1 John 2:1-14
Vrs 1 “These things” The Father extended His love toward us in sending Jesus (the incarnation) to die for us, this should inspire us to not sin, one major goal that we should have in our lives is something called “Sanctification” (Set apart) that is the concept that day by day we are becoming more and more like Jesus and sin less and less.
But if you do sin We have Jesus, who takes our place as our advocate
Vrs 2 “Propitiation”- David says in Psalm 51 against You only have I sinned
God does love us, but He hates sin. God has to hate sin because He is good and he has to be angry and do something about it because He is just. He can’t just ignore the sin that we commit. Sin spurs on God’s wrath or His dealing justly with sin
People have a problem with this.. If God is love, how can He have wrath in Him? Let me ask you this… Would He be love if He didn’t have wrath? Love protects, (I am a dad) part of God’s wrath is the eventual purging this world of sin. It is against God’s Character not be just He must be just, if He is just there must be wrath/payment. Would we consider our justice system to be loving if it let criminal go?
2 forms of wrath: Active wrath we see incidents of that in the OT and NT,
Passive wrath Romans 1 “Wrath of God revealed” “Gave us over to our sinful desires and we make a mess and all the sins we commit are added to the pile and then at the day of judgment that pile falls on you. There is justice because you paid for your sin ways.
The doctrine of Propitiation means that wrath was fully and completely poured out on Jesus, he paid for my sin. So if some say that God cannot have wrath if He is love then 1 John 4:10 clears that up. and if we reject that it is like we are saying I will take it myself.
The Passover illustrates this.
This is extremely important because in Jesus, The Father is not angry with me. (He may be displeased) In Jesus, The father is not punishing me (He may be disciplining me) In Jesus, I don’t have to pay God back for the wrong that I did. He paid it all…and offers to all.
Vrs 3-5 The litmus test for our personal faith in Jesus is our desire to follow, God knows our hearts
Faith- words for (example in Rom. 4:18-25 discussion on Abraham)
1. notitia – notion-understanding
2. assensus – assent-agree with it
3. fiducia – fiduciary(bank) reliable Salvation happens in the presence of assensus and fiducia
4. Actio – Action – readiness to do something. Love is displayed to God in Actio faith
Vrs 6 Abiding in Jesus means we follow His example. Jesus is pleased by “Actio”
loving what He loves, hating what He hates, doing what He does, treating people the way He treats them, praying like He prayed, sacrificing like He sacrificed and acting as He acts.
As a father I understand this (Zane surfing)
Vrs 7 Come on guys this is nothing new, from the beginning of your faith you knew what pleases God but you are neglecting that.
Vrs 8 The new command John 13:34 of love belongs to Jesus is His new age which we are living in.
The darkness passing and the true light is shining
Jesus came and died and now that message was going out into a dark world to light things up. Continent by continent, country, state, city, town, neighborhood, house Rev 21-22 the light will come from the Son Jesus
Vrs 9-10 This is speaking to Christians, if you have hatred toward another Christian you cannot claim to have a tight intimate relationship with Jesus
“cause for stumbling”-consequences and leading to other actions that will be destructive
“Hate is like acid. It can damage the vessel in which it is stored as well as destroy the object on which it is poured”. Ann Landers,
If we hate our fellow Christian we are disobeying the law of love that Jesus has for us and taught us.
What causes us to hate our fellow Christian?
1. They have hurt us…physically, emotionally.
Someone once said “you have never been truly hurt until you have been hurt by your fellow Christian” Why is this true? Because of the expectation you have on them But we have to think are these wants or needs?
2. They let us down by a spiritual downfall
I have noticed when a high profile Christian falls, they are able to find more mercy, compassion and love from those outside the Christian faith
The great preacher C.H. Spergeon said- “if you hate a backslidden brother you hate his master (Jesus), you and him have the same righteousness and the same master Jesus. Take care of the backslider.
3. We envy them, sometimes some people just have it together and we can’t stand it.
Vrs 11 Often times wrath is born out of hatred. The person that hates loses his way, we start to become driven by hatred and the idea of the revenge we seek, it consumes our thoughts our speech and our time because of this there is no room for the things of God, sometimes we kid ourselves, we start to read the Bible and instead of letting it be light to us and work on our heart we read it and think about how the person that we hate needs to follow this or this was written to them not to me as well.
