Children of God (1 John 2.28 - 3.10)

                                                

Introduction

One of the things I love about church is watching the little ones bounce off to their groups in the centre, eager to get there, like it’s some wondrous adventure. The look on their faces and their body language says they’re excited and raring to go, which is a testament to our fabulous children’s ministry team.

People often say how blessed we are when we see, week by week, such happiness on the faces of our little ones. Children are a delight. Yes, they can be hard work at times, let’s not be idealistic, but you can’t help but love them, can you?

When our heavenly Father looks at us, Christians who have a relationship with God, I think he sees us like that; his little children – yes, we can be difficult and he sometimes has to discipline us, but overwhelmingly his heart swells with warmth and affection for us.

Verse 1 of our reading says; “See what great love [not half-hearted, not dutiful love] the Father has lavished on us. [He extravagantly and excessively pours and pours love into us] that we should be called children of God!” Exclamation mark.

I love that word ‘lavish’. God just heaps his love on you in a quite undignified way. He really is fond of you. If God keeps a photo in his wallet, it’s of you.

God says, “You are my child, precious to me. I’m proud of you. I love you. I care about you. I’m devoted to you. I want to be there for you. Never forget that.”

Psalm 119 says that God’s word gives light. It does.

Some passages of Scripture are like turning on a torch. You can get the light to shine quite easily. God so loved the world…, the prodigal son, I have plans to give you a future and a hope.

Other parts of God’s word are like diamonds you have to dig for and clean up before they sparkle and shine. 1 John is a letter you have to work quite hard to see the light in it. But it’s worth the effort.

This is the sort of sermon where you have to work with me. It’s not a sit back and listen kind of talk.

What is our section of this book (2.28 - 3.10) about? Some would say it seems to be all about Christ’s appearing. 4 times John mentions it.

Others would say, no; what’s really important here is the whole idea of being born of God, being a child of God. That is mentioned twice as often; 8 times.

Then others might say, “Yes, but the verb ‘to know’ appears 9 times. This is basically about knowing, how we know the truth about God and about ourselves.

Still others would say, “You’re all wrong. It’s essentially about sin. There’s so much here about sin; in fact, the word occurs 10 times, more than any other.

Actually, they’d all be right. But taking the themes in turn and treating them separately is a bit like trying to get the eggs, the butter, the sugar and the flour out of a cake.

But that, my friends, is what I’m going to try and do this morning…

1. Appearing

Four times in this little passage, as I said, John mentions Christ’s appearing. You can see it on the screen, highlighted in blue, though it’s too small to read, you need to open a church Bible to do that. Here are the four statements.

V8: The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.

V5: He appeared so that he might take away our sins.

V28: When he appears, we may be confident and unashamed before him.

V2: When Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.

Did you notice? Twice it says that Jesus has appeared already. And twice it says he will appear one day. Both are true.

Jesus has already come, as a small baby in Bethlehem, born in obscurity, raised in poverty, he lived in humility.

He touched the world with grace. His was the most beautiful life ever lived. But his world rejected him; he suffered appallingly and died young, giving his innocent life to take away sins before rising again on the third day.

John says, (v5) that he appeared to take away our sins; not just to forgive them, but to actually remove them.

Imagine you have rats running around your house. It’s not really what you want, so what do you do? You call the pest control people. The Rentokil van pulls up, and thank God, out gets a guy with a death ray blaster. His job is to get rid of your rats.

As far as you’re concerned, you just need those rats out of your kitchen, out of your bed, and away from the house altogether. Who among us would say, “Actually, on second thoughts, I feel sorry for them. I forgive these rats. Why don’t we just keep them here after all?” Sin is like rats. The only solution is to get rid.

The devil wants to fill your body with sickness, your mind with error, and your soul with sin. Jesus came to get rid altogether of the utter misery sin makes in our lives. He came (says v8) to destroy the devil’s work in what will one day be confirmed and concluded and completed as a crushing defeat.  

But twice here it talks of Christ’s appearing as a future event. That’s because Jesus is coming again.

One of my earliest memories as a child of about 4, is getting caught by my dad doing something that I knew was expressly forbidden.

