Author: strengthforthebattle

1 Samuel 18:1 – 20:42 – Fame, foe, friend

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FAME – FOE – FRIEND

 

1 Samuel 18:1 – 20:42

 

INTRODUCTION.

It is said that  “A week is a long time in politics” – It is true of politics and it is true of life!

Our lives can be radically changed from one day to the next –

ILLUS.: One day you can be a young au pair caring for a baby the next you can be accused of murdering that baby. One day unknown – the next day seen by millions on TV. [Louise Woodward and the death of Matthew Eappen – British au pair working in USA – 1997 ]

One day you can be Prime minister – the next jobless!

Through tragedy or triumph life can radically change in moments!

David’s life had radically changed – one day he was a shepherd looking after sheep in the desert – the next day he had killed Goliath and become a national hero.

We could be forgiven for thinking that fame and success and popularity should be welcomed as friends. Was this for David the beginning of a comfortable and easy life at the palace? He had taken the risk in facing up to and killing Goliath and now he should receive his due reward?

We may be tempted to think that if we have served God in some way and sacrificed and taken risks in the process that somehow God now owns us! It is so easy for fame and success to go to our heads – even when doing God’s work!!

There are issues that confront David is these chapters (18 – 20) we are going to focus on three areas of life that David has to deal with FAME – FOE – FRIEND [with the major focus on friend]

 

1. FAME.

From the Time David was anointed by the prophet Samuel he knew he was going to be the next king of Israel. But before the Goliath incident, the question was whether he would be able to handle obscurity. He was appointed by God to be the king yet scarcely anyone knew – David had shown that he could handle obscurity and he did not try to force God’s hand but waited patiently for God’s timing.

As a result of the Goliath episode David is thrust into the limelight – the question now is… “How will he handle being a National hero?”

He went from unknown shepherd to national celebrity overnight!!

As a result he was given considerable leadership in Saul’s Army – the army officers respected him – the people loved him.

*How did David respond??

David’s fame and success did not go to his head – he did what the king asked of him – he didn’t boast about it – he did it diligently and skillfully – and most importantly he did it in dependence of God ~~ for we read on a number of occasions in these chapters  “ … and the Lord was with David.”

The people respected and loved David – and praised him highly …

1 Samuel 18:7 7 As they danced, they sang:

“Saul has slain his thousands,

and David his tens of thousands.” (NIV)

David’s acceptance by the people ~ his success in Battle ~ was not popular with everyone, namely King Saul!

2. FOE.

Saul’s problem was that he could not handle David’s success and popularity and he became extremely jealous and angry and full of hate.

The impact of the crowd’s song .. “Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands.”.. penetrated the marrow of Saul’s bones.  Saul must have thought to himself  “They will want to make him king next!” Everything that David did stirred up feelings of jealousy and suspicion in Saul.

Every report of David’s successes was evidence that God was with David and that he had abandoned Saul as King!

Saul was afraid because the people praised David more than Saul [18v7]

Saul was afraid because the Lord was with David [18v12]

Saul was afraid because David was successful [18v15]

Saul was afraid because his daughter, Michal, loved David [18v29]

Fear and hate and jealousy mixed together turned to violence and Saul tried to have David killed. He was in absolute turmoil —

ILLUS.: In the Book “The history of Mr Polly” by H G Wells he describes Mr Polly like this .. “He was not so much a human being as a civil war.”

That would be a good description of King Saul.

Saul was eaten up with destructive jealousy ..

1 Samuel 18:9-11 9 And from that time on Saul kept a jealous eye on David.

10 The next day an evil spirit from God came forcefully upon Saul. He was prophesying  [in this context – probably ecstatic utterances – not necessarily from God – here from the evil Spirit] in his house, while David was playing the harp, as he usually did. Saul had a spear in his hand 11 and he hurled it, saying to himself, “I’ll pin David to the wall.” But David eluded him twice. (NIV)

As we work our way through these chapters we see that these irrational outbursts escalated into cold-blooded, carefully calculated assassination plots ..

  • promised to marry his daughter, Merab, to David on condition he proved himself in battle – the plan was to expose him to so much danger that he would be killed. When David showed up alive, Merab was hastily married to another.
  • Michal, Saul’s other daughter, fell in love with David and Saul’s devilish mind set the obscene dowry of 100 Philistine foreskins – surely 100 chances for David to be killed – BUT when David showed up with two hundred [double the quota] Saul had no choice but to allow the marriage to go ahead.
  • The first attempt failing Saul sent hire killers stake out the house and  murder David ~ David escaped – the men went to get him and Michal told them he was sick in bed ~~ instead of barging in and killing him the men reported back to Saul the David was sick in bed and couldn’t come out to be murdered ~~ enraged he ordered David brought bed and all so he could kill David himself. BUT the occupant of the bed turn out to be a dummy with a goat-hair wig!!

David’s goodness and success was what nearly got him killed. Saul hated David because he was good!!

Saul was enflamed with jealousy.

There are two key lessons for us as we look at Saul’s envy of David:-

  1. When we, like David, have a heart for God – get on with doing good we can expect opposition and jealousy from others ~ even other Christians! We can sometimes thing that if we are serving Christ and his church we won’t face those kinds of problems BUT there will always be people who will try to cut you down or undermine your work.                                   If God does bless you and your efforts ~ have David’s attitude and don’t flaunt your success.
  2. Learn to deal with any root of bitterness/jealousy that may spring up when you see others prospering. It is so easy for us to fall into the trap of being jealous of those God is blessing or using other individuals of groups. Often manifests itself in and overly critical attitude – always questioning or being a wet-blanket. [However, doesn’t mean we must be naive and accept everything that is claimed to be of God!!]

What is David’s response to Saul’s aggression?

A glimpse of his attitude in … Psalm 37:1-4

1 [Of David.]

Do not fret because of evil men

or be envious of those who do wrong;

2 for like the grass they will soon wither,

like green plants they will soon die away.

3 Trust in the LORD and do good;

dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.

4 Delight yourself in the LORD

and he will give you the desires of your heart. (NIV)

When Jesus was on earth – he went about doing good; he above all others had a heart for God; his supreme desire was to please his Father in Heaven. Many responded to him with jealous anger and hatred and finally murder!!

Following Christ and doing good will not always bring earthly praise and reward!! Few people will pat you on the back for being a Christian.

In the midst of David’s difficulties God gave him a friend!!

3. FRIEND.

 

Jonathan’s friendship with David brackets Saul’s repeated attempts to kill David.

The story of their friendship begins with these words ..

1 Samuel 18:1 & 3

1 After David had finished talking with Saul, Jonathan became one in spirit with David, and he loved him as himself. ……… 3 And Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as himself.

Chapters 18 – 20 are filled with the details of Saul’s 6 attempts to murder David; 3x he tried to kill him with his own spear; 2x he lured him into almost certain death by sending him against the Philistines when offering his daughters as prizes ~ first Merab and then Michal; 1x he sent in a death squad to kill David in his own bed.

Each attempt failed because God was with David, protecting him ~ with the help of his friend/s.

As Jonathan helps David to escape from Saul at the end of Chapter 20 that closes the bracket on this period of David’s life at the palace and Saul’s attempts to murder him.

1 Samuel 20:42

42 Jonathan said to David, “Go in peace, for we have sworn friendship with each other in the name of the LORD, saying, ‘The Lord is witness between you and me, and between your descendants and my descendants for ever.’ ” Then David left, and Jonathan went back to the town. (NIV)

At a very difficult time in David’s life God supplies a very special friend.

They were soul-mates and their friendship was covenant based.

Friendship with David complicated Jonathan’s life. He risked losing his Father’s favour and he willingly sacrificed his own kingly future ~~ But in spite of the risks and the personal losses he became and stayed David’s friend.

True friendship is not superficial backslapping.

FIRSTLY, THEY WERE SOUL-MATES.

We have seen something of David’s heart for God but what of Jonathan?

True Piety. ~ we first meet Jonathan in Ch. 14. where he and his amrourbearer take on and beat a host of Philistines. BUT listen to where his confidence lies…

1 Samuel 14:6

6 Jonathan said to his young armour-bearer, “Come, let’s go over to the outpost of those uncircumcised fellows. Perhaps the LORD will act on our behalf. Nothing can hinder the LORD from saving, whether by many or by few.” (NIV)

He has a great sense of trust in God – he is utterly and completely convinced of the power of God. And when he hears David say regarding Goliath “The battle is the Lord’s” he is drawn to him as one who trusts God as he does!

Humility ~ Saul was threatened that he would lose his throne to David ~ but listen to Jonathan on the same subject .. 1 Samuel 23:17 17 “Don’t be afraid,” he said. “My father Saul will not lay a hand on you. You shall be king over Israel, and I will be second to you. Even my father Saul knows this.” (NIV)

Jonathan is committed to God ~ God puts up kings and brings them down ~ he is humble enough to depend on God whether he is king or David is king.

We see the same humble attitude in David when he is offered the kings daughter in marriage ..

1 Samuel 18:18

18 But David said to Saul, “Who am I, and what is my family or my father’s clan in Israel, that I should become the king’s son-in-law?” (NIV)

Loyalty ~ In the end David had to flee for his life and would might have expected Jonathan to go with him BUT he doesn’t. He remains with His father, king Saul.

Why? Because he is enamoured with his father? NO! BUT he believed that his father needed him more than David.

Later when David had opportunity to kill Saul – he refused ~ they both had a deep sense of loyalty to this demented king.

Here are two people whose souls are drawn together in deep friendship. David describes his friendship with Jonathan .. 2 Samuel 1:26

26 I grieve for you, Jonathan my brother; you were very dear to me.

Your love for me was wonderful, more wonderful than that of women. (NIV)

Some in contemporary society try to identify this as a homosexual relationship. Those who do that totally defy the heart of the scriptures as well as reveal their own twisted morality. There is not the slightest shred of evidence that any sexual impropriety existed in the friendship of David and Jonathan!

The secret of this deep soul friendship is that they both possessed and heart for God.

The secret of a lasting and deep friendship is not simply to look for someone like yourself BUT to develop a heart for God and to seek others with a similar desire.

ILLUS.: People in our society are crying out for these deep relationships ~ Why are there so many dating agencies and Lonely Hearts Clubs ~ People looking for the perfect partner ~ disappointed over and over again.

WHY? because so many are selfish grabbing acquaintances – taking what you can get – pleasing self …

Young people ~ as you look for a marriage partner in the future ~ even now deciding who you will date Look for the qualities you see in David and Jonathan – Develop a heart for God yourself and look for a friend who also has a heart for God. You will never have a good marriage without a good friendship!!

SECONDLY, THEIR FRIENDSHIP WAS COVENANT BASED.

Their friendship was based on more than just similar qualities of character ~ they made a covenant / a pact of friendship. A deep sense of promise and commitment and loyalty.

The people of Israel understood covenant ~ God had promised that he would be their God – he took the initiative –  and the people responded by saying that they would be his people.

Jonathan took the initiative in the pact with David ~ there was a huge difference in their social status ~ Jonathan was a Prince – David was a shepherd.

They made a covenant and stuck to it whatever the cost ~ In ch.20 when David is afraid to go to the palace feast, Jonathan sticks out his neck for his friend and defends David to hid father ~ Saul gets so angry that he tries to kill his own son. Jonathan was willing to risk his life for David – that was the price of friendship.

Jonathan gave his friendship willingly ~ I can’t demand friendship ~ we can’t choose who our loyal friends will be.

You can choose to be a friend BUT you can’t choose to have a friend. Your friends will choose to be your friends.

Jonathan lived out his covenantal friendship with David in the hostile environment of Saul’s court. His difficult circumstances didn’t cancel out his covenant promises ~

Isn’t that the kind of commitment we need today in our marriages, our workplace, our church life ~~ where it is commitment and not circumstances that determine our friendship and loyalty!!

It is customary for friends to give gifts – it was so in OT times – ..

1 Samuel 18:4 4 Jonathan took off the robe he was wearing and gave it to David, along with his tunic, and even his sword, his bow and his belt. (NIV)

.. tangible evidence of friendship ~ not just words. These things were the symbols of his status and the King’s son and he gave them to David. All that he was and all that he could do he placed at the disposal of his friend, for he loved him as he loved himself.

Prince Jonathan ~~ The Prince of Glory took the initiative and came down to this world to us ~ he made an offer of friendship and commitment to you and to me ~ by his death he gave tangible evidence of his loyalty to the covenant which he sealed with his own blood.

His friendship his covenant friendship – he swears never to leave us or forsake us. He covers us with his protective royal clothing ~ his righteousness. He gives us his sword – the word of God ……..

John 15:13-14 13 Greater love has no-one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command. (NIV)

Jesus showed covenant-friendship by giving his life ~~ he calls us to respond by obeying his commands.

