SundaySeptember 15, 2013 Phone: 570-829-5216
Pastor David Miklas e-mail:
Message #17“Saints Fellowship with God” Text: I John 5:18-21
Confidence of the Saintsin the Fellowship of God
Introduction: The life that is real is built on the divine certainties found in Jesus. The Apostle Paul in II Timothy 1:12 gave us this tremendous declaration of our faith when he said, "For I know who I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day."
The world may accuse the Christian of being proud and dogmatic, but this does not keep those of us who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ from saying, "We know." In the 5th chapter of I John the phrase "We know" is used 8 times in verses2,13,15,18,19, 20.Here we find SIX certainties a Christian is to build his life upon with confidence. We have looked at the first three certainties.
FIRST: Inverses 6-9 we see the WITNESS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT that testifies to the certainty Jesus is God the Son. As a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ we can know Jesus is God.
SECOND: In verses 11-13 we see the WITNESSor theRECORDof the WORDof GOD that testifies to the certainty of eternal life. As a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ we can know we have eternal life.
THIRD:In verses 14-15 we see theRIGHT to come directly to God with our NEEDS,PLANS,PETITIONS and PROBLEMS whatever they happen to be, andwe can know He will hear and answer.
Praise God we have a "We Know" faith. Now in these last verses of I John 5:18-21 we discover the other three things that “We know.”
“We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not; but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not. (19) And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness. (20) And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life. (21) Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.”
FOURTH: We know something about IMPURITY: Again in verse 18, “We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not; but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not.” Notice again the first part of verse 18, "We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not..." Again the tense of the language tells us that a believer does not habitually live in sin. For a believer, "SINNING IS THE EXCEPTION RATHER THAN THE RULE."
Maybe it would be good for us to ask ourselves "WHAT IS SIN?" That might seem academic and redundant, but it is a very profound question. How would you define sin? If you would look back to verse 17, you will find a very clear definition of sin. It says, "All unrighteousness is sin..." In other words, whatever is not right in the sight of God is sin. OK Pastor, "How do you know what is RIGHT and WRONG in the sight of God? How can you figure that out?”
Some people say you can figure sin out through your CONSCIENCE. Your conscience tells you what is right and your conscience tells you what is wrong. But you know as well as I do you can scar your conscience and even corrupt your conscience until you get to the point where you can't trust your conscience.
On the other hand those who have been born again by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ have the Word of God.Therefore:
As we read God's word,
As we study God's Word, and
As we meditate upon God's Word,
The Spirit of God speaks to us through His Word. He reveals to us what is RIGHT and what is WRONG as far as God is concerned. In Hebrew 4:12 we read, "For the Word of God is ALIVE, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner (literally calling the rights and wrongs) of the thoughts and intents of the heart."
"All unrighteousness is sin..." Whatever is not right as far as God is concerned is sin. Note again verse 18, "We know that WHOSOEVER..." That is anybody who is born of God does not habitually do what is wrong.” God is holy, God is righteous and God is pure. Sinning is contrary to God’s ways.
I am not saying a Christian becomes SINLESS, because that's impossible. “There is no believer among us today who has reached a state of SINLESS perfection, including this preacher.”
Sin for the Christian becomes the EXCEPTION. A Christian is not SINLESS, but as he grows in the Christian life he ought to be sinning LESS and LESS. On the other hand, for those who are outside of the family of God, the unsaved, SIN is the RULE. That person lives in a sinful atmosphere, just because s/he is separated from God. For those of us who are born of God, we have a refuge when we sin that is found in I 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.”
Listen to this: "Whoever has slight thoughts of sin never has great thoughts of God." Let me repeat that. "Whoever has slight thoughts of sin never has great thoughts of God." People who are not sensitive to what sin is, have a very low view of who God is. Well Pastor, I know some born again people who do not seem to have a great sensitivity toward sin. They live no differently than unbelievers. They have become accustomed to sin in their heart. Then let me say,
Number 1: that person is out of fellowship with God.
Number 2: that person is unhappy inside his soul.
Number 3: that person is definitely out of the will of God.