There was this high shelf in the kitchen (to me, it was like scaling Everest) with breakfast cereals and biscuits on it. But I had learned to climb and I was determined to scale the sheer face of the kitchen cupboards and plant my flag.

I reached base camp (which was a chair), made it to stage 1 (the kitchen worktop), got to stage 2 (the toaster), then went up on tiptoes reaching for this bounty at the summit. Unfortunately, it was all a little out of reach and, as I stretched for the cookie jar, I knocked an open pack of Rice Krispies all over the floor.

I got down and tried desperately to scoop all this cereal back into the box. And as I did, I heard my dad approaching and entering the kitchen. He looked down, I looked up… “What are you doing?” he said. “Nothing,” I replied.

I felt embarrassed and humiliated to be caught so red handed. Guilt was written all over my face. There was nowhere to hide…

If we’re alive when Jesus returns to Earth, and our faith is intact, we won’t be ashamed and cringing when he looks at us. All our sins were forgiven and removed on the cross – and, if we continue in him as John says in v28, we will have nothing to hide…

In fact, v2 says, “When Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.” Not as he was, but as he is.

Revelation 1 speaks of his present glory; his eyes are like blazing fire. His feet are like liquid bronze glowing in a heated furnace, his voice is deafening - like the thunder of rushing waters. His face is like the sun in all its brilliance.

When Jesus comes again, this is what he’ll be like. It’ll be shock and awe. His appearance will be utterly overwhelming.

And we will be like him. We talk of radiant brides and of people so happy their faces are beaming. This is what our faces will look like when Jesus returns.

Not everyone though. Zechariah 12 says that those of God’s chosen people who rejected him as their Messiah “will look on the one they pierced, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son.” Many will be dismayed to see him.

Those who will be changed at his second coming are those who have already been changed by his first coming.

2. Knowing

The next key word is the verb to know.

How do we know if we really belong to God? How do we know if God loves us? How do we know if we’re on the right track?

It’s fashionable in some circles to say we’re unsure about our standing with God. It sounds modest and self-effacing to say, “I’m not sure if I’m a Christian or not. I hope so.” I’m trying to be.” Do you ever think or talk like that?

Brian/Sola is going to speak on “this is how we know” next week so I won’t say much about that now, but this is a key reason this letter was written. These Gnostics (we’d maybe call them know-alls) were coming into the church and unsettling people with strange ideas.

God wants you, as his child, to know beyond any shadow of doubt that he loves you, that you are secure, that he won’t change his mind about you, and that because of Jesus you can have certainty of eternal life.

I want to highlight one verse here which doesn’t trespass on next week’s reading – it’s the end of v1 and it says this; “The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.”

Fashions change but the spirit of the age, the spirit of this world, generally wears the same outfit; it is always hostile to the kingdom of God.

In some countries, notably North Korea, China and Nigeria, people are targeted for execution because they are Christians. Jesus said we should expect this in many parts of the world - until he returns, when it will stop. “Keep in mind” he said, “that if the world hates you, it hated me first.”

Thank God, we don’t suffer that kind of ill-treatment here in the UK. But I do think Christians are treated with a lack of sympathy in our culture. The world doesn’t think we’re anything special - but it didn’t think Jesus was anything special either. And they were spectacularly wrong about him.

3. Children / Born of God

The third key phrase here is ‘child of God’ or ‘born of God’.

Even if you are blessed with the most wonderful Christian parents and are fortunate enough to grow up in a good church, you were born separated from God. We are all were.

Everybody here today in fact was born physically alive, but spiritually dead. From day 1, all of us need to be born again, and made spiritually alive, in order to get right with God. That’s how we become his children. And once you’re spiritually alive you stay that way forever – even when you’re physically dead.

I mentioned at the beginning about our heavenly Father lavishing us with love as his children. But how do we know if we are children of God? Can we be sure? Is there a way of knowing?

As we saw a few weeks ago, John is very black and white. He doesn’t do subtle. John doesn’t mind that much if you feel offended, he just says it.

Here, he makes one of his stark binary statements; you’re either a child of God, or you’re a child of the devil. It would be really good to know which, wouldn’t it? If I wasn’t sure, I would want to find out. Who’s the daddy? Is there a paternity test?

