Walking

WALKING

I John 1:5-2:6

Sunday, November 2, 2008

Pastor Brian Matherlee

What are some of the biggest hoaxes of all time? What claims have been made that were proven false?

The internet is rife with hoaxes. Here are just a few:

• If you mark “Jedi” on your census form under religion it will force the government to grant it official status.

• St. Chad is the patron saint of disputed elections

• Airlines will not put entirely Christian pilot crews on airlines for fear of the Rapture.

• Hair grows back darker and thicker after you shave it.

• Chewing gum takes 7 years to pass through the digestive system.

• You’ll get cramps if you don’t wait an hour before you go swimming.

• John Hancock signed his name larger than all the rest and then proclaimed his defiance. Hancock signed his name in big fancy letters all the time.

Read I John 1:5-2:6

Three claims are made that are not backed up:

1. The claim of fellowship

a. Verse 6, If we claim to have fellowship…

Matthew 7:15-7:23

Mt 7:15 “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.

Mt 7:16 By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?

Mt 7:17 Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.

Mt 7:18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit.

Mt 7:19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

Mt 7:20 Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.

Mt 7:21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.

Mt 7:22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Mt 7:23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’

i. We’ve done stuff for you, Lord

ii. We drove away the bad things

iii. We did incredible things for you, Lord

b. But the claim to be like Jesus is not validated by hanging around Him (think about Judas) or doing things (because eternal life can’t be earned.

i. They didn’t obey God’s will and were therefore not like Jesus.

ii. Our moral behavior matters to God.

iii. No amount of good works can gloss over our sinfulness.

2. The claim of perfection

a. Verse 8, If we claim to be without sin…

b. The Pharisees (Luke 18:9-12)

Lk 18:9 To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable: Lk 18:10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. Lk 18:11 The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. Lk 18:12 I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’

c. This Pharisee embodies this one that thinks they have become so holy in this life. They base everything on how well they keep in line with the dos and don’ts of life.

d. Jesus pointed out the darkness of this kind of thinking in Matthew 23:23-28:

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.

Mt 23:24 You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.

Mt 23:25 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.

Mt 23:26 Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.

Mt 23:27 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean.

Mt 23:28 In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.

--It is a self-evident truth, everybody is sinful!

3. The claim of goodness

a. Verse 10, If we claim we have not sinned…

b. The Rich Young Ruler

Mt 19:16 Now a man came up to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life ?”