The Test of Fellowship (Part 9)

The Test of Fellowship:  Do Not Love The World

1 John 2: 15-17

(Part 9)

INTRODUCTION

A.   "Our interests are in ourselves. We are preoccupied with material things. Our supreme god is technology. Our goddess is sex. Most of us are more interested in getting to the moon than getting to heaven. We are more dedicated to material security than to inward purity. We give much more thought to what we wear, what we eat, what we drink, and what we can do than what we are...." (Billy Graham)

B.   Today’s passage is the quintessential command to stop and to not love this world. Here John gives a direct command to his readers that they are not to love the world.

Proposition:  The love of God compels us to end all idolizations of the systems of the world.

Interrogative Sentence:  Why does John tell us that as genuine believers that we are not to love the world?

Transitional Sentence:  This passage provides us with three reasons for not loving the world:

·         The Wastefulness of the World’s System    (v. 15)

·         The Wickedness of the World’s System     (v. 16)

·         The Worthlessness of the World’s System (v. 17)

Here's To the Established Church!

Today I felt like a little Spurgeon. Reading him always gives me a lift when I need it. Here is a little something I stumbled upon today by God’s marvelous grace. Hope it stimulates your thinking, devotion, and praise. It did mine!

“I believe in an established Church, not established by acts of Parliament, but established by the purpose and presence of God in the midst of it.”

Charles H. Spurgeon, 1894

The Test of Fellowship (Part 8)

SERMON            GM14-017

SERIES:              Christian Living in a World of Chaos & Contradiction

SCRIPTURE:     1 John 1:8-2:28

SUBJ:                  Genuine Fellowship with God

SUBTITLE:        The Test of Fellowship (Part 8)

SUMMARY:       The Christian life is viewed as a life of fellowship

SCHEME:           To cause believers to test their claim of fellowship

         

1A     THE CHRISTIAN LIFE VIEWED AS FELLOWSHIP (1:5-2:28)

          1B     Fellowship is tested on practical grounds (1:5-2:11)

                   1C     Practical grounds of moral like-ness (1:5-7)

                   2C     Practical grounds of confession of sin (1:8-2:2)

                   3C     Practical grounds of obedience (2:3-6)

                   4C     Practical grounds of love (2:7-11)

          2B     Fellowship is tested on relational grounds (2:12-17)

                   1C     The Positive Relationship (2:12-14)

                   2C     The Negative Relationship (2:15-17)

          3B     Fellowship is tested on Christological grounds (2:18-28)

                   1C     The Contrast (2:18-21)

                   2C     The Christological (2:22-23)

                   3C     The Centrality (2:24-28) 

From what Dunghill Did Election Find You?

Election having once pitched upon a man, it will find him out and call him home, wherever he be. It called Zaccheus out of accursed Jericho; Abraham out of idolatrous Ur of the Chaldees; Nicodemus and Paul, from the College of the Pharisees, Christ’s sworn enemies; Dionysius and Damaris, out of superstitious Athens. In whatsoever dunghills God’s elect are hid, election will find them out and bring them home.

John Arrowsmith  (1602 – 1659)

The Death of Common Sense

Obituary Notice

Today we mourn the passing of an old friend by the name of Common Sense.

Common Sense lived a long life but died from heart
failure at the brink of the millennium. No one really
knows how old he was since his birth records were
long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape.

He selflessly devoted his life to service in schools,
hospitals, homes, factories and offices, helping folks
get jobs done without fanfare and foolishness. For
decades, petty rules, silly laws and frivolous lawsuits
held no power over Common Sense. He was credited
with cultivating such valued lessons as to know when
to come in out of the rain, the early bird gets the worm,
and life isn't always fair.

Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies
(don't spend more than you earn), reliable parenting
strategies (the adults are in charge, not the kids), and
its okay to come in second.

A veteran of the Industrial Revolution, the Great Depression,
and the Technological Revolution, Common Sense survived
cultural and educational trends including feminism, body
piercing, whole language and "new math."

But his health declined when he became infected with the
"If-it-only-helps-one-person-it's-worth-it" virus. In recent
decades his waning strength proved no match for the
ravages of overbearing federal regulation.

He watched in pain as good people became ruled by
self-seeking lawyers and enlightened auditors. His health
rapidly deteriorated when schools endlessly implemented
zero tolerance policies, reports of six year old boys
charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate,
a teen suspended for taking a swig of mouthwash after
lunch, and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student.
It declined even further when schools had to get parental
consent to administer aspirin to a student but cannot
inform the parent when the female student is pregnant
or wants an abortion.

Finally, Common Sense lost his will to live as the Ten
Commandments became contraband, churches became
businesses, criminals received better treatment than
victims, and federal judges stuck their noses in
everything from Boy Scouts to professional sports.

As the end neared, Common Sense drifted in and out
of logic but was kept informed of developments, regarding
questionable regulations for asbestos, low flow toilets,
"smart" guns, the nurturing of Prohibition Laws and
mandatory air bags.

Finally when told that the homeowners association
restricted exterior furniture only to that which enhanced
property values, he breathed his last.

Common Sense was preceded in death by his parents
Truth and Trust; his wife, Discretion; his daughter,
Responsibility; and his son, Reason. He is survived by
three stepbrothers: Rights, Tolerance and Whiner.

Not many attended his funeral because so few realized
he was gone.

(Author Unknown)

TheTest of Fellowship (Part 7)

SERMON            GM14-016

SERIES:              Christian Living in a World of Chaos & Contradiction

SCRIPTURE:     1 John 1:8-2:28

SUBJ:                  Genuine Fellowship with God

SUBTITLE:        The Test of Fellowship (Part 7)

SUMMARY:       The Christian life is viewed as a life of fellowship

SCHEME:           To cause believers to test their claim of fellowship

          

1A     THE CHRISTIAN LIFE VIEWED AS FELLOWSHIP (1:5-2:28)

          1B     Fellowship is tested on practical grounds (1:5-2:11)

                   1C     Practical grounds of moral like-ness (1:5-7)

                   2C     Practical grounds of confession of sin (1:8-2:2)

                   3C     Practical grounds of obedience (2:3-6)

                   4C     Practical grounds of love (2:7-11)

          2B     Fellowship is tested on relational grounds (2:12-17)

                   1C     The Positive Relationship (2:12-14)

                   2C     The Negative Relationship (2:15-17)

          3B     Fellowship is tested on Christological grounds (2:18-28)

                   1C     The Contrast (2:18-21)

                   2C     The Christological (2:22-23)

                   3C     The Centrality (2:24-28)

When Truth is Controversial

"Divisions and separations are most objectionable in religion. They weaken the cause of true Christianity...But before we blame people for them we must be careful that we lay the blame where it is deserved. False doctrine and heresy are even worse than schism. If people separate themselves from teaching which is positively false and unscriptural, they ought to be praised rather than reproved. In such cases separation is a virtue and not a sin...The old saying must never be forgotten, 'He is the schismatic who causes the schism'...Controversy in religion is a hateful thing...But there is one thing which is even worse than controversy, and that is false doctrine, allowed, and permitted without protest or molestation." (J. C. Ryle)

Taken from Iain Murray's, Evangelicalism Divided: A Record of Crucial Change in the years 1950-2000, p. 141