Replies, replies and Mission Statement!

It's funny and ironic how the internet has allowed me to be more in contact with my friends than ever before. Ironic because email is just faster Mail but I hardly ever wrote a letter or sent a picture before I got "On Line". I have several phones both cell and landline with almost all the numbers for all my long distance friends but we seem never able to "catch" each other home. I think in my case I was probably "on-line" with my "Dial-up" too much for anyone to get through. One of my "best buds" growing up now has traded "phone tag" for "comment tag"!
As you know, I love getting comments. The more thought provoking they are the better I like it!. Of course I am trying to stay on track with my plans for this site but I don't mind a little side trip from time to time. I also don't mind going over things again to help make things more clear. I know that sometimes my ability to communicate my thoughts isn't even close to what I would like.

You will find in the comments area on my last post some comment trading between myself and my buddy Joel. He shares a "blog" with his brother Pete called "The First Cause". You can find it at:

http://3of5hayes.blogspot.com/

It is a terrific site and I highly recommend it. It brought to light that perhaps I'm not too clear with my mission statement here and that I should try to restate it more clearly. It also got me thinking on the differences and the similarities between the "Immature" and the "Mature" Christian.

There are two main purposes I have for starting this site. One much more important than the other. The first as an instructional on the proper way with which to read the scriptures. To take away some of the intimidation that some people have of the scriptures. My hope is to help bring the wonders of daily study to those who for whatever reasons have been doing without. My second reason is that it gave me something to do with all these old sermons I have lying around!

At first I would have said that this site was originally intended for the New and immature Christian. Then I realized that you can be a Christian for a very long time and still be immature. This is part of what my friend Joel touches on in his comments. I have taken that thought even further though.

All Christians no matter how "mature" they may be, have areas that they are ... well, not so "mature" in. So for them as well, they need to go back to the basics. We shouldn't stay on "milk" forever but neither should we jump to eating meat before we have the proverbial "teeth" with which to chew it. Even then, Spritually and physically it is still a good idea to have a glass of milk handy when feasting on Ribeye.

There are in truth several different ways to read the Bible that are acceptable considering their purposes. I have mentioned before that which "version" of the Bible I use depends on my purposes. For some "New" Christians I have recommended the "Living" Bible but with this admonition: Just Read It. Read it like a Novel. Don't go looking for secrets or code or magic. Just read it and gain the overall "Feeling" of the Word of God. Open yourself to a better understanding of the Nature of God The Father; of Jesus His Son, and of His Holy Spirit.

My main purpose for this is to start them on a habit of looking to the word. When they are ready for better understanding and open to an active application of scripture to their life, then the nature of the individual will often play a role in which "version" I recommend.
Feel free to choose your own. My two favorites are the New American Standard and the New King James but as I have stated before I have something over 20 different translations or interpretations of Scripture and I use most of them.
For basic study any of the "Best Selling" versions will do.

By the time you are ready for serious-in-depth study you will yourself have chosen what works best for you and will also realize that in truth, it really is helpful to have several versions to compare with so that you can gain a "fuller" understanding of what is being said. Using different versions at once is kind of like using a thesaurus. It isn't always necessary but sometimes it can sure be helpful.

When reading the scriptures take everything at face value and don't go looking for the Hidden Things until you have a good understanding of what is being said on the "surface".
The Bible often works in layers. There is basic truth in what is said openly and plainly while there is more truth hidden underneath. Don't go looking for the hidden until you understand what is in the open.
For example: If you read the old testament and the stories concerning the Israelites, on the surface it reads like a history book with some strange rituals and festivals thrown in. When you have read all of that and then also read the Gospels and the Life of Jesus you see all the ways that those stories written thousands of years before the Gospels all point to Jesus.
When you read about the "Passover" and the sacrifice of the lamb it is important to see and to know that every little detail had to be taken care of and fulfilled for the Israelites to be saved from the coming wrath of God. Then you can realize how God and His Son Jesus also took great care to take care of all the details so that Jesus could be the "Lamb" that provides us with salvation.

The point here is that the stories are a factual "History" and they have morals and truths that we can learn all right there on the surface. When we have those basics down, we can go back and start to see the deeper hidden truths that provide us with the "meat" that we need and yet take nothing away from the goodness of the "Milk" it first provided us with.

