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Week of: June 1, 2008
Title: Testing The Spirit
Series: Study of John - Part 22
Scripture: John 15:26-16:16; 1 John 4:1-3
1. Perhaps the greatest challenge of any person of faith is to learn to hear the voice of God: To be able to discern the leading of the Holy Spirit. To be able to understand the good and perfect will of God for our lives.
2. Let me read you a quote from a person that I had in class on Christian Spirituality a few years ago: “To those of us who claim the way of the Christ as our spiritual heritage, it is a continual challenge to discern the voice of God amid the clamor of competing yet compelling voices. Some of these voices are clearly external: the various and sometimes contradictory messages of family, friends, counselors, doctors…(or anyone who is trying to persuade us of anything). Some voices sound plainly from within: the weighting of our thoughts, the searching questions, the voice of conscience and self-honesty. Some voices are internalized from external sources, as is often the case with anxiety, guilt, and self-negating criticism. When uncertain about the future course of action, when faced with difficult choices, when called upon to make decisions in the face of ambiguity, how are we to hear the singular clarity of God’s word amid all these voices?”
3. If the writer of John and 1 John were here today, I am certain he would agree that listening to God is difficult and we, therefore, need to test the spirits to understand the voice of God in midst of all these other noises.
4. Look with me in 1 John 4:1. He begins in verse 1 by saying “don’t believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God…”
5. Two things I’d like to draw your attention to: One, don’t believe everyone that says “God has told me that He wants you to do such and such or believe such and such.” Sometimes it is sincere and genuine, but most of the time it is manipulative and wrong.
6. My response to that kind of pressure is: “Well, he might or might not have told you, but until God tells me the same thing, we’ll continue as we are going.” Most of the time, skepticism about people coming to you with a revelation from God is good and healthy.
7. Two, test the urging either from outside with other people, and inside from you. How is that done? In any test, you measure what you have learned, or what you are being told, by a standard of truth that you have already accepted as reliable and true. And if what you’re testing falls in line with what you know to be true, then you believe it, if not then you reject it.
8. In scripture in 1 John, John wants his listeners to test the spirits, to test all the things that are going around them and even inside of them by the single truth that “Jesus Christ has come in the flesh.”
9. It is a truth that they have preached and taught from the beginning, but now is under fire from a group of believers called Gnostics. The Gnostics were a group of people who denied that Jesus had come in the flesh. They believed that anything created in the flesh and blood bodies of our existence was trapped in a sinful existence. They believed that anything in the flesh and blood of a body and of material existence was inherently evil. Therefore, Jesus couldn’t be a person of flesh and blood, but only seemed like He was. Instead, He was a spiritual or ghostly being, who came to liberate us from this sinful flesh and body existence. How did He do this? He imparted knowledge to us that freed us from a material and materialistic existence.
10. John said “He freed us alright from a life of sin, not by liberating our human spirit from our earthly bodies, but by liberating our bodies and spirit from sin.” The knowledge that Jesus imparts to us is that God loves us. And Jesus, far from being a ghost-like savior, was “the word becoming flesh and dwelling with men and women” teaching them how to love God and each other.
11. So John says in verse 2: “This is how you recognize the true Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God.”
12. Pretty simple isn’t it? Yet, not all issues, not all decisions that we need to make revolve around that single important truth, does it?
13. For example: When you’re torn between keeping a terminally ill parent on life support and letting them die a natural death, then is that doctrinal truth going to help you? Probably not!
14. Yet, John is not just telling us to measure or test the spirit of everything we hear by that one doctrine, but instead he is asking us to test the spirit of what we see and hear by what we know from the “word of God.”
15. I’ve heard preachers say that every answer to every question you want to know is in the Bible. Is that true? Maybe, maybe not. For example, if you’re a young person and wanting to know what college God wants you to attend, is that going to be found here. Is there a verse in the Bible that mentions UVA, or UVA @ Wise, Virginia Tech, or University of Tennessee? Is there a text in the Bible that will tell you whom to marry, aside from maybe another Christian? Is there a text that will tell you what job to take? Or even what church to attend?
16. No! But there are verses in the Bible, sound Biblical teachings, that will tell you how to go about seeking God’s will on those matters. There are verses in the Bible that can guide you along the pathway in finding the answers that you seek. There are verses in the Bible that will help you discern the spirits of those questions which you seek to know.