FINDING A FRIEND.

Proverbs 18:24

24 ….. there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. (NIV)

For the Christian that friend is the Lord Jesus Christ – make sure your relationship with him is strong – give him control of your live, once and for all and every day.

Then turn your attention to developing earthly friendships.

What qualities do you have that others would want to have in common with you?

What initiatives are you taking?

If you would have friends you must show yourself friendly!!

“Reach out to people ~~ not to advance your position BUT to advance their condition.” [Briscoe]

When it comes to the fellowship of God’s people in the Church —

  • Do you have anything in common with other believers?
  • Who are the Christians with whom you spend time?
  • Are you committed to the body of Christ, the Church? This local church!!! BINSCOMBE!

You say….

“Well I don’t have anybody. Nobody has shown me any interest.”

Turn around and ask yourself …

“What initiatives have I taken to look out for other people.”

MEN esp….

The story of David and Jonathan is one of manly faith, masculine courage and deep love “Are you reaching out to other men?”

We need deep commitment to each other if the church is going to be strong. Satan will attack us ~~ “Will our friendship in Christ last the distance??”

ILLUS. People say … “I stopped going to that Church!”

WHY?

I didn’t get anything out of it.”

Is that why we come to Church – to get something out!

I thought we went to put something in – service – worship – friendship!!

“Well I don’t get involved in that sort of thing?”

WHY NOT?

“Well it doesn’t meet my needs.”

Should we not go as a Jonathan to a David to address HIS needs.

What about the commitment made to the Church? spouse? children?

The stuff of which spirituality is made is communion with Christ worked out in the nitty-gritty of everyday life.

When David was up against it he had a Jonathan ~ God’s provision ~ who took the initiative and committed to him and ministered to him.

Jesus is the ultimate friend to us.

What he asks of us is to be friends ~ soul-mates ~ covenant friends to others.

You can’t be that deep friend to everybody BUT are you being that friend to somebody??

 

FAME – FOE – FRIEND – SUMMARY

1 Samuel 18:1 – 20:42

 1. FAME.

  • David had learned to handle obscurity
  • Now he is tested in the limelight of popularity

 2. FOE.

  • ‘A heart for God’ and doing good will often bring opposition and hostility
  • Beware of jealousy and bitterness when others succeed or prosper

 3. FRIEND.

  • Soul mates

– piety  – humility  – loyalty

  • Covenant commitment

            – pact / promise / practical commitment

                              NOT

              sentiment / fantasy / empty words

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 “…there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.”

                                                                                Proverbs 18:24

 JESUS  —“Greater love has no-one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command.”                                           John 15:13-14

 

1 Samuel 16:4 – 17:58 – Fighting giants and other battles!

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FIGHTING GIANTS AND OTHER BATTLES!

 

1 Samuel 16v4 – 17v58.

 

INTRODUCTION.

As people we are so impressed by appearance – we are impressed by size, style, monetary value etc..

ILLUS.: Some time ago I was watching ‘TOP GEAR’ a TV programme about motor cars – they had three cars on show with all badges and names covered – people had to choose which one they preferred. The one that came out on top was revealed to be the new ‘Skoda’ at which point most of those who had choosen it said they would not buy it – WHY? because  driving a Skoda is not particularly stylist nor would it enhance one’s status to say “Well, I drive a Skoda!”

So it is with sport, intellect, music, money, class, career ….

Negatively we are fearful, sceptical, angry at a person or groups because of what we observe outwardly. We make judgements based on what we observe – the criterea being, appearance, ability, social class, financial status, job description.

So people have very negative / even fearful feelings towards Social Services, NHS, Church — sometimes irrartional but very real nevertheless!!

The Armies of Israel were gathered against the army of the Philistines – at the valley of Elah – what the saw and heard made them fearful. They only saw the external.

The story of David and Goliath is one of the most well known stories of all time.

It is a story the touches a cord in most hearts – we love to see the underdogs take on and beat the Goliaths of this world

ILLUS.: When a small trader is being pushed out by one of the Big Boys and  takes on the big Conglomerate and  wins — it warms my heart!

David took on Goliath and won!!!

Let us not run ahead of ourselves – Where has David been since he was anointed by Samuel the prophet to be the future king of Israel?

  • First off, David goes back to his sheep – gets on with his job awaiting God’s direction.
  • Meanwhile, Saul’s life is in ruins, the Spirit of God has left him in his role as king. As a result Saul has black moods – his servants suggest some music to help him feel better [16v16] – did no one mention that he needed to call on God for mercy and forgivenness for his sin!!
  • Someone knows about David’s musical skills and he is summoned to the palace – what better place to learn about ‘raoyal life’ than in a palace. God has a wonderfaul way of maniplulating our lives to get us the experience and and training we need to do his work.
  • So here we have “A king -(elect) – serving a KING” – After this time at the palace David returns to his sheep.

The period of David’s preparation in seclusion is about to end – In Ch. 17 with the Goliath incident David is thrust in to the public arena.

FACING A GIANT.

SETTING.

The Valley of Elah is not a narrow ravine but more like a wide canyon – about a mile wide – in some places even wider. In the moddle was a streambed where David gathered his 5 stones – on each side half-mile slopes where the opposing armies camped.

It was not uncommon for battles to be decided by representatives from each army facing each other in one-to-one combat. This was the Philistine challenge to Israel – they had a secret weapon named Goliath – the envy of any professional basketball team!!. Goliath’s armour and weaponry was comsiderable – he was a walking war machine.

His challenge was to any Israeli soldier to come and fight him.

You would have thought that that task would have fallen to king Saul – while not a giant – we do know that he stood head and shoulders above his fellow countrymen.

For 40 days Goliath had challenged army of Israel …

1 Samuel 17:8-11 & 16

8 Goliath stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, “Why do you come out and line up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not the servants of Saul? Choose a man and have him come down to me. 9 If he is able to fight and kill me, we will become your subjects; but if I overcome him and kill him, you will become our subjects and serve us.” 10 Then the Philistine said, “This day I defy the ranks of Israel! Give me a man and let us fight each other.” 11 On hearing the Philistine’s words, Saul and all the Israelites were dismayed and terrified.

……………..

16 For forty days the Philistine came forward every morning and evening and took his stand.

The Valley of Elah was a couldron of fear and hate and arrogance – a leathal brew of emotion stirred up for nearly 6 weeks.

It is into this situation that David – the shepherd – is sent by his father who is anxious about his other sons fighting in Saul’s army. Rather not fighting but paralysed with fear!!

1. David sees the same facts but views them differently.

When David arrives at the army camp and hears and sees Goliath – he  sees exactly what everyone else sees. An arrogant giant, armed to the teeth, spoiling for a fight – fluanting his size and his strength and daring anyone to take him on – day in and day out.

That is what giants are like – fear / worry for example!! they come day after day / morning and evening – relentless, intimidating. They come in the form of a person / a pressure / a worry  hammering away at us – yelling across our personal valley. They are usually bullies!!

Goliath was a bully – intimidating, arrogant, full of himself. He dominated the scene – 9”9’ tall twirling his 25lb spear like a matchstick – provoking, taunting, teasing — he dominated centre stage.

David enters the scene – sees the same outward circumstances but he has been given the ability to see as God sees and he is neither impressed nor intimidated. No matter how big the giant, God is greater. No matter how strong the giant, God is all-powerful.

David saw the facts that everyone else saw but he viewed them differently!

His brothers, Saul and the army thought Goliath could not possibly lose. David thought Goliath could not possibly win.

The people and Saul react with fear.

David reacts with indignation … 1 Samuel 17:26

26 David asked …………. Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?” (NIV)

In the hills of Bethlehem, looking after sheep, David had learnt something about God – about the greatness of God and closeness of fellowship with God – we see it in the psalms. He has experienced the strength of God in protecting the sheep from lions and bears. His praying, singing, meditation, adoration had so shaped his understanding that God was more real to him than the sheep or the lion or the bear.

How real is God to you and me? When we face ‘goliaths’ in our lives – are we intimidated and paralysed by fear OR can we look to Jesus and say with the apostle Paul .. Philippians 4:13 13 I can do everything through him [Christ] who gives me strength.

David’s heart was so God- dominated that he could not believe what he saw when he arrived at the Israelites army base – ‘goliath-fear, goliath-phobia’ – it was an epidemic!!

BUT David’s God-inspired response is Who is this uncircumcised Philistine.

2. David faces hostility from within the camp.

The saying “With friends like that who needs enemies!”  certainly was applicable to David that day.

His brother, Eliab, was not very encouraging to put it mildly. David has just brought his brothers gifts BUT they treated him with utter contempt – He receives most discouragement from within his own family.

Listen… 1 Samuel 17:28

28 When Eliab, David’s oldest brother, heard him speaking with the men, he burned with anger at him and asked,  –

  • questions his purpose for coming  “Why have you come down here? —  —
  • questions his sense of responsibility And with whom did you leave those few sheep in the desert? —
  • questions his character I know how conceited you are —-
  • questions his inner motives and how wicked your heart is; —–
  • questions his intention to fight Goliath you came down only to watch the battle.” (NIV)

It is easy to see why Eliab was not anointed as future king!!

Like all coward he likes to have a joke at someone else’s expense – he doesn’t have the courage to face Goliath himself but he is quick to point an accusing finger. It is often the case that those quick to point to other’s sins are really not willing to face up to their own.

David could have reacted to this slanderous attack BUT all he does is protest and then walk away!!

1 Samuel 17:29-30

29 “Now what have I done?” said David. “Can’t I even speak?” 30 He then turned away to someone else and brought up the same matter, and the men answered him as before. (NIV)

He doesn’t retaliate nor allow the criticism to get to him – to distract his purpose!

3. David uses Spiritual logic rather than human, logic.

 

In the providence of God David’s inquiries get to the ears of the King and he is summoned – Saul doen’t recognise the boy who played the harp in the palace. Maybe David has added a few years and grown a beard since they last met.

BUT David is still young and inexperienced in battle.

Saul is understandably sceptical that this young, inexperienced youth could take on an beat Goliath – I mean crazy, isn’t it!!

1 Samuel 17:32-33

32 David said to Saul, “Let no-one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him.”

33 Saul replied, “You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a boy, and he has been a fighting man from his youth.” (NIV)

By the standards of human logic Saul is absolutely right. You are just a kid – still wet behind the ears.

David uses spiritual logic to comvince Saul … 1 Samuel 17:37 37 The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.”

Saul said to David, “Go, and the LORD be with you.” (NIV)

David has know God’s help before – his logic is based on his knowledge of God.

He remembers the victories of the past — we are so prone to forget what God has done before and we tend to relive our failures.

BUT David, based on his knowledge of God, has assurance of faith.

2 Corinthians 1:10 10 He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, (NIV)

4. David starts in faith and continues in Faith.

Saul doesn’t have too many options so he agrees to allow David to fight Goliath BUT with some advise from him.

Isn’t ir amazing how often the one’s not willing to do the job are the ones who have the most advice to give.

ILLUS. Listen to a bunch of men watching a football/rugby match – they all know how the game should be played.

“Wear my armour!” says Saul.

What a joke – Saul is a 52 long and David is a 36 regular.

He must have looked a sight – like a tortoise with an oversized shell!!

It was not easy for David to refuse Saul’s help – to walk away – BUT to have worn Saul’s armour would have been a disaster.

Wearing borrowed armour always is.

So David goes to face Goliath – dressed as a shepherd with a sling and 5 stones!!

1 Samuel 17:40 40 Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine. (NIV)

5. David’s battle is between worldly confidence and godly faith.

Goliath must have thought this was a real joke – he was going to feed this little shrimp to the birds. He is so cocky – confidence in his own ability.

This is so typical of worldly wisdom – we have all the answers – we can fight our own battle – who needs God and all the religious stuff.

We as God’s people are often faced with this arrogant, self-confident world. We get intimadated, our knees knock, we focus on the odds against us and we forget to pray.

I wonder what God must think when he has said, “My power is available. There is no one on earth greater. You trust me!.”

David is not self-confident or trying to impress – Saul or Israel or even God.

Goliath relishes victory  BUT David relishes the name of His God been better known throughout the world.

David also knows that the battle is not his but God’s … 1 Samuel 17:47 47 All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the LORD saves; for the battle is the LORD’s, and he will give all of you into our hands.” (NIV)

This is also a battle between God’s chosen people and those who oppose that God of Israel. That Day in the Valley of Elah there were the arrogant, bullying people of Philistia and the demoralised and anxious people of Israel. On the one side there was a powerful but stupid giant and on the other an anointed but deeply flawed and frighten king.

No one dreamed the the shepherd picking up stones in the streambed was going to do the most significant work of the day!! David calm and confident in his! God.

