The Next Awakening Part 3
The Next Awakening • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Today we continue our series from 1 John titled The Next Awakening. This series was inspired in part by writings from Jonathan Edwards during the first great Awakening in the 1700s. Here is what he wrote that are signs of a geniune move of the Holy Spirit and true revival:
When esteem for the true Jesus is raised
When Satan’s kingdom is attacked (sin and worldly lusts)
When people come to love Scripture more
When men are led away from falsehood to truth (sound doctrine)
When there is an increase of love to God and man
When I first came across this writing I was impressed by it’s simplicity. We can so often complicate things and make it harder than it needs to be.
As I was praying this week about this message and what God had for us, He gave me the word equip.
When we are not properly equipped, we struggle more than we should. For instance, the Evans’ family was not properly equipped to deal with rain when camping this week. Renee took a great video of the moment I realized that a new plan needed to be made - a plan to go home and sleep in our own beds.
The second night we were not well equipped with comfortable sleeping arrangements and we did not get much sleep. That was the only night we actually “camped”. Being properly equipped is key.
Ephesians 4 says this:
11 So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12 to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
14 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. 15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.
This is one of the measures of success in a church. Are we growing to become the mature body of Christ? In order to do so, the leaders in the church must dedicate themselves to equipping HIS people for works of service.
The Greek word translated equip is katartismos. There are two meanings…
to completely furnish or outfit - think of a soldier headed into battle and providing what is needed to face that battle.
to mend or set or put something to the condition it should be. Think of mending a net or setting a bone after a fracture or assembling something to it’s final and complete state.
These are great pictures of how we should strive to use our times together. Either on Sunday mornings, in Bible studies, when we meet together otherwise - would should be working toward equipping each of us for the work ahead as followers of Christ. That together we would become a mature body of Christ.
When I look at the list that Edwards wrote as signs of a true move of the Holy Spirit, I see evidences of a mature body of Christ as well:
When esteem for the true Jesus is raised
When Satan’s kingdom is attacked (sin and worldly lusts)
When people come to love Scripture more
When men are led away from falsehood to truth (sound doctrine)
When there is an increase of love to God and man
These are not the equipping part, these are the result of equipping. These five things happen as a result of being equipped.
As we know who Jesus is and what he did, we can esteem Him, the true Jesus more.
As we learn about holiness, accountability and the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives, we can fight the true fight against the enemy.
As we discover scripture and power of it, as we learn how to read it and study it, we will come to love God’s Word more.
As we teach doctrine - what we believe based on what the Bible says - we learn how to differentiate between truth and lies.
As we dig deeper into how much we are loved, as we grasp the depth of that love, we can’t help but love God more, and as we get God’s perspective of our fellow man, we can’t help but love people more.
Part of my role and the role of the other leaders in the church is to provide the tools, the equipment, the teaching in order that we all might be equipped. It is then the role of everyone to take up that equipping and use it. A hammer won’t do a carpenter much good unless he’s willing to pick it up and swing it.
Just a little bit of encouragement…the first time a carpenter swung a hammer he likely wasn’t much of a carpenter, but the more he swings, the better he gets…until one day he can actually be called a carpenter. Don’t stop swinging the tools God gives you.
Let’s look at 1 John 2 this morning…We are going to start at verse 1 and read what we covered last week...
1 My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.
2 He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.
3 We know that we have come to know him if we keep his commands.
4 Whoever says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person.
5 But if anyone obeys his word, love for God is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in him:
6 Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.
7 Dear friends, I am not writing you a new command but an old one, which you have had since the beginning. This old command is the message you have heard.
8 Yet I am writing you a new command; its truth is seen in him and in you, because the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining.
9 Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sister is still in the darkness.
10 Anyone who loves their brother and sister lives in the light, and there is nothing in them to make them stumble.
11 But anyone who hates a brother or sister is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness. They do not know where they are going, because the darkness has blinded them.
12 I am writing to you, dear children, because your sins have been forgiven on account of his name.
13 I am writing to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one.
14 I write to you, dear children, because you know the Father. I write to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God lives in you, and you have overcome the evil one.
John writes to children, fathers and young men. As he writes to children, he is writing to all of us. We are all God’s children. This is the context of the first part.
