MOVING TOWARD SPIRITUAL DISCERNMENT-VII
—1John 3:16b-19(3:10--4:21)
Attention:
There will always be people who attempt to place all belief systems ‘in the same basket’ as it were. Claiming that all of them—Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Buddhists, etc.— are ‘chasing after’ the same things, albeit in their own way.
And such people are satisfied that there are ‘many ways’ to a single conclusion regarding God’s existence & work in the world. These are convinced that God is ‘unknowable.’ And so the ‘details’ about God & from God can then be easily filled in ‘at will’—that is, thru a seemingly intelligent but desperately subjective will.
However to do that, paints with such stylized uniformity & broad strokes, that the ‘details’ of reality are completely covered, rather than openly revealed.
God’s people must see the importance, the seriousness, & the security of their Moving Toward Spiritual Discernment.
The Church gathering together, is for the purpose of being encouraged & strengthened in it’s Movement Toward Spiritual Discernment.
Spiritual discernment is fulfilled thru the scrutiny of godly love.
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.
Some things we must recognize when moving toward spiritual discernment.
These past weeks we’ve found 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)
•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.
‘Recognition’ of the things we’ll examine indicates the heart’s acceptance of what drives a person to honor God with their behavior.
Today we’ll look at the fact that...
6—Moving toward spiritual discernment recognizes...
FREEDOM’s(Unhesitating) RESPONSE(3:16b-19)
Explanation/Argumentation:(3:16b-19)
3:16—“By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.”
*This sentence(:16b) sets the precedence in general terms, for the practical aspects of it that are detailed in verses :17-19.
“And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.”—
Without the intervention of God in your life, you can only live by humanly derived love. And humanly derived love is untouched by God directly, & so can only BRIEFLY or MOMENTARILY experience agaph love:—When you fall head-over-heels in love; When you have a child; When you put yourself in danger to protect your wife &/or your children; When you ‘stress’—Over your children—Their education(spiritual & secular)...Their friends & girlfriend or boyfriend...Their being out at night....Their choice of a marriage partner...Their job choice, their career path, etc.; ...When you ‘stress’ over the one to whom you are a caregiver—nobody else in your family is equipped to give of themselves in that manner, & there is no means of affording professional help, etc., etc.
And thus by properly ‘applying’ Christ’s example, His people are also to “lay down” our very ‘soul’(quch) ‘for the sake of’, or ‘in behalf of’(uper) our Christian brothers & sisters(“the brethren”).
Jn. 13:34-35—““A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.””
•John IS NOT suggesting that anyone other than Jesus can atone for another’s sin—no one else has or can!—No one other than God can or has willingly surrendered His divine attributes in order to ‘take on’ human flesh. All people are answerable to God Almighty!
•John IS stating a godly principle—that Christian family loves & actively lives out that love thru Christian family. And that they do so mutually to the utmost of the other’s benefit. Christian family loves Christian family so much so, that the real benefit to a brother or sister ALWAYS involves losing one’s own life[quch] for their sake(Mat. 16:25), in Christ may even involve the loss of one’s physical life.
•Mat. 16:25—““For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.”
•And lest anyone get high-minded thinking a mere mental concept of love is enough:
1Cor. 13:3-8a—“And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing. Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails....”
Again:—‘God’s people love each other so much, that giving oneself to Christ for the benefit of a brother or sister, ALWAYS involves giving one’s own life[quch].’
•My experience has been that many of God’s people DO NOT live in that reality! Of course those merely ‘associated’ with God’s church cannot live it out either.
Jn. 10:11-13—“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life[quch] for the sheep. But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming & leaves the sheep & flees; & the wolf catches the sheep & scatters them. The hireling flees because he is a hireling & does not care about the sheep. I am the good shepherd; & I know My sheep, & am known by My own. As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; & I lay down My life[quch] for the sheep.
Jn. 15:9-15—“As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments & abide in His love. These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, & that your joy may be full. This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life[quch] for his friends.”
*Php. 2:3-5—“Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus,”
Eph. 5:1-2—“Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us & given Himself for us, an offering & a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.”
*That “we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren” “not simply because that is what Jesus did, but because that is what Jesus revealed to be the demand of agaph love.”—GBEBC
•Jesus’ actions & ours in response, highlight the ‘self-less’ quality that actually DEFINES agaph love.
3:17—“But whoever has this world’s goods, & sees his brother in need, & shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him?”
*What follows in verses :17-23 deals with the practical aspects of what it means to ‘lay down your life’ for the sake of your brothers & sisters in Christ.