My goal is to take us to the meat but not before we have the teeth to chew it. From time to time there will be those situations such as we have had in the past where I may have to take a little side trip, and for the "Meat Eaters" sake, go a little deep. I am just not in too big a hurry to do that because I want to make sure I'm not "Biting off more than I can chew". (sorry, I couldn't resist that one!)

The Bible warns about leading anyone astray and I don't want to let my good intentions lead us to destruction so, I think I will let "...The Holy Spirit in that day tell (me) what to say..."
Numbers 6:24
Will.

This post will be short because some things don’t really need a lot of explanation. That is the way with the Scriptures, some things don’t really take a lot to understand.

In fact it is a good rule of thumb that when you read the Bible, if you think you understand what a verse means the first time you read it, then the odds are good that’s exactly what it meant.

Yeah, I know that sounds silly and certainly there can be exceptions but sometimes I think we “over read” the scripture; reading more into it than is really there.

In my humble opinion, that can be much more dangerous than missing whatever “hidden meaning” we think might be there.

The following Scripture is a pretty “straight forward” instruction and can be understood readily enough.

There is truth in it that we can apply to ourselves right away, but there is also a lot more that we can gain by studying further the verses before and after what I have copied here. (I’m intentionally trying to get you to look it up for yourself…Hint Hint)

Also, insight can be given by studying the individuals and groups involved; the writer and the intended recipient or recipients -which in this case is Paul and Timothy, but that shouldn’t change the meaning only clarify it more.

One last thing, The following Scripture I have used as an example for my instruction for reading the Scriptures, but the real purpose for its being here is that I have felt through the Holy Spirit that someone specific needs to be reminded of it. I pray that individual (individuals?) receives it well and to God be the Glory.

2^nd Timothy 3:16 – 4:5

¹⁶All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, ¹⁷that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

¹I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead ^£at His appearing and His kingdom: ²Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. ³For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; ⁴and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. ⁵But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

Back to Basics!

Back to basics!

I have access to a great deal of really good resources concerning scripture and a fairly large library myself, but honestly; you can find a lot of the same information in a good “Study” Bible. The thing to remember is: the people who write the information are not as reliable as the scriptures themselves.

They, like me can make mistakes, but they provide for you the scriptures with which to measure their words. Meaning that you should judge everything according to the scriptures -including everything I myself will tell you.

This is your Salvation we are talking about here. This is Your Relationship with Jesus; you are the one who has to be responsible for it. Not your pastor, minister, group leader, parents, or me. All of those people can make mistakes. You can help them however, by checking what they say against what the scripture says. If their heart is after God they will be grateful for your efforts.

Having said all of that, you can find a lot of what I am going to tell you in the pages of the “Ryrie Study Bible”. Charles Ryrie provides a lot of history and background of the Bible. I don’t always agree with his point of view but in those few cases it isn’t anything terribly important.

The Bible, The Book itself:

The word canon means rule or measuring rod, and in relation to the Bible it refers to the collection of books that passed a test of authenticity and authority.

The Old Testament:

There are some who assert that all the books of the Old Testament “canon” were collected and recognized by Ezra in the fifth century b.c.

Jesus Himself seemed to set the limit on the extent of the canonical books of the Old Testament when He accused the scribes of being guilty of slaying all the prophets God had sent Israel, from “Abel to Zechariah” (Luke 11:51). The account of Abel’s death is, of course, in Genesis; that of Zechariah is in 2 Chron. 24:20-21, which is the last book in the order of the books in the Hebrew Bible (not Malachi as in our English Bibles). Therefore, it is as if the Lord had said, “Your guilt is recorded all through the Bible—from Genesis to Malachi.’’

The New Testament:

The “Council of Carthage” has been listed as the first church council to list all 27 books of the New Testament. This happened way back in A.D 397. Keep in mind that many of those books were already accepted as scripture before this but were considered to have passed all tests of “canonicity” at this time.


Okay, enough of the “egg head” stuff.

The point I am trying to make with all of this is The Bible is not “just a book”. It is quite possible to see the Hand of God in how it was brought into being.
There were many different “churches” involved in its collection. With all the different types of “Christian Churches” out there and how they all differ you can see how difficult it is to get so many people to agree on anything, yet they did back then and they still do now.
All the generations from then till now agree that Bible that we have now is indeed the Word of God.

