Sermon Central
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Dealing With Sin In 1 John (Part 1) Series
Contributed by Stephen Belokur on Feb 2, 2019 (message contributor)
Summary: Why is the apostle John so urgent in his speaking about sin and the ramifications for our lives? How does our personal sin affect the perceived glory of God in our sphere of influence?
Dealing with Sin in 1 John
Please stand as we read our newest memory Scripture together …
“This is the message we have heard from Him and declare to you: God is light; in Him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth.
“But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, His Son, purifies us from all sin.”
And our memory refresher verse(s) for today is(are) …
“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things.”
Please open your Bibles to 1 John 1:8 - 1 John 2:2 / 1 John 3:1-10
Do you love Jesus? I mean really love Jesus and want to please Him and bring glory and honor to His holy name?
I have a confession to make …
The other day I was tempted in my mind to do something which I knew would be just plain wrong, sinful.
That same day I was trying my best to memorize the new memory Scripture for these three months. Now, I do love Jesus as much as I know how to do and hope to love Him better every day.
So, while I was in the middle of this temptation this verse came to my mind, “If we claim to have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth …” (1 John 1:6)
Wow. That hit me like a punch in the face!
- Do I really have fellowship with the Lord?
- Do I really want to walk in the darkness?
- Do I really want to lie to the Lord and live a lie?
Thank you, Lord, for Your holy word!!!
Today we’ll be talking about this sin problem and why it is such a big deal …
Before we jump into it the apostle John uses this verse as a transition into the first segment of Scripture that deals with sin in 1 John.
Here’s the transition, “But if we walk in the light as He is in the light we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus, His Son, purifies us from all sin.” (1 John 1:7)
With that in mind let’s go ahead and read our Scriptures for Today
Now, today we are not going to dig down deep into those Scriptures but talk about sin and righteousness from an overarching point of view.
When a person joins The Church of The Nazarene one of the questions they must respond to is, “Will you endeavor in every way to glorify God, by a humble walk, godly conversation, and holy service; by devotedly giving of your resources; and by faithfully participating in the means of grace? Will you follow Jesus Christ all the days of your life, abstain from all evil, and seek earnestly to perfect holiness of heart and life in the fear of the Lord?”
And, the main point of that inquiry is, “Will you endeavor in every way to glorify God?”
In 1646 and 1647 the Church of England and the Church of Scotland got together to create what was called the Westminster Shorter Catechism which was used to teach children and those who were of diminished mental abilities the basics of the Christian faith. Do you know what the very first question and answer are in that catechism?
Q. What is the chief end of man?
A. Man's chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him forever.
By “the chief end” it means, what is the greatest goal for a human?
This is the goal … to glorify God.
To enjoy the Lord forever is not in itself a goal, it is the result of the pursuit of the goal of glorifying God!
Glorifying God is the pursuit and the goal, the ability and the privilege to enjoy the Lord forever is the fruit of that pursuit.
Never pursue enjoyment even of the Lord for its own sake, pursue the glory of the Lord and you get the joy thrown in with it as well.
PTL!!!
What does the Bible say about this goal?
“Ascribe to the LORD, all you families of nations, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength. Ascribe to the LORD the glory due His name; bring an offering and come before Him. Worship the LORD in the splendor of His holiness.”
“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands.”