17. But there are times that we cannot seem to find the answers we need in God’s word, so what do we do then?
18. Pray!!! James 5:13 says: “Is anyone of you in trouble? He should pray.” 5:16 says “The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced crops.” Pray as you read your Bible that God would help you discern the many voices that are pulling at you, allowing the Holy Spirit’s true voice to be heard.
19. Depend on Christian friends to help you make decisions…but then, after a while, the decision must fall on you…..
20. Make your decisions in faith, and let God bless you!
Week of: June 8, 2008
Title: The Now Gospel
Series: Study of John - Part 23
Scripture: John 17:1-5; 13-26; 37-39
1. I really think there are two kinds of people. Do you know what kind of people I am talking about? I know you might be thinking, “saved sinners and lost sinners.”
2. But there is another two kinds of people: those who live in the past and those who live in the future. By that I mean most people spend a lot of time thinking about the past, remembering the past, especially the older you get. Then, other people spend a great deal of time hoping and planning for the future, especially when you are young.
3. Someone once said this: “Human memory is the sign of the distance which is to be found within us. When I talk about things in the past, I establish a distance from the present in which I live.”
4. The same person also wrote: “Human beings foresee: they have a sense of the future, and animals do not. ...Human beings are the only animals or created creatures capable of conscious anxiety and deep care. Why? Because we are torn between their past, which is no longer, and their future, which has yet to come and which they hope for.” (All is Grace: God and the Mystery of Time by Henri Boulad)
5. It is normal to be caught up living in the past, or just spending all your time hoping for the future…it is hard to live in the all important present; to literally live in the moment.
6. The Bible is full of remembering the past, understanding the meaning and the distance the present has established itself in forming the history of the people of God. And, looking forward to the future in what God has promised us that He would do.
7. When the Bible starts talking about what God is going to do in the future, especially toward the end of time, it is called eschatology. Eschatology is a big word that just means “the study of the end-times.”
8. Let me give you a little one question quiz: Are we living in the end-times? Yes or No.
9. Yes we are, but even that must be qualified, because what it means to be in the end time means different things to different people.
10. Let me tell you this—according to our Bible ever since Jesus Christ was crucified and rose again, we have been in the end times. Paul writes to the Corinthians and states very plainly that the time is short…he says 1 Corinthians 7: 31 “…For this world in its present form is passing away.” He calls upon the Corinthians to be “free from concern” and devoted to the Lord.
11. But as time progressed and the world didn’t end and Jesus didn’t come, the church started looking for a different way of seeing things. They still believed they were in the end times, and the prayers of the saints quickly became, and have ever since, been “Come, Lord Jesus.” This is the hope for the future for the early church, turn to Revelation 22:6-21 and read.
12. This is an example of futuristic eschatology. Things that the writers of the New Testament prayed and waited for, and in some cases die for. It was their hope for the future, the Second Coming of Jesus. “Come quickly, Lord Jesus.”
13. But in the Gospel of John, there is another big word for you to learn. It’s realized eschatology. It is basically praying and living the Lord’s Prayer: “Our Father which art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven…” When Jesus prayed this and taught His followers to pray it, he was saying: “God in Heaven, Holy is your name, let things be done on earth as wonderfully and perfectly as they are done in heaven.
14. In fact, some people believe that the Book of Revelation is really a book written in fulfillment of the Lord’s Prayer. In other words, John is envisioning in his Book of Revelation God saying, “I am going to bring all of this to an end, by answering my son and his disciple’s prayer. So in praying the Lord’s Prayer, we are hasting the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.
15. But realized eschatology is saying that God’s kingdom come is becoming a reality a little bit at a time, and you don’t have to wait until Jesus comes again. It is coming now.
16. Let’s examine two little words in our scripture today. Look at John 17: 1-3. The two words are “eternal life.” Most people see eternal life as something that happens when we die. But there are two aspects of eternal life that are very important. One is that it is life-everlasting. It is life that goes on and on and on, never stopping, never ceasing—a perpetual state of being. But there is supposed to be a quality to this life. The quality of life is just a taste of heaven on earth. You might say that as “the Kingdom comes” as “God’s will is done your life as it should be done in Heaven” then to a small degree you’re experiencing heaven.