There is. It’s right here. In v10, John says, “This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: anyone who does not do what is right is not God’s child, nor is anyone who does not love their brother and sister.”

In other words, there’s a family resemblance. God is our Father and Jesus is our big brother. In character and values, children of God become more like Jesus.

Did you notice when you became a Christian, or when your childhood faith became personal, that one day you said to yourself,

·         I used to think like that, but now I think like this

·         those things that used to be important to me aren’t any longer

·         I want to bring my life into line with what God says is right

·         I may not always manage, but that’s the path I’m on

Did you notice when you became a Christian, or when your childhood faith became personal, that you began to enjoy and appreciate the company of other Christians?

·         it is great to worship God together

·         it is helpful to hear insights they had from reading God’s word

·         it is good to be around people who understand you, who get it

·         it feels that this is, somehow, family

These are the evidences that we are children of God.

4. Sin

The final key word is sin. John says in v4, “sin is lawlessness.” Sin is to say “there is no authority above me. Imagine there’s no heaven. I’m in charge.”

I’m going to put 7 statements up on the screen and I want you to raise a hand if you agree with the statement. No sitting on the fence now…

Sin is:

·         indisputable - Christians do sin (1.8)

·         inevitable - Christians will sin (1.10)

·         incompatible - Christians should not sin (3.4)

·         intolerable - Christians must not sin (3.8)

·         inexcusable - Christians need not sin (3.6)

·         inapplicable - Christians do not sin (5.18)

·         inconceivable - Christians cannot sin (3.9)

Some of these statements seem to contradict each other. Christians do sin, or Christians do not sin. Christians will sin, or Christians cannot sin.

All these statements are in 1 John and there are the references on the screen now. No wonder people sometimes get confused. Four of them come in our reading; in v4, 6, 8 and 9 and I’ve highlighted them for you to see.

There is a difference between committing sin and continuing in sin. Even the strongest, most faithful Christians fall into sin but they do not boast about it and revel in it; they are sorry, come back to God and seek forgiveness and restoration. 1 John 1.8 speaks about that very thing:

“If we confess our sins, [God] is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

In other words, under conviction of sin, we come to our senses and come back to God.

By contrast, someone who continues in sin, is not at all sorry for what they do. They ignore the conviction of the Holy Spirit. They avoid repentance and show no intention of getting right with God. This is a whole different thing. 1 John 3.9 speaks about it:

“No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God.”

This is talking about people who make a practice of sin and don’t care because they are hardened and indifferent to God’s moral law.

Let me tell you about two people, real people, that I heard about in preparation for this talk.

The first is a young woman, a new Christian called Marie, who is constantly worried that she has lost her salvation by falling into sin; a wrong thought, an unkind word, not praying for an hour first thing in the morning. Pretty well everything sends her into a spin of self-doubt; “how can God ever forgive me? I’ve really blown it now.”

The second is a middle-aged man who introduces himself to his megachurch pastor. “Hi” he says. “I’m Mike. This is my wife Amy. And this is my girlfriend Carlie.” The pastor meets him for coffee later that week and explains to Mike why this is not OK.

But Mike disagrees. “I’ll do what I like. Who are you to tell me what to do? You don’t have the right to judge me.”

I would sit Marie down and say, “Marie, you are a child of God. He is faithful and just and will forgive every sin and totally cleanse you from all unrighteousness. That’s why Jesus came. The assurance you need to receive is found in 1 John 1.8-10.”

I would sit Mike down and say, “Mike, it’s not enough to make religious noises; your lifestyle choices and unwillingness to change display no evidence that you are a child of God. No one who is truly born of God can continue to go on sinning like this. The warning you need to heed is in 1 John 3.9.”

Ending

We’d better end it there. What is God saying to you this morning?

·         Is this the day you respond for the first time to what Jesus did for you on his first visit, so you’re prepared for his second?

·         Is it time to get back on track with God today?

·         Do you need the comfort of the Holy Spirit because you’re paying the price of rejection and ridicule for following Jesus?

·         Do you need a new revelation of just how precious you are as the apple of God’s eye, his loved and treasured child?

