10-18-2020 – Making a Real Difference for Christ

10-25-2020 -

As we have learned from our previous studies in 1John, the Apostle John writes from his own personal life with Jesus Christ, i.e., John wrote down what he had seen, heard and experienced in Christ’s presence.

John declares that those who genuinely believe in and follow Jesus, have come into fellowship with God, who is Light; and therefore, as God’s children, children of the Light, we will allow Christ to be seen through us.

Our lives as Christians should reflect a desire to please the one who has forgiven our sins and granted us eternal life; and the thing that reflects God’s presence in our life more than any other thing we do, is our love toward other Christians:

(John 13:35)
“all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."

When God looks at the world, He sees only two groups of people: those who belong to Him by faith in Christ, and those who belong to the devil through their rejection of Christ.

Read 1John 2:12-14…
"¹² I am writing to you, little children, because your sins have been forgiven you for His name’s sake. ¹³ I am writing to you, fathers, because you know Him who has been from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I have written to you, children, because you know the Father. ¹⁴ I have written to you, fathers, because you know Him who has been from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one."

John is writing to those who belong to God, “I write to you, fathers...” “I write to you, young men...” “I write to you, little children...”

John makes a reference to three stages of spiritual maturity among those who belong to God: fathers, young men, little children:

“Fathers” are the spiritually mature who have an experienced and deepened knowledge of God. “Young men” are those who don’t have a mature knowledge of God as yet, but they do know sound doctrine and are able to overcome the deception of Satan’s tricks and lies. “Little children” are those who have trusted in Christ and have a basic understanding of God, but they have not yet matured in their walk to a point where they are capable of discerning the ways of the devil.

See Ephesians 5:15-17…
"¹⁵ Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, ¹⁶ making the most of your time, because the days are evil. ¹⁷ So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is."

We must remain sober minded in this life, looking, observing, giving attention to the way we live; we are to

2Timothy 2:15
"¹⁵ Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth."

When we actually reverence God’s Word, studying it and allowing it to permeate our heart and mind so as to transform our life; we become intolerant toward sin, narrow minded in reference to our worldview, and discriminating in reference to where we go, what we do, and why we do what we do.

The change that has taken place (cf. 2Corinthians 5:17) continues to grow and mature us to become more and more like Jesus, God’s Son. God is not just a loving God; He is a Just and Loving God! He is merciful, but He must judge sin!

2Corinthians 5:17
"¹⁷ Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come."

As we walk through this life we are to be looking and examining with great care and alertness. Christians must remain aware of the devil's schemes, applying God’s wisdom we live obediently in alignment with God’s Word, in a manner that honors God.

See Ephesians 4:20-24…
"²⁰ But you did not learn Christ in this way, ²¹ if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus, ²² that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, ²³ and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, ²⁴ and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth."

Paul exhorts us to lay aside the old self, and put on Christ, i.e., we are to live in a manner that pleases God.

Romans 12:2
"² And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect."

Romans 13:14
"¹⁴ But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts."

Paul is speaking of the change that occurs in a person’s life when he is born into the family of God; there must be a difference in the life of those who profess Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, because God’s Spirit lives in them.

John 3:3-8
"³ Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” ⁴ Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he?” ⁵ Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. ⁶ That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. ⁷ Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ ⁸ The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.” "

John 14:15-17
"¹⁵ “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.  ¹⁶ I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; ¹⁷ that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you."

John 25-26
"²⁵ “These things I have spoken to you while abiding with you. ²⁶ But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you."

1Corinthians 6:19-20;
"¹⁹ Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? ²⁰ For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body."

Ephesians 1:13-14
"¹³ 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, ¹⁴ 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."

Imagine that you had to work in a sewer all day. When you get home, you remove your soiled clothing, take a long hot cleansing shower, and put on clean clothes! You wouldn’t dare put back on the filthy garments you had taken off.

In the same way, Paul says, we are to lay aside [put off] those sinful attitudes and actions of our old life; for they are like sewage soaked clothing. Christians are a new creation in Christ; we are to “dress and look differently,” i.e., our walk and our talk should exemplify Christ, not the godless life we had before coming to God.

See Matthew 7:13-14…
"¹³ “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. ¹⁴ For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it."

The broad road ultimately leads to Hell (eternal separation from God). Everyone is on this road until they get off by exiting through the small gate (Christ) onto the narrow road (Christianity) which leads to heaven.

