Are You Walking In Christ?
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Secular -
Secular -
Today we will be touching on the judgement seat of Christ. So in my research I ran across this little story and thought you would like it.
At the end of the age when all the believers were standing in line waiting to get into heaven, the angel Gabriel appeared and said, “I want all the men to form two lines. One line will be for the men who were the true heads of their households. The other will be for the men who were dominated by their wives.”
Gabriel continued, “And now we need all of the women to report to Mary and Martha on the other side of the gate.”
The women left while the men hurriedly formed two lines. The line of men who were dominated by their wives was seemingly unending. The line of men who were the true head of their household had just one man standing in it.
Gabriel said to the first line, “You men ought to be ashamed of yourselves. You were appointed to be the heads of your households and you have not fulfilled your purpose. Of all of you, there is only one man who obeyed.”
Then Gabriel turned to the lone man and asked, “How did you come to be in this line?”
The man sheepishly replied, “My wife told me to stand here.”
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 -
Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world.
There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.
We love Him because He first loved us.
If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?
And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also.
-[Prayer]-
-[Prayer]-
Life Principle - Christians have no need to fear God’s Judgement, however they are to test themselves regularly to make sure they are in His Love.
Life Principle - Christians have no need to fear God’s Judgement, however they are to test themselves regularly to make sure they are in His Love.
Life Point- Do Not Fear Judgement
Life Point- Do Not Fear Judgement
Exegetical -
Exegetical -
Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world.
There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.
Homiletical -
Homiletical -
Judgement is something that can be used to both motivate and alienate people. Especially in regards to God’s judgement.
Judgement is a reality that each and every person must deal with on this planet. We are born in sin and dead in our trespasses before a Holy God. His attribute of justice must be fulfilled.
Every other religion on this planet talks about judgement and does so when talking about what we must do to be saved from it. You see the sin problem is so inherent in man that man recognizes it immediately. Whether or not they admit it or not, each person has to decide what they are going to do with it. To the atheist it is trying to ignore it, even though you can’t. To the rest of the religions on earth it is trying to make up for it, even though you can’t.
We are finite beings and we have sin in front of infinite God. How can something as finite, make up for disobedience before an infinite God.
Or do you not know, brethren (for I speak to those who know the law), that the law has dominion over a man as long as he lives?
What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, “You shall not covet.”
But sin, taking opportunity by the commandment, produced in me all manner of evil desire. For apart from the law sin was dead.
I was alive once without the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died.
And the commandment, which was to bring life, I found to bring death.
For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it killed me.
Therefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good.
We do not know how far apart from God’s holiness we are. That is the deception of sin. It will blind your eyes even unto God’s holiness. That is, unless we are shown what the Bible has to say about sin and responsibility to holiness. So without the law (God’s Word) how could we possibly know how bad we are before God’s eyes? We can’t.
Does that make God’s Word bad for us? No! Because God shows His attributes in nature. We instinctively know right from wrong. Even if you didn’t have the Bible you know that murder is wrong, unless you are so hardened to sin that nothing is wrong for you anymore. Notice I said anymore, for at one point even the hardest of hearts knows that murder is wrong. So it is with everything.
This is called God’s general revelation and the Bible is God’s Special Revelation or you could say God’s specific revelation.
So, we know we have this problem with sin. Those of us here know it is Jesus who is the answer. Jesus didn’t say, work this formula.
He didn’t say, do your best and your good will outweigh your evil.
He said:
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
He died on our behalf, taking all of God’s judgement and fulfilling God’s justice for our sin.
But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.
That word translated “It is finished” is a remarkable word in the ancient Greek language. It is TETELESTAI. This one word that we translate “it is finished” could be translated that way, but it could also be translated Paid In Full. You see when you took out a loan from a merchant and you paid it back that would write Tetelestai on the bottom of the certificate of debt.
This one word has had books written about it. All because Jesus paid our certificate of debt that we could not pay, because He was and is the perfect sacrifice before a Holy God. He paid your debt and my debt.
C.H. Spurgeon said the following about Tetelestai:
“an ocean of meaning in a drop of language, a mere drop. It would need all the other words that ever were spoken, or ever can be spoken, to explain this one word. It is altogether immeasurable. It is high; I cannot attain to it. It is deep; I cannot fathom it. IT IS FINISHED is the most charming note in all of Calvary’s music. The fire has passed upon the Lamb. He has borne the whole of the wrath that was due to His people. This is the royal dish of the feast of love.”
So you see we don’t rest on our deeds or anything we have done, but rest in God’s grace and what Jesus has done.
For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,
not of works, lest anyone should boast.
When the day of judgement comes we can stand in boldness before God, based on Jesus’ love.
How can we do this?
If Jesus’ love has been matured in us, then we can do this.
What is the test for this love?
As He is; so are we in this world.
As He is - This is present, not as He was. But, as He is.
so are we in this world - The old saying of, “you are the heaven that those who are going to Hell will ever see.” Can you say you are a good mirror of God’s grace and love? If you want to explore that issue more just listen to last week’s sermon which is found on our website @ fbcmin.org.
John then tells us there is no fear in love, because perfect (i.e. mature love) has cast out all fear.
How does that happen?
If we are mature in our relationship with God and we know we are standing on what He has done and continues to do in us on a daily basis then we have nothing to fear when we stand before a Holy God.
Why? Because fear is based on an expectation of punishment, and since we know Jesus has taken our punishment and His will is being walked out in love in our lives t hen we have no reason to fear on that day.
Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling;
for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.