God has taken their wrath on the cross, you don’t have to deal out the wrath. Jesus is their propitiation just like He is yours
In a will written in 1935 by a Mr. Donohoe. It says, "Unto my two daughters, Frances Marie and Denise Victoria, by reason of their attitude toward a doting father, . . . I leave the sum of $1.00 to each and a father's curse. May their lives be fraught with misery, unhappiness, and sorrow. May their deaths be soon and of a lingering malignant and torturous nature." "May their souls rest in hell and suffer the torments of the condemned for eternity." (This dad lost his way)
Which leads us into the next few verses 12-14 I write to you
“Little children” term for young and or immature Christians
Young men and fathers- I want to appeal to the men. Men’s study
How do we overcome hatred in our lives? Repentance especially if it is driven by our own envy and forgiveness.
Realizing that Jesus took our wrath for us on the cross
Monday, February 23, 2009
Sunday, February 15, 2009
"Know the Son" 1 John Series: "Jesus came to clean"
good link for introduction study of the book http://www.ibsstl.org/niv/studybible/1john.php
1 John 1:1-10
Introduction: Date AD 90 written to the Christians in Roman province of Asia (western Turkey) John was dealing with
-Gnostics – This was not a full blown belief system at the time John wrote this but John saw the danger in what the Gnostic thinkers were teaching. In a nut shell they taught that matter (the physical world) was evil and the spiritual world was good, so if God was good He did not create the physical world. Therefore a lesser god or angels must have created.
-Docetism (Doh-see-tiz-um)- Jesus physical body was not real, and only appeared to be real.
He was refuting Heresy of a teacher named Cerinthus who taught that Jesus received divine (God) nature upon His baptism and it left Him before His crucifixion
So really the purpose of this book is to teach Christians good theology about Jesus and if they understand Jesus they will respond well to one another. And have “Fellowship with God and one another”
If you understand the concept of a game you can play well
Vrs 1-3 John was one of Jesus’ disciples so he was writing to them from first hand experience.
Two things are happening here.. one theological and one application
1. Theology- The incarnation is being explained God came in the flesh
2. Application- As a believer in Jesus you should always be prepared to tell others what He did for you and preach the Gospel. When we trust Jesus we enter into fellowship unity with Him and then in unity with all Christians
Vrs 4 any time truth is taught it brings joy, as your pastor I am up here every week to bring you joy from the Word.
“These things” =the truth about Jesus. Jesus brings joy to our lives and a correct understanding of what Jesus did on the cross brings joy to every situation.
The Gospel brings joy-when we have no money-when we are being made fun of-when someone hurts us-when we lose someone we love
You may say this is foolish and I am not surprised. 1 Corinthians 1:18 The bible says this is foolishness to those who are perishing
Vrs 5 God is good, He is in control, He takes care, He provides, He wants to comfort you, He gives us truth to live by, He disciplines us.
Vrs 6 If we say we are tight with Him and we continue to do what is wrong we are lying to… 1. Jesus, to 2. ourselves and to 3. other people.
It would be like me saying I am close with my wife and kids but not providing for them, spending time with them, listening to them.
I am tight with Jesus but… I don’t go to church..liar, don’t read the Bible, don’t pray, not being sexually pure, I am gossiping about other people, I am stealing money or time from work, I am not giving my best to God, I am not encouraging my fellow Christians, I am complaining, I am worrying
Because we are lying to Jesus, ourselves and others it has a negative affect on who we are and how effective we are with the Gospel message and obedience to Jesus. So we start to feel guilt and shame about what we are doing, have done or are not doing right. Guilt and shame start to paralyze us
The guilt and shame we carry and stain of sin cause us to live in Darkness, depression, self worth issues and more imperative separates us from being close with God and close with other Christians
There is a cure…
Vrs 7 Give us two cures 1. obey Jesus. 2. Trust in Jesus no matter what you are dealing with, guilt, shame or struggling with a habitual sin, it is crucial that you understand what theologians call Expiation-simply means to cleanse
Vrs 8 Sometimes we act like we are not doing the wrong thing. In that case we are rejecting what Jesus did for us. We try to take care of our sin ourselves
Go back to Adam and Eve (fig leaves to hide the stain of sin)
Mark Driscoll in His book “Death by Love” gives us ways people try to hide, guilt, shame and sin, I added one to his list.
