God is order and in order in our lives

Introduction

Good morning brothers and sisters in Christ. Once again it is a treat to get to worship with you and share God’s word with you today. Before we begin, I want to draw your attention to something I want to share with you, a sort of pastor’s newsletter/notes on a few things I want to share with you. There are paper copies here, be sure to grab a copy as there is a lot of useful information in there, including info on the trainings we talked about last week. Also, don’t forget our pre-service prayer time if you can please join us for that. Our text today is 1stJohn Chapter 3:4-10, 1st John 3:4-10 if you haven’t already, please find that in your bibles. Later on, the text will also be on the screen for us in the version I am reading from, the English Standard Version.

While you are doing that. I want you to imagine a court room trial. We have all probably seen heated moments on court TV shows or movies where a heated moment happens in the trial. Usually someone get’s kind of riled up and steamed and blurts out something in anger and looks red in the face in the accusation or words going against them. Then the judge says something like, “out of order” or “sir you are out of order” and bangs the gavel. What does this mean then, to be out of order, well it means that you are not following a set of formal rules for the meeting, a set of rules that is in place for the best of everyone, even yourself included in that moment. In a sense, it is a correction that the judge is making both to you and to upkeep the decorum and smoothness of the trail.

If it’s possible to be out of order, it stands to be that something(s) must be in order, right? What does this mean in the Christian life? Where does order come from, we know it is from God as the righteous and true judge and lawgiver. So, what does “in order/in the right way for our benefit” in our lives look like? It looks like pursuing God and seeking His glory. This brings us to today’s main idea and sermon title which is, God is order and in order in our lives.

Text

If you will all please rise for the reading of God’s word today, which is 1stJohn 3:4-10. We have never done this before, but if you will please turn your attention to the screen above me, on the screen will be the text. Please read along out loud with me as I read it. When I am don I will finish with “this is the word of the Lord” and you will respond with “thanks be to God.” Before we begin though, let’s pray. Father, we thank you for this wonderful opportunity to come and hear Your Word today. Your word is truth, and we thank you for this truth father. We ask that you open our ears, hearts, minds, and hands so that we can we receive what it is you are sharing with us today. Then as we go out, I ask that you help us apply this to our lives and then go out and share it with others father that your kingdom might be furthered both in this world and in our hearts. It’s in these things that I ask and in Jesus Christ’s Holy and Precious name that I pray, Amen. 1st John 3, starting at verse 4. Again, please read out loud from the screen above me.

4 Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. 5 You know that he appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. 6 No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. 7 Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. 8 Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. 9 No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God. 10 By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother. [1] This is the word of the Lord (thanks be to God). Thank you, please be seated.

Context

One thing that I want to remind you about and draw your attention to in this latter part of the letter of 1st John is that we will start to and continue to see a difference in perspective and reasoning of John. Whereas before, John’s statements were often used in relation to other believers, our horizontal relationships; now John is moving into reasoning having to do with more vertical relationships, meaning our relationship with God. As we go on we will continue to see ideas such as sonship of God, oneness in Christ, and being holy because God is Holy.

Last week we worked through 1st John 3:1-3 together. You will remember that we began by breaking down that we are the Father’s Children, that John was so excited by this idea that words showed amazement and awe at this fact and that as God’s children our want’s, actions, and desires to follow God and His will in our lives will often be difficult and against what the world wants us to. We then moved into The Father’s likeness, that we as Christians will become like and will get to see God Face to Face in the age to come. This in and of itself is gracious gift that all of God’s children should look forward to in leaps and bounds, all of this is of course possible because of Jesus Christ and His death on the cross. We then touched on the topic of the Father’s Purity, that God is pure and sinless; and that the Christian is to have a lifetime pursuit of putting away sin and pursuing purity with all intent and vigor. We are to keep this all in mind as we seek the father.

Another thing I want to point out to you is something that we talked about a few weeks ago as well. That is, John clearly has a pattern in his text here which later translators have made easier to identify with the addition of verse numbers. This is that John continues to use the style of having a negative statement followed by a positive statement with a continued back and forth. If you look very closely, you will notice the negative statements have a leaning of describing mankind and its sin nature and the positive statements lean on describe God, His holiness, and removal of sin for believers. I invite and challenge you all to try to find these things in your personal devotional time this week. With those things in mind, let’s delve deep into this week’s text.