17. I hesitate saying this because the way we, as Christians, act and look at times, “if we are experiencing a taste of Heaven on earth then who wants the whole cup.” Meaning, we all are guilty of making Heaven look undesirable at times. But the truth is, from the moment we accept Jesus as our Savior, we start getting a small taste of what Heaven we’ll be like.
18. Realized eschatology, now eschatology, the now gospel is God’s kingdom realized in your own life and the life of the world we live in. Jesus has come, and His coming is in our hearts even as I speak. He is alive and well on the planet earth in the lives of His disciples.
19. How is this accomplished? Does anyone know? The Holy Spirit. Turn to John 7: 37-39 and read.
20. What does the Spirit taste like? How about love?
Week of: June 15, 2008
Title: “All is Grace, Yet…”
Series: Study of John – Part 24
Scripture: John 21:1-14
1. Have you ever wondered how things get done in our lives? Ladies, you’re probably thinking I know how things get done around my house, I do them. Right? I miss my father, he was jack of all trades; he could do anything with his hands and tools.
2. But I am talking about life in general, how do things generally get done? Hard work, luck, who you know, help from mom or dad, being at the right place at the right time, how is it that things get done?
3. The question I am getting at is how does God generally do things in your life? Prayer? Hard work? Serendipity?
4. Does anyone know what serendipity is? Serendipity is when God does something beautiful in your life when you least expect it. It is usually a wonderful blessing that God sends your way without you knowing it is coming.
5. In scripture this morning, the disciples have experienced a type of serendipity. They are fishing on the Sea of Galilee, not too far from the shore, not having a great deal of success, or as John puts it “that night they caught nothing.” Sounds like you, Leroy.
6. Early in morning, John says that “Jesus appears again to his disciples…but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus.” He calls out to them from the shore “Friends, haven’t you any fish?” Their reply, of course is “no.”
7. He then yells out to them: “Cast the net on the right side of the boat.” I don’t know how fast they took this advice. Because it is just human nature, to not appreciate unsolicited advice, especially from someone we don’t know.
8. Anyway, when they finally did as Jesus told them, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish they caught. Imagine fishing all night and working your way back to shore, catching nothing, and then a lone figure on shore tells you to just cast the net on the other side of the boat, and low and behold, your net is just full of fish. In fact, so full of large fish was the fishing net that they could not haul it into the boat.
9. That is serendipity: The resurrected Lord, making a surprise visit and filling their net with fish. Has anyone ever had surprise and blessing that awesome in your life? Probably not, but I’ve certainly been blessed and surprised by God’s goodness, haven’t you? (tell story of your calling to preach, seminary, finals over, nowhere to go) Now this story doesn’t compare in any way with a post-resurrection appearance of our Lord to the fishing disciples, but if the truth is known every one of us has serendipity moments with our Lord—we just may not be aware of them.
10. Do we just sit by idly waiting for God to bless us? Do we just wait, pray and sit idly by waiting for God to bless us, or do we learn to put hand, arms, legs, and feet to our prayers?
11. Let’s take our scripture growth for an example. I dare say that every true born again Christian has wanted at one time or the other to grow in Christ, to mature as a Christian. I just don’t know how you can be sincerely a Christian and not care about that. Yet there are so many people in our churches that are baby Christians. Much like Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians. Turn to 1 Corinthians 3: 1ff, “Brothers, I could not address you are spiritual but as worldly—mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed you still are not ready. You are still worldly.”
12. What does it take to grow in Christ, to mature in your life with Jesus? Is it just God or is it human effort as well? To we just wake up some day with a sudden realization that we have arrived into Christian adulthood? How many of you would say you are a mature Christian?
13. First off, Christian maturity is a process. Becoming a Christian is being born again, but growing in Christ is a life-long process, that from the moment you are born again, it is your challenge to grow. It is a process of transformation in the life of each of us that grows in gratitude, trust, obedience, humility, compassion, service, and joy. It is also a process, like most of life that is riddled with failures and setbacks as well as successes.
14. It should be clear that, like all good things, it begins, depends, and ends in God. Paul states this truth very plainly in Ephesians 3:19 when he ends his prayer for the Ephesians by saying: “that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” That pretty much states how much our lives depend on God, especially our spiritual maturity and well being.
15. The spiritual life, our spiritual maturity is nothing but the power and grace of God in our lives. It is no fix-it-yourself kit, no manual giving us “12 easy steps to make a complete spiritual person.”
