Queens Church - Alive in the light

Introduction:

Sermon Series: “Alive in the Light”

The "Alive in the Light" sermon series where you all have focused on the “abundant and secure life believers possess when walking in the light of Jesus.”

Here is kind of hoe I received the idea of this sermon series: its like the first warm day of the year in New York City —— EVERYONE is out and about just being in the sun

The gospel — when it comes to life in us — is like that first warm day in NYC — you just want to be where the light is …!

in contrast to being “Alive in the light” —— how many of us know/remember intimately what it means to be “Dead in the dark” —- When you were dead in the dark someone had to come in shine the light for you so that you could see that there was something else out there——I want us to be the light shiners today and then?

The Empire State Building Story: They cared more about the message than they did the consequences of the message —— we as believers in Jesus may have something to learn here ….

Transition: Similarly to their unwavering commitment to the message they proclaimed atop the Empire State building…

Our Text today is going to exalt the Love of God that should stir us to follow His commandments therefore displaying this eagerness to walk in His ways — AND as a result — GET THIS — we obtain a boldness to proclaim the good news as if we were unashamed of its reality!

All of us likely fall into one of three buckets when we think about or Gods love —

1) We are too good to need it

2) We are too bad to deserve it

3) We sit at the foot of the cross knowing we’ve been given something that isn’t ours —- but is so good it must be shared with others

Number 3 is where we are made Alive in the light!!! But — it isn’t our light —- look with me from the beginning of the Bible, the middle of the bible, and the end of the Bible —- God wasn’t obscure or secretive about WHO WHAT WHEN WHERE AND HOW THE LIGHT SHINES — and the Lord clearly states we were made to know and live within the Light!

check this out: As a context to our passage today:

You see the Bible proclaims that we are made in Gods image and His likeness: Gen. 1:26-27

Genesis 1:26–27 ESV

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

He created us… in His image and in His likeness — so — what does the Bible say about Jesus’ character? — light of the world from beginning to end it proclaims this:

Genesis 1:1–3 ESV

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.

Do you see the trinity already? —— The Father overseeing… the Spirit hovering… and the light of the world coming into the world!! The son!

SO in the very beginning of creation the Light is Christ Jesus Himself!

We know this because a little more than half way through the Bible we have this incredible text about the Light of the world:

John 1:1–5 (ESV)

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

In the beginning the Light WAS shining —- in the Middle the Light Still shines —- watch this — the End:

When the New Heavens and the New Earth has come — and the Lord has ushered in eternity in heaven officially —- here is WHO will be our light:

Revelation 21:22-25

22 And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. 23 And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. 24 By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, 25 and its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there.

CHURCH —— The light of the World has been, is still, and forever will be the Hope for all humanity —

You weren’t made just to know this —- “you were made to be given His light — and shine it to the world!”

For us Christians in the room today —- the most unloving thing we could do is withhold this treasure we’ve found! We gotta share it!

————-

BIG IDEA: Gods game plan for your life was for you to shine bright His glorious light — and live abundantly in it

——

We know how to follow Him because He gave us His commandments within His Word: He is a God of clarity not of chaos

“Good works are the fruits of grace, but they are not the root of grace.” — the root of Grace is the Light Himself.

PASSAGE:

2 John 3-6

3 Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us, from God the Father and from Jesus Christ the Father's Son, in truth and love.

Walking in Truth and Love

4 I rejoiced greatly to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as we were commanded by the Father. 5 And now I ask you, dear lady—not as though I were writing you a new commandment, but the one we have had from the beginning—that we love one another. 6 And this is love, that we walk according to his commandments; this is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, so that you should walk in it.

Point 1) We are alive in the light in truth and love

Context for our passage:

John writes the word “truth” or “teaching” 7 times in just 13 verses of 2 John — He’s writing concerning the Truth with a capitol T

He writes this letter to a specific person and a congregation — “the elect lady and her children”

The reason He wrote this letter was to defend the Church from two major things: 1) False Teaching 2) Not following the Lords commandments

Now — the 1st issue of False Teachers was fascinating:

Christians were known for having excellent hospitality and they would often let strangers stay with them —- so false teachers would come to these churches, stay with families of these churches, and teach the families false doctrine to deceive them

This was a scheme of the enemy — and John is writing to them to learn the skill of Loving in Grace and in Truth: For they had been taken advantage of because they did not discern the lack of truth from their guests

for — if you only have love — you’’ll never stand for whats true — and if you only have truth w/o love you’ll never learn to love others unconditionally as you have been loved unconditionally

