Be Who God Has Made You
Notes
Transcript
Sermon Tone Analysis
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Emotion
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Secular -
Secular -
An atheist scientist came to God and said, "We've figured out how to make a man without you."
God said, "OK, let me see you do it."
So the atheist bent down to the ground and scooped up a handful. But God stopped him and said, "Oh, no you don't. Get your own dirt!"
By the time Bobby arrived, the football game had already started. "Why are you so late?" asked his friend.
"I couldn't decide between going to church and going to the football game. So I tossed a coin," said Bobby.
"But that shouldn't have taken too long." said the friend.
"Well, I had to toss it 35 times."
Historical/Cultural Context -
Historical/Cultural Context -
The book of 1 John is one of the five books in the New Testament that was written by John the Apostle, brother of James. They were known as the sons of thunder. This letter was written between A.D. 85 to A.D. 100. First John was written to a church or group of churches in crisis—churches who were being attacked by false teaching. Some individuals who had once been associated with the church had accepted heresy and had left the church. After they left they continued to spread their false teaching to the church. They went so far as to organize and send out itinerant preachers to various churches with the goal of converting those in the churches to their beliefs. This created confusion and plunged the churches into crisis. In response to this situation, John wrote 1 John, following that up with 2 and 3 John. His goal was to stop this false teaching and to bring comfort to the Christians in these churches.
Biblical Text -
Biblical Text -
I write to you, little children, Because your sins are forgiven you for His name’s sake.
I write to you, fathers, Because you have known Him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, Because you have overcome the wicked one. I write to you, little children, Because you have known the Father.
I have written to you, fathers, Because you have known Him who is from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, Because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, And you have overcome the wicked one.
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.
For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world.
And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.
Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour.
-[Prayer]-
-[Prayer]-
Life Principle - A True Christian Is Not A Friend Of The World, But Has A Close Relationship With Christ.
Life Principle - A True Christian Is Not A Friend Of The World, But Has A Close Relationship With Christ.
Life Point- The True Christian Has A Close Relationship With God
Life Point- The True Christian Has A Close Relationship With God
Exegetical -
Exegetical -
I write to you, little children, Because your sins are forgiven you for His name’s sake.
I write to you, fathers, Because you have known Him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, Because you have overcome the wicked one. I write to you, little children, Because you have known the Father.
I have written to you, fathers, Because you have known Him who is from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, Because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, And you have overcome the wicked one.
Homiletical -
Homiletical -
The young men, the fathers, and little children are not literally these specific groups.
This means all believers. The young, the old and everything in between.
John had just gone over those who do not know Christ. But he is convinced that a large number of those in the churches were Christians and that he is not writing to condemn them.
But, he is writing to protect them from false teaching and in this small section he reminds them of the truth of the Christian experience.
Those that are saved, have their sins forgiven; past, present, and future.
When did this happen? At the cross.
In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ,
buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.
And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses,
having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.
Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.
and in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ;
having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.
When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions,
having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.
When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him.
He canceled out what we owed, at the cross. Our sins are forgiven and we have been set free from the law of sin and death.
There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.
For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.
For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh,
that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
Those that are saved know Him who was from the beginning. The saved know God and have a personal relationship with Him.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
He was in the beginning with God.
This means we know Jesus. Jesus is The Word.
Not only that but the Holy Spirit dwells within us, the third person of the Trinity. God Himself.
In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise,
who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.
Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body.
Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?
For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.
You are to come to the realization that you do not belong to yourself. You belong to the Holy Spirit.
He writes to remind them that those that are saved, have already overcome the wicked one; Satan and His demons. This is only possible because you are in Christ and Christ is in you.
Jesus has already overcome the world and the devil.
These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”
Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.
He writes because the saved have known and know the Father; the first person in the trinity.
How have we known Him?
Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?”
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
“If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him.”
Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.”
Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?
Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works.
Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves.
This whole section has talked about the trinity. 3 Persons in one.
Any kind of analogy breaks down. The egg, the Neapolitan Ice Cream, and all the others come very short in the explanation of the Trinity. The concept is so far beyond our experience that we cannot possibly understand it.
The only way to stay true to the Biblical concept is to say that “Our God is one, and He is three.”
Do I understand it fully? No!
Would you want to serve a God that you fully understood?
Think about what kind of a weak god that God would be, if we could fully understand Him!
John says he has written to us, “Because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, And you have overcome the wicked one.”
Notice that John reiterates all of this. We are strong, in Christ. So long as the Word is in us. That is the only way we can overcome the wicked one.
When Jesus saw that the people came running together, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “Deaf and dumb spirit, I command you, come out of him and enter him no more!”
Then the spirit cried out, convulsed him greatly, and came out of him. And he became as one dead, so that many said, “He is dead.”
But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose.
And when He had come into the house, His disciples asked Him privately, “Why could we not cast it out?”
So He said to them, “This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting.”
What was the purpose of prayer and fasting?
Was it to show God that you are willing to sacrifice? No.
When one skips meals, which were long in those days sometimes hours, you were skipping the meal to spend time with God to get closer to Him.
To increase your time with Him, making the Word more apart of you, being filled with God’s power.
Being close to Jesus is the only way we can truly overcome the wicked one.
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
Illustration -
Illustration -
We want a true relationship with Christ, not like the Laodiceans
The Laodicean church is described in the Bible in the book of The Revelation as being lukewarm. If the Laodiceans were to have a hymnal let me tell you some of the hymns that would be in it.
