Perpendicularity: Proof of the Fellowship -- 1 John 4:1-21
Introduction:
1. Strange English word: Perpendicularity -- Moral Uprightness, Being of one kind, class or group; close association.
2. Common Greek word: KOINONIA -- To have in common
A. Old English word: Fellowship -- The state of being joined by reason of being of one kind, class or group.
B. Webster says fellowship is a community of activity, interest and feeling.
C. Context determines how the translators showed the relationship of this word to the Christian faith: Communication, communion, contribution, distribution, fellowship, sharing, participation and partnership are all used to translate the word KOINONIA to show how we are associated with each other.
3. Just because we sing, " all one people we" does not make it so.
A. Two cats thrown over a clothsline with their tails tied together are in union with each other and they are more or less perpindicular but do they have unity?
B. Men living in close quarters, following a common schedule , wearing the same clothes with the same monogram "P" for prisoner in close association but I don’t think that you could say that they have unity or fellowship.
C. Before the demise of the Berlin Wall two men sat on the wall fishing. The man on the west German side was catching one fish after another and finally the East German fisherman asked what he thought the reason was that he wasn’tr catching fish and the west German was being they were using the same bait and fishing in the same hole. The west German replied, " The fish on your side are afraid to open their mouths. " Communism stated that every person should have equal shares and opportunities but in practice it didn’t work out that way.
D.An auction is a place where people are all gathered for a common purpose and talk friendly but work against each other when the bidding starts’
4. How about the church?
Are we tied together by tradition and fight whenever our fancies hit the clothsline or do we strive to honor opinion and seek matters of faith? Do we have fellowship or do we just sit close to each other? Do we follow a routine or are we living a life? Do we talk about unity or do we practice it?
5. Many out there today that claim to have exclusive truth and will share it with those who will send them money.
A. Abe Lincoln -- " If you call a dog’s tail a leg, how many legs does a dog have? Four; just because you call something a leg doesn’t make it a leg."
B. Beware of those who call what they do normal Christian behavior when what they do can not be backed by Scripture or only found if distorted or taken out of context.
6. The Apostle John says that we must test the spirits - Why? 1 John 4:1
"Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world."
A. Beware of the Prophet$ or is it Profit$ -- They ask others to sacrifice while they live luxoriously.
B. Beware of False Teachers -- Speak contrary to the Word of God.
C. Watch out for Hirelings -- Say what will keep them employed not what is true, right and good.
D. Examine Angels of light -- Appear righteous but are not.
E. Inform the Misinformed -- Followers of any of the above but not deliberate deceivers.
7. This text contains the test that separates the true believer from the pretenders to the faith.
8. Let’s examine the QUALITIES that John says must be present in genuine Christians.
I. SPIRIT- FILLED PEOPLE CONFESS JESUS IS CHRIST -- 1 JOHN 4:2-4,9,14,15,17B
1. Jesus came in the flesh -4:2-4
" By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world. You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world."
A. The Messiah would be born of a virgin
a. Prophecy -- "Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel." -- Isaiah 7:14
b. Fulfillment -- "She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins." Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet "BEHOLD, THE VIRGIN SHALL BE WITH CHILD AND SHALL BEAR A SON, AND THEY SHALL CALL HIS NAME IMMANUEL," which translated means, "GOD WITH US." Matthew 1:21-23
B. The Messiah would become human without the belmish of sin.
a. Became a human -- "Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross." -- Philippians 2:5-8
b. Tempted but not fallen -- "For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. -- Hebrews 4:15
2. Jesus is the Savior - 1 John 4:14
"We have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world."
A. Sent by the Father on a predetermined mission -- Acts 2:23
"this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death."
B. The One and Only Saviour -- Acts 4:12
"And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved."
C. the Only Way, Truth or Life -- John 14:6
"Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me."
3. Jesus is the Son of God - 1 John 4:9, 15 "By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. ... Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God."