Suddenly the giant is dead – the Philistines are routed! God has executed a victoy at the hands of a man whose faith and hope of salvation was in God alone!

The only one who really had a grip on the situation that day was David – everyone else was focusing on the giant – their horizons were filled with Goliath – David’s focus was on God – Goliath was not centred stage for David.

WHAT ABOUT US >>>

3000 years after David — 2000 years after Jesus Died and arose again!!

David prefigures Jesus – David had a heart for God but he had feet of clay – as we will see later. BUT Jesus was the man who truly and completely and perfectly had a heart for God.

He, far more than David, is our conquering hero – he slew the giants of sin / death / hell — as the Israelites rallied to faith because of the faith of David so we are called to live by faith in Christ.

Galatians 2:20 20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (NIV)

He calls us to be ‘kings’ in Christ – dealing with the goliaths of life by faith because we know our God and can see the challenges and problem of life with the eye of faith.

I don’t know what intimidating gaint you are facing today.

Maybe it relates to your school / job / college ….

Maybe it is a person / unemployment / a difficult marriage / an illness / lonliness / the prospect of singleness / …

Maybe it is some fear lurking deep in your heart, sapping your energy, draining your faith.

God is saying to you right now “All I ask of you is 5 stones and a sling of faith” — “I’ll accomplish the victory – you don’t have to wear someone else’s armour – or be concerned with jealous criticism – I’ll get you through and I’ll get the glory – YOU JUST TRUST ME!! ”

Maybe you don’t know what lies across the valley. You don’t know waht the gaint is – but you are plagued with uncertainty. That is a giant in itself!!

Whatever the giant maybe – compare it to God himself and say in faith “The battle is yours, Lord! I give myself to you! I’ll trust you!”

So often we want God to kill the giant before we will trust HIM!  BUT if we want to be like David, with a heart for God, we must learn to trust. Goliath wasn’t the first challenge David faced in his life and he wasn’t the last.

Sometimes God allows us to face giant to strip us of our self-confidence and arrogance and to bring us to a place where we will trust him. Not him plus … !

He wants us to come to him with all our fears, problems, worries, even our confusion.

Remember that “The Battle is the Lord’s!” and Jesus has already won the victory!!

 

FIGHTING GIANTS AND OTHER BATTLES! – SUMMARY

1 Samuel 17:1 – 58.

 

 1. David sees the same facts but views them differently.  [v 4 – 26]

 2. David faces hostility from within the camp.  [v 28 – 30]

 3. David uses spiritual logic rather than human logic. [ 31 – 37]

 4. David starts in faith and continues in faith. [v 38 – 40]

5. David’s battle is between worldly confidence and godly faith. [v 41 – 51]

 

1 Samuel 16: 1-13 – Having a heart for God

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HAVING A HEART FOR GOD!

 

1 Samuel 16:1-13.

 

ILLUS.: In the year 1809 world attention – at least Western world – was focused on Napoleon marching across Austria. One village and town after another were falling before his armies.

During that same year thousands of babies were born in Britain and America but who cared about bottles, nappies and cradles with such momentous event going on in Europe.

In that same year William Gladstone was born in Liverpool. Alfred Tennyson began life in Lincolnshire. Edgar Alan Poe was born in Boston. Charles Robert Darwin wore his first nappy and in a little log cabin in Hardin County, Kentucky, an illiterate labourer and his wife named their newborn son Abraham Lincoln.

The lives of these men would have a dramatic effect on the coming century and beyond – But nobody cared about these babies while Napoleon was marching through Austria – yet today only historians could name one of the battles Napoleon fought in Austria. However there are few people today whose lives have not been touched by the men mentioned above. The babies – the nobodies in 1809.

Israelites living in Palestine in about 1030 -1020 BC were focused on a man named Saul, the first king of Israel. He was leading the nation – winning battles – meanwhile a young lad named David was looking sheep. a young lad nobody noticed – nobody that is, except God.

At SGM – who made the headlines today? Isn’t it politicians, generals, CEO’s of big plc’s., who change the world?

NO! God’s people are agents for change – they only have a message that changes the heart.

David was an agent for change in his day AND to this day – the psalms he wrote are still read and sung by millions of people around the world.

David is called a “man after God’s heart” 1 Sam.13:14 Acts 13:22

WHY?

Because David’s life was perfect and polished and sophisticated? Because he had arrived and is an example of a perfect follower of God? NO! But because in David we have a man grappling with life – having the rough edges rubbed off – a man who is alive to God. And we are never more alive than when/until we are dealing with God.

David’s life teaches us about many things:- friends and enemies, lovers, children, wives, parents, danger, pride, humiliation; death, sickness, sexuality; justice, peace, worship — but always in the midst of all these things and people it is God with whom we have to do!!

David’s story is a down-to-earth story. It deals with David as a Man after God’s heart in the rough and tumble of everyday life. David is not some sanctimonious super-saint – he is a shepherd, a warrior, a friend, a husband, a lover, a sinner, a king, a father, a musician, a poet, a worshipper of God.

1. THE MATTER OF THE HEART.

Our Western way of thinking the heart is the seat of the emotions – the symbol of the heart is strongly linked with romantic love.

But in scripture the heart refers to that inner part of us designed to discern the truth, to represent our inner being, to be the spiritual epicentre of our lives.

We use the word heart to refer to far more than a collection of ventricles, values and veins!!          Examples:–

  • someone is good at heart
  • we learn things by heart
  • someone courageous has a heart of steel
  • urging someone to be compassionate we say, ‘Have a heart’
  • to desire to achieve something ‘we set our hearts on it’
  • if we take something seriously ‘we take it to heart’
  • open and transparent ‘she wears her heart on her sleeve’

These are very close to the biblical symbols – the heart as the real person – the centre of being.

We are told “Love the lord your God with all your heart…” –

What does David’s life teaches us about the kind of heart that pleases God?

2. WHAT IS GOD AFTER?

 

Saul failed as king and God has dispatched Samuel to Bethlehem to anoint a king elect – one of the sons of Jesse – but he wasn’t told which one. Samuel is afraid of what Saul might do if he finds out but he obeys God anyway!

But he didn’t allow opposition to stop him obeying God – nor must we!!

David knows nothing about these goings on. He is simply getting on with what he should be getting on with – faithfully doing his job – keeping sheep!

Samuel arrives at Jesse’s home and 7 sons are paraded before Samuel. … So exhibit A is passed over and so on to Exhibit G – 7 sons. Was Samuel panicking at this point – there was no one else in the queue!!

And so David is called from the field – he wasn’t thought worth considering by his Father who had to be prompted to remember that he did have another son – a youngster – a nobody! …….. David is duly anointed as King-elect.

What made David useful for God’s service? What makes anyone useful for God’s service?

A glimpse from David’s later writings…

Psalm 139:23-24 23 Search me, O God, and know my heart;

test me and know my anxious thoughts.

24 See if there is any offensive way in me,

and lead me in the way everlasting. (NIV)

David wanted his heart to be openly transparent before God. “Search my heart, Know my heart. Test me. Try me.”

That is why God chose Jesse’s son no. 8 – he may have been a kid looking after sheep BUT God saw his heart.

A Lesson for Samuel [and us] ….

1 Samuel 16:7  But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” (NIV)

By the way … God is not against externals. He is all for beauty but he is never misled by it. David was a handsome young man BUT that didn’t determine he was to be king.

Something we have to learn in our modern day is that internals are more important than externals. We live in the age of image / packaging… Whether it is pineapples or politicians – the presentation / the image is all-important.

ILLUS. – Politicians have teams of spin-doctors and image-makers working for them.

Even in the supermarket the fruit and veg. has to be the right size / shape / colour – it doesn’t seem to matter that they may be full of pesticides / herbicides / fungicides that could damage your health — so long as they look good!!

Image / marketing is good if there is substance behind the image – eg. SGM trendy materials!!

Put another way God is far more concerned with character than he is about reputation. Doesn’t mean that he is not concerned about our reputation BUT he is more interested in our character.

Reputation is about what people think of us // what we are able to project about ourselves // and what others perceive us to be.

Character is what God knows we are like // it is what we are when no one is watching. ILL: English Gentleman – uses a butter-knife even when dining alone!

“We can package, we can perform, we can project, we can promote, we can pretend. “ [Briscoe] BUT God sees right through all that into our hearts and minds – he sees our character. He looks at the heart.

God is not looking for us to be perfect – he knows that he won’t find a perfect person. BUT he is looking for a heart that is honest, that is genuine, that is repentant.

We can so easily slide into consumer Christianity – What is in it for me?  BUT do I have a heart for God? – his agneda!

3. A HEART FOR GOD: DAVID’S EXAMPLE.

The qualities of a godly heart.

SPIRITUALITY – What does it mean to “be a man/woman after God’s heart”? – a person whose life is in harmony with the God. What is important to God is important to you. What burdens God, burdens you.

Someone whose heart is completely God’s …

2 Chronicles 16:9 9 For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him….

 

HUMILITY – a humble heart …

1 Samuel 16:1   1 The LORD said to Samuel, “How long will you mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and be on your way; I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem. I have chosen one of his sons to be king.” (NIV)

Long before Samuel went to Jesse’s house, God had visited and he saw the youngest son and said “That is my man!”

WHY?? He saw a heart completely his – a boy faithfully keeping his father’s sheep – he saw a humble servant heart.

A servant – a genuine servant is not concerned about self-glory but the glory of the one served.

INTEGRITY –

Psalm 78:71-72             71 from tending the sheep he brought him to be the shepherd of his people Jacob, of Israel his inheritance. 72 And David shepherded them with integrity of heart; with skilful hands he led them. (NIV)

many synonyms for the Heb. word. — wholesome, innocent, having simplicity of life, sound.  i.e. honest to the core!!

Our world tells us “As long as you can make a good impression!!” — write a glowing CV and project a good image at interview – that’s all you need to do!!  NOT with God – you can’t pretend with Him.

The preparation of a godly heart.

God was training David right from the beginning – and David was willing to learn! — in solitude and obscurity — through monotony and reality!

SOLITUDE – nature was David’s teacher on the rugged hills near Bethlehem were he looked after the sheep – on the cold nights and the scorching hot days – through wind and rain. And David was alone with the sheep & with God.

We are so quick to fill our lives with noise! The radio / TV always on /  — If we can’t stand to be alone with ourselves and with God, maybe there are deep unresolved problems.

OBSCURITY – God doesn’t prepare his men and women in the limelight – but in obscurity…

Joseph – for years a slave in Egypt  – then Prime Minister.

Moses 40 years in the desert – then led Israel the next 40.

Jesus first 30 years in a backwater of Palestine – then 3 years of public ministry.

Paul 10 years in obscurity before God began to use him.

If we can’t be a man or woman of God in private and in obscurity we will never do it in Public.

MONOTONY – many Christians want one exciting experience after another – not interested in the mundane or ordinary! BUT God looks for faithfulness in the ordinary, the routine, the insignificant, the uneventful, daily tasks of life. Life without a break — just plain L-I-F-E. ILL: It is not the Mt.tops but the valleys that are fertile!!

David was faithful – day in and day out looking after a bunch of sheep!!

Are we faithful in the daily things! The boring things! Getting on with the job when no one is around / when no one sees / when no one even cares!! God sees!!

REALITY – David didn’t sit on a hilltop in a dreamy haze playing a harp. He faced the dangers and realities of shepherd life.

He didn’t suddenly become the great warrior when he face Goliath in ch.17.

He had face other realities before Goliath!!

1 Samuel 17:34-35 34 But David said to Saul, “Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. {SOLITUDE, OBSUCRITY, MONOTONY} When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, {REALITY} 35 I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. (NIV)

 

It is in the little things and in the lonely places that God is building our character! – he is never in a hurry!

After David was anointed it was another 13 years before he became king. [20 for all Israel] All that time God was at work in his heart!

God looks at us and says. “You are mine! I want to use you. Because you proved yourself faithful there.” Our calling is to be faithful in the demanding tasks whether that is, at home, in our marriage, our jobs, or just the daily grind of life!

God delights in taking the nobodies of this world and making them in ‘His-bodies’ Men and women who have hearts after God’s heart!! Is it that we develop a heart for God OR that God sets his heart on us?? Both God chose David — and David chose to respond to God!!

God is not looking for perfect people – just people with a heart for him. You may not be in The Times headlines BUT if you are God’s person – living for him – having a heart for him THEN your influence in the world for good is great!

SGM’s publications contain more good news than all the Newspaper combined! AND they, not tabloids or broad-sheets, have the potential to change the world!

 

HAVING A HEART FOR GOD.

