A Victorious Faith
Notes
Transcript
Passage- 1 John 5:4-5
Attention-
Looking for joy in life
Friends in school
When friends weren't enough the next step was
Substances
When substances and friends weren't enough stuff got added
Stuff early in marriage
Eventually it wasn’t just one substitute for peace and joy I was stuck with all three
If we are honest, aren’t we all in a similar situation?
Maybe not the same vices but that we are all looking for happiness
When we say happiness I think we more specifically mean peace and joy
We fight and fight in this life to finally experience what we call happiness
How many people actually find peace and joy?
This is what John is going to share with us this morning…how to find the peace and joy we are fighting for but never attaining
Introduction-
We will be skipping verses 1-3 in order for this to line up with Easter...
It also flows better as far as preaching
I am not skipping them to ignore them, we will go back to them next week.
These verses in 1 John are beautiful truths to look at on Easter
Main truth-
By the divine nature that is imparted into our lives at salvation we can live a life of victory.
Because 3:8 Jesus destroyed the works of the devil He has overcome the world and offers that same victory to anyone who call out to Him
Transition #1-
What is being taught? (Explain the passage and draw out the 1st century truth)
For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.
There are some important truths we need to understand here but before we get to those I want to look at a practical word...
There are times we overlook the practical in order to overstate the theological
The practical word here is “whosoever”
The word John chooses under inspiration here would be equivalent to us saying that “each and every one”
It carries the sense of fullness or completion
So what John is about to say isn’t just for a select few
It isn’t just for an elite group
It is for everyone who is born of God
We ask the same question as Nicodemus in John 3:4
Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born?
What is John taking about when he says “born again”?
This means that the person has God’s divine nature within them
The day I was born to my parents I was born into this world
We hear phrases that use that wording
Maybe your mother had said “I brought you into this world and I....nevermind”
We are born into this world of sin
We are born into a world under the judgment of God
And in order to be free from God’s judgment we need to be born again
We need to humble ourselves and realize that if we are honest with ourselves we are individuals that are motivated by sin.
We don’t need to look into God’s Word too far to find our shortcomings.
We just need to go to the 10 commandments
None of us can make it through all 10 and not sin
The reality is that we all live a life of sin
The consequence of that sin is death and judgment Romans 6:23
For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
The end of this verse is the message of Easter
This is the victory that John is referring to
The victory in Jesus
Let’s think of it this way...
The premise is that if you are born of God you will be victorious
Awesome…what is that victory and how do I get it?
First, the victory is offered to you but it is not but your strength or your intelligence
It is a free gift offered to you by Jesus Christ
It is the truth that He gained the victory over sin when He sacrificed Himself on the Cross of Calvary
He offers that free gift to everyone...
How do we get that free gift?
The last clause in the verse…by FAITH
What do we mean when we say that salvation (victory) comes by faith?
John answers that in verse 5 by first asking the rhetorical question...”Who is he that overcometh the world?”…we would ask it this way, who in this life can find lasting peace and joy?
When your new car rusts
When your marriage struggles
When you take pill after pill or drink after drink or shot after shot or cut after cut
We are all calling out asking the same question…Where do I find peace for my soul?
Joy for my days?
The answer…Anyone who believes in the person and work of Jesus
Anyone who believes that Jesus was fully God and fully man
That He was born of the virgin Mary
Lived a sinless life
Died a cruel death on the cross
Rose again the third day
And ascended into heaven
Transition #2-
How do we understand this in our context? (Bridge 1st century truth to today)
These truths that John is sharing to his readers is no less relevant today.
Let’s be a little honest this morning.
Life is tough
Even before COVID
Even before 2020
Life was tough
Sticking with honesty, lets be honest that we spent a lot of our lives trying to make sense of it all
Our struggles
Pain
Circumstances
How do we handle life
Honestly, we do all that we can to either numb the difficulties of this life or distract us from them
Watch TV for a bit and pay attention to the commercials…they are using the difficulties and questions of this life to get us to use their product or service to either numb us or distract us from the real issues in our lives
Sin
Until we humbly admit our sin we will never find peace and purpose in this life
Many of the issues we face are a result of us trying to find peace
When I eat I feel good so I will eat more
When I buy new stuff I feel good and forget my problems
When I drink that drink or take that pill
When I put that needle in my arm or that blade to my skin
All the issues of life pass away and I FEEL victorious
Emphasis on the word feel
What happens when you love eating but it’s never enough
When those new clothes don’t fit like they did in the store?
When that drink wears off
That pill doesn’t work so now you need 2, 3, 4....
That last injection wasn’t as freeing as the first to I need riskier drugs to get back to that first high
When you run out of places to cut yourself to free yourself from the realities of life
When you stop long enough to realize that you have been in this spiral of trying to find peace in your life and you have been trying to find it your way
Then what…then you feel like a failure and the cycle starts again
And again
And again
Believers here today, or watching....I am not just talking to those who haven’t accepted Jesus\
We have the truth and we still sometimes turn to ourselves as well
For us it can be the previously stated responses
But often we find peace by being good rule keepers
I have often heard “I don’t drink, smoke or chew and I dont go with girls who do”
What a self-righteous statement
That is the glimpse into a heart that is relying on themselves to bring peace into their lives by what Paul refers to as the Law
But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith.
The opposite extreme is to say “See, I am free by the blood of Jesus to live how I want…this then shows to the world around us just how much grace Jesus has”
No…Jesus didn’t die to enable us to be good rule keepers and He didn’t die so we could show off His grace by consuming His grace for our pleasure.
Jesus dies so that you could have a relationship with the only one that can bring peace and purpose into your life.
God, only God can fill that void in your life
That truth is for ALL of us
Sinners and saints alike
Jesus died so that you could love God and experience the love that He has for you
When you experience that love your problems don’t necessarily go away but He brings peace and purpose to them.
If you are here this morning or are watching the livestream and you have never admitted that you are a sinner (that you are miss the mark of loving Him above all things) we are going to close with a more traditional invitation
A time for you to respond to the Holy Spirit working in your heart.
Believers....
We are often heavy on the gospel on Easter sunday
The truth is that the gospel is just as much for you as it is for the unsaved.
We still justify our self-righteousness
our minimizing the grace of God in our lives to try to validate ourselves
I would propose that each one here needs to respond to the Holy Spirit
We all fall short
We all try to make sense of this life on our own
Are you struggling in your Christian life?
Then the question is, who is in control…you or the Lord
If you are here this morning and have questions and struggles in your life and have never brought them to Jesus we would invite you to do that this morning
Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
He can bring you peace…give you rest from failing to win the victory
This is a battle we cannot win
But it is a battle that Jesus already did.
Closing song-
336- My Hope Is In The Lord