Let’s pray…

Sermon preached at All Saints' Preston on Tees, 26 January 2020

Growing Spiritually (1 John 2.12-14)

Introduction

When I turned 40, people assured me very enthusiastically that life was just beginning for me. Actually, I’m not sure because from about that time I noticed more frequent backaches, an unfamiliar inability to read without holding my book at a yard’s distance, and a new habit of telling a story to the same person twice. Nearly two decades on, that has increased to three or four times.

It’s one of the tell-tale signs that the First Letter of John must have been written by an old man. John sort of goes round in circles and he keeps coming back to the same point he made a little earlier. Experts think he was probably in his 80’s or even 90’s.

Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, old John writes this really quite rambling letter. The last time I spoke on 1 John, I said a lot about the writer. Remember the on/off switch, fiery, headstrong, black and white young man who became a soft and loving old grandfather figure after a lifetime of walking with Jesus?

Today though, we’re going to focus more on the recipients. Who did John write to and why did he write to them? In this short passage we are looking at today John answers precisely those two questions.

He says, “I’m writing to Christians, and I’m particularly interested in saying something unique to people who fall into one of three categories. He calls them, in v12-14, “little children, young people and fathers.”

You might think immediately of 6 year-olds, 18 year-olds and maybe 50 year-olds. But John doesn’t mean age groups; he is talking about three different levels of Christian maturity. He’s writing to new Christians, committed Christians and really established, mature Christians.

If you had to say, which group would you say you belonged to?

Are you a young, new Christian still discovering it all, still very much adjusting to new gospel values that have only recently become important to you?

Or have you been a Christian a while now; you’re committed, you’re used to it, you’ve had some ups and downs and being a Christian now feels quite normal?

Or are you a leader or an influencer, more mature in the faith now, able to pass on some wisdom to others, maybe act as a mentor; have you become a father or mother figure that others in church look up to?

As we gain experience over time as Christians, God expects a progression, a growth in our discipleship. Many of Jesus’ parables (like the mustard seed, the sower, the wheat and tares, the yeast and the seed growing secretly) are all about growth.  

As we begin this year, let’s just pause for a moment and ask the question, really honestly, am I any further on in my faith than I was this time last year?

·         Am I more loving towards unlovely people?

·         Do I know my Bible a bit better?

·         Am I better able and more willing to tell someone my story, how I came to be a follower of Jesus?

·         Am I more patient in suffering?

·         Am I more persistent in prayer?

·         Am I winning more of those daily battles against temptation?

·         Have I become more generous with my money and more servant-hearted with my time?

These are good questions to ask ourselves.

1. Young Believers

Let’s look at these three stages of maturity in being a Christian. First of all, new believers, young Christians. What does John say to them?

Verse 12: “I am writing to you, dear children, because your sins have been forgiven on account of his name.” Who’s name? John’s talking about the name of Jesus. The greatest and most illustrious name in world history. The name above all names. The only name given under heaven by which we must be saved. At the name of Jesus alone every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall honour.

And verse 14: “I write to you, dear children, because you know the Father.”

Two things, very simple things, basic things: 1) they have experienced forgiveness of sin and 2) they’ve begun to relate to God as Father. That’s a great start.

Those amongst us who are young in the faith shouldn’t look to go any further until we’ve really grasped those two things. Let’s look at them in a little more detail; firstly, forgiveness.

Forgiveness is one of the things that distinguishes Christianity from other faiths and beliefs. It’s the big issue that sets Christians apart from Muslims, Hindus, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Jews, Buddhists, Sikhs and every other religion or secular philosophy you can name: it doesn’t matter how badly you have messed up, if you sincerely repent, you can be assured of total forgiveness.

You haven’t got to endure a heavy time in Purgatory. You haven’t got to be reincarnated and suffer miserably in a future life because what you’ve done in this one. You haven’t got to pay God back in any way.

Some people live all their lives under a cloud of condemnation and heaviness. They are racked by guilt and regret. It’s like they’re carrying a ball and chain everywhere they go.

Class 101 in the Christian life says this; all your sins are taken care of. Satan says, “Huuuuuh, just look at your sin!” And God says, “No, just look at my Son!” And off comes the ball and chain.