 

1 Samuel 16:1-13.

 

HISTORICAL SETTING.

      late 11thC BC

      Saul is king of Israel

            – the nations first king

             – starts well but fails

      Samuel the prophet instructed by God to anoint another king

 

1. THE MATTER OF THE HEART.

      our inner being

      our spiritual epicentre

 

2. WHAT IS GOD AFTER?

      internals rather than externals

      character rather than reputation

 

3. A HEART AFTER GOD: David’s example.

      Qualities of a godly heart

            – Spirituality, humility, integrity

      Preparation of a godly heart

             – solitude        – obscurity

              – monotony    – reality

      Response of a godly heart

            patience –  waiting for God’s timing

            faithfulness – commitment to the task at hand

1 Samuel 13 & 15 – It’s not just how you start, it’s how you finish

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IT’S NOT (just) HOW YOU START, IT’S HOW YOU FINISH!

 

1 Samuel 13 and 15 (The reasons for Saul’s downfall)

 

INTRODUCTION.

ILLUS.: When I was younger 100 – 400 m runner – Sprinter.

Comrade’s Marathon 50 miles – from sea-level to 2000 feet – a grueling race run each year between Durban and Pietermaritzburg. ~ approx. 20,000 athletes. Many train well and pace themselves but there are always some you steam off and a great pace and with draw not long into the race.

Life is like a marathon rather than a sprint – that is equally true if not more true for the Christian life. NT tells us that we are to “run the race set before us” – to “train like good athletes” – not to get “weary in doing good” – to “perserve to the end”.

God doesn’t want people who dip into spiritual things occassionally  with a short burst of enthusiasm that don’t last – he is not against enthusiasm so long as it is part of a long-haul life and not a here-today-gone-tomorrow spirituality.

In so many areas of life people start well – but sadly they finish badly or not at all.

As the song goes “It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish”

Saul is a prime example of a man who starts well and has great promise but who fails to reach his God-given potential. It is one of the most dismal stories in the Bible. I believe God placed it in the Bible as a stark warning to us as to how NOT to live our lives.

1. SAUL’S WONDERFUL EARLY PROSPECTS.

When we first meet Saul in the pages of scripture he is tall, handsome and strong – he is  humble and has a servant heart.

He was approved by God and accepted by the people.

a) Chosen .

1 Samuel 10:24 24 Samuel said to all the people, “Do you see the man the LORD has chosen? There is no-one like him among all the people.”

Then the people shouted, “Long live the king!” (NIV)

He led the people well – he was successful on the battlefield – he was compassionate in his treatment of his fellow Israelites and didn’t allow his power to go to his head.

It was God’s purpose to use Saul as a responsible leader for Israel.

1 Samuel 10:1   1 Then Samuel took a flask of oil and poured it on Saul’s head and kissed him, saying, “Has not the LORD anointed you leader over his inheritance? (NIV)

The tragedy of Saul is while he knew God had great plans for him, he allowed his own selfishness to rob him of the greater joy of pleasing God. We will see why is a moment!!

Saul’s life had great possibilities – useful possibilities for God but it was spoiled by the pursuit of uslelsss things.

God’s plan is that every one of us can be useful in his kingdom but self-centredness and disobedience rob us of that privelege.

b) Equipped.

Saul never failed because God asked him to do something that was beyond him. God never asks us to do anything without supplying us with the where-with-all to do it. The provision is not always given in advance nor do we have reserve supplies.

ILLUS.: Contact principle – in Lisbon where we lived – 1989/90 – electric trams – ocassionally a contact would come loose from the over-head cables – the tram driver would use a long pole to retrun the contact pole to the cable – no power without contact.

So too spiritual life – on the contact principle – with God through the Spirit – NOT the storage principle

1 Samuel 9:2 2 He had a son named Saul, an impressive young man without equal among the Israelites — a head taller than any of the others. (NIV)

He was physically equipped for the task….

1 Samuel 9:27 27 As they were going down to the edge of the town, Samuel said to Saul, “Tell the servant to go on ahead of us” — and the servant did so — “but you stay here awhile, so that I may give you a message from God.” (NIV)

He was spiritually equipped — and disciplined to hear the word of God!

1 Samuel 10:6&10  (Samuel speaking) 6 The Spirit of the LORD will come upon you in power, and you will prophesy with them; and you will be changed …….. 10 When they arrived at Gibeah, a procession of prophets met him; the Spirit of God came upon him in power, and he joined in their prophesying. (NIV)

Why did Saul have this dramatic experience – firstly to show him prove to him that God was with him and secondly, to authenticate his kingship to the people – remember that they had never had a king before.

In the beginning Saul concerned himself with spiritual things and listening to the word of God – mainly through Samuel the prophet – but sadly things started to go wrong when Saul thought his views were more important than God’s instruction.

What was it that caused Saul to fail – after all David sinned as we know – he was a ‘man after God’s heart’ – what was it about Saul’s sin that was so different as to cause God to reject him.

2. SAUL’S WILFUL CHARACTER TRAITS

Following the story from 13v8ff – we see a number of Saul’s characteristics that got out of hand and caused his downfall as King.

a) Impatient.

Samuel tha prophet had told Saul to wait for him at Gilgal – and Samuel would come and offer sacrifices to the Lord.

1 Samuel 13:7-12 …..

Saul remained at Gilgal, and all the troops with him were quaking with fear. 8 He waited for seven days, the time set by Samuel; but Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and Saul’s men began to scatter. 9 So he said, “Bring me the burnt offering and the fellowship offerings.” And Saul offered up the burnt offering. 10 Just as he finished making the offering, Samuel arrived, and Saul went out to greet him.

11 “What have you done?” asked Samuel.

Saul replied, “When I saw that the men were scattering, and that you did not come at the set time, and that the Philistines were assembling at Michmash, 12 I thought, ‘Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not sought the LORD’s favour.’ So I felt compelled to offer the burnt offering.”

Saul could not wait –  he took matters into his own hands – he offered a sacrifice which was not his right to do – that was the exclusive right of the Priests.
When we run ahead of God and try to force his hand we always make matters difficult for ourselvs and others and we dishonour God.

Remember how the story of the church begins “ Wait in Jerusalem for what my father has promised” Jesus said.

b) Presumptuous.

1 Samuel 13:13-14

13 “You acted foolishly,” Samuel said. “You have not kept the command the LORD your God gave you; if you had, he would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time. 14 But now your kingdom will not endure; the LORD has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him leader of his people, because you have not kept the LORD’s command.” (NIV)

When as God’s people we insist on our own way – plotting our own course – and not being sensitive to what is right and wrong before God THEN we are like Saul – presumptuous. The Bible tells us to come to God with boldness and confidence BUT that can easily degenerate in irreverance and presumption.

Saul got too big for his boot – he lost the sense of awe and worship

c) Disobedient.

Already noted 1 Samuel 13:13. “You have not kept the command the LORD your God gave you ..

This disobedience occurs again in Ch.15 – he is told to destroy the Amalekites and all their possessions – this was God’s punishment on them.

Samuel even reminds Saul to be obedient 1 Samuel 15:1 1 Samuel said to Saul, “I am the one the LORD sent to anoint you king over his people Israel; so listen now to the message from the LORD. (NIV)

But as the day worn on he saw the plunder and he kept some of it back and spared the life of King Agag.

He had heard the warning but as the day passed what he SAW meant more to him than what he HEARD from God.

Both occasions of disobedience – in ch.13 Saul offered sacrifices in order to keep the people together and ready for battle. In the case of the Amalekites he kept the best animals back because it was what the people wanted. Saul was quite ready to side with the people in letting the people decide the terms on which they would worship God. The people loomed large in Saul’s considerations, far larger than God. He simply brought God in as a way of doing good work. BUT God will not be used.

d) Cowardly.

By allowing himself to be influenced by the people – to be a people-pleaser – he tries to pass the buck 1 Samuel 15:15       15 Saul answered, “The soldiers brought them from the Amalekites; they spared the best of the sheep and cattle to sacrifice to the Lord your God, but we totally destroyed the rest.” (NIV)

– he showed himself to have no spiritual backbone.

1 Samuel 15:24             24 Then Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned. I violated the Lord’s command and your instructions. I was afraid of the people and so I gave in to them. (NIV)

e) Proud.

He wanted the honour for himself – 1 Samuel 15:12 12 Early in the morning Samuel got up and went to meet Saul, but he was told, “Saul has gone to Carmel. There he has set up a monument in his own honour and has turned and gone on down to Gilgal.” (NIV)

Saul was happy to worship God – BUT he wanted to make sure that he received glory for himself –

We are so subtle at grabbing the limelight for ourselves. We want people to notice us !!

f) Hypocritical.

If one of these traits is worse than another then maybe this is at the top of the list. It is bad enough when someone is proud and impatient and disobedient BUT to try and pretend to God very foolish.

1 Samuel 15:13-14         13 When Samuel reached him, Saul said, “The LORD bless you! I have carried out the LORD’s instructions.”     14 But Samuel said, “What then is this bleating of sheep in my ears? What is this lowing of cattle that I hear?” (NIV)

Word ‘hypocrite comes from Greek theatrical circles – describes someone who wears a mask – pretending to be what they are not!

Saul was trying to convince Samuel that he was godly – he didn’t fool Samuel – but even if he had he would not have fooled God!!

We could go on looking at Saul weaknesses but the pattern is clear – he was more concerned about his honour than God’s — and he was more concerned about saving face before the nation’s leaders and people than about honest repentance before God!!

3.SAUL’S WOEFUL TRAGIC DOWNFALL.

Saul was called to lead Israel – their first king. He could not lead them in the end because God wanted a man after his heart BUT Saul proved himself NOT to be that man.

Saul proved himself to be UNSUITABLE for leaderhip – he was disqualified from leadership because he was hard-hearted! He became UNUSABLE in God’s hands. Because he was immovable / unrepentant.

God was patient with Saul and gave him every opportunity to turn back but instead he turned away.

a) lack of repentance.

Saul ruled for 42 years – for thirty of those years he knew his kingdom would be given to another. Why did God allow these 30 years? to give the opportunity to repent. He gave him David a man after his own heart to be in close fellowship with him. Isn’t God gracious?

We often fail to understand God’s grace – his goodness is designed to lead us to repentance  – not to support us in our sin. When we sin and God doesn’t zap us immediately it is not because he approves of our sin BUT he is patient and gives opportunity to repent.

Nothing but repentance will change an hard, independent, self-centred, arrogant, disobedient heart!

BUT didn’t Saul repent??

1 Samuel 15:24-31         24 Then Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned. I violated the Lord’s command and your instructions. I was afraid of the people and so I gave in to them. 25 Now I beg you, forgive my sin and come back with me, so that I may worship the LORD.”

……………………………..

30 Saul replied, “I have sinned. But please honour me before the elders of my people and before Israel; come back with me, so that I may worship the LORD your God………. (NIV)

True repentance is being broken hearted over sin – Saul is embarrassed because he was caught out – this is a face saving excercise.

Repentence works godly sorrow in our hearts – it is not just sorry for the consequences, that we have been caught and everyone knows. BUT deep sorrow for the sin itself and turning away from it.

Saul is not ready for the change of heart that repentance requires.

b) lost of God’s presence.

Possibly some of the most fearful word s in the Bible appear in 1 Samuel 16:14

14 Now the Spirit of the LORD had departed from Saul…….

If this is difficult to accept, then what comes next is worse still … , and an evil spirit from the LORD tormented him. (NIV)

However hard it may be for us to understand this – we must accept that God has power over evil spirits and he can command them.  He is sovereign over all things.

What Saul experienced was not simply depression because he was rejected as king – no there was demonic activity involved in Saul’s problem.

What began to control him was not the Spirit of God but and evil spirit which not only deprived him of peace of mind, but stirred up feelings and thoughts and imaginations to such an extent that at times it drove him into madness.

When the Spirit of God departed he had what today would be called psychological illnesses. If we sent Saul to a modern day psychologist he would be diagnosed with melancholia,  paranoia, bizzare emotional instability and homocidal tendencies. His behaviour had become irrational — basically he had fallen apart. We know he had dealings with the occult later in life – we don’t know about earlier in his life.

NB .. dabbling with the occult – at whatever level is playing with black fire!!! Anyone involved in horoscopes, palm reading, tarot cards, ouija board is is opening themselves up to all kinds of satanic activity.

Are we saying that the Lord allows satanic activity?

… that God allows spiritual misbehaviour to have psychological implications? YES!!

Satan is alive and well. Never underestimate his power.

In places where Satan himself is worshipped people live in the pit of hell.

ILLUS.: in RSA I have seen – Muslim / Hindu festivals…

In the West where people turn away more and more from the Word of God and the Church of God and the Spirit of God the possibility of demonic activity increases. That is bore out in our society by the obession with witches, and the paranormal.

c) lost his peace of mind and heart

Saul lost the presence of God because he turned away from God. Spiritual misbehaviour will have all kinds of psychological ramifications.