1. Good/religious person- Do good to cover up 2. The fun person-life of the party. (I was a class clown) 3. Become tough- nothing effects me.
4. Anti social person –social outcast, I have hurt people they have hurt me.
If you get to know them you will see the stain of sin and the fact that there are problems they are trying to hide.
Vrs 9 There is a remedy…
Two issues here… either
1. Have not trusted in Jesus as their Savior or
2. Have not embraced the fact that He has made us clean. If that is the case it affects our identity.
3 options for identity
1. Define yourself by what you have done 1 Cor 6:9-12 this is what you were lifestyle of sin does not define us I am a drunk, I am an addict, I am a thief, I am a liar,
2. Define yourself by your situation, I was abused, I was abandoned, my parents were divorced, I had a bad home life,
3. Define yourself by what Jesus did for you and what He is for you
If you get your self worth, purpose, and dignity from what Jesus did for you, you will have a close connection with Him and then you are able to relate well with other people.
Gal 2:20
If we don’t accept that Jesus cleansed us from “all unrighteousness” we try to hide that which we cannot clean ourselves… our sin
Vrs 10 When we admit it He will cleanse us of it, but if we don’t we are doubting God and showing that we don’t understand His Word and will not live up to our fullest potential in Jesus.
1 John 1:1-10
Introduction: Date AD 90 written to the Christians in Roman province of Asia (western Turkey) John was dealing with
-Gnostics – This was not a full blown belief system at the time John wrote this but John saw the danger in what the Gnostic thinkers were teaching. In a nut shell they taught that matter (the physical world) was evil and the spiritual world was good, so if God was good He did not create the physical world. Therefore a lesser god or angels must have created.
-Docetism (Doh-see-tiz-um)- Jesus physical body was not real, and only appeared to be real.
He was refuting Heresy of a teacher named Cerinthus who taught that Jesus received divine (God) nature upon His baptism and it left Him before His crucifixion
So really the purpose of this book is to teach Christians good theology about Jesus and if they understand Jesus they will respond well to one another. And have “Fellowship with God and one another”
If you understand the concept of a game you can play well
Vrs 1-3 John was one of Jesus’ disciples so he was writing to them from first hand experience.
Two things are happening here.. one theological and one application
1. Theology- The incarnation is being explained God came in the flesh
2. Application- As a believer in Jesus you should always be prepared to tell others what He did for you and preach the Gospel. When we trust Jesus we enter into fellowship unity with Him and then in unity with all Christians
Vrs 4 any time truth is taught it brings joy, as your pastor I am up here every week to bring you joy from the Word.
“These things” =the truth about Jesus. Jesus brings joy to our lives and a correct understanding of what Jesus did on the cross brings joy to every situation.
The Gospel brings joy-when we have no money-when we are being made fun of-when someone hurts us-when we lose someone we love
You may say this is foolish and I am not surprised. 1 Corinthians 1:18 The bible says this is foolishness to those who are perishing
Vrs 5 God is good, He is in control, He takes care, He provides, He wants to comfort you, He gives us truth to live by, He disciplines us.
Vrs 6 If we say we are tight with Him and we continue to do what is wrong we are lying to… 1. Jesus, to 2. ourselves and to 3. other people.
It would be like me saying I am close with my wife and kids but not providing for them, spending time with them, listening to them.
I am tight with Jesus but… I don’t go to church..liar, don’t read the Bible, don’t pray, not being sexually pure, I am gossiping about other people, I am stealing money or time from work, I am not giving my best to God, I am not encouraging my fellow Christians, I am complaining, I am worrying
Because we are lying to Jesus, ourselves and others it has a negative affect on who we are and how effective we are with the Gospel message and obedience to Jesus. So we start to feel guilt and shame about what we are doing, have done or are not doing right. Guilt and shame start to paralyze us
The guilt and shame we carry and stain of sin cause us to live in Darkness, depression, self worth issues and more imperative separates us from being close with God and close with other Christians
There is a cure…
Vrs 7 Give us two cures 1. obey Jesus. 2. Trust in Jesus no matter what you are dealing with, guilt, shame or struggling with a habitual sin, it is crucial that you understand what theologians call Expiation-simply means to cleanse
Vrs 8 Sometimes we act like we are not doing the wrong thing. In that case we are rejecting what Jesus did for us. We try to take care of our sin ourselves
Go back to Adam and Eve (fig leaves to hide the stain of sin)
Mark Driscoll in His book “Death by Love” gives us ways people try to hide, guilt, shame and sin, I added one to his list.
