January 6, 2008
Morning Worship
Text: 1 John 3:1-10
Subject: Holiness
Title: You Look Just Like Your Dad
I want to continue today with the concept I began last Sunday and one that is not talked about very much in the church world today, and that is the subject of holiness. One thing you do hear about in the church world today, especially from many of the TV preachers, is that you can have everything the world has. God intends for you to prosper and be blessed with all the good things the world has. I have to admit that is a seductive promise. Now, I’m not going to stand here and tell you that God doesn’t want His children to be blessed and prosper. As a matter of fact the Bible bears that out. But what I will stand against is that we are supposed to fall into the trap that we can have everything the worlds has and be all right with God. And even when we talk about God blessing His people, if that is the focus of our faith we become lopsided – even one - dimensional. When we temper God’s promise of blessing with the message of the cross and with holiness we begin to get a different picture- a more rounded picture – of what the Christian life is all about. When we consider holiness our definition of prosperity might differ from what it was before. Here is my point – God wants His children to be holy as He is holy.
Many will hear this today or will read it on the Internet and tell me that I am being a legalist. You cannot make God love you any more than He already does. By preaching holiness aren’t you making grace a small thing? Isn’t it only by grace that we are saved? True enough! But when you look at what the scriptures say about the subject of holiness you will see that there are serious implications for those who think they can live like the world without any consequences.
I want to give you two quotes by some famous Christian thinkers about holiness and I want you to think about what they are saying.
First, C. S. Lewis said, How little people know who think that holiness is dull. When one meets real thing, it is irresistible. C.S. Lewis, Letters to an American Lady, New Bible Commentary, p. 28
Second, Scottish theologian John Brown, "Holiness does not consist in mystic speculations, enthusiastic fervours, or uncommanded austerities; it consists in thinking as God things, and willing as God wills." quoted in J. Bridges, The Pursuit of Holiness, p. 51.
God does not intend for holiness to become drudgery, but to become a way of life because of your relationship with Him and because He loves you too much to let you go back to the lust of the world without consequences.
I want you to listen carefully to what I have to say today and pray that the eyes of your heart will be opened to receive the world of God today.
You look just like your Dad.
I. THE REFLECTION OF THE FATHER. (1-3) 1How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! Do you know that God doesn’t love you because you decided to give your heart to Jesus? He loved you before that because He is love. But He lavished His love on us when Jesus went to the cross for us. And because He has poured out His life’s blood for us – He has given us grace – we can become children of God. And that is what we are! That happens through faith. You know what happens when you accept Christ. If anyone is in Christ he is a new creation… Now you have heard me talk about when I was saved and how people told me that I was the same as I had always been – there was no change in me. Perhaps they have said the same thing about you. I understand now why they would say that. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. We really cannot expect the unsaved to understand the spiritual reality that has taken place within us. But you have that inner witness of the Holy Spirit that you are God’s child. Romans 8:16, The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. The fact that God calls us His children describes the depth of His love for us. 2Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. This is one of those promises that God gives us that we can see the fruit of it right now. We are children of God. We are supposed to be like our Father. We have the Holy Spirit as a deposit of all the good and perfect gifts that will come. But, we have not reach the fulfillment of the promise yet - when he appears, we shall be like him… Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 3:18, And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory… or from glory to glory. We are continually being changed to be like Him. Now something has to happen on our part for this to become a reality. We must hold on to the hope that we have. We must desire to be like Him. We must make up our minds that we are going to live under His influence and not the worlds influence. If we are going to be changed into His image from glory to glory we have to want it. You see, If you have made a profession of faith in Christ, but you still keep living with worldly influences in your life, who do you think you are going to be like? My guess is that you are going to become more like the world and less like Christ. Verse 3 says, Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure. If you know Jesus as Lord you have been sanctified (set apart). That is one of God’s promises. But, it is up to you to keep yourself separated from the world. That is one of the reasons that you need the baptism in the Holy Spirit. He empowers you to stand against the devil and reject the pull of the world on your life.