Message

Our first point and a new slide is, God’s Children know the truth.

4 Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. 5 You know that he appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin.

Here we see that John creates a key definition for us in the text it defines sin in and of itself, the act of sinning, is lawlessness. Sin is lawlessness. It is against God who is the perfect Law giver. Now, we all know that God is the great lawgiver. But what do we know about God’s laws? Well, Psalm 19 tells us, it says starting in verse 7 that, The law of the Lord is perfect,[a] reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple; 8 the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes; 9 the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; the rules[b] of the Lord are true, and righteous altogether. 10 More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb. 11 Moreover, by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward. We see here that God’s laws, His rules, His edicts EVERYTHING THAT HE DOES, they are perfect, they are sure, they are wise, they bring joy, they are pure, they are clean, they endure, they are righteous, they are to be highly desired, and are in and of themselves a great reward.

This section though, isn’t mainly about laws, it’s about righteousness. Those that turn from sin (lawlessness) practice righteousness. How than do you practice righteousness? You put your trust and faith in Jesus Christ who died on the cross for the forgiveness of your sins and then after you do this (at which point you become a Christian) you then spend your life putting away any morsel of sin in your life all to honor God and emulate Christ to the Glory and Honor of God. Us, knowing this truth as Children of God (that Christ came and saved us from sin) is the truth that we know and need to never be shaken from. Child of God, rest in this truth and repent and believe.

A second point is, God’s Children aren’t deceived.

6 No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. 7 Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous.

This is very plain here, John has said this several times throughout this letter so far, but he says it again because it bears repeating. Anyone who is with Christ stops sinning, those that claim they have but persist in doing so have not seen Him, meaning they do not have authentic faith. Again, I want to make room for the fact that removing sin from your life is usually not an overnight thing, it can be, but in many cases, God makes this process hard so that we can learn something more about Him and His character. Again, we will have slip ups, but we need to always be endeavoring against sin. That being said, so often our sin is so deeply engrained in our being that we aren’t even aware of this. I’m sure everyone in this room has something like this. This is one reason why you are here, why you are in the church body, because we help and support one another to remove the sin from our lives.

In fact, the world, the systems of this world, the systems of Satan and rule of sin in this world right now works to keep this secret from us. This is one reason why fellowship in a church is so important. In fact, our church body has a statement on this. It can be found in our church covenant which sits in a frame in the fellowship hall. A portion of this reads that, Having been led as we believe by the Spirit of God to receive the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior and, on the profession of our faith, having been baptized in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirt, we do now, in the presence of God, and this assembly, most solemnly and joyfully enter into covenant with one another as one body in Christ. We engage, therefore, by the aid of the Holy Spirit to walk together in Christian love, holiness, and comfort,” it then continues on. It is clear from this statement and from the many that John has made that we are to help each other here.

The text further goes on to state that we, that Christians are not to be deceived. Do not give in, as easy as it may seem, as pleasurable as it may seem. Rather cling close to the cross. Cling close to the goodness of gospel, don’t add special things to it, so that you will not be deceived. The gospel in and of itself is not a means to end, it is here to redeem us from sin. Keep this truth close and understand that you are a sinner who is in need of God to provide the way for us to be redeemed from sin because we could never EVER do anything on our own to gain righteousness.

Our third point and next slide is, God’s Children battle their sins.

8 Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. 9 No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God.

John here is clear once again, whoever makes a practice, whoever continues to live a life filled with sin is of the devil, not of God. You might say Satan is their father. Jesus touches on this in John 8 where he says, 31 So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” 33 They answered him, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?” 34 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave[b] to sin. 35 The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. 37 I know that you are offspring of Abraham; yet you seek to kill me because my word finds no place in you. 38 I speak of what I have seen with my Father, and you do what you have heard from your father.” He then goes on to make a similar claim that John is, that those that do not follow Christ do not have God as their father. Christ says later to the dissenting Jews in John 8 that, Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me. 43 Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word. 44 You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. 45 But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me.

Jesus came to destroy the power of sin. He did and does this, He is perfect in this endeavor, He is the only savior. As we know, He is the only person ever that is worth copying in the Christian life. Christ is the only one who’s person we are to abide, or live in. Calvin says of this section that, He (John) says that the faithful abide in Christ, because we are by faith united to him, and made one with him.[2]When you take on faith in Christ as your savior you become a child of God. This then and your knowledge of what sin is and how it offends your God and King compels us to war with and remove the sins in our lives by all means necessary to achieve more Holy and righteous living.