Charles Ryrie put it succinctly:
“By some very obvious tests the Bible is a unique book. It was written over a period of 1,500 years by about forty different authors, and yet it is one book without contradictions in what it says. And what it says is remarkable, for it speaks with equal ease and authority of the known and unknowable, of the pleasant and unpleasant, of man’s accomplishments and failures, of the past and the future. Few books ever attempt such scope; none is completely accurate except the Bible.”

The Old Testament tells about Gods nature, about who He is and it quite clearly points to Jesus. It tells who Jesus would be and what He would do very clearly and specifically.

So specifically that the odds against any one person being able to accomplish all the prophecies of the Old Testament "Messiah" are staggering to say the least.

Yet, History records that Jesus was able to do all these things. Not just the New Testament but also the History of the Jewish Nation as well as the Roman Empire.

Really, the only thing that is under debate is whether Jesus really is the Son of God, The Messiah, and whether He rose from the dead. There are hundreds of witnesses of Jesus’ life after death. Hundreds of People recorded having seen and heard Him and I’m being conservative with the number.

So really the debate isn’t Whether Jesus is the Son of God. We know that He is the Son of God by the way He fulfilled the Old Testament Prophecies.
The Orthodox Jews agree that He was a Great Prophet but they think He went “too far” proclaiming Himself the Son of God. Yet after being beaten and crucified publicly, buried with guards placed at His tomb, there are still hundreds of witnesses to His Life after Death.

Being Resurrected puts Gods final stamp of approval on His Son. (There are many other times where God made known to the world that Jesus is His Son).

Again what is really going on –and the Bible also agrees with this- is a refusal to submit. We can’t say the Bible is just a book because it is so obvious that it isn’t.

We really can’t argue too much over which “version” is the “right” one because if you read them all, the points that they appear to disagree on are for the most part small and insignificant.
My personal point of view has always been to use different versions for different purposes.
Not to make scripture say what I want but to make it more clear to the individuals I am speaking to.
Sometimes I use different versions for different purposes all together, such as reading the “Living version” purely for my own enjoyment and using the New American Standard or the New King James versions for more serious study. Often when I speak in Church I will use the New Revised Version because I know that is what is in the holders in front of the listeners.

If you want to get a much clearer idea of the meanings of certain verses you should try reading the same verses in each of the different “versions”. There is quite a bit of insight to be had that way.

The biggest help is to rely on the Holy Spirit. If you are honestly searching for the Truth, relying on the Holy Spirit to guide you through the scriptures is always your best bet.
The Holy Spirit might guide you to a place where you see things a little different than I do but you can bet we will agree on all the most important parts such as:

“‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ ³⁸“This is the great and foremost commandment. ³⁹“The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ ⁴⁰“On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”

And:

”… ¹⁶“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life….”

The Bible you and I can hold in our hands may only be made of simple ink and paper but it’s not just a book. The meanings of the words –when taken in context- are Holy indeed.

John 1

The Deity of Jesus Christ

¹In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ²He was in the beginning with God. ³All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. ⁴In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. ⁵The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not ^£comprehend it.

Part 2!

As I have mentioned before, the direction and manner of this site have taken turns and directions I had never anticipated. I count it a blessing and I am in awe of how my Lord and His Holy Spirit have played a part in this endeavor.
I hope to return to my initial thought of providing a basics for the reading of scriptures and to understanding the basics of Christianity that it presents.

My intent was to leave the more heady and difficult teachings to your individual pastors and/or ministers. Almost immediately we headed into "deep water" but I see now how we may yet head back to my initial intentions but only if the Lord wills. I can do nothing without Him and I have no desire to try.

The following is the second part of a sermon I gave last year at this time. Again please remember that these are just my notes and not the whole sermon.
I am pleased to see where the Lord provided for these words to work on another level that I wasn't aware of at the time. I pray that they may be helpful to all who read or hear for their spiritual health and of course to the Glory of the Lord.
If you do find them helpful please feel free to pass them on to anyone else you think may need them or just give them this sites address. Of course if you have any questions or comments I would love to hear them. I may not have all the answers but I still like to hear the questions!

02/06/05

Every morning I tell my wife to be careful. Its not because I don’t think she knows she should be, but because she is That important to me. Please remember that as I speak today.

