Moving Toward Spiritual Discernment-9

MOVING TOWARD SPIRITUAL DISCERNMENT-IX

—1John 3:19-24(3:10--4:21)

Attention:

We were at St. Andrew’s State Park/The park is the far-end of a peninsular barrier on Florida’s Gulf Coast just across St. Andrew’s Bay from Panama City/Our family was walking on the beach barefooted on summer a good while after Hurricane Michael(2018) had come thru/There was a huge, but rusty spherical metallic buoy that had washed onto the beach/I was fascinated by it’s size, I’d never seen anything like it/While we were walking around the detached buoy, I started to notice something on the sand near the high-tide line/There were hundreds of little flat silver-dollar sized jelly-fish that had obviously been washed onshore/They had a purplish tinge to them & then I realized that we were walking barefoot among a ‘minefield’ of ‘Portuguese men-of-war’(a very dangerous jelly)!/I panicked, but they were very small so we kept walking gingerly along the beach/We concentrated on avoiding the jellies, so that we no longer had any fun on that beach, because they were so numerous/Later, I came to find out that the ‘Portuguese men-of-war’ were actually ‘By-The-Wind-Sailors’ which I had misidentified because I had never seen them before/Those jellyfish were not dangerous(just don’t touch your eyes if you’ve handled one)/I ruined my time & the rest of the family’s time because I had not been discerning of our surroundings!

*God’s people must see the importance, the seriousness, & the security of their Moving Toward Spiritual Discernment.

Individual Christians gather together, as the Church & body of Christ, for the purpose of being encouraged & strengthened in it’s Movement Toward Spiritual Discernment.

The apostle John shed light on a need for Spiritual Discernment in the Church.

Spiritual discernment is a necessity for the Church.

•How is Spiritual Discernment in the Church achieved/accomplished?

--OR--

•What must be recognized in moving ourselves, the church, & others toward spiritual discernment.

We’ve found previously that:

Moving(yourself, the Church, & others) toward spiritual discernment recognizes...

1. OPPOSING SIDES(3:10)

•Children of God & Children of the Devil.

2. The FOUNDATIONAL MESSAGE(3:11)

•Love One Another.

3. IMPASSIONED BELIEF(3:12-13)

•Expressed from each side...The world hates you.

4(A-&-B). DECISIVE MOVEMENT(3:14-15)

•Passed from death to life.

5. FREEING EXPERIENTIAL KNOWLEDGE(3:16a)?•Knowing Jesus Laid Down His Life For Us.

6. FREEDOM’s(Unhesitating) RESPONSE(3:16b-19)?•Laying Down Our Lives For The Benefit of Our Brothers & Sisters In Christ.

7-A. A FREEING CONFIDENCE Of The HEART-A(3:19-20)(3:19-24)•Assured in our heart-of-hearts

The last time we were in 1John(Oct, 2020), we looked at the fact that we can absolutely know if “we are of the truth.”(:19), & that having a personal heart’s-assurance before Almighty God(Who is the ultimate Judge of all humanity) is utterly freeing! Because He is all-knowing—“greater than our heart”(:20)—then He will always respond to you & me faithfully, with either His condemnation or His salvation.

Today we’ll continue looking at the fact that...

7-B—Moving toward spiritual discernment recognizes...

A FREEING CONFIDENCE Of The HEART-B(3:21-22)(3:19-24)

3:21—“Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God.”

“Beloved” shows John’s love for his flock—even those beyond the local Christian citizens of his experience—on into our day.

•John reveals the love present in his undershepherd’s(1Pet. 5:2-4) “heart”, for those who may be wrestling/struggling with the magnanimous nature of the utterly undeserved freedom thru which they now operate in Christ(Eph. 2:8).

1Pet. 5:2-4—“Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly; nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock; & when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away.”

Eph. 2:8—“For by grace you have been saved through faith, & that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,”

“Beloved”(See 4:1, 7, 11)—agaphtov—Adj.—1) Beloved, esteemed, dear, favorite, worthy of love. Strong—Beloved.?From—agapaw—To love (in a social or moral sense); perhaps from agan(much) [or compare bge aw-gab'--To breathe after, i.e. To love(sensually)a primitive root].

“If our heart does not condemn us,”...

“We have confidence toward God.”

The Christian’s “confidence”/certainty is expressed in his/her relationship & dealings with God. God’s people approach God with a “heart” that does not bring them condemnation. And God’s people—even when they sin—both approach God & are also approached by God WITHOUT CONDEMNATION. Even so, our saved “hearts” may still “condemn us”....That is, we still maintain an internal sense of conviction & guilt before God. And God does indeed discipline His children as any loving father does(Heb. 12:5-8, 11).

Heb. 12:5-8, 11—“My son, do not despise the chastening of the LORD, Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; For whom the LORD loves He chastens, And scourges every son whom He receives.”[Prov. 3:11-12] If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate & not sons.”.....“Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.”