Author: Mojo Ministries

The first 9 weeks of this series really focused on the fact that “God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.” John’s theological message here is, that although you and I have a dark side, a downside, junk in our trunk – God does not. There is nothing that can be discovered or known that would make God look less Holy or less Righteous. God has nothing to hide – He has no junk in His trunk. God is Light and he has called those who have once walked in darkness, to come out of the darkness and walk in the Light. He has made a place at the table for us, so that through repentance, those of us who once walked in darkness, could come out of that darkness and into the light – into fellowship with Him.

If you and I could just get a grasp on the fact that YOU AND I HAVE A SEAT PREPARED AT THE TABLE: We have been purchased by the blood of the Lamb and as we discovered in the last message in this series, that through the saving grace – WE HAVE BECOME THE SONS OF GOD. “God commended His love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” And although we might not look like we should, but we sure don’t look like we used to.

I John 3: 11-24, “¹¹ For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. ¹² Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother’s righteous. ¹³ Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you. ¹⁴ We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death. ¹⁵ Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him. ¹⁶ Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. ¹⁷ But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? ¹⁸ My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth. ¹⁹ And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him. ²⁰ For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things. ²¹ Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God. ²² And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight. ²³ And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment. ²⁴ And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us.”

If you haven’t noticed, John writes in a cyclic manner. He will make a point, then he goes all over the place, and then he returns to the point he was making. For example, in chapter 4, John is going to begin addressing trying the spirits to know who is good and evil, then in the middle of the chapter, he will come right back to this message of I John 3:11 – “LOVE ONE ANOTHER.”

In our message today, John is about to give us a master class on love. I’m going to put out there from the get-go, we naturally do not know how to live God’s way. What that really means is, when you become a Christian, you must relearn how to live every aspect of your life. You must allow God to UNMAKE you in order to REMAKE you.

For some of us, we grew up in church, we memorized Scriptures and got badges in Sunday School, in other words, we got our pockets full of stuff, but all we had is a pocket full of bible memorization, and not heart that’s been transformed from stone into flesh.

What I am trying to say is: YOU can’t know love, until you know the God of Love and He has put the Spirit of Love in YOU!

Unfortunately, our views of love come from our broken perspective of love, such as: When people do things that we like, we then reciprocate that action by loving them; Or, when I do something that is loveable, then I am worthy of being loved.

This is human, transactional, man-made views of love. But that is not how God’s love works.

When we read about God’s love in the Bible, it is not transactional, and it is not reactional to what you do! In fact, it is the complete opposite. And John is about to give us a Master Class on how, if you are loved by God, how you have been empowered to love like God – to love God’s way and not the world’s way! SO, John is going to show us several things between chapters 3 and 4:

WE HAVE BEEN COMMANDED TO LOVE (3:11)

1 John 3:11, “For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.”

Any of you ever have a parent when you were growing up that told you that you “should” do something, and you knew exactly what that something was? I can’t say about your house, but I can say for mine, that “Should” was not a suggestion.

How about you married folks, those, “When you have time, you SHOULD,” never meant that, but almost always meant, “Now would be a good time.”

John is not saying, “Maybe on Wednesday, if you are feeling up to it, and if life is happening the way you want it to happen, and if people done everything you think they should do, if they are in my click – then, if you have time to get around to it, I will love them.

NO, what John is saying, “Based on what you have received, based on how God has loved you, You should love one another.”

Based on the fact that God loved us at the most unlovable point in our lives means that we “SHOULD” love others at the most unlovable point of their lives.

But we have a problem understanding that, because we think that because we are now saved, we have to work exceptionally hard to stay saved, or to prove we are worthy of that salvation – but according to I John 4:10 says, “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His son to be the propitiation for our sins.”

• God has loved us at our best, and He has loves us at our worst;
• God has loved us when we’re in and he loves us when we’re out;
• He loves us when we’re up and He loves us when we’re down;
• He loves me when I’m right and He loves me when I’m wrong;
• He loves us on the mountain, and He loves us in the valley.
• He loves me at my most loveable moments and my most unlovable moments.

And because of the constancy of God’s love, we have been called to constantly be in love with others! God doesn’t call us to something that He doesn’t model and empower us to do. John is calling us to “Love people because we have been loved.”

LOVE GOD and LOVE EACH OTHER has been the theme of our church from day 1. We quote it, we repeat it, we testify about it, we invite others to come and see it, but I’m telling you right now, there are some in here that still have a problem living it. And to hear it for two years and still not practice it is looking God in the face and saying, “I hear what you’re saying, but I don’t care.” I know that makes some of you uncomfortable, and I am not trying to be mean, I’m just telling you the truth – and the truth is quick and power and sharper than any two-edged sword.

I John 4:7 says, “Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.”

John is saying “WE SHOULD LOVE BECAUSE WE ARE LOVED.”

When you and I begin to love people beyond our human capacity, that is what it means to live up to God’s standard of Love.

I won’t all of you to think with me for a moment about the most unlovable moment in your life (and if you say you don’t have one, then you are a liar and truth is not in you), but think back that that moment you are ashamed of, that moment you hurt your family, or you hurt your wife; think back to that moment of your life that you know if it were to flash across the scene of this church this morning, you have no doubt in your mind everybody in here would instantly form a different opinion of you. I won’t you to think back to that moment, because it is in that moment, “When God commend His love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

And because of God’s love, that moment no longer defines you – FOLKS, That is the love John is saying we “should have” toward one another. Why” Because We Have Been Commanded to Love;

WE HAVE ALSO BEEN EMPOWERED TO LOVE (3:24: 4:13)

I John 3:24, “And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us.”

I John 4:13, “Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit.”

Coming from a fundamentalist background, what I read in that verse is Commandment Keeping! Try harder, work faster, do more! “Don’t smoke, chew, or kiss girls who do!”

If you are Pentecostal, there is another word there you are chomping at the bit to get to, that word is SPIRIT. Which is a que that I get to go nuts and say all kinds of crazy stuff!

But here is the true beauty of verse 24 and 13, “The call to obedience, is rooted in the abiding of the Spirit.”

By abiding in the spirit, we are able to keep the commandments. And if we abandon the Spirit, we are doomed to fail to the flesh.

Let me illustrate this for you – It is not, “Well, I think I’m going to go do something great for God today.” NO – it is getting up every morning and saying, “Well, I’m going to get up, die to myself, pick up my Cross and follow Jesus and allow the Spirit of God to have its way in me.”

Our problem is, we want God in our hearts, but we don’t want His hands on our lives.

How do we love like God? We abide in the Spirit! What happens when we abide in the Spirit? We produce fruits of the Spirit! What is the first fruit of the Spirit in Galatians chapter 5? LOVE.”

• You won’t to know if our pastor’s have the right relationship with God? Look at their capacity to love.
• You want to know if our elders have the right relationship with God? Look at their capacity to love.
• You want to know the signs of life in a church? It’s not in the numbers, but in their capacity to love.

But here is a tell/tell sign of the Spirit living in you: What you do in your own personal life when you are confronted with sin – do you repent? Or do you run? Because you are doing one or the other.

God is not calling us to abuse GRACE, but He does expect us to admit that we NEED GRACE.

God has Commanded Us and Empowered us to Love:

FINALLY, LOVE AND HATE CAN’T SHARE THE SAME HEART (3:12-15)

I’ve told you the illustration before about a plane trip I took, how this rather large lady was trying to sit in a seat next to me. All I knew about that situation is that two solid objects could occupy the same space. That is what John is saying about Love and Hate – they simply cannot occupy the same space.

I know if you are like me, when I am mad at somebody, if I am angry at somebody, I see everything they have done in that moment as that moment. It doesn’t matter if everything they’ve done up to that point was perfect – I can only see them in that moment. WHY? Because love and hate can’t occupy the same heart.

I John 3:12-15, “Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother’s righteous. ¹³ Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you. ¹⁴ We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death. ¹⁵ Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.”

All of us, when we hate our brother like verse 15 says, we act more like Cain than we do Abel.

For the benefit of those not familiar with Cain and Abel, they were the sons of Adam and Eve. Cain was a farmer and Abel was a Shepherd. They both brought a sacrifice to God – God accepted Abel’s offering, but rejected Cain’s.

Now, I know you are asking the question, “Why did God accept one offering and reject the other?

I think the writer of Hebrews gives us some insight in Hebrews 11:4, “By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh.”

Let me show you how this works. This morning, as we were singing, some of you were singing and really praising God, lifting worship to God from the heart – and some of you were just singing.

What is the difference between the two? FAITH. What is faith? The writer of Hebrews would go on to say it is the “confidence of things not seen.” It is us getting to the place that although we do not understand it all, we are putting our trust and confidence in Him – no matter what.

My question to us all this morning is this: WHERE HAVE YOU PUT YOUR FAITH?

Conclusion & Invitation:

Church, John’s message is clear – God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all. He has loved us when we were unlovable, He has called us out of darkness into His marvelous light, and He has prepared a seat at the table for us through the blood of Jesus Christ. That love is not only something we receive, but something we are commanded and empowered to live out.

The truth is simple but challenging – you cannot say you know God and refuse to love. Love and hate cannot share the same heart. God has poured His Spirit into us so that His love might flow through us – not just in word, but in deed, and in truth.

So today the question is this: Are you living like Cain – just bringing what you think you owe, keeping God at arm’s length? Or are you living like Abel – bringing your best by faith, trusting God with your life, your heart, and your future?

Listen, you have a seat at the table. Jesus has already made the way. He laid down His life for you so that you might pass from death into life, from darkness into light, from hate into love.

Invitation:

If you’ve never stepped out of the darkness and into the light – if you’ve never truly trusted Christ as your Savior – today is the day. Don’t wait another moment. Come, receive His forgiveness, and take your seat at the table.

And for those who are already saved – maybe God is calling you to surrender that bitterness, to let go of the hate, to stop withholding love. Maybe He’s calling you to abide deeper in His Spirit so His love can flow through you. Whatever it is – this altar is open.

Come today – come out of the darkness, come into the light, and come take your place at the table of God’s amazing love.

“Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about (we are surrounded by, we are being watched by or observed by) with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us (giving us a picture of a runner in a race who has taking off every bit of heavy clothing or any items that would slow him down in the race – or the sin that so that so easily grips a hold on us – in other words, if there is anything blocking  you from getting from where you are right now to where God wants you to be, get rid of t, get it out of the way, lay it aside) , and let us run with patience the race that is set before us.”

In 1969-70, some folks working a Bus Ministry for 4^th Street Baptist Church in Hartsville, SC, came to my home and asked my parents if they could pick-up me and my brother and take us to church.  My parents, though they had no intention of going church, felt it was a good idea for us kids to go.  So, we became bus kids.  I remember as if it were yesterday my Sunday School Teachers – Freddie and Claudia James.  They taught me about the Lord, and when I felt I was less than the other kids – they shared with me how God loved me. 

I remained a bus kid in my home church until 1979, when my church voted to do again with the bus ministry because us “bus kids” were not what they wanted in their church.  I was devastated – what I had known and loved all my young life was instantly gone.  I rebelled against God and the church.  At 17, I joined the US Military and ran as far away from God as I could – only to find that He was there waiting for me.

When I was 24 years old, a home missions preacher came by my house to see if we would be interested in visiting.  I wasn’t home at the time, so my wife told him he would have to come back when I was there.  Well – he did.  So, to get him off my back, we visited the church.  I will never forget it.  He asked the question “What are you gonna do with Jesus?”  My heart was pounding – all the sin, all the bitterness in my heart came crashing down on me.  I got out of there as fast as I could.  All week long that question came back to my mind, “What are you gonna do with Jesus?”  So, after struggling all week, I woke my family up and told them we were going riding.  I was going to do anything I could to avoid going back to that church.  Somehow, God steered our vehicle right back there.  I can’t even remember what the preacher was preaching that morning, as my heart was pounding, all I could do was think, “Joe – what are you gonna do with Jesus.”  When we were leaving that day, the preacher caught me.  He told me he doesn’t know why he was supposed to tell me this, but God wanted me to know HE loves me.  I told that preacher there was no way God could love me, He had no idea what I had done in my life.  That preacher told me, “I don’t care what you’ve done in your life – God loves you.”  I broke down crying right there.  I just couldn’t hurt the LORD anymore – and I rededicated my life to Christ.