  • Why do some people go into deep depression? Sometimes – NOT always – sometimes there is a spiritual cause.
  • Why are some people paranoid? Sometimes – NOT always – sometimes because they know deep in their hearts that they are living in stubborn disobedience to God. They spend their time looking over their shoudlers and well they might.
  • Why do some people act irrationally? Sometimes – NOT always – sometimes they have adopted an irrational position as far as God is concerned – they profess to know him but their hearts ar far from him.

Often there is psychological disturbance and emotional instability caused because people are screwed up spiritually!

TWO CAUTIONS!

  • don’t attribute ALL emotional and irrational behaviour to a spiritual cause!
  • on the other hand, don’t  assume that all emotional and psychological imbalance has a natural cause.

It was an evil spirit that came upon Saul from the LORD and psychological disintergration was certainly a result.

4. SAUL’S WASTEFUL LIFE: OUR WARNING!

 

We can’t be certain of Saul’s eternal destiny BUT we do know that he failed to be what God intented for him. He missed out on God’s best for him because of his wilful disobedience and unrepentent heart.

The lesson is clear, if I harden my heart and GO ON HARDENING my heart I will not remain emotionally and spiritually unscathed. On of the greatest abuses of God’s grace and God’s love is when  we think we can continue disobeying him with impunity – flaunting his laws over and over again without suffering ill effects.

If we flagrantly disobey and persistently harden our hearts we cannot come out unscathed.

When we diliberately and persistently go our own way – when we choose a path that leads us away from God he doesn’t stike us with lightening. A person can go that way – and stifle the conscience – and can think that he/she got away with it – “God didn’t zap me” – BUT you know what is frightening – if someone wants to deliberately go their own way God will let them go… ROMANS 1 – when people wilfully set a course away from God he lets them go “God gave them over ..” x2 –

As we look at David’s life in the weeks to come we will see that David sinned – grossly – and we may consider that David’s sins were worse than Saul’s . The difference is that David had a heart for God and when he realised his sin his heart broke before God in humility and repentence – Saul made excuses and tried to save face.

As we look at Saul and David – both started well – chosen and anointed by God – well equipped for the task both physically and spiritually – BUT Saul’s heart became hard and stubborn.

A good start is important – a good finish is equally important – just like in a marathon – we can’t live on past spiritual experience – “I was saved 30 years ago”  “I did so-and-so for God 5 years ago”

– What about today? Is your heart soft towards God today? Are you walking with him today?

OR is there some hardness — some unconfessed sin that is hindering your spiritual development. Are you wearing a mask? Everyone may think you are a wonderful Christian BUT God knows your heart!

We need to hear with spiritual ears Samuel word to Saul

1 Samuel 15:22

22 But Samuel replied:

“Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices

as much as in obeying the voice of the LORD?

To obey is better than sacrifice,

and to heed is better than the fat of rams. (NIV)

IT’S NOT (just) HOW YOU START,

IT’S HOW YOU FINISH! 

SUMMARY

 

1 Samuel 13 & 15

 

1. SAUL’S WONDERFUL EARLY PROSPECTS.

  • Chosen
  • Equipped

 

2. SAUL’S WILFUL CHARACTER TRAITS.

  • Impatient
  • Presumptuous
  • Disobedient
  • Cowardly
  • Proud
  • Hypocritical

 

3. SAUL’S WOEFUL TRAGIC DOWNFALL.

  • Lack of repentance
  • Lost of God’s presence
  • Lost of peace of mind and heart

 

4. SAUL’S WASTEFUL LIFE: OUR WARNING.

  • Persistent, deliberate hardening of the heart …

         …always leads to spiritual and/or emotional                       and/or physical harm

1 John 5:13-21 – The assurance that comes from knowing Christ

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1 JOHN 5:13-21.

The assurance that comes from knowing Christ.

 

INTRODUCTION.

 

Come to end of I John. Three basic Tests that John has set out in this letter

 

Q> What are these tests that John has referred to constantly?

 

– Belief

– Righteousness

– Love

 

These tests are not so that we can pass – these are the hall marks of the Christian faith. These are not there to trip us up BUT to give us confidence and assurance.

 

In his gospel John gives the reason for writing?

 

Q> Who was the gospel written to/for and what was it purpose

 

– for unbelievers

– reason given in  John 20:31 31 But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. (NIV)

 

Q> who was this letter written to and what was its purpose?

– to believers

– reason in 1 John 5:13

13 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. (NIV)

 

Q> What is a key phrase that appears throughout these verses?

– “WE KNOW….”

 

1. THE ASSURANCE THAT GOD HEARS OUR PRAYERS.

 

In 3v21-22 confidence in prayer was linked to obedience to God’s commands.

In this present verse it is linked to conformity to God’s will.

 

Q> What is prayer according to God’s will?

– not a way of manipulating God.

– not a way of changing God’s mind?

 

Psalm 37:4

4 Delight yourself in the LORD

and he will give you the desires of your heart. (NIV)

 

I used to think I had God over a barrel on this BUT as we delight ourselves in the Lord our desires become his and we then ask what according with his will.

 

Q> What about asking in Jesus name?

 

John 14:13-14 13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it. (NIV)

 

ILLUS.: Secretary does things in the name of the Boss – eg. letters – BUT she knows tha Boss well enough to know what he wants said and often exactly the way he would.

As we grow in Christ we grow in the confidence that we will ask according to his will and that he will hear us and answer!!

 

All true prayer is simply a variation on a theme – “Your will be done….”

 

2. SIN UNTO DEATH – what is is?

 

The Xns assurance of eternal life and of answered prayer is no excuse for selfish contentment.

 

Q> What does John tell us about -“Being my brothers keeper”?

 

3v17-18 showed that we are to be concerned for materials needs of others and here in 5v16 to be concerned for the spiritual well being.

 

What does “SIN unto death OR not unto death ” mean??

 

physical death?  NO! clearly not physical as the life with which it is contrasted is clearly spiritual life!!

 

 

 a specific sin? – in the OT there some capital offences [Lev. 20:1-27 ……]

– in the early Church a list of grosser sins developed which led to ‘mortal’ and ‘venial’ sins – the seven dealy sins…. BUT there is no NT justification of this arbitary classification of sins.

[v.17 … all wrong-doing is sin]

 

Apostasy?? the renunciation of faith – the denial of Christ

 

Q> is apostasy possible for a true Believer??

– 3v9 – would John contradict himself ?? unlikely!!

 

blasphemy against the Holy Spirit? – pesistently rejecting the work of the Holy Spirit and attributing the Work of the Spirit to Satan [Matt.12v22-32]

John descibes such people in Jn3v18-21 – “…Love darkness rather than light…”

THUS will die in his sins [Jn 8v24]

 

Q>  objection – how can such a one be a brother??

– look carefully at the verse the sin unto death in not referring to a brother

 

Q> is the sin NOT unto death the sin of a Xn??

Q> – Can you pray for God to give a Xn life?? v16??

– a Xn has eternal life [Jn3v36]

 

Q> So who are these two groups??

– both unbelievers?

 

Q> Does the word “brother” refer exclusively to Xns?

– it is used in scripture – even in this letter – in a broader way

cf. 2v9 !! a brother still in darkness!!?

 

Q> How do you think the context of the situation to which John is writing may help us in this understanding??

– the gnostic teacher who had gone out from the church!!! – anti-christs — denying the Son — [2v22-23; 2Jn 9]

 

John does not want any misunderstanding about sin so adds v.17

All wrong-doing is sin!!

 

3. THREE MORE THINGS CHRISTIANS CAN KNOW FOR SURE!

 

Q>  vv.18-20 what three things are Christians assured!

          – that our salvation is safe [- that we cannot continue to sin]

A Xn can only hope to keep the commands of God IF God keeps him  —– we pray this at end of Lord’s Prayer ” … deliver us from Evil….”  OR “Deliver us from the Evil One …”

 

          – that we are not controlled by Satan

KJV – “the world lies in the control of the Evil One…’

Q> What does this tell us about the world??

– The world is not struggling to be free – it is lying – perhaps unconsciously asleep – in the arms of Satan – helpless in his grasp UNTIL God come to the rescue.

 

          – that we can know Christ — historically and experientially

Christ is true – [real]

God is true – [real]

 

Without Christ we could have no knowledge of God NOR fellowship with God.

[compare John 14v19b – 23]

 

4. OUR PART.

v21 – Any recognition of idols – of any kind – is incompatiable with true worship of God.

 

Q> How would you define an idol?

– a God substitute!!

 

[cf Jude 21 & 24.]

 

 

 

1 John 5:6-12 – Testimony concerning Jesus

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1 John 5:6-12.

Testimony concerning Jesus:The outer objective events & the inner subjective experience.

INTRODUCTION.

Review Background: Gnosticism [in its early stages]

Q> What are the main teachings of gnostic thinking?

– matter is evil

– spiritual is good

Q> What implications does that have for the Christians?

-esp. regarding the person of Jesus Christ

– Christ not really human

– Jesus not really divine

cf. 4v2; 2Jnv7. ” Acknowledging Christ come in the flesh”

1. THE OUTER, OBJECTIVE EVENTS TESTIFYING ABOUT JESUS.    [v6-9]

6 This is the one who came by water and blood — Jesus Christ. He did not come by water only, but by water and blood.

Q> How can water and blood be a testimony about who Jesus is?

– three possible explanations:-

1) the sacraments           – water ref.to Baptism

– blood reference to Communion

[difficulty is no ref. to body].

2) blood and water from the side of Jesus on the cross [Jn 19v35]

Q> What does this signify?  – water=cleansing / blood=sacrifice

But the context in which John is writing – we must bear in mind the ‘gnostic’ problem – the distinction they made between Jesus and Christ. Cerinthian Gnostics – Jesus natural child of Joseph and Mary upon whom Christ descended at his baptism and left before his crucifixion.

3) Water – signifying his baptism – not where he became “Christ” but where he was Declared to be “Son of God” – commissioned and empowered

Blood – reference to his death.

[The heretics would have agreed that Jesus was Christ at his baptism but NOT at his death (Christ supposedly having left him)] John therefore emphasizes He is Christ at his death also!! Thus v6 “This IS he……” [present tense]  HE is both the man Jesus and the Christ of God.

Q> Why is this so important?

– If Jesus is not the Son of God and if he did not die for our sins then he CAN’T reconcile us to God.

So these are outer objestive historical witnesses.

Q> Is there a sense in which these to symbols are also present witnesses?

– water to cleanse from all pollution – sin…

– blood to atone for all guilt

SPIRIT – And it is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth.

Q> Who is this Spirit [cf. 4v2]

Q> What does the fact that the Spirit ‘testifies tells us?

– that the Spirit is a person not and “it”

John 15:26

26 “When the Counsellor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me. (NIV)

John 16:12-16

12 “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. 13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. 14 He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. 15 All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you.

Q> What is the major function of the Spirit?

– to bear witness to and glorify Christ!!

Q> Is the Spirit’s witness historical??

– Yes = he came at Pentecoste

BUT also subjective and inward.

2. THE INNER SUBJECTIVE EXPERIENCE TESTIFYING ABOUT JESUS.

Q> How does the Spirit bear witness?

– 1 Corinthians 12:3 3 Therefore I tell you that no-one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no-one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit. (NIV)

1 John 3:24 24 Those who obey his commands live in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us. (NIV)

Q> What verse in Ephesians 1 tells us about the Spirit’s witness?

– Ephesians 1:13-14…………. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession — to the praise of his glory. (NIV)

God bore witness to His Son in History and he bears witness to him today by his Spirit in our hearts.

This is God’s testimony about Jesus –IF we accept man’s testimony how much more should we accept God’s!!

3. THE PURPOSE OF THE TESTIMONY ABOUT JESUS.

10 Anyone who believes in the Son of God has this testimony in his heart. Anyone who does not believe God has made him out to be a liar, because he has not believed the testimony God has given about his Son.

God helps us to understand WHAT we believe – Q> What else does the first part of v.10 tells us about the witness in us??

– THAT we believe!!

Q> What is the ultimate witness that God gives to testify to the fact that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God??

– v.11 – 11 And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.

– eternal life itself !!!

Vs. 11-12 tell us three important things about eternal life –

Q> Can you spot these three things

i) it is a gift

ii) it is through Christ alone – God gave his Son [historically] and now gives Him [as people turn to him for salvation].

iii) it is now and to come [life of the age]

There are two issues that John is dealing with in this passage. [vs.6-12]

Q> Can you identify them  – broad catergories?

– Christology – who Jesus is.

– Soteriology – where salvation and eternal life are to be found!!

