Title: Fellowship With God - Loyalty To The Truth
Text: I John 2:18-28
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Introduction:
Two men had an argument. To settle the matter, they went to a Sufi judge for arbitration. The plaintiff made his case. He was very eloquent and persuasive in his reasoning. When he finished, the judge nodded in approval and said, "That’s right, that’s right."
On hearing this, the defendant jumped up and said, "Wait a second, judge, you haven’t even heard my side of the case yet." So the judge told the defendant to state his case. And he, too, was very persuasive and eloquent. When he finished, the judge said, "That’s right, that’s right."
When the clerk of court heard this, he jumped up and said, "Judge, they both can’t be right." The judge looked at the clerk of court and said, "That’s right, that’s right."
- What is the truth? After reading this story I am left thinking, who’s right and who’s wrong? Someone has to be right!
- In our world, there is a right way of doing things and a wrong way of doing things.
- In our world, there is truth and there is Anti-truth.
- So what is truth? Pilate asked that question to Jesus as he was questioning Him.
John 18:38 says, What is truth? Pilate asked.
- Many people from that day forward has been asking the question concerning truth.
- And many people have been confused by the topic.
- Many people have had false interpretations concerning the Word of God.
- Many erroneous teachings on certain topics like salvation, baptism, Heaven and Hell, Jesus, Angels, demons, and the Bible.
- Many say Jesus was just a myth, or some say He was just an angel, while others say just a prophet. Some have even said that Jesus was satan’s brother.
- But I am here to proclaim to you this evening that Jesus is the Son of God. He came to this earth and took on a human nature.
- Jesus is fully God, but yet fully man. And His death on the Cross paid the penalty for my sin, all I need to do is receive the free gift of salvation.
- Jesus is the only way to Heaven and without Him I have no hope, no matter what new age teaching or government might say. God’s Word must have the final say in my life.
- The Word of God speaks of the Truth of God. God has revealed the truth to us found in His Word.
- If we want to know truth, we need to read and study God’s Word.
Transition:
- We need to understand that many anti-christs have gone out trying to deceive people into believing a lie.
- An antichrist or false Christ leads a rebellion against everything that God is and promotes. Now we know that one will come that will literally be the devil incarnate
- And he will lead a rebellion against the N.T. church. Yes we are gone, but the influence will still be in our world.
- It will be covered up or lied about by the antichrist.
- Now John says many have already gone out. This basicly means there are people who are promoting false teachings concerning God’s Word and are leading people asrtray from the truth found in God’s Word.
- This evening I want to give you 4 common lies the enemy tells the church and non church goers about themselves.
- Please recognize that it’s not only four, but is exhaustive. I have narrow it down to four because of time.
- So 4 lies the spirit of antichrist wants you to believe that is not found in God’s Word.
Point 1: That I am Powerful
John 19:10-11 says, “Do you refuse to speak to me? Pilate said. Don’t you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you? Jesus answered, You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.”
- There are many examples in the Word of God that show people thinking they have power over God or other people.
- An example is Jezebel, sidonian wife of Ahab who promoted baal worship, killed the prophets of God, opposed Elijah, and had Naboth killed.
- Her death was prophesied in I Kings 21:17-24, (vs 23) and it was carried out by Jehu in (II Kings 9:30-37)
- The point is very clear, God is in control not me or you. I have no power unless God gives me His power to perform His work.
- God gives us His grace to help us conquer the enemy.
- Everyone wants to be like God, or wants to in a position of power.
- Meaning people who have power issues need to be in position of power.
- Remember the disciples who were arguing who was going to be the greatest in the Kingdom. (Luke 9:46-50)
- It’s not hard to get caught in the trap of wanting power. Whether it’s over someone or God Himself.
- The disciples got caught in that trap and thought they were better then someone else. They stopped someone from ministering, because it wasn’t them doing it.
- We need to beware that our motives aren’t power issue motives, and that they are truth based motives.
Point 2: That I Have An Opinion
I Cor 8:9-13 and I Cor 6:19-20
- Church we don’t have rights unless God gives them to us.
Pastor Don Baker relates a story of Rev. Tom Erickson: The Public Library has a system called "Dial-A-Tale." Anytime a young child wants to hear a fairy tale, he can call the number and a voice comes on reading a short fairy tale to the listening young ear. However, the number is only one digit different from Rev. Tom Erickson. Because the small fingers often make a mistake, Tom gets frequent calls from a child listening for a fairy tale.
After several unsuccessful attempts to explain a wrong number to the small child, Tom felt he had only one alternative. He obtained a copy of Three Little Pigs, and set it by the phone. Now, whenever a child calls, he simply reads them the tale. A beautiful illustration of yielding personal rights. He didn’t, as you might have thought, change his telephone number to avoid the "invasion of his privacy."
- I like to think of this story of the child being God, and us as the Pastor on the phone.
- When God calls us to something is do we say God you got the wrong person, or I can’t do that, I don’t have time for that.
- No we need to yield our personal rights and do it God’s way and go with God’s flow.
- God has a plan for this church and for our personal lives, I don’t want to get in the way of God’s plan because of my right or opinion’s. I don’t have an opinion when it concerns God.
