INTRODUCTION
• SLIDE #1
• What do you want out of life? Do you want fast cars, a big bank account, and a vacation home somewhere?
• Is there anything wrong with wanting these things? Not really, unless they over take your life.
• Is our goal to get to heaven when our life is over or are we just sailing through life without giving our eternal destiny a thought?
• Do you want your life to count for something or do you want to get to the end of the line and realize you wasted the life God gave to you?
• Do you realize that when you die the only thing that is over is your physical life?
• Our souls are eternal, one day when this life is over, our soul will go to be in the presence of the Lord in heaven or it will end up in hell for eternity.
• There is a big difference between living and existing. There are many people this very day who are living life and there are many who merely exist.
• The only place to find true life is though Jesus!
• On our journey through 1 John, thus far, we have been examining issues that will help to both develop our faith and grow our relationship with Jesus, for the next couple of weeks as we continue in 1 John, we will examine some things one would be wise to avoid if one desires a strong relationship with Jesus.
• Today we will examine some things one will need to do if they are living for eternity in mind.
• We sometimes speak of living for retirement. One who is living for retirement is planning and preparing for the time they will leave the workforce.
• There will come a day when we will leave this world, so I hope we are living for eternity right now. Let us examine some things that entails.
• We will begin in 1 John 2:12-14
• SLIDE #2
• 1 John 2:12–14 (HCSB) — 12 I am writing to you, little children, because your sins have been forgiven because of Jesus’ name. 13 I am writing to you, fathers, because you have come to know the One who is from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have had victory over the evil one. 14 I have written to you, children, because you have come to know the Father. I have written to you, fathers, because you have come to know the One who is from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, God’s word remains in you, and you have had victory over the evil one.
• SLIDE #3
SERMON
Living for eternity means you will…
I. Dance with the one who bought you.
• He bought you to bring you with him!
• I used to go to my school dances, Jr. High dances were pretty traumatic for me, inevitably.
• The girl I “took” to the dance was not the girl I ended up with at the end, it was not because I took anther one, it was because she would find someone else.
• Whenever a girl would go to the bathroom with her friends, I seemed to be out a date.
• The girl forgot that I was the one who paid her ticket to get in. I paid for her to go so she could go with ME!
• Why did Jesus die on the cross for you? Did He sacrifice His life to loss you to another? NO!
• He paid the price for you so He could bring you home to spend eternity with Him. He wants you to life forever with Him, but for that to happen, you need to dance with the one who bought you!
• John is writing this to us to encourage us to remember Jesus.
• As we get into verses 12-14, commentators seek to determine if John is speaking of literal age breaks or is he using figurative language to illustrate the levels of spiritual maturity (child, adolescent, adult) that people go through.
• The later is how I am going to explain the passage.
• John begins by addressing CHILDREN.
• In verse 12 and 13 he uses two different words for “children”. IN verse 12 it appears that John is addressing all who are saved. He uses this word in this way around a dozen times. This word has more of the flavor for one born into a family.
• When we first give our lives to Christ through baptism, we are born again; we are born into the family of God!
• The second word used for “children” in verse 13 deals more with a child who is immature and in need of instruction, these distinctions are a bit blurred at times in the New Testament.
• After we are born-again, we need to be instructed and nurtured on the faith.
• Children represent new converts.
• Just as with babies and children, one must be careful when the handle “spiritual babes” or children, those new to the faith.
• Sometimes I will hear a new Christian say something that makes you cringe a bit, but when I realize we are dealing with a new convert, I remember that growth is a process.
• Then John moves to the next level of maturity, young men.
• After we have gotten a bit older, we are able to handle more responsibilities.
• These are people who have taken their spiritual instruction and done something with it, they are growing up on the Word of God and it is making them strong and vigorous!
• When we are young, we tend to be stronger and ready to take on the challenge before us.
• The next level of maturity John addresses is that of a father, or an adult.
• This word represents those who have been in the faith for a long time and have reached a high level of maturity.
• We picture the one who is able to teach their children something because they have the wisdom and experience from living life.
• As time goes by and you apply what you know about Jesus in your life, you reach a high level of maturity that only time and experience can bring.
• I believe John is acknowledging the fact that we are all at different levels of maturity, but all have the same level of salvation.
• When we are new to the faith we can be overwhelmed by what is before us, but we need to know our spiritual growth is a process, a process that is affected by the level at which we participate.
• As John addresses each level of maturity, he is encouraging us to remember what we have in Jesus.
• John reminds each group of the special things God has done during that period of maturity.
• First, sins forgiven! He tells all God’s children we have had our sins forgiven in the name of Jesus! It is by His name that we are saved.
• This is a special gift, especially when we first become a Christian. WE do not have to put in years of faithfulness BEFORE we are forgiven, forgiveness is given when we are immersed into Jesus.
• Strength. John tells the young converts they have strength, they have the fight in them to overcome the obstacles set before them.
