Rats In the Cellar by Gene Heacock

My suggestion is that this text has more to do with eternal confidence than pastoral comfort.

I will begin with three questions and a personal confession. Share three stories form three church experiences that parallel what you have been gong through at SBF…

Three questions:

1. What does the scripture say we will have on the day of judgment? (See 4:17a)
2. Why will we have that type of confidence? (See 4:17b)
3. Where is that type of confidence developed? (See 4:17)

I confess that I am a fork-aholic and the church was a great place for my favorite pastimes programs, pot-lucks and programs, I could be a CEO for Jesus…

Until God used pain to get my attention.

Church  story #1 — We were great performers but poor relators and that I would have to give an account for my relationships as well as what I accomplished for God.

• Relationships hold the most potential for us to become like God according to His own definition of himself

See verse 4:16b

• Relationships confirm your conversion ( salvation)  and give you confidence on the day of judgement

See verse 4:17

Church Story #2 of living outside of your self.  Spirit’s testimony

• Relationships reveal our need to grow in grace and force us into fresh encounters with God the Holy Spirit.

See verse 4:17 – focus on among

CS Lewis – Rats in The Cellar- sins against charity (a quote from Lewis’ seminal work Mere Christianity)

“[When we begin to try to be like Christ] We begin to notice, besides our particular sinful acts, our sinfulness; begin to be alarmed not only about what we do, but about what we are. This may sound rather difficult, so I will try to make it clear from my own case. When I come to my evening prayers and try to reckon up the sins of the day, nine times out of ten the most obvious one is some sin against charity; I have sulked or snapped or sneered or snubbed or stormed. And the excuse that immediately springs to my mind is that the provocation was so sudden and unexpected; I was caught off my guard, I had not time to collect myself. Now that may be an extenuating circumstance as regards those particular acts: they would obviously be worse if they had been deliberate and premeditated. On the other hand, surely what a man does when he is taken off his guard is the best evidence for what sort of a man he is? Surely what pops out before the man has time to put on a disguise is the truth?

If there are rats in a cellar you are most likely to see them if you go in very suddenly. But the suddenness does not create the rats: it only prevents them from hiding. In the same way the suddenness of the provocation does not make me an ill-tempered man; it only shows me what an ill-tempered man I am. The rats are always there in the cellar, but if you go in shouting and noisily they will have taken cover before you switch on the light.
Apparently the rats of resentment and vindictiveness are always there in the cellar of my soul. Now that cellar is out of reach of my conscious will. I can to some extent control my acts: I have not direct control over my temperament. And if (as I said before) what we are matters even more than what we do–if, indeed, what we do matters chiefly as evidence of what we are–then it follows that the change which I most need to undergo is a change that my own direct, voluntary efforts cannot bring about.

And this applies to my good actions too. How many of them were done for the right motive? How many for fear of public opinion, or a desire to show off? How many from a sort of obstinacy or sense of superiority which, in different circumstances, might equally have led to some very bad act?

But I cannot, by direct moral effort, give myself new motives. After the first few steps in the Christian life we realise that everything which really needs to be done in our souls can be done only by God.”

Taking it home to SBF

1. Are we more performers or relators here? (Programs or a deep spiritual community?)
2. Are you open to living outside of yourself?

Rats in the Cellar – Our reactions in relationships

How to jump-start a tough relationship?  Suggestions of questions to ask:

1. Do I value our relationship?
2. Do I place high value on the shed blood of Jesus Christ?
3. Is there any area in our relationship in which we need to be reconciled?

I. INTRO

An overview of 1 John

Major themes:

• Remember, the Gospel of John was written that we might believe. The Letters of John were written that we might know – as in assurance.
• Assurance that the Christian faith is true
• Assurance of our own salvation
• Pastor and author John MacArthur has stated that the overall theme of 1 John is “a recall to the fundamentals of the faith” or “back to the basics of Christianity.”
• MacArthur tells us that John the apostle deals with certainties, not opinions or conjecture. He expresses the absolute character of Christianity in very simple, yet profound, terms.
• MacArthur also reminds us that 1 John is very pastoral.  You may have noticed that I have been referring to him as “Grandpa Pastor John.”