This morning we will be reading Romans 12. We will be reading from the 1^st through the 21^st verse. While you are turning there:

There are Three New Testament Ideas or analogies that are used to give us an idea of what a truly Christian community is supposed to be. The first idea is Family. We all pretty much know this. We seem to have no problem accepting that as the song says: “We’re all part of the family of God”. We know and have used the terms “brother and sister in Christ. Sometimes though I think we accept too easily that a family may be dysfunctional at times…

The second analogy we’re given would seem to refute the idea of a dysfunctional family because the analogy is that of the body. We are pictured in such an intimate relationship with Jesus and each other that only the organic relationship of cell linked to cell, interdependent organs and a head in loving control, can portray the reality. It would seem again though that often we assume that parts of the body – other than ourselves of course- are handicapped and that it can’t be helped.

The third picture is of a temple into which both individuals and the Church as a whole are built as a fitting home for God’s Holy Spirit.

Romans 12

Dedicated Service

¹Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. ²And 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.

³For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith. ⁴For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function, ⁵so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. ⁶Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly: if prophecy, according to the proportion of his faith; if service, in his serving; or he who teaches, in his teaching; ⁸or he who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who gives, with ^£liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.

⁹Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good. ¹⁰Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor; ¹¹not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; ¹²rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer, ¹³contributing to the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality.

¹⁴Bless those who persecute ^£you; bless and do not curse. ¹⁵Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. ¹⁶Be of the same mind toward one another; do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimation. ¹⁷Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all men. ¹⁸If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men. ¹⁹Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. ²⁰“But if your enemy is hungry, feed him, and if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” ²¹Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

In each of these ideas, intimate relationship, oneness, and unity are what is stressed. We are linked to one another as brothers and sisters, fitted together as parts of the body, joined by the Master Builder so that no cracks appear between the building blocks. The idea of Family is supposed to show us the importance of a quality relationship. The idea of one body shows us the interdependence and yet differing functions of the members. The Idea of the temple shows us our essential holiness.

In this day and age you have to wonder just how good these analogies are. A family is supposed to be the epitome of a quality relationship. In this day and age you have to wonder how many people even know what characteristics of family relationships are most important. The world we live in; we don’t have time to spend with family members. We have psychologists telling us its ok to think of ourselves first because we can’t help our faults; our parents are the ones to blame for everything we do now.

I for one am still amazed at how this nonsense is still being believed. The world says its ok to keep being selfish and self centered because of the way your parents treated you ten, twenty or even thirty years ago. Makes you just want to tell them “oh grow up already!”

If a family is going to be normal and healthy, a family needs to express love and acceptance. The family expresses these things in daily behavior and explores these in conversation. So a healthy family life is marked by open communication, by honest sharing of what is happening within each person.

The family is supposed to be a shared life, with example and instruction, correction and encouragement. If we spent more of our time and efforts on our relationship and fellowship with God we would know and see what our relationship as family members- biologically as well as spiritually- are supposed to be like.

Romans 12:10:” ¹⁰Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor; “

“Give Preference to one another”: think of them as more important than you. If you read Acts you can see where they were able to pull that off. Christians are called to long-term commitment, shared lives and open communication.

We are to live comfortably with others and look to our leaders for an example of the kind of persons we are to become. We look to Jesus to be our example but I think too often we accept that He was perfect and we can’t be, so we don’t try to be like we should.

I know I am one of the worst when it comes to this. I have neighbors on two sides of me now and I’m thinking maybe its time to move farther out. I know that God has given me the job I have but I still hate only being able to come to Church with you once every other week. Not being able to because of my Job is not an excuse however, for not making more of an effort to keep my relationship with you more secure. I- just like you- find it too easy to let the cares of my personal life and this world get in the way of doing things the way God would have me. Once again my own laziness gets in the way and I apologize.

Of course there are other things we do that undermine what we are supposed to be too. We lose vision of the church as a family and think of it as an organization. We think of it as buildings and programs and activities instead of a network of relationships.

We tie ourselves together as a group that supports our missions instead of our mission as a support group. We neglect getting to know and supporting each other. That is when our growth in Christ becomes stunted or warped.

Just as poor family relationships and communication cause personality problems for growing children, poor relationships within the family of God cause problems for growing Christians. The difference is you won’t find a Christian psychologist who is going to tell you it’s not your fault. We have no excuse.

I have seen it over and over: Really Large and successful churches that have died or had ugly splits because their purpose died away.

Right now we have the missions that we support. We have those efforts to tie us together and give us purpose. Right now we work out our relationships so that we can “work” together. I see it at my Job were people behave properly because they have to work together but when the job is over they act like they don’t know each other. We are NOT supposed to be like that. We are Not supposed to just “get along” for the church service or the “family nights” or the after church fellowships. Certainly it is why I like having them, because it gives us a chance to get along.

