keep yourself
Notes
Transcript
Anouncments:
Anouncments:
Volunteers to help with kids room projects
Of volunteers for The send a kid to camp auction in two weeks
This will be our last growth community for the regular year
We will be moving to having a hang out every other week
And a Bible study every other week
Bible studies will be on site at grand Blanc
Hangouts will be at different areas and I will send details in the group chat. It’s also available online.
Icebreaker:
Icebreaker:
Intro:
Intro:
This is our very last study through the book of John
I want us to take a moment and just look through our Bibles and let’s chat about what we’ve learned through this series
What are some things we’ve seen in chapters 1 23 and four??
What are some highlights? What are some things that have stood out to you guys?
What are some things that we don’t wanna miss but we want to walk away with?
What have you found beneficial from this series?
What are some things you’re excited to implement or have implemented in your life?
What is the overall purpose of first John what’s the overall purpose of the book?
I believe that everything in first John has built to this outro
Everything John has been writing about is summarized in these last few versus
We’re gonna look at what it means to pray for one another and keep one another accountable
We’re gonna look at who we are as believers in Christ
And we’re gonna look at John’s number one concern at the end of this book.
Let’s pray, and then we can jump into our text…
Text:
Text:
16 If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask, and God will give him life—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.
17 All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that does not lead to death.
18 We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but he who was born of God protects him, and the evil one does not touch him.
19 We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.
20 And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.
21 Little children, keep yourselves from idols.
Prayer:
Prayer:
1 John 5:16–21 (ESV)
16 If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask, and God will give him life—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.
17 All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that does not lead to death.
OK, let’s dissect versus 16 and 17. What do we know about sin?
What does the book of first John teach us about sin?
8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
How do you think John defines sin?
Is it at all clear what this sin that leads to death is?
According to the preaching the word commentary, there is about four different views and interpretations for this passage
And I want to make clear that the passage doesn’t give us a clear answer
We can pick up clues and interpretation from the rest of scripture in order to make our opinion not contradictory
But the reality is Voice scripture isn’t clear we hold it with open hands
A Heinous Sin (e.g., Murder)
Apostasy
The Unpardonable Sin (Blasphemy Against the Holy Spirit)
A Sin Committed by a Believer Resulting in Physical Death
Which view do you guys feel like you resonate with?
Which view do you think is the most accurate? Why or why not?
When we look at these four different interpretations, I think we can find some quick inconsistencies with some of them
Looking at a heinous sin, such as murder I believe that probably isn’t descend that leads to death or separation from Christ because Paul himself was a murderer
But if it’s not a heinous crime, maybe Apostasy this idea of falling away from the Faith
But that would contradict basically all of John 10:27-29
27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.
28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.
29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.
38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers,
39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
So Apostasy does not seem to fit, considering we can’t lose the gift of eternal life once given
Anyone who Claims to be Christian, but then does not continue in their faith show signs that they never truly had the Holy Spirit dwelling in them
19 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.
Now we come to the unpardonable sin blasphemy of the Holy Spirit
Are there any hangups we may have with that theory? I know we talked about it last week and I’ve done more digging. What do we think?
Is there anything in the tax that we see that might make it fit or not fit?
Anyone who sees his what? “Brother”
The commentator points out that John refers to this person who said is committing a sin that leads to death as a brother.
So we can pretty easily come to a conclusion that this person is a believer is someone who has the Holy Spirit, but is making wrong decisions and running away from truth
A prodigal son in a way
So the author of the commentary, I read through today comes to more of a different conclusion talking about sin that leads to physical death, not spiritual death
He references, Anaïs and Safira, who when they tried to lie To Peter and truthfully to God
God strikes them down dead, but nowhere in the passage or anywhere else in scripture does it claim that they are not saved that they did not believe
So the author of this commentary comes to the conclusion that most likely this means sins that lead to physical death that are extremely dangerous
Such as suicide, Which I know can be sensitive and I hope I’m not offending anybody
Or things that lead to quick derailment and deaf, such as being addicted to drugs or alcohol or drunk driving
These sins, our sins that we shouldn’t just pray about it. I hope you’re OK. I’ll pray for you.
These are things that we should take action on
So in conclusion again, this isn’t made extremely clear, but I think that the fourth option is one that resonates and makes the most sense to me
But if I had to assume or guess I would assume that John and the people he was writing to had an understanding of what they were talking about
Any other thoughts on this section? Any questions or comments or concerns before we keep going?
Moving inverses 18 through 21 we make a bit of a pivot verse 18 is our transitional verse
18 We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but he who was born of God protects him, and the evil one does not touch him.
Looking at the first half of verse 18 everyone born of God does not keep on sinning what does that mean?
What does it mean to keep on Sinning?
But in the second half of the verse gives us really good information
“but he who was born of God protects him, and the evil one does not touch him.” Who is being referred to here?
What do you think John is trying to say?
who is HE and who is him?
Again, John wants us to deal with our security. John wants us to recognize that we know.
That we think
That we hope
Not we wish for
But we know that everyone who is born of God, and if we are born of God, this includes us
Does not keep on continually in their sin forever
And that this person Will not continue and will not Forever, Chase after the vices of this world
How is this possible well the reason is he who was born of God
Referring to Jesus, protect him, protects us and the evil one does not touch us
In this verse in this story, we are Peter who denied Jesus three times
31 “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat,
32 but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.”
Jesus is the reason that Peter survived. Jesus is the reason that he did not turn in his faith did not fail. Jesus is the reason that we have our security.