- He is the master, I am the servant. We need to do what He tells us to do and He will equip us to get the job done.
Point 3: That I Have My Own Destiny
Deut 3:21-29
- There is a right way of doing things and wrong way of doing things.
- Moses here was not aloud to enter the promise land because of disobedience while in the wilderness wanderings.
- Instead of speaking to the rock for water that God said he was suppose to do, Moses hit it out of anger.
- The end result, no promise land.
- In Deut 3, Moses asked God if he could lead them into the promise land. We see that God said no, and was angry. God tells Moses to encourage Joshua to lead the people and to get him ready.
- There is a few points I see from this story:
a. Moses gives up power
b. Moses stops his opinion of the situation
c. Moses encourages Joshua to be the next leader
d. Moses was humble about it
- In order for us to be used of God we need to be people that recognize God’s way of doing things.
- If we continue to respond in anger about God’s way of doing things, we won’t get to the promise land. Meaning the plans that God has for your life.
- You will not be successful.
- Moses could have pouted, complained to God, like we all do when things don’t go our way, but he didn’t.
- He chose to do it God’s way and humble himself
- I want to be a leader just like Moses, who was humble, and desired God, not his own destiny.
- Listen to this story that explains what I am trying to say:
A certain courthouse in Ohio stands in a unique location. Raindrops that fall on the north side of the building go into Lake Ontario and the Gulf of St. Lawrence, while those falling on the south side go into the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico. At precisely the point of the peak of the roof, just a gentle puff of wind can determine the destiny of many raindrops. It will make a difference of more than 2,000 miles as to their final destination. The spiritual application is clear. By the smallest deed or choice of words we might set in motion influences that could change the course of others’ lives here and now and could also affect their eternal destiny.
Point 4: That I Cannot Be Forgiven
Rom 8:1 says, “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”
Col 1:13-14 says, “For He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the Kingdom of the Son He loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”
Listen to this story about forgiveness:
There was once a dad who had a three-year-old son named Brandon.
One day, Brandon sees his dad eating chocolate chip cookies in the living room and says to himself, Daddy loves chocolate chip cookies with milk. So I’m going to give Daddy a glass of milk. With that thought Brandon goes into the dining room and drags a chair from the dining room into the kitchen, leaving a trail of scratch marks on the floor.
Brandon climbs up on the chair and hitches himself onto the counter to pull at the cabinet door. Wham! It smashes against the adjacent cabinet door, leaving a gash where the handle hit it. Brandon reaches for a glass, accidentally knocking two others off the shelf. Crash! Tinkle, tinkle! But Brandon doesn’t care. He’s thinking, I’m going to get Daddy some milk!
Meanwhile, Brandon’s dad is watching all this, wondering if he should step in and save the rest of his kitchen. He decides, for the moment, to watch a little more as Brandon scrambles off the chair, dodging the pieces of broken glass, and heads for the refrigerator.
Pulling violently on the refrigerator door, Brandon flings it wide open—and it stays open, of course. Brandon puts the glass on the floor—out of harm’s way, supposedly—and grabs, not the little half-gallon of milk, but the big gallon container that is full of milk. He rips open the top, pours it in the vicinity of the glass, and even manages to get some milk in the glass. The rest goes all over the floor.
Finally done, Brandon puts the milk carton on the floor and picks up the glass yelling, “Daddy, I got something for you!” He runs into the living room, trips, and spills milk all over the place—the floor, the sofa, his dad.
Brandon stands up and looks around. He sees broken glass, milk everywhere, cabinets open, his dad with milk from his eyebrows to his toes, and starts to cry. Through his tears, he looks up at his dad with that pained expression that says, “What are you going to do to me?”
His dad only smiles. He doesn’t see a kid that just destroyed his house. Instead he sees a beautiful little boy whom he loves very much. It doesn’t matter what he’s done. Brandon’s dad stretches his arms out to hold his little boy tight and says, “This is my son!”
- When doing God’s will and something for the Lord, I believe the Lord looks at our heart and efforts and is proud of us. No matter how many times we spill milk, destroy and make a mess of the situation.
- God looks at what you are trying to accomplish.
- Understand you are not a failure in the eyes of God, only the devil.
- The devil wants you to know that he thinks nothing for you and wants you destoyed.
- When we talk about God as our Father, the kind of father we’re talking about is Brandon’s father.
- God is a father who loves us unconditionally, even though we make a real mess of things. Jesus told a similar story about another son who messed up.
- We call the story “The Prodigal Son.” It also could be called “The Parable of the Loving Father” because, just like Brandon’s dad, the father in the story threw his arms around his son and said, “This is my son!” (See Luke 15:11-32.)
- There is nothing you have done that can’t be forgiven or corrected in God’s eyes.
Conclusion:
- This evening John encouraged his hearers and us, to be a people who live in truth found in God’s Word.
- There are many antichrists in the world today, who love to distort the truth of God, live by God’s principle’s and you will never go wrong
- Live by God’s principle’s and you will never fall into the trap of the antichrists in our world today.
Let’s Pray!!!