6 years later, we had become a fully self-supporting church, I had nearly 14 years in the Army, God was dealing with me about preaching.  I had a plan all worked out though – I was gonna retire from the military, have a pension, then I would go preach – to me seemed like a noble plan.  However, that was not God’s plan.  Shortly after this great plan of mine, I was seriously injured.  During my recovery, I remember sitting on the steps of our church one Sunday morning, and I will never forget seeing a lot of molehills in the yard.  Somehow, the Spirit of God spoke to me and said, “Joe, there are men, women, boys and girls walking all over Christians on their way to hell – just as easily as people walk over those molehills.”  I asked, “Well Lord, why is it so easy for them to walk all over us on their way to hell?”  And that verse in II Peter 3:9 came flooding to my mind (25 years after I memorized it) “The LORD is not slack concerning His promise as some men count slackness, but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”  It occurred to me that if people were walking all over us on their way to hell, it wasn’t God’s fault – it was our fault – and more in particular – it was MY fault.  I knelt down on the steps of that church and prayed, “LORD, I’m tired of being a Molehill Christian, Make me a Mountain.”  I departed the military and attended Bible College. 

After graduating College, I pastored for 8 years.  In 2002, I was at the height of my ministry.  Our church was growing, we were running a little bus ministry, I was working on a Th.M. Degree when out of no-where, my home was rocked by sin.  I was so busy in the ministry I couldn’t even see what was happening in my home.  I went before the church and poured my heart out to them it.  For a while, things seemed to be OK.  Then there seemed to be constant battles inside the church – I was fighting a deacon board, trying to do things right, trying to finish my Degree program.  And little by little, I found myself in the Gutter.  I found myself in a place where I didn’t want to be around anyone – I just wanted to leave.  I began looking at the potential of rejoining the military – I just wanted to get away.  Before I knew it, I allowed sin to come in my life and completely destroy my home, destroy my marriage, and destroy the ministry God had entrusted me with. 

And for 10 years I was in the Gutter.  I had no joy, I had no peace.  The real problem with being in the basement is – you will look right past the 99 good things being done to laser focus on the 1 thing that’s wrong – the 1 thing you don’t like. 

So, 12 years ago, there I am in the Gutter – as miserable as I could be.  My granddaughter Emma (7 at the time), asked me “Papa, did you used to be a preacher?”  With a lump in my throat, I said, “Yes Sweetie, Papa used to be a preacher.”  After a couple of minutes, she then said, “Well Papa, will you take us to Church?”  Emma’s sister Maddie chimed in, “Yea Papa, will you take us to church?”

Let me show you something here about Grandstand people – unlike Gutter people, Grandstand people will look past the 99 wrong things to find the 1 good thing!

“Wherefore (whenever you see a wherefore or a therefore, you are supposed to stop and see what it’s there for) seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us.”

Hebrews 12:1 gives us the picture of an athlete out on the field competing.  And in the Grandstands is a great cloud of witnesses, those listed in Hebrews 11, the Hall of Fame of Faith – WHAT ARE THEY DOING?  They are cheering on the favorite competitor.

So, there I was 12 years ago, down on that track.  I had given up any chance of winning.  I had all but thrown in the towel – when my granddaughters helped remind me of the “Great Cloud of Witnesses.”

I want you to get a mental picture of this now:

• Here I am on this field with defeat on my face;
• I am on this field and I just don’t care anymore;
• The race isn’t even over and I have all but given up;
• I am on this field and I’m feeling like a failure:
  • I have failed my God;
  • I have failed my family;
  • I have failed my kids;
  • I have failed my church.
• I am Winded;
• I am gasping for air;
• I have all but lost the race;
• I am bent over with my hands on my knees, looking down in defeat.

All of a sudden I hear a familiar voice in the crowd.  I glance up and see Freddie and Claudia James up in that “Great Cloud of Witnesses,” and they are yelling down to me, “Come on Joey, get up son.  You can do this, God still loves you!”

Next to Claudia and Freddie, I can see my Grandma Moore, and with tears in her eyes she says, “Oh Joey, it’s OK son, God loves you and He’s forgiven you.  Just get up and get back in the race.”

I can see my brother Sonny with Grandma, holding her hand and say, “Joey, I know you messed up, but it’s OK – God and loves you, and I’m here because of you and I’m waiting for you brother – so please, just get back in there and give all you’ve got.”

These are my Balcony People.  And I have some Balcony people here today as well:

1. My kids – Jenni and Josh – they watched their dad fail; they watched their pastor fail.  Yet, they have always been there, cheering me on.  They are my grandstand People.
2. My Grandkids – who just wanted to see their Papa get back in the race – and they will never know the work God did through them in my life.
3. My wife Kim – for years our home was a mess.  We almost couldn’t even stand being around each other.  But God has come to live at the Moore residence – and Kim has become one of my greatest grandstand People.
4. Clay and Hope Houchins.  Some of my biggest supporters in the ministry.  Hope came back to a church that had hurt her daddy when he was the pastor to support my ministry.  Even when I failed and left the ministry – they’ve never stopped reaching out to me – never stopped praying for me – never stopped praying for my kids.  Clay and Hope are my grandstand People.
5. Our family here at RPBC– faithful servants of God that have supported Kim and I and backed our ministry together.  Selfless servants that are my Grandstand People.

Folks, I’m gonna tell you it’s a whole lot better facing the race of life knowing you have people in the balconies cheering for you, encouraging you – than it is laying around in the bowels of the basement!

This Invitation is threefold:

1. If you are here, and you are in the Basement – I want to encourage you today to just get back in the race;
2. If you are here, and you see someone you know is in the Balcony cheering you on – go to them right now and hug them and tell them thank you;
3. Maybe you know someone here today that needs you to be their balcony People – go to them and let them know you are in the balcony cheering for them

If you have been with us, over the past few months we have been going through this series of messages in I John under the title Living in the Light. If you remember there are two main messages in I John: The first is found in chapter 1:5, “This then is the message, which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, God is light and in him is no darkness at all.” The second message is found in chapter 3:11, “This then is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.”

For the first two chapters (and I might add – two months), we have clearly articulated the fact that when it comes to God, He has no dark side, no downside, no skeletons in His closest, nothing in His life to be ashamed of. However, you and I do. Yet, in spite of our dark side, downside, and skeletons in our closest, “God so loved the world that He gave His only Begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not parish, but have everlasting life.”

God has called us out of the dark to Live in the Light; He has given us a new name; He expects us to Live up to that new name; He also expects us to be a place where His word can abide in us, and it is that Word abiding in us that gives us the ability to live “in the world, but not of the world.” His Word also gives us the tools to identify and mark those who are deceivers and liars – those antichrists who “went out from,” meaning they have had a departure from the Truth of God’s Word.

Today, we are in a little transition period between the first message that “God is Light and in Him is no darkness at all,” and the second message of “We should love one another.” If you have your Bible, please turn with me to I John 3:1-3:

^“1Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. ² Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. ³ And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure

A couple of weeks ago, I shared how God has been working in my heart, how through conversations with our young adults He has opened my eyes to the fact that, although we do a great job of displaying love toward one another – for the most part, yet we really don’t “KNOW” one another like we should. So, I have really been spending some time in prayer and study asking God to help me to be a better pastor, a better leader, but more importantly, how to be a better disciple of Jesus Christ.

For me to be a better disciple, I really need to know what that means, I need to “count the cost” you might say. What I know about being a disciple of Jesus Christ is that upon my conversion to Christianity, I became a disciple, a follower of Christ. But that was only the beginning to my journey – it didn’t end there. Being a disciple of Jesus Christ is a life-long journey.

Discipleship is more than following commands, it is about living out the new identity we have in Jesus Christ. In their book DiscipleShift, authors Dempsey & Earley emphasize that true discipleship is a balance of both being and doing. They state that discipleship is a process of transformation where we “abandon the things of the world and follow Christ.”  They further state, “The epistles emphasize the relational community where disciples are developed in the context of the body of believers.”  In this setting, they state, “they discover and use their spiritual gifts to love and serve each other and nonbelievers.” 

So, I would simply summarize a disciple as “someone who both knows and follows Christ.”  Simply put, following Christ means allowing Him to unmake us and then remake us into His image.  Discipleship is both relational and missional. When I hold these together with 1 John 3:1–2, I see discipleship as living out the privilege of being a child of God while growing into the likeness Christ.

With that thought in mind, I want to share with you three characteristics of a true Disciple of Jesus Christ. In doing so, I am going to bounce the message of I John 3:1-3 off 4:19 to ensure we get this in context.

What I mean by context, I’m reminded of the story of am Amish man who was hit by a patrol officer while riding his horse and buggy and was now suing the Highway patrol for $250,000.00. While standing before the judge, the judge asked, “Sir, is it true that you are suing the Highway Patrol for $250,000.00?” the man replied, “Yes, your honor.” The judge then said, “Is it also true that you were overheard at the scene saying you’d never felt better in all your life?” The Amish man replied, “Yes sir, but you have to take that statement in it’s context.” The judge then replied, “Well sir, what do you mean by that?” The Amish man said, “Well sir, on the day of the accident, the officer hit my buggy and knocked it over; my dog was thrown to one side of the road, my horse was thrown to one side of the road, and I was thrown from the buggy. The officer, with his pistol drown, walked over to my dog and seeing the condition of my dog, he shot him. He then walked over to my horse and seeing the condition of my horse, he shot him as well. And then, with that same pistol drown, he walked over to me and said “well sir, how do you feel?’ and I replied, ‘I’ve never felt better in all my life.”

A DISCIPLE LIVES IN THE NEW IDENTITY AS A CHILD OF GOD (v.1)

^“1Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God.”

The first part of Matthew 4:19 says, “And he saith unto them, Follow me . . .”

This means discipleship begins with identity – I in Him and Him in Me, not performance. A disciple is not someone trying to earn God’s love, but someone who responds to the love that was freely given by grace through faith. One author states that this new identity requires “mental acceptance of Jesus, understanding that He is now the One in charge of our lives.”

Jesus said, “Follow me . . .” If you are going to be a disciple of Jesus Christ, you have to make a conscious decision to follow Him. Dempsey and Earley state that this invitation to accept of Jesus – His authority and His truth – is at a head level – this is a mental acceptance of Jesus, understanding that He is now the one in charge of our lives.

If we are going to be a disciple of Jesus, He must lead – and we must follow! And when we make the decision to “follow” Christ, we become the ‘sons of God.”

So, a Disciple lives in the New Identity as a Child of God.

A DISCIPLE PURSUES TRANSFORMATION INTO THE LIKENESS OF CHRIST (v.2)

I John 3:2, “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.”

The second part of Matthew 4:19 says, “. . . and I will make you . . .”

These two verses speak to a transformation. This is the process of the disciples of Jesus being changed into the image of Jesus.

I’ve interpreted I John 3:2 for you before in Joeology, but here it goes again, “I don’t know what I look like right now. I mean, I don’t look like I used to look but I also don’t look quite like Jesus. I am somewhere in the transformational process. It is that daily process of being transformed that will cause me to look more like Him and less like me.”

Jesus said in Matthew 4:19, “I will make you, I will transform you.”

Dempsey and Earley state that “While ‘follow me” is at the head level – the process of Jesus transforming our lives is at the heart level.” Through the grace of God, you and I are being transformed into the image of Christ. That is both intentional and developmental.