II. THE RESTRICTIONS OF THE FATHER (4-6) There are myriads of TV preachers out there who are telling us that it is OK to have everything that the world has. As a mater of fact, Christians should expect to have all the good things that the world has to offer. Once you have become a Christian you can go after the “things” the world has to offer and expect God to bless you with them. Listen to me – I want to make sure you understand this – I am a word of faith preacher. I believe in positive confessions. I believe that we can stand on the Word of God in faith and expect Him to carry out His promises to us because He is faithful and He is able. But we cannot lust after the things of the world and expect God to bless us. That is sin. 4Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness. Yes, but I’m not under the Law – I’m under grace. Good for you! Romans 5:20, 20The law was added so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more… That sure sounds like once we’re saved we can do what we want, right? Jump on over to Romans 6, 1What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Verse 5, But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. That is what Jesus did for those who trust Him. He took away your sin. I want you to look closely at the next part of this verse. And in him is no sin. Now you may think that this is talking about Jesus. That there is no sin in Him. That is true. But let’s look at it a little differently. Let’s not look at “in Him” as referring to Jesus but to those who are “IN HIM”. If anyone is in Christ he is a new creation; the old has gone the new has come! So if we are “in Him” we have no sin. Here’s an interesting concept. When you are saved and then baptized in the Holy Spirit you have everything you need to live a life free from sin. You won’t, but the possibility is there. The truth is that the more you seek after God, the more you walk under the anointing of the Spirit, the more you desire to live a life pleasing to Him, the less you will sin – but you will sin. 6No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. The phrase “keeps on sinning” isn’t talking about those of us who occasionally sin and then repent and ask for forgiveness. This is referring to those who have accepted God’s grace and then continue in a lifestyle of sin thinking they are OK with God. I’m saved so it doesn’t matter if I keep on smoking, drinking doing drugs, having illicit sex etc. Wrong! It does mater to God. I understand that the enemy has trapped many people in the weakness of their flesh. They know that they should stop but in their own power cannot. The problem is not with those who have tried to stop but because of addiction cannot. The phrase Keeps on sinning is a problem for those who willfully continue to live in that type of lifestyle. Those who claim to be Christians yet live in a life of sin are in serious danger of hell. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him. You know, I believe that God ordained the family unit and that he placed fathers in the position of authority in the family so that they could be a reflection of our heavenly Father. Fathers love their children but correct them and rebuked them and chastise them when necessary. But we are now living in the time where several generations have grown up believing the nonsense published by Dr. Spock about disciplining your kids and Sigmund Freud’s foolishness about how every fault you have can be blamed on a parent. So now when we punish our kids we take away their Playstation for an hour! So if that is the type of God we are reflecting, why in the world would anyone get nervous about sin? If I sin all God will do is take away my toys!
III. THE REJECTION OF THE FATHER (7-10) John continues with that train of thought. 7Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. Look at what the apostle Paul wrote to Timothy. 1 Timothy 4, 1The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. 2Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron. Doesn’t it make you wonder about those preachers who preach prosperity without the balance of the cross? Doesn’t it make you concerned about those who preach “positive confession: without self denial? If they are telling you that you can give to God as an investment and then get back thirty, sixty, or a hundred-fold, then Christianity becomes a get rich scheme – a holy lottery! They are no different than the world. Don’t get me wrong. I believe in God’s abundant supply for those who give to Him out of love for Him. 1 Timothy 6, 6But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. 8But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. 9People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. 2 Timothy 4, 3For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 4They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. That is what is happening in the church today. 8He who does what is sinful is of the devil (the god of this world, the spirit of logos, the prince of the power of the air, the father of all lies), because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. satan loves to tell us just a little bit of truth without telling the whole truth. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work. John continues, No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God. Again we see the importance of the baptism in the Holy Spirit. For you to be empowered, to be filled to overflowing, to be so enraptured with the love of God in your hearts that all you can think about is living for Him will cause satan to be greatly concerned. satan is not concerned with lukewarm Christians. But he can’t stand on fire Christians. 10This 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 a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother.
I didn’t have a great relationship with my step – dad growing up. He wasn’t a very loving person. But the one thing that I always wanted to hear from him was words of encouragement – “good job!” “You can do it!” “Keep up the good work!” That is what I worked for. I suppose that is one of the reasons that I desire to live a life that is pleasing to my heavenly Father. I really long to hear the words, “Well done thou good and faithful servant…! Enter into My rest.” That is why I separate myself from the influences of the world.
During WWI the pastor at Tenth Presbyterian Church, Donald Grey Barnhouse, led the son of a prominent American family to the Lord. He was in the service, but he showed the reality of his conversion by immediately professing Christ before the soldiers of his military company. The war ended. The day came when he was to return to his pre-war life in the wealthy suburb of a large American city. He talked to Barnhouse about life with his family and expressed fear that he might soon slip back into his old habits. He was afraid that love for parents, brothers, sisters, and friends might turn him from following after Jesus Christ. Barnhouse told him that if he were careful to make public confession of his faith in Christ, he would not have to worry. He would not have to give improper friends up. They would give him up.
As a result of this conversation the young man agreed to tell the first ten people of his old set whom he encountered that he had become a Christian. The soldier went home. Almost immediately--in fact, while he was still on the platform of the suburban station at the end of his return trip--he met a girl whom he had known socially. She was delighted to see him and asked how he was doing. He told her, "The greatest thing that could possibly happen to me has happened." "You’re engaged to be married," she exclaimed. "No," he told her. "It’s even better than that. I’ve taken the Lord Jesus Christ as my Savior." The girls’ expression froze. She mumbled a few polite words and went on her way. A short time later the new Christian met a young man whom he had known before going into the service. "It’s good to see you back," he declared. "We’ll have some great parties now that you’ve returned." "I’ve just become a Christian," the soldier said. He was thinking, That’s two! Again it was a case of a frozen smile and a quick change of conversation. After this the same circumstances were repeated with a young couple and with two more old friends. By this time word had got around, and soon some of his friends stopped seeing him. He had become peculiar, religious, and -- who knows! -- they may even have called him crazy! What had he done? Nothing but confess Christ. The same confession that had aligned him with Christ had separated him from those who did not want Jesus Christ as Savior and who, in fact, did not even want to hear about Him. J.M. Boice, Christ’s Call To Discipleship, Moody, 1986, p. 122-23
Let me close with these three things.
1) You are called to holiness by a holy God.
2) You are overcomers by the blood of the Lamb and the word of your testimony.
3) God wants to empower you for kingdom living here on earth.
Why? Because He wants to hear people say, "You look just like your Dad.”