Here is an overview of John’s first letter:

1. Knowing Authentic Fellowship – 1 John 1:1 – 2:17
2. Knowing Gospel Truth -1 John 2:18 – 2:28
3. Knowing Our Gift of Righteousness – 1 John 2:29 – 3:10
4. Knowing Sacrificial Love – 1 John 3:11 – 4:21
5. Knowing Gospel Assurance – 1 John 5:1 – 5:21

Two weeks ago Gene spoke of 3 “spiritual bullies” from 1 John 3:11-24:

1. Breaking The Spirit of Cain – Break free of legalism and judgment…
2. Passionless, or loveless, Christianity – Christ’s passion for us becomes our passion for Him and each other.
3. Condemning Heart – God knows everything about your heart and He still died for you and forgave your sins then why are you condemning yourself?

Last week we discovered THE central, objective truth of all time – found in 1 Jn 4:2 – “Jesus Christ has come in the flesh.”[1]

The essence of the gospel is that Jesus becomes the perfect intersection of God’s holiness and God’s love.  Think of a cross…

In the fullness of time Jesus the Christ condescended to become an “earthling” to love, serve, and die on our behalf so that we could enter the presence of a fully holy God.

This central objective truth distinguishes between two distinctive groups of people described in 4:6: “By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.” The spirit of truth is God-centered and the spirit of error is human-centered.

II. BODY

John was the sole remaining apostolic survivor who had intimate, eyewitness association with Jesus throughout His earthly ministry, death, resurrection, and ascension.

This text is one of the greatest and most thorough texts in the entire Bible on what love is. It tells us that God is love; that God loves us through Jesus’ death for our sins, and that God gives us His love to share with one another. It further explains that true love is not possible apart from God, but that by God through the Holy Spirit we can love others as Jesus has loved us.

What’s the BIG IDEA for today?  God’s character of love fuels our call to love.

• I am incapable of loving Linda with the kind of love she deserves.
• I am incapable of loving SBF with the kind of love you deserve.
• I need God’s love moving into me and through me to love effectively.

V. 7 is an overview and tells us where we’re headed: “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and loves God.” (All 5 words for love are related to agape – God’s sacrificial love.)

As we begin we must ask the question: What is the difference between the BEST of human love and God’s love?  (Aren’t there lots of people who are not active intentional followers of Christ who love well?)

CS Lewis, in his book The Four Loves, speaks of Gift-love and Need-love.[2]

The epitome of human (or natural) Gift-love, he says, is the love of a devoted mother.

Human Need-love is almost exactly what it implies – the inborn need of every human to be loved.

Natural Gift-love is always directed to objects, which the lover finds in some way lovable — objects to which Affection, or Eros, or a shared point of view attracts him, or, failing that, to the grateful and the deserving, or perhaps to those whose helplessness is of a winning and appealing kind.

But Divine Gift-love in the [person] enables him to love what is not naturally lovable; lepers, criminals, enemies, morons, the sulky, the superior, and the sneering.

That such a [Divine] Gift-love comes by Grace and should be called Charity, everyone will agree. But I have to add something…God, as it seems to me, bestows two other gifts: a Supernatural Need-love of Himself and a supernatural Need-love of one another.

What we have is 1) God’s character of love and 2) God’s calling to love.

God’s character of love (vs. 8-10)

V. 8 asserts that God is love — This is the nature of God in His divine compassion.

V. 9 is a very clear declaration of the gospel: By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him.

When we are born again by Him we begin to share His nature.

This gospel transformation is the act of the Holy Spirit connecting our dead, selfish hearts with God’s living, loving heart so that His life becomes our life and His love becomes our love.

