Here For It: Wk 4
Notes
Transcript
Intro Illustration:
Intro Illustration:
Churches are going through a hard time.
Not just here at Friendly, but across the globe, and especially here in the west, the church is in a hard time. Over the last 5-10 years we are just seeing a massive drop off in our world of people who are genuinely following Jesus with their lives. We are seeing the rise of people deconstructing and walking away from their faith, we are seeing less and less space in the world for the Church to be accepted and involved in, we are seeing less people actually wanting to show up and be involved in churches. We’re seeing less engagement between the church and the world overall. And we have even had challenges here at friendly right? From Daniel being a new pastor at Friendly, to Covid challenges, to coming out of covid, and then now in a time of transition between pastors. This is a tough time for Friendly too.
To be clear right off the bat though, I am not saying this to discourage you or scare you. These difficult times happen! This is actually somewhat normal throughout history. There are high points and low points for the church. Seems safe to say, we are in a low point right now, without a doubt. Jesus himself even warned and encouraged his church saying that we would face really hard times but we can be courageous because He has overcome the world. John in Revelation paints the picture of a cycle of good times and bad times for the church leading all the way to the day Jesus returns. So, we don’t have to feel discouraged or defeated over this season we are in- here at Friendly or the church at large. But tonight,
TRANSITION:
I want us to explore how we can be faithful and actually grow during difficult times like these.
Recap:
We’ve been looking at 1 John over the past few weeks and we’ve seen John encouraging and challenging the church he oversees to live faithfully as God’s people in a community of love. He called them to keep Jesus at the Center of their community.
He called them to walk in the light together as they followed Jesus- meaning walking in His life and free from sin. That meant they needed to practice confessing sin regularly.
Then last week we saw John remind them that their defining factor was their relationship with Jesus- it was that relationship that gave them a brand new identity in Jesus and from there their whole lives would change. We said our identity shapes our activity as Christians.
Tonight, you can turn to the end of 1 John 2 and we will see that John continues the encouragement for them to live faithfully as a community of Jesus followers but he addresses the challenges that they are facing directly and tells them how they can be faithful through those hard times. As followers of JEsus hard times will come, challenges will arise, opposition will be faced. But we don’t have to panic or be afraid, instead we need to cling to Jesus.
Put another way, our main point tonight is simply:
The Church will only thrive in hard times when we each abide in Christ!
Good times or bad to be clear, but specially looking at hard times tonight, the Church, a community of Jesus followers, will only thrive grow and be healthy when each person truly abides in Jesus!
Let’s read the passage together and see what John says.
1 John 2:24–27 (CSB)
What you have heard from the beginning is to remain in you. If what you have heard from the beginning remains in you, then you will remain in the Son and in the Father. And this is the promise that he himself made to us: eternal life.
I have written these things to you concerning those who are trying to deceive you. As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you don’t need anyone to teach you. Instead, his anointing teaches you about all things and is true and is not a lie; just as it has taught you, remain in him.
CONTEXT:
Before we dig into these verses we need to understand the context.
Remember, the church that John is writing to is going through their own hard time. False teachers are targeting their church and spreading lies about Jesus. People are becoming divided in this church over different beliefs and some have even left the church because of all of this. Sadly, this story still happens today.
Now, in the verses just before our passage for tonight, John hints at some of the false teachings that are causing all of this chaos.
The main ones are attacking the divinity of Jesus- saying that Jesus isn’t fully God. Likewise, saying Jesus wasn’t human, and then that Jesus wasn’t the messiah.
So, just as our faith is all about our believe in Jesus, those who attack our faith will also try to target Jesus and destroy our view of who he is.
All throughout Christian history, the movements that broke off from the Church and followed lies about who Jesus is, and started to distort the bible and the gospel. Most of them died off quickly. Some are still around today, but they aren’t healthy places of Life. People literally have stories and tv shows about escaping these groups that hold to heresies about Jesus.
So John sees this church being attacked by these heresies, and lies about Jesus and he wants to encourage them, the verses we read are his response to this challenging time.
So, how does he challenge them to live in spite of this difficult time?
REMAIN IN THE WORD:
He calls them to remain. That word remain, is the word we often hear called abide.
It’s the greek word μένω (menō). vb. remain, stay (i.e., lodge) with. Among its wide breadth of uses, menō can refer to dwelling, living, or lodging.
Garwood P. Anderson, “Hospitality,” ed. Douglas Mangum et al., Lexham Theological Wordbook, Lexham Bible Reference Series (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2014).
to continue a certain state, condition, or activity
SO, it’s the idea of living with someone consistently. TO continue on or be with someone or something in a prolonged way.
Now, this should definitely take us back to the Gospel of John when Jesus said: John 15:4 “Remain in me, and I in you. Just as a branch is unable to produce fruit by itself unless it remains on the vine, neither can you unless you remain in me.”
John is using the same word here which is significant! We’ll come back to that passage later, but keep it in mind.
John says if they want to be faithful and thrive in this hard time then they must remain in what they have heard from the beginning. What does that mean?
Well., remember back to chapter one when John told them that their fellowship was based on what they had heard from the beginning- the truth about Jesus!
John is telling them to remain in the core teachings of Jesus!
For us we can say it this way today:
We must remain in the Word of God.
