by faith. It's by grace. Like we will beat that drum.

Because the Bible beats that drum. And when you come upon a passage like this. It's like, wait a second. What? You've got to read it slowly. You've got to read it carefully.

Because what he is saying here. Is that everyone who does what is right. Has been born of him. Meaning. That faith. Proceeds action.

That being born of him. Proceeds. Doing. What is right. We can't miss. That order.

But that's what distinguishes being a child of God. You were born into the family of. God. Through faith in Jesus. And then what follows. Is right.

Action. Now. He's going to keep doing this. All right. We're shifting in chapter three now. He's going to keep doing this.

But he. For one verse. He needs to just pause and celebrate this good news. We saw this a little bit in chapter two. Chet spent a whole week on this. Where he's just.

Celebrating. The gospel. He does it right here in. Verse one of chapter three. He says. See what great love the father has.

Lavished on us. That we should be called. Children of God. God. And that is what we are. He's got exclamation points there for a reason.

I mean. He is. He can't. He can't help himself. This. This is what it means to be a child of God.

Now. This is what we're sitting in. Is the doctrine of adoption. Okay. The. The.

The. The first John teaches that the gospel of John teaches that we see in Ephesians to this idea that we are born into. Sin. That we are once sons and daughters of disobedience. Sort of Ephesians to the language of Ephesians to. But what happens is God and his rich mercy and his grace.

He rescues us and brings us into the family of God. By his love. By his grace. By his mercy. That we can choose to rebel against him. We can choose what is not good for us in this world.

But by his love he rescues us and brings us into the family of God. Scott Hill has been teaching in Sunday school. The book Gentle and Lowly. He's almost done with it. So many good quotes come from that book.

It's a brilliant work. That helps us understand the character of Jesus. I love what Dana Ortlund says. He says. That God is rich in mercy. Means that your regions of deepest shame and regret are not hotels.

Through which divine mercy passes. But homes in which divine mercy abides. You catch that? Like the areas of your life that you have so much regret over. The areas of our sinful nature. That grieve us the most.

Understanding the mercy of God. Is that it's not a hotel stay. And it has come in for a night or two or three. That it is a home that he abides in. He sets up shop in. And his mercy goes nowhere.

It is with us. He goes on to say. It means that the things about you that make you cringe the most. Make him hug the hardest. How good is that? The things that we don't want to look at.

The things that we are ashamed of. The things that make us cringe the most. Make God hug the hardest. He comes in and just hugs us. And says. I see it all.

And I still redeemed you. And I'm with you. And I'm for you. And he goes on to say. It means our haunting shame is not a problem for him. But the very thing he loves most to work with.

It means our sins do not cause his love to take a hit. Our sins cause his love to surge for all the more. All the sin. All the shame. All the brokenness. All the hurt.

His love surges forward all the more. And John just has to stop and celebrate that. That we are as children of God. Who he loves us because he loves us. Because he loves us. Because of his rich love and mercy.

Don't miss that. And then he continues with this difficult teaching. Picking up in the rest of verse 1. He says. The reason the world does not know us. Is that it did not know him.

Dear friends. Now we are the children of God. And what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears. We shall be like him. For we shall see him as he is.

All have this hope in him. Purify themselves. Just as he is pure. Everyone who sins breaks the law. In fact sin is lawlessness. And this is where I get into the nitty gritty.

Of what it means to be the children of God. And what he is going on to say. Is children of the devil. Two groups. Two distinguishing markers. And two end results.

That is the picture he is drawing. He is forward looking in this. When he says. We shall be like him. That we shall see him as he is. That is forward looking.

That is new heavens. New earth. That is the future resurrection. That we will be like him. We don't have categories of thought. What this is like.

But one day when all things are made new. We have a body that has no more sin. No more hurt. No more pain. That is a distant memory. And the picture there is purity.

Pure. Perfected. In. Cells. He says. That is what awaits us.

In the meantime. As we are preparing. For the glory that awaits us. He says. We purify ourselves. That we.

This is the language of repentance. That we are. Believing the gospel. We are preparing for that. That awaits us. Last weekend.

My wife and I got some really. Really good news. My brother-in-law called. And he said. Listen. Our family.

We get points to Disney World every year. They are Disney resorts. We had a plan. A vacation scheduled. December 12th. The 19th.

None of us can go. You want it? And I said. Absolutely. Yes. We have been saving for three years.

To go to Disney World. So we just. We have a trip. That was planned two years out. And we just. We moved it up.

So. Something you need to know. Actually. A couple of things you need to know. First. This is a surprise to my children.

Okay. So don't go run and tell them. That. Are you excited about Disney World? Because my wife. Will murder you.

Okay. The reason why. She will murder you. Is the second thing you need to know. My wife is a Disney. Believer.

She. Believes. In the magic. Of Disney. She grew up going there. Multiple times.

She's seen all the movies. Like. She. Believes. In the magic. She's all in on Disney.

And. I. Am not. I. I love. There's certain Pixar movies.

That are. I think are top notch. Up. It's like one of my. It's my top ten. Of all.

Movies. I got. I. There's certain things I love about Disney. The Marvel movies. They did a good job with that.

But. I really don't like the company. I just personally don't like the company. They bought ESPN. And they ruined ESPN. And I've always been upset about that.

Like. They just do things. Like. I just. I'm not. I'm not a fan of the company.

I don't believe in the magic. So. Right now. We're getting ready for Disney World. Last night. My wife brings a bag.

And she's like. Look. And she's got t-shirts made. Right. She's got t-shirts. Like.

It's. You know. I'm wearing t-shirts. The kids are wearing t-shirts. We're all wearing t-shirts. We're.

We're watching Disney movies. We are gearing up for the magic of Disney World. We're in this. Period. Like. I came home.

Last weekend. And. She's on a FaceTime call with her sister and her mom. And they. They. They know that I've got problems with Disney.

And they had a statement prepared. They were like. You will not ruin this for your children. You will. Believe in the magic. Like.

This will be your Disney healing experience. Because. I just like. Okay. Like. Listen.

I can put on. I'm not going to. I'm not going to ruin this for my kids. Like. I'm not going to go. And say.

Oh. You see. Winnie the Pooh. You see. I was wearing red. Commie.

Like. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not doing that. Like. I'm going to do what all dads do at Disney World.

And I'm just going to. You know. Put on a smile. And work through it all. And. You know.

Complain about the price of parking and food. Like. I'll do what every dad does. Like. I just chill out. Like.

But. There's a different. There's a difference in approach there. She's all in. She's all in. I'm like.

Yeah. This will be good. Good memories. Two of my children will not remember this. In the future. But.

It'll be good. Memories. Like. I'm. I'm. I'm for.

This. But. I'm not all in. There's a difference there. Listen. As Christians.

We are in. The period. Of preparation. Like. We are preparing. For an endless.

Amount of joy. We're. Preparing for. An eternity. With God. That is beautiful.

That is good. That is joyous. We believe them. But if you don't believe that. You're like. Eh.

You're not bought in. When he tells. When he says. Purify themselves. You're like. No.

I don't. No. Sin. Repent. No. You can even say.

That you're a Christian. But you just kind of go through the motions. Like. I'm going to do a dizzy world. It's like. Yeah.

Put on a face. Look nice on Sunday. In a group. But I actually. Like. Believe this.

Wholeheartedly. In a way that. If that's what awaits me. I'm in. And what. And I.

And I. I get a taste of that now. Through. Leading into the gospel. And believing that. Through repentance.

I get a piece of that now. I'm in. There's a difference. In approach. Between the children of God. And the children.

Of disobedience. That's hugely important. For us to understand. As we read these next few verses. He says in verse. Five.

But you know. That he appeared. So that. He might take away. Our sins. And in him.

Is no sin. No one who lives in him. Keeps on sinning. No one. Who continues to sin. Has either seen him.

Or known him. Catch that first part. He says. If you are a child of God. You. You know.

That he appears. They might take away. Your sins. Like you. Know this. Like you.

Believe this. Wholeheartedly. What that means is. Is that you. Understand that. And you have faith.

Like you. You understand. The cost. That it took. Like that. The literal picture there.

Is you understood the cost. Of what it means to follow Jesus. It cost the blood of God. It cost our murdered savior. On a cross. And if you get that.

If you believe that. If you understand. That cost. You will. Act. Accordingly.

Like that. That's. If you. Gave me. If one of you. Gave me.

An Aston Martin. Vanquish S. Which. Christmas list. You guys. If one of you.

Gave that to me. I understand. The cost. That's one of the most beautiful. Vehicles. That has been made.

In the last 20 years. Like I. Get that. Right. We bring that home. We have one parking spot.

In our garage. That my wife can drive. The swagger wagon into. I'm like. Listen. That's got to go.

The Aston Martin. Is on the inside now. Like when I go. To Walmart. I'm parking. In the back of the parking lot.

Not near anybody. You know what. I'm not going to Walmart. At all in that. Like I. Understand.

The cost. Of that. Gift. I act. Accordingly. When you've been.

Gifted. Jesus. In faith in him. By his. You get. You understand.

The cost. And it changes. The way you approach life. You take sin. Seriously. So he says.

Okay. But he says. No one who lives in him. Keeps on sinning. No one. Continues to sin.

And we touched on this a little bit. In week one. Thank you. Go in a weird direction. At that. If you want to just.

Post up in that. And take it. Out of context. Some people will say like that. Okay. Well that just means that one day you arrive.

At a state of sinlessness. At a state of Christian perfection. And it's just like. No. First off. The rest of the Bible.

Second off. No. Look at it. Read it. It says. Keeps on sinning.

Continues to sin. It's talking about a hard approach. That continues to go after this. I mean goodness. It's not like. John forgot the first two chapters.

In 1a. He says. If we say. We have no sin. We deceive ourselves. In 1.

In 1a. He says. If we say we have not sinned. We make him a liar. In 2a. He says.

I'm writing you these things. That you may not sin. But if anyone does sin. We have an advocate. With the father. Like he.

He understands. That we're broken. That we're sinful. But there's a difference. In your approach. In your trajectory.

In life. It is one that understands. The cost of sin. And does not continue. As. As.

As. As Paul says in Romans 6. 1. Should we continue in sin. That grace may abound. By no means.

Absolutely not. We. We get this. We understand the cost. And because of that. The approach of life.

The trajectory of life. Is one that repents of sin. Does not continue. And does not keep on. Sinning. So.

Goes to this. Then it gets into. Verse 7. Dear children. Not let anyone. Lead you astray.

Which we've talked about. In 1st John. That there are. Must have been people. In the. Just from the context.

You can look at. There are people. In the churches. At these times. That are stirring up. False teaching.

But it looks like here. As well. They're stirring up. Really wrong. Practice. There's some type of.

Stirring up. There's some kind of. Some lawlessness. Some sinfulness. That's just. Making its way.

Through the church. And he is saying. Don't let anyone. Lead you. Astray. The one who does.

What is right. Is righteous. Just as he is righteous. One who is not. The one who does. What is sinful.

Is of the devil. Because the devil. Has been sinning. From the beginning. The reason. The son of God.

Appeal. Was destroyed. The devil's work. No one who is born of God. Will continue to sin. Because.

God's seed. Remains in them. They cannot go on. Sinning. Because. They have been born.

Of God. He. He understands. What's happening. In these churches. And he just addresses it.

In some very black. And white. Length. He says. If you have been born of God. Okay.

That is. New birth. In Christ. That is. The seed of faith. The seed language.

The seed of faith. The Holy Spirit. Seals you. When. That. Happens.

Belief. Proceeds. Change. And the change. That comes out of that. Is one.

That takes. Sin. Seriously. It's the recognition. That. That if you're.

Dealing. And sin. You're dealing. And. I mean. The language.

Destroy the devil's work. Because if you get that. If you came. That's what. Jesus came to do. Is destroy the work.

Of the enemy. Why would we engage. In the things. Of the enemy. Why would we. Go back to that.

When he. Regenerates you. You actually. Change. Change. There's this deep.

Recognition. That has to happen. Here. The one. Who does. What is wrong.

Is of the devil. And it's this. And it's not. It's not. It's not. It's simple.

Just sins. And makes mistakes. But it's a. Pattern of. Not. Repenting of sin.

But one. That goes hard. After the things. Of this world. Is when you are. Sinning.

You're engaging. In this work. You're engaging. In the work. Of. The enemy.

He's been doing this. Since the beginning. In the garden. And if you do this. You're going back to. Or you're joining in.

With. His team. Now. That's difficult to receive. On multiple levels. First off.

It. It's. It seems intense. That you would ever. That anyone would ever be called. A child of Satan.

Like that just. I'm just going to be honest. Like that. That's a hard thing. To even read. That's a hard thing.

To receive. You probably have. Super negative connotations. Of self-righteous people. In the past. Who've thrown out.

Child of the devil. And child of Satan. That's just hard. To read. And absorb. And it's also hard.

To absorb this. Because we have. Habitual sin. We have habits. Of sin. In our life.

We all. Are messy. Sinners. In need of grace. We have habitual sin. And when you.

Read something. As blunt. As this. I mean. It sends you. To this Christian.

Existential crisis. That's like. Do I even believe this? Like. Am I even a child of God? Do I.

Do I. Get this? It's hard to receive. But. We need to receive. And understand.

What he is saying. And we need to see. The warning in it. When it. This. There should.

Be. Self-reflection. As we. Approach this. That if our lifestyle. He used language earlier.

Of lawlessness. And that's really. A. A spirit. Of lawlessness. That just.

Lack of restraint. From. The work of Christ. In your life. That there's this. Lawlessness.

There's this. Pattern of. Pursuing sin. Like. We. You need to.

Evaluate. Whether you believe. The gospel. Or not. And there's all kinds of examples. We've seen in first John.

We're going to continue to see in first John. For the one who. Claims to follow Christ. But is. Cold hearted. Towards.

Others. For the one who claims. To follow Christ. But there are. Hidden. Patterns.

Of. Sin. That we're not bringing. To the light. We saw that in first John one. For those.

Who claim to follow Christ. But look at teachings in the Bible. And say nope. I don't agree with that. Nope. Nope.

Nope. For those who follow Christ. As we're going to see. And we see in verse 10. And we're going to see. Throughout the rest of first John.

Have a lifestyle. Of not loving their brothers and sisters. Which there's all kinds of stuff. Bound up in that. There are those. That say.

Yeah. I'm a. I'm a. I'm a Christian. But I'm.

I don't like the church. I love Jesus. But not the church. And it's like. Yeah. I don't think you love Jesus.

Because if you understood. The gift of the church. How much he cares about the church. You wouldn't speak about the church. Like that. That's.

For those who are cold hearted. Towards Christians. That's those. Very practically. We're going to see. In the very next.

Passage. That close their wallets. Towards Christians. In need. If you. Have.

This. Lifestyle. Of pursuing sin. Of closing your heart. To those in need. You really should assess.

Where you are. Who you belong to. And the trajectory of your life. And where it's going. That reality. Should weigh upon us.

First John is very. Blunt here. If you. Have this. Pattern. Then you.

May very well be a child. Of the devil. You don't belong to him. And that. Listen. Difficult.

Observations. To absorb. Difficult. Teachings. To absorb. At times.

It's like. The sinful part of me. Is like. I'd rather just not. Touch certain passages. And go elsewhere.

There's a reason why we preach. Through books of the Bible. So we don't avoid the hard stuff. But don't miss. The. In the.

Difficulty. Of those observations. Is an invitation. Like it's not. Not just saying those things. And I got.

Bye. Like no. He is. Extending. An invitation. That invitation.

Is faith in Jesus. And entering into the family. Of God. Like God is. If you are here this morning. It's not by accident.

That God loves you. Deeply. He loves you so much. That he sent. Jesus. His son.

To be. Crucified. For you. So that you would experience. The endless joy of Christ. For eternity.

He loves you. Immensely. And wants you. Don't miss that. There's an invitation. Into.

The family. Of God. And it is good. Don't pass it up. Verse 10. We'll close it out.

He says. This is how we know. Who the children of God are. And who the children. Of the devil are. Anyone who does not do.

What is right. Is not God's child. Nor is anyone. Who does not love. Their brother. And sister.

Two groups. The children of God. Children of the devil. And the invitation is there. One of my professors. In seminary.

He had. They had three children. The old fashioned way. And they adopted. Six. Other kids.

They had nine kids. All together. So they had tons of time. On their hands. They. Those adoptions.

Were not. Sometimes you hear adoption stories. Like this. Those are group adoptions. Basically like four or five kids. At once.

These were all. Individual adoption stories. And. He told one story in particular. He. Someone connected him.

To a family. In Virginia. And. So he. Went to. Virginia.

There's. They're getting all the paperwork. Together. Together. And this. You know.

A lot of times. Generalizing. This is not. All situations. But a lot of these.

These situations. There's drugs involved. Or there's immense poverty. There's lots of reasons. That are in this. This is not one of them.

The dad was an FBI agent. This was a. Middle class family. They. There's no drugs. Problems involved.

They just didn't want their son. He's five years old. They didn't want him. I can't. Wrap my mind around it. They didn't want him.

So he. They do the paperwork. They get everything together. And he goes and visits. The child and the family. At his home.

And he sees. The boy. And he's. You know. He's five. But he didn't look five.

Which that's years of neglect. And not nourishment. They go up to his bedroom. He's still sleeping in a crib. At five years old. I mean just.

Immense neglect. And this family. Signs over. Writes their kids. And. They head on back to Kentucky.

And he said. The ride home. Was one of. It was. It was. Wow.

Because. They try to prepare you for. That when. When you're. A lot of these situations. Like.

Listen. These kids. Have attachments. Even bad parents. They're still parents. So they prepare you for.

Listen. Like. You know. This may take months. Years. There may be.

All kinds of things. You'd be ready for. That they might not just jump into. Your family. Like. It's just going to take.

Some time. This kid was not that. When that kid got in the car. He's like. Deuces. And just.

Left. Because he just started. Asking questions. He said. Hey. Alright.

So I'm a Stinson boy now. Right. His name is Stinson. Dr. Stinson. Yeah.

I'm a Stinson boy. Right. Okay. What are we like? What is Stinson boys like? He was like.

He's driving. He's like. What in the world? It's not his first adoption. He's like. Well.

We love baseball. He said. Baseball. I love baseball. I'm all. I'm all in on baseball.

I'm all in on baseball. I'm a Stinson boy now. And he did this. The ride back home. He's just investigating. What it means to be a Stinson boy.

And this kid. Is all in on that. Here's the deal. God. The father. The father.

Comes to us. In a neglected state. What we're born into. Isn't good. What we pursue outside of Christ. Isn't good.

He's. The enemy's not a good father. There's nothing good about that life. And he. He rescues us. And brings us into the family of God.

And we get to. Look at that. And say. Deuces. Come to the family of God. And say.

I want that. I'm in. I'm a Christian now. What does that mean? Tell me. What does it mean to be a Christian?

What. What. What is it? We. What do we do? We.

You got a book. A book about you. A book about. I'm in. I'm reading that. There.

We. Bear fruit. You talking about apples. Bananas. Spiritual fruit. Don't know what that is.

But I'm all in on that. Repenting of sin. Tell me what it is. We sing songs. We got our own albums. Let's do this.

Like we. Jump into. The family of God. And say. This. Is.

Is. Better. I want him. I don't want what I was. Saved from. I want the family that I was brought into.

God the father looks at us. And says. I. Want you. When you come into my. Family.

You will experience the endless. Joy. Of Christ. From the moment of rebirth. Into eternity. The invitation is there.

My hope is that we have the honesty. To reflect in our own hearts. And we accept the invitation. Matt's going to come up. And we're going to prepare for. The Lord's Supper.

And take communion together. This is a. A meal. For the family. Of God. And what that means for us.

As Christians. Is that we're real. We're real. Honest. About our brokenness. And our sin.

We don't shy away from that. We don't feel shame. Because that's been. Paid for at the cross. But we come to this meal.

As a meal of remembrance. That on the night. That Jesus was betrayed. He took bread. And he broke it. And he said.

This is my body. That was broken for you. That he took. The cup. That was the. Cup of the new covenant.

He said. This is my blood. That was shed for you. That as often as you eat. And drink this. You proclaim my death.

Until I return. So this is a meal of tension. We look back. To what Jesus has done. But we also look forward.

Until he returns. So take a moment.

Stand Firm (1 John 2:18-27)

Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet this week.

Stand Firm

Chet Phillips

Download

Transcript

My name is Chet. I'm one of the pastors here. Excited to be with y'all this morning. We are celebrating that we officially joined together two congregations two years ago. In that time, we have seen some really cool things. We've had a lot happen in two years.

We met for about 10 weeks, and then there was a pandemic, and so we stopped meeting. And so some of what we had planned to originally, you know, join together, get to know each other, share meals, become friends. We had to, in order to love each other, stay away from each other. We told our younger congregants who were still living their lives, we said, don't you dare get to know anybody from First Baptist Church of Casey? You disease-harboring sponge? We couldn't be around each other.

We couldn't share meals. We couldn't do anything. We had, though, the Lord kind of kept us together in that, and we walked through that together, and we have grown together in that. There's some handful of things that have happened over the two years that we've been together. We walked through the pandemic together. We went through construction together, and we joined our churches together all in the same year.

We got it out of the way. I mean, we bunched everything together that can be really frustrating in some ways. They're really difficult. We walked through together. We've, in the past two years, we have ten community groups. Nine of those were a part of multiplication.

So either they grew and then multiplied. So we have six new group leaders in the past two years. We saw nine people profess faith in Christ over the past two years. We, at one point, our basement flooded, and it wasn't just water damage. We went down there, and we realized this isn't just water. This is sewage.

So we contacted Casey, and we said, we don't think this is just from the rain. This isn't an act of God. This is an act of Casey. And they contacted us back and said, it actually isn't our fault. It's this company. And we thought, okay, well, they're kind of putting this off.

We're going to try to figure this out. We called that company, and the company said, we don't want to do an insurance claim. Just tell us what it costs, and we'll pay for it. We renovated our basement for zero dollars. Yeah. And isn't that a picture of the gospel?

It's like, there's some mess here. And then he, at zero cost to you, he paid the price and did it for us. The other thing that happened in this was, I remember being frustrated in the middle of the pandemic. I was like, you know, Lord, we prayed. We felt like we were supposed to join our churches together and walked right into a pandemic. And I was just kind of, I was, I was annoyed.

I found the pandemic inconvenient. I don't know if y'all did. And I didn't remember Miss Louise, as we were getting back together, she said she came in one, one day and said that, that the, their group had met and was just talking about how blessed they felt that we had merged when we did, because they didn't know how they'd walk through the pandemic without our congregations being brought together. And I was just like, Oh yeah, I could see that. I see how that would, would have been a very different thing if we'd have been separated. And we'd have been over at Glen Forest trying to figure that out and trying to be in a school and just seeing the Lord's hand, even in the timing that he brought us together.

Cause he, he wasn't caught off guard, but we have been blessed as we decided to come together and celebrate our anniversary today. We were originally planning on coming from a different place and just trying to find something and, and talking as we read through first John, we realized this actually kind of fits. And so we're just going to keep walking through first John. So go to first John chapter two. This in some ways, I think makes sense for where we are today. What we're trying to, the moment that we're trying to celebrate as well as what we've been studying.

So first John chapter two is on page five 92. If you grab one of these blue Bibles that should be tucked under a chair in front of you. Um, we'll also have it on the screen. And so I'm going to pray and then we'll read through this together this morning. God, we thank you for your grace. We thank you for your love towards us.

We thank you for the two years of work that you have done with us as a joined church. And then we pray that you'd bless the many, many more years that we get to serve you until you call us to our eternal home. We love you and we praise you in Jesus name. Amen. We're in verse 18. He says, children, it is the last hour.

And as you have heard that antichrist is coming. So stop there for a second. We thought this text was appropriate for the day. Um, we'll get there as to how, but I just want to highlight, we're having a homecoming anniversary Sunday. We're eating a pig. We just saying when the rolls called up yonder, and now we're talking about antichrist.

If I get more Baptist, we're going to pop like this is about to be good. And those of you who it's your first Sunday, you're like, Oh no, before you bust out your end time, your pocket end time Bible chart with your picture of a dragon on it. That's not where he's going. I don't know what the word antichrist brings to mind. He's going to kind of mention maybe what you think when you hear the word, but he's pushing this in a different direction and he's discussing something different. What he's actually going to call, uh, the church to in this instant is to focus on the reality of the gospel, the hope of the gospel and to stand firm in the gospel because it's the last hour.

That's what he's going to get after. But we've got to take a second to just talk about antichrist and what that means. So he says, you heard that antichrist is coming. Now, most of the time, if you're familiar with the term, you think when you hear the term antichrist, you think of some, uh, future figure that is, uh, at the end of the age, some sort of powerful future figure. Um, and I don't know where you've drawn your theology from on that. Maybe it's from passages in the scripture.

Maybe it's from the movie, the omen. I don't know. Maybe it's from the left behind books, but in the scriptures, the only person who ever uses the term antichrist is John and he only uses it in first John and second John. So most of the time when people think of the antichrist, to think of the book of Revelation, it's never mentioned in the book of Revelation. Um, so it gets connected to some ideas from, from, uh, Daniel chapters nine through 11. It gets connected to some of the things that Jesus says when he's talking about things that are to come in Matthew 24, Mark 13, Luke 21, uh, this, this abomination of desolation, these false prophets that are going to come, it gets connected to some of the things that Pete, that Paul says in first and second Thessalonians, where he talks about the man of lawlessness and it gets connected to the book of Revelation where it talks about the beast, but this idea of some sort of a future figure.