•It ‘fleshes out’, ‘clarifies’, & ‘makes practical’ the previous verse’s statement(:16b), that we(Christians/the Church) are expected to “lay down our lives”(souls) for the sake of our Christian family.
“But whoever has this world’s goods,”...
*This call to respond is for “whoever”—ANYONE(& particularly the Church)—regardless of how you might be tempted to limit one another & others.
If I have physical resources enough to go beyond meeting my own basic “need”(“world’s goods”—‘Life of the world’(bion tou kosmou)), then I am obligated by God thru His Holy Spirit, to use those excess resources for self-less ends.
“Has”(See 3:21; 4:17; 4:18—“Involves/Has to do with”, 4:20)—ecw OR--scew—Present Active Subjunctive 3rd Sing.—1) To have, i.e. To hold—1a) To have(hold) in the hand, in the sense of wearing, to have(hold) possession of the mind (refers to alarm, agitating emotions, etc.), to hold fast keep, to have or comprise or involve, to regard or consider or hold as; 2) To have i.e. Own, possess—2a) External things such as pertain to property or riches or furniture or utensils or goods or food etc., 2b) Used of those joined to any one by the bonds of natural blood or marriage or friendship or duty or law etc, of attendance or companionship; 3) To hold one's self or find one's self so & so, to be in such or such a condition; 4) To hold one's self to a thing, to lay hold of a thing, to adhere or cling to—4a) To be closely joined to a person or a thing. Strong—including an alternate form scew; (used in certain tenses only); a primary verb; To hold(used in very various applications, literally or figuratively, direct or remote; such as possessions; ability, continuity, relation, or condition).
“World’s/Material”—kosmov—Noun Genitive Sing. Masc.—1) An apt & harmonious arrangement or constitution, order, government; 2) Ornament, decoration, adornment, i.e. The arrangement of the stars, 'the heavenly hosts', as the ornament of the heavens.(1Pe 3:3); 3) The world, the universe; 4) The circle of the earth, the earth; 5) The inhabitants of the earth, men, the human family; 6) The ungodly multitude; the whole mass of men alienated from God, & therefore hostile to the cause of Christ; 7) World affairs, the aggregate of things earthly. Kosmov has very frequently an unfavorable meaning, denoting the inhabitants of the world, mankind in general, as opposed to God. Strong—Orderly arrangement, i.e. Decoration; by implication--The world(in a wide or narrow sense, including its inhabitants, literally or figuratively [morally]). RWP—“The whole cosmos of men, including Gentiles, the whole human race.”
“Goods/Life/Possessions/Means Of Life”—biov—Noun Accusative Sing. Masc.—1) Life—1a) Life extensively—1a1) The period or course of life, 1b) That by which life is sustained, resources, wealth, goods. biov denotes the period, means, manner, of existence. Hence the former is more naturally used of animal, the later of men; zoology, biography. NT usage exalts zwh & tends to debase biov. Strong—Life, i.e. literally--The present state of existence; by implication--The means of livelihood; a primary word. Used 11X.
“And sees his brother in need,”...
The practical outworking of agaph love within the family of God not only ‘sees’ or becomes aware of their brother’s/sister’s physical “need”, but also ‘responds’ to that need by actually alleviating the “need.”
•If I have physical resources(“world’s goods”—‘Life of the world’(bion tou kosmou)) enough to go beyond meeting my own basic “need”, then my ‘emotional’ response(“heart/bowels/compassion”—splagcnon) toward another’s “need.” That is, what I’m driven, stirred, moved, or compelled to, will be accomplished/affected by & thru God, so that I will compassionately meet my brother’s/sister’s “need”(cf.-Php. 2:3-4).
•Again—Php. 2:3-5—“Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus,”
“Sees”—yewrew—Present Active Subjunctive 3rd Sing.—1) To be a spectator, look at, behold—1a) To view attentively, take a view of, survey—1a1) To view mentally, consider; 2) To see—2a) To perceive with the eyes, to enjoy the presence of one, 2b) To discern, descry, 2c) To ascertain, find out by seeing. Yewrew is a word not used of an indifferent spectator, but of one who looks at a thing with interest & for a purpose; would be used of a general officially reviewing or inspecting his army. Strong—To be a spectator of, i.e. Discern(literally, figuratively--[experience] or intensively--[acknowledge]).?From a derivative of—yeaomai(perhaps by addition of oraw[to stare at, discern clearly, attend to, experience, appear])—To look closely at, perceive or to visit.
