As a church, Southside Bible Fellowship is currently in a season of transition.  Last July reTURN/CRM completed a report (based on multiple surveys and interviews) that yielded five core issues, which are currently being addressed.  They are:

1. SBF is being invited to more fully delight in God and to continue to cultivate an understanding of being delighted-in by the Person of Jesus.
2. Commit to growing deeper in understanding, receiving, and giving God’s grace.
3. Re-Establish Biblical Community.
4. Re-Think and Re-Tool Leadership in the Church.
5. Review and Revise administrative systems and policies/procedures.

As we seek to grow in these areas we want to continue to learn how to communicate the “truth in love” (Eph 4:15).  On Oct 8, 2011 Dana Towle resigned his functions as youth pastor, elder, and member of SBF.  Our desire in posting the leadership team’s response to Dana’s resignation is to communicate with love, clarity, and respect…

“As our Youth Pastor over the past several years Dana has served the youth and the Southside family with faithfulness, enthusiasm, and dedication.  His commitment to, and love for, the youth of our fellowship and the community has been confirmed by the love and respect the youth have shown him.  We are deeply grateful to Dana, Debbie, and their ministry team for the impact they have had on this vital ministry.  We are saddened with Dana’s decision to leave this ministry and our church at this time and we continue to pray for nothing less than God’s best for Dana and Debbie as they move forward.  They will be missed.

Youth Pastor was one of the two roles Dana filled during his time at Southside.  He also served as an Elder on the Leadership Team.

Over these past few years we have struggled with some tough and challenging times, which led to some difficult meetings.  There were occasions when Dana would present ultimatums indicating he would leave the church before agreeing to a given position. In the past we were able to resolve these differences, however, this was not the case at this time. Dana’s perception of where he believes the church is moving is at odds with the rest of leadership and he apparently found the disagreements to be beyond reconciliation and submitted his resignation. As a Leadership Team we had hoped to continue to work toward an understanding regarding our differences.

We chose to believe that God will continue to draw us toward His purposes for Southside and we look forward to an opportunity for reconciliation.”

–The SBF Leadership Team

Last week we said that if we think the Bible is about us we will tend to read it like a rulebook – what we must do to please God.  BUT if we see that the Bible is about God (and His glory) we will tend to read it and see what He has already done for us, through the gift of Christ’s sacrifice.  This latter perspective is how to best interpret our passage for today – in the light of what Jesus Christ has already accomplished (His light, truly is our delight!).

In the book Gospel: Recovering the Power that Made Christianity Revolutionary, J.D. Greear (Tim Keller writes the Forward) asks, “Could the gospel be lost in evangelical churches? This book shows how moralism and legalism have often eclipsed the gospel, even in conservative churches. [This book] cuts through the superficiality of religion and reacquaints you with the revolutionary truth of God’s gracious acceptance of us in Christ. The gospel is the power of God, and the only true source of joy, freedom, radical generosity, and audacious faith. The gospel produces in us what religion never could: a heart that desires God.”

We must ask where do we find moralism and legalism in our own hearts — as well as in our church?  There are two concepts in our passage today that will help us to identify and root our moralism and legalism:

1. What does it mean to abide in Him (2:28; 3:5 [in Him]; 3:9 [His seed abides])?
2. What does it mean to practice righteousness (2:29; 3:7, 10)?

Again, depending if we think the Bible is about us (and what we should do) – or if the Bible is about God (and what He has done), we will interpret and apply these two concepts in two VERY different ways.

This morning I’d like to look at these two phrases/concepts and see how they will help us to read and apply this text to our lives.  (This message has the potential to change your life forever.)

What does it mean to abide in Christ?

John 15:1-11: “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. ² Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit. ³ You are already clean because of the word [logos], which I have spoken to you. ⁴ Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. ⁵ I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do no-thing [of eternal significance]. ⁶ If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned. ⁷ If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. ⁸ My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples. ⁹ Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love. ¹⁰ If you keep My commandments [The Great Commandments[1]], you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. ¹¹ These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full”(emphasis added).