If you believe in Jesus you have eternal life – if you have eternal life it is because you believe in Jesus!

Eternal life begins now but will continue in a more wonderful way after this life!

John Newton about heaven

“When I get to heaven I shall see three wonders there – the first wonder will be to see many people there whom I did not expect to see; the second wonder will be to miss many people whom I did expect to see there; and the third and greatest wonder of all will be to find myself there”

1 John 5: 1-5 – Victorious Christian living

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1 John 5v1-5.

Victorious Christian living: a gift and a goal.

 

INTRODUCTION.

John deals with many things in this passage before us – many important teaching and beliefs of the Christian faith. But we need to remember the John is not a theological text book but to a group of Christians living in the first century who are having to deal with the nitty-gritty of everyday life. A life which was very different to the one we live in.

It was probably about 60 years since Jesus had died – the Christians had hardly received red-carpet treatment. They had been persecuted and ridiculed – yet churches had been planted all over the Roman Empire in spite of Rome’s oppostion. And it was these people and not the Roman armies who could say …..”we have overcome the world”

1 John 5:4 4 for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. (NIV)

But we live in a very different world to the one that Jonh’s readers lived in. We do not have to fear persecution or physical torture – [some of our fellow Christains in other parts of the world do] – we live in a society where you can believe what you like and no one really cares too much. Does that mean that the enviroment in which we live is not hostile to the gospel and that this passage of scripture is not as relavant to us as it was to the original readers.

Our society is hostile to the gospel – in a secular society where New Age philosophy thrives – why?? — because secular thinking has pushed religious thought into the realm of “Private Matters” so that anyone and everyone can formulate there own ideas about religion and a public, objective evaluation is impossible. Our secular society protects every religious idea no matter how bizarre or dangerous it might be.

SO Lesslie Newbigin is correct when he writes the following:-

What we have is a pagan society whose public life is ruled by beliefs which are false. And because it is not a pre-Christian paganism, but a paganism born out of a rejection of Christianity, it is far tougher and more resistant to the gopsel than the pre-Christian paganisms with whicvh Foreign missionaries have been in contact during the past 200 years. Here, without the possibility of question, is the most challenging missionary frontier of our time.

 [quoted by Martin Robinson in “A World Apart”  p.29]

So far from John’s letter being irrelavant – it is more up to date than tomorrow’s news!

All through his letter John has put forward three tests and he brings them all together in the first 5vv of Chapter 5 – Righteousness [obedience] — Love — Belief.

If today’s Christians are going to be victorious like the first century Christians then we too need to pass the same tests.

THE THREE TESTS: Belief, righteousness, love.

 

1. The first element in victorious Christian living is belief [faith].

When John speaks in this passage about belief he is not simply referring to mental ascent to a particular propostional truth. Christian belief is not simply adhereing to a written creed. The church over the years has put things down in creeds and Satements of Faith — these may be helpful but it is too easy to be theologically correct but spiritually dead. Of course it is important what we believe about Jesus – about his nature and work BUT the emphasis must always be on a living belief and a trusting in Jesus as Saviour and Lord.

Creeds and doctrines have not overcome the World BUT Jesus Christ God’s Son has overcome the world.

What does John mean when he speaks of “Overcoming the world”?? We need to remember that the Bible speaks of the world in different ways. The word “world” — here it is primarily referring to the system / or people who are against God or at least not for God.

As we saw in 4v5-6 The world listen to its own and recognizes its own because the world is saying what they want to hear and what they agree with. This explains why they are so popular!!

Jesus warned his followers that the world would be hostile to them and to their message.

John 16:33

33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (NIV)

It is easy to focus on the world out there – it is kind of distant and remote. We can develop a kind of them and us mentality. BUT the world is not just out there it is also inside of us.

ILLUS.:  What was the real problem with the Hebrews when the came out of Egypt. The dangers they faced were not the pursuing Egyptians or the Ammorites or Amalekites or the Hittites or any other -ites. They were out of Egypt BUT Egypt was not out of them — they hankered back for the life they had lived in Egypt.

This inside world that is in all of us is the battleground of life. If we can win the inside battle we will win the outside battle. The problem we face in our Christian lives is not out there – it is in here – inside us.

That is where I struggle – Often I know what I should be doing and I don’t do it !!

Paul had the same problem:-Romans 7:18-19 18 I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19 For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do — this I keep on doing. (NIV)

It is inside us that the battle goes on. You know what I find most disturbing about myself – it is not that I don’t always do what I should do, that’s bad enough!! but sometimes I find myself not caring that I am not doing something or that I am doing something.

We criticise the world for their worldliness and yet by our critical attitudes we can be just as uncaring and unloving and unkind. We set up standards that others must live by yet fail ourselves.

We spurn open indulgence in worldly pleasure yet secretly cover our own failures with a smugness like that of the Pharisees of Jesus day. “I thank you God that I am not like other men!!”

We are fighting against two worlds – the world out there that is hostile to Christ and the Christian and the world inside us that naturally leans towards the Lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life.

How do we overcome these worlds?? Well there is just one weapon — faith!!

This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.  [v4]

This is not faith in our faith but rather faith in one who has already overcome. Overcome has the same root word as victory and it essentially means to have victory in a contest.

Those who have been born of God are constantly under pressure from Satan and his worldly system to abandon their faith in Christ and join the ranks of the unbelievers.

NB that John does not say the Christians CAN overcome or even WILL overcome but we HAVE overcome. This is the victory that HAS overcome the world, even our faith.  [v4]

The victory is not in doubt – not because we are are good and strong – but because Jesus Christ is the Son of God. He is the one against whom neither evil nor error cannot win because he has already won.

How is it that Christians can share in this victory? Because they have been born of God.

1 John 5:1

1 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is [HAS BEEN] born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well. (NIV)

The first element in victorious Christian living is belief [faith].

2. The second element of victorious Christian living is love.

This letter of 1 John has had a lot to say about love. Chapter 4 ended with a strong statement linking love for God and love for one’s brother /sister. This thought is carried over into 4v1 and expanded upon….

1 John 5:1

1 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well. (NIV)

Born of God, Father and child all come from the same root word – therefore a literal but slightly awkard translation will be:”Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Messiah has been begotten of God, and the one who loves the one who begets, loves the one who is begotten of him”

In other words you can’t love the parent without loving the child and you can’t love the child without loving the parent. There is of course an obvious relationship between the children who are born of the same parent. The truth of the claim to know and love God is tested by the love one has for one’s brothers and sisters in the same family. This is a point John has been at pains to make throughout his letter.

Just as it is impossible to claim to love God without loving his children [3v17;4v12,20-21; 5v1] so too it is impossible to claim to love his children without loving God.

I am not saying that only Christians can love – of course all people are capable of love – love on a human level can be very strong and very deep – Because all people are made in God’s image all are capable of having loving relationships. But the kind of love that John is talking about here goes deeper than human love. It is a love that has the characteristics of God’s love.

Love that is self-sacrificing — doesn’t bear a grudge — doesn’t harbour resentment — love gives —-

It is easy to talk of love — it is easy to define love as exemplified in God giving his Son, Jesus, to die on the cross….. BUT the Bible doesn’t command usto talk about love but to do it.

ILLUS.: Eliza Doolittle in “My fair Lady” ‘…. don’t talk of love, show me...’

Christian love is active, not passive. Love is practical or it is not love at all. [P W Heward]

So the question is not ‘Do you love your fellow Christians?’ BUT ‘What are you doing to show your love to your fellow Christians?’

That is why John follows up the test of love with the test of obedience.

3. The third element of victorious Christian living is obedience [righteousness].

1 John 5:2-3 2 This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. 3 This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, (NIV)

How do we know that we love God? – the proof of love is obedience!!

John 14:15 & 21

15 “If you love me, you will obey what I command. ….. 21 Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.” (NIV)

If  I asked you what Alan asked this morning about being filled with the Spirit “DO you wanted to be filled with the Spirit?” you would all say ‘Yes!!’ If I asked you “DO you wanted to know Jesus in a fuller way? – Do you want to experience his love in a deeper way?” You would answer “YES!!

OK !!  — then obey his commands.

What are some of the commands?? {ASK CONGREGATION TO RESPOND!!!}

– honour father and mother

– father don’t antagonise your children

– pray for kings and rulers

– pray that the lord would send labourers into the harvest field

– love your enemies

– make disciples of all nations

– be filled with the Spirit

– submit to one another

– control your tongue

– consider others better than yourself

Being a Christian is a very practical matter – READ the Book of James

James 2:14-26

14 What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? 15 Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. 16 If one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? 17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

18 But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.”

Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. 19 You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that — and shudder.

20 You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? 21 Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. 23 And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called God’s friend. 24 You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.

25 In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? 26 As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead. (NIV)

To speak of actions that please God can lead some to imagine that we can thus gain approval from God if we have enough Brownie points. Pleasing God is a response to his love and NOT a means of gaining his love!!

These commands are not tiresome or irksome or burdensome!! The gnit-picking rules and regulations of the scribes and Pharisees were burdensome but Jesus commands are not burdensome because his yoke is easy and his burden is light —-

and God’s will is good and acceptable and perfect.

When the world looks at the commands of the OT and NT they seem intolerable – very often Christianity is perceived as a list if rules and regulations -[ unfortunately the Church sometims adds rules that are unbiblical] – but to the one born of God, God’s commands are not burdensome because he has overcome the world.

The Spiritual birth experience is something from outside this world which transplants us into the kingdom of God — into God’s family.  The hold of our old life dominated by the things of this world is broken – the world loses it facinaction and appeal — God’s commands become a delight rather than a drudge.

ILLUS.: Remember your courting days – washing dishes was a pain but washing dishes together with the love of your life suddenly became a delight – because in the words of the song “Love – Love changes everything…”

Do you love God like that!! You can only love God like that IF you are born from above!

The passage ends in v.5 with the affirmation again of belief in Jesus.

STOTT [p.175] “Christian believers are God’s children born from above.

God’s children are loved by all who love God.

Those who love God also keep his commandments.

They keep his commandments because they overcome the world,

 …. and they overcome the world because they are born of God.”

The new birth brings us into a relationship with Jesus Christ – it is this new life in Christ that is characterised by belief [trust] — love  — obedience. It is not one or the other BUT ALL three!!

1 John 4:7-12 – God is love

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GOD IS LOVE

 

 1 John 4:7-12. [v8]

 

INTRODUCTION.

Love is probably one of the most talked about Christian characteristics. At Christmas time the awareness of God’s love is heightened. We sometimes sing the little song “Love came Down at Christmas”.

Stickers appear on cars and various other places “God is Love” “Smile God Loves you”.

The Love of God is probably one of the most misunderstood aspects of the gospel by nominal and non-Christians and possibly even by some Christians.

“God wouldn’t send anyone to hell he is too loving”. God’s love is seen as a kind of Father Christmas type benevolence.

Another misconception is that we see God as loving because he does/has done loving things. Rather it should be that God does loving things or the things God does are loving because God is Love.

This passage is a high point in scripture, in fact it is a Mt. Everest – a pinnacle of revelation.

How do we begin to understand, let alone describe in words, the Love of God.

Many have tried:

“How good is the God we adore

Our faithful unchangeable friend

Hid love is as great as his power

And knows neither measure nor end”

“Could we with ink the ocean fill

And were the sky of parchment made

Were every reed on earth a quill

And every man a scribe by trade.

To write the love of God above

Would drain the ocean dry

Nor could the scroll contain the whole

If stretched from sky to sky”

 

GOD IS LOVE – But what God is can only be known through his self-manifestation.

It is not enough to SAY that God is Love “… let us not love in word or in tongue …” [3:18] nor is it enough to point to the works of nature ” … the stars declare his handiwork …” This is true but it is not enough.

“This is how God showed his love amongst us:

He sent his one and only son into the world

that we might live through Him” [v9-10]

 

To list the aspects of God’s love would be impossible – the list would be endless. Let us consider a few of these.

 

1. Divine Love’s Gift.

Often an illustration of a reality is easier to understand than the reality itself.

ILLUST: Remember Abraham in Gen.22 when God asks him to sacrifice his son, Isaac; his only son for whom he had waited so long. God was testing Abraham’s love for him. Imagine if after Abraham was willing to sacrifice his son God said to him, “Well, I’m still not sure if you really love me, I want you to give me your sheep and goats too”

 

To give his son was the ultimate; the sheep and goats were simply tokens. God has given many gifts but they are simply tokens. Jesus, his only Son, is the ultimate gift.

The crucial point that John is making here is not so much that God sent Jesus but that Jesus whom was sent is God’s ONE and ONLY UNIQUE Son. There have been and still are many tokens of God’s love but Christ is the supreme gift.

“He who did not spare his own Son but delivered him up for us all,

how shall he not also with him freely give us all things.”

