St Theodore's Sermon

	St Theodore's Wattle Park

Sermon of the Week

25/7/99

Living the New Life 1 John 2:1-25

Do you ever pick up a book, or read an article in a newspaper or a magazine and wonder "what is the writer trying to say?" "What are they getting at?" Well, that would never be your problem with John's writing. John makes it very clear what his aim is in writing. In his gospel he says he's writing so his hearers might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing, they might have life in his name. Here in his first letter he gives a series of reasons why he's writing. He writes "so that you might have fellowship with us." (1:3) (1 John 5:13 NRSV) "I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life." And here in 2:1 he says "I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin." His aim is to reassure us of our fellowship with the Father, of our sure and certain hope of eternal life, and one way he'll do that is by showing us what a difference life in Christ has made to us. The way he hopes to reassure us is to show us the things to look for that indicate true faith in Christ. That is, as we go through the letter what we find aren't so much signs that will lead to greater faith as tests that will confirm it or accredit it.

The tests he gives here fall into 2 main categories: Tests of belief or doctrine, and tests of lifestyle.

We saw both of these last week when we looked at the test of belief, the test of walking faithfully and the test of being open to the Lord's gaze. Well, this week we're again faced with a series of tests: 3 tests of lifestyle and one of belief. In 2:1-6 we find the first:

The Test of Christian obedience (2:1-6)

   He begins by saying that his great desire is that we won't sin. He's already reminded us that God is light and in him is no darkness at all. So it's only to be expected that those who are God's shouldn't sin. But notice how quick he is to point out that failure in this area isn't the end. His aim is to reach perfection, but he knows that for most of us there's a long way to go. We're still disciples, i.e. students, still learning what it means to follow Christ fully. As any student knows you never finish learning. There's always more to discover about your particular discipline. And it's the universal experience of students that they make mistakes. The test of a good student isn't that they don't make mistakes, it's that they learn from their mistakes and press on.

   Well, for the Christian that means repenting, asking for forgiveness and starting again. There's a great quote from John Newton, the slave trader who was converted and became a great minister of the gospel. He said: "I am not what I ought to be; but I am not what I once was. And it is by the grace of God that I am what I am." We're all learners on the way to a perfection that will only be realised when we reach heaven.

   In the meantime, when we fail we don't need to be despondent. Rather we need to turn back to the gospel. We need to remember who it is that we follow. He says "But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; ²and he is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world." Here's the picture we're given: God is watching us. He sees our failures, but before he passes judgement on us, Christ steps in to plead our case. Notice that John gives him his full title. He's Jesus: that is, he's one who's lived as a human being, who can sympathise with our weakness, who's been tempted in every way just as we have, yet without sinning; he's Christ, the anointed one sent by God to restore the world to the way God intended it; he's the righteous one, who alone is able to stand before the Father because he alone is sinless, and who passes his righteousness on to us; and he's the atoning sacrifice for our sins, the one who has paid the price to cleanse us from all sin. In fact the word in Greek is probably better translated propitiation. That is, the one who makes God propitious towards us, pleased with us. So when we sin, we don't need to panic. It's not the end. Jesus Christ sits at God's right hand to plead our case, to speak on our behalf, to turn God's anger away and reaffirm our standing as God's sons and daughters.

   But having said that John reminds us that it matters what the intention of our hearts is. He says "by this we may be sure that we know him, if we obey his commandments." It's those times when we voluntarily turn to follow Christ, to obey God's commandments, that assure us of our place in God's kingdom.

   There are some people you know, who are only ever aware of their failings as Christians. In fact they're so aware of their failings that sometimes they wonder whether they're really Christians at all. You may be like that. You may be doubting your place in God's world right now. Are you such a failure that you think you'll never make it as a Christian? That's what Satan will tell you." "You might as well give up now." "What a hypocrite!" he'll say. "How can you call yourself a Christian?" But no. We mustn't give up when we fail. Nor should we focus on our failures. Jesus will look after those, as long as we continue to walk in the light. Better to focus on the inner prompting of our hearts. Paul writes about the struggle to obey God like this: (Rom 7:18-23 NRSV) "For I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh. I can will what is right, but I cannot do it. ¹⁹For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do. ... ²¹So I find it to be a law that when I want to do what is good, evil lies close at hand. ²²For I delight in the law of God in my inmost self, ²³but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind, making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members." This is the universal Christian experience. We want to do what's right, but in our weakness we end up doing wrong. So what will we focus on? Well, John says, focus on that desire of the heart to do what God wants. This is the sign that God has sent his spirit to dwell within us. It's what God promised through Jeremiah when he said (Jer 31:33 NRSV) "this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts." So here's the first sign of whether God has a place in our lives: it's whether we have that inner desire to obey God's words just as Jesus did. If we don't, we can't claim to know God, but if we do, if we're seeking to walk as Jesus did, that is, in obedience to the Father, then we'll know that God's love is being made complete in us.

