TEXT: 1st John 2:3-11
TITLE: Walk as Jesus Walked
SERIES: Letters from John
TOPIC: tests of faithfulness
OCCASION: Burnside Christian Church, January 9, 2011
PROP.: John gives three tests to prove if your walk is pleasing to God.
INTRODUCTION: Good morning! We are continuing in our sermon series through the letters of John. Today’s text is 1st John 2:3-11. Please be opening up your Bible there.
As you’re turning there, let me ask you a question: What are you goals for 2011? Have you looked ahead and made some personal goals? Have you made some movement toward where you would like to be?
Maybe some of you are like: “I want to lose 20 pounds this year…and keep it off!”
Or… “I want to be more financially secure this year. Or responsible!”
Students: “I want to make the honor roll…”
or “I want to quit smoking!”
Let me ask you another question: Would you like to please God this year?
T.S.: This morning, John’s aim is to please God. And he gives us 3 tests to determine if our Spiritual walk is pleasing to God!
Let’s read our text this morning.
3 We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. 4 The man who says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 5 But if anyone obeys his word, God’s love[b] is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him: 6 Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.
Let’s stop right there for a moment!
As a Christian, your aim should be to have a…
I. Faithful Obedience (vs. 3-6)
I’ve said it once…I’ll say it again…BECOMING a Christian is easy! BEING a Christian is hard. And notice I said FAITHFUL obedience. Not a casual obedience. Not an obedience that is convenient or an obedience that “I’ll obey God in THIS area of my life because it’s easy and I’m good at it.” FAITHFUL OBEDIENCE.
Is it easy to be faithful? To do something day in and day out. 24 hours a day. 7 days a week. 4 weeks a month. 12 months a year. Is that easy?
You tell me! Look around at the divorce rate. It’s too high! People have difficulty following through with the vow that was made to the love of their life. It’s true in marriage and it’s true in Christianity. And what you and I need to know is God is pleased with a FAITHFUL obedience.
How are you doing? Are you obedient? Listen to me…we can’t even show up to church faithfully! And not that church attendance is what saves you…but faithfully showing up to church IS a good indication of what might be going on inside your heart.
The message of this first point is really this:
A. Don’t drift away! Don’t backslide!
The majority of us in this room made a commitment to Christ. We marched down an aisle or we came forward at a week of church camp, or revival. And we boldly proclaimed that Jesus is going to be the boss of my life! I will follow Him! I will love Him. I will grow IN him.
How’s that working out for you?
Just because a person got wet doesn’t mean that they are saved. Salvation doesn’t stop when a person a gets baptized. Baptism is NOT fire insurance. “Well I’m not sure if I believe in baptism or salvation or God for that matter…but I’ll just “buy” the policy just in case…”
It’s TRUE. Salvation occurs at Baptism. But it doesn’t stop at baptism! One must have faithful obedience to God. And this is what John is saying in verse 3: “We know that we have come to know Him…if we OBEY his commands!”
Wow! My obedience to God’s commands is the proof that I am a saved person! The NIV and KJV both translate it: “we know that we have come to know Him…if we KEEP his commands.” The word keep is Tay-reh-O which is a military term. To prevent from escaping.
I like that idea. We need to keep a close eye on God’s commands and make sure they don’t escape from my life! Keep them!
Why? Because
B. Salvation is a treasure!
ILLUSTRATION: Imagine for a moment that I have something in my pocket. Something very secretive. It’s a great treasure. It’s very precious to me. But you can’t see what’s in my pocket so you don’t know if I really have great treasure in my pocket or not, right? But you say, “Yeah, but we’ll be able to tell over time if you have great treasure. Because it will weigh you down as you walk and you won’t be worried about your future if you have great treasure. And you will have a lot of joyfulness all the time if you have great treasure.” You see, you can’t see if I have it, but over time, you are going to be able to tell if I have it.
And the same is true of salvation. When a person comes forward and says some things and then gets dunked - we can’t really tell if they’ve been born again of the Spirit of God. But over time, you will be able to tell!
Jesus said, “By their FRUIT you will know them.” Obedience to God’s commands is part of that fruit!