 

2. The Giver of Divine Love.

God’s love is shown in the magnitude of who he is. He gives according to his greatness.

If God had given something that was created it would have cost him nothing. He created everything out of nothing. But he gave the thing / person that was most precious to him. The one that is eternal, unique and uncreated, His Eternal Son.

God is infinite and he gives according to his infinity. How do you put a price on a son? Our view of God’s love is very limited.

 

ILLUST: Picture a freshly felled tree. The rings on the cross-cut are simply the ends of the lines that run back up the full length  of the tree but are hidden from view by the bark.

 

In a similar way the cross is a visible sign of God’s love – a Love that stretches to eternity.

 

3. The Purpose of Divine Love.

What is the purpose of God’s gift to us in Christ? Was it simply the removal of sin so that we would “not perish”? NO! It is that but it is much more, it is also to impart life. Did God do this for his own benefit as some suggest?  i.e. that God created us in order to have something to love. Again NO! God doesn’t need us in order to love or beloved. He didn’t create the universe in order to have something to love. That would make God dependent upon the universe but that is contrary to scripture – rather it is to universe that is dependent upon God.

 

God loves us because he wants to love us and not because he is deficient in anyway.

God’s Love exists within Himself – not because it is self-love or selfish love. God is Trinity – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – he therefore lives in community with himself. God’s love is purely altruistic – it is purely a giving love.

 

4. The Means of Divine Love.

 

“This is Love: not that we loved God but that he loved us

And sent his Son to be an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” [v10]

 

God does not shrink from the utmost cost of redemption. It is not that he is laying down his life to defend his own; there are many heroic stories of people dying while trying to save others.

 

We can understand a person laying down their life to protect their own. But to sacrifice your most precious possession for those who are filled with hatred and hostility towards you is another matter. Jesus was not an unwilling victim of a capricious God; He willingly gave his life for us.

“You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless,

Christ died for the ungodly.

Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man,

though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die.

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this:

While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” [Romans 5:6-8]

 

It seems incredible that the means of God’s love should be the death of his Son yet at the same time it is impossible that it could be any other way.

 

5. The Objects of Divine Love.

 

            It would not be surprising if we loved God – not that we are by nature capable of loving God – God is great and worthy to be love. But that he loves us is a mystery beyond all mysteries.

 

“The point is not that the world is so big that it takes a great deal of love to embrace it, but that the world is so bad that it takes an exceedingly great kind of love to love it at all.”  [R.B.Kuiper]

 

Natural love needs to be flamed by some quality in the object of love. We fall in love because we are attracted to something in the object of our love. Divine love, unlike human love is not dependent upon its object. God’s love shines upon the most unlovely, unattractive and unworthy – and we all fit into those categories.

 

Any love that we show is purely because of God’s love for us and we are capable of showing love because God has enabled us to do that. “… love comes from God …” [v7]. There is no room for boasting – if we love each other it is because God has been gracious to us.

 

Love for each other is something we need to pursue – it does not come naturally. It is a duty, a command calling us to act in a way that is contrary to our nature.

 

“Dear friends, since God so loved us,

we also ought to love one another” [v11]

 

We speak of Christian brotherhood (family) but it is not the brotherhood (family) that creates the love but the love that makes the brotherhood.

 

ILLUST: Biological links don’t make one part of a family – family is when there is a loving relationship.

So it is with God’s family. God loves us – not because we deserve it but because he is gracious. If we are his children he will always love us and be with us in joy and in sorrow.  He will never let us go.

“God loved us when there was nothing good to be

seen in us and nothing good to be said for us” [Anon.]

“God loves each one of his people

as if there was only one of them to love” [Anon]

“The true measure of God’s love is that

he loves without measure” [Anon.]

1 John 4:1- 6 – Spiritual Evaluation

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1 JOHN 4:1- 6

SPIRITUAL EVALUATION

INTRODUCTION

The world in which we live is awash with a multipicity of religions, cults, sects, beliefs, movements and philosophies. Everyone has a philosophy of life even if they are unable to articulate it.

The basic philosophy of our sociaety in the UK is Existentialism – to put is in a crude and basic way  is means that “I” is the most important person in the world and “NOW” is the time to live for. So people live for the moment – they get into relationships for the present enjoyment with the view that I can enjoy it now and bail out when I change my mind.  Materialism and pleasure is very much part of extistenial thinking – why have so many leisure centres come into existence in recent years and why has the holiday and tourist industry flourished so?? Is it simply because we are ecomonically better off with more disposable income?? Well that surely plays a part. BUT the philosophy behind it motivates the public to buy into it.

We would be naive to think that because we are Christians that we are immune from the influences of the philosophy of the day. The Church is influenced all too often by the dictates of society. So a churchman can openly state that adultery is an acceptable practice [as the bishop of Edinburgh said this past week 6 January, 2013]. BUT ultimately what I think, or what you think or what society thinks is only secondary — it is what God thinks that is important.

How do we as Christians discern the truth in this morass of opinion.

“After all it is not what we are that is important but what we do!!” so said a guest on a chat show this week.

“Why can’t I do as I please I’m not hurting anyone!”

The arguments often sound so plausible! We live in a society where truth is relative. A 1991 poll in the USA showed that 67% of American believe that there is no absolute truth.

There is no moral absolute: what is right and wrong varies from situation to situation – 69% of Americans agree. We have no reason to believe that the UK is any different — it may well be a higher percentage.

The result is that the only virtue is tolerance, an open-mindedness that teaches that ALL values are equally valid so long as they are sincerely held. The only value that is NOT toleranted is the view that there is absolute truth.

So what we end up with is what Colson in his book , The Body, says [p.228] “There are no absolutes except the absolute that there can be no absolutes.”

Is it possible to distinguish between truth and error??  One of our problems is that we try to reason out way to the truth – if there is an absolute truth that is!!

While it is true that we are intellectual creatures who have reasoning abilities — truth and error are not the exclusive possession of the intellectuals.

The test that the Bible puts forward is NOT an intellectual test but a spiritual test  – That is NOT to say that as Christians we throw our intellect out the window. This has been an accusation levelled against evangelicals, and not without cause — we do need good intellectuals in evangelical circles BUT the ultimate test is a spiritual one.

Sin has not only affected the moral character but also the intellectual ability of mankind. It is the Spirit of God who redresses that problem. It is the Spirit who leads us into ALL truth.

1 Corinthians 2:9-14

9 However, as it is written:

“No eye has seen,

no ear has heard,

no mind has conceived

what God has prepared for those who love him” —

10 but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit.

The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God….. 14 The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. (NIV)

From a Biblical perspective there are some tests by which we can know what is true and what is false.

 

 

1. THE TEST OF TRUE INSPIRATION. v.1

1 Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

Every era of history has its own particular philosophies and beliefs – the time that John wrote this letter was no different.

MATTER IS EVIL> Gnosticism, or what came to be known as Gnosticism later on,  taught the matter was evil – thus flesh was evil. The way to overcome the flesh therefore was to abuse and punish it. This was done by following a system of good works which of course brought salvation down to the level of human effort.

EVIL IS IN THE MIND> Because the spirit was “good” [according to Gnosticism] evil originated in the mind. Thus the way to salvation was through good thoughts and the flip-side of this was that hell is a state of mind.

ILLUS.: I lead a Bible study for enquirers and new Christian in RSA – on the first night a man told me that hell was  state of mind and that he had already been there.

Judgement is then a mental process which takes place now –

John is making it clear in this passage that behind all truth and error is not people’s mind or their flesh but spirit. All truth comes from the Holy Spirit.

John 16:13 13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. (NIV)

John believes that people are inspired to confess of deny Christ by “spirits”, some reality beyond the human level. In the end there are only two spirits – the Spirit of Truth and the Spirit of Error –

In our western society where we are brought up to believe that seeing is believing we are very sceptical of this kind of thinking. But you go to Africa or South America you will find that they are far more conscious of the spirit world.

As Christians we should be more conscious of the spirit world because we are involved in a spiritual battle –

Ephesians 6:12 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. (NIV)

2 Corinthians 10:4 4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. (NIV)

Paul is not talking about physical strongholds but spititual; strongholds that keep the spirit of men and women in bondage to Satan. Too often we forget we are in a spiritual battle and if we could understand this battle more we would spend far more time in prayer than we do now.

It is not an intellectual battle [while we must not be anti-intellectual] – it is a spiritual battle – and we need to realise that the spirit of error is not always in direct oppostion to the truth but often just taking us off course enough to lead us into error. Heresy and false teaching are not denials of the truth but distortions of it.

So in a world that is constantly claiming new insights and experiences of the spirit we need to be aware. Within the scope of the church we have the same thing – we must be aware of what contradicts scripture or behaviour that discredits thse gospel. At the same time we must avoid dry, intellectual, doctrinally dead orthodxy. This leads to what Paul calls as those 2 Timothy 3:5 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them. (NIV)

These false teachings do not come in the shape of disembodied spirits but in the form of people and we must test the validity of their teaching against scripture with the help of the spirit of Truth – the Holy Spirit. We must be careful that simply because something is different to what WE are used to that it is therefore wrong – it need to be rejected because it is wrong and not because of our traditions or prejudices or because our comfort zones are being threatened.

2. THE TEST OF TRUE ALLEGIANCE. v.2-3.

 

2 This is how you can recognise the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.

The supreme test of all spiritual teaching and belief is this “What do you think of Christ?”  All too often we judge people by outward behaviour – of course behaviour is important – but being a Christian in not conforming to a code of practice. Rather “What do you believe about Jesus Christ?”

If you evaluate all the cults and sects and false religions with all their beliefs there is always one common theme – they deny that Jesus is God and man – God come in the flesh – Emmauel [God with us].

The denial takes two forms – either that Christ was not really human OR that Jesus was not really divine.

There was a teaching at the time of John’s writing that Jesus was not the Christ but that he was “Christed” – ie. the spirit of Christ came upon Jesus at his baptism and left him before his crucifixion. BUT the Bible does not teach that Christ came “into” the flesh of Jesus BUT that Jesus was Christ come in the flesh

Abetter Translation of v2 would be NOT as the NIV

Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God,     BUT    Every spirit that acknowledges Jesus as Christ come in the flesh is from God,

Why is this so important?  because it is the centre and foundation of our faith. It is the incarnation of God. We cannot work our way to God but God in the person of Jesus Christ has come  to us. And the way to God is not by good works or intellectual pursuit BUT by God making us alive in Christ. Any person or any teaching that denies this truth is anti-christian.

The test of true loyalty and allegience to God is what we believe about Jesus Christ – not just intellectual ascent but a spiritual,  heart  belief and trust in Christ as Saviour and Lord.

3. THE TEST OF TRUE VICTORY. v.4.

4 You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.

When the son of God came from Heaven he took our human flesh and nature upon himself. When by the power of God’s Spirit we are saved and brought into God’s kingdom we receive spiritual life – we are born from above. [Jn. 3] We are given spiritual life.

2 Peter 1:4 4 Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. (NIV)

In this passage John is talking about the battle between truth and error, between the spirit of Truth and the spirit of anti-christ. This struggle is not taking place in a world far beyond and above our own. The spiritual battle is for the hearts and minds of people.

John commends his readers because not only have they not been taken in by these false teachers but they have tested their teaching and found it wanting. We must not underestimate the power of evil BUT remember that the Holy Spirit is greater and by his illumination we too can overcome the spirit of error.

HOW??

It is no magic formula – God is greater than anything or anyone and if you are a true believer then God lives in you and you in God.  And Christ has overcome sin and death and deception.  If you are his child then you have overcome that. Not because you are better or more intelligent than other people BUT because Christ has redeemed you and given you spiritual life.

Christians are not perfect – that is fairly obvious – BUT as a child of God he will not allow you to be overcome by the spirit of evil and falsehood.

4.  THE TEST OF TRUE RESPONSE. v.5-6.

5 They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them. 6 We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognise the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood.

The word “world” is used in a number of ways in the Bible and here it is primarily referring to the system / or people who are against God or at least not for God.

The world listen to its own and recognizes its own because the world is saying what they wnat to hear and what they agree with. This explains why they are so popular!!

ILLUS.: Who really moulds the thinking of our society – and affirms our society in what it believes. The Soap-operas and the Chat-show Hosts. Why are they so popular?? because they reflect the view of society and affirm the society in the path it is taking.  They affirm that it is alright to practice Homosexuality and lesbianism. That it is acceptable to commit adultery. That everyone is free to exercise their rights – no a lot of emphasis on responsibility. AND let someone in the audience express a Christian view point require absolute standards and the cameras quickly move on OR they are cut down by the host as old fashioned or too fanatical and irrelavant. What is accaptable is only what the majority agrees with.