   The Test of Christian affections 2:7-14

   The second test of our authenticity is the test of our affections. That is, how do we relate to our brothers and sisters? Do we love them or hate them. This is a primary sign, he says, of whether we're walking in the light or the darkness. You see, there's what's called a paradigm shift that takes place with the coming of Jesus. That's what he says in vs 7&8. In one sense this isn't a new commandment. The command to love our neighbour has always been there. Right from the very beginning God's law has been directed towards people showing love to others. That's why Jesus could quote Lev 19:18 when asked about the greatest commandment. You see the OT law was an expression of the character and will of its giver, who is love. Paul, in Gal 5:14 says the entire law is summed up in this single command, "Love your neighbour as yourself." Yet at the same time this is something new. Jesus said "A new commandment I give you." Here John says (1 John 2:8 NRSV) "Yet I am writing you a new commandment that is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining." This is the sign of the new age. Jesus has driven a wedge into history. What before was the impossible dream has now become possible.

   People have always dreamed of living in a Utopia where people loved one another. Some have even tried to create such a society. But the darkness of sin has always prevented them from achieving their aims. (Philadelphia - brotherly love -no police force - lasted about 12 months) But now, in the Church, through Christ, it's becoming possible. Do you see what he says. This is an amazing statement: "I am writing you a new commandment that is true in him and in you." Of course it was true in Jesus, but it's also true in us! Why? Because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining. The true light of the Kingdom of God has begun to shine into the world through God's people, through the Church as we show the love of Christ to each other. Isn't that exciting? Have you ever thought of yourself as exhibiting the true light of Christ in the love you show to your Christian brothers and sisters? What a great incentive to love one another!

   But notice how the converse applies. If you fail to love another believer you're walking in darkness. You've lost your way. He says you're blind.

   Notice how he encourages the whole Christian community to think about this in vs 12-14. It doesn't matter whether you're young or old, in a position of authority or not, experienced or still growing. It's good to read this in a church like this, where we have 90 year olds and teenagers worshipping together. Each of us has something to thank God for. Each of us has experienced the love of God in different ways: All of us have had our sins forgiven. Those who are older have the advantage of years of getting to know God the Father. Those who are young have the experience of overcoming the power of Satan fresh in their minds. And the word of God is alive in you. Perhaps what he means there is that there's an enthusiasm about learning from God's word that's especially present in those who are new to the faith. On the other hand he may be thinking of that passage in Is 40 (Isa 40:30-31 NRSV): "Even youths will faint and be weary, and the young will fall exhausted; ³¹but those who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint." In other words, it's the power of God's word that enables us to be strong, even when we're young.

   The Test of Christian values 2:15-17

   The third test of our authenticity is the test of our Christian values. He says: "Do not love the world or the things in the world. The love of the Father is not in those who love the world.(v15)" Now he isn't talking here about some form of asceticism. He isn't talking about denying the flesh in order to be more godly. That in fact was one of the false teachings of his time. Nor does he mean avoiding the world, escaping from it by some form of monasticism, or it's modern equivalent, the holy huddle. Do you know what I mean? Where the only people you ever associate with are Christians so you avoid any chance of being polluted by the world. No he isn't talking about that. We need to be in the world so we can share the gospel. So what does he mean? Well, he tells us, doesn't he? "The desire of the flesh, the desire of the eyes, the pride in riches" That's what he's talking about. He's talking about the kind of worldliness that indulges the body: gluttony, greed, addictions of one sort or another, lust, covetousness. He's talking about the way we love to indulge our aesthetic side. The way some people will give anything to possess a great painting or even a rare stamp. The way some people are obsessed with how their house looks, or their garden, or their car. He's talking about the kind of worldliness that boasts about its wealth, that prides itself in the possession of status symbols.

   In other words the sort of worldliness he's talking about is the sort that's focussed on satisfying 'me'. That puts 'me'at the centre of the universe rather than God. But the futility of this way of life is this: It seeks to accumulate things from this world, but in the end the things of this world, even the desires we have in this world, will pass away, and all that'll be left will be God and those who are his, i.e. those who seek to do his will. (v17).