A gospel transformation creates the connection between God’s love for us and our love for each other.

John shows that the manifestation of that nature in history was the sending of his Son so that we might have eternal life through him.

V. 10 is yet another declaration of the gospel:  it’s not that we loved God but that He loved us and sent His Son to be a propitiation for our sins.

So, God is love – and Divine Gift-love starts with God.

In John’s mind the great manifestation of God’s love is that God sent his Son—John says this twice in the last two verses.

The aim of that sending, he says, was to bear our punishment for sin (propitiation) and thus be the one who removes the wrath of God. That’s what makes the sending to be what CS Lewis calls Divine Gift-love.

Propitiation means that God moves to satisfy His own wrath.

God’s calling to love (vs. 11-16 (21).

V. 11 – The Word Ought (to Love One Another)

How are we to understand this word ought?

“Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”

It is easy to take a legalistic – or moralistic approach here…

But John has not forgotten what he wrote verse 7-8. “Whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.”

So when he says, “We ought to love each other,” he means ought the way fish ought to swim in water and birds ought to fly in the air and living creatures ought to breathe and peaches ought to be sweet and lemons ought to be sour and hyenas ought to laugh. And born again people ought to love. It’s who we are.

Look at v. 12: “No one has ever beheld God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us and His love is perfected in us.” When we are born again, God Himself is imparted to you. He dwells in you and sheds abroad His love in our hearts.

God’s aim is that this love be matured – and eventually perfected – in us.

**Notice the phrase “His love” in verse 12. The love that we have as a believer is not an imitation of the divine love. It is an extension of divine love – first IN us and then THROUGH us to others.

CONCLUSION

Enjoy Me Poem

Just these two words He spoke
changed my life:

Enjoy Me.

What a burden I thought I was to carry–
a [cross], as did He.

Love once said to me, “I know a song,
Would you like to hear it?

And laughter came from every brick in the street
And from every pore in the sky.

After a night of prayer, he
changed my life when
He sang,

Enjoy Me.

Gene Heacock

13 verses that can revolutionize your church but as someone said the only church you can build is the one that meets in your heart…

Have you ever had a bully in your life?

Recall who it was when it happened and how did you get over it? Can you still feel the relief as well as the initial angst when I asked that question? Why is that so real for some who experienced it decades ago?

Most of us are aware of the national epidemic of bullying and the tragic effect it has had upon children as well as college students.  There have been a string of teenage suicides over this issue. There are middle school, high school, street corner, financial, economic, highway road-rage bullies, cyber-space as well as political bullies.

There can also be spiritual bullies as well. It is always about power and intimidation and who is in and who is out. Churches can be that way as well…

This text says there are at least three spiritual bullies (see 2:26) to overcome and John will tell us how to overcome them.

The text says the three are:

1. V. 12 The Spirit of Cain
2. V. 15 Passionless Christianity (also v. 17)
3. V. 20 A condemning heart.

Some of the spiritual bullies we have encountered so far are:  The Legalist, The Gnostics, Greek Philosophy, Roman humanism but most critical has been these tender new converts.

Have you been a believer less than five years? Do you ever feel like you just don’t measure up? Perhaps they have more access to the father than you do?

Have any of you ever felt like a second class Christian? Do you ever allow other Christian to do that to you? Why are you so vulnerable?

Or are you the one that makes others fell less than accepted like your specially special to God?

Beware grace gone sour that says, God you made good soup but after all, look at the great stock you had to work with. –Haddon Robinson quote

ASK you if you were John what would you say to this vulnerable small group with all these factions and obstacles in their midst?

John writes them a letter and tells them why they are strong he reminds them to whom they belong and to whom they will become like and how that over time they will become his strong band of believers.