“In Need”—creia—Noun Fem.—1) Necessity, need; 2) Duty, business. Strong—Employment, i.e. An affair; also by implication--Occasion, demand, requirement or destitution. Used 49X.?From the base of either—craomai—To furnish what is needed; (give an oracle, "graze" [touch slightly], light upon, etc.), i.e. To employ or To act towards one in a given manner.—-OR--crh—It needs(must or should) be.
“...And shuts up his heart from him,”
‘All talk & no do’ exposes the true state of one’s heart to everyone. Also our doings are accomplished differently by different people...Spiritual giftedness is a testimony to that.
•The true status of willfully refusing to meet the “need” of one’s own brother/sister in Christ, is that such a person has chosen to “shut” their “heart” “up” to their own family. Such a person’s inward being is not moved or stirred at all to compassion.
•One of the sad realities of the church in America is that when financial trouble comes to the local church, we cut back our missions giving in order to ‘save the property.’ We cut back salaries in order to ‘save the property.’ We cut back ministry opportunities in order to ‘save the property.’...& thus undercut God’s purpose for His Church. The local church in America supposes that they are not the Church unless they have a reliable building.
“Shuts up”—kleiw—1Aorist Active Subjunctive 3rd Sing.—1) To shut, shut up; 2) metaph.—2a) To cause the heavens to withhold rain, 2b) To shut up compassion so that it is like a thing inaccessible to one, to be devoid of pity towards one, 2c) To obstruct the entrance into the kingdom of heaven. Strong—a primary verb; To close(literally or figuratively). Used 16X.
“Heart/Bowels/Compassion”—splagcnon—Noun Neuter—1) Bowels, intestines,(the heart, lungs, liver, etc.)—1a) Bowels, 1b) The bowels were regarded as the seat of the more violent passions, such as anger & love; but by the Hebrews as the seat of the tenderer affections, especially kindness, benevolence, compassion; hence our Heart(tender mercies, affections, etc.), 1c) A heart in which mercy resides. Strong—probably strengthened from splhn(the "spleen"); An intestine(plural); figuratively--Pity or sympathy.
“...How does the love of God abide in him?”
Furthermore John poses a telling question of such a person with a “heart” that is “shut up” to the “needs” of others.
•He asks “how” it is even possible that “the love of God” could reside in such a person who closes(“shuts”) their “heart” to the family’s physical “need”?
•And of course the obvious & expected answer to—“how” can “the love of God” “abide in” the close-hearted, tight-fisted person— is that IT IS UTTERLY IMPOSSIBLE for “the love of God” to “abide in” such a person. Rather such a witness is to SELF & NOT to God’s love.
Js. 2:1-9—“My brethren, do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with partiality. For if there should come into your assembly a man with gold rings, in fine apparel, & there should also come in a poor man in filthy clothes, & you pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes & say to him, “You sit here in a good place,” & say to the poor man, “You stand there,” or, “Sit here at my footstool,” have you not shown partiality among yourselves, & become judges with evil thoughts? Listen, my beloved brethren: Has God not chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith & heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him? But you have dishonored the poor man. Do not the rich oppress you & drag you into the courts? Do they not blaspheme that noble name by which you are called? If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you do well; but if you show partiality, you commit sin, & are convicted by the law as transgressors.””
God ‘PROBABLY’ does not want you to give your ‘livelihood’ away. Why?...because to do so would cause you to ‘intentionally’ be at everyone else’s mercy, whereas you currently have what God can use to meet the needs of others.
But God DEFINITELY does want you to give what He commands you to give, & in such a way as to NOT parade it as being your own!
“How”—pwv—Particle—1) How, in what way. Strong—an interrogative particle of manner; In what way?(sometimes the question is indirect, how?); also as exclamation--How much!.
“Love”(See 3:16; 4:8, 9, 10)—agaph—Noun Fem.—1) Brotherly love, affection, good will, love, benevolence; 2) Love feasts. Strong—Love, i.e. Affection or benevolence; specially(plural)--A love-feast. R.H. Mounce—Agaph is selfless love, which cannot be turned in on itself. J. MacArthur—‘...one of the rarest words in Greek literature, but one of the most common in the New Testament.’
“Abide”(See 3:14, 15; 4:12, 13, 15, 16)—menw—Present Active Indicative 3rd Sing.—1) To remain, abide—1a) in reference to place—1a1) To sojourn, tarry, 1a2) Not to depart—1a2a) To continue to be present, 1a2b) To be held, kept, continually, 1b) in reference to time—1b1) To continue to be, not to perish, to last, endure—1b1a) of persons--To survive, live, 1c) in reference to state or condition—1c1) To remain as one, not to become another or different; 2) To wait for, await one. Strong—a primary verb; To stay(in a given place, state, relation or expectancy).