And he says, you've heard that this is coming, but then he says something really interesting. He says, you've heard that antichrist is coming. So now many antichrists have come. Now that messes with some of your working theology of the antichrist. That's not on your pocket chart that there's a bunch of them, but he says, so now many antichrists have come. And this, this term antichrist really just means against Christ, opposed to Christ.

The same way we use, you know, an anti-discrimination lawsuit. It's against discrimination. That's what the, the, the phrase means. So he's just saying, you've heard that this opposition to Christ is coming. And I'm saying it's already come. That's what he's getting after.

I'm saying this has already begun. Yes, there may be some sort of big future figure, but I'm saying that this is already at work. This has already come. And that's what he's going to say in first John chapter four, verse three, we'll get to it later as we continue to study through this, but I thought it was helpful to show here. It says, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming.

And even now is already in the world. So there's this idea of some sort of spiritual opposition to Christ that ultimately may be personified at the end in some sort of a bigger figure, but right now is just at work in the world. And so this means that all opposition to Christ, and he's later going to say all those who don't believe in Christ, those who deny Christ are functioning in an antichrist role. Now, this doesn't mean they're enemies. It just means that in, when, when we're against Christ, we're joining this team. When someone denies Christ, they're joining this team.

Similar to, there's a situation where Jesus and he's talking about going to the cross to one of his disciples, Peter says, far, far be that from you. Like, don't let that, that's not going to be true. That's not going to happen to you. He's giving him a little pep talk. And Jesus looks at him and says, get behind me, Satan. Feels a bit heavy handed.

But the point is that Peter, by a joining in, don't go to the cross, has joined the other team. And so that's some of what he's saying here is that there's a spirit at work that opposes Christ. And there are those who join that team. That's what he's getting at. So don't conflate this, make this some sort of a big, super in time thing, because that's not what he's getting at at all.

He's saying, and he says this, he says, we are in the last hour. It is the last hour. He says that twice. And as many antichrists have come, therefore we know it is the last hour. And that's actually what I think is helpful for us to wrap our minds around today. When John wrote this, we had already entered the period of time where Jesus can return.

We've already entered into the period of time where there is opposition against Christ specifically, not just God the creator, but against Christ and his redemptive work in the world. And therefore they ought to hold fast to Christ, hold fast to the gospel and be active in proclaiming the gospel. And that's where we find ourselves today. That actually is why the First Baptist Church of Casey got started is because we're in the last hour and the gospel needs to move forward and we need to hold onto this hope. And it's why Mill City Church got started is because we're in the last hour. It was a hundred years later, but we're in the last hour and we need to hold firm to the gospel.

It's why we joined together. We thought it was the best thing for us to do as people who are holding onto the gospel and trying to see people come to know Jesus because time is short and we need to hold onto what we have in common and move forward in proclaiming the gospel. That's what he's getting at. So he keeps going. He says, they, now he's referring to the Antichrist with an S, they went out from us, but they were not of us. For if they had been of us, they would have continued with us, but they went out that it might become plain that they all are not of us.

It's a very John sentence. He does this all the time. It's fairly clear if you walk back through it, but it's just like, why do you say this in such a, there's just a lot here. So he says, they, the Antichrist went out from us, but they were not of us. Meaning that those who had been Christians and those who had been leaders, they had some that left and began to stand against Christ, began to preach another gospel, began to say it wasn't in Christ. There was hope somewhere else.

They began to oppose Christ. He says, they went out from us. If they had been of us, they would have continued with us, but they went out that it might become plain that they all are not of us. Meaning if they really belong to Jesus, he'd have kept them. And when they leave and say, I was a Christian, but I'm not anymore. And I actually don't believe that anymore.

And you shouldn't believe that either. He goes, all that is, is just showing that they never really knew him. One of the things we say here all the time is that Jesus is better than everything else. We believe that if you really know that, if you really taste that, if his Holy Spirit really claims you, then you don't, you're in an unpluckable hand, as Jesus says, that there's no getting out of that. There's no walking away from that. But those who say, I've walked away, I was a Christian, but I'm not anymore.

John just says, it actually just means you weren't a Christian. And it's a really simplistic way to see it, but that's, that's our theology on that. That if someone says, hey, I, you know, I was a Christian and I know all that, but I've deconstructed my faith. You're reading this on Instagram, by the way, just so you know, that's what it's saying. I've deconstructed my faith. Or they're doing a little YouTube video teaching you how you too can deconstruct your faith for only $5.99.

They'll give you lessons. That's a thing. It was going to be more expensive than that though. But, uh, this idea that someone who was a believer is now not a believer and they're, they've figured out how to break this all apart. And he just says, no, I just actually, that helps us because once they go out from us, it's just to make it plain that they never actually really belong to Jesus. And sometimes this is very hurtful because there's people, you know, there's people we've walked in life with.

That's what John's saying. They were, they were with us, but they left and they've said they don't believe in Jesus anymore. And it just means they never really did. That's clarifying. Doesn't make it not hurtful, but it is clarifying. He says this in verse 20, he says, but you have been anointed by the Holy one and you all have knowledge.

I write to you not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it and because no lie is of the truth. So he said, I'm not writing to you because I'm worried over you. I'm not writing to you because you might be about to fall apart. He said, I'm writing to you because you know the truth. There's no lie of the truth. And you've been anointed by the Holy one.

This idea of anointing, we read a verse about it where it says the oil runs down on the beard of Aaron. We read that a minute ago. And it's like sweet. Good. Because we do that all the time, right? You pour oil on your head in the morning and it's sweet and nice.

You ever go to, I go to my wife, sometimes I put oil on my beard and say, see how sweet and fragrant this is. The idea of this oil pouring down on the beard of Aaron is this idea of anointing, meaning that God had set him apart. They would pour an anointing oil. They pour this on David at one point. While he's still young, they anoint him as king. He's not king yet, but he's going to be.

It's this promise of what's going to happen. That he's anointed by God. There are times in the story of David where he's in a cave. He's running for his life, but he could lean into, I've been anointed, meaning God's going to keep his promise for me. And that's what he's pointing to here is he says that you actually have a better anointing because it was done by the Holy Spirit. Your anointing seals you and keeps you.

That this anointing isn't up to you, that it's up to him and it's held by him and it's kept by him. So he's writing to the church saying, hey, you've, you've been set apart. You've been anointed. You are kept by the Holy Spirit. So I'm not worried about you.

I'm saying you've really believed in the Holy Spirit has claimed you. You've been anointed. And he says, and you know that no lies of the truth. That's also straightforward. It's simple, but it's very helpful. One of the things we say periodically is we work, we do teaching team together where we work on studying this together as pastors and then we teach through it together.

And then one of the things we talk about is that if you've come up with a new bit of theology, go back to the Bible, you're probably wrong. If you come up with some new, no one else has ever seen this before in this passage. It's like, no, no, no, go back. You're reading it wrong because that's, that's not how this works. We, we're, we're, we're telling the same old story. We've got the same savior.

We've got the same news. And that's some of what he's saying is that you're starting to hear this new stuff, this different stuff. And it's not true. I asked my wife one time, she works at a bank. I said, do they teach you stuff about counterfeit money and like how to tell something's counterfeit or whatever? She said, no.

She said, it just, you just know it's never right. It doesn't feel right. It doesn't look right. It's you, you count money and you, you go, no, we don't have a lot of money, but you can hand my wife a stack of money and tell her what denomination it is. And she'll tell you how much money is in it. She can hold a stack of money and go, is this ones?

And she'll tell you how much is there. That's usually how we test it out of our house with ones. We don't have all about them Washington's baby. But she just said, you can tell, you can, you can feel and tell this isn't, this isn't right. And that's some of what he's saying is that you belong to the church. If you've placed your faith in Jesus, the Holy spirit has anointed you and you know that no lies of the truth.

So when someone comes along and says, well, that's not really how it is. And you don't really have to follow Jesus and you really can do this. And it's more like this. You start going, no, that doesn't feel right. There's something wrong about that. There's something that doesn't sound right about that.

And you get to walk that out in church family and we get to weigh those things out. But he's saying, I have, I have faith, not in you, but in the anointing of the Holy spirit that he'll keep you and you won't be led astray by lies. And then he goes specifically, here's the lie. He's going to go after it. Verse 22, who is the liar, but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ. That is the lie because Jesus is the Christ is the truth.

He's the way, the truth and the life. That's our hope for salvation is the work of Jesus. And so the eternal lie is that you can find hope or salvation or life anywhere, but Jesus. So he says, who's the liar? Anyone who denies that Jesus is the Christ. This is the antichrist.

He who denies the father and the son. Now, again, if your picture of the antichrist is only this future magnificently evil figure, you're missing out on the fact that that is already at work. And so you might be lulled to sleep currently and not taking seriously the reality of the hope we have is in Christ now and the enemy we face is right now. And anything that calls us to love something, to worship something, to follow something, to trust in something that isn't Jesus. That there's opposition already and that we ought to be alert and mindful. He says, this is the antichrist.

He who denies the father and the son. No one who denies the son has the father. Whoever confesses the son has the father also. Here's what this means. When people say all religions are the same, it all leads to the same place. Everybody worships the same God.

Christianity says, no. No. You worship Jesus and you know the father. You don't worship Jesus, you don't know the father. Now, we're told that this is very closed-minded. This is very narrow.

And it is. Jesus also said it was narrow. It's narrow in that the only way is Christ. But that way is open to all. All who will believe will be redeemed. All who will trust in Jesus will be redeemed.

That's the gospel story. That's the good news is that God saw us in our sin, saw us deserving of punishment, and did not give us what we deserve, but that he joined us, that he lived perfectly in our place, that he died. He was tempted as we are. And I heard Scott Hill say this the other day, and it's a good point, that he was actually tempted more than you've ever been tempted. Because at some point, you and I gave in. We don't know the full extent of temptation.

How many licks does it take to get to the center of the Tootsie Pop? I don't know. Three? I don't know. I bit it. That's us.

And Jesus stood fully against temptation and never sinned. If he'd have sinned, he'd have been in the same spot as us. He deserved punishment just like we did. He would be incapable of rescuing us. But he's fully God, fully man, and he never sins so that when he pays the penalty for sin, he's the only one who had credit in his account to do that.

So he swaps places with us, and our hope is in Christ and Christ alone. And if you don't have Christ, you don't have the Father. To deny Christ is to deny the Father because it's Christ who gets us to the Father. And this is good news because sometimes people have in their mind that the picture of God is he's grumpy, and he's angry, and he's disappointed in you. But the Scriptures tell us that Jesus is the image of the invisible God.

And so the way that Jesus interacts with sinners is the way that God chooses to interact with sinners, which is gracious and humble and loving and sacrificially forgiving on behalf of those who don't deserve it. That's good news. And anything else that tells you you're okay without Jesus is a lie. And it may sound nice, and it may sound caring, but if it ultimately leads to your destruction, it is not nice, and it is not caring. I say this every once in a while. I use this illustration every once in a while.

But it's mean for me to push you to the ground in most contexts. But if someone was swinging an axe at you, and I got your head out of the way, you would thank me. My toddler one time was running towards a fire pit. I was too far away. And some other mom just drop-kicked him. She just took him down.

Now, in most contexts, that would be really frowned upon. You just see a kid, and you're like, nah, and just take him down. Like, you just can't do that. But in this context, it's extremely gracious and kind and helpful. And the reality is, for us to proclaim anything other than Jesus as Savior is a lie that leads to destruction. And for us to sit on that truth is wicked.

But for us to hold to it is gracious and loving, and we can't do anything else. He says, no one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also. Now, I want to pause and give you some future Antichrist things that you can do. Because we've read all the Antichrist passages. There's one more in 2 John.

But that's it. It just kind of says the same thing. That's the only places in the Bible you'll find the term. So now, I know this happens to you all the time. Someone wants to talk to you about the Antichrist. Well, I'm here to help you out.

I'm going to give you some options. Usually, if someone's like, you know, whatever. I've had people ask one time, is this person, you think this person might be the Antichrist? Or whatever. It's like some big political figure. Or they say, what's your opinion on the Antichrist?

You know. Usually they're thinking some sort of Book of Revelation stuff. That they've taken this term and some stuff Paul said in Thessalonians and stuck in there. Usually what they're wrapping their head around. So, one option is for you to just be like, helpful. And say, well, let's talk and try to help them see where the terms come from and what they're doing.

And try to help them show the passages. And just in general have a normal conversation about what the scriptures say. That's one option. It's a good one. I've got two other ones, though. One is, you can be like, yeah, we've studied 1 John.

What questions about 1 John do you have? Because they probably aren't thinking about 1 John. And they'll say, what? No, Book of Revelation. You go, oh, the Antichrist is in the Book of Revelation. You just enjoy yourself a little bit.

But the third option is the most fun. Because John says that those who deny Christ are Antichrists. And that's not how we think about it. And so you probably shouldn't use that term a bunch. But it's theologically accurate.

So if someone says, I want to talk about the Antichrist, do this. Because I actually think I've met about half a dozen Antichrists even last week. They probably won't want to keep talking about it. If they do, I'm sorry. That's going to be a long conversation. Verse 24.

Verse 24. Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you too will abide in the Son and in the Father. There is a gospel message that Jesus saves. And if you believe that and you hold firm to that and you stand firm in Christ, then you belong to Jesus. You belong to the Father.

And that's it. Some people say, isn't that too simple? Yeah, it's beautifully simple. It's graciously simple. It's welcomingly simple. There is no secret truth that you have to find out.

You've got to climb to the mountain and dig to the bottom of this. And anybody who comes and says, hey, I know you've heard this, but I found some secrets. No. No. It's a message that has been proclaimed for 2,000 years. It's not a secret.

It's not supposed to be a secret. It's not supposed to be hard. It's supposed to be gracious and welcoming that you can find redemption in Christ. That there is forgiveness in His name. And that's what we hold on to. There's not some other secret information you need to have.

That you are saved by Jesus. And forgiven by Jesus. And in Jesus you have everything. And then he says this, verse 25. He says, and this is the promise He made to us. Eternal life.

That's a beautiful promise to get from the Creator of the universe. That through Christ we're forgiven of sin. And therefore we have eternal life. One of the things that Paul says in Corinthians is he says, the sting of death is sin. Meaning, what makes death bad is if you die in your sin. Because then you're punished in your sin.

You're condemned in your sin. But death is not bad if we die forgiven in our sin. If we die in Christ, death is sad for those who remain. But glorious for us as we walk in forgiveness and life and joy and delight. So there's some reality to the idea behind Peter Pan.

You know, in Peter Pan, the enemy isn't in Captain Hook. It's age and time. Peter Pan's going to stay young forever. The only bad guys in it are old. And the thing the old guy is scared of is a crocodile clock. That's already eaten some of him and eventually will eat all of him.

That every time the crocodile comes around, it's a tick, tock, tick, tock. Time's ticking away. I've already gotten some of your strength. I'm going to eventually get all of it. There's some amount of us that resonates with us. I want to be Peter Pan.

I want to stay young forever. And the idea that my body would begin to give out. That I would begin to have issues. That I would begin to... You know, you start getting older and you can sleep wrong and wake up in pain. When I was little, you could like beat me with sticks and I'd wake up fine the next day.

Just regenerated overnight. Now, it's like you wake up and it's like, what's wrong with you? It's like, I don't know. My pillow is too mean? I don't know. But you slowly start to give out.

And there's this fear of this coming crocodile with a stomach. With a stomach. Yeah. It has a stomach. That's not the main part. It's got a clock in its stomach.

And it's ticking away. It's going to come get you. And he says, this is the promise we have from Christ. Eternal life. What else are you going to fear? What else are you going to dread?

What else is going to get you? So Jesus says, he says, don't fear those who can only kill the body. Kill my body. He says, fear him who can control your soul. We stand firm in the gospel. And in the gospel, we have unending courage.

Because we have unconquerable life. So we stand firm in this and we proclaim this. Because it's the only message we have. It's the only hope we have. And nothing can be taken from us. So he writes and says, you're in the middle of opposition right now.

And I'm telling you, the enemy's at work. And there are those who are trying to tear this apart. And there are those who are claiming to have been Christians and left. And they're trying to tell you something else. And he says, don't buy it for a second. You stand firm in the hope of the gospel.

Hold fast to it. He says, I write these things to you about those who are trying to deceive you. I mean, don't let them. Don't let them pull you away. Don't let someone come along and tell you they know some sort of secret. Or there's something else other than Jesus.

27. But the anointing that you have received. It's the Holy Spirit at work in us. From him abides in you. And you have no need that anyone should teach you. Now, he's writing this letter to explain things to him.

To coach him up and to teach him. But what he means is that he ultimately trusts the Holy Spirit work in a believer to keep a believer. This is extremely encouraging. If you've ever thought, oh my goodness, I had that wrong for a while. I thought, how was I so confused? How did I wonder?

And it's like, no, the Holy Spirit brings us back. But his anointing teaches you about everything and is true and is no lie. Just as it taught you. Just as it has taught you. Abide in him. We stand firm in the hope of the gospel.

We have nowhere else to stand. We have no other hope. We have nothing else to run to. We have glorious good news in the work of Christ. And that's it. It's simple.

It's not about us. It's not about our works. It's not about our ability. It's not about our intelligence. And that's good news for us. It's real good news for me.

That God saves sinners who need help. Who can't keep it together. That's the hope of the gospel. It's in the work of Christ. And I want to read something to y'all. I find it encouraging.

This is the handwritten church record. From the First Baptist Church of Casey. From 1919 to 1925. There are handwritten records. From Mrs. W.J.

Casey. In here. She was the clerk when they first started. First Baptist Church of Casey. It began in 1912. As a Sunday school.

And as a mission church. It was constituted as a mission church in 1912. And then in 1919. It constituted as a church. The First Baptist Church of Casey. We have a pastor team here.

When we say. When we get up sometimes. We'll say. I'm one of the pastors here. They had a presbytery. Which is an elder team.

When they first started. So. Just bringing that back. You guys. But on the.

The first day. This was in 1919. And this is a typed up version. The handwritten version. Is back here later. But I'm going to use the typed up version.

Because it's easier to read. When they. When they constituted themselves. As a church in 1919. They had someone give the charge. Commission them.

To be a congregation. To move forward in the mission. And he says this. He said. First. This was the message that he shared.

He said. First the church should be evangelistic. Meaning the church should tell people about Jesus. Because that's the hope we have. Second. It should be educational.

So those who believe. Should be disciples. Should be trained. Should be broad. To know. The reality.

And the depths. And the truth. Of the scriptures. Third. It should be. Missionary.

Meaning. Not just evangelizing. Those who show up. But actively going. To those who aren't here. That's one of the reasons.

People asked us. When we first started the church. In 2013. In this area. It's like. Why would you plant a church.

Where there are already churches. Because if people want. Want to show up to a church. They'll show up. But there are a lot of people.

Who still don't believe the gospel. And we're supposed to go to them. We'll take all the churches. We can get. We'll take all the people. Commissioned.

And sent out as missionaries. As we can get. And we'll go. Actively. To try to see those. Who don't know Christ.

Come to know him. Some of your neighbors. Are not going to show up here. And if you brought them today. And I started in on Antichrist. I'm sorry.

I hope it worked out. But some of your neighbors. And co-workers. They're not going to show up here. If you invite them. To come to your house.

Just to share a meal. And to. We have people. Who've come to our community group. Before they would eat. And we'd be like.

All right. It's Bible time. And they'd be like. All right. I'm going home. And it's like.

Cool. We're glad. They just eat with us. Some of them aren't going to come. But guess what?

Jesus is already sent. You're already there. You live in that neighborhood. You work in that office. Pray. Plead.

Be a missionary. So he says that. Third. They'd be missionaries. Fourth. It should be systematic in giving.

We don't talk about that a whole lot. But he did first thing. And then he said. That fifth. We should pull together. We should be unified.

That was what was said on the first night. That this church was constituted. That's why we chose to join together. We believe the same things. We're fighting for the same stuff. We have one hope.

We have one king. We want to stand firm in the gospel. And be active in sharing that truth with others. Because it's the last hour. And there is no other hope. If you have not placed your faith in Jesus.

Oh we want you to. He is so good. He forgives sinners. He gives hope to us. All based off of his work. Not ours.

There is joy and delight with Christ. The band is going to come back up. But we're going to sing to Jesus. We're going to celebrate 2,000 years. Of his work. We're going to celebrate 100 years.

Of this church. We're going to celebrate 2 years. Of this church. All to the glory of Christ. For his redemptive work. On our behalf.

Let's pray. God we thank you that we have hope in the gospel. We thank you so much that it's in Jesus. And his work. And in his name. And not in us.

Not in our behavior. Not in our morality. Not in our ability to keep our joy level. Not in our ability to have a beautiful vision for our lives. But Lord that it's in Christ.

And it's eternal. We praise you.

Don't Love the World (1 John 2:15-17)

Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet this week.

Don't Love the World

Spencer Cary

Download

Transcript

With COVID, which if you're looking for fun things to do this fall, don't put that on your list. Not the most fun experience, but glad to be back up here. We're gonna be in 1 John chapter 2 verses 15 through 17. So COVID for me was, it was not fun, but my doctor said, hey listen, you should get what's called a monoclonal antibody treatment. You're eligible for this, you totally should do it. And I heard about this and I heard it was like the game changer that it just like kills COVID.

So I said, yes, I'm in because I feel terrible. So I went, but I knew that this was going to be a difficult experience for me because it's about a 30 to 45 minute IV drip treatment. And I don't do well with IVs. I have what's called a vasovagal response, which is the fancy medical word for you faint. So I, I can get a shot and it's fine, but you leave it in me and you're taking blood out and you're putting stuff in.

It's like, nope. And about a month and a half ago, I was like, I got, I got to get blood, uh, blood work done. And I was like, I went through the whole time. I did not, I didn't faint. And I was like, you know what? You're doing it, man.

I think you're getting over this. And then I walked into the treatment facility and I was like, no, no, this is, this is happening. Like I saw all the people. There's like 10 different people getting the treatment at once. And there's a recliner there right beside them for me. And I was like, no, no, I'm going down.

Like, this is not, this is not going to go well for me. And I told the nurses, I said, listen, I have this response. It's involuntary. I can't help it. And sometimes I have to tell nurses this because sometimes when I pass out, they just get mad. I was like, I told you that was going to happen.

Like I told you this was a possibility. It's a 50, 50 shot. I'm going to go. And they put it in me and about, I don't know how many minutes it took. I was gone. Just completely passed out.

And they were pros. They handled it like a champ. They took my mask off, let me breathe. All of a sudden, a couple minutes, I'm back to it. And then all of a sudden I'm breakout and it's cold, just awful sweat. And I'm just like, I'm just, I'm just kind of like this.

And then the nausea sets in. And, and I know that you came from a medical history. So I might as well go deeper. I can't, about 10 years ago, I had a stomach surgery to where I can't throw up. I literally cannot throw up. I can dry heat, but I can't throw up.

So the nausea sets in and like, I'm just like dry. I'm like, ah, like I'm just like, I'm dry even. And there are all these people who are like behind me, beside me, are handling their treatment like a pro, like an adult. I'm just like dying. And it's just for 30 to 45 minutes of just intense suffering. But I know, like I, the mindset I have when I go in, in the midst of all this, this humiliating experience for me, is like, this is temporary.

Like it's not, like I, I know what's going to happen. Like if I, if I can make it through the next hour and get through the end of the day, like tomorrow, I'm going to feel better. And it's going to be great. And guess what? I woke up the next day and it killed COVID. Like it was, it was an amazing, like it was just a complete turnaround.

But I had to have this mindset, like I needed to keep the bigger picture in play. I had to tell myself, this is really hard, but just get through it. Get to the other side and it's going to be better. All right. Sometimes you got to reframe your reality. You got to have a proper perspective and understand how things are so that you can make it through it.

And that is what we get to do in first John today. First John is going to give us a big picture for how to approach some of the more difficult teachings that he's giving us, that he's going to call us to some really difficult obedience as he's already done, but he's going to reframe it in a way that helps us understand why we do this, that helps us understand the purpose behind this. And the hope is that as we receive difficult teaching, we can take a step back, we can reframe our reality so that we can do this in a way that is helpful and good for us. So let me read 15 through 17, then we will jump in.

15. Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and the pride of life is not from the Father, but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever. So let me pray and then we'll jump in.

Father, you are good. We are thankful that your steadfast love endures forever. Lord, you call us to difficult teachings and difficult obedience. God, I pray that you'd help us understand this in light of your greater purposes and your will for us in our lives. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.

Okay, so verse 15. Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. So if you were here last week, we got to walk through some really encouraging verses. Like John feels this tension of, I am calling you to some difficult teaching, some difficult obedience. And we just, we actually originally had last week's text and this week's text together.

But we're just like, no, we, 1 John is a lot. So we need to just take a moment and just appreciate, like being encouraged, who we are in Christ. And he does that and then jumps right back into a really difficult statement that is heavy. Do not love the world or the things in the world. Now, you can take that as kind of a blanket statement and run with it in a lot of different directions. Like what does that mean, not love the world?