As I stated in the introduction, following Jesus means that we are allowing Him to unmake us and remake us into His image. Jesus didn’t chose us because we were anything special, He chose us with an eye to what we could become. Jesus wants to better teach you and I how to better love Christ. This is more than a transfer of information – this is behavior modification!

If you ask me what the greatest need, and what I believe is the most important need of our churches today, what I believe every preacher needs, what I believe Core Team member needs, what every elder needs, and what every member sitting in our church’s need – what I need myself is this:

That we somehow learn daily, to become less like the world, and become more like Jesus. That is the greatest need that I have, and if you’re honest with yourself, that is probably the greatest need that you have.

In Romans 12, the Word of God begs us, implores us, beseeches us – to somehow, not to be conformed, or made like the world, but to become less like the world and be remade by the renewing of our minds, and be transformed into the image of Christ. 

You see folks, this is a process.  When Christ saved us, He cleansed us, He made us whole, and then we began the process of transformation which is a day-in and day-out process.  This is how we become less like the world and more like Christ.

A Disciple Lives in the New Identity as a Child of God;

A Disciple Pursues Transformation into the Likeness of Christ;

Finally:

A DISCIPLE EMBRACES OUR MISSION IN THE PRESENT (v.19)

Let’s look at Matthew 4:19 once more, “And He saith unto them, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”

Matthew 28:19-20, “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.”

Acts 1:8 states, “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”

These verses are a call to action for the disciples of Jesus Christ. Earley and Dempsey said, “If our acceptance of Jesus begins in our head and transformation starts in our hearts, then this leads to a change that we do with our hands.” LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, WE ARE THE HANDS AND FEET OF JESUS. D.L. Moody said “Out of 100 people that will read the Bible – 1 will actually read the Bible, the other 99 will read your life.”

God has saved us for a purpose, and that purpose is to not only become disciples, but to make disciples – EVERYBODY WIN SOMEBODY.

I have asked myself over the past few weeks, “Joe, how do you define discipleship – because if YOU can’t define discipleship, how do you expect this church to define discipleship?” So here is what I have defined discipleship to mean – for me, and for our church, based off the verses I shared today:

A disciple is loved by God, secure in that love, and lives with the hope of becoming like Christ at His return, and who participates in His mission by growing in holiness, living in community, and sharing that hope with the world (1 John 3:1–2).

For me, this definition helps frame discipleship not as a burden but as a joy. It’s about identity as God’s child first, then daily transforming in the image of Christ, and finally being intentional in sharing that hope with others. It is not a burden to be a disciple of Christ, but a privilege we get to live daily.

CONCLUSION

Right here within a 5-mile radius of the Pauline community, there are hundreds of people, right here in our community, who are waiting – they are waiting on God – and they are waiting for us. They are waiting to see if we see their lives are as important to God as our lives are. They are waiting to see if we will share the Good News with them.

I think we have come to a sad place in our churches where we so frequently have to be reminded of what we are here for. Our mission is to be a witness, a light set on a hill – to take the Gospel Message (The Good News) to the ends of the earth.

Can you imagine what would happen in Rally Point Biker Church if our people, who are commanded to go would simply obey that command? 

I want to leave you this challenge in closing: Folks, God wants us to “GO”.  He wants us to “take the next step.”  He said, “Go, and lo, I am with you, even until the ends of the earth.” “Take the next step, and Lo, I am with you.” Let me show you how this works:

• We say to God, “Well God, I sure which someone would start a rehab program in our church.” And God replies, “You GO and I will go with you.”
• “Well God, I sure which somebody would go visit my neighbor.” God says “You go, and Lo I am with you.”
• “Well God, I sure wish somebody would tell my kids about Jesus.” And again God say, “YOU GO, and LO I am with you.”

And God says, “You take the next step – I’ll Go with You.” 

• “Where YOU GO – I GO”
• “Who You Speak with, I’ll speak with”
• “Who you invest in, I will invest in.”

Hear the Lord of Harvest sweetly calling

Who will go and work for me today?

Who will bring to me the lost and dying?

Who will point them in the narrow way?

Millions now in sin and shame are dying,

Listen to their sad and bitter cries.

Hasten brother, hasten to the rescue,

And quickly answer, ‘Master, Here and I!’

We are continuing this study in I John titled “Living in the Light.” There are two main messages throughout this book, the first is that “God is light, and in him is no darkness at all,” and the second is that “God is Love and we are to Love like He loves.” That second message we touched briefly on thus far but will really begin to focus on that message in the next week or two.

What we have really focused on so far is that first message “God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.” Now, we all have a dark side, a downside, we all have junk in our trunk, things that we really don’t want to illuminate because we’d be ashamed of them. BUT GOD DOESN’T. God has no dark side, no downside, no skeleton’s hiding in His closest. “God is light and in Him is NO DARKNESS AT ALL.”

Yet, although we have a downside, a dark side, God has graciously invited us through His love (and His Son) to come out of the darkness and into the Light. He has given us a New Name and expects us to live up to that new name. His desire is that we SIN NOT. But, the truth is, we are human, and as such, we have a bad case of the “I can’t help myself.” And because we have a bad case of the “I can’t help myself,” He gave us His Son, who is our Advocate with the Father, He is the propitiation of our sins” – past, present, and future.

God’s desire is that we keep His commandments – what that really means to live in the Light. But you and I in and of ourselves are incapable of living up to God’s commandments. John tells us that if those who do not keep the commandments are liars. It is important to understand that John is not talking about those who mess up, or make mistakes, because the truth is, we all do. But he is talking about those who say they are part of the family of God, but there is no evidence or change in the life they live. These are people who say they Love God yet work behind the scenes to damage the work of God in the church.

Several safeguards John mentions to assist us in Living up to our New Name are: Keep our Word (I John 2:5) – that means to be truthful, say what you mean and mean what you say – don’t talk out of both sides of your mouth. And the second, before you go off and do something incredibly stupid, ask yourself, “What did Jesus do?” or “What would Jesus do? (I John 2:6)”

Then John began to speak to the church both collectively and individually in I John 2:12-14. Collectively, he reminds them all that their sins have been forgiven and they Know the Father – he assures the whole group that they are a part of the family of God. He writes to the young Christians, to congratulate them on becoming a part of the family of God; he mentions their strength and the Word of God that abides in them – and it is the Word of God living in them that allows them to overcome the wicked one. He wrote to us older Christians to remind us what God has already done in our lives, and to encourage us to not Retire from the work of God, but to stay in the fight, because there is a whole generation coming up behind us that will need us to encourage them in their walk, to lift them up when they fall, to be example to that next generation.

In message 6, John mentions that we are not to love the world, because the world is tempting and it is temporal. Yet, although we are not to Love the World, we are called to Live in the World, that means we are not to hide from the world, or provoke the world, but we are to engage the world; we are to stick-out in the world like a sore thumb, we are to be a “Light set on a hill.”

Last week, we spoke about Light Illuminating the Deceiver. We talked about two groups: the antichrist (singular) who is to come, and antichrists (plural) who have already come. The antichrist to come really deals with Eschatology, end-time prophecy. This will be that charismatic figure who will opposes the work of God, will one day pose as God, and seat upon the seat of God. He will be destroyed by Christ and cast into the Lake of Fire.

The second group are the antichrists that have come (and are in the church even today). They walk like Christians, they talk like Christians, but their purpose is to sew doubt in the Deity of Christ and to sew discord in the church. They like to make mountains out of molehills. They like to get us to focus on little things that have no significance when it comes to salvation by grace through faith. They like to make you think there are other ways to God and that you are good enough to make it on your own through your good works like being a member of the right church, using the right version of the Bible, having the right type of baptism, and the right view of end-times.   

The key message to end-time prophecy is this – The book of Revelation, II Thessalonians 2:1-10 were not written to scare us, or to trouble our spirit, but to give us the assurance that Christ will come again. Jesus told His disciples in John 14, “Let not your heart be troubled (don’t be scared, don’t be afraid) . . . “I go to

prepare a place for you, and if I go to prepare a place for you, I WILL COME AGAIN and receive you unto myself that where I am, there you may be also.” That is not a threat to us as believers but a promise we can rest in.

Now that is a recap of what we have covered so far in this series of messages. Today, we are going to discuss Living in the Light: Shedding Light on Lies. Let’s look at I John 2:19-29.

²⁴ Let that therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from the beginning. If that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father. ²⁵ And this is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life. ²⁶ These things have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you. ²⁷ But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him. ²⁸ And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming. ²⁹ If ye know that he is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of him.”

WE MUST RECOGNIZE THE COUNTERFEIT (vv. 19–23)

^“19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us. ²⁰ But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things. ²¹ I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it, and that no lie is of the truth. ²² Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son. ²³ Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also.”

When I was working in Iraq and Afghanistan, I came across a lot of counterfeit products: counterfeit movies, counterfeit clothing, counterfeit equipment, and yes, counterfeit money. Most of the time, the counterfeits were easy to see: For example, some of the movies you could clearly see that they were being filmed by some sitting in a movie theatre filming a movie. That was an easy counterfeit. Some of the movies were harder to discern. Same thing with clothing. Some of the more famous counterfeits there were North Face clothing.  You could pick up a nice Northface jacket in the Haji mart for next to nothing – it would have the emblem, it looked like the real thing, but it was a knock-off, a counterfeit.

What John is telling us here is that in the church – every church, there are some knockoffs, some counterfeits. They look like Christians, they talk like Christians, they sometimes act like Christians. They know the right things to say to pass themselves off as authentic – but they are counterfeits.  

Now, when John says in verse 19, “They went out from us, but they were not of us…” he is not saying that they actually departed the church, because remember, he is writing to the church to let them know about the antichrists currently IN the CHURCH. And there are several ways to identify the counterfeits.

First, there is a Departure

This is not necessarily a departure from the church (though sometimes it is – that usually happens when they have sowed discord and then God illuminated the fact that they are a counterfeit, so they depart and go hide in the shadows and sew discord in another church). But the departure John is speaking of here is a departure from the Truth. 

Most of the time, this departure is not obvious, like denying Christ is the Son of God, but it is subtle and hard to detect.  

• They will twist the Word of God to make it mean what they want it to mean by adding human emotion, or human opinions to it, or maybe even socially acceptable trends, and try to pass them off as Truth.
• Another way they Depart from the Truth is by only accepting the Scriptures that fit their personal preference while ignoring the verses that deal with their own personal sin or call to obedience.
• Another way to depart from the Truth is by elevating denominational standards, cultural customs, or popular opinions above the Scriptures.
• There are also those who will accept the world’s values and moral standards, even if they oppose the Word of God.

John says of these, “They were not (and I might add – are not) of us.” They do not share the same spirit or perspective of those who have been brought out of darkness to now “Live in the Light.”

But not only is there a Departure,

There is Also a Denial (v.22, 23)

“Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son. Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father; [but] he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also.”

John doesn’t mince words here – he describes the liar in verse 22 as the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ: he says denying Christ is not just and intellectual mistake, it is moral deception. Verse 23 says that to reject Christ as the Messiah is to also reject the Father. You simply can’t claim fellowship with God while rejecting His Son. Christianity with Christ is nothing. II John 2:9 says, “Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God…”

We must be rooted and grounded in the truth of God’s Word in order to distinguish between truth and error, especially when those errors come wrapped up in religious language. Don’t be shaken when some leave the faith. Instead, be rooted in Christ so that you recognize spiritual counterfeits instantly.

John tells us we must Recognize the Counterfeits;

WE MUST RELY ON THE SPIRIT (vv. 24–27)

“²⁴ Let that therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from the beginning. If that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father. ²⁵ And this is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life. ²⁶ These things have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you. ²⁷ But the anointing (Unction v. 20) which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.”

The Word of God Grounds You (v. 24)

“Let that therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from the beginning . . .”

John is encouraging them to let the truth that they have heard from the beginning remain in them. What have they heard? The Word. What is the Word? It is the Word that became flesh and now dwells in us.”