When we repent of sin and ask God to forgive us, he totally wipes out the stain of guilt in our lives because of Jesus’ perfect atoning death. He paid the price in full for sin. Jesus said from the cross, “It is finished.”

Forgiveness changes the world. Close your eyes if you will and picture this scene from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa. I read this account in a book by Mark Stibbe and J. John.

A frail black woman rises slowly to her feet. She is over 70 years old. Facing across the room are several white police officers, one of whom, Mr. van der Broek has just been found implicated in the murders of both the woman’s son and husband some years earlier.

He had come to the woman’s home, taken her son, shot him at point blank range and then set the young man’s body on fire while he and his officers partied nearby.

Several years later, van der Broek and his cohorts returned to take away her husband as well. For many months she heard nothing of his whereabouts. Then almost two years after her husband’s disappearance, van der Broek came back to fetch the woman herself.

How vividly she remembers that evening, going to a place beside a river where she was shown her husband, bound and beaten, but still strong in spirit, lying on a pile of wood. The last words she heard from his lips as the officers poured gasoline over his body and set him aflame were, “Father forgive them…”

Now as she stands and listens to the confessions, a member of the Truth and Reconciliation commission turns to her and asks, “How should justice be done?”

She says, “I want first to be taken to the place my husband’s body was burned so that I can gather up the dust and give his remains a decent burial.”

“My husband and son were my only family, I want secondly, therefore, for Mr. van der Broek to become my son. I would like for him to come twice a month to the ghetto and spend a day with me so I can pour out on him whatever love I still have remaining in me.”

“And finally,” she says, “This is also the wish of my husband. And so, I would kindly ask someone to come to my side and lead me across the courtroom so that I can take Mr. van der Broek in my arms and embrace him and let him know he is truly forgiven.”

Forgiveness is the most powerful force on earth. These young believers have begun to understand that.

And they have also started their walk with God by relating to him as Father. They get it that they are now children of God, loved and accepted by him. God is everything you long for in a Father; someone strong, someone wise, someone who loves you, who is committed to you and who wants to spend time with you.

He is devoted, he cares, he protects, he corrects, he provides; that’s the Father heart of God and these new Christians have discovered just how good he is.

They’re not anxious orphans trying to impress God, fearful that he might change his mind and not accept them after all. No, with God there’s security, there’s safety.

Do you know that? Are you secure in your relationship with God as Father? You’ll not be able to go very much further until you have really grasped this. It is essential.

2. Committed Christians

John’s writing to somewhat older Christians too. This time, John addresses them as “young people.”

As they’ve gone on further, he says (in v14), they’ve started to take more responsibility. Little children should be carefree; they don’t have to think about paying the rent or making lunch or mowing the lawn - but as we grow into adulthood, we have to start behaving differently.

Sometimes, as in the physical world, spiritual growth is abnormally slow. It’s a bit of a worry. There’s nothing to be concerned about when you behave like a 5-year-old if you’re five. If you’re 21 and you act like a 5-year-old, then it’s a problem.

In the Letter to the Hebrews, the writer has to say, “Look you really ought to be on solids by now. But you’re not yet weaned. You’re still on mother’s milk. You’re getting a bit behind. You’re not growing right. Come on, let’s move up the curve.”

But these Christians have become committed, they’ve become robust. Where does that strength come from? How have they managed to build up their spiritual muscle? John says, “You’re strong because the word of God lives in you.”

Church leader Ben Stuart said five years ago, “I have never met a strong Christian who doesn’t meditate on God’s word every day. And I have never a weak Christian who does.”

Why is strength so critical for Christians as they grow and mature? It tells you here, twice, (in the middle of v13 and the end of v14). It’s because we have a spiritual enemy, the devil, who doesn’t give it a rest night or day.

The great 20th Century Welsh preacher Martin Lloyd Jones once said, “There is no grosser or greater misrepresentation of the Christian message than that which depicts it as offering a life of ease with no battle and struggle at all... sooner or later every believer discovers that the Christian life is a battleground, not a playground.”

The New Testament likens the devil’s approach to Christians to a lion’s hunting behaviour. Here’s what happens. Lions take their time to stalk their prey, observing a herd from distance, waiting to see if a young one or a weak one gets distracted and slightly separated from the rest.