16. For you and me to grow in Christ, God does require our cooperation. Spiritual growth is essentially a work of divine grace in progress which we are called on to cooperate with God.
17. I’ve heard many Preachers say that God doesn’t need human beings to further His plans in this world. That’s not true. He may or may not need me or you, but He has chosen human beings to be His co-laborers in this world. And then, I truly believe, He needs your help to make you into the person He wants you to become.
18. But the question remains: Is it God’s work or our work that makes things happen? It is both. And the miracle of God’s doings is that His grace undergirds rather than undermines our freedom of choice. In other words, an al-knowing, all-powerful, and all-present God doesn’t destroy our freedom of choice but enhances it.
19. It is like this illustration: Suppose you enjoyed sailing as a hobby. Never done it before myself, so forgive me if you know more about it than me. A true sail boat cannot move on its own power, but relies upon the wind, over which neither sailboat nor the sailor has any control whatsoever. Still, a sailor can shift the position and heading of the sailboat by adjusting the tiller (a tiller is a piece of wood that is attached to the rudder post, which attaches to the rudder of boat, that directs the boat) when the sails can catch the wind. Free will, your free will, is a little like that sailor who opens the sails of his life to the winds of the Spirit that blow around him and attempts to direct the boat (or his life) in the direction that the wind is blowing.
20. All is grace, yet all depends upon our willingness to cooperate freely with the Spirit of God that blows in our lives. The magnificent truth of the Christian faith is that the work of divine grace makes our efforts not less our own, but more….(M. Thompson, Soul Feast page 9).
21. Where you are today, no matter how hard and difficult it has been, is by the Grace of God (free unmerited flavor of God). What you do with that grace is up to you. Actually, what you do with it is up to you and God. At some point in your life, you are going to have to take your spiritual growth seriously. Why not start today?
Week of June 22, 2008 Title: A Friend in Jesus (VBS Sunday)
Series: Study of John - Part 25
Scripture: John 15: 5-17
1. Boys and Girls, how many friends do you have? You know, it is said if you have one true friend you are very fortunate.
2. How do you know if someone is your friend? They are nice? Helpful? They like the same things as you do? They treat you good? You hang out together? Play together?
3. Have you ever had a very special friend? I have…. in fact, I think I am blessed to have many special friends.
4. In the scripture passage I read a few minutes ago, Jesus has just called his disciples his friends. Even though Jesus was betrayed by one of his friends and denied by another, He still calls them His friends.
5. The neat thing about this is, if Jesus called His disciples His friends, we can be Jesus’ friends too. Even though Jesus is the Son of God our God, according to the Bible, He is also our friend.
6. In fact, He tells His disciples (by the way what is a disciple, does anyone know? A disciple is a believer who follows, learns and observes the teachings of Jesus) that He doesn’t consider them slaves or servants any more but friends.
7. Verse 15 says that “I no longer call you servants.” The word servant can also mean slave. Being a slave or a servant to God is not necessarily a bad thing. Moses was a servant or slave of God. Many people in the Bible thought of themselves as being slaves or servants of God, and were proud to be called so.
8. Jesus takes it a step further by calling His disciples not servants or slaves but friends. Very special friends.
9. Being a friend of Jesus is made very important by learning that Roman Emperors and eastern kings made much of their special friends. In fact, there were people who were called friends of the king, friends of the court, or friends of the Emperor. It seems, at all times, they had access to the king, after all who wants friends if they are not allowed to see you.
10. These people could come and see the king anytime that they wanted. They could walk right into his house and talk to the king without so much as an invitation.
11. They might come into his bedroom before he met with his generals and the officers of the court.
12. The friends of the king were those who were the closest and best friends with the king.
13. Jesus calls us to be his friends, his very special friends.
14. Jesus says that His disciples were His friends because He has told them everything that God has told Him.
15. Jesus’ definition of a friend is one whom you can trust to tell things that you wouldn’t feel free to tell anyone else.
16. What does this mean? It means that we don’t have to gaze longingly at God from far off; we are not like slaves who have no right whatsoever to enter into the presence of their master.
17. We are not some distant stranger who has to wave to say hello.
18. Now, we still have to be respectful to the King. When the King tells us to do something, we need to do it. But we are very special friends of King Jesus.
Week of: June 29, 2008 - Pastor on vacation
Pastor is on vacation next two weeks - no sermon notes.