LET ME ASK YOU A QUESTION: A serious question: What is the goal of salvation? Is it merely to get a person to come to church? “Whew…they are in church…what a relief.” No! The end means is to make their life reflect the life of Christ!
Verse 5 says, “If anyone obeys God’s word, God’s love is truly made complete in him.” The word translated “made complete” means to accomplish its purpose. You might say that an antibiotic is made complete in a person when that antibiotic kills off the infection it was given to treat. Or a person’s education is truly made complete when they graduate from college and get a job in the field they were educated to perform.
In a similar way, the reason God gives us his love -- it’s purpose in our lives -- isn’t just to forgive our sins, or to make us feel good, or to heal our hurts, but it’s ultimately to lead us to live obedient lives. When a person receives Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord, the Bible says that God gives the Holy Spirit into that person’s body…yet God’s love doesn’t achieve it’s purpose - it isn’t made complete -- until that person is living a life of obedience to God’s commands.
And so it’s time we wake up! We FAITHFULLY OBEY God!
And my frustration, my fear is that WE (me included) as God’s people show up to church…punch their ticket…perform their duty…but we’re not growing…we’re not changing…we’re not studying…we’re stagnant. We’ve become ok with how we live life during the week! THAT’S NOT PLEASING TO GOD!
Because those who don’t obey God’s commands, don’t have God’s salvation!
Can you tell I’m a little fired up about this? I want to change! I want to grow! I want to be FAITHFULLY OBEDIENT to God’s commands! How about you?
ILLUSTRATION: Brigham and I were talking this past week. We were sharing a little bit about what’s on our heart as far as ministry is concerned. And one of the things I shared with him was this: I am fed up with myself. I have movies…I have music in my collection that I have no business owning! And it’s time I got serious about my relationship with Christ. I imagine some of you are in the same boat. So next Sunday, we are going to have an opportunity to bring your movies and music that you shouldn’t own and we are going to get rid of it! So next week…we will have an area where you can bring your DVD’s….Cds…books…magazines…whatever you NEED to get rid of and we will collect it all and burn it! Don’t get rid of it because the preacher made me feel guilty…get rid of it because you want to get closer to God. You want to live a righteous and blameless life!
Matthew 16:26
24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. 26 What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? 27 For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done.
FIND YOUR LIFE! Live in faithful obedience to God!
Ok…Second test to determine if your life is pleasing to God:
II. A Demonstration of Truth (vs. 7-8)
As John is writing about being faithfully obedient to God’s commands, immediately makes John think about the greatest command…the command for Christians to love each other in the same way as Jesus Christ loves us. And so John writes verses 7 & 8.
Verses 7 - 8 read:
7 Dear friends, I am not writing you a new command but an old one, which you have had since the beginning. This old command is the message you have heard. 8 Yet I am writing you a new command; its truth is seen in him and you, because the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining.
At first, it seems like John is contradicting himself. “I am not writing you a new command…but an old one. Yet I am writing you a new command…” What’s going on here?
The command for God’s people to love each other has been around since the Jewish Old Testament Law. Leviticus 19:18 says, “Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.”
But when Jesus Christ came to earth he demonstrated publicly and visibly (in a way never before imagined) what it meant to love your neighbor. Jesus demonstrated a new way to express an old command. Remember? Jesus even had people coming to Him asking him to define “exactly who is my neighbor?” And what Jesus tells us is MANKIND is your neighbor. It doesn’t matter if they are black, white, yellow, pink, male, female, democrat, republican…everyone is your neighbor.
Listen to Jesus words found in
John 13:34,35 Jesus says, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
And Christ’s death on the cross proved to the people what it means to show love to your neighbor! Jesus died for EVERYONE! EVEN THOSE WHO DIDN’T LIKE HIM VERY MUCH!
And so John writes in verse 8: “Yet, I am writing you a new command…THE TRUTH OF THIS COMMAND IS SEEN IN HIM AND IN YOU…”
What does that mean, this command is seen in Him? Him who? JESUS! This command of love is seen in Jesus! JESUS DEFINED LOVE BY DEMONSTRATING IT TO US!
Jesus demonstrates TRUTH! And if you want a walk that will please God…you need to have a demonstration of truth in your life. We have talked a lot about TRUTH as we have studied John’s letters. Remember? It’s one of John’s three key words: Jesus, Love, Truth. Let me refresh your memory a bit.