Once a lion selects a victim it approaches by stealth, inch by inch, until suddenly it springs, sprints, closes in, pulls to the ground and severs the jugular artery of its prey.

Let’s not be blasé about spiritual warfare. That ferocious, bloodthirsty, man-eating king of beasts is what God says our enemy behaves like. Satan targets the sick ones (meaning those who are undernourished from not getting enough of God’s word), the young ones (new Christians who aren’t yet experienced in fighting sin) and the isolated ones (solitary Christians who think they’ll be alright on their own).

Here are some of the devil’s tactics that the Bible explicitly tells us about.

·         He wears you down with condemnation – you’ve really blown it now…

·         He tells lies about God – God doesn’t love you, God can’t use you…

·         He tempts you to sin – Oh, go on, loosen up, no one will notice…

·         He sows doubt – God isn’t real, it’s like Santa, people grow out of it…

·         He promotes division – Those Christians in that church down the road, they’re unbalanced and unsound, pass it on…

But these committed Christians John writes to here are wise to the enemy’s ways. They have had a few victories already; “you have overcome the evil one,” John says.

They’re resisting temptation. They’re shutting their ears to Satan’s accusations. They’re standing firm against gossip about other believers. He’s been constantly trying to grind them down and they’ve told him to go to hell every time, and they’re still standing.

In their growth as Christians, they’ve begun to be discerning. They can tell now when it’s the father of lies doing the talking. They’re seeing one or two strongholds come down through prayer. They’ve spoken out the word of God in faith and they’re winning.

We cannot take ground from Satan if Satan has ground in us. You win the battle and you win it decisively, says 1 John 2.14, if you are getting your spiritual muscle mass built up by the Word of God.

3. Mature, Experienced Disciples

New believers and committed Christians; finally, John is also writing to mature and experienced disciples; role models that others in the church look up to.

He calls them “fathers” in v13, possibly because they now know what it means to lead people to Christ and have spiritual children. “I write to you, fathers, because you have known him who is from the beginning,” a sentence repetitive old John duplicates word-for-word in the following verse.

John Wesley once said, “When I was young, I was sure of everything. A few years on, having been mistaken a thousand times, I was not half so sure of most things as I was before. At present, I am hardly sure of anything except what God has revealed to me.”

The standout characteristic of the young people in the last section was strength. They’re the sail on the boat, picking up the wind and getting things moving. They’re strong. They’re young. They’re energetic. They’re dynamic…

But these older, more mature believers stand out, not for their strength, but for their wisdom. They’re not the sail; they’re the rudder; they’re the ones stopping the boat from hitting the rocks at top speed.

I grew up on sailboats. Take it from me; every sailboat needs sails and rudders. Every church needs dynamic strength and deep wisdom. What are you contributing?

Wisdom is priceless. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. When as a Christian you have known joys and sorrows, victories and defeats, ecstasies and pain, encouragements and disappointments, and it’s pushed you deeper down into God - at the end of that you know, you really know, the Lord.

As we look ahead to 2020, let me ask you; what’s your goal as a Christian? Think about that... The distinguishing feature of mature disciples, according to v14 is to really know God.

Even the apostle Paul,

·         who had seen the Lord’s glory on the road to Damascus,

·         who spoke in tongues more than all the Corinthians,

·         who healed the sick and raised the dead

·         who was caught up to paradise,

·         who had ecstatic celestial encounters in the 3rd heaven

even then, twenty years after his conversion, Paul wrote about having one single and unique future aspiration: What do I want? “I just want to know Christ...” he said. That’s still the goal.

There is no greater thing than knowing Jesus. If you’re going to attain maturity, being parents in God as it were to younger believers, then make knowing Christ your highest ambition. Are you determined to know God better?

Ending

John could have been writing to us at All Saints.’ New believers, more committed, established active Christians and wise, mature, experienced guides. Every church, including this one, needs all three.

Each of us is at a different stage in our walk with God. The question is, “Am I advancing?” Am I still moving forward with God? What am I going to do this year, starting today, to ensure that in 12 months’ time I’m further on than I am now?

Let’s pray…

Sermon preached at All Saints' Preston on Tees, 5 January 2020