We don't love the literal world. Do not love the world like culture. I mean, you could fill that in with whatever boogeyman you want from the world. Don't, do not love socialists. Like you could just fill in the blank with whatever you want. Does that mean that whatever it is, whatever the world is, we just need to like remove ourselves from it?

Do we need to go and live like monks out in the wilderness and get away from the world? Like what is he calling us to? Now, when you study the Bible, you don't try to say, what does the text mean to me? All right? That's one of things, if you've been with us in community groups the last couple of months, we're walking through 1 John, we're trying to grow in studying the Bible. But the text actually has meaning.

There's interpretation that is meant to, that isn't just whatever we feel it is, that actually, if you study it closely, the Bible tells us what it means. And in this passage specifically, it doesn't just leave us hanging where we can fill world in with whatever we want to. It actually goes on to define what the world is in verse 16. So he says, for all that is in the world. And then he goes, hyphen, okay? This is what's going to define the world.

This is what he means when he is using world in 1 John. He says, the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and the pride of life is not from the Father, but is from the world. Okay? So that is how John is using in 1 John world. Desires of the flesh, desires of the eye, pride of life. All right?

Does it mean that every time you see world elsewhere in the scriptures, that's exactly how it's being used, but it means for right here in its context, this is what he's getting at. And these worldly loves are in opposition to the love of the Father. They're in opposition to the love of God. They are not from the Father. They are from the world. So understanding what this is, is incredibly important for our faith.

When I was a kid, I learned that if you lit a candle, you didn't have to, if you wanted to extinguish the flame, you didn't just have to blow it out. You could just take the lid and you could cover it up and then it would snuff it out. Like that flames, that fire needs air. And if you don't have air, it's just going to go out. So I would take the top and I just kind of put it over the top and watch the flame kind of slowly flicker and dwindle.

And then I'd open it back up and flood it with air and then the flame would come back to life. I'd do that over and over again until finally, like it would finally just completely just be out. So we need the love of God and it is the air that actually breathes life into our faith. It is the air that breathes life into the flame of our faith. And when you remove it, you're just, you're taking that top and you're putting it right over the candle. You're putting it right over your faith.

You are taking out the love of God in the way that actually sustains our faith. It gives life to our faith. And when you choose to love the world and the things in the world, you are removing the love of God. You're removing the love of the Father. So if that is true, if we need this type of love to sustain us, we need to remove the love of the world that will extinguish our faith.

And we need to understand what he is getting at when he talks about the world. We need to understand these three different statements. I want to walk through these three different descriptions of what the world is, starting with the desires of the flesh. So desires of the flesh. The Greek word for desires there is the Greek word epithumium. So every now and then, just like to help us understand this, the New Testament is written in Greek.

The Old Testament was written down in Hebrew and Aramaic. What we have in English are amazing translations of those languages. Amazing translations. So if any of you get really excited about translations and like to argue over which one's the best, just stop. First off, almost nobody wants to hear that. And second, we're really blessed in the English language to have like 200 different translations and many of them are very, very good.

But the word for desires there is epithumium. Now, when that word is used in the New Testament in different areas, it takes on the word desires. It also takes on the word passions. And it also takes on the word lusts. So that's kind of the idea that it's capturing.

And what it's getting here is this strong desire. This strong desire, passion, lust for. That we have these strong desires in the flesh. Now, that can be fairly broad and have a broad range of meaning. That can mean like strong desires of the flesh, like desire for substances, like alcohol or for weed or for pills. Like there can be strong desire for that.

I can also range all the way to, which is one of the clear pictures that we get from this, which is lust of the flesh, which is sexual sin. One commentator puts it this way. He says that this should, he translates this, whatever the body hankers for. Whatever your body, whatever your flesh craves for. And a lot of time, the most immediate meaning, and it's one of the bigger impacts on not just our culture, but all cultures throughout the last 2,000 years, it is talking about sexual sin. That sexual sin is something that is bound up in the desires of the flesh.

And it is something that can extinguish the flame of faith within us. I was listening to Tim Keller, who is a pastor that we look up to. And I was reading this. He was retelling a story about a college pastor that he was talking with. And the college pastor told him, said, listen, I have students. They're in college and they're learning different things in academia.

And some of them come to me and they have this conversation that says, I'm really struggling right now. I don't know if I believe this anymore. I don't believe this aspect of the Bible anymore. And he would listen to them and some of their struggles with some of the harder things that are understood about our faith and light of this world. And then when they get done talking, he would look at them and just say, all right, so who are you sleeping with? And he's real blunt.

And he said, they just immediately, their face just like, man, God, how did you know? He said, because this is what happens. Because when you start to engage in this and then you start to question everything. I've seen this with people that I've walked with. We've seen this in the life of our church. That all of a sudden someone starts removing themselves from community.

They start removing themselves from the body of Christ. They're not coming to group. They're not coming on Sundays. And then a few months go by and you start to ask questions. And you realize that they have a new boyfriend, a new girlfriend. And they start to chase after this at the cost of the love of God and pursuing him.

And what happens when you chase after the world is that it begins to capture your heart. It begins to capture your allegiance. If you study the recent history of espionage, you can find there's a lot of different stories of spies who defect to the culture that they're spying on. And that's not just Russian spies, although there are quite a few of those that have defected to Americans, to our American ways. Because we have Star Spangled Banner and awesomeness and it just woos them. It's not just that though.

Like we've got, there are American spies that defect. British spies, Indian spies. And what happens is they get immersed in the culture that they're spying on. They get immersed in that culture. They live it. They eat it.

They breathe it. They sleep in it. And all of a sudden it captures their allegiance. It captures their love and they defect to that country. If you immerse yourself in the world, and specifically if you immerse yourself in sexual sin, it can capture your allegiance. And we don't believe that God leaves us.

If you've been around our preaching long enough, you know that God, when he saves us, he holds us firmly in the grasp of his hand. But the reality is, is that you just stop loving God. That changes your heart and your affection story. You don't want God anymore. That's the danger of the desires of the flesh. James 1 teaches this, gives a vivid picture of how this works.

It says, But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. The desire, when it's conceived, gives birth to sin. And sin, when it's fully grown, brings forth death. We chase after this, after being tempted and lured, and it's birthed in us. And then eventually it grows and matures until it destroys us. Now, I know that when we preach on this, I know the response can be is that Christians just exaggerate this a lot.

I love that I was reading this study this week from the NIH, the National Institute of Health. And they actually were doing a study on sex addiction and pornography addiction. One of the things they realized was, when I was reading the abstract, is that there are, when someone is looking at pornography, there is, the reward center of their brain is stimulated in a way that when they come back to it, it's not enough. That they need more explicit content, more pervasive images to continue this reward center being rewarded. That there's something that happens in our brain. We need to keep, we need more of this.

We need more of this. We need more of this. Now, that's the NIH. NIH. It's not a Christian organization. That's the government.

But that's the consensus amongst psychology, neuroscience. And the reality is, as Christians, I find those studies helpful. But we don't actually need that to understand this is what happens within us. We need brain scans to tell us of what's happening in our souls. It's never been just sex. It's never been just sex.

The more that you pursue it, the more that you want it, the more that it removes the joy for the Lord within you. It robs you of the love of the Father. Now, we do this not just with sexual sin, but the desires of the flesh. This happens with lots of different things. It can happen with substances. That's why you have one substance that you take, and then all of a sudden you need more, and you need more, and you need more.

Like, I felt that back in the day when I was not following Jesus. It was getting drunk, and then it was marijuana, and then it was more and the more, and then luckily God snatched me out of that and saved me. But there's this part of us that craves and craves and craves and wants more. We do this with gluttony. That's the desire of the flesh. We fill this empty void of just eating and eating and eating and being satisfied with food.

We do this. There are some people who have fleshly desires to want to hurt others, to be violent towards others, to say mean and cruel, hateful things towards others. The book of Galatians, chapter 5, gives a whole list of desires of the flesh, works of the flesh. It says in verse 19, Now the works of the flesh are evident, sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. We have these desires of the flesh, and what's important for us as Christians is to identify and be honest with what those actually are.

To understand ourselves and the danger that those things impose upon us if left unchecked in pursuit. So, desires of the flesh, part of how he's defining the world. Then he moves to desires of the eyes. Now, I looked at desires of the eyes. Chet and I both looked at this this week. And it's not, it's not the clearest of the three to understand.

Like, it's not super clear. Alright, so same word for desire, lust, passion, right? Same word, but now it shifts from the flesh to the eyes. Now, it's possible that it could be further explaining that first concept, right? Desires of the flesh, but it's more of a visual thing. It's possible it could roll into the next one.

We'll get you a pride of life in a moment. It's possible it could be hitting on both of those. There's a few different commentators that looked at this, and I thought that there's an element of this that I found to be helpful in understanding it. They said that part of this is covetousness. It's this visual desires of the eyes. It's not just what you have in your flesh that you're tempted by.

It's seeing what you don't have in coveting it. So, I have three children. We actually got a pile of children in this church. And when you get them together, one of the things that's kind of funny to watch is, especially young children, they... You can visually see covetousness on their face. Like, it's just...

It's visual. Like, they see a toy that they don't have at a friend's house, and it's like Gollum from Lord of the Rings. My precious. Like, they cue in, and it's like, if you watch it, you're like, that kid's going to steal that toy. That's small enough to fit in their pocket. That...

We're getting a phone call in a few days. That will not be here by the end of the night. Like, they see it, and they want it. Like, there's this strong desire that says, I want this. Now, when you become an adult, you realize that's socially unacceptable to stare at people like that. But we...

So, you find more socially acceptable ways to covet. And it shows up in a lot of different ways. It shows up in the promotion that you don't get. Somebody at work gets that promotion. You're not just going to stare at them from across the cubicle, because that's weird. But you just...

You are stewing. You're angry, because they got something that you wanted. We covet when we look at the marriages that we don't have. We covet when we... There are men or women that we want and we don't have. We covet the friendships we don't have.

We covet the life that we don't have. The desires of the eyes look around and find the things we don't have. And ultimately, this is a picture of putting hope in stock in the things of this world. It's putting our hope in things or in people as opposed to God. As opposed to finding our hope and satisfaction in Him. So, that's desires of the eyes.

And then it moves to this third aspect, which is the pride of life. The pride of life. So, pride of life is an interesting phrase that he uses here. The meaning really comes to life when you look more into it. No pun intended. But you look at this word and how it's being used.

And it doesn't just mean our literal life. What it's conveying here a little bit is our lifestyle. The things that make up your life. So, don't love your life and the lifestyle that you live. And what's in that phrase. And what different translators and commentators are all catching the same thing.

This is the stuff in your life. So, John moves from coveting the things that you don't have. To putting pride in the things that you do have. The stuff that makes up your life. There is vanity bound up in loving the stuff that is in your life. One of my favorite short stories is a French short story called The Necklace.

And the gist of it is that there is this couple. And they're in lower middle class French society. And they so badly want to level up into the next kind of higher, more elite classes. And which is, I mean, this is the 19th century. So, this is very typical of that culture. But it just, they so badly want to advance.

And the husband gets invited to this work party. And at this party are going to be all the different elite people. All the different elite classes. And they know that this is their chance. They want to level up and move up. They can use this party as a way to brush arms to different people.

So, they can move into this part of society. So, the wife, who's really desperate to get out of this lower middle class life. She says, I need a dress. I need something that's beautiful. I need to stun people. So, he goes and he spends money that they really don't have.

And they get this dress for her. And then she's like, I'm just missing something. I need jewels. I need something that just makes me stand out. So, she has a friend who's kind of in those social elites. It's the only friend they have in those elite circles.

And she has this beautiful necklace. So, she goes to her and she asks to borrow it. And then she borrows it. And they go to the party and they kill. I mean, they just, she's beautiful. The talk of the party.

He's making connections. This is their moment. Their opportunity. And then they go home. When they get home, they realize the necklace is gone. They have lost this beautiful necklace.

And they have a choice to make. They can either go to the woman they borrowed it from and say, we're so sorry. And admit what happened. And if they do this, risk being really excommunicated from ever being a part of those, that elite circle of people again. Or they can sell and mortgage everything for the next ten years. Buy when it looks like it and replace it.

And they choose the latter. They go. They mortgage the next ten years. They're in deep, deep financial debt. They buy it. They replace this.

And their whole lives fall apart. Their marriage suffers. I mean, everything. It's so bad that when you fast forward ten years, that woman runs into the woman she borrowed the necklace from. And that woman looks at her and goes, oh, dear, like, life has been so hard on you these last ten years. Which is a total French thing to do, to be so blunt.

And then she goes, oh, well, let me tell you why that is. And she tells the whole story, the whole back story of why the last ten years have been so hard. And then she looks at her and says, oh, dear, those were costume jewels. Those weren't real. And that's how it ends. And when you hear the ending, immediately it clicks.

It just makes sense. The whole point is it's so vain to put so much hope in moving up. And so much hope in having money and riches and moving up in this world. And you hear that and it clicks. But the reality is that's us.

We do this. Like, we put hope in this world. We say, if I could just have this. If I could just, if we could just move to this part of town. If we could just move up and be here. Then we'll be okay.

And we've seen this parable play out in our own lives over and over and over again. We know this. And yet, it's something the American church has failed to address on a meaningful level. Like, I was reading a study that was published this week. And it said that the median giving for evangelical American Christians. Okay?

The median giving is 0.57%. Alright? That's half of 1% to the church. And then, the extra charitable giving was 0.1%. That's one-tenth of a percent. That's the median giving for us.

And as we're going to see, that points to putting a hope in this world and the pride of this life. We're going to see that in the next chapter in 1 John 3. That attaches this idea of a lack of generosity towards other Christians to putting pride and hope in this life. That we do this. And some of us are like, yeah, I get this. I know.

Like, I feel this. There are a lot of things that I want. That I'm chasing after. And it's hard to make the Numbers work and give. And there are others of us that are like, but I do give. I give 5%.

I give the 10%. I do the 10% plus. Like, I'm giving to this. I'm giving to that. I'm giving to this. What happens is, we can hear this.

We can hear this and exclude ourselves from it. We can say, no, I'm doing what I'm supposed to do. Sorry. I'm doing what I'm called to do as a Christian. There's not much room for me to actually give to something else. We don't have room in the budget.

And the reality is, is that the reason why we don't have room is because we love our stuff. Our budget is filled with subscriptions and things that we love. And what I realized was, in preparing for this, is that if you've been with us the last few years, this isn't new. Like, we know this. Like, we, the studies on giving have only gotten worse over the last few years. And we also know, if you've been with us for a few years, that we have our gift series coming up.

If you haven't been with us for a gift series, our gift series, every year in December, we walk through generosity because we want to actively combat materialism in our lives. And we tackle a gift project every year, which is a ton of fun, that we can, we can serve and give towards different things that we've tackled over the last few years. And we know the gift series is coming up. And I, and I'm, I'm preparing for it. And I go through this kind of this thing every year where, as a pastor, I, I appreciate, I appreciate the gift series. Because it schedules this subject as a part of our discussion every year.

Because Jesus didn't flinch when he talked about money. He talked about it a lot. I mean, he understood that money is connected to the things that we worship and desire in this life. So, I, I appreciate that it's a part of what we talk about every year. I'm not a huge, it's hard for me to get in the zone to be ready for it because I know, I mean, very practically, I've, I've got to do some repenting and self-reflection as I prepared for the gift series every year. And it's like, oh, that's a lot to do.

Like, I've got to prepare how, look at all the ways in which I'm not growing in generosity. And also, as, I mean, just cards on the table, as a pastor, I hate to play into stereotypes. So, I hate to play into stereotypes that, like, the church just cares about your money, the pastors just want you to give. It's like, I, I'm not a huge fan of playing into stereotypes. So, selfishly, I'd just rather not talk about it at all. But then I repent every year around this time.

And then I get excited about it. You know what? Give is fun every year. And it's exciting. And then we get to do a gift project. We tackle it.

And we love it. And then January hits. And the credit card bills hit from Christmas. And, man, it's like we're right back in it. We're right back to where we were. We do this.

We go through this every year. And I ask myself this week, like, why do we do this? Why do we do this to ourselves? And it's very clear. It's because we love our stuff. Do not love this world or the things in this world.

We put pride and hope in things. We love our stuff. You know, I love, when I get to drive a full-size truck, it is awesome. Because it's like driving a tank. Especially because I drive a little matchbox car that runs on hopes and dreams and is good for the environment. Like, I love to drive a full-size truck.

Because I feel like I can just drive over any vehicle as opposed to being threatened by every vehicle. Like, I love it. It's a lot of fun. I love the Buy Now button on Amazon. It is great that you can just hit the button. And then, like, a day or less than a day.

Like, it just shows up on your doorstep. I love, on my Christmas list this year, I've got some nicer preaching shirts. So, just shirts that are alright for preaching. Especially in the summertime. I've been told that I wear the same shirts a lot. And it's because I don't have a lot of those kind of nicer preaching shirts.

But I'm excited about that. That I've got some nicely fitting shirts. Because there are people who preach up here that sometimes wear shirts that don't fit very nicely. So, I want to step our game up just a little bit and say, let's actually... I'm excited about that. We love expensive decor that we buy that makes our house look better.

Even though that's going to go out of style in like a year or two. And we'll do it again. We love Christmas. If you have kids, you love Christmas morning. It's a lot of fun seeing your kids get to open presents. You know what's crazy?

We're only few cultures in the world that replaces their toys every year. You know what the majority of the world does? They get a soccer ball and they keep it for seven years. Like, they get a few things and then they don't toss it. And we're lucky if that stuff makes it to the summer. And we do it all again.

Why do we do it? Because we love our stuff. We love all of it. Now, if you've been with us long enough, you know what the opt-out from getting conviction there is. It's like, listen, those things aren't inherently evil. None of that's inherently evil.

We know it's just about not making idols of it. Don't worship that stuff. And that's how I excuse myself from it, right? That's how we excuse ourselves from the conviction weighing over us, right? It's like, just don't make an idol of it. It's okay.

It's fine. But if... Here's the deal. If God started to poke and pry at your heart and saying, You know what? That money that you've been saving up for, that you want to upgrade your vehicle, you want to upgrade this, you want to... How about don't?

Drive that thing for a few more years and give to missions. Like, the moment that happens, we just plug our ears. Like, no, no, no. I don't want... I give here. We've worked on saving for this right now.

Like, I just... I know. Like, I should always be generous. I get it. But, like, I... No.

And we just plug our ears and we try to move forward. And don't let the conviction of the Holy Spirit actually lead us to not love the things of this world. Maybe you don't do that. But I... That's what I do. To get out of having to not love our stuff.

We love it. We love how it feels. We love how we're perceived in it. We love the status that it gives to us. And the scriptures in 1 John is teaching that that love of stuff is incompatible with the love of God. Because pride in this life is a cheap substitute for God.

That you will look to your things and your lifestyle for status, for security, for comfort, for hope. And it's like, it's not worth it. Those things are meant to be found in Christ. So he says, don't do it. Don't fall in love with the things of this world. Don't make...

Put your hope in the pride of this life. It says, desires of the flesh, desires of the eyes, pride of this life. The pride of life. Don't do it. Don't fall for it. Don't buy it.

Don't fall for the passion for pleasure and the pride in your possessions. Because if you do this, it ends up in hopelessness. So, it's a difficult thing to receive. I'm thankful that verse 17 exists. Because it gives us a remedy. He says in verse 17, And the world is passing away, along with its desires.

But whoever does the will of God, abides forever. And that is the perspective that we need. That is how we take a step back from loving this world. The desires of the flesh. The desires of our eyes. The pride of life.

17 Is the perspective that we need. To be eternally focused. In a way that we would see the things that we have and look past them. Like, I love that John is just so logical here. He says, don't you see? Those things are going to pass away.

Like, they don't last into eternity. And pass away. It's a very clean way of saying that those are going to be burned up in judgment. They won't last. And if you pursue those things wholeheartedly, you will follow that path too. Don't do it.

That's why I think a few months back I mentioned this. And every now and then I want to help us see that sometimes you just have got to play the logic out. Of what your sin is pursuing. And realize where that goes. That it doesn't end well. Like, I'll do this.

Like, if there's sexual temptation. Like, alright. If I give in here, then it leads to this. And if it leads to this, then I can wreck my family. My marriage. My wife.

And I ultimately know that if I chase after this, that it's going to grab my affections. And I'm not going to want Jesus anymore. And if I go after this headlong, it leads into destruction. And judgment. And I play that out for a thousand years to come. And I'm like, I'm not doing it.

I'm not doing it. I'm not taking that step forward. And we've got to do that. We've got to reframe your understanding to see past the things that you want in this present life. And look into eternity. And reframe your reality.

And say, is the click worth it? Is swiping right worth it? Is leveling up and putting all of your hope in moving up, is that worth it? Is it worth it in filling our days with gadgets and toys and trinkets and things that will not last? Is it worth it? It's not worth it.

One of my favorite moments in the New Testament is when Jesus is in the garden of Gethsemane. And there's this moment where you just see his humanity. You just see he doesn't want to go to the cross. Because he understands what's waiting there. It's not just the immense suffering of being tortured, having his flesh ripped open, and suffocating slowly to death on the cross. It's not just the physical suffering that awaits him.

It is the disfellowship with God the Father when the full cup of his wrath is poured out on him. It's the spiritual, intense suffering that awaits him. He understands what's ahead of him. And what I love about what he does, he says, I'm going to obey the will of the Father. Because temporary suffering is worth it. Because he understands that he buys us and purchases us eternal satisfaction and joy in Christ.

And his temporary suffering is at the cost of the eternal joy of you and me and those who have trusted in Christ. Like Jesus gets it. He gets this eternal mindset that it's worth it. It's why Augustine says, hold fast to Christ. For he became temporal so that you might partake of eternity. He does this for us so that we can experience eternal joy in Christ.

And we have to get out of the next just few days or few weeks or few years mindset and see past that to where it's blurred out. And we see that as it resounds into eternity. You all ever seen the show, Let's Make a Deal? Right? Pretty easy show. Bring on a contestant.

Compete for some prizes. And really the main part of the show is they have this prize that they've won. And they say, alright, let's make a deal. You can take this prize right here. Or behind that curtain over there is another prize. You can't see it.

But you can take the risk and get it. Alright? Either keep the prize that you have or go behind what's the curtain over there. Now, if you played that game and they said, hey, you know what? You came with your best friend? They actually can stand at the curtain, peek behind it, and tell you if you should take it or not.

It would be a boring show. There would be a pilot episode and everyone would go, this show is dumb. Because the suspense of not knowing what's there is what keeps you there. But the reality is, is that we get that in Christ. Right? That we have this present world that's in front of us.

And Jesus stands at the curtain and he's looking behind and says, oh, you want this. You want what's waiting you. Just ditch that. Don't go after that. Go forth this. It's way better.

And what we do is, is that we look at what's right in front of us. We look at this life. Desires of the flesh. The desires of the eyes. The pride of life. When we say, I don't know.

I don't know what I've got. It's pretty good right now. And we reject that. And that shows that we don't actually trust Jesus when he says, what I offer is better than everything else. Do not love the world or the things in the world. The world is passing away along with its desires.

But whoever does the will of God abides forever. That's the hope. Saying no to the desires of the flesh. The desires of the eyes. The pride of this life. Is hard.

It's difficult. No doubt. Like it's hard. And sometimes it feels like suffering. Because you feel like you're denying what's actually good. What's actually isn't.

Joyable. But we have to take a step back and reframe our reality in light of eternity. Because sacrificing your budget so that you don't get the newest and the nicest all the time. Feeling the squeeze of that. Trusting God. That's hard.

That's choosing hardship over temporary ease. That's choosing to get the antibody treatment now so that you can be better later. We have to trust him in this. I mean he says that we are storing up riches in heaven. We don't know what that is. We know that if you're in Christ you get Jesus forever.

But there's some additional reward on top of that when you are obedient to him. Like we don't know. The scripture doesn't give us real clear handles. But what he's saying is that it's good. And that it's worth it. And it's not just that the eternal riches that are bound up in that.

It's the temporary of joy knowing that you're not a slave to the things in this earth now. That you're not a slave to trinkets, into toys, into promotions. That you're free. Free to be satisfied in him. Choosing not to give in to the desires of the flesh in your eyes. Whatever that is for you is hard.

The denial of self is hard. But Jesus says if you do it, you'll abide forever. You will abide forever. That 10,000 years from now you will still be joyfully worshipping the God of the universe. Like you will abide forever. That's worth it.

We just need the faith to be able to see that falling for what's right in front of us pales in comparison to what awaits us. Don't love this world. Love Christ.

Encouragement (1 John 2:12-14)

Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet this week.

Encouragement (1 John 2:12-14)

Chet Phillips

Download

Transcript

Well, good morning. My name's Chet. I'm one of the pastors here. I preach about half the time on Sundays, and Spencer Carey, one of our other pastors, he preaches about half the time. We're working our way through 1 John, the letter of 1 John, so if you want to grab your Bibles and go to 1 John, we're in chapter 2. If you grab one of the Bibles under the seat in front of you, or if you're on the front row, on the row with you, it's on page 592 is where we'll be today.