The Spirit of God Teaches You (v.20 and 27)

“But ye have an unction (anointing) from the Holy One, and ye know all things.”

“But the anointing (unction) which ye have received of Him abideth in you, and you need not that any man teach you . . .”

Paul tells us “The natural man receiveth not the things of the spirit of God; for they are foolishness to him; neither can he know them for they are spiritually discerned” (I Cor. 2:14).

When we were brought out of darkness to Live in the Light, Jesus Christ sent His spirit to live inside of us, to abide in us, and it is that Spirit living in us that opens our eyes to the truth of God’s Word.

The Spirit of God and the Word of God work together in our lives. The Spirit never teaches contrary to the Word, and the Word is never rightly understood without the Spirit’s illumination.

Just as a GPS not only gives you directions, it corrects you when you get off course, that is how the Spirit and the Word work together in our lives guiding and correcting us.

Not only must we Recognize the Counterfeits and Rely on the Spirit;

WE MUST REMAIN IN CHRIST (v. 28–29)

²⁸ And now, little children, abide in him (continue in Him); that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming. ²⁹ If ye know that he is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of him.”

Continuing in Christ Brings Confidence (v. 28)

By “Abide in Him . . .” John assures us that if we continue in Christ, if we abide in Him, if we have fellowship with Him, we will have nothing to be ashamed when He returns. We will be able to come boldly before Him in confidence. Abiding in Him gives peace for the present and boldness for the future. A branch can’t live apart from the vine. We must stay connected to Christ.

Continuing in Christ Brings the Right Results (v. 29)

Verse 29 says those who practice righteousness show they have been born of Him.

John is telling the believers in Ephesus to not just start well – but finish well. Live every day with eternity in mind. Matthew 7:16 says, “You shall know them by their fruits . . .” and verse 20, “Wherefore by their fruits you shall know them.”

Let me ask you this morning, if God were to look in your basket, what kind of fruit would He get?

Conclusion:

John’s message is clear: we are to Recognize the Counterfeits – so you don’t fall for them; we are to Rely on the Spirit – so you stay anchored in truth; and we are to Remain in Christ – so you’re ready for His return.

Christ is coming. Will you meet Him with confidence or with shame?
Now is the time to stand firm, stay faithful, and live as though His return could be today – because it could.

We are continuing this study in I John titled “Living in the Light.” Remember with me that John is writing to this group of churches in Ephesus and encouraging them to “Live in the Light,” because “God is Light and in Him is no darkness at all.” That means God has no downside, dark side, or scandals in His life. The in nothing in the life of God that He has to be ashamed of. Of course we do – we have scandals, we have a dark side, a downside, we have “junk in our trunk.” We have things in our lives we are ashamed of.

Yet, through the saving grace of Jesus Christ, He has brought us out of darkness and into the Light, and given us a “New Name.” We, as children of God should live up to the New Name we have received, yet we fail and are incapable, in and of ourselves. God’s desire for our lives is that we “SIN NOT,” yet we do – we are incapable of keeping His commandments. And because of that, we have an “Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous.” If is Jesus who stands before the Father as the “propitiation for our sins, and not our only, but the sins of the whole world.”

Last week we discussed how we are to be “Light Engaging the Darkness.” John encourages us not to “Love not the world, neither the things of the world.” We discovered two lessons about the world:

1. The world is tempting;
2. The world is temporal.

We also learned that although we are not to love the world, are called to “Live in the World.” That means we are not to Hide from the World, or even Provoke the World, but we are to engage the world, we are to stick-out like Mike Brown would stick out in the Dominican Republic, we are to be “Light Engaging Darkness” everywhere we go.

Today, we are taking that a little further and find that John is warning us to “Be Aware of the Deceiver.”

I John 2:18, 19, “Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.”

Now there are two things he gives us here: There is the “antichrist” who is to come, and then there are many “antichrists” who have already come. Here in I John and again in II John are the only place in the Bible that you will see that word “antichrists.”

There are other terms used to describe the antichrist, such as:

• Daniel 7:8, “little horn.”
• Daniel 9:26, “The prince that shall come.”
• Revelation 13:1, “The beast of the sea.”
• And 28 more times in the Book of Revelation the antichrist is referred to as “the beast.”

So, who is the Antichrist? Well, he is a charismatic, political world leader who will be empowered and possessed by Satan to rule the world for a time until the Lord returns. He will deceive the world into believing that he is god. He will be worshipped as god, and after the Return of Christ, he will be overthrown by the one true God. And he, the antichrist, will be cast into the lake of fire for all eternity.

John says of this “antichrist,” that he is yet to come. Then he references the many “antichrists” that have come. These are people in the church who were claiming that there were other ways to God apart from Jesus Christ.

In every church, there are closed-handed and open-handed issues. The Divinity of Christ is a closed handed issue. That Jesus was perfect, lived a sinless life so that He could be the accepted atonement for sin, and spotless – he was perfect. For us, that is a closed-handed issue. If you do not believe that Jesus is perfect, sinless and spotless, then you are still dead in your trespasses and sin. And that is not Joe’s Apologetics – that Biblical Apologetics.

Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No man comes unto the Father but by me.” We do not believe that there are many ways to God – there is only One way, and exclusive way – and His name is Jesus. And if you don’t believe that, then you have no way to God, because He is the Only Way. For us as a church, that is a closed-handed issue.

I know the question on your mind then is: “Well what are your open-handed issues?” There are a lot of them, but one of them we will get into is the study of Eschatology – the study of End times.

Now here is the problem we have in the church – a lot of people want to take closed-handed issues and make them open-ended issues. And then there are those who want to take open-ended issues like, Eschatology, or Baptism, or feet-washing, versions of the Bible, church membership – and they want to make those closed-ended topics. They say, “If you don’t believe what I believe on this, then you can get out of here because we have no business being yoked together. I am right and you are wrong.” We like to make these issues our “Hill to Die on!

Here is the beauty of non-denominational churches, at least this one. We don’t take a denominational stand on issues – we study the Bible for ourselves. And we try to do what we believe the Bible is calling us and leading us to do.

We believe that God is Sovereign and that He has given man freewill – and the two do not contradict or overlap one another.

We believe that God has called everyone – male and female – to be image bearers of Christ. We believe we are equal in the eyes of God and will be equally judged.

We also believe that God has given us distinct gifts and roles. Everyone should use their calling and gifts for the edifying and building up of the Body of Christ. And everything done in the church should be done decently and in order.

So, let’s talk about some of those open-ended subjects I mentioned earlier: Eschatology, water-baptism, feet-washing, Biblical versions, and church membership.

ESCHATOLOGY

Now when it comes to Eschatology, there are a lot of views. Some are pre-trib, mid-trib, or post trib. Some are amillenial, premillennial, post-millenial. There are a lot of views. But what is clear, is that the anti-christ will come before the return of Christ. And Christ will come and set everything that is broken and upside down right.

II Thessalonians 2:1-10 is probably some of the strongest Scriptures regarding the end times. Verse 1 and 2 says this, “Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, . . .”

Now does this mean that in studying eschatology we should be end-time preppers, run off into our own corner of the world together and hide from the world? NO. What is supposed to do is stir our love and longing for Jesus Christ return. The study of Eschatology is not meant for us to show how wise we are in predicting the end times, but to fall in love with Jesus and rest in the assurance that He will return.

Verse 2, “. . . and by our gathering together unto him, That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.”

The study of end times is not meant to scare you or shake you to your core, it is solely about Jesus coming back.

“Well, what’s gonna happen between now and then?” A whole lot of stuff’s going to happen that you don’t know and can’t predict.

There are a lot of people that have made a lot of money on end time prophecy (or I should say predictions). And they have scared us into believing that we are going to be left behind, we will be slaughtered, though we don’t want a tattoo, we are going to get one right on our foreheads. But what they do not tell you is that the whole point of studying Eschatology is to stir your affection for Jesus Christ. Paul said to the church in Thessalonica, “Don’t let it shake your mind or trouble your spirit.”

Here is what I will tell you my belief on end times are: I believe we are closer than we have ever been to Jesus returning, and if He doesn’t come back today, then we will be even closer tomorrow. But rest assured, He is coming – He promised His disciples He would return. In fact, He even told them “Let not your heart be trouble.” “Don’t be scared, rest assured I WILL COME AGAIN.” Folks, He is coming, and we are closer now than John was then.  And if He blows the trumpet right now, I know I am where I am supposed to be – not because I am a pastor, but because of the fact that I have the assurance that He is living inside of me! I am a child of God.

^“3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; ⁴ Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.”

John is saying here, “In the end times, the one who opposes God is going to pose as god and he will sit on the seat of God.” And we are not there yet.

^“5 Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? ⁶ And now ye know what withholdeth (restrains) that he might be revealed in (illuminated) his time. ⁷ For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth (lawlessness) will let, until he be taken out of the way.”

Now these verses right here are why I am a pre-triber (in case you were wondering). God is doing His present day work through what? THE CHURCH. That is you and I. SO the restraints on the antichrist right now is THE SPIRIT OF GOD LIVING WITHIN HIS CHURCH. So, I don’t believe we are there yet because the church is still here. But there will be a time when that restraint is pulled away – and I believe that will be the rapture or calling away of the church.

^“8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed (Illuminated – the mask is coming off), whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: (the 2^nd Coming of Christ) ⁹ Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, ¹⁰ And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.”

WATER BAPTISM

Having grown up in a Baptist church, I have always practiced Water Baptism by full immersion. However, they are others who practice water baptism by sprinkling. Others interpret water baptism as a second work of salvation. Now that is something we do not believe or practice here. We believe salvation is by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ – PERIOD – nothing else required. We practice baptism simply as a way of identifying the new relationship we have with Jesus Christ, and His death, burial and resurrection. I have witnessed some people that refuse to fellowship with other Christians over the manner of baptism they practice.

What we believe here, is that while Christians may differ on the mode or timing of water baptism, our fellowship is grounded in faith in Christ, not in uniformity of practice. Unity in the gospel should outweigh disagreements over non-salvation issues.

FEET-WASHING

Many churches recognize the ordinances, or practices as being Water Baptism and Communion. There are others who believe that Feet-washing is also an ordinance – such as the Free Will Baptist. On one hand, those who do not practice feet-washing refer joking to the others as “feet-washing Baptist.”

Again, some chose not to fellowship with one another over this issue that again, has nothing to do with salvation. Feet-washing is a very humbling experience, but is not a condition of salvation. Again, fellowship should be based on our shared faith in Christ, not divided over this practice.

CHURCH MEMBERSHIP

Another topic – and maybe I am way off the mark here – most every church that I know of requires membership – for identity, for the right to vote in church matters, etc. My issue with church membership is this: It is the spirit of God that calls one to salvation. When someone accepts Jesus Christ as the Lord of their Life, they automatically are born into the family of God. I can’t find anywhere in the Scripture that says the church needed to vote on it.

Now, I do believe that once a person is born into the family of God, they should find a place to serve together with other believers, a place where they feel God can best use them and their talents. But that is a place that you chose – not a place chosen for you.

I can’t tell you the number of people that have asked with what is required of them to become a member of Rally Point Biker Church – and here is my answer – SHOW UP, BE APART. To me, membership simply means this: “This is my church, this is where I chose to serve God, and I am all in.” I know that is simple, and I know that makes people crazy, but if you want to be a member of this church, don’t expect us to vote on you – YOU JUST SHOW UP.

BIBLE VERSIONS

If you haven’t figured it out by now, I use the King James Version. Though I only use the King James Version, I am not King James only. There are a lot of people that will break fellowship with you over that statement. There are even some denominations that preach the KJV is the only inspired version.

Personally, I believe breaking fellowship over Bible versions misses the heart of Christian unity. Scripture calls us to center our fellowship on Christ, not on preferences in translation. Different versions can faithfully convey God’s Word; what matters is living out God’s Word in love and in truth.