Watch this video and see if it is familiar…
ILLUSTRATION: red balloon video. 2 mins:
The funny thing about truth is, it’s true whether you believe it or not. Hell is real whether you believe it or not. And the truth is the Bible is true. We are a bible believing and Bible practicing church. If we say that the Bible is true but then we don’t follow it…do we really believe it’s true?
It’s when you put something into practice that you truly believed it is true!
And in your day to day life: Do your actions match what you profess to be true? Do you really believe what you really believe is true?
Consistency is the test for truth and a consistent life is one that please God. Are you the same person on Sunday morning as you are during the week?
When you demonstrate truth in your life, you are pleasing God!
We’ve got two of the three tests…FAITHFUL OBEDIENCE….DEMONSTRATION of TRUTH…final test:
III. Sacrificial Love (vs. 9 - 11)
Verses 9 - 11 read
9 Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness. 10 Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and there is nothing in him[c] to make him stumble. 11 But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness; he does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded him.
A. Sacrificial love = agape love
Notice what is described. Love. But it’s not just any love. John uses the word AGAPE love. Agape love is SACRIFICIAL LOVE. It’s not a love that is demonstrated to those who deserve it. It’s not a love that is demonstrated when I feel like it. Agape love sets aside my wants…my desires…my selfishness and demonstrates a love that is giving, all encompassing, abundant, pure-motive love!
B. What IF…
Your life was categorized by having this kind of love displayed in your life?
What would your community look like if you had SACRIFICIAL LOVE for your neighbors?
It would look an awful lot like the smurf village, would it not? People would be happy and burst out into song. The biggest crisis would be if there were enough Smurf berries to be shared with everybody!
But seriously, maybe the Lord would be adding to our number DAILY, those who are being saved!
But as it is, we live in our homes, shut up and shut off from the people we live next door to. We don’t know their names, their hobbies or their interests. We have never taken the time to ask them their needs or have a conversation inviting them to come to church.
That’s not sacrificial love. That’s not reaching out.
Help your neighbor shovel their drive. Mow their lawn. Rake their leaves. Give them a cup of stinkin’ sugar! Have a conversation that let’s them know you are a Christ follower and you’d love to let them know about your church family.
Or…
What would your church look like if you had sacrificial love?
What if you were willing to volunteer to serve in whatever capacity which was needed? We wouldn’t have a void in our blast program. We would have an abundance of Jr. Church help! “Well, Sunday night is MY time…” That’s not sacrificial love. That’s not a love that looks beyond self. A love that seeks to serve the Lord by serving others. THAT’S what we need right now!
What would your marriage look like if you had SACRIFICIAL LOVE for your spouse?
If you are having marital problems, I have to say - SACRIFICAL LOVE IS NOT A PART OF YOUR MARRIAGE. If you are bickering and at each other constantly, then you are not concerned about what’s best for the other. You don’t have sacrificial love, you have self serving love.
If all you are able to do is criticize the ways your spouse is not meeting YOUR needs - then there is a problem. And a critical spirit can wound your spouse so deeply. And a critical spirit arises when YOUR needs aren’t being met. When things aren’t like YOU like them to be.
And if you’re here today and that describes you and you desperately want to get sacrificial love into your marriage then practice putting this phrase into your marriage:
“I don’t want to, but because I love you…I will.”
Remember when you were dating and you went out to eat? “Well where do you want to go? I don’t care. Wherever you want to go.” And no one could make a decision. Why? Because you had a sacrificial love!
Your marriage CAN be healthy, vibrant and like it used to be when you were dating! If Sacrificial love will be a part of your relationship.
Jesus’ sacrificial love is why you and I are here worshipping together today. His willingness to lay down His life is the message of the cross!
And John writes in verse 6 of our text today:
6 Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.
Jesus had sacrificial love…do you?
CONCLUSION: Those are the three tests. Did you pass? Do you have a FAITHFUL OBEDIENCE to God’s commands? Do you DEMONSTRATE the TRUTH of Jesus Christ in your life? Do you have sacrificial love? May we continue to please God with our walk. We come now to our time of decision.