I was talking with Spencer recently. One of the things that Spencer does is that he talks about movies, and he'll tell you things about movies and movies that he's watched. Most of the time, though, he doesn't call them movies. He calls them films, which is fine. That's fine. And he'd really like to have us all convinced that he only watches films and that they're deep and they have a lot of subtext to them, that most of the films he watches have subtitles, so not only subtext but also subtitles.

And they all end with sad endings, you know, because he's deep and he's like that. He does like those movies, to be fair. He does like that. I'm sorry. He does enjoy those films. But his favorite movie is Mean Girls.

It's definitely in the top five if it's not his favorite. So he can say what he wants to, but he likes Mean Girls. And if you haven't seen Mean Girls, it's like a teen comedy from 2004. But he was talking about it recently, and he said there's a scene in Mean Girls where the main character, Regina George, one of the main characters, and if you haven't seen the movie, it's in a high school. Regina George is a girl, and she's mean. You're all caught up.

She's been mean to everybody the whole movie, and they have this assembly where they're dealing with the fact that everybody's mean to each other. And at one point she stands up and she says, I think we just need to acknowledge that some of the people here, you know, are just victims. And the teacher looks at her and goes, that's a good point. Raise your hand if you've been personally victimized by Regina George. And everybody raises their hand because she was mean. Even the teachers, they're like, the teachers slowly raise their hands in this thing.

And Spencer said that he feels like that's how our church feels right now about John. We're not even through the second chapter, and if we said, who here feels personally victimized by the Apostle John? It's like, he's said some mean things so far. This has been a lot. There's been a lot that I've had to look at and consider. And that's true because what he's doing is he's writing to the church, the church at large.

He's writing to Christians, and he's saying, hey, there are a lot of people around saying they belong to Jesus, but they don't. And so he's adding clarity. But in order to add some clarity, he's drawing some lines, and he's giving some kind of, he's dividing in some ways. And so there is this amount of, as we study this together, it's like, oh, okay, this is heavy. Let me consider this. Let me think about this.

As he's talking about people who've said they believe in Jesus, but don't actually have a life that matches. And so John seemingly understands the tone of his letter, and he does something very interesting and helpful and encouraging in the passage we're going to look at today. He changes the way he's writing to a direct address. Greek people, y'all pumped? Isn't that exciting? Here's what he does.

It's so clear in the Greek that if you're holding a Bible, it actually is now indented. It looks like he's broken out into like a poem or something. It's like in a movie where the characters are all interacting with each other, and then one of them just starts singing about how they really feel inside. It's kind of what this feels like, but what he's done is it's more like in the movie Ferris Bueller where he'll just stop and turn directly at the camera. He's changed the tone of what he's saying to make sure that his readers don't miss this. And so in some ways the whole letter is him standing shoulder to shoulder with us and saying, now you need to understand this, and you need to see this, and you need to be able to pay attention to this, except for this one section where he turns, and he turns our shoulders, and he says, look at my face.

I have something I need to make sure you understand. Because if we miss this part, we'll miss the tone of everything else that's being said here. And so this is foundational for us and helpful, and I'm so glad that John says, hey, look me in the eye real quick. So let's read this, we'll pray, and then we'll walk through it. But you've got to understand that's what he's done here.

That's why it's written the way that it's written. He says this, we're looking at verses 12, 13, and 14 in 1 John chapter 2. I'm writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven for his name's sake. I'm writing to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I'm writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. Let's pray.

Lord, I pray that you would help us to hear this, to make eye contact, and to soak this in, and to understand what is true for those who are in Christ. And may we never forget it. In Jesus' name, amen. I want to make two kind of big picture observations, and then we're just going to walk through the main points that he makes here. And we're going to take this encouragement, because that's what he's doing, is he's grabbing them and saying, hold on a second. This is why I'm writing to you.

This is what I need you to hear. As we talk about all this other stuff that you need to be aware of, and you need to pay attention to, and you need to be mindful of, I need you to hear this, because this is why I'm writing. First off, he gives a lot of addresses, like personal addresses. He says, little children, fathers, children, fathers, young men, young men. He does this a couple of times where he's specifically kind of singling out people. And so there are some who've looked at this and said, okay, little children, young men, fathers.

He's talking about like stages of Christian development. I think this is very generally to the entire church. First of all, little children is just the way that John addresses the church. If you take these two times out, where he says little children here, he says it 11 other times in this letter. He says that we're the children of God a couple of times, and then he also just says children, little children, my little children, children, little children, my little children, 11 times. He's 80 to 90 or so at this point, and he's saying that we belong, if you belong to Jesus, then you belong to God the Father, and we've been made a family.

It's the same thing Paul says over and over again, where he calls us brothers, brothers and sisters. When he writes, he's saying I'm writing to the family. That's what he's saying, is that we're a family. And then a few times in here, he also says fathers and young men. Now, it's possible. He's specifically wanting to talk to those actual groups, those who have been a father and parented children and young men.

Other people say, no, it's more like he's talking to just young believers and older believers. And all the things he says apply to all Christians. There's not a thing here that isn't true for all Christians. And so I'm more inclined to think he's just continuing to arrest our attention. He's just continually saying, look at me, look at me. It'd be like if I grabbed my son and said, son, I need you to know something, son.

Listen to me, boy. I need you to know something, son. Like if I just did that over and over again, he'd be like, OK, I get it. You want me to keep looking at your face up here? I look at me. You know, that's kind of what he's doing is he's just saying, hey, I need you to see this.

And so we won't spend a lot of time paying much attention to those understanding that he's writing to the family. He's writing to those who believe those who are children of God. And he wants us to hear this. Observation number two is that he kind of uses a formula. He says, I'm writing to you because I'm writing to you because I'm writing to you because I write to you because I write to you because I write to you because. And he changes this verb.

They're writing me. And I'm actively doing it. I write to you means I've already done it. And again, he's just saying, hey, I want to make sure if someone later says, why did John write this letter? You have an answer. What was the point?

Why did he write? He said, no, I'm writing to you because I need you to see this. I need you to know this. This is the reality for you. That word because could be translated that I'm writing to you that meaning I'm writing to you because this is true, whether you know it or not. So if someone called you and said, hey, I'm calling you because you've you've completely paid off your bill.

You sent us payment, but your bill is paid off. It's like I'm calling to you in case you don't know this. It's true whether you like it or not, whether you know it or not. And that's what he's saying is I'm writing this because this is true about you, because this is the reality. And the other thing that he's saying when he says I'm writing to you because, because, because. Is that we wouldn't get confused about what was the purpose of his letter.

Is he anxious? Is he frustrated? Is he upset with us? Does he think that we are actually Christians? And he says, no, this is why I'm writing to you. So we're going to look at what he says and he repeats himself a couple of times.

So we're going to kind of batch these together as we go. But the first one's just first 12. I'm writing to you, little children. Because your sins are forgiven for his name's sake. So the first primary reason that I'm writing this and he says little children, meaning those who are Christians.

So if you're here and you're not a believer, this is what's true for Christians, but not true for people in general. But if you're here and you're a Christian, he's writing to you because. Because your sins are forgiven for his name's sake. John wants us to know that if we're in Christ, our sins are forgiven. If you're in Christ, your sins are forgiven. Now, this is a church.

We've gathered today as a church family to talk about Bible stuff, to say things about Jesus. Odds were we were going to talk about forgiveness of sins. At some point, we were going to mention it. It was going to be said. But there's the ability for us to hear that over and over again and fail to comprehend what that actually means.

Your sins are forgiven. The entire storyline of the Bible is what is God going to do with all of these sinful humans? Because he's perfectly just and just destroying us. Perfectly just and just eradicating us. Because I don't know if you've known this, but you've just run around causing problems. Ask your friends, your roommate, your spouse.

If you need a cosigner, there have been things that you've made worse. There's stuff that you've failed at. Stuff that haunts you. Stuff that you're like, it's bedtime. You're laying down. You're like, I'm going to go to sleep.

And your brain's like, or you can think about this thing that you did. He says, that's forgiven. I'm writing to you because your sins are forgiven. I'm not writing to you so that your sins might be forgiven. I'm not writing to you so that you might keep it together. I'm not writing to you so that you'll know that you've got to be good enough.

I'm writing to you because your sins are forgiven. And he already said, it's not just past tense because he says that our sins are forgiven. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father. Meaning that our present sin and our future sin is forgiven in Christ. There is no debt for you. There's nothing between you and God.

It would be like if tomorrow, for fun, you went and showed up at magistrate court and just stood in line. When you got up there, you're like, I'm here. And you told them your name. And they were like, we don't have anything on you. Some of you probably shouldn't try that because they might have something. But the point is, Jesus doesn't.

Because he's paid for our sins. And when we stand before the Father, there's not like he knows all about it and he set it aside. And so it's like, I'll forgive you, but I'm going to kind of hold it against you in some way or things are going to be awkward between us. He's put all of that on Christ. And there is nothing on your record. Nothing on your account.

There is no debt left to be paid. Bone Weed is in our church family. They're leaders in training. He and his wife. Bone told me one time that his brother, at one point when he found out that identity theft was a thing, said, man, I wish somebody would steal my identity. Then the debt collectors could call them.

Bone. And that's what Jesus has done. He took our debt. Our identity was a terrible one to swap with. And he swapped with us because he's good. There is no sin left on your account if you are in Christ.

You need to take a deep breath. Your sin is forgiven. But what if I did this? What if I do that? What if I missed? No.

Your sin is forgiven. And it gets better. He says, I write to you because your sin is forgiven for his name's sake. It's not forgiven for your sake. It's not forgiven because of your work or your worth or your intelligence or your ability or your goodness. It's not to your credit or your reputation.

If it were that, you'd have some work to do. To keep it. To tend to it. You potentially could mess it up and ruin your reputation. Guess what? He's staked his name on it.

He's put his reputation on it. So when we think, okay, I've sinned. I've done so terribly. In some ways, maybe I'm going to lose this. Do you realize that's not humility on yourself? That's actually an accusation against the work of Jesus that it somehow can't handle the ability that you have to sin.

That he somehow is out sinned by you. That he can't save to the uttermost those who call on his name. He's put his name on it. He's staked his reputation on it. It's for his sake, for his glory, for his praise that you are forgiven. It's not going anywhere because he won't be belittled.

It's not. Your forgiveness isn't being taken away because he is saved fully and completely. When you sin, we praise Jesus that he forgives sinners. I told somebody this past week that I've written the first line of my funeral. And they can say whatever they want to after that. But they've got to walk up and say it's on days like today that we're very thankful that Jesus saves sinners.

Without it, he'd have no hope. And that's the reality that he saves sinners and he does it for his name and for his glory. And so he says, I'm writing to you because this is true for you in Christ. Second thing he says, this is in verse 13 and twice. And in 14, he says, I'm writing to you fathers because you know him who is from the beginning. I write to you children because you know the father.

I write to you fathers because you know him who is from the beginning. Him who is from the beginning is God, but more specifically Christ. That's the way he refers to Christ, that that which was from the beginning, which we have seen, which we have heard. It's this Jesus, the word incarnate, Jesus, God incarnate. And then he says, you know him. And he talks later, he says that if you know the son, you know the father.

And so he's saying that we have the father and the son. We know the father and the son. And he says, I'm writing this to you because you belong, because you've placed your faith in him, because you are Christians. And that we actually know him who is from the beginning. And we know the father. And I think there's two things that are extremely encouraging.

There's a bunch, but we're going to talk about two. They're extremely encouraging from this. First, there's something about us that desires to know what's really going on. Something about us that desires to be in on the secret. To know what's at work behind the scenes. There's something so wonderful when Toto ran behind that curtain and they snatched it back.

And there was just a guy talking into a microphone. And that big green face wasn't that scary anymore, was it? He's like, man, just push that old guy to the ground. You're like, you got an axe, do your thing. But they didn't do that.

That's not how the movie ends. But there's something about that. And there's something about us that kind of desires and thinks, do I really know all there is to know? Do I really have the information I need to have? Am I right about this? Is there more to this?

And you'll meet people sometimes and they'll go, well, you know, you really need to know how to really read the Bible. You really got to start figuring out the Numbers. Or I know the secret secrets. And he says, no, I'm writing to you because you know him who is from the beginning. The mystery has been revealed in Christ. The mystery is him who is from the beginning coming to join us and to become human.

Don't demystify that. Don't grow used to that so you fail to see how beautiful that is. That we know the creator of the universe in Christ who has died for us. And we have the hope that lasts for all eternity. It's him who is from the beginning. There is no secret secrets.

It was ready to be revealed at the last time it's been revealed in Christ. That is our hope. It is beautiful. Magnificent. Glorious. And it's pretty straightforward.

There's hope in Christ. And there's hope nowhere else. And we know him who is from the beginning. And in knowing him, we know the father. And we get to become children. Children.

And I don't know your family situation. I don't know if you've ever been in a situation where you got to walk into a house. Where the sounds and the smells and the voices helped untie you. That you just got to loosen up and you were free. And maybe there was extended family there. And you were just excited to get to talk to everybody in the room.

You didn't meet a stranger. You just went from person to person that you belonged to. And they belonged to you. And it was just free and joyous. And where you could hear laughter in the other room. And everything was warm and safe and good.

And you felt finally like you were in the place you were meant to be. And there were times where you just caught that for just a moment. I don't know your family situation. I don't know if that's true for you. But I know that if you're in Christ, it will be eternally true for you.

We don't wear name tags in heaven. It's not a glorious, eternal meet and greet. Which I know some of y'all have to gear yourselves up just to be here on Sunday and talk to a person. You're like, I'm going to do it. They said I'm supposed to. We're a family.

We're going to do this for eternity. I'm going to meet a person. I'm going to meet a person. I got this. I got this. I got this.

Hey, my name's Chet. It's me tonight. You. I'm going home. I'm done. That was it.

I'm never talking to another person. I'll see y'all in eternity. I'm going to go sit over here and drink coffee until my eyes cross. In heaven, every time we get at his glorious table, every time we're in this house, he went to prepare a place for us where we all belong, where we're all children and brothers and sisters. There is no time where you're uncomfortable or where you're around someone that you haven't longed to be around and would enjoy for eternity. There's no time where we aren't in where we're meant to be.

And he says, I'm writing this to you not because you need extra secrets. And I'm writing this to you not because you don't belong, but because you do belong. That you're in. You've been made into the family. That's the tone of this letter. He says, look me in the face.

You're supposed to be here. And if you're a Christian, you're supposed to be here. You belong. I make things awkward. I feel uncomfortable. So what?

People in our church gave me a cup that says I came, I saw, I made it awkward. I make things awkward all the time. I have the benefit of not feeling real uncomfortable about it. But we belong. If I'm in Christ, if you're in Christ, we eternally belong to one another because we eternally belong to him. And that's not being changed because it was accomplished through the work of Christ.

We know him who is from the beginning. And we have the father and we're children. Third thing he says. He says this twice. The first one's kind of the headline. And then he gives a little more information.

But he says this, I'm writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. And then in 14, I write to you, young men, because you are strong and the word of God abides in you and you have overcome the evil one. So you have overcome the evil one is the headline. There's more to it. You're strong. The word of God abides in you.

You have overcome the evil one. So we're going to go in that order. You are strong. If you belong to Jesus, that's biblically, eternally true for you. You are strong. Spencer stood up here and said 500 years ago, we're celebrating Reformation.

It's Reformation Day. Some of you are like, I thought it was Halloween. Same day. A hundred years ago, Albert Halloween. No, I'm just kidding. That's not true.

We got some reformedness in us. So if I say you're weak, yes. You're small, yes. You're dead in your trespasses and sins, yes. Like that's the stuff, like I'm ready to hear that. You've sinned, I have.

You're ugly, I know. We have some of that. You're strong. And you want to say, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Without Christ, I'm weak. Without Christ, I'm small.

Without Christ, I'm frail. Without Christ, I'm vulnerable. Without Christ, I'm dangling over the pit of hell. Yes, but you aren't without Christ. You are not strong. You are not weak.

You are strong in Him. We're weak in ourselves. We're strong in Him. You are not vulnerable. You are not about to be lost. You are not about to be overcome.

You are not about to be sunk or swamped or stolen or captured or taken. Not if you were in Christ. None of those are even remotely close to being true for you. You are in an unpluckable hand of the Father who you have been purchased by the blood of the eternal Son of God. You are strong. Now, you say, well, okay, I'm strong in Him.

Yes, but you're in Him. You're in. So I don't mind if mentally you have to walk out the I'm weak on my own, but I'm in Christ. I'm not on my own, and so therefore I'm strong. That's what Paul says. He says, I glorify my weakness because when I'm weak, I'm strong.

I don't mind if you have to do that so that you feel like your theology is right. That's fine. That's fine. But don't walk around feeling weak and small and vulnerable with bad theology. To the glory of God. Put your shoulders back.

Stick your head up. To the glory of God. Walk like you are free and purchased and you have hope and nothing can get you. Because you walk in Christ. One of the things that they say about Americans when they go abroad is that they're extremely loud. That Americans don't know how loud they are.

They walk around just being loud and they use loudness to translate to other languages. There's something about the ethos of Americans that they just kind of feel safe wherever they are. Right or wrong. Jesus is better than America. We're safer in him. You are strong because you are in Christ.

There's no room for fearfulness, for pitifulness, for I'm so small. None of that. None of that that doesn't roll into the glorious praise of a king who has made you not that in him. You can start there. I'm fine. I'm fine with that.

That's the beginning of a good sermon. I'm weak. I'm sinful. I'm pitiful. Come on. Let's go.

And you get the end. No, boo. Get your Bible out. That's not the end. I'm weak. I'm small.

I'm vulnerable. I'm in Christ. I'm gloriously victorious for eternity. I'm strong. I have hope. And nothing can get me to the praise of his glorious grace.

He says you are strong. I'm writing this to you are strong. And I want you to hear that. He's not saying I'm writing this to you because you're weak and you're vulnerable. And I had to write this. And I hope it gets there in time.

That's not what he's doing. I write this because you are strong. And the word of God abides in you. Here's what he's saying here. This word of God that abides in you is not small and simple and fit in your pocket. This word of God that he's talking about that abides in you is the written scriptures.

But it is not limited to the written scriptures. It includes that. See the written scriptures are an expression of the word of God. But the word of God has existed from eternity past. The word of God has become incarnate in Christ. The word of God created all of eternity.

The word of God is the gospel that has come to you as Paul says. This word of God is an eternal hope filled conquering truth. And he says it's in you. And he's later going to talk about the anointing that's in you. It's this empowered by the Holy Spirit that seals you and keeps you. He's going to tell them later, I'm not worried about y'all.

I don't even have to teach you things because the word of God's in you. Because this anointing is in you. Pentecostal brothers and sisters are like, yes. And our reformed people are like, well, you do have to teach. You're going to have to teach the things. Here's what he's saying.

This word is in you. The truth of the gospel is in you. You know this. And I'm not worried about you. Because he's in you and the gospel has captured you, nothing else can. I know where you end up.

I'm writing. I think he gives some instruction. He's teaching them and says, I don't have to teach you. But it's helpful. But I'm not fearful.

If it doesn't make it to one of the congregations, if they belong to Jesus, if the gospels actually come to them, if the Holy Spirit's actually there, they're going to get it okay. They're going to make it to the end. Because he's the one who keeps it. He's the one who authors it. He's the one who works it. He says, the word of God is in you.

I'm not sweating this. Do you ever think, am I going to mess this up? Am I going to get this wrong? Am I going to... You ever reading back through your Bible and you see something and go, how did I not know that before? Oh my goodness, how long is it going to be?

How often am I going to keep learning things that I needed to know? How often am I going to be so confused and wavered? Am I going to mess this up? John says, no. Do you belong to Jesus? He's going to get you there.

Yeah, you'll have to learn. He's going to teach you. He's going to correct you. But if the word of God's in you, the correction will work. You'll hear it. You'll change.

He's already perfected us and he is perfecting us. All right, back to the headline. You have overcome the evil one. We believe in a literal devil, Satan, who's the enemy of God, humanity, God's people, who actively steals, kills, destroys, harms, lies, accuses. He's an adversary. He's powerful.

Harmful. If you don't understand that, then you don't know how beautiful this is to say you have overcome the evil one. South Carolina fans still talk about beating Alabama. Alabama. Because it was awesome. But it's only awesome because Alabama is big and good.

We don't talk a ton about beating some of these random teams that we can't even remember their name. Sometimes because we didn't beat them. So we don't talk about it. The reason he lists this is that we've overcome the evil one is because that is the enemy. It would be like if you watched through the whole Avengers franchise, movies, the things I like to watch and talk about. If the subtitles are on, I have pressed the wrong button at my house.

It would be like if they defeat Thanos and they save the world. And in the next movie, they're like, we found out that there's a kid named Mikey who's being a bully at this middle school. Avengers assemble. Avengers assemble. We've overcome the evil one through Christ. Who else is scary?

What else are they going to do? What war has to be won? Ultimately. We should. Christians should not be fear mongers. All right, this is coming.

This is going to happen. Oh. Yeah, we can make wise decisions. And yeah, we ought not to get into. I mean, the real war happens and causes problems, but we don't. We're all terrified.

We're conquerors, more than conquerors through Christ who loves us. We've overcome the enemy, the evil one. There's freedom and hope and life. No one can get us. So if you've been walking through life and you're like, I'm scared, I'm anxious, I'm fearful.

If first John has made that worse, John stops, grabs you, says, look at my face. No. Not if you're in Christ. I'm writing this to be helpful. I'm writing this to clarify. I'm writing this with my shoulder next to yours so that we can look and make wise decisions about how to live in the church.

And yeah, there's some things you need to consider and apply. But look at me. If you belong to Jesus, your sins are forgiven. You know Christ who was from the beginning and you've been brought into the family. You know the Father. You are strong.

The word of God is in you. And you've conquered the evil. Not on your own, but through Christ. So all glory to Christ. But we glorify Christ by living like this is true.

If I'm walking with my sons through some place that is scary and they say they're scary and I say, don't worry about it. I'm here. Hold my hand. They do me great honor by stopping being scared and looking at me going, OK. And if they kept being scared, eventually I'd be going, don't you? I got this.

That's what he's saying. He said, you belong to Jesus. You're OK. He's not wringing his hands. He's not fretting. What?

If this is true for us in Christ. If you if you can't sin and mess this up. Which if you're afraid of things, your own sins got to be a big category, right? But if you belong to Jesus and you can't sin and mess this up because he's going to forgive us and that ultimately he'll get us to the end. If you're not going to get wayward because the word of God is in you and so that at some point you'll be brought back. Belong to church family.

Someone to correct you. There'll be something. The Holy Spirit will bring you back. Like if you actually belong to him, he's going to keep you. You say, OK, well, like an actual like physical harm. Yeah.

OK. Jesus at one point says, don't be afraid of those who can just kill the body. It's pretty big, though. Killing my body is the thing I'm actually afraid of. Like. But we know him who's from the beginning and we're a child of the father.

That's a glorious reunion. We finally go home. And if the enemy's already been conquered. You're unconquerable. That's the hope we have in Christ. So the band's going to come back up and we're going to sing to Jesus about how glorious he is.

We're going to sing like our sins have been forgiven. We're going to sing like we've been made strong in the work of Christ. We're going to sing like the word of God dwells in us and keeps us and guides us and leads us. We're going to sing like the enemy has been conquered and there is no fear any longer about how things are going to work out. Because Jesus is a glorious king who saves to the uttermost all those who would call on his name and will not lose one. You are not hanging by a string.

You are not dangling at the edge. You are not wondering to be lost. You are not a blemish that somehow snuck in. You are not marked or scarred or covered or fearful or to be lost. If you are in Christ, you are clean and holy and righteous and beautiful and welcomed and loved and guarded and kept to a glorious eternity where we praise the glorious king who redeems sinners like us to the praise of his glorious grace and his glorious work that he's accomplished on the cross. So we gather to learn.

Yeah, there's some things we're going to read and study we need to take seriously. But we need to take it seriously like people who have had their sins forgiven and who have hope in Christ that's unconquerable. We need to take it seriously like this is real and it matters, but joyously and confidently in Christ. With smiles on our face, with our heads held up. Walking not in our sin because we don't walk in our sin anymore. Walking not in our shame because our shame has been taken away.

Walking not in fear because he's conquered the enemy. Walking with joy and delight and hope that is not grounded in you, your temperament, your behavior, your wisdom. But to the praise of Jesus. He takes a ragtag group like us. And gets us to eternity. Amen.

A ragtag group like us. And he brings us to an eternal home where there's joy and hope and life. Let's pray. Lord, may we not forget this. And in our moments when we feel weak and small and scared and sinful. May the Apostle John grab us by the shoulders and say, Don't you know Christ?

Aren't you in him? Praise be to his glorious name that he saves sinners, that his word abides in us, that you have conquered the evil one, and that in you we are strong. And we belong to you as your children forever. We know Christ. May we worship and live like it. In Jesus' name.

Amen. Y'all stand listening together. Amen.

Love the Brothers (1 John 2:7-11)

Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet this week.

Love the Brothers (1 John 2:7-11)

Chet Phillips

Download

Transcript

This is the message we have heard from Him and declare to you. God is light. In Him, there is no darkness at all. This is how we know what love is. Jesus Christ laid down His life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.