Not our strength, not our faith, but his faithfulness and his strength
His love, his mercy, his grace
His power, his strength, his Might
It’s all about him
He strengthened us. He protects us because we know that anyone who is truly in him who is truly in relationship with Christ will not fall away.
Will not be touched by the devil
Now this doesn’t mean we won’t have trials pain, sickness, torture suffering
Job was a disciple of God. Joe was a believer. Job was touched physically tortured by the devil.
But the word for touched means to be held to be laid hold of to be burned
The devil cannot lay hold of us. The devil cannot drag us down and let us on fire and Hell.
Because we are soaked with the presence of Jesus, if we were wood, we would be soaked with Jesus so we could not burn
We are protected we are controlled, and we are saved by Christ alone
Why do you think this is important?
Why do you think John points out versus 18?
Why do you think it’s important for us to know this?
Continuing on with the theme that we know
19 We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.
A question I have is do we know this?
One do we know we’re from God,Do we know that we have been taken from death to life? Do we know that we are saved?
And if you’re in this room and you don’t know you’re not 100,000% confident that if you died today that you would wake up with Jesus, I want you to be saved
I want you to have that confidence I want you to know that you are from God that you are born of God that you are a new creation
The Bible says to repent and believe this is changing our mind saying I’ve done wrong and I know what Chris wants me to do
9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
It’s that simple it’s that straightforward. All you have to do is repent and believe, confess and believe
But my second question is do we know that the whole earth the whole world lies in the power of the evil one?
And the reason I asked that is because I wonder how many of us in this room seek to impress, conquer and gain favor from this world?
Because this world belongs to the demonic powers
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.
16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world.
17 And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.
Are we flirting with the world?
Do we realize that this world is in the power of the evil one??
Do we realize that we are in enemy territory we are behind enemy lines
Do we live like men and women at war not for our own lives but for the lives of those around us
How many of us in this room have seen hacksaw Ridge?
Tell a story about hacksaw Ridge:
Conclusion:
Conclusion:
Are we envisioning this world as enemy territory? We’re dragging bodies over our shoulder to bring them to safety by sharing the gospel?
By inviting them to gathering by reaching out to them and bringing them to safety, risking our own reputation life and emotions?
Or do we see this world is just a friendly place where we can just hang out and do what we want
As Christians, we must know that we are in Christ and also know that we are in Anime territory
What things in our life should change since we are in enemy territory?
Water practical ways we can reach out to the young adults in our community?
What are some practical ways that we can realize that this world is owned by enemy forces? How can we defend and protect against it?
20 And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.
21 Little children, keep yourselves from idols.
What’s this out to you in this passage?
What does John want us to know?
Why does John want us to know all of these things?
Because bad belief leads to bad behavior, and this is demonstrated in Romans one
21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.
22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools,
28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.
When we have a misunderstanding of who we are misunderstanding of who God is and our relationship to him, then we crumble then we fall apart
Then we run two idols
You see there’s a statistic where For men and women when they do not have a proper father or mother figure they become An easier target for abuse by the opposite sex
The reality is when our vision of what the ideal is is blurred, and we find ourselves up in our own ideal situation
When we don’t clearly see who we are in Christ, we don’t clearly see our value or the value of the relationship or the value of our God
And we do things so I’ll not be done
When we don’t clearly see how good this is we run to things that seem OK called idols
What are idols?
9 All who fashion idols are nothing, and the things they delight in do not profit. Their witnesses neither see nor know, that they may be put to shame.
10 Who fashions a god or casts an idol that is profitable for nothing?
11 Behold, all his companions shall be put to shame, and the craftsmen are only human. Let them all assemble, let them stand forth. They shall be terrified; they shall be put to shame together.
17 And the rest of it he makes into a god, his idol, and falls down to it and worships it. He prays to it and says, “Deliver me, for you are my god!”
18 They know not, nor do they discern, for he has shut their eyes, so that they cannot see, and their hearts, so that they cannot understand.
These passages describe humanity, creating things in order to deliver them
And today I think this is what we’ve done with certain forms of entertainment and technology
We create things in order to deliver us from the suffering of anxiety, boredom fear pain
And all the world offers is distraction
Which does not save us
Which does not help us
Only leads us to a ineffectual life of meaningless, breathing, eating, and sleeping
So will we keep ourselves from idols?
How do we keep ourselves from idols?
The answer is by pursuing the truth rather than the counterfeit
Filling up on the desires of the spirit to avoid the desires of the flesh
We must operate in Faith not fear
Faith in the true God, the truest form of him the reality of who he is knowing who he is not having a murky vision of who he is
we Know
Because we know we know that we are in Him we can resist the devil
because we know him we can Keep ourselves from idols
What Do we worship?
Do we function out of faith or fear
fear faith and
Know this!!!! Know that you are in Jesus and because of that Knowledge Know what you belong to.
Video of the guy who was put under for a surgery and woke up and his wife tried to give him a kiss and he was so out of it. He pushed her away and said no I’m married.
He knew who he belong to, so he knew who he kept himself for
Do we know who we belong to? Do we know it so deep that when anything else Present itself that we run away and discussed to the thing of our love to the object of our love?
Look at intercession this isn’t a snooty comment saying I’m gonna pray for you, but this is a genuine love board out of a grievance of sin and a recognition of pain that is down the road for the person committing the sin
This response comes from a place of self struggle, self sin and recognition of the need to be a strong brother praying for one another
This is the ecclesiastic passage talking about what was him who falls and no one is there to pick him up The praying intercessory brother is the one standing. They’re ready to pick the brother up and actively trying to stabilize his path and protect him from pitfalls.
Prayer isn’t the last resort it is the first resort