Listen to these verses. I will read the verses and allow us to soak in the word. I will read the verse and add the names of the transition team members 1:1 2;1-2;12 2:13 2:14 2:26 5:13

How does God refute and give biblical correction to the spiritual bullies?

v 11 From the beginning – a few possible meanings bottom line get back to basics John 13:34 or the church? Jesus only taught twice in his earthly ministry Matt 16 and Matt 18

Core Christology and a reconciling community how are we doing with those basics?

Spirit of Cain – story of Cain rooted in comparison (Galatian problem Galatians 5:15 and judgment)

Legalism drives us away form God and destroys the body of Christ while true Christ-likeness is winsome and attractive and draws others to Christ.

Spirit of Cain is rooted also in judgment – as Luther said he who practices judgment becomes the self-accuser and self-justifies simultaneously.

John makes the transition to defeats the spirit of Cain and confront the second bully of passionless or loveless Christianity v. 15 and 17.

He focused them on Jesus v. 16 laying his life down.  Who is writing this? Son of thunder an angry man who shared the last supper with Jesus who reclined heart to heart on his chest. Who knew everything about John’s sin and yours and mine – He knows our hearts v. 20 but he still dies, he still sacrifices, he still loves us.

This is not the Gnostic Jesus but Jesus incarnate who died on a real cross for real sin and was tied to real life He laid it down to bond us to himself as I illustrate in the story of Plough boy…

This is not a fake grenade but this is the passion of Christ saying there passion and suffering was real to break the outer man to recapture our hearts. His passion for us becomes our passion for Him and each other.

v17-19

• Christ death forgives our sins
• Christ death bonds us to one another
• Christ death calls us to common service’

Love that is practical says John is not theoretical and love that is demonstrated – “When one Christian cries another should taste salt.”  Have you tasted any salt lately?

John moves to dethrone the spirit of intimidation on the third bully v. 20 a condemning heart. If God knows everything about your heart and He still died for you and forgave your sins then why are you condemning yourself?

Just pause for a moment… DO YOU STRUGGLE WITH A DREAD OF DIVINE  RETRIBUTION?? An awareness that if you saw God your desire would be to run from Him rather than to run toward Him? That judgment is real and your are fearing God’s judgment upon you?

Perhaps you are not converted?

John is dealing with another type called a condemning heart – feelings of condemnation, worthlessness, spiritual inferiority or not ever measuring up spiritually. It is called a condemning heart or as John Fletcher said an over scrupulous conscience, let me read Fletcher’s fears and that John Wesley’s advice to him and to us…

Romans 8:1 says there is now…

Where does it come from? Our flesh, others flesh -(comparison and judgment) and the enemy – the devil himself

Important concept is to know the difference between condemnation and correction

Family illustration child baseball, rather than a cinder block through the bay window from juvenile delinquents

One will get correction the other justice, and condemnation.

What is John’s final antidote from all the spiritual bullies and insecurities? Intimacy the inward witness testimony of the Spirit’s witness

John emphasizes obedience repeatedly verses 21,22,23,24 but it positioned in this way: become who you are, become who you love and become more like the one you are bonded with.

Story during the civil war – a woman freed – like the slave woman freed by Abraham Lincoln… she said I want to go with you…

Holiness and obedience the term used here is set in the metaphor of hospitality in your relationship with the God of the universe. It is relational dynamic and beautiful and draws us

He lives in us and we in Him it is Johanine all the way

Taking it Home To SBF

Time to break The Spirit of Cain?

If you lift anything higher than the cross in the end it will cause enmity within the body of Christ (doctrine, experience, manifestations, signs, systematic theology, worship practice, etc.)

Passionless of loveless Christianity?

Any one you don’t like, don’t love avoid her in the hall, grocery store, Get real get honest  (you avoid pray you don’t  have to room with on the retreat and avoid at that one aisle in the grocery store??)

God has every right to ask you to do what He knows you can not do because HE IS GOD, but take heart He has not asked you to do anything in your Christian life that he has not promised to give you the power to do

Condemning Heart – are you candidate for a richer, fuller free-er  relationship with Jesus??