It gives us a chance to really touch base with one another. We have to remember we really are family. It is not just a phrase or analogy. Blood is thicker than water and the Blood of Jesus is thicker, more powerful and more precious than anything that can be found on this earth or in our lives! We Must spread the love that is the Blood of Jesus on ourselves for forgiveness, on each other for Love and then we can spread the Blood of Jesus to the World. We can recover the New Testament emphasis on the church as a family. We can love one another as Christ commands.

This is the second sermon I have given in a row on this subject. Why? Because You are my Family and it is that important to me that you know that, and it is that important to me that you realize just who your family is and how important they are to you.

[post script: Please double check the scriptures presented and read them for yourself! Then apply them to your life!

Fellowship, part 1 of 2

The following is a sermon I gave on January 23, 2005. It is the first of a two part series. If the Lord is willing I will post the 2^nd part in a few days. Here it is almost exactly a year later and I find the words are needed again. I generally refuse to use a sermon twice, it seems like “cheating” to me. I prefer to seek the Lords will through prayer and faith that the Holy Spirit will guide me. I know I have often preached the same things because I believe that is what the Lord wanted me to do but I have done so without consulting any of the “old” sermons I have kept. Why I kept them I don’t know but I have my suspicions now.

As I believe the Lord so desires I will post these but please understand that these are copies of my notes. The scriptures are provided but please check them with your own Bibles being sure to read above and below the scriptures provided to be sure that I haven’t taken anything out of context. I am human and I do make mistakes. Don’t let me make a mistake with your walk with Jesus. Double check me with what the Spirit says to you.

1^st John chapter one please

koinoônia is the name of a really good Christian Jazz group that I used to listen to back in the 80s. It’s the first time I ever encountered the word and as it was used by a band I liked, naturally I was interested in its meaning. Some of you may already know of course that Koinonia is the Greek word for “fellowship”. Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible will give you the definition as: “ partnership, that is, (literally) participation, or —(to) communicate, communion, distribution, fellowship.”

Partnership, Communion, & Fellowship, this doesn’t sound like a passing acquaintance does it? Partnership is a word we often use to describe a marriage. Communion is the name we have given for the receiving of the Lords Body and Blood into our Bodies. Fellowship with the Lord isn’t saying, “Grace” and “Now I lay me down to sleep”. This word Koinonia is used quite a bit in the New Testament. Every time the word fellowship is used I find that its root word is Koinonia. It is the same word but lately it seems that we have placed “fellowship” on a much lower priority than we should. Perhaps I am mistaken and I pray that I am but I believe the world, our country, our area, and our little church here as watered down the strength of the meaning of the word fellowship. We have weakened the importance of Fellowship by weakening the meaning; partnership and communion. If you would, please turn in your Bibles to the 1^st book of John chapter one. It comes right after 2^nd Peter. 1^st John chapter one, verse one.

1 John 1

Introduction The Incarnate Word

¹What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life— ²and the life was manifested, and we have seen and testify and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us— ³what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ. ⁴These things we write, so that our joy may be made complete.

Ok let’s stop there for a second. This chapter is what is often referred to as milk. Real basic Christian Principles spelled out simply to avoid confusion as much as possible.

John starts out confirming what we know: They really saw Jesus before and after the Crucifixion. It’s not rumor its truth. They touched and Experienced the Power and Love of God manifested in His Only Begotten Son so that we might have fellowship- that is Koinonia,-that is partnership,- that is communion with God Our Father. They then proclaim this to you and to me and to the world so that you, me, and the world can have Koinonia with God and with each other.

Now, lets go back to 1^st John chapter 1 verse 5:”

⁵This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. ⁶If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; ⁷but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. ⁸If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. ⁹If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. ¹⁰If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.

Christ Is Our Advocate

¹My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an ^£Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; ²and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.

³By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. ⁴The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; ⁵but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him: ⁶the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.

⁷Beloved, I am not writing a new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning; the old commandment is the word which you have heard. ⁸On the other hand, I am writing a new commandment to you, which is true in Him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true Light is already shining. ⁹The one who says he is in the Light and yet hates his brother is in the darkness until now. ¹⁰The one who loves his brother abides in the Light and there is no cause for stumbling in him. ¹¹But the one who hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

¹²I am writing to you, little children, because your sins have been forgiven you for His name’s sake. ¹³I 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. ¹⁴I 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.