The tempter loves it when we are deceived into allowing these open-ended issues to so easily divide us as the people of God. I just think that as God’s people, we should put more focus on what unites us, rather than focus on the opened-ended issues that divide us. The Tempter loves to trick us into thinking the world view matters to us a whole lot more than it should.

You are never going to find joy, you will never find satisfaction, you will never find meaning, and you will never find purpose, apart from the abiding presence of Jesus Christ in your life. You and I were created to have a divine connection to the Creator, and nothing that the world, or the deceiver, has to offer can fill that void. “My hope is built on nothing less, than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.”

John, who is believed to be the last of the Apostles alive – not by man’s choice, because man tried to boil him alive, then shipped him off alone to the Aisle of Patmos. Yet here is John, after all that, and he is writing this letter to a chain of churches that were in Ephesus.  If you will remember with me, he has two big messages and both begin with “And this is the message . . .”

The first message is that “God is Light” and the second is “God is Love.” Now “Light” means that He does not walk around in the darkness; He has no hidden secrets in the closest; He doesn’t have a downside or scandal lurking in the shadows; and nothing over time has changed the nature or character of God.

You and I have a dark side; you and I have scandals; you and I have shortcomings and failures; we have problems; we have “junk in our trunk;” you and I have things in our lives we would not want the good folks “down yonder at the church” to know about us.

But God does not, and the invitation that He gives to us who have “junk in our trunk,” a dark side, a downside, is to come and Live with Him and walk with Him in the Light. And that is scary, because that means that parts of your life are going to be illuminated that will not leave you feeling a strong sense of pride. And we need to understand that the Christian Walk is all about what God can do through you, and not what you can do for yourself.

So, God calls us into the Light so that what He does through you will be a testimony and an encouragement to others who are hiding in the dark. If you don’t allow the dark stuff in your life to be illuminated to others, then you don’t have much of a testimony for those who really need to see it, that are in the dark hiding. Because it is the darkness in our lives that the Light illuminates and frees up that will leave others living in the dark believing that can they come to the Light too.

How do you know that you can come to God with all the darkness in your life and not be rejected? Because “God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.” And God is Love and “God commended His love toward, in that while we were yet sinners, (while we were yet living in the dark) Christ died for us.” I know that seems simple, but it is the Love of God that leads us to repentance.

God leads with love and He invites us out of the darkness, not to shame us, not to say, “Well I told you so,” but as an invitation to come and “Live in the Light,” to take on that “New Name,” and to “Love others.”

Today, we are going to deviate from that message just a little bit, as the Word of God is going to give us some warnings about the world and how to deal with the world.

I John 2:15-17, “¹⁵ Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. ¹⁶ For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. ¹⁷ And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.”

THE WORLD IS TEMPTING

John begins with “Love not the world . . .” so my first question is this: WHY? Why can’t I love this world, because after all, there are quite a few things in this world that are quite “lovely.” I love the mountains, and the beaches. I love waterfalls, and looking at the stars at night. I mean after all, wasn’t this world created because God spoke it into existence? That’s what Genesis claims, “That before the beginning, there was God, and God was in the beginning before there was a beginning, and He began the beginning because He was before the beginning could begin.” Now that’s a mouth full.

And on this earth that he created, He made man in His own image and he said of it WHAT? “That it was GOOD.” So even in the moments of our fallen nature when we are going to say, “Man, that was good.” God also gave us taste buds. Some of the things we taste, we say, “Man, that’s good.” And in fact, it is so good to taste to much of it – and it’s that last bite that does us in. See, that’s what it’s like in the world. We don’t have moderation in this world – but we live in extremes in this world. The reason we are tempted in this world is because there is a good that is in it. John says, “Don’t love the world or the things in the world, because if any man loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.”

So, what is the idea here? Well, I think the idea is this: The world is tempting, and what it tempts us to do in its current state is to not worship God, or trust God, but the world wants us to uproot and distrust God – to be independent from God. So when most of us see temptation being brought up – “lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, the pride of life” that John speaks too, we think that it is the desire to occasionally sin.

But what this is speaking of is a deeply rooted desire that is tempted and desires a life not dependent on God. The temptation of the world is for us to be INDEPENDENT:

• To serve God on YOUR terms;
• follow God Your way;
• honor God with YOUR sacrifices;
• appease God with YOUR morality.

It is not dependent on the incarnate Christ coming up and taking residence within you, because allowing Christ to Live IN YOU takes the control of your life out of YOUR hands. He may have “The Whole World in His hands,” but daily I am tempted to take my life out of it, to live life my way and on my terms.

In fact, I have been to quite a few funerals of people that did not give their hearts to Christ, and on quite a few of them, the final song played at their funeral was either Frank Sinatra or Elvis Pressley singing, “I did it My Way.” And it was their way of saying, “I lived life on my terms, I did not submit to living God’s way – I DID IT MY WAY.” And that takes us all the way back to the Garden of Eden. Because that was the deception and temptation that Adam and Eve fell into.

All of us, in our fallen nature of distrust in government, distrust in the world, and others has led us to a distrust in God. And as a result, we believe that God does not have His glory and our best interest in mind. Or for some it’s His glory over our best comfort. We will negotiate the Glory of God for the Comfort of this world.

John is warning here against this temptation – this temptation to live independent from God, to live separate from the authority of God. John is saying “Don’t love it here so much that you’d rather be here than in the presence of God.” So, the threat here John is warning about is not temptation to sin, but the temptation of removing ourselves from total dependance on God.

So I guess my question for us this morning is this: Are we living our daily lives dependent on Christ, or are we living completely independent of Christ?

THE WORLD IS TEMPORAL

A second reason John tells us not to “Love the world,” is because it is temporary. Look at verse 17, “And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof (the desires thereof):”

I think Solomon was a good example of this: he had the nicest house, the biggest house; he had the most stuff; he threw the biggest parties; he had more wives – in fact he was throwing them rage parties long before Diddy. He had more wealth than anyone else. In fact, people would come from all over the world to see all that he had built. Queen Sheba said of Solomon, after seeing all that she had heard about, “That half had not been told.”

Yet, Solomon writes an entire book about how life is meaningless and how all that “stuff” was just vanity and vexation of spirit. And do you know why? Because it was all temporary – he couldn’t take it with him when he died. Solomon said, “It was just a chasing after the wind.” I wonder how many of us have separated ourselves from God because we are “Chasing after the wind?” We won’t the bigger pay check, the nicer car, the bigger house, more toys and we are willing to forsake God to get it?

John said the world, and all the desires of it will pass away – they are only temporary. Yet many are willing to give up the eternal for the temporal.

Mick Jagger sang a song years ago saying, “I can’t get no SATISFACTION.” John Mayer has a song out titled, “Something’s missing.” For some of you, instead of “tasting and seeing that the Lord is Good” – You are finding and that the world is empty.” But instead of turning to the Lord who can fill you and satisfy you, you continue down the same path repeatedly thinking that the world can satisfy the soul.

• Another relationship will fix my problems;
• Another job will ease the stress;
• Another pay raise will satisfy my needs;
• My insecurities will be overcome if I can just get a little more of what the world is offering.

And John says, “No my friend, the world is tempting you to turn from God to the world where no satisfaction can be found, and whatever you find is only temporary.”

John says, “The world passeth away.” But here is our problem: Because we are made in the image of God – who is love – we were made to love. John is telling us not to direct our “Love to the world, neither the things of the world – but direct our LOVE toward GOD.” Why, because the things of the world are temporal and God is eternal.” And if you put your love in world:

• You will go from one temporal fix to another;
• one job to another;
• one relationship to another;
• one addiction to another.

And at the end of the day, you will realize it was all just vanity and vexation of spirit. You will find yourself just as empty as you were at the start. Only our love for God will last forever. Remember I finished last week by saying, “Only one life, twill soon be past; Only what’s done for Christ will last.”

So what do we do in a world that we are called NOT to love, but that we live in? What do you do in a world that is dark, and you are Light? Well, there are a couple things we are NOT called to Do.

WE ARE NOT CALLED TO HIDE

As this is what I’ve heard growing up in Baptist Churches most of my life. In fact, if Bobby Bushea’s momma could preach a sermon, this is what it would be. If it could slightly be fun – DON’T DO IT. Don’t watch television; don’t own a television – cause it’s of the devil; Don’t go to the movies, cause I actually heard a preacher preach this – cause if you go to the movies, and the rapture happens, the all-powerful, all knowing, Sovereign God will not be able to get His people out of movie theater seats; If you have a computer, don’t use it – it’s of the Devil; Got a smart phone – Don’t do it; Stay away from worldly people – they are scary – don’t do it; Don’t watch or play sports – they are evil; Don’t dress up and go out to dinner or drive a nice car; If you are blessed financially – demean it by saying someone gave it to you, rather than tell them how you’ve been blessed by God; Keep life plain, drab and colorless – and when Jesus comes, He’ll be happy.

Folks, this is the play book of fundamentalism – and I know because I dwelled there for years. FUNDAMENTALISM is a way of teaching a man-made version of holiness and righteousness that comes apart from abiding in the Spirit of God and it is you DOING first so that you can then receive second! It is a works salvation and not a grace salvation.

Listen, we are not Holy because of anything that we have done, we are Holy because we have come out of the darkness and asked Christ to Live IN US. And when you abide in Christ, holiness comes out of you.

It is not you doing a list of this, this and this – it is you accepting Christ, dying to yourself, and allowing Him to live in and through you.

So, one thing we can do is HIDE. But there is another we can do. John 17:15, says, “I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.” That means we are to be “IN THE WORLD AND UNDER HIS AUTHORITY.” “In the world, as His Ambassadors.”

Chuck Swindoll said, “God’s desire for Christians in the world is not isolation, but insulation. To be living in the world, but not as part of the world. We are to be salt and light, witnesses in the world.”

We are not called to Hide from the world

WE ARE NOT CALLED TO PROVOKE THE WORLD

Many of us believe that if we yell the TRUTH at the world enough – the truth will effect change in the world. And in the same breath, we believe that if we just don’t say anything – that’s enough. This is where most non-denominational churches exist – where the mid-point is the same point.

The world doesn’t need you to lead with your bull horn, or with your protest, the world needs you to lead with your Love for the Lord, because it is our Love for Him, that will lead us to Love our neighbor.

The Lord leads with compassion. That doesn’t mean that He overlooks our sin, but that He is inviting us to a new way of living our lives. You see Satan (and bad parents) use shame to threaten their kids. But God uses conviction to call His out of the darkness and into the Light. Conviction is not Shame. You will never hear the voice of God say “You should be ashamed of yourself.”

What you will hear God say, “You are a child of God, and you have been invited to more.” Conviction is not a dismissal; it is an invitation to more. It is an invitation to a new way of living. It is an invitation to Grace that releases you into the power of God in your life.

If I were to ask everyone in this room this morning, “What about you assures you that you are Living in the Light?” Would your answer be: “Because I have repented of my sins and asked Jesus Christ to come and take residence in my life and I am learning daily to die to self.” Or would your answer be: “I adhere to the Scripture, I don’t drink, I don’t smoke, I don’t cuss, I don’t cheat on my wife, I try to live by the 10 Commandments, and I am better than most people professing to be Christians, I do everything I can to live a righteous life.”

Listen, trying to do what is right is never wrong, BUT, when you use that as the basis to explain how you know you are saved, then you have made your salvation a JESUS + Your good works salvation, a Jesus + Something else salvation. 

Our salvation is not based on anything we have done, able to do, or ever going to do – it is based solely on what He has done – PERIOD. JESUS + NOTHING.

What we are called to do is ENGAGE THE WORLD.

Matthew 28:19-20, “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.”