I WAS THINKING ABOUT THIS IN OUR CONTEXT TODAY: Maybe you don’t have a stranger in your home spewing false doctrine —- but it is extremely likely that you have a device in your hand on your couch that is proclaiming false doctrine via a social media app…

To us I say what John says to this lady and her congregation a little later in this passage in verse 8 -

8 Watch yourselves, so that you may not lose what we have worked for, but may win a full reward. —- IN OTHER WORDS DO NOT BE DECEIVED AND RUN THE RACE OF ENDURANCE FOR CHRIST AND THE LIGHT YOU HAVE IN HIM

John is reiterating Ephesians 4:14

Ephesians 4:14 ESV

so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.

NOW LETS LOOK AT verse 3-4

2 John 3-4

3 Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us, from God the Father and from Jesus Christ the Father's Son, in truth and love.

Walking in Truth and Love

4 I rejoiced greatly to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as we were commanded by the Father.

I love that John starts off with the marker of what will come from living in Truth and in Love .... did you catch this?

3 Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us ——- or in other words “WILL BE OURS” If we walk in Truth and in Love

STORY: PARENT YELLING THEN PHONE CALL: Growing up did your parents ever do what my parents did – – which was they would be yelling at me scolding me and all the sudden they got a phone call – – and all the sudden they're the nicest sweetest people you've ever met until that phone call ends and then they get right back to it

One time my mom did this and I told her that was hypocritical ——that went over well

2 John 4

4 I rejoiced greatly to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as we were commanded by the Father.

You see — what verse 4 is communicating is the result of people following Jesus!! They followed His ways, shone His great light — and their children walked in the ways of thr LOrd

STORY: Im a Pastor … so sometimes its easier (and harder) for me… BUT My 6 year old asks me all the time “were you church planting in the West Village today” —- and He says my job is to preaching and tell people about Jesus

and here is my response…. no buddyy …. thats every Christians job!

GET THIS:

“God loves each of us as if there were only one of us.” — Augustine

These two simple verses display a simple Gospel Reality for us today:

The result of a gospel life that is alive in the light — is one that is lived out in Love and in Truth —- resulting in the Grace, mercy, and peace found within the believer and their children!

1 John 3:23–24

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.

— An Incredible way to know that we have been struck by the light of Christ and transformed by it – – – is that we walk in his ways and we follow his commandments both grace and in truth

I was talking about Jesus with a friend recently who does not follow Jesus – – – and he told me that he doesn't like what happens to people who become religious – – – he said they become really mean and close minded —— and this really really saddened me:

YOU MEAN THE PEOPLE WHO WERE SAVED BY GRACE!?

The Eph. 2:8-10 PEOPLE!????

Ephesians 2:8–10 ESV

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

The Good News Has TO make us love in Grave and in Truth!

Point 2) Obedience breeds intimacy with the Lord

Our Actions Display our Affections for Jesus.

We know best — how to live in the light — by being with the one who is the light —-

Example: Anybody ever used glow in the dark items!? —- what is the one and only way those things work? IF THEY FIRST HAVE HAD LONG EXPOSURE TO THE LIGHT….!! SO IT IS WITH US AS BELIEVERS!

LET US BE EXPOSED TO THE GLORIOUS LIGHT OF JESUS CHRIST AND WORK FROM THAT LIGHT TO SHINE IT TO OTHERS!

2 John 5-6

5 And now I ask you, dear lady—not as though I were writing you a new commandment, but the one we have had from the beginning—that we love one another. 6 And this is love, that we walk according to his commandments; this is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, so that you should walk in it.

John also says:

John 14:15 ESV

“If you love me, you will keep my commandments.

John 15:5 ESV

I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

We are alive in the light in truth and love —- while Obedience breeds intimacy with the Lord

You see — apart from Him you can do nothing….!

MOVIE NOT SEEN : “Have you ever said that you don't like a movie – – – but you've never actually seen it? I think sometimes we do this with our life we wonder why we're not following Jesus closely and haven't felt his presence but all the while —- we stopped reading his Word and spending time with him”

How do I know what the Lord has commanded me? By reading His word —- and reading His word helps me worship Him:

For I cannot worship something I do not know ——- and I cannot be shaped in to Christlikeness — unless I am walking in His ways

John 8:12 ESV

Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”