Do Not Love the World

¹⁵Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. ¹⁶For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. ¹⁷The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.

¹⁸Children, it is the last hour; and just as you heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have appeared; from this we know that it is the last hour. ¹⁹They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, so that it would be shown that they all are not of us. ²⁰But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you all know. ²¹I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it, and because no lie is of the truth. ²²Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son. ²³Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father; the one who confesses the Son has the Father also. ²⁴As for you, let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father.

The Promise Is Eternal Life

²⁵This is the promise which He Himself made to us: eternal life.

²⁶These things I have written to you concerning those who are trying to deceive you. ²⁷As for you, the anointing which you received from Him abides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you; but as His anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you abide in Him.

²⁸Now, little children, abide in Him, so that when He appears, we may have confidence and not shrink away from Him in shame at His coming. ²⁹If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone also who practices righteousness is born of Him.

Now that’s a lot of scripture to be reading for a single sermon but you have to admit it’s good stuff. John does a fairly good job of laying the important basics down. Here is the stuff that we all have to get a grip on before we worry about too much else. I feel myself that it is uniquely situated to us here. Because we Know all this. This isn’t knew to us. We just forget sometimes or we simply haven’t perfected yet in our lives.

Let me introduce you to another Greek word. I don’t know if I am pronouncing it correctly but where we have been seeing the word “abide” in our Bibles in the original manuscripts you would have seen the word:

menoô

men'-o

A primary verb; to stay (in a given place, state, relation or expectancy):—
abide, continue, dwell, endure, be present, remain, stand, tarry (for), X thine own.

We need to abide in Him and must let Him and His Anointing abide in us. This is not a temporary thing. This is not like putting a bottle of water in your backpack in case you need it. This is Blood. We need to treat our fellowship With God like the blood in our veins. You start to bleed the first thing you do is try to stop it. But its even more than that isn’t it? We often take our own blood for granted until its too late. Our abiding in Him and He in us should be not 2^nd nature to us but first. It should be a constant permanent thing. Always on our mind.

We have heard the phrase “…Too heavenly minded to be any Earthly good” haven’t we? But I have to wonder if its possible to be residing in the Lord and His anointing and not be any Earthly good. I don’t think so. Look at the life of Jesus. He was constantly interested in the well being of the people around Him. Friends family and even strangers were of such a concern that He was constantly turning aside to help people. We are a Church. This little building houses a group of people who get together for what purpose? Why are we here? To Worship the Lord? What do you mean by worship? Why here? why not at home in your closet? Are we here to learn more about God? Why not at home in your closet with your Bible? This Group of People Gather here in this little building because the Lord has drawn us together in Fellowship. It’s the same word Koinonia. Koinonia with God the Father and Koinonia with Each other through Him and by His Spirit. We are here so you can help me to walk in the path laid down by Jesus. I am here to do the same for you. We are here to do the same for our community and for the World. This little church building has housed a just a few people who already have touched the world over and over. As long as we abide every minute of every day In Jesus and the anointing of His Holy spirit; and as long as we don’t forget Koinonia with each other. Using the same spirit of Forgiveness and “givingness” with each other that Jesus uses with us. The kind of spirit that doesn’t rely on how well the other person is behaving but only relies on how we know we must behave if we are to abide in Him and He in Us.

Lets pray:

Answer to Ron

I recently was sent this question:

I know clearly how to get saved. Romans 10:9, but, what do you have to do to keep yourself saved. Unless it is "Once saved always saved" and no matter how evil of a life you live after that makes any difference.
If that is not the case then how do you know on a day by day, minute by minute basis that you are continually saved.
Ron

--
The first things that came to my mind when I read this was "Wow! What a great question! And then I thought: "I wish more people would ask that".

There are too many people in this United States of America and in this world that are under the impression that if they go to church on every Sunday then they are saved and going to heaven. There are too many people who think that just because they repeated a prayer they were told to pray as children that they are saved. These people may indeed be saved but whether they are or not has very little to do with one prayer or an hour in church.


The Gospel of Mathew chapter 7 verse 15 has Jesus saying:

15“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. 16You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? 17Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. 19Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20Therefore by their fruits you will know them.
21“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’
24“Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: 25and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.
26“But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: 27and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.”