We are to engage the world just as Light engages darkness. Let me illustrate this. Mike Brown, will you stand up for a second. Now, I know Mike Brown has gone on a few missionary trips. Now, If one of those trips was to say the Dominican Republic, when Mike Brown walks down the street, I assure you, no one is saying, “Now he’s one of us. I’m sure he grew up in the neighborhood I grew up in. he might even be related to me.” I’m quite sure that is not what would happen.

But, if Mike Brown were to stop in at Pauline Café for lunch, I’m quite sure they would say, “Yep, he’s one of us.”

Here’s where I am going with this, because we are Living in the Light, wherever we go – whether the Mall, a restaurant, our workplace, the gas station, or even our homes – we should stand out like a sore thumb; we should stand-out like Mike Brown would stand-out walking down the streets of the Dominican Republic. There should be something different about the way we look, the way we talk, the way we act, and it should be so different that others want to know what is different. We should shine so brightly in a dark place that others are drawn to the Light.

We are continuing this study in I John. In the New Testament, you have the Gospels, and after the Gospels, you have the Acts of the Apostles – this is where the New Testament church was modeled and formed. After the Acts of the Apostles, you have the Epistles (or Letters), many of which were written by Paul, who was once Saul (meaning “Big”) now he is Paul (meaning “Small”). There’s I and II Peter, and James, the half-brother of Jesus who writes a letter to the Church in Jerusalem. And then there are the letters written by the man who has written 1/3 of the words spoken in the New Testament – John – who wrote the Gospel of John, I, II, and III John and Revelation. 

In I John, he is writing to a group of churches that were in Ephesus, that he had already addressed in Revelation chapter 3 prophetically. He is writing to them to address a problem they were struggling with, their problem was not a doctrinal problem, but a LOVE problem.

So, what we have in I John is a church who loves truth, but they are struggling to love their neighbor. They love the WORD, but they do not love the people that the WORD was sent too. They are struggling with how to Live in a Faith that is illuminating the darkness of the world, with an invitation to walk with a God who is Light, one of the major messages of the book. And in the same breath, they are being called to not reject those who are being called out of that darkness into the Light. Not to revile or dismiss those who God has called.  

Listen, our attraction to Jesus was not the Law that condemned us, but the Love that redeemed us. Jesus draws us by His love, He helps us to understand our state by the Law, and helps us to understand how His love redeemed us from the penalty of that Law.

This Book begins with two hard truths that we shared in week 1, and that is that God is Light and God is Love.  The first message is that “God is Light and in Him is no darkness at all.” In other words, there is nothing about God’s life that would cause us to doubt His holiness. God is righteous and Holy and nothing that has happened over time has changed the character of God – He is the same yesterday, today, and forever!

Our problem in all this is that we do have a downside, we do have darkness, we do have character flaws. We do tend to walk in the Light and at the same time try to dabble in darkness.

Funny thing about that is, we in the church like to refer to sin as something we used to do – although that “used to do” might have been at 1 am this morning! We always refer to our sin as something we USED to do way back when, but not as the sin we committed this week, or even sitting right here in a church service.

SO, I am thankful this morning that God does not operate in condemnation, but He operates in conviction. He operates in a way that draws us through the shed blood of Jesus Christ the Righeous, to repentance. Conviction is not meant to condemn or reject us, but it is an invitation for us to a new way and a better way of living. He is inviting us to have not only life, but to have it more abundantly!

Conviction is not a rejection, but an invitation for you and I to Live in the Light, and Living in that Light God expects us to Live Up to our New Name in Christ Jesus, and the first step in us learning to do that is by Loving One Another.

This past week, we began to reflect on the second major part of John’s message and that is to Love. Last week we talked about how God loved us and forgave us at the most unlovable and unforgiveable points of our lives. We also discussed how we should also love and forgive others with that same kind of love.

Now join me as we read I John 2:12-17,

“¹² I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name’s sake. ¹³ I write unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I write unto you, young men, because ye have overcome the wicked one. I write unto you, little children, because ye have known the Father. ¹⁴ I have written unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one. ¹⁵ Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. ¹⁶ For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. ¹⁷ And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.”

John, as I’ve told you from the start, writes repetitiously. These verses are a perfect example of that. He is writing here to little children, young men, and fathers. Now it looks like he is writing to 3 different groups, but he is only addressing 2. Let me explain that: Children is the grandfatherly title that John uses to describe the people he is writing to. So children is John’s “All y’all.” So, when John says “children,” he is saying “EVERYBODY.” “All of y’all in the church and beyond.” “All of you who are in Christ.”

In one way, John is saying he loves y’all like you are his kids and grandkids. In another way, he is addressing the new position we have in the family of God.

Now there are two messages he wants “All y’all” to remember:

1. Our sins have been forgiven (v.12) – there are no footnotes or bullet points here – this is straight to the point – WE ARE FORGIVEN. John is writing so that we know we are forgiven. WHY? Because our tendency is to think that we are forgiven today, but we will have to earn it tomorrow. You are forgiven today, but you better put more effort into it tomorrow. Listen, we came to God, not on the basis of anything that we did, because we could not clean ourselves up, but we came to God solely on the basis of Faith in what He has done. It has nothing to do with what I have done, but everything to do with what He has done. Our works did not get us saved and our works will not keep us saved! Child of God, we’ve been forgiven solely on the basis of our faith in Jesus Christ the Righteous. John message I simply this, YOU ARE SAVED BY GRACE THROUGH FAITH – it began that way, and it will end that way!
2. We know the Father (v.13) – The Father of all time works “in-time” in the most miraculous ways. There are going be times when we are going to feel forsaken, and rejected, when we are not accepted or loved by God. And it is in those moments that we have a Father that we can appeal that voice to. Our Father has clearly illustrated and demonstrated His love for us through His Son Jesus Christ.

John wants us to know that our sins have been forgiven and that we know and love the Father.

Now John is going to break this into two groups: Young men and Fathers. What John is demonstration to us through this is that we are all at different stages in our walk with the Lord.

I’ve heard it said that some folks have a “High Calling and Low Character.” They are very immature. They get very excited about things and take off like a rocket but usually come down like a rock. So, let’s start here with the YOUNG MEN so we can progress upward.

Verse 13, “. . . I write to you young men, because you have overcome the wicked one . . .” and verse 14, “. . . I have written you young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one.”

John is writing to this maturing, but not matured group of followers. They are growing, but haven’t arrived in the sense of being rooted in the faith. They have quick growth, but they are easily shaken. Though they want to be used of God, they are still moving constantly between light and darkness. But that is not the conduct that you and I are to be marked by or to live by.

So, John is writing this group to encourage them in two areas: Their Strength and Their Overcoming.

Listen, when we became a child of God, our identity is no longer limited to our ability.  I may not always live up to my New Name, I may often fall and come up short, but at the end of the Day, I have overcome that by my faith in the One who redeemed me, claimed me, and called me for His purpose. And if you believe that your victory comes from anywhere other than Christ, then you will be deceived into thinking that God loves you solely based on your individual potential. Or you can be tricked into believe that God doesn’t love you as much because you don’t have the ability or potential that others may have.

Our victory is not rooted in what we will do, but what has been done for us. So, we don’t fight FOR a victory, we fight FROM a victory. And that victory was from the resurrection of Jesus Christ, giving us victory over death, hell and the grave. We are strong and we have victory – BECAUE THE WORD OF GOD ABIDES IN YOU.

Why is it so important that we spend time in the Bible? Not because the preacher tells you that you should – though he’s not wrong. You should spend time in the Word because it is where our strength comes from, it is where our victory will come from.

John’s very first introduction was John 1:1 where he said, “In the beginning WAS the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word WAS GOD.” So when we say spend time in the Word, we are saying Spend time WITH God. And when John says, the word abiding in you, he is saying God is living IN YOU. Now that is an introduction. When you spend time in God’s Word, you are allowing God to live inside of you.

Colossians 1:27 says, “To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:”

God doesn’t just want to just talk to you, He wants to live inside of you. This is more than just reading His word, this is Jesus Christ taking up residence inside of YOU. Young men, young Christians, that is where your strength and victory comes from! The hope is that Christ, “who began a good work IN YOU, will complete it until the day of Christ.” At the end of the day, what we need is not a God that we can go to, but a God who goes with us and that is the distinguishing mark of the Christian faith. Young Christians need to know this because they can become easily excited, easily frightened and easily distracted.  

Now John is going to address the second group called Fathers. This is a reference to those Christians who are mature. And he has one message for this group that he conveys both in verses 13 and 14 and that is that THEY KNOW;

“¹³ I write unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning . . .” and “¹⁴ I have written unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning . . .”

Now this is a group that doesn’t get overly excited, or easily frightened, they don’t get easily distracted, BUT, they do get easily bored, and calloused, they often get numb. So, what is the challenge for those mature Christians? The challenge is to REMAIN AND REMEMBER IN WHAT THEY KNOW.

If you are mature in the faith, then you REMAIN when the storm comes – and it will come. The challenge is to REMEMBER what God has already done in your life – because we can easily forget. Remember what God has done in your life; remember where He has brought you from; remember the victories; because child of God, a time will come when you will need to remember.

Listen, as parent of a child who has battled stage 4 cancer for nearly 6 years, who has had a total mastectomy and hysterectomy, a child who have been on chemo for 4 years straight, a child who is given all clear then told she has it again – I’m telling you, I have to remember what God has done. Because if He could do it then, He can do it AGAIN.

Here is the call that John is given to “All y’all.” “You can be saved, adopted, received, forgiven, loved, and share in His victory and strength, simply by faith in Jesus Christ regardless of where you’ve been and what you’ve done. God loves you and He demonstrated that love for you over 2000 years ago on Calvary’s Cross. That single event changed all of history. He has demonstrated that to you and that is and “ALL Y’ALL INVITATION.”

For those of you that are young Christians, God’s desire for you is that you will grow-up in a slow, steady dependence of faith. For those of us that have been Christians for a long time, God’s desire is that we will remain and remember. God is not looking for us to be retired in our faith, He wants us on active duty! Listen older Christians, we have a lot of young people who need you in their lives to help walk them through some of the tough things they are going to go through. They need your wisdom and they need your counsel, and they need your encouragement – SO GET BACK IN THE GAME.

John finishes by saying this:

“¹⁵ Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. ¹⁶ For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. ¹⁷ And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.”

“Only one life will soon be past,

only what’s done for Christ will last.”

We are continuing this study in I John under the Series titled “Living in the Light.” Week 1 we discussed how “God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all,” and how you and I are to “Love one another.” Weeks two and three, the message was titled “Living in the New Name – Part 1 & 2.” If you remember from last week, John begins chapter 2 of this letter by saying, “My little children, these things write I unto you that you sin not . . .”

John is writing to us that we SIN NOT, because Light has no business hanging around in the darkness. But, when we do (AND WE WILL), we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. But Jesus is also more than just our Lawyer, our representative before God, according to verse 2, He is also the propitiation for our sins, the payment for our sins, and for the sins of the whole world.

Because of that, verse 3 says we are to “Keep His commandments.” But here’s the problem – we can’t. You and I have a hard time living up to this New Name – we need help! The only way we can Live up to this New name is to die to self, and allow Jesus Christ to live vicariously through us. HE MUST INCREASE AND WE MUST DECREASE! Remember from last week, Jesus said you and I can do NOTHING apart from Him. Do y’all remember what NOTHING means?

Then in verse 4 we learned that our actions speak louder than our words. What John is talking about here is people who constantly live their lives, day-in and day-out, contradictory to lifestyle Christ demands of our lives. They say they love Christ, but nothing in the lives reflects that. Here’s the real problem though, we are so focused on the sins people had in their past, we WON’T LET THEM FORGET. Christ might forgive them, but we sure won’t.

In verse 5, we learned that we should Obey (Keep) His Word Because We Love Him. Folks, if you say you are following Jesus, it is notObedience that cause you to follow – it is Love. You say, “Preacher why do you preach so much about love? Because listen to me, without it, we can never Live up to the Family Name.”