Those who are born again, born of God through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, ought to, by the very spiritual nature they possess:
DETEST SIN,
AVOID SIN, AND
HATE THE VERY NATURE OF SIN,
While thanking God they no longer have to SERVE THE OLD SIN NATURE. The Apostle Paul spells this out in Romans 6:11-13,
“Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. (12) Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. (13) Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.”
So what prevents us from living habitually in sin? Notice again the second part of I John 5:18, “but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not.” This is a tremendous phrase when it is understood correctly. On the surface, it appears that the person who is born again just grits his teeth and says, "I am just going to keep myself pure, and I am going to live an upright life so help me God, I am going to do that." But, that is not what is being said here.
One day a teacher asked her students to complete this sentence, "Cleanliness is next to ______."(If some of you are thinking what I think you are thinking, forget it.You’ll not find the statement in the Bible. Cleanliness is not next to godliness.) Well, one boy raised his hand and said, "Cleanliness is next to impossible!" I guess for children at times cleanliness is next to impossible. For those of us who are in the family of God, we mightthink"Moral cleanliness would be next to impossible," if it wasn't for what John says in verse 18b.
Now in reading this from the original language here is what this verse is saying, "We know that whosoever is born of God does not habitually sin, because HE (Jesus Christ) who is the begotten of God keeps him..."
It is the Lord Jesus who keeps us MORALLY PURE.
It is the Lord Jesus who keeps us WALKING UPRIGHT.
John tells us "He, Jesus the only begotten of the Father, keeps you and I, the reborn ones, from habitually living in sin."
It is not possible for us to excuse our sins by saying, "Satan made me do it." According to Romans 6-7, Satan may have been the tempter, but you and I as believers are no longer obligated to submit to his "enticements." Rather it is Jesus Christ who keeps us from living in sin. Therefore, our cry should be, "Lord help me, Lord enable me, Lord instruct me, and Lord guide me." Only the Lord Jesus Christ has the power to keep us from sinning, which is comforting and reassuring.
Notice again the very last phrase of verse 18, "...and that wicked one (referring to the devil himself) touches him not." Does that mean the devil can never get at us? No, not quite.
In the Gospel of John 20:17 Mary Magdalene had an encounter with Christ after His resurrection during which He said to her, "Touch me not." Was the Lord saying, "Mary, Don't touch me?" No, Jesus was saying "Mary, stop clinging to me."
The word “touch” in John 20:17 is the same Greek word used back in I John 5:18, where John is saying "That wicked one (our adversary the Devil) no longer clings to us." Why? Because his power over us has been BROKEN. So you and I can rejoice in the absolute assurance that our adversary the Devil himself cannot cling to us. Understand:
The Devil can tempt us.
The Devil can try us.
The Devil can even put pitfalls and snares in our way.
BUT HE CANNOT LAY HOLD ON US, "for greater is He (Jesus Christ) that is in you, than he (the Devil) that is in the world."
Those who belong to God know something about impurity. “We know” how to deal with impurity. When you and I are living in fellowship with the Lord Jesus moment by moment, He enables us to live victorious over sin.
FIFTH: We know something about HUMANITY that the rest of the world does not know.Again in verse 19 we read, “And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness.” Someone said it this way, "The whole world is being cradled in the arms of the wicked one."
All we need to do is look around us and we’ll see the wickedness of the world. In today’s newspaper you read about tragedies, murders, rape, starvation, hostages, robberies and brutal crimes. There isn't anyone who has the ABILITY or the CAPACITY or the WISDOM to change it apart from Christ Himself.
Why? Because as long as Satan is on the loose, we will have great problems in our land and in our world. Notice again verse 19, “And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness.”
This verse speaks of those who are of God, those who are in the family of God.
This verse speaks of those who are in wickedness, who happen to be the unsaved in the world.
Those who are in Christ by faith, who are daily submissive to Him, have it together; they do not live as the unsaved in a state of confusion.
After you tell someone, “When you die, you can know for sure you are going to heaven;” have you ever had them say this to you? “Nobody can know that for sure.” Yet the Bible says, "We know that we are of God..." Here is a little chorus that eliminates any doubt:
You ask me how I know Jesus saves me,
How I know that all my sins are white as snow.
You ask me how I know He forgave me:
I WAS THERE WHEN IT HAPPENED,
AND I OUGHT TO KNOW!