   The Test of Christian faithfulness 2:18-23

   Finally, the fourth test of our authenticity is the test of Christian faithfulness. He says, "you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. From this we know that it is the last hour." It isn't easy to be a Christian in the last days. There are people all around trying to convince us that they have a new truth, whether it's the Mormons, or the JWs whom you may have had a visit from recently, or Christians with a liberal theology who'll question whether Jesus really rose from the dead, or whether he really did the miracles that the gospels report, or new age gurus talking about the power of crystals. There are all sorts of beliefs being bandied around as alternatives to Christianity. And you'll find that people will believe them. G.K. Chesterton once wrote, 'When people abandon the truth, they don't believe in nothing, they believe in anything.' The great danger for the Christian Church today isn't scepticism or atheism, it's gullibility. It's the willingness to believe the claims of new age sects, of pseudo sciences, of the modern superstitious beliefs that people cling to rather than accepting the gospel. And notice that the ones he describes as antichrists have gone out from the very membership of the Church. In fact if you look at v22, this is even sadder, because the sign of the antichrist is that they deny that Jesus is the Christ. I find it very sad when I meet or hear Christian leaders, particularly, who deny the divinity of Christ; who are happy to believe in his humanity, but can't accept his deity.

   But don't let them deceive you, he says. You've been anointed by the Holy one. That is, you've received the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth. So stick with the truth that you know deep down, which you heard from the beginning. That is, the truth about Jesus Christ, truly human and truly divine. If that truth remains in you, you will remain in the Son and in the Father.

   So here are 4 tests of the authenticity of your faith. Are you obeying God? Is your heart prompting you to obey him and to turn to him for forgiveness when you fail? Are you showing love to your Christian brother and sister? Even to those you find unlovable? Are your values those of the Kingdom of God or those of the world? Are you sticking with the truth of the gospel? Is your heart set on God and the things he promises or are you being swayed by the imaginings of human minds? Those are questions we could well ask ourselves every day. Why? So we will continue in fellowship with one another and with the Father, and so we'll have confidence that we do indeed have eternal life.