3:18—“My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed & in truth.”
“My little children,”...
By John’s calling his audience, “little children”, he is calling them to acknowledge the significance of their being malleable, eager, & quick learners.
“Let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed & in truth.”
John is NOT telling us that we are never to verbally express God’s agaph love to others! He is telling us that we are NOT To LIMIT LOVE to ONLY thoughts & words!
John’s concern is that some in Christ would behave as spiritual infants(1Cor. 3:1-3)—unable to engage MORE than their mouths. Those who grow & are growing in Christ Jesus, always match their words with “deeds & truth”(cf.-Js. 2:14-26).
Therefore John encourages/urges/exhorts them to do more than merely talk about “love”, but to put that “love” into action by their “deed” doing. “Love” is not God’s “love” without it’s proper outworking in work or “deed.”
Moreover the outworking of one’s “love” is always to be accomplished “in truth.” That is, God’s “love” is to be lived out, not for the sake of appearances or some ‘felt need’, but rather offered within the complete reality of God’s “truth.”
1Cor. 3:1-3—“And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. I fed you with milk & not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, & even now you are still not able; for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, & divisions among you, are you not carnal & behaving like mere men?”
Js. 2:14-26—“What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? If a brother or sister is naked & destitute of daily food, & one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed & filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith, & I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, & I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe--& tremble! But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? Do you see that faith was working together with his works, & by works faith was made perfect? And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, & it was accounted to him for righteousness.” And he was called the friend of God. You see then that a man is justified by works, & not by faith only. Likewise, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers & sent them out another way? For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.”
*All this goes to say, ‘Practice what you preach!’ John’s exhortation & our common adage is not just for ‘preachers’(technically speaking)! It is for every person claiming Jesus as their Savior & particularly as their Lord!
3:19—“And by this we know that we are of the truth, & shall assure our hearts before Him.”
“And by This”...
That is, by what has been presented in :16-18!
“We know that we are of the truth”...
God’s people have a security that is “known” & tangible. Thru a person’s personal desire & commitment to love both inwardly—by the “heart”—& outwardly—by “deed” & “truth”(:18)—the child of God then has “assurance”/confidence that they themselves, though undeserving(Eph. 2:8), are indeed “of the truth.”
Eph. 2:8—“For by grace you have been saved through faith, & that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,”
“Know”(See 3:16, 20, 24; 4:2, 7, 8, 13)—ginwskw—1) To learn to know, come to know, get a knowledge of perceive, feel—1a) To become known; 2) To know, understand, perceive, have knowledge of—2a) To understand, 2b) To know; 3) Jewish idiom for sexual intercourse between a man & a woman; 4) To become acquainted with, to know. Ginwskw denotes a knowledge grounded on personal experience. Strong—a prolonged form of a primary verb; To "know"(absolutely) in a great variety of applications & with many implications.
“Truth”—alhyeia—Noun Fem.—1) objectively—1a) What is true in any matter under consideration—1a1) Truly, in truth, according to truth, 1a2) Of a truth, in reality, in fact, certainly, 1b) What is true in things appertaining to God & the duties of man, moral & religious truth—1b1) In the greatest latitude, 1b2) The true notions of God which are open to human reason without his supernatural intervention, 1c) The truth as taught in the Christian religion, respecting God & the execution of his purposes through Christ, & respecting the duties of man, opposing alike to the superstitions of the Gentiles & the inventions of the Jews, & the corrupt opinions & precepts of false teachers even among Christians; 2) subjectively—2a) Truth as a personal excellence—2a1) That candor of mind which is free from affection, pretense, simulation, falsehood, deceit. Strong—Truth; from alhyhv.
“And shall assure our hearts before Him.”
“Our hearts” shall be “assured” before Almighty God Himself! Consider the reality that a person—any individual—who places their trust in Jesus, can boldly approach Almighty God & be approached by Him(Heb. 4:16)!
Heb. 4:16—“Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy & find grace to help in time of need.”
Isa. 6:1-8—“In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high & lifted up, & the train of His robe filled the temple. Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, & with two he flew. And one cried to another & said: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory!” And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, & the house was filled with smoke. So I said: “Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, The LORD of hosts.” Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a live coal which he had taken with the tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth with it, & said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; Your iniquity is taken away, And your sin purged.” Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: “Whom shall I send, And who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.””