Finally, last week, in verse 6 we finished with this thought, “When you don’t know what to do, Do what Jesus Did.” The thought behind it was this:  before you go off and do something stupid, you are supposed to stop and ask yourself – What Would Jesus Do? When you don’t know what to do, do what Jesus did!

Now this week, look at verses 7-11:

“⁷ Brethren, I write no new commandment unto you, but an old commandment which ye had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which ye have heard from the beginning.

Remember from the start we mentioned John’s style of writing, how John will make a point, then he will go here or there, then he returns to the main point. That’s what John is doing here. He is saying, “I’m writing the same thing to you now that I wrote at the start.” The message hasn’t changed.

 ⁸ Again, a new commandment I write unto you, which thing is true in him and in you: because the darkness is past, and the true light now shineth.

Now here is what’s going on: In light of the resurrection, it’s application looks different. Before the resurrected Christ was out of the tomb, you were left trying and doing what you could to try and Live in the Light and to Love others, and to Live up to this New Name. But now, Christ has Risen. And we are now to DO AS HE DID.

In fact, in John 13:14, 15, “¹⁴ If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another’s feet. ¹⁵ For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you.”

“IF I, BEING THE SAVIOR HAVE TAKEN ON THE ROLE OF THE SERVANT, AND I DO THE UNPLEASANT, I DO THE THINGS THAT NO ONE ELSE WOULD DO, AND I’M DEMONSTRATING THAT TO YOU, THEN YOU – THOUGH YOU MIGHT THINK YOU ARE BETTER, YOU MAY NOT BE IN AS LOWLY A STATE AS OTHERS, THOUGH EVERYONE IN THE WORLD MAY ESTEEM YOU AS BEING GREAT – YOU – BECAUSE OF YOUR NEW NAME – CHRISTIAN – DO THE SAME.”

Jesus further demonstrates this in John 13:34, 35, “³⁴ A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; (AS WHAT?) as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. ³⁵ By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.”

The strongest evangelistic tool that we have in the church that we do not use is the tool of LOVING THOSE WHO ARE UNLOVEABLE. One of the biggest hurdles of people coming to faith in Jesus Christ is their inability to believe that God can love them:

• They’ve sinned too much.
• They’ve failed too much.
• They’ve gone too far.
• There is no hope for them.
• God has no place or forgiveness for them.

And where do you think they got that idea? From the local church. Can I tell you why I think Rally Point Biker Church is different? Because right here in this room this morning, you will find some jacked-up, sinful, messed-up with a big Rapp sheet kind of people – who are loved by God and who are in a room full of people that have demonstrated that love toward them.

You want to know why churches are so unattractive today? It’s not because the preachers aren’t preaching, or because the Gospel is less true, it’s not because we are getting close to ends time and people or just lovers of self-more than lovers of God – the reason the church of today STINKS to the community is because WE HAVEN’T LOVED EACH OTHER, MORELESS LOVED THEM.

I’m telling right now, the only problem we have had in this church has been because of LOVE – period. Folks, I’m telling you right now, the message this morning is this – If you have anger in your heart for another brother – FORGIVE!

WHY? BECAUSE OF YOUR NEW NAME – CHRISTIAN! Your capacity to forgive has increased because of the Love of a Savior that loves YOU and has forgiven YOU at the most unforgiveable state of your life. And what is forgiveness? It is forgetting and letting go. The problem (and downfall) for some of you, is that you just can’t let go.

You and I need to learn to let it go. Let it go where? Either to the Cross or the Judgment Seat. Either way, let it go. Why? Because if you don’t, look at verses 9-11:

⁹ He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now. ¹⁰ He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him. ¹¹ But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes.”

Folks, without learning to Love and Forgive, you’ll never Live in the Light or Live Up to the New Name!

Learning to Live in the Light and Live up to the New Name begins with learning to Live in Love.

We are continuing this study in I John under the Series titled “Living in the Light.” Week 1 we discussed how “God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all,” and how you and I are to “Love one another.” Last week, the message was titled “Living in the New Name,” and today we’ve titled this message “Living in the New Name Part II.” If you remember from last week, John begins this letter by saying, “My little children, these things write I unto you that you sin not . . .”

So, John is addressing these young Christians who still haven’t grown up in the Lord. John is reminding them, “Hey, you’re still in the family of God, even if you’re like children. God still loves you; He’s still chosen you; He’s still walking with you.” “My little children, I’m writing these things to you, as family members, so that you may not – what? So that you may not Sin. Why? Because sin is contrary to the nature of a person who professes to be a Christian. It contradicts the New Name we carry when we walk in sin.

Now let’s go back to chapter 1 and verse 9, where john says, “God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins when we confess them to Him.” But listen to me, this is very important to get: God’s willingness to forgive us of our sins is not a license for you and I to sin. Remember last week we talked about those two types of sin: The sins of Omission and the sins of Commission. John is writing these young Christians and encouraging them not to MESS WITH SIN – Light has no business hanging around with darkness.

I remember a sermon I heard years ago from an old evangelist by the name of Vance Havner. I can’t remember the particular title to the sermon, or his exact wording, but it was regarding light and darkness. He said this, “If you hang around in the dark long enough, thing begin to get brighter, clearer. It is not because the darkness has gotten lighter, it’s simply that we’ve gotten used to the dark.”

So, John is not writing to give us an excuse to sin but urging us to avoid it – to “SIN NOT.” Then John goes on, “But, if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous.” John is writing to encourage them not to sin, but when they do, WHEN YOU DO, we have an advocate with the Father.

WE HAVE HELP LIVING IN THE NEW NAME (V1 & 2)

Now why is that important? Because the Tempter, when you sin, he tries to make you think that you are no longer a part of the family; You haven’t lived up to the New Family Name, so you are no longer part of the family of God. But I am telling you Church the Devil is a liar and a deceiver, because John assured you and I that we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ THE RIGHTEOUS. Listen, your earthly family may have a cut-off switch with you, but your heavenly Father does not!

• You can come to God in your anger;
• And you can come to Him in your joy;
• You can come to Him in worse moments;
• And you can come to Him in your best moments;
• You can come to Him with your biggest successes;
• And you can come to Him with your biggest failures.

As the sons and daughters of God, we don’t need someone to go to Him on our behalf, but through Jesus Christ the Righteous – we can go straight to the Father.

Then in verse 2, John says, “And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.”

This means that you and I are incapable of living up to the New Name. We are incapable of living a righteous, sin-free life – we need help – and that help is “Jesus Christ the righteous And He is the propitiation for our sin . . .” God had a plan for us and for the help that we would need Living in the Family Name!

Satan may stand as our accuser – because we sin, but Jesus stands as our Advocate – and He paid the price for that sins. So, my question to you is this: Which one do you believe? The accuser or the Advocate? Folks listen; God has more Grace than you have Sin!

I want you to picture with me standing in a court room; You are the accused, standing before God the Judge. He asked you how do you plead: You know you have sinned; you know you have failed; you know you hurt your wife or your husband; you know shouldn’t have committed that crime, or that sin; you know you gossiped about your brothers and sisters in Christ and instead of building them up, you are trying to tear them down. Simply put – YOU HAVE NOT LIVED UP TO THE FAMILY NAME. You know you are guilty. And here you are standing before God and you know you need help. Then Jesus stands up and says, “Your Honor – DAD, I am the lawyer for the accused, and I have already paid the penalty for the debt Joe owed.

It is in that very moment, when I turn to Him that paid, that He steps up to defend. That’s what it means for Him to be the Advocate and the Propitiation. He is more than my lawyer, He also paid the debt I owe.

A defense attorney tries to get your sentence reduced – But Jesus comes wipes the slate clean. WE GO FREE THROUGH MY BLOOD! Folks, that is the beauty of the Cross. He is our substitute – our Advocate.

So, child of God, stop living in shame and defeat – lift your head-up and walk tall in the New Name you have in Christ Jesus. Celebrate the Advocate Who has paid your sin-debt in full.

Since We Have Help Living in the New Name;

WE SHOULD BEHAVE LIKE A MEMBER OF THE FAMILY (V3)

“And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.”

Now to me, that seems pretty straight forward, doesn’t it? John is probably remembering the Last Supper, where Jesus said in John 14:15, “If you love me, keep my commandments.” John’s not mincing words here.

The question becomes “How do you keep the commandments?” Some of you are probably thinking, “Well that’s simple – just do it.” But here’s the problem – YOU CAN’T.

I know that’s confusing, and if you are like me, you are asking the question, “If I’m supposed to just do it, but I can’t, then why am I being asked to do it?”

Because the way you go about doing it is different than every other religion. Well, I think the fact that John gave us verses 1 and 2 before verse 3 is so that we would understand the Gospel. In order to understand verse 3, we have to know what it means to be freed from the penalty of sin.

Luke 9:3 would say that we have to die to ourselves. If that is true, what has to happen for Christ to come alive in us? I think Paul would say, “Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

Simply put, the only way we can walk in the Commandments is by surrendering our lives to Jesus. So, the way we do that is by laying down our lives on the altar, accepting Jesus Christ as the Lord of our lives – thereby taking on the New Name. And the only was we can Live in the New Name is by surrendering to Christ.

Church, STOP walking out of here every Sunday thinking YOU are going to live by the Commandments, you are going to LIVE UP TO THE NEW NAME, and walk out of here yielding to Christ and being filled with his Spirit. And let me tell you this morning, the charismatics don’t have a monopoly on being Spirit filled. If you want to Live Up to the New Name, you are going to have to trust Jesus to live vicariously in and through you.

John put it this way, “HE MUST INCREASE AND I MUST??? DECREASE!” Less of me and more of Him.

Jesus said, “Apart from me, you can do NOTHING.” Let me tell you what that means in Greek – NOTHING; Let me tell you what that means in Hebrew – NOTHING; Let me tell you what that means in Aramaic – NOTHING; Let me tell you what that means in French – Nothing; Let me tell you what that means in Spanish – NOTHING.” We can do NOTHING apart from Christ.

And there are just too many people in the church today trying to be SOMETHING without the Spirit of God. And it produces the fruit of what? NOTHING.

You carry a family name, so live like you are a member of the family. I saw a T-Shirt once that said this on the front: “I’m Standing on the Solid Rock.” On the back side of the shirt, it said this, “Forgive me if you had to come to the backside of the shirt to see if I were a Christian.”

We’ve been called to be illuminated by the light of Christ – to “Live in the Light.” Do you know what happens when we don’t walk in the spirit?

• We walk in the flesh;
• You say things you didn’t intend to say;
• You do things you didn’t intend to do.

Remember sin will take you further than you want to go, make you stay longer than you wanted to stay, and it will have you doing things you never saw yourself doing. How do you get out of that?

But, when we go back to remembering that we have an Advocate, and He has changed your name, He’s enabled you to walk away from sin! The problem with a lot of Christians is they are continually doing a 360 in their lives when they should be doing a 180.

You know what it means when you’ve done a 360 – it means you’ve done a complete circle and when right back to where you started. And Christ is calling us to turn from where we came from and do a 180. Paul would say we are to “Flee from sin.”

Since We Have Help Living in the New Name;

We should Behave Like a Member of the Family;

BUT WE SHOULD REALIZE OUR ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN OUR WORDS (V4)

“He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.”

Let me ask you, “How many of you had some New Years resolutions when you started this year, and now 7 months in, you find you failed to fulfill those resolutions?

• I intended to go to church;
• I intended to lose weight;
• I intended to work harder on my marriage;
• I intended to read my Bible more;
• I intended to pray more;
• I intended to cuss less;
• I intended to love more;

Rick Warren said, “People only believe the parts of the Bible that they actually practice.” So, if we examined your practice, what would it say about the amount of Bible you believe?

Look at verse 4 again, “He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.” There is no mincing of words there.