	Contact us	Preaching Program	Home		Last Week's Sermon

	Sermon of the Week
	25/7/99
	Living the New Life	1 John 2:1-25

	Do you ever pick up a book, or read an article in a newspaper or a magazine and wonder "what is the writer trying to say?" "What are they getting at?" Well, that would never be your problem with John's writing. John makes it very clear what his aim is in writing. In his gospel he says he's writing so his hearers might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing, they might have life in his name. Here in his first letter he gives a series of reasons why he's writing. He writes "so that you might have fellowship with us." (1:3) (1 John 5:13 NRSV) "I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life." And here in 2:1 he says "I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin." His aim is to reassure us of our fellowship with the Father, of our sure and certain hope of eternal life, and one way he'll do that is by showing us what a difference life in Christ has made to us. The way he hopes to reassure us is to show us the things to look for that indicate true faith in Christ. That is, as we go through the letter what we find aren't so much signs that will lead to greater faith as tests that will confirm it or accredit it.
	The tests he gives here fall into 2 main categories: Tests of belief or doctrine, and tests of lifestyle.
	We saw both of these last week when we looked at the test of belief, the test of walking faithfully and the test of being open to the Lord's gaze. Well, this week we're again faced with a series of tests: 3 tests of lifestyle and one of belief. In 2:1-6 we find the first:
	The Test of Christian obedience (2:1-6)
	He begins by saying that his great desire is that we won't sin. He's already reminded us that God is light and in him is no darkness at all. So it's only to be expected that those who are God's shouldn't sin. But notice how quick he is to point out that failure in this area isn't the end. His aim is to reach perfection, but he knows that for most of us there's a long way to go. We're still disciples, i.e. students, still learning what it means to follow Christ fully. As any student knows you never finish learning. There's always more to discover about your particular discipline. And it's the universal experience of students that they make mistakes. The test of a good student isn't that they don't make mistakes, it's that they learn from their mistakes and press on.
	Well, for the Christian that means repenting, asking for forgiveness and starting again. There's a great quote from John Newton, the slave trader who was converted and became a great minister of the gospel. He said: "I am not what I ought to be; but I am not what I once was. And it is by the grace of God that I am what I am." We're all learners on the way to a perfection that will only be realised when we reach heaven.
	In the meantime, when we fail we don't need to be despondent. Rather we need to turn back to the gospel. We need to remember who it is that we follow. He says "But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; ²and he is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world." Here's the picture we're given: God is watching us. He sees our failures, but before he passes judgement on us, Christ steps in to plead our case. Notice that John gives him his full title. He's Jesus: that is, he's one who's lived as a human being, who can sympathise with our weakness, who's been tempted in every way just as we have, yet without sinning; he's Christ, the anointed one sent by God to restore the world to the way God intended it; he's the righteous one, who alone is able to stand before the Father because he alone is sinless, and who passes his righteousness on to us; and he's the atoning sacrifice for our sins, the one who has paid the price to cleanse us from all sin. In fact the word in Greek is probably better translated propitiation. That is, the one who makes God propitious towards us, pleased with us. So when we sin, we don't need to panic. It's not the end. Jesus Christ sits at God's right hand to plead our case, to speak on our behalf, to turn God's anger away and reaffirm our standing as God's sons and daughters.
	But having said that John reminds us that it matters what the intention of our hearts is. He says "by this we may be sure that we know him, if we obey his commandments." It's those times when we voluntarily turn to follow Christ, to obey God's commandments, that assure us of our place in God's kingdom.
	There are some people you know, who are only ever aware of their failings as Christians. In fact they're so aware of their failings that sometimes they wonder whether they're really Christians at all. You may be like that. You may be doubting your place in God's world right now. Are you such a failure that you think you'll never make it as a Christian? That's what Satan will tell you." "You might as well give up now." "What a hypocrite!" he'll say. "How can you call yourself a Christian?" But no. We mustn't give up when we fail. Nor should we focus on our failures. Jesus will look after those, as long as we continue to walk in the light. Better to focus on the inner prompting of our hearts. Paul writes about the struggle to obey God like this: (Rom 7:18-23 NRSV) "For I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh. I can will what is right, but I cannot do it. ¹⁹For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do. ... ²¹So I find it to be a law that when I want to do what is good, evil lies close at hand. ²²For I delight in the law of God in my inmost self, ²³but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind, making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members." This is the universal Christian experience. We want to do what's right, but in our weakness we end up doing wrong. So what will we focus on? Well, John says, focus on that desire of the heart to do what God wants. This is the sign that God has sent his spirit to dwell within us. It's what God promised through Jeremiah when he said (Jer 31:33 NRSV) "this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts." So here's the first sign of whether God has a place in our lives: it's whether we have that inner desire to obey God's words just as Jesus did. If we don't, we can't claim to know God, but if we do, if we're seeking to walk as Jesus did, that is, in obedience to the Father, then we'll know that God's love is being made complete in us.
	The Test of Christian affections 2:7-14
	The second test of our authenticity is the test of our affections. That is, how do we relate to our brothers and sisters? Do we love them or hate them. This is a primary sign, he says, of whether we're walking in the light or the darkness. You see, there's what's called a paradigm shift that takes place with the coming of Jesus. That's what he says in vs 7&8. In one sense this isn't a new commandment. The command to love our neighbour has always been there. Right from the very beginning God's law has been directed towards people showing love to others. That's why Jesus could quote Lev 19:18 when asked about the greatest commandment. You see the OT law was an expression of the character and will of its giver, who is love. Paul, in Gal 5:14 says the entire law is summed up in this single command, "Love your neighbour as yourself." Yet at the same time this is something new. Jesus said "A new commandment I give you." Here John says (1 John 2:8 NRSV) "Yet I am writing you a new commandment that is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining." This is the sign of the new age. Jesus has driven a wedge into history. What before was the impossible dream has now become possible.