[Our 1 John passage this morning says that if, or as, we abide in him we will have confidence before God.]

• Simply stated, the words “abide in [Me] Him” simplify the teachings of Jesus into three words.
• The foundation of our joy and confidence is not what we do, but rather what God has done for us.
• So Jesus says in Jn 15 – I AM the true Vine…You are the branches.
• We are called to be branches, receiving and sharing in His nature; receiving and sharing in his very life — bearing fruit.
• Jesus says, “I AM everything – you are the branches linked to me.”
• Severed, we are bound for the fire pyre, but united to Jesus we are capable of bearing lasting fruit.

There are 2 conditions…

1. ABIDE (remain).  Abiding requires no effort.  You are abiding, here, now.  It took effort to get here and it will take effort to leave here, but not to stay.  It doesn’t take conscious thought or effort… “I’m at church, I’m at church, etc.”  You just know you’re here…
2. PRAYER is yearning for the life that produces fruit.  See yourself as a branch…  That’s prayer.

All the resources that you and I need, that the world needs are in the True Vine.

So many Christians, instead of accepting God’s invitation to enter His throne room, stand alone outside the door, uncertain and ashamed. Christ beckons them to His banqueting table and offers them a room in His house, but they foolishly give up the glory of the life He has offered. They come to Jesus as Redeemer but never go beyond the doorway to abide in Him and experience the unspeakable joy of dwelling with the King of Kings (Andrew Murray, Abide In Christ).

• Our primary calling is to be with God, to immerse ourselves in His immeasurable love, joy, and grace.
• Abiding means that we trust Jesus Christ to meet all of our needs and be all our treasure.
• Now, as we learn to abide in Christ the fruit is real change from the inside out.  And doing what is right is an evidence, a signal, that something supernatural has happened to us. John calls it being born of God. Out of the Father’s free and boundless love he calls a person to be his child and then he causes this person to be born again.
• To abide in Jesus means to live in Jesus; to make Jesus the center of your life; to find our comfort and joy in Him.
• As we abide a basic dissatisfaction with sin will begin to seep deep within us. A growing hunger and thirst for the gospel of Jesus Christ will draw us into a deeper connection with the true Vine.
• There will be lapses where we seem quite content to continue in some specific sin, but then a word will be spoken, a loving gesture from a brother or sister will be performed, God’s Word will come alive, a pang of conscience will spring up within us, and the conviction of the Holy Spirit will become loud and clear.
• What John is saying in both his gospel as well as our passage today in 1 John 2-3 is that an active intentional follower of Jesus Christ – when confronted with sin, will respond with true confession and humble repentance and yield into a deeper cultivating resolve to abide in Jesus and to do what is right.
• Does God want you to spend your life trying to do what is right?  No, He is inviting us to find our joy and comfort in Him – the fruit of which is that we will do what is right…

Now let’s turn our attention to what it means to practice righteousness?

Abiding and practicing righteousness are two overlapping concepts.  (They are ALMOST metaphors[2] one for the other.)

Roms 5:15-19: But the free gift is not like the transgression. For if by the transgression of the one the many died, much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many. ¹⁶ The gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned; for on the one hand the judgment arose from one transgression resulting in condemnation, but on the other hand the free gift arose from many transgressions resulting in justification. ¹⁷ For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.

¹⁸ So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all [people], even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all [people]. ¹⁹ For as through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous. [Who’s obedient?]

• Righteousness is a gift!
  
• **Here’s deal:  If you think the Bible is about you, you will tend to view righteousness as right living. But this is not correct. Righteousness is the gift of right standing.
• We can either practice our own attempts at striving after righteousness – or we can receive the abundance of grace and the gift of Christ’s righteousness… (which then engrafts us to the Vine in which we rest.)
• Lambanō – a verb meaning to “actively lay hold of to take or receive,” to lay hold by aggressively accepting what is available (offered). Accept with initiative, emphasizes the volition (assertiveness) of the receiver.
• As we receive the gift of righteousness and surrender into abiding in Christ, we will begin to find that our lives will no longer be dominated by unrighteousness as we learn to trust the gospel to impute[3] its finished work into us – and then through us.