A Fourth Point is, God’s children practice righteousness.

10 By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.

Wow John…. What a powerful and concluding statement here. I’ve failed to mention thus far, but a key Christian doctrine that we have touched on today is that of regeneration, which means that when we take on Christ and receive the Holy Spirit we are made new and new things are made evident in us, such as holy living, charity, and love for God and the saints. With regeneration in mind, John is saying that it is evident whether or not you are regenerated by observing who your “father” is. Is your father the father of lies (Satan) or the father of light (God)? The father of sin (Satan) or the father righteousness (God). When you look on this, John says that it is discernible who has a true faith and who doesn’t. Specifically, to his readers, who teaches a fake faith (the gnostic gospel) and who teaches a true faith (the gospel of Jesus Christ). The theologian Van Neste backs this idea up by saying of this verse that, “This concluding statement summarizes John’s point in the preceding verses. The behavior of individuals should make clear their spiritual state. We will resemble our father, whether it be God or the Devil. One’s lack of righteousness and lack of love for fellow believers lead to a lack of any assurance that such a person is a Christian.”[3]

Beloved, do not be deceived by the false promises. Rather, stand on the true promises of God. As and when you do this a true faith is compelled to and empowered by the Holy Spirit to practice righteousness as our Father God and Savior are. What a beautiful picture, we are empowered by the righteous one (God the Holy Spirit) through the (Savior, God the Son Jesus Christ, the righteous one) for the Glory and Honor of God the Father the righteous. If you can’t tell, one of God’s most important attributes is that of His own righteousness. So much so, that he provides the way and means and motivation for us to become like Him. So then brethern, do it, seek and to practice righteousness in your life as God is righteous. Wow, what kind of God would do that? Only a God that loves and treasures us very much would.

Conclusion

Beloved brothers and sisters, can you wrap your minds around that? I know it’s very hard. It’s probably something that we have tried to wrap our minds around and perhaps we think that in our years of devotion that we do have a good grasp on. I’m here to say to you today, you don’t. God’s righteousness and His love for us so much deeper and more complex than any flesh and blood person will ever understand. Even the greatest theologians, even the most humble lover of God, even the most devoted soldier in the army of the Lord hasn’t even scratched the surface. In fact, any person who makes it past the first layer will be surprised to see another then another then another then another and so on levels of the depths of this and the implications this has on our lives. Just imagine a multi (many multi) layer cake. You may get past the frosting, the easy stuff on top, but then you will find something more and more rich the deeper you find yourself and the more that you understand.

In conclusion, try to tackle that in your life pursuit and know these things that God shared with us today. That God is order and in order of our lives, that we know the truth of God and His gospel, that we need to stand on guard and not be deceived, that we are to battle sin in our lives, and that we are to practice righteousness like our righteous God. This is all in and through the power of Christ’s blood on the cross.

For others that may be in room today, this idea may seem a bit odd. It may seem a little bit off. To you though, I want to share the simplest but most difficult truth in the world. That is, that everything was created by God good, but sin and death entered the world through our forefathers (which stays on us today), this separated us from God, but He loves His creation mankind so much that He provided the way to remove the sin from us through the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. Once accepted we are clean and will get to enjoy God in fullness in the age to come, we will not stand condemned. Hear this and accept this today if you are ready.

Let’s pray. Father, we thank You for who You are and what You have done for us. Something that only a loving and merciful God would do, die for us. What unfathomable depths of riches and mercy you have and bestow on us. Help us to know and understand this and apply this to our lives. Father takes this on in our lives and then move us that we would go out and share this news with others that Your kingdom would be furthered. It’s in these things that I ask and In Jesus Christ’s Holy and precious name that I pray Amen.

Thank you, I love you all.

· Remember to stay up and hand out newsletter.

[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. Crossway Bibles, 2016, p. 1 Jn 3:4–10. [2]Calvin, John, and John Owen. Commentaries on the Catholic Epistles. Logos Bible Software, 2010, p. 210. [3] Van Neste, Ray. “1 John.” Hebrews–Revelation, edited by Iain M. Duguid et al., vol. XII, Crossway, 2018, p. 445.