Notice, only a few find It! Why is that? See (verses 7-8), only a few are seeking the way off, the way out.

In John 10:9 Jesus says, “I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved,” in
John 14:6 He says, “I am the Way;
and in John 11:25-26 Jesus says, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die.”

Salvation is eternal! Once saved you cannot become unsaved (cf. Romans 11:29), however, you can live in ignorance and/or disobedience toward the teaching of God’s Word, turning a deaf ear to the Spirit’s voice, like an unbeliever. But honestly, for a person to return to the way they lived before coming to Christ, would be like putting back on sewage soaked clothing, after having taken it off, thoroughly washed your body in a hot sudsy shower, and then put on clean clothes!

When you repent of your sin asking God to forgive you, He cleanses you from all unrighteousness, i.e., from all your sins, all of the sewage of your life, and He clothes you with His own righteousness.

1John 1:8-9
"⁸ If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. ⁹ If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

Isaiah 43:25
"²⁵ “I, even I, am the one who wipes out your transgressions for My own sake, And I will not remember your sins."

Hebrews 10:17
"¹⁷ “And their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.”"

See Titus 3:3-8…
"³ For we also once were foolish ourselves, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another. ⁴ But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, ⁵ He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, ⁶ whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, ⁷ so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. ⁸ This is a trustworthy statement; and concerning these things I want you to speak confidently, so that those who have believed God will be careful to engage in good deeds. These things are good and profitable for men."

Believers are not immune to ignorance, foolishness, bad behavior or disobedience; we are just sinners saved by grace, and we can at times act like unbelievers. What does that look like? When we are:

1. Not believing God completely, i.e., believing God for salvation but not for everything else, or failing to accept as truth any part of God’s Word.
2. Not obeying or holding firmly to the Word of God.
3. Allowing our heart to go after the wrong things.

It is a sad and tragic thing when Christians do not take God at His Word in everything. When you do not obey what He commands, and you desire things that God warns you against, you are acting unwise and undiscerning. There is no excuse for you to live foolishly when God has supplied all you need to serve Him victoriously on this earth.

2Peter 1:2-4
^"2 Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; ³ seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. ⁴ For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust."

Many people today are fanatically dedicated to some ideology, religion, or fad, but very few are dedicated to the Holy and Sovereign God of Creation and His Eternal Word of Truth. As God’s people, we ought to devote the time we have to the Lord's work.

Outside of purposeful disobedience to God’s Word, the most spiritually foolish thing a Christian can do is to waste time and opportunity in trivial and half-hearted service to the Lord. What a waste and misuse of time!

None of us knows how much time we have to live, let alone to serve the Lord; some are given a long life to serve, and some only a brief moment of time.

Paul sought to use every minute of his life in the fullest service to God

Acts 20:24
"²⁴ But I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself, so that I may finish my course and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God."

Galatians 2:20,
“I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.”

In John 10:9 Jesus says,
“I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved,”

in John 14:6 He says, “I am the Way; and in John 11:25-26 Jesus says, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die.” what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away.”

There is the story in Luke 12, of a farmer who had great plans of building bigger and better storehouses for all his grain and crops

(Luke 12:20), "God said to him, `You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?'"

That man had already lived his last tomorrow; he was wasting the time God had given him. The moral of that story is clear: We need to find out what God wants us to do, and then we need to earnestly seek to do it.

Within any Christian church, fellowship, or group, there are people at different stages of spiritual growth and maturity in their Christian life: little children incapable of discernment, young people who are still immature, and mature believers who are diligently, faithfully, and honorably serving the Lord.

Every genuine Christian, no matter what stage of growth they may be in, ought to seek to make God’s priorities their priorities. God’s people are to be different, and that difference must exemplify Christ in us, if we are going to make a difference for God.

Colossians 2:8,
“See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ.”

We must stand apart from the foolish philosophies and practices of this godless world; and we can only do that as we acknowledge, apply, and adhere to God’s Word.

Ephesians 5:15-17
"¹⁵ Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, ¹⁶ making the most of your time, because the days are evil. ¹⁷ So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is."

Hebrews 10:23-25
"²³ Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; ²⁴ and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, ²⁵ not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near"

(We need God’s Word, God’s Spirit, God’s Church)

And finally, as we are commanded in

1Thessalonians 5:16-18
"¹⁶ Rejoice always; ¹⁷ pray without ceasing; ¹⁸ in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus."

And all God’s people said, Amen!

Pastor Mike
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