I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life. Good morning. Our church has four pastors. In 1 Peter, it says that Jesus is the chief shepherd. So we think that we have a senior pastor is Christ and that we're an elder team.

We're a team of pastors. We don't have a senior pastor. We have four pastors. Two of us have the privilege of being able to work full-time for our church, and two of our pastors have other jobs and still serve our church as much as they can. Spencer and I take turns preaching. And it's not to take turns.

He preaches about half the time. I preach about half the time. We go back and forth. This week, he was slated to preach this sermon. We walk through it together on Tuesday. We always one person writes and preps everything, and then we work on them together to make sure that we're not completely out of bounds on something.

You know, if you make up a new bit of theology, it's probably wrong. So we just try to make sure that we're on the same page, and the Spirit's leading us in unity on that. And he walked through it on Tuesday, and it was so bad that he gave himself COVID so he wouldn't have to preach it. I say that to say this. If you've ever heard one of my sermons that I had a lot of time to prepare and plan for, and had someone help me work on and make sure it was organized, and still thought that was a bit all over the place, buckle up. We're going to be in 1 John chapter 2.

We're walking through 1 John together this morning. We're going to study verses 7 through 11 together. One of my favorite things about getting to ride around in small towns is to see the signs that small towns put up for the things that they're bragging about. Like, Irmo, you ride through, and it's like, the home of the okra strut. Well, good for you, Irmo. When I was working pools for my parents growing up, I would have to ride through some small towns in Georgia and Harlem.

They have signs that say it's the birthplace of Oliver Hardy, which was from Laurel and Hardy, and they have this face painted all over everything. In Waynesboro, Georgia, they have this giant water tower that says, Bird Dog Capital of the World. So Waynesboro's really getting it done. And they got all the bird dogs. But it's fun.

You're right there, and you see these things that people are bragging about. And these small towns are saying, This kind of marks us. This defines us. This is what we're known for. And as we're looking in this passage today, John's going to be talking about something that the church is supposed to be known for. Something that if the church got together and had a water tower, this is what we should put on it.

This is what we're known for. This is what we're supposed to be famous for. And so we're going to study this together and try to hopefully identify this in ourselves and repent where we need to, but to be people who are known for this in KC, South Carolina, in the year 2021. So let's pray. Oh, let's read the whole text together, then we'll pray, and then we'll walk through it. So this is the whole text we're going to look at today.

It says, Beloved, I am writing you no new commandment, but an old commandment that you had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word that you have heard. At the same time, it is a new commandment that I am writing to you, which is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining. Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness. Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling. But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

Let's pray. Lord, we pray that you would bless our time this morning as we study your words together as your people brought together by the work of your son. We pray that you would help us to grow and that if we are stumbling around in darkness, that you would help us to not be blinded any longer, but that we might see clearly. And we ask, Lord, that your Holy Spirit would help us to love one another in the way that you have loved us. In Jesus' name, amen. All right, so let's look back at the beginning.

He says, Beloved, I'm writing you no new commandment, but an old commandment that you had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word that you have heard. At the same time, it is a new commandment that I'm writing to you. What? I love John, but sometimes he writes some things and it's like, what are you talking about? He's saying, we've been told this from the beginning.

We've heard this in the word that was proclaimed all along. And it's this idea that we are to love. That this is the greatest commandment, Jesus says, is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself. That God very early on said, if you're going to belong to me, you're going to be a people that loves. But then Jesus tells his disciples, I'm giving you a new commandment on top of these, and that is to love one another especially.

Love one another in a distinct way, as almost the pinnacle of love, as the love in the church. And they've had that from the beginning of the proclamation of the gospel, but it's also new. But also the command of love is not a new command. That's been around forever. So there's this command that's not a new command, but it is a new command, but you've had it the whole time.

That's what he's talking about. John 13, 34, this is the command where Jesus says it. And this is John, the John who wrote this letter, wrote this gospel about his time spent with Jesus. He says this, A new commandment I give to you, so this is Jesus speaking to his disciples, that you love one another just as I have loved you. You also are to love one another. By this, all people will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another.

This love in the church, for the church, by the church, as brothers and sisters in Christ, is to be the thing that marks us. He says, by this they will know that you belong to me by the way that you love one another. So this is the thing we put on our water tower. Now, the brother here is not a biological brother. It is brothers in Christ. So if you're just reading this, the English is going to trick you a little bit because you might read it and go, okay, well, I've got two brothers, so that's what it's talking about.

And you might read it and say, I'm an only child, off the hook on this one. Some of you might be like, well, I've got a sister. She's the worst, but that's fine because it's just talking about brothers. No, what it's saying is this word brother means brothers and sisters, and it means in the church, those who belong to Christ. The word is actually in Greek, the word brother, but Greek does something that English doesn't. Spanish does it, does this, where the word brother can include brothers and sisters.

So every time you read, that's why some translations will say brothers and sisters, others will just say brothers, but it's meant to be brothers and sisters or siblings in the family of God. And John defines for us what he means by this in 1 John chapter three. So one chapter over, he says this, see what kind of love the father has given to us that we should be called children of God. And so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Okay, just trying to help you see when it's saying brother, it means children of God.

And he does have a distinction between those who are in the family of God through the work of Christ and the world. Those who are not in the family of God through the work of Christ. The idea of the brotherhood of man, while we get some of that from scripture, the idea that we're all made in the image of God and therefore everyone has dignity and value, there is something distinct about the church that we are an eternal family through the work of Christ. This is what John says at the beginning of his gospel, that he gave the right to all who would believe in him to become children of God. And so that's who he's talking about.

So in order for us to understand this passage, we have to know that. We have to know that when he says brother, he means brothers and sisters in Christ. The church. Our church family, both locally and globally, we are to love one another. And so he says this, back in verse 8. At the same time, it is a new commandment that I'm writing to you, which is true in him, that's Jesus, and in you, that's you, the church, people he's writing to, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining.

And this is an imagery that he uses throughout his letter, this idea of light and darkness and walking in the light. Oh, I'm going to do it this way. Walking in the light and walking in darkness. That we would be in the light as he is in the light, that we would confess our sins, that we would, as we obeyed commandments, we would be in the light. As we love one another, we would be in the light. And then there's darkness.

And in some ways in John's framework, what he's saying, the true light is already shining, is that it's like a sunrise. I love being outside when the sun starts to rise. It just slowly, almost imperceptibly, the color starts to change over here. And you really can't tell at first, but then you start realizing, wait a second, no, it's different. And then at some point it's like, okay, it's actually starting to be daytime over here, but I can turn and it's still night over here. And you start realizing that you're able to see more, that even though the sun hasn't come up, you're starting to, it's revealing things to you.

And in some ways that's what John's saying, is that Jesus, when he was in the incarnation, in his life, in his death, in his resurrection, he's the sunrise. It's breaking through and piercing the darkness. That's some of what makes this command new, is that it was given to us as something that we were not able to live out, but now it's true in him and in us, because the light has begun to shine. That we're actually able, empowered to love this way, because he's loved us this way. We've seen what this is supposed to look like, and so that it's shining. And so in John's framework, those who love Jesus are running towards the light.

Ultimately, that light is going to conquer. The darkness is being broken. It's going to take over. But we're running towards the light. In confession of sin, he says in chapter one. In obedience, in chapter two.

And in love, that we're covering now, that the church gathers in, stands in the light. And that's why he keeps saying, if you say I'm in the light, but you're practicing things that happen in the dark, you're a liar. Some people have fled from the light, and are hiding over here. Now eventually the light's going to conquer. That's some of what he's saying. So let's look at verse 10.

Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling. So he says if you love your brother, if you love the church, if you love fellow Christians, that's living in the light. Whoever does that is over here. Whoever's operating that way, living that way, has run to the light. And I love the idea when he says abides in. Because in chapter one he says, that we're going to sin.

Meaning that we're going to fall short. And he even tells us that when we do, he doesn't want us to sin, but when we do, this is the beginning of chapter two, when we do, there's propitiation, there's forgiveness in Christ. So Christians at times are able to have behaviors, and do things that line up better with the darkness, than the light. But the question is, where do you abide? Where do you live? Where have you taken up residence?

Because sometimes Christians sin, and he says, but when we do, we take that back to Jesus, we walk in the light, we have forgiveness, and we move on. But if your life is characterized, by living over here, he says, you don't know Jesus. If your life is characterized by hatred, or is it characterized by love? Now it helps us to understand, what he means by love. So that we can begin to evaluate, am I abiding over here, or am I abiding over there?

Because if there's one thing you're good at, it's lying to yourself. Oh, you're so good at it. You just told yourself, no I'm not. And you believed yourself. That we're good at this. We're good at tricking ourselves.

We're good at looking and going, well I know I didn't do something that was right, but my motives are good, and I'm kind of good over here. We just, we can justify almost anything. And so we need to be able to see, what does he mean, so that we can begin to evaluate, not in our estimation, but in his, whether or not we're doing this. So what does he mean by love? Because when we read the word, just like we said when we read the word brother, it can trick us. The same thing with the word love, that we have a cultural definition, but it helps to look in the context, and see, does John define love for us?

Good question. Yes he does. And he gives us a really simple, helpful definition, that we'll spend more time on later, but it helps us to look at today. John, 1 John 3.16. By this, we know love. So this is how we know what love is.

This is how we know love. That he, this Jesus, laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. He says, do you want to know love? Do you want a definition of love? Self-sacrifice. Sacrifice.

That he laid down his life for us, and therefore, when we love, we ought to lay down our lives for others. So as we try to figure out what does John mean about loving the brothers and living in the light, or hating the brothers and being in the dark, one of the best questions to ask is, where is self? Are you elevating self? Or are you sacrificing self? Because Christian love has a posture of self-sacrifice. That those around me in the church matter more than I do.

That their preferences, their desires, their cares, their hurts, their weaknesses, that they matter more than mine. That I'm not here for me, I'm here for them. I'm here for my brothers and sisters in Christ to make things better. That that's self-sacrificial love that we see modeled in Christ and that we're supposed to display in the world. And this is some of what he's saying when he says, this is how they'll know that you belong to me. Is that you'll look like me in self-sacrificing love.

Now, there's one place that I know of that we see this regularly and expect it and in some ways are repulsed when it's not present. When we see this kind of love in friendship, it's beautiful. When we see it in romantic relationships, it's beautiful. But we don't always see it in those categories. But one of the places I think we see it very regularly is in the way that parents love their children. that you'll see quite often parents sacrificing for the sake of their children and part of us expects that.

It's weird and repulsive when we don't see it. When you see a parent that's putting their needs above their child, it's like, ah, no, that doesn't fit right. That doesn't look right. The parents are supposed to. Now, pause for just a second. I think Americans can get this wrong where they build their entire life around their children and worship them.

And that's not what I'm talking about. But move it to some self-sacrificial, I'm here for your good. If someone's got to go hungry, it's the parents, not the children. If someone's got to take harm, it's the parents, not the children. If someone's going to be inconvenienced or made uncomfortable, it's the parents, not the children. I'm not talking about chores and difficulties where you try to help your children grow into good, healthy adults.

I'm talking about where really parents understand that I exist for the sake of protecting and caring for and developing these children. And we see it all the time. This is one of the reasons why a happy married couple has children and then has a hard time relating to one another because some amount of their love has shifted. That they love their children in a self-sacrificing manner and have started to expect more out of their spouse. No longer am I self-sacrificing for you. You're supposed to be sacrificing for me as I sacrifice for the children.

And it messes up the tone of love which is meant to be freed and enjoyed as we sacrifice for others. That's actually the best place that we have the most love. You are less frustrated with your children even though they're the worst people in your house. It's just true. Because you have set in your mind that I'm here for their good and so you don't evaluate it all the time on what am I getting out of this. If you have an infant and you ask well what am I getting out of this?

Nothing. Torture. And you're like I just wish they can talk and then they start talking and they have opinions and they say rude things and you're like I wish they would shut up. I love my children. But there is something about the fact that you have set yourself up in a way that I'm here for their good that this doesn't factor in as to what I'm getting out of this.

And you're free and it's delightful. But when we enter into situations with well what am I getting out of this? How is it working for me? We've ceased to model Christian love. And it robs us of joy. And that we are meant to show up.

Can you imagine what it would be like if you got out of the car this morning and you were completely free from self? And you walked in here and you were just looking for people that you could serve that you could talk to that you could encourage. Someone walks by and doesn't seem to notice you and you think hey I wonder if they're having a hard time rather than why wouldn't they talk to me? Or I notice they're talking to them and they don't want to talk to me. You didn't talk to them. But that's not how this works.

They're supposed to talk to me. We sometimes can get in this where we're strutting around I'm the most important person in the room. But could you imagine what it looks like among a group of people where that's not the attitude? I'm here to serve. I'm here to make this place better. You see a mess and you think how can I clean that up rather than why is it so junky around here all the time?

Someone does something that's frustrating and you give them the benefit of the doubt and you assume maybe they're having a hard time and that maybe they need more care from you and more love from you and more grace from you that we respond with kindness and generosity. And we do this. That's what I'm saying. It's helpful to look at how this interacts this happens with children. Children come in and throw a little fit and a lot of times parents go what's wrong buddy? But when I walk in and throw a fit like that my wife never goes what's wrong buddy?

And that's our general attitude is that we need to understand that we exist for the good of the others and when we do that there's joy and delight and freedom because we look like Jesus and his spirits at work among us. This is why. Mission trips. I always love the recap night of mission trips when people share what's happened. We got a mission trip we're trying to plan and go to Honduras next year. Be praying for that that'll work out and that with COVID and everything we'll be able to get a team down there to help the Rockies who are in Honduras.

But what happens a lot of times is people when I was growing up in my church people would come back for mission trips and they'd get up to share and what they would say is I went there to bless them. I can't do this without sounding real southern because that's the church I went there to bless them. I was blessed. Every time. And do you know why? It's the one time that we're able to really flip the switch in our mind that I'm just going here to serve this isn't about me.

And when that switch gets flipped the promises of Christ where it's better to give than it is to receive begin to be a blessing in our lives and that's what John is saying is that Christians look like they don't think they're the most important person in the room. Christians love as if self doesn't matter and everybody else around them does and it is beautiful when it happens. That's why he says in him so whoever loves his brother abides in the light in him there is no cause for stumbling. We're meant to put Christ on display and when we're operating in self-sacrificial love we're doing it so no one trips over us.

Nobody goes well I know some Christians and whoo I went to one of their business meetings and it broke out in a fist fight. We look like we actually are here to serve and here to make things better and here to love one another. We look like Christ. If you're doing a puzzle you dump all the pieces out you look at the box to try to understand what kind of puzzle am I making? What's this picture supposed to look like? You can get puzzles wrong or right and you make the puzzle and it looks like the box and we're supposed to look like Christ.

So we're supposed to look at him and go how are we supposed to do this? And if you've ever done a puzzle with a child or at least my child he every once in a while just decides this is where this piece goes and makes it work. And then you're trying to work on the puzzle and you're going what is going on over here? I can't find it and then you realize who stuffed this in here? And you stumble over it. It makes it not work.

And so that when we as Christians live as if Jesus is at work in us and that our model for love is self-sacrificial love and we show up being the least important person in the room all of us then no one stumbles because it looks like a whole bunch of Jesus got together. But when we show up with the opposite attitude we trip over each other we run into each other we stumble and people stumble over us because we're not putting on display what we ought to be putting on display. So let's look at John's definition of hate let's begin to understand what he's saying here. So verse 9 Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness.

John says I don't care that you say you know Jesus. If you say oh I'm in the light I'm over here with Jesus he says but if you operate in hate towards your brothers no you're not. Now in my sunrise illustration you have the sun over here it's lit up you have where it still looks dark over here and then you got this whole big middle section where it's kind of both. In John's light darkness stuff he doesn't have a big middle section where it's kind of both. He has you abide in the light or you abide in darkness. You love or you hate.

We have a category in between love and hate. neutral. I don't know them. I know them and they're kind of annoying but I'm not going to fight them over it. John doesn't have that category. He has you live self-sacrificially for the benefit of others or you have drifted into functional hate. hate. that's uncomfortable but it's good for us to hear that we can practice hatred in very simple ways. Now certainly it can be active and aggressive.

Certainly there are people who actively hate the church and rail against the church and who would say I'm a Christian but I've gotten rid of the church and I don't have anything to do with the church because the church and it's like he just says they're not that's not a Christian so I don't care if you're following their podcast or them online or their Facebook they're not you can't hate the church and belong to Jesus. So he gives us a category.

For that. There's also a way for us to be actively in opposition to the church and be here for you to hang out with your group slander other people be constantly bitter and angry towards other people show up here on a Sunday with an attitude of we'll see if they actually notice I'm here this time and be functionally in contempt of your church family operating with hatred towards them that in some ways we have the choice between being a Christian and being a consumer living as.

If I'm here for the benefit of others or they're here for the benefit of me. We took my son my older son we hadn't gotten to go back but we took my older son to Disneyland Disney World not Disneyland that one's the far away one took him to the one we could drive to we went to Disney World he was three or something but we thought it would be fun to go we saved up and we went and the best thing that happened.

While we were there was he lost his voice and it's not because he couldn't talk I love my son I love the stuff he has to say it's because he had no concept for losing his voice and so he lost his mind when he lost his voice because it's just loud you have to talk loud so the end of like the second day we were there he went to say something and he was like and we had to be like it's.

Okay buddy because we knew what was happening if I start losing my voice I think oh I'm losing my voice but for him it was like this is witchcraft I had to actually grab him and be like it's okay while laughing hysterically at him but when we first got there when we first got there we my son when he enjoys things especially when he thinks new if he's enjoying something he's enjoyed before he might smile he might be relaxed but when it's new he just looks like this all the time he just he's taking everything in.

But you don't know like when you're little real little and you're playing with him he'd just stare at you and you would get done he'd go do it again and you're like okay he enjoyed it I had no clue now you gotta stop and see like am I tormenting you like he so the first bit of us being at Disney World that's all he's doing you know he's riding the rod and so we we got to where we were asking him.

Because we came primarily for his enjoyment we thought this would be fun you know but you take a little kid on it's a small world and he's like you know it's like okay you know so we started asking him did you like that was that fun trying to get him to you know calm down enjoy this you know was that fun did you like that did you we started doing this and about three hours in we had messed him all up.

Because he had become a little tyrant we were here for his pleasure and it messed him up I had to look at my wife and say we're done asking him we're all gonna enjoy this and he'll enjoy it or not but we're done making him think that he's got to evaluate everything and rank everything and decide whether or not he loves or doesn't love everything enjoyed or didn't enjoy everything because it's messing up his little heart he did have fun he couldn't tell it from his face and I don't know where he got that.

But we can do that to ourselves you can go to the happiest place on earth and if all you do is evaluate and grade everything and decide that everything's just there for your enjoyment and did you like that or did I not like that and did I like that better you can just rob yourself of joy and we can walk around in our church family just absolutely robbing ourselves of joy and somehow convince ourselves that it's everybody else's fault when in reality we're meant to.

Look like Jesus and when we do there's joy and delight and freedom and hope and the truth is this happens all the time that we shift into consumer mode and it messes us up because we're not designed to be there that we're walking in darkness and we're going to run into everything and everybody I'm going to give you a couple of ways that I think this shows up to try to help us identify this there's a bunch but I'm going to give you a couple one is to be a consumer everything's here.

For me for my tastes my desires did I like that did I like the way they did that music did I like the way they came and what they said when our group got together did I like how this happened did I like the way they were handling that or I don't really appreciate how our group does this or I don't really like that this person says that and that somehow everybody's here for you like you like you don't belong to the family those of you who are younger I encourage you to try that.

When you go home for Thanksgiving sit down at the table and act like it's a restaurant see how much joy you bring to the Thanksgiving my potatoes were cold take these back this isn't what I ordered if you have good parents there will be some good correction that comes out of that and it will be good for your soul but that's the truth that we show up at the church and act like I don't belong here I'm not part of the family I'm a customer.

And then you say I don't feel like I belong here and it's like well you assumed that position when you showed up as a customer you show up to your group as a consumer and then say I don't feel like I'm a fan I'm family here and it's like well you set the default show up and serve let me tell you something stay late and clean you'll feel more like family show up with something that you prepared beforehand you'll feel more like family stop talking.

Listen when somebody says they're hurting call them check in on them when somebody's not there call and check on them you'll feel more like family but if you sit around going well I didn't really like that I didn't like that nobody ever brings them yeah yeah you won't feel like you belong because you've already chosen that by your posture we can assume the worst the functional way to hate each other is just to assume the worst this is why you start telling yourself other people's motives this is why they didn't talk to me this is why they made that face this is why they get together without me this is why this happened someone sins.

Against you and you just assume the worst and you go yeah that's just what they're like do you know that to correct someone in sin you have to assume some good things about them I have to assume that you probably didn't do this maliciously if you did do it maliciously I have to assume that the Holy Spirit is at work in you and you'll repent I have to actually think highly of you think highly of Christ think highly of his church think highly of his Holy Spirit.

For me to come correct you in sin and I think very lowly of you if you sin against me and I go well that's just how they are assuming the worst is a way that we can functionally live in the dark and hate our church family neglect is a beautiful form of hate just don't care somebody shares something they're going through you just don't care someone confesses sin you just don't care someone doesn't show up to your group you just don't care you don't show up to your group.

Because you just don't care group is there for your convenience every time that you don't show up because it would be inconvenient you have reinforced in your mind that your group exists for your convenience rather than you exist for your group every single time and after a while you'll just they're inconvenient and can I just be honest with you let me just step away from this for a second I guess it made it seem like I wasn't being honest over there.

But whatever your group is inconvenient it is I'm going to be honest with you I don't know exactly which group you're in but I can tell you that some of the people in that group are annoying just how it works it might not be annoying to me but you'll find someone in that group that annoys you and there's your opportunity to love like they're more important than you and to act like you belong to a family or to act like they exist.

For your benefit and walk a little further into the darkness we can just not care following Jesus is meant to make us warmer walking in the light is meant to warm our hearts towards one another not make us colder I love that this passage comes right on the heels of what he just said about following commands because there's an ability for us to convince ourselves that following the commands is just the moral imperatives of how I'm supposed to behave and therefore I'm one of the good ones and I'm.

So frustrated with these sinners that are all around me you ever met a Christian who says I'm a Christian I've been a part of my church for 57 years and it's the coldest most angry person you've ever met and it's like you haven't been in the light for 50 years you'd be so soft and warm and kind I'm going to be honest with you I've said this to other people I haven't said it to our church when First Baptist Church of Casey started coming to talk with us our church plant about a union us coming together we're going to celebrate two years in just a month we didn't feel like we could just say no.

And we thought let's get together and let's talk but my assumption was that we were walking into a hornet's nest my assumption was this was going to be the angriest most frustrated people you'd ever met and we walked in and we met people that acted like they'd been in the light of Christ for years and years I told people I expected Baptists and I met Christians there's a reality to when we walk with Jesus he does something in us that helps us think that we're not the most important person in the room and that he is and that others are and that.

When we show up to serve there's something beautiful about it something compelling about it and nobody stumbles and nobody runs into each other and if we don't before I say that let me say two things if following Jesus has made you colder has made you more self-righteous if you've sat through this thinking I'm so glad he's saying this because my group really needs to hear it you're in danger of being blinded to the fact that you may not be in the light Pharisees hear sermons and think I'm glad this person's here.

So that they can repent and they never see how it applies to them do not sit here and continue to elevate yourself but to understand that you need to walk in humility and grace towards the people around you secondly the love here we have infiltrated we have smuggled love smuggled this idea into love in our culture that love for us is all affirmation that it's all I'm supposed to if I really love you I'm just supposed to figure out what you want to do and clap.

For you that's not a Christian idea in love our picture for love is the cross which is sacrifice for the benefit of others but it is also correction without rejection that's Christian love our culture doesn't understand it the United States doesn't understand that they're going to say you're hateful if you try to correct anybody but I'm just letting you know the reality is if I'm walking with you and I actually believe this people say who are you to decide what's right and wrong nobody.

But I got a book and I know him who decided this stuff and I trust him but if I'm walking with you and I see that you're in sin and I don't want to address it I'll tell you some of the reasons most people cite for not wanting to address sin in someone else number one I don't want to seem judgmental well immediately you've elevated yourself and the perception of others to you two I don't want to ruin our relationship and again you've elevated your comfort and your desire.

For a relationship over the good of another person that you think if you actually believe the Bible is headed in the wrong direction towards harm and the reality is that you sacrifice yourself for their sake by correcting them in their sin because you believe they're more important than you and you believe good in them that the Lord would bring them back but even if he doesn't you understand that I love them enough to lose this relationship because it's for their good we are in danger of failing to.

See this this is what he says verse 11 but whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness and does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded his eyes we're in danger of not knowing where we're headed and this means functionally that we run into each other functionally we cause problems but it also means we think we're in the light if someone says they're in the light but they're walking in the darkness and he says that means they don't belong to.

Jesus then ultimately they're wandering around waiting to head to hell and the danger is that we would not realize that's where we're headed and that we'd be blind to it and so my encouragement to us this morning to look back at verse 8 he says this is true in him and in you because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining my encouragement would be to walk towards Jesus this morning and say shine your light on me and help me.