“Assure/Set At Rest/Persuade”—peiyw—Future Active Indicative 1st Plural—1) Persuade—1a) To persuade, i.e. To induce one by words to believe, 1b) To make friends of, to win one's favor, gain one's good will, or to seek to win one, strive to please one, 1c) To tranquillize, 1d) To persuade unto i.e. move or induce one to persuasion to do something; 2) Be persuaded—2a) To be persuaded, to suffer one's self to be persuaded; to be induced to believe: to have faith: in a thing—2a1) To believe, 2a2) To be persuaded of a thing concerning a person, 2b) To listen to, obey, yield to, comply with; 3) To trust, have confidence, be confident. Strong—a primary verb; To convince(by argument, true or false); by analogy--To pacify or conciliate(by other fair means); reflexively or passively--To assent(to evidence or authority), to rely(by inward certainty).
“Hearts”—kardia—Noun Fem.—1) The heart—1a) That organ in the animal body which is the centre of the circulation of the blood, & hence was regarded as the seat of physical life, 1b) Denotes the center of all physical & spiritual life—1b1) The vigor & sense of physical life, 1b2) The centre & seat of spiritual life—1b2a) The soul or mind, as it is the fountain & seat of the thoughts, passions, desires, appetites, affections, purposes, endeavors, 1b2b) Of the understanding, the faculty & seat of the intelligence, 1b2c) Of the will & character, 1b2d) Of the soul so far as it is affected & stirred in a bad way or good, or of the soul as the seat of the sensibilities, affections, emotions, desires, appetites, passions, 1c) Of the middle or central or inmost part of anything, even though inanimate. Strong—prolonged from a primary kar(Latin, cor, "heart"); The heart, i.e. figuratively--The thoughts or feelings(mind); also by analogy--The middle.?English=‘Cardiac/Cardio-‘.
Illustration:
What Did He Die For?
by:Twila Paris
He was 21 in 1944,
He was hope, & he was courage on a lonely shore.
Sent there by a mother, with love beyond her tears,
Just a young American who chose to rise above his fears,
And as I watch him struggle up that hill,
Without a thought of turning back.
I cannot help but wonder,
What did he die for, when he died for you & me,
Made the sacrifice so that we could all be free.
I believe that we will the answer each to heaven,
For the way we spend a priceless liberty.
Look inside & ask the question,
What did he die for, when he died for me.
To the darkest day in AD 33,
Came the mercy & compassion of eternity,
Sent there by a Father with love beyond his tears,
Blameless one the only son to bear the guilt of all these years,
And as I watch him struggle up that hill,
Without a thought of turning back,
I cannot help but wonder,
What did he die for, when he died for you & me,
Made the sacrifice so that we could all be free.
I believe that we will the answer each to heaven,
For the way we spend a priceless liberty.
Look inside & ask the question,
What did he die for, when he died for me.
He died for freedom,
He died for love,
Of all the things we do to pay him back
Could never be enough.
I cannot help but wonder,
What did he die for, when he died for you & me,
Made the sacrifice so that we could all be free.
I believe that we will the answer each to heaven,
For the way we spend a priceless liberty.
Look inside & ask the question,
What did he die for, when he died for me.
Application:
?Does Your Recognition of FREEDOM’s(Unhesitating) RESPONSE move yourself, the Church, & others toward greater Spiritual Discernment?
?Does what YOU ‘Recognize’, move yourself, the Church, & others toward greater Spiritual Discernment?
CONCLUSION:
Visualization:
Are YOU satisfied with a ‘many ways to God’ scenario? Are YOU convinced that God is ‘unknowable.’ Do YOU fill-in the ‘details’ about God ‘AT WILL’, with whatever makes you comfortable?
Do YOU paint the ‘Gospel’ with such ‘stylized’ uniformity & broad strokes, that the ‘details’ of the REALITY of the Good News, ends up NEVER BEING HEARD?
Action:
Moving(yourself, the Church, & others) toward spiritual discernment recognizes...
6. FREEDOM’s(Unhesitating) RESPONSE(3:16b-19)
•Freely Laying Down Our Lives For The Benefit of Our Brothers & Sisters In Christ.
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)
•The world hates you.
4. DECISIVE MOVEMENT(3:14-15)
•Passed from death to life.
5. FREEING EXPERIENTIAL KNOWLEDGE(3:16a)?•Knowing Jesus Laid Down His Life For Us.
Presented 10/04/2020am to:
1BCCbelle
206 SE Ave A(Storrs Ave.)
Carrabelle, FL 32322