What we are talking about is the definition of obedience. The church has made “obedience” a “religious” word, not a biblical word. The primary activity of Christian obedience is for us to make room in our lives to hear God call us beloved.[4]

One theologian has explained that the Latin word from which our English word obedience is derived means “to hear.”  So, an obedient life is a life that listens to God.  Spiritual discipline, then, is the “effort to create some inner and outer space in our lives, where this [listening] can be practiced” (Making All Things New: 67).[5]

Our passage for today is 1 John 2:18-27 (NASB)

It’s important for us to consider that the gospel of John was written so that people might believe, while the letters (epistles) of John were written that believers might know.  The word believe is used about 50 times in John’s gospel (about twice per chapter).  The word know is used 29 times in 1 John alone.

1 John is about the Christian life.  John is telling them (and us) that to live the Christian life is to experience a deep and intimate fellowship with the Triune God.

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

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

²⁶ These things I have written to you concerning those who are trying to deceive you. ²⁷ As for you, the anointing which you received from Him abides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you; but as His anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you abide in Him. [See also John 15. John is repeating themes from his gospel account…]

Our passage today generates (at least) 6 questions:

1. V. 18: What is the last hour?
2. V. 18: Is there one antichrist or many?
3. Vs 22-23: What is the essence of the antichrist spirit?
4. Vs 20, 27: What is the anointing that we have from the Holy One?
5. Vs. 20-21: How can we know? (The gospel of John was written that they might believe, this letter was written that they might know.)
6. Vs. 24, 27: What does it mean to abide (used 5 times in 4 verses)?  (More on this next week.)

Let’s go back through them…

1.  V. 18: The last hour begins with the Christ Event (the “cross” is short-hand).

• Acts 2:16–17, “This is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: ‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh.'”
• 1 Corinthians 10:11, “[The Old Testament narratives] were written down for our instruction upon whom the end of the ages has come.”
• Hebrews 1:1–2, “In many and various ways God spoke of old to our fathers by the prophets; but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son.”
• Hebrews 9:26, “He has appeared once for all at the end of the age to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.”
• 1 Peter 1:20, “[Christ] was destined before the foundation of the world but was made manifest at the end of the times for your sake.”

2.  V. 18: Is there one antichrist or many? John’s view seems to be that there is a singular antichrist coming but that the spirit of antichrist is already in the world and that it produces many preliminary lesser forms of the antichrist.

3.  Vs. 22-23: The essence of the antichrist spirit is:

• To deny that Jesus was the Christ
• To deny that the Christ was fully incarnate in Jesus.
• The spirit of antichrist does whatever it can to diminish Christ and substitute other views (including legalism/moralism) or other persons for the true incarnate Son of God (intermediaries).
• John makes it clear that there are certain false teachers who are disturbing the congregations to whom he is originally writing.
• (And) these false teachers see themselves as super-Christians; illuminati, people who have (special or secret) knowledge (Gnosticism) that the rest of us mere mortals don’t have.
• Grandpa Pastor John, in large measure, writes this letter in order to make it clear that not only are those false teachers not super-Christians, they’re not Christians at all.
• Matt 7:22-23 — Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ ²³ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’
• Barna survey: 40% of those in Evangelical Churches are not born again.

4.  Vs. 20, 27: What is the anointing that we have from the Holy One?

• The grace capacity to know. (The gospel of John was written that they might believe, this letter was written that they might know.)
• The grace capacity to abide (used 5 times in 4 verses)?
• These concepts in 1 John 2 are synonymous (vs. 2-3, 24-25).
• The phrases “to know” and “to abide in Christ” picture an intimate, close relationship  — not just a superficial acquaintance. In John’s gospel (15:4-7), Jesus describes salvation using the picture of branches united to a vine.
• Without that vital union with Christ which salvation provides, there can be no life and no productivity. In Colossians 1:18, the Bible likens this same union to that of a head and a body.