See this to walk towards him and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you where you've been blind where have I allowed self-exaltation to creep in so that I'm frustrated where have I allowed self-exaltation to creep in so that I'm mistreating those around me where have I begun to act like a consumer rather than a family member where have I begun to walk as if I'm the most important person and I'm so frustrated with this person in my group because they can't.

See it and if they just knew I was the most important person they wouldn't act like this to ask the Lord shine your light on me in the light of the gospel and help me to see it so that I might be free from it and that I might enjoy the delight that comes with walking as if I belong to you as the band comes back up and we begin to play I want to encourage you to do that in a moment we're going to take communion which is where we as Christians remind ourselves that we needed Jesus' sacrifice once.

For all for us we needed his body to be broken we needed his blood to be shed and that we proclaim his death until he comes but we're supposed to look at ourselves first we're supposed to evaluate ourselves and not take it flippantly and so I would encourage you to take a moment replace the music just sit for a minute and ask where have I been blind to my self-exaltation where have I robbed myself of joy where have I wandered in the darkness.

Because I have failed to follow Christ and enjoy the freedom that he gives and ask him Lord help me to see this and then when you're ready take communion but before you do you may have to go talk to somebody you may have to step out and make a phone call you may have to find somebody you say I've been mistreating you and I shouldn't be and then we'll take communion and we'll celebrate that Jesus Christ saves sinners like us and that he invites us into his light where there's freedom and joy and love and peace forever.

And if you're not a Christian we would invite you to run to Jesus and be redeemed we would invite you to see your sin and to repent and to have him who gave up his life for us give up his life for you and bring you into a family and then you'd be welcome to take communion for the very first time but if you aren't a believer we would ask that you don't take communion until you have trusted Jesus because this is a celebration of what he's done.

For us and what he's going to do for us and it's a celebration that we belong to him through his work on the cross and until that's true we just ask that you would refrain let's pray for we ask for the move of your Holy Spirit we ask that we would walk in the light of Christ that you might show us where we've been begun to wander in the darkness that you might remove where we've been blind we ask that your Holy Spirit would reveal that you would speak even.

Now to help us to see where we've allowed hatred to grow for we ask for repentance and the joy and the freedom and the delight that comes from that because when we do sin we have a sacrifice that covers us in our sin so that we get to walk in freedom and hope may we look like a family whose king gave himself up for us so that we ought to give ourselves up for others may this be a place filled with servants who delight in putting others.

First so that the warmth and the joy of the gospel is on display here help us to be quick to forgive quick to repent we ask this in Jesus name amen you continue to pray and as you are ready take communion.

Evidence of Love (1 John 2:1-6)

Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet this week.

Due to technical issues there is no recording of sermon audio or video for this week.

Our Advocate (1 John 2:1-2)

Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet this week.

Our Advocate (1 John 2:1-2)

Chet Phillips

Download

Transcript

This is the message we have heard from Him and declare to you. God is light. In Him, there is no darkness at all. This is how we know what love is. Jesus Christ laid down His life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.

I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know you have eternal life. Good morning. My name is Chet. I'm one of the pastors here. We are walking through the book 1 John. If you'll grab your Bibles and go to 1 John, we'll have the words on the screen.

We're going to look at two verses this morning. The letter of 1 John was written by the Apostle John to the church. And it was meant to be spread out and used throughout the church. And that's what we're doing still today. It's written to those who belong to Jesus for them to answer some questions and to be able to identify what it looks like to belong to Christ and what a church, the church, is supposed to look like. The identifying markers of the church.

Our aim this morning is pretty simple. So I'm going to give a bit of an illustration to try to help you picture what we're going for this morning and we'll get into it. Given the way my wife works right now and the way my wife, her job and my work and our sons in school, we spend a lot of time just kind of swapping off who's working, who's watching children. But every once in a while, if both of my sons are in school, I have about three hours where I have no responsibilities, no children, no demands on my time. I like to refer to this three hours as the best three hours ever. It's very rare.

I love my family. I love the work I get to do. But this happens once a week at best where I have about three hours. It used to be that I could get up early in the morning and have that time to myself. But my sons wake up at 5.30 in the morning.

So it's hard to want to get up that early to have that much time away from where it's still and quiet. So in that three hours, a lot of times what I'll do is I'll go somewhere where it's quiet and where I just get to kind of take in my surroundings. And so one of the places I love to go is I love to go to the river. And there's a spot by the river if you go like you're going to the zoo. And instead of going to the zoo, you turn right. There's a place over there where you can trespass and see the river.

They may have opened it now, so it may not be trespassing. And I was out there one day, and I'm watching the river. And it looks the same, but it looks constantly different. Like it's moving, but it's the same the whole time. There's some of those big river rocks out there, and it was right when it was starting to get warm, which I know in South Carolina is an ill omen. But I was just enjoying it that day.

It was earlier this year, and everything smelled green. Like I remember just standing there smelling, and everything smelled alive. I remember one time when I was young, my dad said that something smelled green, and I was like, how on earth can you smell a color? And I like thought that was crazy. But now I'm old enough to be able to smell colors, and it smelled green, and it was great.

And I was just soaking it in. And just, as Ecclesiastes says, that the eye never tires of seeing, and the ear never tires of hearing. And I'm just absorbed in God's beautiful creation, and just appreciating it, and just trying to gaze into it, and just take the time to slow down and enjoy something as beautiful, and as good as the scenery that I was in. And that's our goal today. Okay. There's a bit of doctrine in the two verses we're going to look at that is absolutely, breathtakingly beautiful.

So our goal, as we've gathered this morning to study this, is just to try to take it in. To just for a little bit gaze at the glorious nature of the salvation that we have in Christ, and just try to wrap our heads around it, try to get it into our hearts, try to grow in our love for Christ this morning as we see what He has done for us in the cross. And then respond in surrender and worship to a glorious Savior King. That's our hope this morning. So we're going to read the verse, we're going to pray, or the verses, we're going to pray, and then we're going to walk through it.

It says this, it's 1 John chapter 2 verses 1 and 2. My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins. And not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. Let's pray.

God, we ask that by the empowerment of Your Spirit, that we would be able to grasp the beauty of the reality of the propitiation in Christ. And we pray, Lord, that by Your Holy Spirit, those who believe would grow in their love and their worship of You. And those who do not yet believe, that You would draw them, that You would convict them, and that You would save them. So that they might participate in this glorious truth that is ours in Christ. In Jesus' name, amen. So John's writing, and he says, My little children.

It's an endearing term. He's older at this point. It's a bit condescending, but I don't think he means it that way. That he's loving and looking out for his family. And he says, My little children, I'm writing these things to you so that you may not sin. Now, that's helpful.

We need the apostles. We need those who are empowered by the Spirit to help us know how not to sin. To give us some direction. To give us some counsel. To guide us away from sin. Sin is bad.

And it's destructive. It harms us. It's a baited hook. Tastes good for a second. And then causes great harm. And so we want to not sin.

This idea of sin is missing the Mark. It's going past where you were supposed to. So it's rather than hitting what you were aiming at or what is right, you fail and you sin. Or that you, there's like a no trespassing sign. We're not supposed to go beyond this bounds, but we go beyond it. And it is what has ruined and destroyed the world.

It's where all the trouble and all the pain and all the hatred and all the injustice comes from. Our desire to sin. And so he says, I'm writing this so that you won't sin. But then his next word is a little bit odd. He says, but. Now you would expect, and if you're not familiar with Christianity, you would think that he would say, I'm writing to you that you wouldn't sin.

And immediately, if this is your first time hanging out, it's your first time looking at the Bible, you go, knew it. That's all they care about. That's come on. I'm in here at Good Behavior Club. And then he says, you would think he would say, so. Therefore, the rest of the thing would be lists of do's and don'ts.

That's not what he does. He says, I'm writing that you might not sin. He doesn't want us to sin. He says, but. If anyone does sin. You ever just see yourself show up in the Bible?

Isn't that nice that that's there? I'm hoping it gets better from here. But he's making some. I know. I don't want you to sin. We don't want to sin.

Collectively don't want to sin. But if we do. Then he goes into what happens next. But if anyone does sin. We. Have an advocate with the father.

Jesus Christ. The righteous. Now in order for that statement to be as beautiful. And as appreciated as it needs to be. We have to understand how sin works. Because the first question you need to ask is.

Why do we need an advocate with the father? If you don't understand the nature of sin. You have to ask. Why do I need an advocate with the father? If you understand the American legal system. And you and I are out doing.

Hooligan things. And. You go to get arrested. And as they're. You know. Making sure you don't hit your head.

They've already beat you up. But now they're really worried about the front of your head. And they're getting you in the car. And I said. Don't worry. My dad's a lawyer.

And then they close the door. That information makes sense to you. That's helpful information to have. Because you understand. I'm going to have to face a judge. I'm going to need a lawyer.

But if I yelled at you. Don't worry. Village idiot has buy one get one free pizza on Mondays. You're like. I don't. What?

I'm still. What does that have to do with. Anything. If you don't understand. What's happening here. Then him saying.

Jesus is our advocate. Is like. I don't. Okay. What happens with my sin and the father. Like.

I need to understand this. This reality of what's going on. So we're going to take a second. Before we can appreciate. We need to understand the nature of sin. And how it works.

There is. A judgment. Day. First John 4 17 says this. That there's the day of judgment. That the father is a righteous.

Judge. Colossians 3. 5 and 6 says this. Put to death. Death therefore. What is earthly in you.

Sexual immorality. Impurity. Passion. Evil desire. And covetousness. Which is idolatry.

On account of these. The wrath. Of God. Is. Coming. God.

The father. Is a righteous judge. Who has wrath. For sin. And. Sinners.

That it's not just. Against the sin. But it's against the sinners. It's those who participate. In the sin. That he has.

Wrath. That is coming. First John. He says God is love. We're going to get there later. Americans know that.

But God has wrath. For sin. And. Culturally. We're not. We're not big fans.

But I just want to pause for a second. Help you understand. That you actually. There's part of you. That appreciates wrath. You just don't like it.

When it's God. Having wrath for sin. But there's part of you. That appreciates it. In the. In the book.

True Grit. The main character. Her dad's been murdered. She's going to find. A U.S. Marshal.

To hunt down the guy. Who's run into Indian territory. Out in Oklahoma. I believe. He's trying to escape. And she's going to find.

A U.S. Marshal. To help her catch the guy. And when she shows up. She says. I got some money.

I'm trying to hire a marshal. And this guy says. Well there's a couple in town right now. He says. There's a guy named Rooster Cogburn. He's.

He has no pity. He's very aggressive. And he. He. He's. He's rough.

And they go. But this other guy. You don't want him. This other guy. He's by the book. He brings people back in alive.

And she says. I want Rooster Cogburn. I want the guy with no pity. Who. Who's going to get this job done. I don't.

I don't want the guy. Who. Who may or may not. Be able to keep doing. I want the guy. Who's going to find the person.

Who harmed my father. There's a reality to. We. Desire. When there's real sin. And real harm.

We desire. Real. Justice. We want something. To be done about it. It's like when we're watching.

The Denzel Washington movie. Where he's. The bodyguard of that little girl. And she gets taken. And you see him get upset about it. You want him to be upset.

And you want him to go get the people. Who took her. And you're like. Which movie is that? It's like four Denzel Washington movies. But that's what we want.

There's part of us that desires this. Now we can get it wrong. Sinfully. And we can go into revenge. But if you have real harm.

Someone has really hurt you. There's been real sin against your family. You want a real judge. You want a real prosecutor. You want a real prosecutor. There's part of us that knows this is good.

And desires it. But then when it comes to. God sits in this seat. We need to see the beauty of that. But because we're sinful.

We want to reject that idea. Or. We want to say. I'm glad that he does that. Because I know there are some bad people out there. But what I've done actually isn't that bad.

I'm not that sinful. But if you don't understand. How much wrath you deserve. You won't see how beautiful Christ is. The rejection of the idea of the wrath of God. Is first and foremost a rejection of.

The authority and truthfulness of the scriptures. You've got to get rid of the Bible. If you want to reject the idea of the wrath of God. Because it says over and over again. That he's a judge. And that he has wrath.

Zephaniah 1.18. I'm going to show you just a couple. Neither their silver nor their gold. Shall be able to deliver them. On the day of the wrath of the Lord. And part of us wants that.

We don't want. Just because you're rich. You don't have to face consequences. God's a righteous judge. In the fire of his jealousy. All the earth shall be consumed.

For a full. And sudden. End. He will make. Of all the inhabitants of the earth. That God has a day of judgment.

He has a day of wrath. Matthew 3.7. This is John the Baptist. When he's preaching. He says. When he saw that many of the Pharisees.

And the Sadducees. Were coming to his baptism. He said to them. You brood of vipers. Who warned you. To flee.

From the wrath. To come. That God has wrath. Anger. Judgment. Coming.

For. Sin. We have to understand. That this is the. Teaching. Of the scriptures.

And so if we say. Well what I have. What. Yeah. That's good. That's fine.

But what I've done. Isn't that bad. Well. I want to show you something. Ephesians 5. 5 and 6.

Ephesians 5. We're about to read. Is very much. Basically repeating. Repeating. What we just read.

In Colossians. But I just want to show you. It shows up in multiple places. Says. You may be sure. Of this.

That everyone. Who is sexually immoral. Or impure. Or who is covetous. That's an idolatry. Has no inheritance.

In the kingdom of Christ. And God. Let no one deceive you. With empty words. For because of these things. The wrath of God.

Comes upon the sons. Of disobedience. The reason I think. This passage. In Ephesians. That passage.

In Colossians. Is particularly helpful. For us. Is that you might have. A place in your brain. Where you go.

Yeah. Stalin. Hitler. Murderers. Serial killers. But I'm just in a different category.

I'm not that bad. But in both of those lists. It listed sexual immorality. And covetousness. And if those aren't foundational. To the United States.

If those aren't foundational. To the things that we say. Well this isn't that big of a deal. The idea that I want things. I don't have. And I want my neighbors things.

And when I see what they have. You know one of the most normal questions. We have. In this perfectly normal conversation. Where did you get that? That statement.

It comes after. Covetousness. I like that. Where did you get that? How much was that? Where can I find that?

Because in general. We see things. We want them. We pursue them. And we pursue sexual sin. And one of the things.

That our culture has told you. Over and over. And over again. Is that sexual sin. Does not harm anybody. But the reality is.

That it is an attack. On the beautiful design. Of God's world. And he has wrath. To come. To say.

That what I have done. Is not that bad. Is to reject. The glory of God. And it is a rejection. Of the beauty.

Of his creation. Because so often. We evaluate. The harmfulness. Of something. By the object.

That it was committed against. If I took a pencil. And a sheet of paper. And I poked a hole. In that sheet of paper. Blank sheet of paper.

This is destructive. Probably shouldn't have done it. Did I do it. While I was angry. Why are you tearing things up? If that was your Scantron.

For your SAT. That you had just gotten done taking. Well that was a lot more malicious. I have caused you. A lot of trouble. Less trouble than you think.

You didn't do that well on it. If that was the Mona Lisa. I am in a whole lot of trouble. If that was someone's face. Because we were in an argument. This.

I mean. We've jumped up in. Because it's the object. That the action is done against. So when I say.

My sin's not that big a deal. What I'm saying is. God's not that glorious. He's not that holy. Also. When I say.

My sin's not that big a deal. I'm saying. I'm a better judge. Of morality. Than God is. You just got to at least.

Own. That's where you're coming from. That I. The one who sinned. And did something wrong. Have a better gauge.

On what is right and wrong. Than God. When we say. Well I lied. But you know.

It wasn't that big of a lie. Well your lie. Wasn't just the situation. Your lie was an attack on truth. And truth is beautiful. And God wrote truth.

And God wrote truth into the world. So that we might have ease of relationship. And we might have joy and delight. And we might be able to trust one another. And you know how much problems are in the world. Because we don't believe in one another.

And we don't trust one another. And your one little lie. Is not just an assault on the situation. And the relationship you're in. But it's an assault on the truth of God.

And when you say. It's not that big a deal. You're saying. He's not that glorious. And his world isn't that beautiful. A rejection of the idea of wrath.

Is a failure to see. The absolutely contaminating nature. Of sin. And it doesn't harm us that much. It's not that big a deal. I love the way.

A friend of ours is. A youth director. How she illustrated this. She's a good cook. She bakes well. And she made brownies for her.

Entire youth group. And she just set them out. When they showed up. And they were all hanging out. You know. I don't know.

Playing ping pong. It was back in the day. They were probably playing hacky sack. With Spencer or whatever. And eating the brownies. And enjoying themselves.

And she gets up to talk. She starts talking about sin. And she says. I have a confession. I need to confess. Probably a sin.

It's probably a sin. I need to confess that to y'all. I went in my backyard. While I was making my brownies. I had the batter all mixed up. I went in my backyard.

Y'all know I have a dog. And I've got just a little bit. Just a little bit. Of dog poop. And I put it in the brownie mix. Just a little bit.

And they were like. What? She's like. The brownie mix y'all ate. Y'all know. Look.

It didn't mess it up. It tasted fine. Y'all didn't notice. They're like. You made us eat poop. Poop brownies.

We ate poop brownies. She's like. They're not poop brownies. They're brownies with poop. You know. No.

These are. And they. They lost it. They're arguing with her. Kids were picking up the phone. Like.

I'm going to be sick. I need to call my mom. Like. She's like. You're not going to be that sick. And the point she was making.

Maybe I should say. She didn't actually feed them poop. The point she was making. Was that it only takes a pinch of poop. To make. A whole batch of brownies.

Poop brownies. Poop brownies. That's how sin works. Righteousness is 100% purity. It only takes a pinch. To make us unrighteous.

And to say. Well it's not that big a deal. That's not how it works. And do not. Treat brownies. With greater care.

Than you would treat your eternal soul. That's crazy. And so to reject the idea of the wrath of God. Is to reject the scriptures. Reject the glory of God. Reject the beauty of creation.

To reject the understanding of the extreme contamination of sin. And it is to reject your hope of salvation. Because if God isn't that wrathful. And if he's not that glorious. Then Jesus isn't that beautiful.

And the cross isn't that glorious. You see he says this in Romans 2 5. He says. Because. But because of your hard.

And impenitent heart. Meaning that you've heard these things. You've been called to repentance. You've been told to see your sin. And your heart. It just bounces off.

Your heart is impenitent. You're not. You're not repentant. You're not seeing your sin. You don't feel shame. You don't feel guilt.

Because of that. You are storing up wrath. For yourself. On the day of wrath. When God's righteous judgment. Will be revealed.

If you have not repented. And placed your faith in Jesus. I want you to hear this. This is not an attack. This message is not wrathful. To tell you that wrath is coming.

Is not wrathful. To wait until it shows up. Is harmful and wrathful. But we are pleading with you. Paul's pleading with you. The scriptures are pleading with you.

To repent. To see your sin. And to run to Jesus. But if you have not repented. I need you to know. And I need you to hear clearly.

If you have not trusted in Christ. You are storing up wrath. For yourself. On the day of wrath. And there is a day of wrath. But.

If anyone does sin. We. Have an advocate with the Father. This is what 1 Thessalonians says this for Christians. God has not destined us. For wrath.

But to obtain salvation. Through our Lord. Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ. Christ. Lived.

A perfect sinless life. That is why he is called in 1 John. 2. 1. Jesus Christ. The righteous.

That he is. Righteous. He lived. A perfect. Sinless. Life.

He did not. He did not deserve wrath. He did not deserve wrath. Had not earned wrath. Was not in the same position of us. Where he had stored up wrath.

For the coming judgment. He was blameless. And therefore. Was the only one. Who could swap places with us. To bear the wrath of God.

And to give us righteousness. If he had sinned. He would be in the same spot with us. Deserving of wrath. But because he had not sinned.

And he is righteous. He dies on the cross. And those who place faith in him. Can be redeemed. He dies on the cross. He is buried.

He rises again. And he lives forever. Before the throne of God. As an advocate. For those who sin. Hear what he is saying.

He says. My little children. My little children. I don't want you to sin. But if you sin.

We have an advocate before the father. We have the risen Christ. Who stands. Before the throne of God. Our sin. Does not make it.

To the father. Our sin. Made it to Jesus. And Jesus atoned for it. And he stands before the father. And he says.

There is no wrath. For this one. We have an advocate. That stands before the father. Who lives. Who has conquered sin.

On our behalf. How does he do this? He is the propitiation. For our sins. Say propitiation. Say propitiation.

Yeah. You want to. You want to get a Greek word tattooed on your shoulder. That's it. Do propitiation. It's a good one.

Propitiation. Propitiation. Is the idea of the sacrifice. That absorbs the wrath of God. For an actual offense. It's the.

In the Septuagint. Which is the Greek translation of the Old Testament. It's the day of atonement. It's the day of propitiation. It's this day where the sacrifice is made. See in the Old Testament.

They would sin. And they knew they'd sin. And they would go to the temple. And they would. Go take an animal. And the animal would.

Would go in their place. This lamb or this bull. Would go in their place. To atone for their sin. Because when we sin. There's real punishment that is deserved.

And God made a system. To help them learn. The devastating. Life. Murdering nature of sin. And that they would.

Sacrifice a lamb. And that Jesus Christ comes. As the perfect lamb of God. Who atones for our sin. That's what it says. In 1st John chapter 1.

That he does this by. The blood of Jesus. That we're cleansed by. The blood of Jesus. This is why we talk about. The blood of Jesus.

This is why we sing. Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Because it takes blood. To atone for our sin. Because we are deserving of death. In our rebellion.

We are deserving of wrath. Hebrews 9. 22. Indeed. Under the law. Almost everything.

Is purified with blood. And without the shedding of blood. There is no forgiveness of sins. Your sins. Will be paid for. In blood.

And it will either be. The blood of Christ. Who bears the wrath for sinners. Or you will pay for it. Bearing the wrath. For your sin.

But that's how it works. So I want us to see something. I think John says this. With a smile on his face. Do you know how beautiful it is. For him to look at you.

And say. You ought not sin. I know. But if you do. Jesus stands in front of the Father for you. I know.

I know. I don't want to sin. I know. I don't want to sin. But I keep on sinning.

Praise Jesus. The advocate. Who stands in front of the Father for you. Glory. Glory. To the name of Christ.

Who stands before the Father for you. That your sin. Does not hold you. Or claim you. Or accuse you. Or condemn you.

Praise Jesus. You need to know that your forgiveness was costly. That he paid for it. I've heard recently this argument. That it's not really forgiveness. If someone pays for it.

That's crazy. All forgiveness is paid for. If you owe me a hundred dollars. If I owe you a hundred dollars. This will be more realistic. If I owe you a hundred dollars.

And you say don't worry about it. Did that one hundred dollars disappear? You paid for it. That hundred dollars came out of you. You can try to get it back out of me. But somebody's got to pay for it.

And God the Father. Through Christ the Son. Both God. Paid for our sin. He incurred the debt. And the wrath.

For us. So that we might be forgiven. It has been paid for. Our forgiveness was costly. But guess what?

Your debt's been paid. And there is no more wrath for you in Christ. There is no more wrath for you in Christ. We are not destined for wrath if we're in Christ. When you sin. You see your sin.

And you hate your sin. And there's this tendency to feel this shame. And this weight. And this oh my goodness. I've separated myself from God. Oh.

I've fallen so short. If you are in Christ. You do not atone for your sin. You do not bear the wrath of God. You do not feel bad for a week. So that you can atone and pay back.

We don't pay back. It's already been paid. When we see our sin. We walk in the light. And we praise Christ the King. Who stands forever before the Father.

To actively apply the work of the cross for us. He stands by the Father. To complete continually. The work of His sacrifice for us. And that our sin is not stored up. Our sin is washed away continually.

By the active advocate that we have before the Father. The risen Christ. We bear no shame. We store no wrath. We carry no guilt. Because Jesus bore our shame.

Jesus took our wrath. Jesus carried our guilt. And we do not rob the glory of Christ. To act like for one ounce of a second. That I can bear the weight of my sin. And that I can somehow atone for it.

But I press back into Christ. And I press the glory of His risen work. And His atoning sacrifice. And I praise the King. Who does not hold me accountable for my sin. But that in Christ has taken the wrath.

Through His propitiating work. And stands as an advocate before the Father. On our behalf. This is why John. The same John in the book of Revelation. In a vision.

He's standing there. And they say. Behold. The lion. Of the tribe. Of Judah.

And John says. But when I looked. He looked like a lamb. Who was slain. Because Jesus Christ. Is the lion.

Of the tribe. Of Judah. But if you're in Christ. He's the lamb. Who was slain. He's the atonement.

For your sacrifice. He is not out to get you. He is out to redeem you. He has worked for you. And in our sin. We do not grovel in shame.

But we praise the glorious nature of Christ. Who redeems sinners like us. It's to the praise of His glorious grace. We need to know that our forgiveness was costly. We need to know that our debt was paid. But there is no wrath anymore for us.

And we need to know this was done in love. 1 John 4.10. We'll get to this later. But it's going to be a while. So we're going to go ahead and read it now.

In this is love. Not that we have loved God. But that He loved us. And sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. That He came to redeem us. Because He loved us.

That His pursuit of us was a pursuit in love. He's not frustrated with you if you're in Christ. He's not disappointed in you. He's not withholding good things from you. He's not disgusted with you. He's not growing angrier and angrier with you.