4. Jesus is the model Whom we are to emulate.
A. We live through Him - "By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. ... By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world." 1 John 4:9,17
B. He is our perfect example - " For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps," -- 1 Peter 2:23
II. SPIRIT-FILLED PEOPLE ADHERE TO THE APOSTLE’S TEACHING -- 1 JOHN 4:5,6
" They are from the world; therefore they speak as from the world, and the world listens to them. We are from God; he who knows God listens to us; he who is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error."
1. The Apostles were left with a Special and Specific Responsibility
A. Keys to the Kingdom -- Matthew 16:18
"I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven."
B. Agreement with Heaven-sent message -- Matthew 18:18
Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven."
C. Forgiveness of sins - John 20:23
"If you forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they have been retained."
2. Obeying the Teachings of the Apostles is the Basis for Unity -- John 17:20,21
"I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me."
3. The Scriptures are the repository of all religious truth -- 2 Peter 3:14-18
"Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless, and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation; just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you, as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction. You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard so that you are not carried away by the error of unprincipled men and fall from your own steadfastness, but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.
4. Don’t listen to the glib talk of the smooth talking gainsayers -- Acts 17:11,12a
" Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so. Therefore many of them believed,"
5. We don’t get to pick and choose which we will obey and what we will not obey. -- Revelation 22:18,19
I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues which are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his part from the tree of life and from the holy city, which are written in this book.
III. SPIRIT-FILLED PEOPLE LOVE PEOPLE -- 1 JOHN 4:7-13, 18-21
1. A loveless life lindicates that God is not present - 7,8
"Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. "
2. Love indicates His presence by His presence in the lives of Believers - 1 John 4:9,10
A. God made Himself know through the Incarnation -- 1 John 4:9
"By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him.
B. God demonstrated His love for us through the Cross -- 1 John 4:10
"In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. "
3. Love is not optional - 11
"Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another."
4. Love shows where and in whom God abides - 1 John 4:12, 16
A. Loving others shows that God lives within us. -- 1 John 4:12
" No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us."
B. Loving others shows that we believe. -- 1 John 4:16
"We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him."
5. Love & the presence of God’s Spirit are inseparable - 1 John 4:13
"By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit."
A. When? Acts 2:38,39
"Peter said to them, "Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself."
B. Why? Ephesians 1:13,14
"In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation -- having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory."
6. Love is at peace with God - 1John 4:18-21
A. Following God is not fire insurance but blessed assurance. -- 1 John 4:18,19
"There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love. We love, because He first loved us. "
B. We should fear being unkind, unloving and judgemental but the judgement. -- 1 John 4:20,21
If someone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also.
CONCLUSION
1. We confess/profess Him in our lives so others might know Him as Lord and Savior.
2. We carry His name on our lips with the message of salvation in our hearts.
3. We heed the teachings of the apostles so that we might be united in truth and goodness receiving edification and instruction in right living. Perpendicularity: Moral Goodness.
4. We love others because He first loved us.
5. We can do no other if the Holy Spirit dwells within us for God is love.
6. Principle of the Perpendiculum -- The Plumb Line
A. Depends upon God’s law of gravity
B. The plummet stops " dead center "
C. The taut line is absolutely straight
D. You can build straight walls
7. John tells us that if we want to build the church straight we need to pay attention to the plumb lines of confession of Jesus, the Christ, the Son of God, obedience to Him and His Word, and to express our relationship to Him with love for people.
8. Together we can love the world to life as we follow Him to the very gates of hell rescuing those who have been decieved by the false teachers and have the smell of death upon them.
It was also about these men that Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied, saying, "Behold, the Lord came with many thousands of His holy ones, to execute judgment upon all, and to convict all the ungodly of all their ungodly deeds which they have done in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him." These are grumblers, finding fault, following after their own lusts; they speak arrogantly, flattering people for the sake of gaining an advantage.
But you, beloved, ought to remember the words that were spoken beforehand by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, that they were saying to you, "In the last time there will be mockers, following after their own ungodly lusts." These are the ones who cause divisions, worldly-minded, devoid of the Spirit. But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life. And have mercy on some, who are doubting; save others, snatching them out of the fire; and on some have mercy with fear, hating even the garment polluted by the flesh.
Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen. --- Jude