This is exactly how the Bible descibes a society who rejects God:

2 Timothy 4:3 3 For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. (NIV)

We can’t judge God’s message by how many obey it.

The test of truth is “Does it agree with the Apostles teaching?” That is what John means in v.6. “We are from God…..”

The satandard for what we are to believe, the standard for what is truth is what was from the beginning. 1 John 1:1

1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched — this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. (NIV)

It is characteristic of cults and sects to add to the Bible – the Bible plus…… – OR for modern intellectualism – the Bible minus …… [if they believe any part of the Bible at all. It is very subtle.

ILLUS.:2 Timothy 3:16 16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, (NIV)

 In the NEB {New English Bible} it reads: All God-breathed Scripture is  useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness

The implication – not all scripture in God inspired – who then decides what is God-inspired ??  –people!! See hos subtle it is.

The Spirit whom God has given to His people enables them to discern what is Truth and what is Error. How do we do that? Well NOT ONLY by examining the the message and the messengers BUT also by the character of the audience who listens to them.

1. This testing is not to be done by individuals only – but as a corporate community of God’s people. We are to wrestle with the complex issues of life and belief.

2. John is not calling us to analyse and examine every minute belief and practice of every individual christian. He is arguing that we faithfully believe and guard the revelation of God in Jesus Christ.

That is why the leaders of the church must have a high standard of theological understanding and faithfulness to the truth.

3. John has put the emphasis on the central truth of the gospel – Jesus Christ {God -man} through whom alone there is salvation.

I believe there are three levels of believe – ABSOLUTES – CONVICTIONS – PREFERENCES –

ABSOLUTES – those things that are not negotiable – the diety of Christ – salvation by faith alone – the authority of the scriptures …..

CONVICTIONS – modes of baptism – the role of women in the Church –

PREFERENCES – hymns or choruses – style of worship [raise hands or not] – ……

Why is what we believe so important? Because it will affect what we are! What we value! Because it affects our behaviour!

ILLUS.: Why do you treat a diamond ring with such care? You consider it to be valuable because you believe those you say it is. If you were to be convinced that it is not valuable you would cancel the insurance on it tomorrow.!!

 

If you believe that marriage is a monogamous life relationship – you will value that and will be less likely to have an adultrous relationship than someone who believes marriage should be an open relationship that can be ended when comvenient.

What we believe is very important!!

Two extremes to be avoided –

1. don’t rush to pass judgement on others. Sometimes it is misunderstanding and not error.

2. As a Chruch we cannot neglect the task of teaching and nurturing people in the Christian faith. To often we try to manipulate people to behave according to our rules – we try to cahnge them from the outside in – if they come to belief in Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour and seek to obey him then HE will change them from the inside out.

And each of us need to constantly be evaluating what we believe and how it works out in our daily living.

What we believe will determine what we are and how we live.

SPIRITUAL EVALUATION.

(Discerning truth from error)

 

1 John 4:1-6.

1. THE TEST OF TRUE INSPIRATION.

     [v.1]

 

2. THE TEST OF TRUE ALLEGIANCE. [v.2-3.]

 

3. THE TEST OF TRUE VICTORY.

     [v.4.]

 

4.  THE TEST OF TRUE RESPONSE.

     [v.5-6.]

WORLDVIEW

(What is real)

 

BELIEFS

(What is true)

 

VALUES

(What is good/best)

 

BEHAVIOUR

(What is done)

1 John 2:28 – 3:3 – The Christian life is now and coming

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1 JOHN 2v28 – 3v3.

THE CHRISTIAN LIFE IS NOW AND COMING.

 

THEME: The children of God have the certainty of eternal life – right living is the evidence of that life – Christlike perfection is the reward!

 

INTRODUCTION:

 

ILLUS.: Before we came to Binscombe one of the jobs I had was Teaching English to foreigners – for a time we ran our own language school in partnership with a friend – this often involved having to fetch students from the airport. I spent many hours at Heathrow and Gatwick – I enjoy watching people. The bored driver standing with a name card. The business men who catch more planes than most people catch buses – The there are those who are waiting for a loved one – someone who they haven’t seen for a long time – the excitement, esp. for the children, is almost unbearable – and when they finally come through those doors into the Arrivals Hall there is much hugging and carrying on – oblivious to the fact that anyone is watching.

 

As Christians we are waiting for a loved one to return – unlike the airport there is no arrival time on the display board – BUT the final arrival is not in doubt. Jesus will return – the angel promised he would and He himself promised he would:

 

 

Acts1v10 They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them.

11 “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”

 

John14v3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.

 

The point is, are we excited about his return? Does the fact of Christ’s return make a difference to the way we live our lives?

Is there an anticipation that his return in always imminent – every generation has to live in the light of the fact the Jesus could return TODAY!!

 

Waitng for Christ’s return is not a passive waiting – not putting your spiritual feet up! It is an active waiting and the church needs to be saying to herself  “We will work as fervently as possible in preparation for his coming”

 

Spurgeon “The fact that Jesus Christ is to come again is not a reason for star-gazing, but for working in the power of the Holy Spirit.”

 

1. OUR CONFIDENCE WHEN HE COMES [v1]

 

And so John writes:-

 

1John228 And now, dear children, continue in him, so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming.

 

In the prevoius section John has been warning his “dear children” about those who would seek to lead them astray and affirms that what they have heard from him and the others apostles is true and trustworthy. He now encourages them to continue in the way that they have been going.

 

When he writes in v27 “remain in him” and in v28 “continue in him” he is not suggesting that they have lost or can lose their staus as “Children of God”. On the contrary he is encouraging them to continue in the direction they have been going all along.

 

 

What we need is not just a good start in the Christian life – we need also to continue. It is easy to become discouraged – because while it is a wonderful privilege and blessing to know Jesus; being a Christian is hard work. Jesus never promised a life of luxury. There will be disappointments – people will let you down – you will not get recognition for what you do ………

 

But John’s encouragement is this – “Look up – Jesus is coming!”  If you know him and you continue in him then when he does come you will have confidence and be unashamed.

 

“unashamed” is often interpreted to mean that if Christians let Jesus down; if we don’t give 100% and more then when we see him face to face we will hang our heads in shamed.

 

“Confidence and unashamed” are linked together. If we know him then we will continue in him and if we continue in him it is because we know him.The shame that is referred to here is the disgrace and rejection of the unbeliever when they face the judgement of God.

 

A Christian will have confidence before God, in fact, we have it now:-

 

Heb4v10 Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

 

 

Heb. 10          19 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus,

 

There are two words that are used to refer to Christ’s return “Appearing” and “Coming” [Parousia]

 

 

 

Appears – can be translated ‘revealed’ indicating and open and public vindication of Jesus. When he came the first time there was a hiddenness about his coming – there will be no such veil when he comes again. Those who now dispute or deny who Jesus is will be silenced and ashamed on the day he appears.

 

Coming -[ Parousia] is the ancient word used for the coming of a King in open splendour and honour. When the people knew the king or queen was coming they would go out to meet them and line the street in glorious procession [Palm Sunday – Jesus triumphal entry into Jerusalem].

 

Thus when he comes those who are his will rush to meet him with excitement and confidence.

 

What then is our purpose until he comes??

 

2. OUR CONDUCT UNTIL HE COMES [v29].

 

29 If you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone who does what is right has been born of him.

 

Note carefully what John is saying in this verse – He is not saying – ‘If you do the right thing you will then be righteous and belong to God.’

 

Doing righteous deeds is not a process that produces salvation. Rather righteous living provides confirmation that we have a relationship with God already. Righteous conduct does not make us God’s children.  It evidence that we have received a new nature.

1 Peter 13 His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 4 Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

NB -It is not the person who think he is righteous BUT the one you “does what is right”. Righteousness is not a feeling or and intention – it is having actions and attitudes that demonstrate an inner righteousness.

 

ILLUS.: It is no use telling some you love them or are concerned about them IF you never show that love and concern.

 

We are not talking about one off acts of goodness BUT a habitual way of life. Privilege -“being born of God” carries with it responsibility – “living in a godly way” This is the kind of living God asks of us as we wait for Christ’s coming.

 

3. WE ARE CHILDREN OF GOD BECAUSE HE CAME [v1]

 

 

1 How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.

 

We are the children of God because He took the initiative and came to us. Christians have been born of God.

 

ILLUS.: This week Harry George Withers was born to Dave and Kelly. Little Harry did not cause his own birth – he did not initiate the relationship between himself and his Mum and Dad.

 

So it is with God’s children – God takes the initiative and we are born again by the will of God.

God calls us to be his children – he doesn’t just give us a name BUT he brings us into a relationship – once we are God’s children  we belongs to him in the same way as a child belongs to his/her parents – it is a permanent relationship.

 

This love that John speaks of is not something we admire from a distant –

ILLUS.: It is not like watching a tear-jerking movie where love triumps and they ride off into the sunset together and we are left with a nice warm feeling.

 

This is a love that we experience – that we can know – God doesn’t just hang out his love for us to look at BUT he gives us his love BECAUSE he has given us himself. He is LOVE! By his Spirit he lives in his children and imparts his love to them.

 

Who are his children? John tells us in his gospel:-

John 1v12-13 …..to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God — 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.

 

We live in a world where status means a lot – in a world where who you know and who you are related to is more important than what you know. But what higher status is there than being a child of God.

 

The problem is that being a Child of God will bring no recognition from the world. The should come as no surprise because Jesus was no recognise by the world for who he really was – and he is still not by most people.

 

The people of Jesus day would have been satisfied with his good manners, his good deeds, his good words BUT for one thing He insisted that he was the Son of God and he insisted on righteousness in all men [Laurin].

 

When as God’s children we show the character of  our Father we are a disturbing element in a world that wants to live for itself. People are either drawn to God through that OR they are hostile to it. In a world that is by nature hostile to God it is relatively easy to be a relgious Christian BUT it is difficult to be a Christ-like Christian.

 

The world recognises people by the standards of wealth and position BUT God recognises them by their new birth into a living relationship with Him [Laurin].

 

Just as there will be a time when Jesus will be recognised for who he is when he comes again so too there will be a full revelation of what the children of God will be.

 

Which brings us to the next verse…..

 

4. OUR CHANGE WHEN HE COMES [v2]

 

2 Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.

 

We do not know exactly what we will be like when Jesus comes – What we have now as God’s children is just a taste / a small part of what is to come.

 

1 Cor.2v9       “No eye has seen,

no ear has heard,

no mind has conceived

what God has prepared for those who love him”

 

When Jesus came the first time he came to be like us so that he could redeem us to God BUT when he comes the second time we shall be glorified so that we might become like him.

 

Our vision of God is now veiled – even though we have new life in Christ, sin still effects our vision.

 

 

 

 

1 Cor.13v12 Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

 

We can’t appreciate what it will be like to see Jesus – even after the resurrection when the disciples saw him his glory was still veiled. What will it be like when we see him the fullness of his splendour.  “… when we see him as he is.”  The most amazing thing of all is that we will be like him –

 

ILLUS.: Imagine if you had never seen a fully grown oak tree and someone showed you and acorn – could you really have an appreciation or understanding of what an oak tree was relly like.

 

In a way what we now have is the acorn  – the oak tree is still to come. The acorn is wonderful enough how much more when we receive the fulness of our salvation.

When we see God we shall become like God.

 

5. OUR CHARGE UNTIL HE COMES. [v3].

 

3 Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure.

 

How do we live up to a verse like this??  Is it by absataining from certain attutudes and actions??  Is it by being busy serving God and the Church? – doing good deeds? – giving vast amounts of money to missions?  – spending hours in prayer and study??

 

All these things are good and necessary BUT no amount of bustness will make us pure.

 

Jesus came to take away our sin. From the beginning to the end our HOPE is in the coming of Christ for us. The change that is needed in our lives to make us acceptable to God is wholly dependent on Christ’s nature and work.

 

Matt.5 8 Blessed are the pure in heart,

for they will see God.

 

 

He is pure and he takes away impurity. If we have any hope of seeing God we must be free from sin and that is only possible by placing our hope/trust in him who is pure – and who is able to remove our impurity.

 

 

My hope is built on nothing less

than Jesus’ blood and righteousness

 

We have a promise and a responsibility – a promise that we can be confident before him on the day of his coming. A responsibility to have Christ-like attitudes and actions in daily living.

 

Life can be and is sometimes difficult – we get discouraged; sometimes we may wonder if following Christ is worth it. We get cross with ourselves because we sometimes fail. If our confidence were dependent on us we could not be confident at all.

 

Therefore we must look up!!  We are God’s children – Christ is coming back – we will be like him.

 

So in spite of our weaknesses 23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on towards love and good deeds. 25 Let us not give up ………… but let us encourage one another — and all the more as you see the Day approaching. [Heb.10]