All of those would be functions to degrade the finished work of Christ on the cross. And that is not degraded. When He said it is finished, it is finished. And if you are in Christ, He pours out love and grace and peace and forgiveness on you continually through the work of Christ. Then He says this.

1 John 2. 2 John 3. We who are in Christ have an advocate in Christ who has propitiated our sins. Who has taken the wrath of God on our behalf. Who stands to apply it. And He is our hope.

But He's also the only hope for the world. That if they are going to flee the wrath that is to come, they must flee to Christ. That there is no other hope. There is no other salvation. There is no other propitiation. There is no other way to stand on the day of judgment.

You either stand in your own self-righteousness and are destroyed. Or you stand in the righteousness of Christ and are forgiven. He's not just the forgiver of our sins. But he's the hope of salvation for the world. If you have not trusted Christ, flee the wrath that is to come and run to him where there is forgiveness. Yes, we ought not to sin.

We're going to talk more about that. This is the fuel for obedience. We'll look at that next week. We ought to repent of sin. We ought to walk in the light. We're going to.

He says that's actually a Mark of Christians. We're going to. But we're going to because when we sin, we have an advocate. When we sin, we are forgiven. When we sin, we have a continual hope. Come to Christ and be forgiven and be redeemed and have his work applied to you.

Forever. The band's going to come back up. And we're going to respond by praising Christ. John 3, 36 says this. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life. Whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life.

But the wrath of God remains on him. If you are in Christ, let's praise his glorious name. We may have some sin to confess. You may have some things you need to bring in the light. Bring it in the light as someone who has an advocate that stands before the Father. Bring it in the light as someone who is redeemed.

Do not hide in the darkness like you have stored up wrath for yourself. Do not run from this Savior. And if you are not a believer, if you have not yet placed your faith in the Son of God, we would invite you to trust Christ who atones for sin. In just a moment, as Raz plays, we're going to receive communion as a church family, which is where we actively, physically, tangibly remind ourselves of the active, physical, tangible work of Christ. That he died on a cross. That he was buried in the tomb.

That his body was broken and his blood was shed for us. And that it covers us. That he, through that sacrifice, covers us. That there is no wrath for us. That there's freedom and hope and joy. And so when we fall into sin, when we fall into temptation, that we repent and we run back to him in praise.

We don't grovel. We walk boldly into the throne room of grace, to the glory of Christ, not to our Lord. We do not act as if we somehow earn the right to walk into his presence, but we come boldly because that right has been sealed and satisfied and earned for us by Christ. And so we partake in communion. We remind ourselves of that. If you are not a Christian, this is not for you.

Because this is a remembrance of Christ's work. It's an application of Christ's work. And it's looking forward to Christ's continued work and his return for us. We want Christ for you. We want his blood to cover you. We want him to stand as an advocate for you in the heavens before the Father so that we are not storing up wrath.

We would invite you to repent of your sin and to ask Jesus to save you. Let's pray. God, we ask that through the power of your spirit you would help us. Help us to believe this. Help us to feel this. Help us to know this.

So that we might respond. In the midst of our sin. In the midst of our failure. That we might respond like we have an advocate in the heavens. Who has atoned for our sin. That it does not stain us.

That it does not separate us from you. To believe that is to believe that Christ is incapable of saving. That Christ has not given us his righteousness. And so, Lord, may we respond as those who are redeemed. Hating our sin. And loving our Savior all the more.

And God, we ask that your Holy Spirit would bring conviction. That you would help the wrath that is to come to be so real. So that we might flee. So that anyone in this room who has not trusted in you as their Savior. But has been trusting in their own morality and their own wisdom.

Who's been thinking, I'll get it together later. I'll do this later. That would quit soaring up wrath. But would run to you so that you might atone for them. And you might satisfy the wrath of God. I pray all this in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Walk in the Light (1 John 1:5-10)

Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet this week.

Walk in the Light (1 John 1:5-10)

Spencer Cary

Download

Transcript

This is the message we have heard from Him and declare to you. God is light. In Him, there is no darkness at all. This is how we know what love is. Jesus Christ laid down His life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.

I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know you have eternal life. Good morning. My name is Spencer. I am one of the pastors here. So we are in the book of 1 John.

And last week we introduced this book. And when we introduced it last week, we saw that John is writing to churches in the New Testament that are dealing with some false teaching. They are dealing with some people that are leaving the faith. So John, very clearly in this letter, is outlining here are some identifying markers of what it means to be a Christian. This is what Christians look like. And if you don't believe this thing, we looked at true belief last week as a theme that is going to run through the book of 1 John.

If you don't have an obedience that is true, we looked at how true obedience is going to be a theme that flows through 1 John. We looked at true love as a theme that is going to flow through 1 John. That if you don't have these identifying markers, then you are actually not a Christian. And he is very clearly outlining as we walk through 1 John, this is what it means to be a part of the church, to be a part of the family of God. And we introduced the first four verses. We are picking up in verses 5 through 10 this morning where we are going to seek more of how this is outlined, more of what it means to be the people of God.

And we are going to see a teaching that actually shows the church to be beautiful. If we practice and embody what we are going to walk through today, we live out the gospel in a way that is beautiful and is captivating. My wife has taught dance for 15 years. And I have been around for about a decade of those years. And I have seen a lot of dances in those years. A lot of them.

At our old studio, I used to emcee the dance recitals and the Nutcracker events. So I have been in a lot of dance competitions, a lot more recitals, and I have seen some dances that are done really well. I have also seen some dances that are done not well. And if you have a darker sense of humor, which I do sometimes, they can be somewhat entertaining as they are a train wreck in slow motion. It's painful because you see that some of these students have not, you can tell they haven't worked really hard. They haven't been practicing.

And you can't tell, like they're not, you know, my wife, she taught jazz and ballet and contemporary and just all types of dances. And there's all types of lines you have to hit and steps you have to hit. It has to be coordinated. It has to be in sync. There's all these things that go into it. And you look and it's like they're not doing any of that.

This kid's looking off in the distance. This kid has a blank face. The teacher who's kind of coordinating the dance, who's trying to make sure everything's going the way it's supposed to, has this smile, but it's a fake smile. And she's panicking because she's watching all the work that they put in just fizzle out and die. You have parents that are watching, right? And they're hoping their kid doesn't break down in tears.

They're also hoping that, you know, the things that you just make it to the end and there's not a big scene. Like there's all kinds of things that are happening at once. Yet some parents, they're holding the iPad up in the air, taking video. There's all kinds of things that are a little bit humorous to watch. But when you pit those against some of the really good dances, they're done well.

Like when you see some students, you can tell they've worked hard all semester. They've worked hard all year. They have practiced and they're hitting their steps. They're hitting their lines. They're doing the things they're supposed to do. It's awesome because there's a joyous look on their face.

They're a teacher. There's a joyous look on their face. The audience, they're captivated by it. It's a beautiful thing to actually watch when everyone's in sync doing what they're supposed to be doing. Now we're looking at 1 John 1, 5 through 10 today.

And the teaching that we have in this passage is going to call the church to operate in a way where if we do this well, if we obey this teaching well, we are in sync together. We're doing what we're supposed to be doing. And when God sees the church doing this, it's joyous. It's exciting. And if we do this well, it taps into something that is beautiful and compelling that many of us long for. And that hopefully as we walk through this today, we will get to embody and see in our church family on a regular basis.

So let me pray for us and then we will walk through this verse by verse. Lord, we love you and we thank you. God, I pray that you would help us sit under the authority of your word this morning, that we might see what it means to be the people of God and obeying a teaching that is good for our souls and is good for one another. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. All right.

So last week, John introduces in the first four verses, he says, Jesus is a real person. He makes that abundantly clear. He's a real person. I saw him. I heard him. I touched him.

He's a real person because there was some false teaching that was saying the opposite at the time. And because that's true, he said, I want you to be in fellowship with us as we're in fellowship with God. That the goal is that you would obey these teachings that you might be in fellowship with God together. Now that's setting up the rest of 1 John. And then we get to verse 5, which is a thesis for the next few verses. But 1.5 is also a thesis for the rest of 1 John.

It is a header for everything that we're going to see. It says, verse 5, This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you that God is light. And in him there is no darkness at all. That sets up the rest of 1 John. God is light. Light in the scriptures is symbolic of moral perfection.

Of excellence. God is light. This is the perfection of God. This is the goodness of God. This is the holiness of God. This is the glory of God.

It's all the things that make him worthy of our worship and our praise. God is light. And there's no darkness in him at all. So darkness is symbolic of sin. We see in the scriptures. There's not an ounce of darkness in him.

Now, 1 John in a lot of ways operates a little bit like a commentary of the gospel of John. There's a lot of interactions that it has further explaining things in John. This is not the first time that God has declared himself to be the light. In John 8.12, Jesus says, And Jesus spoke to them saying, I am the light of the world. The Lord, whoever follows me, will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. So the idea here is the world is beset with darkness.

It is filled with darkness. God doesn't look at the darkness and say, I'm going to destroy it. He says, no, I'm going to step into it. Light steps into darkness. And he calls us to walk in the light with him. As he steps into darkness.

And he makes it abundantly clear. At the end of verse 5. He says, no darkness in him at all. That's an extra little forceful statement. There's not an ounce of darkness. Not an ounce of sin.

God does not make mistakes. He does not commit transgressions. He is beautifully radiant. Displaying his goodness, his perfection, his glory. So he makes that very clear.

God is light. There's no darkness in him at all. Now that sets up the next four verses that we've got in our passage. Because that's true, pick up in verse 6. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another.

And the blood of Jesus, his son, cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar and his word is not in us. So, what follows out of that thesis statement that God is light are five different conditional statements. It says, if we say verse 6, but if we walk verse 7, but if we say verse 8, if we confess verse 9, if we say verse 10.

All that flows out of verse 5. What he's doing here is he's making a logical argument. Based on what he introduces in verse 5, because that's true, here's a logical argument that follows. Let's follow the logic. Verse 6 says, if we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. Again, John's aim is to help him see that you are in Christ, that you have fellowship with us, as we have fellowship with God, that you are in fellowship with God.

But he says, if we say we have fellowship with the God who is light, while you walk in darkness, we lie. You don't practice the truth. So, that begs the question, okay, what is walking in darkness? Jesus taught on this in John 3. He said in verse 19, and this is the judgment. The light has come into the world.

And people love darkness rather than the light, because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God. Now, there are two things that are clear from there about walking in the light. The first is that walking in the light is walking in sin. He says, because their works were evil.

Because their works were evil. Now, as we're going to see in a few verses in 1 John, what he's not saying is that walking in darkness is someone who contains sin. Someone that has sin. What he's not saying is someone who actually struggles. Someone whose flame is flickering. That's not what he's getting at.

What he's getting at is that you are walking in darkness in a way that is incompatible with walking in the light. That is in direct opposition to walking in the light. But the second thing he makes note of is that those who walk in the darkness do not want to be exposed. He says, does not come to light, lest his works should be exposed. Those who walk in darkness hide. They don't want to be exposed by the light.

They don't want their works exposed. They want their sin exposed. It's hiding. So, verse 6, back to verse 6. He says, if we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness. While we walk in darkness, like what was just taught there in John 3.

We lie. We don't practice the truth. We lie, meaning you aren't a Christian. You don't practice the truth, which quite literally means do the truth. You don't do the truth. That's a little bit of James.

Be doers of the word, not hearers only. You're not doing what the Bible says. You're not practicing what you preach. You lie. You don't practice the truth. Then he continues the argument in verse 7.

But, but if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another. And the blood of Jesus, his son, cleanses us from all sin. So, walking in the light is pitted against walking in darkness. All right. So, then you've got to define what walking in the light means. Now, before we define that, before we see what that means, look at what's offered.

Look at the offering. If you walk in the light, here are the two things that you get. You get fellowship with one another. You get fellowship that your soul longs for. You get fellowship with one another. It's good and it's beautiful.

And the blood of Jesus, his son, cleanses us from all sin. Cleanses us. That's the language of sanctification. God is cleansing us. He's renewing us. That the things that, that trouble you, the sin that plagues you, you get offered cleansing from those sins.

Who doesn't want that? Who doesn't want a fellowship that is good? Who doesn't want cleansing from sin? If that's what's held out in front of us as Christians, the understanding what walking in the light means is unbelievably important. So, what is walking in the light? Walking in the light is standing firmly in the radiance of Christ.

It is living in the light of the glory of God. 2.4, we're going to see next chapter says you know him. That part of the walking in the light is that you actually know God. 2.10 is going to say you're abiding in the light. It's this standing firmly in the light in a way that's different than the rest of the world. And that so much of what we're going to see the rest of 1 John is going to be fleshing that out.

With those major themes that we see. With true belief. With true obedience. With true love. But there's something that you need to know.

You won't understand what walking in the light is. You won't understand the rest of 1 John if you don't understand the important first step for those of us that are Christians. The important first step for humanity in walking in the light is found in these next few verses. And if you don't get these next few verses then you don't get the gospel. Then you don't get anything that he's going to teach next.

You don't get anything in the implications of what it means to walk in the light. So we have to understand these next few verses. It's vitally important. Verses 8-10 he says, If we say we have no sin. We deceive ourselves. And the truth is not in us.

If we confess our sins. He's faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned we make him a liar. And his word is not in us. So part of walking in the light for us is acknowledging that walking in the light is not sinlessness.

Walking in the light is not our moral perfection or effort. It is not that. If we say we have no sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. That part of walking in the light is realizing and owning and facing the reality of that we have sin within us. And if you don't do that you don't understand the gospel. There's some folks that used to work for this family business.

And the family owners they have this teaching they believe called Christian perfectionism. It shows up every now and then over the last few centuries. It's this idea. It's debated even amongst Christian perfectionists what that means. But the general idea is that you can actually achieve moral perfection.

Moral obedience. A true love. A moral holistic love and obeying of the scriptures. It's a terrible doctrine. The worst version of it are those that believe you actually can achieve sinless perfection in this life. And this family who owned this business believed that about themselves.

They believed. The owner believed that they had arrived at this state of sinlessness. Now, can you imagine working for an owner that was sinless? That never made mistakes? Anytime a mistake was made, ever. It's never their fault.

It's always your fault. And it was. It was a miserable working experience for anyone that worked there. Because it's delusional. They're crazy. That's nuts.

To think that you are sinless and perfect. And that's what he's getting at. It's delusional. You deceive yourself. Now, I don't know all of you. I know most of you.

I don't know all of you. I don't think any of you are going to say that, right? In fact, it's a cultural vice to say that you're better than everyone else. Like, no one likes that in our culture. All right?

But here's the deal. I think this verse is getting at more than just admitting, oh, I'm not perfect. Everyone makes mistakes. I don't think it's saying just generally, yeah, okay, I'm a sinner in general. I think what this is tapping into is something deeper. That it's getting more specifically.

No, these are the ways in which I am broken. I am acknowledging that there is sin within me. And that sin is harmful to myself and others. And because that's true, and because that's stated in verse 8, these next two verses that come out of it are unbelievably important for how we walk that out. In verse 9, he says, If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar and his word is not in us.

The part of walking in the light, part of having fellowship with God, is that part of walking in the light, is not just acknowledging sin. It's confessing it. It is a life of confession. So, that's the logic of his argument. God is light. There's no darkness in him at all.

Because that's true. We're called to realize that we have sin in us. To walk in the light as he is in the light. When we do this, we get true fellowship with one another. When we do this, we get cleansing from our sin. Acknowledge we have sin in us.

Confess that sin. Experience forgiveness that is offered. If you don't do this, you're deceived. You're a liar. You don't understand the gospel. The logic of the argument is actually not very hard to follow.

Living that out and applying that is a different story. And that's what I want to spend the rest of our time looking at. Is how do we actually live this out? How do we actually apply this in a way that's practical for our lives? And I have three specific ways. Face reality.

Experience real confession. Enter into a confessional fellowship. We need to face reality. We need real confession. And we need to be a part of a confessional fellowship. So, let's look at that first one.

Face reality. We need to face the reality of our sin. This is not, hear me. This is not just saying, I'm a sinner. I'm not perfect. It cannot be just that.

It is facing the reality of our sin. And how destructive it is to us. And how destructive it is to one another. One of my favorite Denzel Washington performances is the movie Flight. The story of flight is that Denzel is a pilot. And he's a really good pilot.

And one morning at takeoff, as they take off, very shortly after, there's massive mechanical failure. And the plane, and he understands very quickly, this plane is going to crash. And he very miraculously lands the plane. He flies it upside down. And then eventually lands the plane. And only six people die.

They did flight simulations later on, where a bunch of pilots tried to do the same thing with the same mechanical failure. All of them crashed. Everyone dies. He flies it. Only six people die. One of them was his good friend, a flight attendant.

But in the investigation to figure out what happened in the crash, they discover in the cockpit trash can, there are two empty mini bottles of vodka. And what's also happening is we see that he is not just a pilot, he's an alcoholic. And the rest of the story is he is not really facing the reality of his addiction. He's not facing that at all. He's prideful. I'm a good pilot.

I'm the one that landed on that plane. No one else could have done it like me. He's not facing the reality. And then the airline finds out about this, and they are actively trying to keep the authorities and keep the public from knowing about his alcoholism, knowing about his drinking, knowing about that he was drinking on that flight, because it would open them up to liability. So the rest of the story is him not facing his addiction.

It's this airline actively hiding it until you get to the very end where it's at a public hearing. And at this public hearing, it's being questioned about the crash. It's being questioned eventually about the mini bottles that they found. And the legal strategy is for him to pin those mini bottles on the flight attendant, on his friend who died. That's the legal strategy. But they put her face on the screen.

And when he sees her face, he finally realizes that he cannot throw her under the bus. He finally faces the reality of his sin. And he finally confesses. And he says, Nope, I was. I did drink those bottles. I was drunk that morning.

I'm actually drunk right now because I'm an alcoholic. And when you see this, when you see someone who's absolutely, finally owned the fact that they are a sinner, and they've owned their brokenness, when you see this in real life, when you see people finally realize and face the reality of the brokenness that's within, of the sin that's beneath the surface, when you see that, it's beautiful. Because what they've experienced finally is freedom. They've experienced freedom. And some of you have been struggling for years. And you've got sin in your life, and you don't want to look at it.

You don't want to deal with it. Even right now, you're just like, how quickly can we get through this? I don't want to look at this. I want to think about this. Can we move on? And you don't want to face the reality of what's happening underneath the surface.

We need the type of freedom that is offered when we actually face reality. We cannot hide. We need to be exposed. And if you will take a step of faith and allow this to happen, if you'll do this, then you can enter into real confession. We need real confession. Once you face the reality of your sin, we need real confession.

Part of walking in the light is this. Verse 9. If we confess our sins, He's faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Part of walking in the light is this type of confession. So, what type of confession is this? Is it to God?

Is it to God alone? Does it involve other Christians? Does it involve everyone? What does the Bible teach about this type of confession? To be honest, the Bible does not give us some super prescriptive play-by-play, this is how you're supposed to approach confession. It doesn't.

It describes some instances throughout the entire Bible, but it doesn't actually prescribe. This is what it means to walk in confession. So, there are a few things we can very clearly see. Yes, absolutely it is to God. Confession involves confessing your sins to God. We see that all over the New Testament.

Let me just give you just two places that I see it beautifully displayed. In Psalm 32, David is working through brokenness and sin within him. And in verse 3, he says, For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all the day long. Just picture that. Many of us have felt that. But when you keep silent about your sin, when you keep silent about the brokenness within you, it eats you alive.

He says, My bones are wasting away in silence. It's groaning all day long. But he goes on to verse 4. He says, For the day and night your hand was heavy upon me. My strength was dried up as by heat of the summer. Verse 5, I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity.

I said, I will confess my transgressions to the Lord, and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. So, I was not going to continue to let my bones waste away in silence. No, I came to the Lord in confession, and He covered my iniquities. And I experienced this forgiveness that He offers. Proverbs 28, 13 says, Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy. Hiding your sin.

Listen, hiding your sin does not lead to prosperity. Some of you are like, I just hide this. If I don't bring this into the light, it will be better for me. The Scripture says, No, it will not. You're wasting away in silence. You will prosper, and you will experience.

You will experience mercy. You will experience mercy. Do you want to waste away in silence? Do you want to keep this all to yourself? Or do you want what He offers to be covered by His blood? Do you experience His mercy and His grace, His forgiveness and His cleansing?

Do you want to keep this all to you? Y'all, Jesus stands in the heavens right now with holes still in His hands. Still in His hands. Outstretched as our great high priest, waiting for your confession. I mean, feel the reality of that. That Jesus, the one who poured out His blood on the cross for your sins, because He loves you, because He's jealous for you, because He wants you, stands in the heavens and says, I want your confession.

I am your great high priest. I am ready to take it. That's how much our God loves you. He wants you to bring confession to Him. You don't need a priest in this life. You don't.

You have a great high priest who wants you to confess. He does not want you to carry this on your own. He does not want you to deal with this on your own. He doesn't want you to think that you can just cover this up with good works, because you can't. He wants you to humble yourself before the Lord and confess. And when you do this, the next thing that we see in 1 John, something that is beautifully displayed is a confessional fellowship, that we get to enter into a confessional fellowship.

Verse 7 says, But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, His Son, cleanses us from all sin. When you use the New Testament, confess, the word shows up a lot in the New Testament. The overwhelming majority of the time, it's used in the aspect of confessing faith and confessing Jesus. There are actually only four times in the New Testament confession is linked to sins. Only four times. Two of them are described in the same event.

Matthew and Mark both describe that when John the Baptist was preaching a message of repentance, people heard the message of repentance, and they were confessing their sins publicly and being baptized. That's two of the mentions. There's one in James 5 that says, Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another that you may be healed. And then there's our passage in 1 John 1.9. So, with those mentionings of confessing sin, how do you piece those together and get a picture of what we should do? I would argue that we catch a very beautiful glimpse of a New Testament people of churches that knew they needed one another.

They knew they needed one another. I mean, James 5 in particular, Therefore, confess your sins to one another, pray for one another, that you may be healed. That's in the context of a teaching in James where if anyone is sick, call the elders and have the elders come and pray for you. He's teaching that when you're sick, the elders will come and they will pray for you. But then he shifts gears in 16 and he says, Therefore, because all that's true, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another that you may be healed.

And what's clear is that he's not just addressing physical sickness, that he's addressing this spiritual sickness as well that's within us. And he says, A regular practice of what you should do is to confess your sins to one another and pray for one another that you may be healed. That the church should practice this regularly. Confess your sins to one another. Pray for one another that you may be healed. And that is also true in 1 John 1.9.

1.9 Is directly linked to this true fellowship idea. The part of walking in the light is letting those who bear the light. We are called, as Christians, children of the light. It's letting children of the light see your sin and give you the light and give you the gospel in return. This is what we do at care nights. Which, have you ever been a part of groups?

About once every four, five, six weeks on our community groups we have these care nights. And I've heard from some of you, because I have ears, that you're not the biggest fan of care nights. They're not fun or an enjoyable experience at times. Some of you don't like care nights. I get it. So why do we subject you to them once a calendar month-ish?

Why do we do this? Because you need it. Because it is good for your soul. Because you need to live out this teaching in a way that exposes what is earthly within us. Because we desperately need one another. And this journey together and this marathon of faith together.

You need confession. You need to confess your sins to others. And we believe that community groups are a wise place for you to do it. That you have these Christians who are in your life that get to know all of you. Get to know the brokenness within you. And they get to give you the gospel.

They get to remind you of what is good. Does that mean that you have to confess your sins to everyone? No. No, you don't. If any Christian comes up and he says, spill it. You just say, first of all, that's weird.

But no, I'm not. No. I've seen people that have confessed their sins on Facebook. I don't think that's wise. But we do believe community groups are an unbelievably good place for you to actually confess your sins to one another.

If you don't, you are wasting away in silence. Your soul is decaying. You're like a closed-off cellar that gets no air, that doesn't get any light. And inside, it's just mold is growing and it's rotting the wood and it's rotting it from the inside out. When you waste away in silence, when you don't actually practice this confessional fellowship, when you don't let light in from other Christians, it's dark and darkness is growing and sin is spreading, we've got to open the door. We've got to let some air in.

We've got to let some light in. We've got to let Christians see what is earthly within us, what is broken, the sin that is beneath the surface. It says in verse 7, but if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus' son cleanses us from all sin. In college, I was discipling some guys and then I taught this section of the text and I taught them this. And I said, all right, that's basically exactly what I'm close to what I'm teaching right now. I just said, we need to walk in the light with one another.

We need to actually live this out together. And it was beautiful. I watched each of them as they, some of them for the first time were actually walking in the light and they were confessing sin and they felt this freedom, this burden had been lifted off of them. And I walked away from that and I felt like the biggest hypocrite in the world because I've never actually done that because there was still sin in my life that I've never brought to the surface. And I didn't want to trust other Christians. I didn't want to bring people into this.

I thought I could manage this myself. I'll be okay. And I wasn't. And I felt the weight of hypocrisy. I felt this, this liar that the first John was talking, I felt it weighing on my soul as I can't do this. I can't be a Christian and continue to do this.

I can't be a pastor one day and continue to do this. I've got to take a step of faith. And it took a lot. It took weeks of fearfulness. And finally, I started to. So I talked to one Christian and a couple more.

