Revelation: Joining Him in His rule (2)

Hermeneutics

Historical situation

Principles

1 John 4:1–6 ESV

1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 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. 4 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. 5 They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them. 6 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.

John 3:3 ESV

3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

Threats to Our Continued Belief and Practice of the Gospel

Truth without Love

Persecution and Martyrdom

Internal Deception by those seeking wealth

Jesus doesn’t matter for acceptance by God as much as having friends and gaining wealth.

External Seduction by those seeking power

The Gospel’s message isn’t as good for us as some other message/religion/ philosophy.

Image over Reality / Incomplete vs complete obedience

As long as we look good to others, does it really matter what God thinks of us? It doesn’t really matter if I have spiritual life as long as people think I do.

Prioritizing strength over faithfulness

Discouragement over our strength/opportunities propels the lie that God loves me for how much I do for him. Grace isn’t as important as influence and power.

Current wealth over true wealth

Wealth and comfort nurture the lie that I’m ok without depending on God.

Fight being seduced

So many voices out there saying they have the best way to live

Or saying if you don’t vote a certain way you’ll be in trouble

In his book Tempted and Tried Russell Moore recounts an NPR program about a scientist named Temple Grandin who is researching new ways to gently kill cows. It's an important issue because if the animals experience high stress levels prior to death, hormones get released that lower the meat quality. Thus, Grandin has been exploring how to keep the cattle calm as they are being led to slaughter.

Grandin's research has led to one simple insight: novelty distresses cows. The key is to keep everything in their lives feeling and looking as normal and natural as possible. Russell Moore summarizes Grandin's techniques for gently killing the cows:

Workers shouldn't yell at the cows, [Grandin] said, and they should never use cattle prods, because they are counter-productive and unneeded. If you just keep the cows contented and comfortable, they'll go wherever they're led. Don't surprise them, don't unnerve them, and above all, don't hurt them (well, at least until you slit their throats at the end).

Along the way, [Grandin] devised a new technology that has revolutionized the ways of the big slaughter operations. In this system the cows aren't prodded off the truck but are led, in silence, onto a ramp. They go through a "squeeze chute," a gentle pressure device that mimics a mother's nuzzling touch. The cattle continue down the ramp onto a smoothly curving path. There are no sudden turns. The cows experience the sensation of going home, the same kind of way they've traveled many times before.

As they mosey along the path, they don't even notice when their hooves are no longer touching the ground. A conveyor belt slightly lifts them gently upward, and then … a blunt instrument levels a surgical strike right between the eyes. They're transitioned from livestock to meat, and they're never aware enough to be alarmed by any of it. The pioneer of this technology commends it to the slaughterhouses and affectionately gives it a nickname. [Grandin] calls it "the stairway to heaven."

Be in the Word

Consider how God’s kingdom is better than anything else

Follow through on your worship

So many times Satan is trying to distract us from what we know God wants us to do.

NPR's radio show "This American Life" ran an interesting segment about a marketing executive from Colombia named Jose Miguel Sokoloff. The government of Columbia approached Jose with an interesting assignment: run a marketing campaign that will convince leftist guerrilla rebels to demobilize and reenter society. At first Jose's firm ran a series of radio ad campaigns that featured testimonials from former rebels. But actors actually read the testimonials so that plan didn't work.

Then in 2010 Mr. Sokoloff tried a different approach—an ad campaign called "Operation Christmas." At nine strategic places in the jungle where the rebels traversed, they strung hundreds of Christmas lights on 75-foot tall trees. When the rebels walked by a motion sensor set off the lights and a recorded message that said, "If Christmas can come to the jungle, you can come home." That campaign helped demobilize 331 rebels.

The next year they ran a similar campaign titled "Operation Rivers of Light." The firm filled over 7,000 translucent plastic balls with small gifts and heartwarming notes inviting the rebels to come home. As the rebels travelled by river, this time they saw the balls, lit up and floating on the river, coming towards them. They couldn't resist; they opened the balls and received the gifts and read the notes. Beauty was the key to this campaign. Sokoloff said, "When you see all these lights floating down the river, slowly floating down towards you, you can't escape the thought of, this is a beautiful thing … [you're] drawn to it."

Even if it costs you something, isn’t it great to revel in what we have in Christ.

I will not offer anything that costs me nothing.

Invest in your dependence

We can be always looking for the next show to watch, youtube video to click, pleasure to enjoy.

In the early 1890s, French painter Auguste Renoir overheard two of his colleagues, Edgar Degas and Jean-Louis Forain, talking about the technological miracle that had recently set Paris abuzz—the telephone. Forain was apparently quite proud of being one of the first people in the city to own one.

Degas: "Does it work well?" Forain: "Very well. You turn a little handle, and a bell rings at the other end of the wire in the apartment of the person you are calling. When he unhooks the earphone you talk just as easily as if you were in the same room."

After reflecting a moment, Degas asked: "And does it work just as well the other way around? The other person can also turn a little handle and ring you up?" "Of course," replied Forain, beaming. "And when the bell rings, you get up and answer it?" "Why, yes. Certainly." "Just like a servant," concluded Degas.

Pray. Be honest with yourself. What are you really doing to invest in heavenly treasure?

Do something you believe God wants you to do where you don’t know the outcome.

This is why we need to be a Scripture-focused family

Next steps

Trust in Christ

Pick one way this week.

Preach the Gospel to yourself.

Community Group questions

Where do you see Christians being seduced today? What does it look like?

How is personal integrity (vs 23b) connected to not being seduced?

How does authority (vs26-27) relate to not being seduced? How do you seek to live under Christ’s authority?

Image in our world is often way more important than reality. How do we as Christians live differently than that?

Image also seems to be set against security. Why do sometimes people think image = security and why is that a lie?

How does wealth trick our spiritual perspective?

Practically what does buy gold, white garments and salve for your eyes mean for a Christian (vs 18)?

How can we help each not be lukewarm?

Why is the Gospel so important to you? How have you rejoiced in it recently? How have you fought sin with it recently? How can we pray for one another to remain in it?