Suppose someone says they love you, but are constantly mean, abusive and even hateful to you. How much weight does their words carry if the actions contradict it?

What John is talking about here is people who constantly live their lives, day-in and day-out, contradictory to lifestyle Christ demands of our lives. They say they love Christ, but nothing in the lives reflects that.

Here’s the real problem though, we are so focused on the sins people had in their past, we WON’T LET THEM FORGET. They have come to Christ, Old things have past away and all things have become new, they are now a part of the Family of God, they’ve been given a new name. God has forgiven them of their sin – and what do we do church? We say, “Well God might have forgiven them – But I Won’t! In stead of looking at the person the are now, we keep looking back at the person they were!

Now look at verse 5:

“But whoso keepeth (OBEY) his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.”

WE SHOULD OBEY BECAUSE WE LOVE (V5)

Does anyone know Why is it that I only date Kim? Some of you will say “Because it’s the Law.” And you’re right. But that’s not why I only date Kim. I only date Kim because I love her – and Tuesday will be our 20^th Anniversary, and I can say without hesitation that I love her more today than I did 20 years ago.

My motive for my good actions is because of love. I am a one-woman guy because of love. Now I say all that to say this: If we are called to have only One God, why do we keep going to so many other Sudo saviors?

Listen I follow Christ, not because of obedience, or because I’m a Son of God – I walk in obedience because I love God. And the longer I serve Him, the more I love Him. I love God today more than I did 55 years ago when He saved me as a little boy in Fourth Street Baptist Church; I love Him more today than the day he called me to preach over 30 years ago. I even love Him more today than the day I did over 2 years ago when we planted Rally Point Biker Church.

Folks, if you say you are following Jesus, it is not Obedience that cause you to follow – it is Love.

You say, “Preacher why do you preach so much about love? Because listen to me,  without it, we can never Live up to the Family Name.”

Let me leave you with one final thought.

WHEN YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT TO DO, DO WHAT JESUS DID (V 5, 6)

^“5 But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him. ⁶ He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.”

Back in the day, when I was much younger and much thinner, and even wore skinny jeans (I lied right there because we didn’t have skinny jeans back when I was young and thin). But back in the day, there was a bracelet people used to wear that had these initials on it: WWJD. Anyone know what that meant?

The principle behind it was this: before you go off and did something stupid, you are supposed to stop and ask yourself – What Would Jesus Do? When you don’t know what to do, do what Jesus did!

Conclusion: This morning, as we’ve talked about Living in the Light and Living in the New Name, maybe you’ve stumbled. Maybe you’ve failed. Maybe the weight of not living up to the ‘family name’ as a child of God has left you feeling unworthy. Hear me church—you have an Advocate. Jesus Christ the Righteous stands for you, not just to defend you, but to declare that your debt is paid in full. You don’t have to live in shame, defeat, or confusion. You can walk confidently in the New Name, not in your strength, but by surrendering to His. Today is not about doing more—it’s about trusting more.

This morning, we are continuing this study in I John titled “Living in the Light.” If you were here last week, you will remember that I John is chronologically the last book written in the Bible. This was a letter that was passed around to the churches, to include the church at Ephesus.

John’s writings are simplistic and direct. John doesn’t mince words. He doesn’t make the message complex – but keeps it so simple so that we might actually be able to do something with it. In church today, we consider a good sermon when the pastor wraps it up on time, or when he shares a good joke or two. But John is very surgical in his message. He is trying to effect transformation in the lives of people.

Last week we shared two points from John’s letter, and both of them begin with these key words: THIS IS THE MESSAGE. And that message was this:

GOD IS LIGHT AND IN HIM IS NO DARKNESS AT ALL (I John 1:5)

That means that God has no dark side, he has no scandals, he has no skeletons in His closest. You will never be able to say, “Can you believe what God did?” There is nothing God has done that He would be ashamed to have flashed across the screen in our church.

That’s what you and I have: I have a downside, I have a dark side, I’ve had scandal, I’ve had something’s happen in my life I would want flashed on the screen of the church for everyone to know about. I have things in my life that don’t align with the character and conduct of a Christian.

And the message of John is that you and I are to Live Life in the Light Since “God is Light and in Him is no darkness at all.” That means that you and I no longer live in the darkness, but we live in the Light – the good parts and the bad parts. We don’t go back in forth, which is terrifying, because we all have some dark stuff in our lives don’t we? Because you and I are now living in the Light, guess what? Our sins are going to be illuminated. Remember the Bible says, “Be sure your sins will find you out?” Does that mean you are not saved? NO. But it does mean you can’t live in the darkness.

So how do you live life in the Light if you continue to have things in your life that don’t line up?

We need to understand two things: First GOD IS LOVE, and second, God provided us a way to repent. 1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

You and I balance our lives between two lives: There is our public life, that is the life we want everyone to think of us, then there is the private life, that’s where we hide our darkness.

Because of that, you and I need to understand that we serve a Loving God, because if he wasn’t, JOE MOORE would be in trouble.

So, through repentance, either God has enough GRACE to keep me in the Light, or His grace is going to run out – So I am going to make repentance a part of my life so that His grace doesn’t run out!

THE SECOND MESSAGE WAS, THAT YOU LOVE ONE ANOTHER (I John 3:11)

How is the world going to know that you and I are in the Light? By our Fruit of Love!

Chapter 2:10 says, “He that loveth his brother abideth in the light.” If God has forgiven me for all the darkness in my life, who am I to hold your darkness against you, or anybody else for that matter?

And according to verse 3:11, we know that we are Living in the light and that His love is perfected in us when we do what? LOVE ONE ANOTHER. That has been and will always be the message of this church.

Now, that brings us to the message today titled “LIVING IN THE FAMILY NAME.” To preface the message, I was born into the Moore family. Now, I didn’t choose the Moore Family, and to be honest, the Moore family didn’t choose me. When I was in kindergarten, my Mom explained to me that a BIRD dropped me off at the hospital.

But my grandmother used to say something to me, I didn’t really understand then, and not that I do now – but she used to say, “YOU’RE A MOORE, ACT LIKE IT.”

I think what my grandmother was trying to articulate was, “There is a value attached to your name.” And my grandmother truly lived up to the value in her name.

There is also a downside to being a Moore. Back in God’s country of Hartsville, SC, I attended the same elementary school that both my grandparents attended, and both my parents attended, and all my aunts and uncles attended, and all my cousins attended. The Junior High I attended, all of my family attended. And so, when teachers that had been there since probably my grandmother attended would read the roll out, they would say something like this: “Joey – Oh my God there’s another – Moore.”

Why do I bring that up? Well, the second YOU that chose to follow Jesus Christ by faith through grace, guess what? YOU HAD A NAME CHANGE. There are a lot of things to describe you, but there is only one thing that defines you.

Listen, before you meet Christ, you could be described by talents, or by failures, or by disappointments, but once you became a part of the family of God – none of those things have the ability, OR RIGHT, to define you anymore. Jesus Christ shed His blood on Calvary’s Cross so that you could now be defined by the blood that you have been born into. YOU ARE BLOOD BOUGHT: YOU HAVE A NAME CHANGE.

What John is going to address in Chapter two is what it means to LIVE in the NEW NAME THAT YOU HAVE BEEN GIVEN IN CHRIST JESUS – YOU ARE A CHRISTIAN.

And as my grandma would say, “YOU NEED TO ACT LIKE IT.” You carry the name of the Risen Savior. So, the way that you live, the way that you respond, the way that you engage others, it all matters now because of the NAME that you represent!

So let me give you a few points this morning on what it means to: LIVE IN THE FAMILY NAME.

Let’s look at 1 John 2:1 & 2, “My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: 2 And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.”

John begins by saying “My little children . . .” Now when he says that, he is using a term of endearment; he is not saying they are being childish – though maybe they were.

Remember now, the Book of I john is the last Book that was actually written chronologically. We know that John is living in Ephesus at the time, and so they no doubt have already read the book of Revelation. In fact, in Revelation 3, John addresses directly the problem in the church at Ephesus, and he does because they had forgotten what? THEIR FIRST LOVE.

Here is the problem with us humans: identifying our problems is only half the problem. I know a lot of things need to change about the way I eat, but I still drink a Dr. Pepper and have a donut every now and again. I have thoughts of a Beach Body by summer, but I have habits of Buddha Body by summer.

Identifying a problem is one thing, implementing change is another. But in the Christian life, we are not just after change – we are after transformation. You see, we have the power to change, GOD has the power to Transform. Transformation is God working in us and through us.

So, John is addressing these “Little Children” in Ephesus who are still not growing up in the Lord. They are still in the family of God, even if they are like children. He still loves you; He’s still chosen you.

THAT YOU SIN NOT

John says, “I’m writing these things unto you, (as family members – as my brothers and sisters in Christ) WHY? That ye sin not” Because it is contrary to living a Christian life, it is contrary to Living in the Family Name.

When we sin folks, it doesn’t mean that you are not a part of the family, but it does mean you are dishonoring the Family name. As my grandmother would say, “You’re not acting like it!” So, when we sin, we become a contradiction to the Name that we profess.

I John 1:9, we learned that God forgives us of our sin when we confess, but in verse 10 John reminds us that we are not sinners in our identity, though at times we are still sinful in our actions. But God’s willingness to forgive us of our sins is not a License to sin, and that is what John is addressing in Chapter 2 and verse 1. So, this is not a license to become complacent in sin.

Now there are two types of sin going on in all of our lives right now: Sins of Commission and Sins of Omission.

Sins of Omission means that you didn’t realize that the path you were walking in was sin. Now, that doesn’t make it any less sinful, it just means you didn’t know.

Then there are the premeditated sins – the Sins of Commission. These are the sins that we know are sin – yet we leave the tunnel open in our souls to go back to it every now and again.

Most of the sins that God is convicting us of are not the sins of Omission, but the sins of Commission. The things we clearly know we should do – yet we do them anyway.

Here is the question I want all us to answer inside ourselves, “Are my actions Living up to the Family Name?”

Our problem is, we like to mess around in sin. Paul tells us in I Corinthians that we are to “flee from sin” – “run from sin,” WHY? Because sin will take you further than you wanted to go, make you stay longer than you wanted to stay.

So, John is writing the church in Ephesus and telling them, “DON’T MESS WITH SIN.” “My little children, these things write I unto you that you SIN NOT.” Light has no business playing with the dark! John is not writing to give us an excuse to sin, but urging us to avoid sin, to not sin.

Now, let’s look at the second part of that verse, “These things write I unto you that you sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous.” I writing you so that you want sin, and here’s point two:

BUT WHEN YOU DO (AND YOU WILL) YOU HAVE AND ADVOCATE

When we go to God and say:

“LORD, I’ve sinned” He says, “I know.”

“LORD, will you forgive me for my sin” He says “I do.”

There is a story I’ve shared before in the Book of Philemon about Onesimus.  Onesimus was a slave of Philemon.  Onesimus ran away from his master, and sometime later, while he was on his journey, Onesimus crossed paths with the Apostle Paul.  Onesimus got Saved.  Later, Paul was sending him to Philemon, and he wrote and said something along these lines:

“Philemon, I am sending some people to you.  But Philemon, when you receive them, I want you to receive them as if you were receiving me.  If you’re my co-laborer, receive them like you would me.  Give them the respect you’ve given me.  Don’t be mad at him, and if he owes you anything – put that on my account!”

Now, let’s bring that over into the spiritual realm.  And I can see Jesus saying something like this:

“Father – DAD – I know he ain’t much.  I know he’s done you wrong.  But when he comes to You, I ask you to receive him as if you were receiving Me.  Dad, I paid for his sins, I am the propitiation for his sin.  If he owes you anything – put that on my account!”

I want you to know that Jesus, your advocate, your lawyer, is sitting at the right hand of the Father and He is fighting for you.

Let me ask you this morning, “Are you living up to the Family Name?”