I started to finally walk in the light. And all these fears and all these outcomes that I played out in my head that were going to go so poorly, God in His grace and His mercy brought freedom. And He brought grace. And He brought mercy. And He brought this fellowship that I've been missing out on. This fellowship that is beautiful and is good.

And ever since then, I said, that's what I'm doing. For the rest of my life, I will walk in fellowship with other Christians. I will bear my soul. They will see the depths of my nature. And I want them to speak the light of the gospel into this. It is beautiful when you have Christians in your life that you can say, this is what it is.

This is what's happening at the surface. And they don't, for a moment, flinch. They're unwavering. And they declare the gospel. They speak light into your life. It is beautiful.

It is like a well-coordinated and well-choreographed and well-done dance. The church needs to be this dance where there is facing reality, where there is this confession before God, this humbling ourselves before God, this confessional fellowship where we are confessing sin to one another and praying for one another and we're experiencing this spiritual healing and this mercy and this forgiveness of sins and this cleansing of sins that's offered but you won't experience this if you don't take a step of faith. You won't experience this if you don't do it. So I want to, for those of us that are still walking in darkness, don't leave this morning.

Don't leave your community group this week. Don't leave without actually experiencing the mercies of God that are offered in this. If you don't, you will only decay away in silence. But if you do, if you do, I'm telling you, you'll experience a fellowship that you've never experienced before. You'll experience fellowship with God in a way you've never experienced before. You will experience the God who is light.

Carson's going to come up and he's going to close this in a song and I want us to prepare our hearts for worship. I do not want us to simply be hearers of this and ignore it. I want us to do the truth. I want us to do this teaching. some of you need to take a few moments and you need to just sit and pray. Some of you need to take a few moments and you need to actually consider. Have I actually done this?

Some of you haven't done this in years. Some of you actually haven't trusted other Christians in years. I'm not saying that wasn't attached to some experiences that could have been difficult. I'm saying that faithfulness here is obeying this teaching is doing the truth and in this church family we fight hard to be a confessional people that give each other the gospel. I want you to take a leap of faith. Do not leave tonight, today, do not leave this week without doing it.

Walk in the light as he is in the light and you will have fellowship with one another and the blood of his son will cleanse you of all sin. That's the promise of the gospel. Let's be a people that lives that out. God, we love you and we thank you. We pray that you would go to work on our hearts. Help us be a people that believe the gospel so firmly and so fiercely that we do not walk in darkness but we walk in the light as you is in the light.

God, I pray right now if there's anyone here that has never done this at all, if they're honest themselves, they don't even know if they believe this fully. God, I pray you'd be so beautiful and compelling to them right now. They would open up their soul and they would confess their sins to you and they would experience faith and forgiveness, the washing and renewal of the blood. God, I pray that you would help them believe the gospel. I pray there are Christians here that have not experienced this walking in the light, they've been holding on to darkness, that's been beneath the surface for decades.

God, I pray right now that you would help them take a step of faith. They wouldn't leave today without grabbing another Christian and confessing sin. But God, we need you. We need the faith that you give so that we can walk in obedience. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.

Introduction to 1 John (1 John 1:1-4)

Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet this week.

Introduction to 1 John

Spencer Cary

Download

Transcript

This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you. God is light. In him, there is no darkness at all. This is how we know what love is. Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.

I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know you have eternal life. Good morning. My name is Spencer. I am one of the pastors here. We are starting 1 John. Today we'll be in this for the next few months.

If you have a blue Bible, it'll be on page 591. If you have a regular Bible, it's towards the back, towards the end of the Scriptures. So, in our culture, and more specifically, in the American church, there's been this new kind of thing that's been happening over the last few years. At least, newly branded thing that's been happening over the last few years. It's the idea of deconstruction. Deconstruction is loosely based on this philosophical idea that you can deconstruct your beliefs down to the bare bones of what you believe.

This can be faith. This can be any belief system. But you can deconstruct to the bare bones, and then with the hope that you can rebuild something back that's better. And this has kind of become a thing over the last few years. As American Christians, who many are really disenfranchised with the American church, they're not happy with the American church. And to be fair, the American church isn't super great.

It's got a lot of problems in comparison to the global church. Also, to be fair, if you're basing your faith on the American church, that's a problem, because it's not a complete and beautiful reflection of Christ. But anyways, the reality is that people are leaving. They're deconstructing their faith, naively thinking they can build something back that's better, and they're just leaving. They're abandoning the faith. This is becoming more of a thing, and it's becoming something that people have to have this deconstruction journey, and they post it on Instagram and Facebook, because you can't do anything without posting it online.

And it's happening more and more, and there are pastors who are doing this. And culture, many in the culture, are celebrating this. This is a happy thing for many people. I mean, there's one pastor years ago that did this, and he got a team up with Oprah. There's another pastor who did this recently, and he went to try to sell classes on how to deconstruct. And this is happening over and over again.

When you see it out in public, when it's not people you know, it hurts. But when you see people that you love, people that led you to Christ, people that you're in community groups with, people that you've been in Bible studies with, and church with, and ministries with, when you see them start to walk away from Jesus, it hurts. When you see people abandon the faith that they once celebrated, when they reject obedience they once used to uphold, when they trade in the love of God for a cheap cultural substitute, it is painful. And if you follow Jesus long enough, you're going to see this over and over and over again.

And when this happens, lots of questions come out. Like, what happened? What happened to this person? What happened to this person? I mean, were they ever even a Christian to begin with? And then when you start to think about what led them to walk away from Jesus, then you start thinking about yourself and having some existential questions.

Am I even a Christian? How do I know that I'm saved? How do I know that I'm a Christian? How do I know that I'm not going to fall away too? And that is where 1 John gets to be a helpful book, one of the more helpful books in the Bible for that subject matter. Because the same discouragement that we are feeling in the American church as we're watching people reject Jesus, is the same discouragement that the early church felt, which is why this letter has been so helpful for centuries.

So, we're going to walk through 1 John. And in the coming months, we're going to see what it means to be a true follower of Christ. 1 John is going to clearly outline some things of what it means to be a Christian. This is what it means to follow Jesus. This is what it means to be in the church of Jesus. We're going to walk through this.

And as we walk through this, here's the hope. That for those of us that are in Christ, we will be lovingly confronted by 1 John in a way that corrects us, in a way that calls us to repentance, but also helps us see, okay, I have assurance that I'm walking in Christ because of what we're going to walk through in 1 John, the things it's going to outline. And that for those who claim the name of Christ, for those who say they're a Christian, but what's actually there isn't an authentic faith in Jesus. My hope is that as we walk through 1 John together, you would be confronted with that reality. And that God would be so compelling that you'd say, I actually want that type of faith in Jesus.

That's the hope of 1 John as we walk through the next few months. So let me read the first few verses. We're going to be in verses 1 through 4. And then I'll pray and we'll launch in. Verse 1. That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands concerning the word of life.

The life was made manifest and we have seen it and testified to it and proclaimed to you the eternal life. Which was with the Father and was made manifest to us. That which we have seen and heard, we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us. And indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ. And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete. Let me pray.

Lord, we love you and we're thankful for the word of God. We're thankful that we get to come here every week. We get to sing about it. We get to read it together. We get to sit under the authority of it as you mold us and shape us into your image. God, I pray that as we introduce 1 John today, you would begin to point out some things in our hearts and that we would respond by the power of the Holy Spirit.

We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. All right. So we're going to start in verse 3. That which we have seen and heard, we proclaim also to you. All right.

So you've been with us long enough. We walk through books of the Bible. We go verse by verse. Begs the question. Okay. Why start in verse 3?

1 John, in the Greek, which is the original language of the New Testament, is constructed in some very interesting ways. The first three verses is one long sentence and in it is one main verb. It's proclaim. That we've seen and heard, we proclaim also to you. So it's a proclamation that is happening at the onset of this book.

So before we look at that, we need to see who's proclaiming this and kind of give some background here. So 1 John was written by the Apostle John. It's the same disciple who wrote the Gospel of John, who wrote 1, 2, and 3 John. The same son of Zebedee who wrote the book of Revelation is the one who wrote this. But this letter is not a normal style New Testament letter.

Not a normal style letter from their time. When you read a lot of the other letters in the New Testament, whether it's Paul or Peter, it begins with, I, Paul, I, Peter, writing to this church, writing to this group of churches. There's a normal introduction. 1 John doesn't start that way. He doesn't introduce himself at all. Which also begs the question, how do you know it's John who wrote it?

A few simple reasons. First, the Greek in John is, 1 John is very, very similar to the Gospel of John. So we have those kind of look at each other. That looks the same. And the church historically has almost unanimously understood this since the very beginning, that this is John who wrote this. So John is writing this, but he doesn't identify a church.

Why? One of the more compelling theories that I've seen is that this is not a letter that was written to one specific church. That actually, by design, this letter was a letter that was written to circulate amongst a bunch of churches. This letter was meant to travel from church to church to church to church because in the church at this time, when this letter is being written, it is apparent that there is something sweeping through the churches that is causing a lot of problems. that there is a false teaching that is happening, that is swept through the churches all over Europe and Asia and Israel and North Africa.

And there are people, there are brothers and sisters in Christ who are walking away from Jesus. They're walking away from the faith they once used to proclaim. So, it appears that John, one of the disciples closest to Jesus, is going to address this head on. So, what was the false teaching that was spreading through this early church? Well, we don't know exactly because it doesn't identify exactly what this false teaching is, but we can look at the first couple of verses and we can actually see and get some clues as to what is actually happening. So, verse 1.

I want you to see some things. He says, That which was from the beginning, which we have heard. He says, We have heard this. And then he says, Which we have seen with our eyes. That we've seen it. That we've looked upon it.

That's not just glanced at. That we've beheld, looked, gazed upon it. We've looked upon it. That we have touched with our hands. It gets tactile. That we've touched with our hands concerning the word of life.

The life that was made manifest. This is revealed for you to see. Manifest. We've seen it. And testified to it and proclaimed to it the eternal life which was with the Father and was made manifest, revealed to us. That seems overkill, right?

Seen. Heard. Manifest. Touched. Seen. Heard.

He's getting at something. That the language here is meant to show that Jesus is actually a real person. And when you look at who he's talking about, verses 1 and 2, it says, That which was from the beginning, concerning the word of life that was made manifest. That language? Very close to the Gospel of John. Very, very close.

In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. We're talking about Christ. And this wasn't just the Word of flesh that was, the Word that took on flesh that dwelt among us in the Gospel of John. It gets more specific in that. We saw Him. We heard from Him.

We touched Him over and over again. It's hitting this to say that Jesus was a real person. He was real. We saw Him. We heard from Him. We touched Him.

So, He begins this letter by going really hard after that. It probably means that there were people in the churches that did not believe that, that Jesus was a real person. Like if I was teaching world history, and I said, alright, world history, first lecture. First, you need to know something. The world is round. It's round.

Oh yeah. I, in college, I studied abroad and I was on a ship and we circumnavigated the globe and I'll tell you something, we did not fall off the edge of the earth. We went all the way around, baby. There are satellites up in the sky owned by different countries and private companies. You know, all the pictures they show, the world is round. If you were in that class, you might go, is there a flat earther here?

Why are you addressing that the world is round? That's what's happening here. Right out the gate. We've seen him, we've heard, we've touched him. He is a real person. He is going hard after that for a reason.

And we don't know exactly which false teaching it was, but we have some general good ideas for what it could have been. Probably, it could have been the early seedbeds of Gnosticism. Gnosticism was a false teaching that arose at the end of the first century. It said a lot of things, but one of the things that it taught was that Jesus was not a real material person. That he was a spiritual being, but he wasn't actually a real material in the flesh being. And there's another heresy called Docetism that rose in the second century.

This could be the early seedbed of that, the early beginnings of that. That also taught that Jesus was not a real person. And out the gate, John is like, no, seen him, heard from him, seen him, touched him, absolutely is a real person. He's going to address this as a false teaching. He's going to address later in this book the false teachers. He's going to call them antichrists repeatedly.

And some of you just got really excited and said, oh, left behind? No. This is different for a lot of reasons. And then he goes on and he's going to acknowledge that people are leaving the church in chapter 2 over this. He said, no. We saw him.

We spent time with him. We got to know him. I saw him. We ate meals with him. He is a real person with a real body and a real existence. And that has real implications for your life.

Comes out making that abundantly clear. Now, when we read that, we're not real blown away because there isn't really anybody today that says Jesus is not a real person. That's not a problem for us. You can find the most hardened atheist historian and they're going to say, oh, no, Jesus was absolutely a real person. No one disputes that. Well, religions don't dispute that.

Islam doesn't dispute that. He absolutely was a real person. So that doesn't shock us. Like, wow, thank you for overstating. He's a real person. Here is the problem that we have with this culturally.

Verse 2, it says, While we don't have a problem with the fact that he was a real person, we do have a problem with the implications that he came from the Father and their eternal life implications for his coming. That is a problem culturally. When people deconstruct, they're like, no, I'm done with that. He's a real person, but that good moral teacher. But God, that's not something that our culture is okay with.

So, that's a little bit of intro for where this comes from. Now, let's look at verse 3 and start to see what he is proclaiming and what he's going to proclaim for the rest of this letter. That which we have seen and heard. You have to get in one more time. We saw and we heard him. We proclaim also to you so that you too may have fellowship with us.

Indeed, our fellowship is with the Father and with the Son, Jesus Christ. The goal of this letter is that they're writing to these churches that they might have fellowship with them as they have fellowship with the Father. The Greek word for fellowship there is koinonia and as best I can tell in etymology studies, which is just studying the origins of words, that is where we get our word community. So, we talk about being a gospel-centered community on mission. A gospel-centered fellowship on mission. That, he's saying, I would like, I want you to see, I want you to know that you are in fellowship with me as we're in fellowship, as we're in community with God the Father.

And the rest of this letter is aimed at that. 1 John draws a line in the sand. This is what it means to be a Christian. This is what it means to follow Christ. This is what it means to be in fellowship with us, John is saying, as we're in fellowship with God the Father. He's drawing a line in the sand.

And to be honest, it's a fairly blunt line as we're going to see throughout 1 John. He is fairly straight to the point. And he wants them to see that if you are in Christ, here's some main things that you are going to take away. So, throughout 1 John, we're going to see three big themes that draw a line in the sand that helped us see are we actually in Christ or not. And here are the three big themes. The first is true belief.

The second, is true obedience. And the third is true love. So, true belief, true obedience, and true love. That's what we're going to see throughout 1 John. So, let's take a look at that first one, true belief. 1 John is filled with doctrinal nuggets, these little teachings that are designed to help the hearers, to help these churches see this is what true belief looks like.

Here are some things you need to believe because there are those who are leaving the faith, who are rejecting Jesus, that don't have these beliefs. So, I just want to highlight some of the things we've got coming out in front of us. Some of these real, true beliefs. 1 John 1.5, next week, we're going to hit this. This is the message that we have heard from Him, proclaim to you that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. I don't know if you saw the bumper video, but it had a lot of lights in it and that's for a reason.

God is light. That's an opening statement that He's going to build so much of the rest of 1 John off of that God is perfect. He is glorious. He is light. In Him, there is no darkness at all and the implications that come out of that are going to be huge. He goes on to say in verse 10, if we say we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His Word is not in us.

So we're going to learn next week, if you think that you don't have real sin, if you're not honest about the fact that you have real sin in your life and you claim to be a Christian, 1 John says, you are a liar and the truth is not in you. And we'll walk through that next week. In chapter 2, verse 2, it says He is the propitiation for our sins and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. We're going to learn about propitiation. Some of you are like, is that like aerospace engineering? Like what is propitiation?

Give it a couple of weeks. We're going to sit in that because that concept, that teaching actually is something that a lot of people are very much not okay with. And He makes that point clear. It's going to show up later as well. And then 5, now I'll give you one more. He says, we know that we are from God and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.

It's going to show up multiple times in John. This idea that Satan has power and dominion in this world. And if you haven't been confronted with that, it's like, whoa! And there are a lot of beliefs right there that are thrown in 1 John that absolutely can be jarring. But over and over again He's going to be building this case.

This is what it means to be a Christian. This is what it means to believe this. This is what distinguishes us in a way that is different from the rest of the world. We're going to see this over and over and over again because there are lots of people in these churches that he's writing to that claim to be Christians but they don't actually have true belief. And honestly, it could easily be written to a lot of southern churches across the south because the overwhelming majority of the south is going to claim Christianity. You ask a southerner, most likely, they're going to say, yeah, I'm a Christian.

And as Chet walked us through last week as we closed up our I Am A Missionary series, there are lots of people in America that claim to know Christ, that claim to be followers of Jesus but their beliefs don't line up at all. One of the things he cited last week was that in a survey it said 58% of American evangelical Christians contend that the Holy Spirit is not a real person. The Holy Spirit is a spiritual force but not a real person. And that's a major problem because we believe in a Trinitarian God. Our entire faith is built upon it. If you reject the third member of the Trinity, you've rejected the faith.

58%. I found some other surveys. There's one survey that American evangelical Christians have found that 51% of the people that responded to the survey said that all religions lead to God. All world religions, they're all just pathways that lead to God. That's 51% of those who were surveyed. 78% in that survey said that Jesus was created and was not eternally God.

Now not in getting the weeds of church history because I know that only three of you would get super excited about church history. But that was the biggest debate of the first few centuries. There was a heresy called Arianism that taught that Jesus was not eternally God. That He was a created being. And it almost ripped the church apart. Really big deal.

78% Of American evangelicals said, yep, that's what we believe. Now, polls are polls and surveys are surveys. Give or take 10 or 15, 20% off. That's alarming. And there are a lot more that you can cite that show that. That what you believe matters.

Now, I know some people will respond and go, alright, preacher man, I know you love theology. I know you get real excited about that. But is it just our faith about loving God and loving people? Isn't that some of the main teachings? You don't have to get into the weeds of all of this. Listen, I'm not advocating that you've got to love, love, love theology.

Alright? I'm not saying you've got to have systematic theology by your bedside every night and just get real giddy. I'm not saying that is the case. I think it would be fun. But I'm not saying that's what has to happen.

But the reality is you need to understand is that your beliefs matter because your beliefs ultimately shape how you worship. Your beliefs shape your understanding of God. Your beliefs shape the way that you practice your faith. I mean take just the self-proclaiming Christians in this survey that said that all paths lead to God. What you're essentially saying is is that faith can be found outside of the finished work of Jesus on the cross. That you can have eternal life with God outside of the blood being shed outside of the resurrection.

And if that is the case then Christ died for nothing. And the resurrection is meaningless. Now what you believe absolutely matters. You can play out the logic of any belief and lead it to its conclusions. It matters. What you believe matters.

And John understood this. That is why he comes out addressing something that is a very big problem in their churches. He's a real person with a real body and that matters. And so the beliefs we're going to walk through absolutely matter. And they're challenging but I'm glad we get to walk through them because they matter. Alright.

Beliefs also affect a major theme that runs through this and that is true obedience. That part of being a Christian means you have true obedience. Let me walk through a couple of verses that we're going to see as we walk through 1 John. 2.4 says whoever says I know him but does not keep his commands is a liar and the truth is not in him. It's a lot of lying accusations that John makes. Real blunt.

1.4 Says if you say you know him if you say you are a Christian and you don't follow his commands you're a liar. You aren't actually a Christian. What you say does not line up with actual obedience that he calls us to. 2.15 He says do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world the love of the Father is not in him. We'll sit in that teaching the idea that if you love the world or just break it down even further if you look like the rest of the world in a way that does not distinguish you as a Christian if there's not any separating difference that you love the world so much that you look like the world he goes on to say that the love of the Father is not in you.

3.6 He says no one who abides in him keeps on sinning no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him and that's jarring and when we get to that we'll walk into the nuances of what is happening there but the real blunt takeaway is is that if you don't progress in a way where you are growing to be more like Christ and you continue in sin that grace may abound he's saying you don't know him. 3.8 He says whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. He doubles down on it and says if you keep on sinning you are son or daughter of the devil and it's like man that's abrasive calling people children of the evil one. Walk through that and see that in 3.8 and I'll just give you one more in 5.2 He says by this we know that we love the children of God when we love God and obey his commandments.

The defining feature is that you love God and you obey his commandments. That has some harsh teachings some hard teachings ahead of us but it matters. Somebody in my community group was talking about this the other day. I was in a relationship with a co-worker and that co-worker has gotten to know her she says she's a Christian and he finally just kind of took a step and said hey if you were a Christian and he addressed something that was in her life and he had kind of the rapport to be able to do this

He just said hey you're living with your boyfriend right now and why don't you actually let's talk about marriage because that's actually not honoring to God he started to walk get ready to walk her kind of through this challenge her on this and she said okay yeah but the Bible says a whole lot of things about wearing clothing with two different types of garments in it and shellfish we shouldn't eat shellfish and the Bible says a lot of things and in that moment she dismissed it outright

With a really bad Old Testament law hermeneutic bad Old Testament biblical interpretation but dismissed it dismissed it outright why? because she doesn't want to be challenged and that's us we don't want to be challenged in obedience we don't want to be challenged we like the way we live we don't want to be uncomfortable we don't want to be told this is what you should be doing this is what is ultimately good

This is what you should aim your life we don't want that and the reason why John is going to go hard after this is because obedience matters because disobedience leads to more disobedience it leads to more straying away one of my favorite TV shows of all time is Breaking Bad it is one of the more brilliant shows I've ever seen it is not like The Office you do not watch it over and over again

Because it's really dark but one of the things I appreciate so much about Breaking Bad is it shows this is the sinful nature of man and this is what happens when you indulge in this it leads to more rebellion I mean the whole story arc of the show shows this it's about a high school chemistry teacher who gets diagnosed with cancer and he doesn't have money enough money and his health

Insurance doesn't cover his treatment so he says I'm going to make meth with my chemistry skills and he starts out with I'm going to make one deal of meth I'm going to get my money I'm going to get out but the show is called Breaking Bad because he starts Breaking Bad and it just keeps going and it turns to another deal and another deal and another deal

Until he becomes a drug kingpin in the southwest and as his life is completely falling apart it's just showing what happens when you indulge sin when it completely falls apart and he's ruined his family and he's become a major fugitive in the very last episode he has this conversation with his wife he gets a chance to see her one last time and she thinks he's going to get the same speech about oh you did

This for the family oh you did this for us and he's finally just honest and he says I did it for me I did it because I liked it I did it because it made me feel good and that's sin it taps into something disobedience taps into something that's earthly within us but we just want to keep going and keep going I hear people say

I hear people say I just don't know why people do drugs I don't know why don't they see how self-destructive it is as someone who used to do drugs I can tell you why people do drugs it feels really good it's honest that's the honest response doing drugs feels really good in the moment I mean indulging in sin feels really good

In the moment and yes it leads to self-destruction yes it leads to your life falling apart but man it feels good and John gets this and understands that if you go down the road of disobedience it is only going to get worse you will inoculate yourself to the love of God you will you will become so used to sin and so used to

Loving the world that you just won't you won't love God anymore and you will walk away he goes hard after true obedience and he also goes hard after true love true love true love 1st John 4 8 anyone who does not love does not know God because God is love a lot of people that aren't even familiar with much of the teachings

Of the Bible at least have heard that God is love in college in my philosophy classes I took logic which was a ton of fun you learn about logical fallacies which makes arguments really fun because you can just point out things that are logical fallacies in people's arguments you also learn about syllogisms syllogisms are

They're if if then statements if if therefore statements three part syllogisms are if this is true and if this is true therefore this is true four part syllogisms are if this is true and this is true and this is true therefore this is the conclusion so I want to show you a few of these syllogisms that that are helpful to see

This is how syllogisms works all mammals are animals logic point one all elephants are mammals logic point two if that is true therefore all elephants are animals alright that's how syllogisms work but you can have fun with it and you can kind of insert some logical fallacies within it and you can make them say all kinds of fun things

Unicorns are awesome fact I am awesome fact therefore I am a unicorn I am a unicorn alright see how syllogisms work they can be really fun this this was one of my favorite syllogisms in all of my logic classes alright it's a four part one God is love love is blind Ray Charles is blind therefore

Ray Charles is God and it's silly the reason I love that syllogism is because it highlights how badly our culture has gotten love I mean love has been just abused in so many ways in a post-modern world where all that objectivity is out the door

And you create your own meaning and words have completely lost their own meaning I feel like love has taken the biggest beating I mean love has been abused and I can't I'm serious I can't think of a more important word in the English language for you to know the absolute true definition of love I cannot think

Of a more important word for you to actually know this is what love means because how you define love reveals what you believe about God it reveals how you view God love is a huge theme in 1st John this is a letter it is five chapters long it is not

They're not very long chapters in fact I think it would be good for all of us once a week to read 1st John just for the entire time we're in it it will not take long if you do it it will take you about 15 minutes once a month read 1st John become acquainted with the arguments that are being made in 1st John love is mentioned 26 times 26 times it's the second most

Of any book in the New Testament the only book in the New Testament that mentions love more is the gospel of John which is 21 longer chapters so love per capita usage 1st John is packed with it and we just saw the one that says God is love there are other challenging verses on defining what this love is

314 It says we know that we have passed out of death into life because we love the brothers whoever does not love abides in death we're going to get to that teaching and it says if you don't love the brothers if you don't love brothers and sisters and