CONCLUSION

As we move toward a conclusion, I’d look to go back and spend a few minutes considering this grace capacity to know – and to abide. (And again, we will talk about abiding next week as well – how do we stay connected?)

The theological term, or construct, for these terms to know and to abide is called assurance of salvation.  What does it take to truly know that I am saved?  As we learn to abide in Christ, there will be a confrontation with fear.

One of the dominant fears (for most of us) is that we will arrive at judgment day and hear those terrifying words: “Depart from Me, I never knew you…” (Mat 7:22-23).

I would like to close today by providing 10 “Principles of Full Assurance” that will help us to “activate our knower”:

1.  FULL ASSURANCE IS GOD’S WILL FOR YOU. “And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence so as to realize the full assurance of hope until the end.” Hebrews 6:11

2.  FULL ASSURANCE EMBRACES THE PAINFUL WORK OF SELF-EXAMINATION. “Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you – unless indeed you fail the test?” 2 Corinthians 13:5

3.  FULL ASSURANCE EMBRACES GOD’S DISPLEASURE AND DISCIPLINE. “I will bear the indignation of the LORD because I have sinned against Him, until He pleads my case and executes justice for me. He will bring me out to the light, and I will see His righteousness.” Micah 7:8-9

4.  FULL ASSURANCE EMBRACES PATIENCE. “I waited patiently for the LORD; and He inclined to me and heard my cry. He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay, and He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm. He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God.” Psalm 40:1-3

5.  FULL ASSURANCE WILL DIMINISH IN THE PRESENCE OF CONCEALED SIN. “When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away through my groaning all day long.” Psalm 32:3

6.  FULL ASSURANCE ARISES FROM HEARING THE WORD OF CHRIST.

• “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.” Romans 10:17
• “These have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.” John 20:31

7.  FULL ASSURANCE ARISES OUT OF A STRONG FOCUS ON THE SUFFICIENCY OF THE CROSS OF CHRIST. “Since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith.” Hebrews 10:21-22

8.  FULL ASSURANCE ARISES FROM PRAYER. “I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe.” Ephesians 1:18-19

9.  FULL ASSURANCE IS NOT EASILY DISCERNED IN ISOLATION. “And the eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I have no need of you.'” 1 Corinthians 12:21

10.  FULL ASSURANCE (AFTER ALL IS SAID AND DONE) IS A GIFT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. “The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God.” Romans 8:16

by Gene Hecock

His Light, Our Delight

The Word is the Light that draws us as if we have 200 lbs of iron in our chest and all of heaven is a  magnet. It is what the Beatitudes say, “blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they will be filled.” The blessing begins in the hunger, are you hungry? Are you thirsty ? If you are you are already blessed.

It is what Henri Nouwen says, “your desire to please Him , pleases Him.”

How do you relate to the statement that your desire to please Him pleases Him? Do you consider yourself spiritually hungry for more of the Lord?

The context, The Author and the purpose review.

Major challenges:  The Law its use and the struggle between legalism and antinomianism

Knowing God-how do you know God? The Gnostics – dealing with spiritual bullies in our lives

Evil-issue of dealing with sin, denying sin exists  or claiming not to have sinned

Victory over sin as the puritans stated we are free from the power of sin over us but not the presence of sin around us .

I would add that Legalism is more than just trying to please God by attaining salvation through good works, it is also asking the flesh to do something that is impossible to do apart from the power of the Holy Spirit? It is preaching grace for salavation but works for sanctification to prove we are saved.

Do you struggle with this type of legalism? How have you made progress by God’s Spirit in you?

Where are you stuck right now in your spiritual walk?

Study the NT  themes come up over and over. If we were to use a metaphor for knowing God as a river .