• VICTORY over the evil one. There comes a point in time that we have victory over the evil one, why would we want to leave Jesus for something else when we have gotten to this point?
• The word “VICTORY” is in a verb tense that tells us we presently enjoy a victory that was accomplished by an earlier act.
• God’s word remains in us. The way we overcome is by having the Word remain or abide in us, that can only happen if we put it there.
• We know Him! John tells the fathers, those mature in the faith that they KNOW HIM. As we mature and get to know our Lord more, we will find many of the things we struggle with get much easier.
• Why would we want to turn our back from God or why would we want to put Him second to anything once we see what we have in Him!
• Let us look at verse 15.
• SLIDE #4
• 1 John 2:15 (HCSB) Do not love the world or the things that belong to the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in him.
• SLIDE #5
Living for eternity requires one to…
II. Stay faithful to Jesus.
• After reminding the people of their victories in Christ, he now reminds them that they still live in a world that is full of temptation.
• Verse 15 tells warns us not to love the world, what does that mean?
• Within the context of the passage, we need to determine what “world” means. It does not refer to the material universe. John 3:16 tells us that God so loved the world.
• The world is the sphere of evil which is opposed to God and the pursuits in which those who are opposed to God follow.
• SLIDE #6
• Ephesians 6:12 (HCSB) For our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the world powers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavens.
• We are not to fall for what is opposed to God. We are called to stand against evil not with it.
• The word love in this context deals with a love that is enticed by evil desire.
• We are called to not love the world as described or any part of it that would take us from God.
• SLIDE #7
• Romans 1:32 (HCSB) Although they know full well God’s just sentence—that those who practice such things deserve to die —they not only do them, but even applaud others who practice them.
• Are material possessions in themselves evil? No, but that can fall under this category when they take us from God.
• Remember the rich young ruler? Matthew 19:20-22. For him, the money he had was more important than the God he said he wanted to serve.
• The key to understanding what John is telling is us understanding what Jesus said in Luke 16:13 when He said that no one can serve two masters.
• If you have a spouse and you are cheating on them, you cannot invest yourself fully in your marriage because you are investing elsewhere.
• This is what Jesus tells us in Luke.
• The same is true with God. IF you are flirting with evil, then you cannot give full attention to God. This is where the material stuff comes in.
• If your pursuit of material possessions, or the things of the world, has taken you from God, you are in trouble, if they are coming before God, John says the love of the Father is not in you.
• This means that your love for the Father is not where it should be.
• Living for Jesus is not like being a politician, you cannot life for Jesus and against Jesus at the same time.
• Let us examine verses 16-17
• SLIDE #8
• 1 John 2:16–17 (HCSB) For everything that belongs to the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride in one’s lifestyle—is not from the Father, but is from the world. And the world with its lust is passing away, but the one who does God’s will remains forever.
• SLIDE #9
Living for eternity means we will…
III. Be aware of the imitators of life and joy.
• We are given three general areas to in which we are to protect ourselves from. These things will tarnish us; they do not lead to eternal life!
• The things of the world may look good, but they are imitations real life and real joy. These imitators will kill you from the inside out, they are like a cancer that slowly eats away at your healthy body. Let’s look at what John gives us.
• Lust of the flesh. Lust is an overmastering desire. The word lust in itself is neither good or bad, the context determines it. If you are lusting after God, that is good, if you are lusting for someone that does not belong to you makes it bad.
• The lust of the flesh is desires that spring from uncontrolled appetites. Sex is not bad within its proper boundaries, but unbridled desires for it would be a lust of the flesh. Eating is fine, but if eating consumes my life, it is a lust of the flesh.
• Lust of the eyes. Genesis 3:6 EXAMPLE
• This is where we see something and we have to have it. We have many examples in the Bible of this one. Eve and the forbidden fruit. David and Bathsheba. (2 Samuel 11:1-3) among others.
• Lust of the eyes usually deals with sexual sins, but as we see in Genesis, it can involve anything the eye sees that entices us to sin.
• The pride of one’s lifestyle.
• This is one that traps many, this deals with the sin of trying to live a life independent from God.
• It is an attitude that says, “I do not need God, I have my possessions”. Jesus spoke of this in the parable of the Rich Fool in Luke 12:13-21.
• People will think you are weak because you need to depend on God, I guess I will be weak.
• And the world with its lust is passing away
• This is another reason not to fall in love with the world.
• This is one of the reasons it does us no good to focus on the world, it is going to be gone one day. Matthew 6:19-20
• If your god is material things, what good will they do you when you die?
• Our focus needs to be on the eternal; doing the will of God! It has eternal benefits! This is how we can tell who we love, what are we doing and who are we serving!
CONCLUSION
• What if you could see you’re a movie of your life before you die?
• Would that movie reflect your love for God?
• What would the title be to the movie about your life?
• If we want to have eternal life, we must put God first, we must resist the temptation to love what stands in opposition to Him!
• Serving God is worth whatever it takes. Serving God is a great adventure. Do not let the petty things of the world get between you and Jesus!