1. Good/religious person- Do good to cover up 2. The fun person-life of the party. (I was a class clown) 3. Become tough- nothing effects me.
4. Anti social person –social outcast, I have hurt people they have hurt me.
If you get to know them you will see the stain of sin and the fact that there are problems they are trying to hide.
Vrs 9 There is a remedy…
Two issues here… either
1. Have not trusted in Jesus as their Savior or
2. Have not embraced the fact that He has made us clean. If that is the case it affects our identity.
3 options for identity
1. Define yourself by what you have done 1 Cor 6:9-12 this is what you were lifestyle of sin does not define us I am a drunk, I am an addict, I am a thief, I am a liar,
2. Define yourself by your situation, I was abused, I was abandoned, my parents were divorced, I had a bad home life,
3. Define yourself by what Jesus did for you and what He is for you
If you get your self worth, purpose, and dignity from what Jesus did for you, you will have a close connection with Him and then you are able to relate well with other people.
Gal 2:20
If we don’t accept that Jesus cleansed us from “all unrighteousness” we try to hide that which we cannot clean ourselves… our sin
Vrs 10 When we admit it He will cleanse us of it, but if we don’t we are doubting God and showing that we don’t understand His Word and will not live up to our fullest potential in Jesus.
Monday, February 2, 2009
A Safe Place Series: "Battle"
People are attacked when they are alone, because that is when they are vulnerable
Ephesians 6:12 tells us where these attacks come from
Vrs 13 Suited up for battle for when the attacks come. I believe there is an order to which Paul put forth the armor
Vrs 14Truth: Satan wants to deceive us into believing the lie Rom 1:25 and Angel of light 2 Cor 11:14
The lie that… there is more then one way to heaven, that you can be good enough to get to heaven, all religions lead to heaven, that the bible is not the authority, that calling sin sin is closed minded, that Jesus was just a good man. But when we have the truth down and truth is GOSPEL.
Satan knows that he lost on that front so he will attack the next.
Vrs 14 Righteousness: Satan wants us to sin because it will mess things up and kill our testimony, kill our relationships, kill our self worth, kill our sense of freedom.
The second way Satan attacks our righteousness is that he can use our righteousness to make us become self righteous. When we start to think we are good and think too much of ourselves we start to become judgmental towards others we think we are the ones who accomplished that. Remember Jesus is our righteousness and can be the righteousness of others and they need to hear about that.
If Satan does not succeed in defiling our righteousness he will attack our ability to share the Gospel
Vrs 15 Gospel: Satan wants to keep us from sharing the Gospel with others so they will not know the peace that only Jesus can give.
True peace only comes from knowing Jesus and we spent 4 weeks a few months ago talking about how it is a fight (UFC Series), but the fight is for the people around us to know the truth and peace of the gospel.
In Spiritual community (church) if our focus becomes inward, what I like, what I think is right to do in church, what I want to hear, instead of having a heart for the people outside these walls. Its demonic!!
If he fails on that front he attacks our personal faith
Vrs 16 Faith: Satan tries to take our eyes off Jesus and question and doubt Him EX why are you allowing suffering, why are there some things that we don’t know, why am I having a hard time with relationships, why am I struggling with sin, is my faith worth it,
“Heb 12:2 fix eyes author and perfecter of our faith” (Crazy Faith Series)
And if he has you doubting him his next line of attack is to attack your salvation
Vrs 17 Salvation: Satan wants us to question our salvation and our position in Christ. If you are a Christian and think salvation is something you can loose you are right where Satan wants you.