The writing to the children is to emphasize that our sins - as children of God - are forgiven and that we know God the Father.
John is not giving new information here, he is giving the basis for the writing. We are already forgiven and we already know the Father. What John is going to tell us next flows from these facts. Because you are forgiven and because you know the Father, I can tell you what comes next. This won’t mean as much to those who are children of God.
Then he writes to fathers. He repeats the same phrase twice: Because you know him who is from the beginning. The key here is the who. John as he wrote in his Gospel:
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
He is talking about Jesus. Him addressing fathers is John addressing the older crowd, both men and women. He is saying that they knew Jesus and they know Jesus.
Then he writes to the young men. First he says “because you have overcome the evil one.” Then he adds “because you are strong, and the word of God lives in you, and you have overcome the evil one.”
Keep in mind, he is not providing new information. He is provided a bit of encouragement to God’s people. This is who you are:
You are forgiven (12),
You know the Father (14),
You know Jesus who is from the beginning (13,14),
You are strong (14),
The Word of God lives in you (14) and
You have overcome the evil one! (13,14)
If you are still collecting scripture that tells truth about who you are as a believer, you can add these to your list.
I don’t know about you, but the last couple of messages when we’ve read this letter from John it can seem harsh and in your face. Especially when we see ourselves on the wrong side of John’s challenges to believers. Sometimes we just need to hang out in the encouragement for a moment before we get some more challenge. I think that’s in part what John is doing here.
He’s saying I’m not telling you these things because I think you are way out there and off base. In fact, you know these things. You know who you are in Christ. You’ve had success in overcoming. I’m telling you this because I want more for you in Christ. Sure, what you’ve got going is good, but there is great available to you.
I’m hard on you because I love you. I’ve been on both the receiving and giving side of that statement and I can tell you that my flesh and pride prefer one side over the other, but I am learning to appreciate being on the receiving side.
Alright let’s get some truth in love now...
15 Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them.
16 For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world.
17 The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.
It’s very important to take all three of these verses together to get the full context. If we just read verse 15 in particular without verse 16, we miss the definition of ‘the world’ that John gives us.
Let’s start first with the definition:
16 For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world.
There are three categories that John summarizes that tend to be stumbling blocks: our flesh, our eyes, our pride. Jesus was tempted in each of these areas:
Jesus you’re hungry, command the stones to turn to bread.
From a high Mountain: Jesus I’ll give you everything you see if you worship me.
Jesus, throw yourself off this high place and surely angels will catch you because of who you are.
In each of those areas, Jesus resisted and so should we. We should resist the feelings of our body and speak truth to it and resist.
We should speak truth to what we see and place our desires in proper order.
Our pride is probably the sneakiest of them all as it feels really good to have our pride fed.
15 Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them.
Verse 15 says that if we love those things, not if we fall in those things, but if we love them we cannot also love the Father. It’s the willful pursuit of worldly things that John is referring to. We know it when we see it. If you are feeling convicted about something as we read this, it is likely something you’ve allow to creep in and be a love in your life above your love for God.
17 The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.
He ends this part with a reminder to us. These worldly desires are going to pass away. They will eventually be no more. There is an eternity for those who do the will of God.
You may be asking…what is the will of God? That seems like a daunting thing to fulfill…Let’s look at Romans 12 as we close:
1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.
2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
The first step is to offer ourselves as a living sacrifice. That means we don’t give in to any and everything that feels good, but we are to be willing to sacrifice in our living for him. Sacrifice in order to live holy pleasing lives.
Then we are not to conform to the pattern of the world. The pattern is me, my, I. Whatever feels right to me, whatever my body wants, whatever I think it should be.
Instead, we should renew our mind and be transformed. God’s word does that, Biblical teaching does that. It renews our mind and changes our heart. Then we compare, we test what is out there against what is in here and what the Holy Spirit would say to us. That is where we find God’s will.
This is what John is saying to us…don’t chase the desires that will pass away, chase those things that are forever, eternal - chase God’s will.
This is how we position ourselves for revival in the church and awakening we so desire for our culture. God is ultimately responsible for the revival and awakening, but His desire is for us to follow him and pray for Him to move.