Did anyone hear the rumor that the Government was going to shut down every electronic in the country at 2:20 today? It was just a conspiracy theory based off the announcement that they were testing an emergency alert system. But if you looked online everyone was saying to brace yourselves because they were going to shut down every electronic at the same time and they might not come back up and here’s what you need to do to avoid it....
Well then it was 2:20 and we all got an emergency alert, we ignored it and moved on.
Some people freaked out when they heard the rumors, others already knew it was just an emergency test and panicked and reacted to the conspiracy theories.
What John is saying is, we will fall for the lies, the rumors, the conspiracy theories that are all constantly swirling around us, if we do not abide in God’s Word.
If this book isn’t our every day priority to spend time in, to meditate on, to memorize and pray through. If the word of God isn’t in you, then you will fall to the lies that people tell you. Lies about life, about you, about God, about the church and about our world. John says remain in the Word of God that we have been given from the beginning and if we do, then we will be remaining in Jesus.
unfortunately people still try to twist and change the Bible to be more popular in our world, to gain more attention, make more money… But we can’t give into all the newest trends or ideas from people that call themselves Christians. WE must remain in the Word that has been from the beginning. The Word of God is unchanging and is trustworthy.
We must abide in the word of God so we can stand firm in the truth of God and not fall for the lies of those around us- whether they come from Christians or not.
John also goes says if we remain in the word, that means we remain in the Son and in the Father. Our consistency in God’s Word helps us have intimacy with God. I know I say it all the time but it is true, you will not experience the life of God without spending time in the Word of God.
John finishes by saying this: when we remain in him we receive the promise he made to us- eternal Life! WE experience the life that Jesus promised now when we abide in His Word!
John says, remain in the teachings you have heard from the beginning. We must remain in the word of God!
REMAIN IN THE SPIRIT:
Then john Continues on to talk about the anointing that we have received. This is referring to being filled with the Holy Spirit, we learn this from verse 20 earlier in the chapter.
So, John is saying we don’t need special knowledge or abilities to defend ourselves against those who are trying to lie and tear us away from the church- we need to remember we have the SPirit of God in us!
We must remain in the Spirit of God.
This is an important truth that we have to remember as Christians. So many times throuhgout Church history it seems we forget to talk about the importance of the Holy Spirit in the lives of Believers!
When you place your faith in Jesus- turn from your sins and call on His name to be saved. Scripture tells us you receive the Holy Spirit in you. The personal presence of God ABIDES/REMAINS in you! You are never alone, you are never weak, you are never defeated because God lives in you now.
John is saying, you have the personal presence of the almighty God in each of you! Do not bow down to those around you, do not fall for their lies about Jesus. Stand firm in Truth and let the Holy Spirit give you everything you need to know through this dark time.
Simply reading our bibles for information is not enough to make us healthy Christians, especially in the midst of really hard times. No, our time with God must be about both soaking up his Word, and soaking up His PRESENCE! IT is the being in the presence of God that transforms us and we can experience that most consistently through His Word and prayer as we focus on who God is and listen to what He is teaching us!
So, we must remain in the Word of God.
We must remain in the Spirit of God.
And lastly John summarizes it all up by pointing back to Jesus’ own words-
End of verse 27- remain in Him!
We must remain in Jesus.
It is critical that we hold onto the right teachings about Jesus because if we have the wrong understanding of Jesus then we can never be in a close relationship with Him! We must remain int he word so we know who Jesus is, we must remain in the Spirit so we can have a growing and healthy relationship with Jesus. Ultimately this is the call to abide in Jesus like a vine on a branch.
Jesus paints this picture beautifully and many of us are familiar but to close I want to remind us of this. He says we are like a branch. A branch can’t do ANYTHING once it is cut off from the vine. The vine has the life, the nutrients, the support that the branch needs to live and produce fruit. If the branch stays firmly connected to the vine it will thrive and be healthy, even through rough weather. But once you cut that branch off it is just a matter of time before it withers away and dies.
Yes, this may be a hard time for the church in our world.
Yes, this may be a hard time for Friendly Avenue.
But, GOD IS NOT DONE.
Jesus calls us to remain in Him and we will bear much fruit. Remain in the Word and the Spirit. Remain in Jesus and no matter what we get to experience His promise of LIFE!
Both now, in this world and forever when he returns with the fullness of His Kingdom!
Bow your heads with me and let’s respond together.
Matt can come up.
1. Have you been saved? Have you ever started your personal, abiding relationship with Jesus? Or are you still trying to do life on your own? God wants you to have a personal relationship with Him that sets you free from your sin and struggles, and gives you new life in Jesus today! Is there anyone here tonight that would say I realize I am lost in my sin, I want to be forgiven and follow Jesus as Lord today?
2. Are you in the Bible consistently? Do you have an intentional plan for how you spend time in the Bible daily in your life? If not talk to me and we can get you a plan to follow! Ask God to help you love your time in His Word.
Ask God to correct any false views you have about Him through your time in the Word.
3. Are you walking in the Spirit Consistently? 2 Parts to this: 1 Do you spend good, quality time with God in his presence without distractions and noise to just be with your heavenly father? You can build that time in to your day to be with God personally. Second, do you walk obeying the Spirit as He guides you in your life daily? Growing in our obedience is all about listening for the Spirit and obeying Him as he leads us!
Pray into music.
PRAY FOR SCOTT!