Do all things without complaining and disputing,
that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world,
Because of this, I don’t fear death. What happens after we die. Oh, I fear the way in which I will die. Why? Because I am a weakling, and I don’t like pain! I don’t want to suffer! But I do know this:
And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment,
so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.
To the person who is not a believer in Jesus Christ. They have something to fear on their day of judgement. Why? Because they have no hope, their works aren’t good enough.
But thank God, I don’t stand there by my works, but by the works of Jesus. The Holy one of God. He who is the second person of the trinity and made the ultimate sacrifice that I might be justified before the Father on the day of judgement!
Illustration -
Illustration -
Speaking of the after-life:
A Minneapolis couple decided to go to Florida to thaw out during a particularly icy winter. They planned to stay at the same hotel where they spent their honeymoon 20 years earlier. Because of their hectic schedules, it was difficult for the couple to coordinate their travel plans. So the husband left Minnesota and flew to Florida on Thursday, while his wife planned to fly down the following day.
The husband checked into the hotel. There was a computer in his room, so he decided to send an email to his wife. However, he accidentally left out one letter of her email address, and sent the email without realizing his error.
Meanwhile, somewhere in Houston, a widow had just returned home from her husband’s funeral. He was a Baptist minister who was called home to glory following a heart attack. The widow decided to check her email, expecting condolence messages from family and friends.
But after reading her very first email, she screamed and fainted. The widow’s son rushed into the room, found his mother on the floor, and saw the computer screen which read:
To: My Loving Wife
Subject: I’ve Just Arrived Today.
I know you’re surprised to hear from me. They have computers here now and you are allowed to send emails to your loved ones. Since I’ve just arrived, I thought I would send you an email.
Everything has been prepared for your arrival tomorrow. Looking forward to seeing you then! Hope your journey is as uneventful as mine was.
P. S. Sure is hot down here!!!
Life Point - Walk in His Love
Life Point - Walk in His Love
Exegetical -
Exegetical -
We love Him because He first loved us.
Homiletical -
Homiletical -
When we are dead in our sins we cannot love God perfectly. Because what we know of love at that time in our lives is marred by sin.
However, after our salvation and regeneration we can then choose to love God. However that ability is not even from ourselves but is a spiritual reality that comes from God Himself.
But when the Pharisees heard that He had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together.
Then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying,
“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?”
Jesus said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’
This is the first and great commandment.
And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’
On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”
Without salvation and left to our own devices we cannot do these commandments. Again, the law shows me how sinful I truly am.
For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.
For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die.
But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.
For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.
And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.
So we see that without the reconciliation of God and man we cannot even fathom true love. A love that would die for his enemy. A supernatural love that not only dies to be reconciled, but dies that we might have life; true life in a living and powerful God.
Illustration -
Illustration -
The following story comes from he Gospel Herald:
"I Love Him Too"
An old countryman, visiting London for the first time in his life, went into one of the great picture galleries to look around. Presently he came to a wonderful painting of the Lord Jesus Christ hanging upon the Cross. He stopped before it, and as he gazed at the picture a great love for the One who hung there flooded his heart. "Bless Him!" he said, aloud. "I love Him! I love Him!"
Others in the gallery heard the old man's words, and seeing the tears trickling down his old furrowed cheeks, as he stood beside the picture, hat in hand, forgetful of all else, were touched, and stopped before the picture, too. Presently a stranger drew near to the old countryman, and grasping his hand, said: "I love Him, too, brother."
Seeing what had taken place, a third stepped forward, saying: "So do I." Then a fourth joined them, and a fifth, until there stood before the picture of the Saviour a little knot of men, perfect strangers to one another, but drawn together by the love of the Lord Jesus.
Life Point - Test Yourself
Life Point - Test Yourself
Exegetical -
Exegetical -
If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?
And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also.
Jesus said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’
This is the first and great commandment.
And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’
On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”
We just looked at this scripture, but this is the commandment John is talking about when he says, “that he who loves God must love his brother also.”
Homiletical -
Homiletical -
John, being moved by the Holy Spirit, gives us a pretty simple test to see if we are in Christ or not.
The problem with this test is that it requires prayerful, humbling self-examination.
But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.”
Do you know what your biggest problem is, as it relates to this scripture? Humans are really good at self-deception.
“The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?
A lot of people don’t want to give up their grudges. They want to stay hardened to the Living God. You know what? God will leave you that way, if you want. You know what else? If you have hardened your heart you may bring judgement on yourself for not loving your brother.
Remember communion?
Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.
But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup.
For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body.
For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep.
For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged.
But when we are judged, we are chastened by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world.
When you have malice against another Christian and you partake of Holy Communion you bring judgement upon yourself.
Someone is saying, “What are you talking about Pastor?”
It says you aren’t discerning the Lord’s body. Are we not the body of Christ?
that there should be no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another.
And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.
Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually.
So what is the consequence of this not honoring the Lord’s body?
Sickness and even leading up to death
For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep.
For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged.
Did you know we are commanded to test ourselves to even see if we are in the faith?
Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you are disqualified.
Examine yourselves to see if your faith is genuine. Test yourselves. Surely you know that Jesus Christ is among you; if not, you have failed the test of genuine faith.
Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith. Examine yourselves. Or do you yourselves not recognize that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless you fail the test.
Life Principle– Christians have no need to fear God’s Judgement, however they are to test themselves regularly to make sure they are in His Love.
Life Principle– Christians have no need to fear God’s Judgement, however they are to test themselves regularly to make sure they are in His Love.
Call to Action – altar call….
Call to Action – altar call….