The metaphor would be something like this:

Legalism are like rapids they will beat you up

Antinomanism- there is no law is like a river overflowing its boundaries- like people who say there are saved but live like they are lost

Gnosticism- they are above the river, they are super spiritual,  know it all but have never gotten their feet wet

Evil-try to deny it is real -drink any water you want or think everything is evil do not drink any water at all ( asceticism)

Dualism- tend to be fragmented and will have one foot on the land and the other in the water. They tend to be worldly because they chop their lives into little boxes or claim to be deeply spiritual but carry a darkside as well. They do not want to come into the light.

In light of NT themes and John’ epistle where do you find your spiritual life being challenged?

By spiritual bullies? By legalism? Buy dualism-chopping your life into little boxes ? Other?

verse 12- Young Children- Beloved apostle starts with a foundation for the weak and the strong to establish level ground before the cross. Fathers and children are all equal in God’s eyes

He starts with the gospel to conquer all the threats against the Gnostics, the legalists and the dualists

Jesus is fully man and fully God, evil is real yet fully conquered, sin was paid for and the same Word of God and Holy Spirit that saved us is here to sustain us

Why? because of His Name- key term in NT.

Where is your confidence right now regardless of whether you are an new believer or seasoned veteran?

Do you ever struggle with spiritual insecurity? How does that insecurity  come out in your life?

According to verse 12 what is the source of your confidence?

verses 13-14   3 Groups fathers, young men and children

Fathers- may have a tendency toward pride John uses a phrase that humbles them

Is there tendency towards thinking you are superior over a newer Christian?

John solution serve the weakest in the body first

Young men- teenagers, mid range Christians -are they tempted- are the testosterone  filled?

How does he counsel them -he tells them they are strong in the Lord and have overconme the evil one

verse 14 Children again builds them up I write to you ———-put your name in the text? Read the text with your name or the name of someone in your small group

Doesn’t that just bring a new sense of confidence when you know  what God says and thinks about you?

What is the link between the 2 sections? 12-14 and 15-17?    the evil one

The reality of evil, Personal evil, Systemic evil and evil in the body of Christ

Do not love the world yet God says He loves the world- which one are we to love and which one are we not to love?

He also uses the Hebrew idiom of comparison like Jacob did with Leah and Rachel , God did with Jacob and Esau  and Jesus did when he said you should hate your mother and father in comparison to the passion you have for me.

In a phrase it is an extreme contrast-

Which one do you love more? Contrast- you hate one because you love the other so much more -the world or God?

Systemic evil that try’s to entice you away from God-same lies as in the beginning God is ugly, sin is beautiful and the good life can be obtained by the pathway of independence from God

Powerful ideologies-cravings of sinful man

Proactive images-lust of his eye

Perverted identities-the boasting of what he has and does

How do those three statements describe our culture? How does it affect your spirit and your walk with God? How does it affect the life of the church?

Gregg said make sure I close with taking it to Southside.

Just a side note on Jesus teaching on the church. Just remember he only taught on the Church twice in his earthly ministry. Once on core Christology Mtt 16 and the other time in Mt 18 on becoming a reconciling community.

Lets start with the foundation of Jesus two teachings on the church before we attempt to get too far advanced

Theological challenge?

Our view of scripture?

The authority of scripture we would agree is inspired but what is our approach to scripture? Does it add to legalism?

Another frame for consideration: Scripture is not prescriptions for more activity for God but rather and invitation to delight and depend upon God above all else? What is your view?

Personal challenge: God desire for us to embrace at a core level our love relationship with Him as our father.

My experience with my son who I almost lost and my delight to see him and God’s delight to see me.

Reflect on the statement that God is as pleased to see you as he is his own son

Relational Challenge-need of more in-depth community and the practice of forgiveness if needed

Big question is who goes first to work toward reconciliation and forgivingness?

Suggestion from the text- level ground in front of the cross not superiority or inferiority ( fathers and children)

The answer to who goes first in approaching forgiveness?who ever places the highest value on the shed blood of Jesus Christ ( it is where we all started see verse 12)

Close will you open yourself us to the word of God, the love of God and becoming a reconciling community?