Here we have Jesus Himself telling us that there will be people on Judgment day who will have cast out demons, prophesied, and done "wonders" in the Name of our Lord and yet will still be cast out. So how do we know? That would be the key word there wouldn't it? The word "Know".

Look at verse 23: "And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ The key phrase here is "...I never 'knew' you..." We're back to the Holy Trinity now, God the Father, Jesus the only begotten Son, and the Holy Spirit. They are Omnipotent and Omniscient. They are all powerful and They "Know" Everything. So how can Jesus say Depart from me I never "Knew" you?

John 3:16 says "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."

God "Loves" us. If you love someone what is it you want? You want to be with them all the time. You want to know what they think, what they want, what they need and what you can do to help them. I have counseled a young married woman who asked what do you do if you think you are falling out of love with your husband? I told her Love isn't just what you feel; it's what you do.

My life is all about my Loves. This blog, my work at church, the constant trying to get my life in accordance with God's scriptures is because I Love Him.
My place of employment, the place where I live, even the cars that I drive are because I love my wife. The things I do around the house are because I Love Her.

The time I spend with the kids, the school projects I help them with, is because I love my children. Love is what you do. If you aren't feeling the "love". Try doing more.
How do you know what to do? You have to get to “know” the person you "Love".

God loves us. He has done so many things for us and He keeps doing wonderful things for us. God "knows" everything but He also wants to "know" us in the same sense that we get to know a wife or a husband. Of course I'm not talking about a physical relationship but about a spiritual and mental one.

The Bible tells us we should pray without ceasing. The Old Testament tells of those few individuals who through their whole lives "walked with God". Think of what that means.

Ron asked how do we keep ourselves saved? Honestly I don't know if you can "lose your salvation". My opinion has always been that anyone who has lost their salvation probably never had it to begin with, but that is just my opinion and the scriptures aren't really clear on that point. I do know that if you aren't sure if you're saved, you probably aren't.

God wants a real relationship with you. That would be where you are talking to Him all the time and He's talking to you. It is possible and it will happen if you want it to. It isn't necessarily an audible Voice but you will know when God is speaking to you.

He will direct your life if you let Him but you have to seek Him out. He has gone to all the trouble of sending you a "love letter" how tacky would it be if we didn’t read it? The Bible is the greatest tool we have for coming to Know God -next to prayer. Prayer and the reading of scriptures will do more to change your life For The Better! Your life will be amazingly better when you start spending time with God in prayer and the reading of His word. I promise you.

Please understand, the prophecies and the "works" and the "wonders" they aren't things we do to earn salvation. We can't earn the Love of God. On the other hand when you truly love the Lord these become things you just do naturally. Like the fruit of a tree, it becomes a natural by-product of who we are. We can't be true Christians without doing these things because that's the kind of things we do. Doing those things however, doesn't automatically make us a Christian,

I mentioned that Love is what you "do". It has to be selfless. You do these things for the person you Love or at least want to love. Doing things for someone doesn't mean you love them, but they can help bring you to a place where you can. If you do love someone then you can't stop yourself from doing things for him or her.

All of the above just to get me to this answer to Ron's question:

If all you are after is "Fire insurance" then that isn't salvation. If you are trying to "earn" your way into salvation you can't. You need to Love Jesus.

You can't say you love someone if you don't know anything about them and you don't spend any time with them.

You can't say you love someone if you don't "Know" him or her. This doesn’t mean you have to be perfect.

On the contrary it is quite possible to be quite wicked and still be saved. It is a matter of your “heart”. What do you want to do? And what are you trying to do?

If you are really trying to Live for Jesus and really want to do as He commands then whatever mistakes we make along the way we can be forgiven for as we confess our sins before our maker.

If however you think you can say a quick prayer, get dumped in some water, and then go back to being as wicked as you please without worry of the coming judgment, you are mistaken.

Jesus says "...if you love me you will keep my commandments..." He then gave us this commandment: that we love one another.

If we wish to keep our salvation we need to "know" and love Jesus. If we "know" and Love God then we will also "Know" we have kept our salvation.

Make time in your life. Make knowing God the most important thing in your life. Make a special time for you and Him to be alone and then "Walk" with Him throughout your day. Everyday pray without ceasing.

I hope this answers your question Ron.

Numbers 6:24
Will

To Ron:

You have asked an excellent question. Check back for my answer!