A Comfy Mattress Is Our God
Above Average Is Thy Faithfulness
According to the Suggestions Made in Your Word
All Creatures of Our Friend and Buddy
All Hail the Influence of Jesus' Name
All My Mistakes are Gone
Amazing Grace, How Interesting the Sound
Be Thou My Hobby
Blessed Insurance
Blest Be the Tie That Doesn't Cramp My Style
Blessed Jesus, Here We Sit
Crown Him with Many Hats
Fairest Bud, Jesus
Give What You Don't Want To the Master
Go Tell it on the Speed Bump
Hail, Jesus, You're My Acquaintance
Here I Am, Send Someone Else
How Above Average is Your Name
I Have Decided To Forego Jesus
I Love to Talk about Telling the Story
I Bring Thee Some
I Kind Of Believe the Bible
I Need Thee Every Year or So
I Surrender Some
I Will Make an Effort Not To Forget Thee
I'm Fairly Certain That My Redeemer Lives
Joyful, Joyful, We Kinda Like Thee
Just as I Am, with Lots of Excuses
Just as I Pretend to Be
Lord, Keep Us Loosely Connected to Your Work
Must I Obey?
Not My Life - Let Me Be
O Come, All Ye Wishy Washy
O Come Let Us Ignore Him.
Oh, How I Like Jesus
Onward, Christian Girl Scouts
Pass Me By, O Gentle Savior
Precious Lord, Take My Finger
Sit Up, Sit up for Jesus
Spirit of the Living God, Fall Somewhere Near Me
Sweet Minute of Prayer
Take My Life and Let Me Be
Take Time to Be Lazy
Teach Me, Lord, Thy Easy Way
There Shall Be Sprinkles of Blessings
When Peace, like a Trickle
When the Saints Go Sneaking In
Where He Leads Me, I Will Consider Following
Life Point - A True Christian Is Not A Friend Of The World
Life Point - A True Christian Is Not A Friend Of The World
Exegetical -
Exegetical -
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.
For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world.
And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.
Homiletical -
Homiletical -
In today’s Christianity people do exactly that.
They aren’t willing to be inconvenienced for Jesus.
They say things like:
There better be A/C
Don’t tell me the pews aren’t padded!
I don’t like blue, I won’t go to a church that has blue carpets or pews!
Even worse today’s evangelicals are really close to the world. Here are some statistics that should shock you.
48% believe a person who is good enough or does enough good works can earn eternal salvation
44% do not believe that history is the unfolding narrative of God’s reality
44% claim the Bible is ambiguous in its teaching about abortion
43% maintain that when Jesus was on earth, He sinned
42% seek moral guidance primarily from sources other than the Bible
42% do not identify and confess their sins on a daily basis
40% accept lying as morally acceptable if it advances personal interests or protect one’s reputation
36% prefer socialism to capitalism
34% reject the idea of legitimate marriage as one man and one woman
34% argue that abortion is morally acceptable if it spares the mother from financial or emotional discomfort or hardship
These people can call themselves evangelicals if they wish, but they cannot call themselves saved believers. These people are unsaved, unregenerate people who need Jesus. According to scripture, they are unsaved.
‘These people draw near to Me with their mouth, And honor Me with their lips, But their heart is far from Me.
That first statistic makes me angry at churches in America. That means the Gospel is not being preached.
It also makes me sad, because that means 48% of those who are churchgoers in an evangelical protestant churches, like the Southern Baptist are dying and going to hell!
For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for necessity is laid upon me; yes, woe is me if I do not preach the gospel!
May it never be said that I do not preach the Gospel!
Let me share with you the simplicity of the Gospel right now.
What then? Are we better than they? Not at all. For we have previously charged both Jews and Greeks that they are all under sin.
As it is written: “There is none righteous, no, not one;
There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God.
They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one.”
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
all means all. You, me, everyone.
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
The price for sin is death. Both physical and spiritual. If you are sitting here today, and you know you don’t belong to Jesus, then this is the price you will pay.
That being said, God did not leave us in our sins, no, He paid the price you can’t pay. He became the sacrifice for yours and my sin.
But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
We, all sinners, receive salvation and eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ. Anyone who places their trust in Jesus receives the promise of eternal life.
that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
Salvation through Jesus Christ brings us into a relationship of peace with God. When we accept God's gift, we have the reward of knowing we'll never be condemned for our sins.
Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.
For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come,
nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Do not leave here today and be one of the 48% of American evangelicals who are dying, still in their sin and going to hell.
Illustration -
Illustration -
John Stott in Authentic Christianity noted: “We need to repent of the haughty way in which we sometimes stand in judgment upon Scripture and must learn to sit humbly under its judgments instead. If we come to Scripture with our minds made up, expecting to hear from it only an echo of our own thoughts and never the thunderclap of God’s, then indeed he will not speak to us and we shall only be confirmed in our own prejudices. We must allow the Word of God to confront us, to disturb our security, to undermine our complacency and to overthrow our patterns of thought and behavior.” (Lou Nicholes - Missionary Author).
Before the judgment seat of Christ my service will not be judged by how much I have done but by how much of me there is in it. No man gives at all until he has given all. No man gives anything acceptable to God until he has first given himself in love and sacrifice. (A. W. TOZER (1897-1963).
Life Principle– A True Christian Is Not A Friend Of The World, But Has A Close Relationship With Christ.
Life Principle– A True Christian Is Not A Friend Of The World, But Has A Close Relationship With Christ.
Call to Action – altar call….
Call to Action – altar call….