The Bible says you are purchased by the blood Acts 20, sealed with the Spirit and guaranteed the inheritance Eph 1, secure in Jesus hands John 10, will not be cast out John 6, Nothing can separate us for the love of Jesus Rom 8, If you live your life saying am I saved or am I not you will become ineffective for Jesus.
Now that we have our protection, what are the weapons
The weapons of choice
Vrs 17 The Word- Satan will try to keeps us from reading, Studying, memorizing and understanding the Word The Bible is where we find our hope. Challenge bring your Bible, mark it up
Vrs 18-20 Prayer: Satan tries to Detach Us
Pray for the saints, this passage is about going to battle with Satan and demons but it is also about have others to fight along side
Challenge- I am working on some material to teach you how to pray for and with one another.
In closing I want to suggest two areas in which we do battle
Air and ground
Air- is biblical teaching, what we believe,
Ground-is our practice, being out in community groups, impacting our friends and family members, caring for one another and caring for community that we live in.
We don’t have a choice, like many wars fought over the course of human history we have to fight to ensure that we have a “A Safe Place” our Spiritual community.
Ephesians 6:12 tells us where these attacks come from
Vrs 13 Suited up for battle for when the attacks come. I believe there is an order to which Paul put forth the armor
Vrs 14Truth: Satan wants to deceive us into believing the lie Rom 1:25 and Angel of light 2 Cor 11:14
The lie that… there is more then one way to heaven, that you can be good enough to get to heaven, all religions lead to heaven, that the bible is not the authority, that calling sin sin is closed minded, that Jesus was just a good man. But when we have the truth down and truth is GOSPEL.
Satan knows that he lost on that front so he will attack the next.
Vrs 14 Righteousness: Satan wants us to sin because it will mess things up and kill our testimony, kill our relationships, kill our self worth, kill our sense of freedom.
The second way Satan attacks our righteousness is that he can use our righteousness to make us become self righteous. When we start to think we are good and think too much of ourselves we start to become judgmental towards others we think we are the ones who accomplished that. Remember Jesus is our righteousness and can be the righteousness of others and they need to hear about that.
If Satan does not succeed in defiling our righteousness he will attack our ability to share the Gospel
Vrs 15 Gospel: Satan wants to keep us from sharing the Gospel with others so they will not know the peace that only Jesus can give.
True peace only comes from knowing Jesus and we spent 4 weeks a few months ago talking about how it is a fight (UFC Series), but the fight is for the people around us to know the truth and peace of the gospel.
In Spiritual community (church) if our focus becomes inward, what I like, what I think is right to do in church, what I want to hear, instead of having a heart for the people outside these walls. Its demonic!!
If he fails on that front he attacks our personal faith
Vrs 16 Faith: Satan tries to take our eyes off Jesus and question and doubt Him EX why are you allowing suffering, why are there some things that we don’t know, why am I having a hard time with relationships, why am I struggling with sin, is my faith worth it,
“Heb 12:2 fix eyes author and perfecter of our faith” (Crazy Faith Series)
And if he has you doubting him his next line of attack is to attack your salvation
Vrs 17 Salvation: Satan wants us to question our salvation and our position in Christ. If you are a Christian and think salvation is something you can loose you are right where Satan wants you.
The Bible says you are purchased by the blood Acts 20, sealed with the Spirit and guaranteed the inheritance Eph 1, secure in Jesus hands John 10, will not be cast out John 6, Nothing can separate us for the love of Jesus Rom 8, If you live your life saying am I saved or am I not you will become ineffective for Jesus.
Now that we have our protection, what are the weapons
The weapons of choice
Vrs 17 The Word- Satan will try to keeps us from reading, Studying, memorizing and understanding the Word The Bible is where we find our hope. Challenge bring your Bible, mark it up
Vrs 18-20 Prayer: Satan tries to Detach Us
Pray for the saints, this passage is about going to battle with Satan and demons but it is also about have others to fight along side
Challenge- I am working on some material to teach you how to pray for and with one another.
In closing I want to suggest two areas in which we do battle
Air and ground
Air- is biblical teaching, what we believe,
Ground-is our practice, being out in community groups, impacting our friends and family members, caring for one another and caring for community that we live in.
We don’t have a choice, like many wars fought over the course of human history we have to fight to ensure that we have a “A Safe Place” our Spiritual community.
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