	People have always dreamed of living in a Utopia where people loved one another. Some have even tried to create such a society. But the darkness of sin has always prevented them from achieving their aims. (Philadelphia - brotherly love -no police force - lasted about 12 months) But now, in the Church, through Christ, it's becoming possible. Do you see what he says. This is an amazing statement: "I am writing you a new commandment that is true in him and in you." Of course it was true in Jesus, but it's also true in us! Why? Because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining. The true light of the Kingdom of God has begun to shine into the world through God's people, through the Church as we show the love of Christ to each other. Isn't that exciting? Have you ever thought of yourself as exhibiting the true light of Christ in the love you show to your Christian brothers and sisters? What a great incentive to love one another!
	But notice how the converse applies. If you fail to love another believer you're walking in darkness. You've lost your way. He says you're blind.
	Notice how he encourages the whole Christian community to think about this in vs 12-14. It doesn't matter whether you're young or old, in a position of authority or not, experienced or still growing. It's good to read this in a church like this, where we have 90 year olds and teenagers worshipping together. Each of us has something to thank God for. Each of us has experienced the love of God in different ways: All of us have had our sins forgiven. Those who are older have the advantage of years of getting to know God the Father. Those who are young have the experience of overcoming the power of Satan fresh in their minds. And the word of God is alive in you. Perhaps what he means there is that there's an enthusiasm about learning from God's word that's especially present in those who are new to the faith. On the other hand he may be thinking of that passage in Is 40 (Isa 40:30-31 NRSV): "Even youths will faint and be weary, and the young will fall exhausted; ³¹but those who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint." In other words, it's the power of God's word that enables us to be strong, even when we're young.
	The Test of Christian values 2:15-17
	The third test of our authenticity is the test of our Christian values. He says: "Do not love the world or the things in the world. The love of the Father is not in those who love the world.(v15)" Now he isn't talking here about some form of asceticism. He isn't talking about denying the flesh in order to be more godly. That in fact was one of the false teachings of his time. Nor does he mean avoiding the world, escaping from it by some form of monasticism, or it's modern equivalent, the holy huddle. Do you know what I mean? Where the only people you ever associate with are Christians so you avoid any chance of being polluted by the world. No he isn't talking about that. We need to be in the world so we can share the gospel. So what does he mean? Well, he tells us, doesn't he? "The desire of the flesh, the desire of the eyes, the pride in riches" That's what he's talking about. He's talking about the kind of worldliness that indulges the body: gluttony, greed, addictions of one sort or another, lust, covetousness. He's talking about the way we love to indulge our aesthetic side. The way some people will give anything to possess a great painting or even a rare stamp. The way some people are obsessed with how their house looks, or their garden, or their car. He's talking about the kind of worldliness that boasts about its wealth, that prides itself in the possession of status symbols.
	In other words the sort of worldliness he's talking about is the sort that's focussed on satisfying 'me'. That puts 'me'at the centre of the universe rather than God. But the futility of this way of life is this: It seeks to accumulate things from this world, but in the end the things of this world, even the desires we have in this world, will pass away, and all that'll be left will be God and those who are his, i.e. those who seek to do his will. (v17).
	The Test of Christian faithfulness 2:18-23
	Finally, the fourth test of our authenticity is the test of Christian faithfulness. He says, "you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. From this we know that it is the last hour." It isn't easy to be a Christian in the last days. There are people all around trying to convince us that they have a new truth, whether it's the Mormons, or the JWs whom you may have had a visit from recently, or Christians with a liberal theology who'll question whether Jesus really rose from the dead, or whether he really did the miracles that the gospels report, or new age gurus talking about the power of crystals. There are all sorts of beliefs being bandied around as alternatives to Christianity. And you'll find that people will believe them. G.K. Chesterton once wrote, 'When people abandon the truth, they don't believe in nothing, they believe in anything.' The great danger for the Christian Church today isn't scepticism or atheism, it's gullibility. It's the willingness to believe the claims of new age sects, of pseudo sciences, of the modern superstitious beliefs that people cling to rather than accepting the gospel. And notice that the ones he describes as antichrists have gone out from the very membership of the Church. In fact if you look at v22, this is even sadder, because the sign of the antichrist is that they deny that Jesus is the Christ. I find it very sad when I meet or hear Christian leaders, particularly, who deny the divinity of Christ; who are happy to believe in his humanity, but can't accept his deity.
	But don't let them deceive you, he says. You've been anointed by the Holy one. That is, you've received the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth. So stick with the truth that you know deep down, which you heard from the beginning. That is, the truth about Jesus Christ, truly human and truly divine. If that truth remains in you, you will remain in the Son and in the Father.
	So here are 4 tests of the authenticity of your faith. Are you obeying God? Is your heart prompting you to obey him and to turn to him for forgiveness when you fail? Are you showing love to your Christian brother and sister? Even to those you find unlovable? Are your values those of the Kingdom of God or those of the world? Are you sticking with the truth of the gospel? Is your heart set on God and the things he promises or are you being swayed by the imaginings of human minds? Those are questions we could well ask ourselves every day. Why? So we will continue in fellowship with one another and with the Father, and so we'll have confidence that we do indeed have eternal life.

Contact us

Preaching Program

Home

Last Week's Sermon