The spirit burning in me set my heart aglow,
And so I praise the Lord today, He has washed my sins away.
How do I know for sure when I was born again? I was there when it happened on June 30, 1950! Those who are born of God, “We know” we are saved, because we were eye witnesses. For me, I remember the events of that day, 61 years ago, as if it happened yesterday. Let me ask you, Do you know for sure that you are saved and on your way to heaven?
By faith in Christ, we belong to another kingdom. Behind the scenes is God Almighty, who is working out his perfect will in our lives. Because:
We know God is our Father,
We know we are in the family of God,
We know we are on our way to heaven,
We know that our sins are forgiven,
We know we have fellowship with God, and
We know that we are in Christ,
Our position is vastly different from an unbeliever who lives in this confused world. Our position is different in provision, protection, purpose, potential and privilege.
In verse 18, We know something about IMPURITY.
In verse 19 We know something about HUMANITY that the rest of the world doesn't know.
SIXTH: We know something about REALITY.Again in verses 20-21, “And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.(21) Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.” There are many people today who know Jesus is come into the world. But not everyone has the absolute assurance of knowing Jesus has come into their hearts. So:
How do I know that Jesus has come into my heart?
How do you know that Jesus has come into your heart?
Because in verse 20 we are told we have been given the gift "of UNDERSTANDING, that we may know Him that is true." Simply put, the gift we have is to know Him as REAL! John tells us we have the REAL THING in Jesus Christ as opposed to the nothingness of dead idols. Jesus is the TRUE, the ORIGINAL, the AUTHENTIC, the ALIVE SAVIOR. He is not a copy, imitation, or dead idol.
I read this year’s ago:
"Christians live in an atmosphere of reality. On the other hand most unsaved people live in an atmosphere of pretense and sham. Christians have been given spiritual discernment to know the true from the false, but the unsaved do not have this understanding. The world boasts of its enlightenment, but a Christian walks in the real light, because God is light. The world talks about love, but it knows nothing of real love which a Christian experiences because God is Love. The world displays its wisdom and learning, but a Christian lives in truth because, the Spirit is Truth. God is light, love, and truth, and these together make a life that is real."
So how do I know God is alive? I know because:
He does meet my needs,
He does comfort and sustain me, and
He does answer my prayers.
To me, He is REAL! However, if He is NOT REAL in your life, then maybe you are not born again.
In closing, I want to call your attention again to the word “know.” In verses 18, 19, and 20 we have the same Greek word for “know,” which is "oidia." This word means a fullness of knowledge, a complete understanding.
We know in verse 18 something about impurity. We have complete understanding of what sin will do in our lives, and that God is going to hold us accountable.
We know in verse 19 something about humanity. We have complete understanding of what is wrong with our world, and that the Devil is behind it. That is why we should be doing everything we can to bring men and women, boys and girls out of darkness and into God's marvelous light.
We know in verse 20 something about reality. We have complete understanding that God is alive and real!
However, when we come to the second time the word "know" is used in verse 20, we encounter a different Greek word. This time the word, “know” means to progress in knowledge. "that we may know (be progressing in knowledge of) Him that is true." The Bible is saying the gift we are given is the ability to get to know Jesus more and more and better and better, because He is the inexhaustible one.
Years ago, God used a man named Christmas Evans to bring about the GREAT WELSH REVIVAL. He would go from place to place and encourage people to grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. As he would travel, he would do so with a team of horses which either he or someone else would drive. On his death bed, it is said that just before he went to glory, he rose up and said, as he often did to the driver of his team, "Drive on, Drive on!"
As our study comes close to the end of the book of I John, with only one more message to complete, I believe John would encourage us to echo those same words, "Drive on, Drive on!"
Give more,
Love more,
Praise God more,
Read your Bible and pray more,
Grow in grace more,
Progress in spiritual knowledge more, and
Win more souls to Christ.
"Drive on, Drive on," until that moment you are driven into the presence of the Lord Jesus Himself.
*******************************************************************
If God has spoken to your heart after reading the sermon, “The Saints’ Confidence in the Fellowship of God,” then right now talk to God about what He has spoken to you.