Practicing Righteousness (1 John 3:4-10)

We tend to use the word “practice” two different ways. 

• First, we might refer to how we do things. “It is our practice to….” That’s why attorneys practice law or doctors practice medicine. 

• Second, we do something over and over to get better at it (think learning a sport or a musical skill). 

John is going to use the word poieo (poy-eh-o) numerous times in today’s passage, a word often translated as “practice.” I think that the two meanings for practice put together capture what he is trying to say: poieo is how we do things, or it’s something we do over and over and get better at it. Keep that in mind as we read. 

 Everyone who practices sin (lives a life of habitual sin)[1] is living in moral anarchy. That’s what sin is.[2]  Jesus came to take our sins, but there is not the slightest bit of sin in Him. The ones who live in an intimate relationship with Him do not persist in sin, but anyone who persists in sin has not seen and does not know the real Jesus.[3] 

“Taking on our sin” has an interesting image associated with it. It’s the idea that someone picks something up and takes it with her, like what the lame man did with his bed (Matthew 9:6), or like a transferred yoke from one cow to another in farm work (Matthew 11:29). Remember how Jesus asked people to take his yoke upon them?[4] He was asking them to “take” his mission, to join him in where he was going. More on this later, so keep that image in mind. 

Children, don’t let anyone deceive you. The one practicing righteousness (persistently doing the right thing and getting better at it) is just imitating Jesus, the Righteous One.  The one who practices sin (persistently doing the wrong thing and getting better at it) belongs to the diabolical one, who has been all about sin from the beginning. That is why the Son of God came into our world: to destroy the plague of destruction inflicted on the world by the diabolical one. 

No one who has been born into God’s family practices sin as a lifestyle because the God’s children are the spiritually generated offspring[5] of God Himself. Therefore, a child of God has the power to reject a life of persistent sin.  So it is not hard to figure out who are the children of God and who are the children of the diabolical one: those who do not practice righteousness (what God approves) and those who don’t practice agape love for one another do not belong to God.

 Practicing righteousness vs. practicing sin.  

 Poieo.  

 Getting better at righteousness vs. getting better at sin by doing them.

Last weekend I was talking with a young man from Russia (one of Braden’s friends.) I was reminiscing about how last summer he cooked us borscht. I thought I was doing pretty good with my English pronunciation, but when he started rolling those r’s to show me how it was really pronounced, I was in trouble. He was good at it because he grew up doing it. He got better and better because he’s done it millions of times. I, on the other hand, have not. I have practiced ‘hard’ r’s, and I’m good at those. 

 Poieo.

I was watching a new series on Neflix. In episode one, a boy hides from bullies. A nun tells him, “If you want to be the kind of boy who runs from bullies, you might last until you are 20.” It was harsh world. She was probably right. It morphs into a scene 10 years later where he is fighting the equivalent of MMA, taking on all comes, with a reputation of a guy who was not afraid of anything. 

Poeio. Practice.

This is not in opposition to the reality that God gives us gifts. It’s in conjunction with the reality that God gives us gifts. Something can be given to us freely, and we still have to practice.

My dad gave me a basketball, a bike, a BB gun. I still had to practice to get good at them. I had good singing voice when I was younger. I had the ability to find the rhythm with a bass. I could speak in front of others without fear and trembling. I could write good – sorry, I could write well J I had the genetics to be relatively successful at a few sports. I did not earn any of these things. They were in some sense given to me. I had to practice if I wanted them to grow. 

It’s Malcolm Gladwell’s 10,000 hour/10 year rule. You do something for 10,000 hours, you are probably really, really good at it. The more poieo, the more accomplished you become at. It begins to feel natural because you get used to it and the exercise of that gift becomes more and more natural. 

John does not claim we earn our righteousness. Biblical writers are clear that our being declared righteous is a free gift from God. But he still says we must practice it. And our practice is guided by our yokes.

Eventually, you get used to the yoke you wear. You get better at following the direction of the yoke, fulfilling the mission of the yoked.

The yoke is something farmers would hook up to two oxen for plowing a (hopefully) straight line. There were good combinations and bad.  Ideally, they moved in a straight line toward a common goal. We yoke with something or someone for everything. We have all picked something up and taken it with us wittingly or unwittingly; we have all willingly joined the formation or course of our life with something or someone else.  

•  I was an Auburn fan when I was a kid for no reason other than somebody got me an Auburn jacket. Then, when I moved to Ohio, I (by the grace of God) became a Buckeye fan.

•  I like food you find in the south because I grew up in the south.  Boiled crawdads and fried catfish and grits, man. I even like dried okra.

•  I speak English - for a while with a good Southern accent. 

 Those are all things I unwittingly took on. It was just a natural thing based on the social ecosystem in which I lived. There are other things – yokes, if you will - I chose wittingly: 

•  I became a Christian – I took on that yoke.

• When I got married, Sheila and I yoked together.

• When we started coming to church at CLG, we yoked with the people here. 

We constantly ‘put on’ things, and when we do, poieo will follow. We will inevitably practice. From the moment we get out of bed, every day, we are practicing righteousness or sin based on who or what shares our yoke. 

Paul addressed this reality with the church in Corinth. When Paul first went to Corinth, he had apparently warned them about associating with people who were sexually immoral. Unfortunately, they did not understand what he was trying to say.  In his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul clarified his command: “I didn’t mean people who aren’t following Christ. You would have to leave the world.” In other words, of course you are going to have friends and relate to people who don’t agree with you or live like you.

In his second letter, he gives them a little more clarity on how not to be “of” Corinth even while they live “in” Corinth:

“Don’t be unequally yoked with unbelievers. What common interest can there be between goodness and evil? How can light and darkness share life together? How can there be harmony between Christ and the devil? What business can a believer have with an unbeliever? What common ground can idols hold with the temple of God? For we, remember, are ourselves living temples of the living God.” (2 Corinthians 6:14 - 7:1)

You may have heard this passage used about marriage, but it’s not about marriage specifically (it applies to all relationships). Everybody yokes. Be careful with whom you yoke.

There are some things that will either guide us on a straight path in the Kingdom of God or try to pull us around into a different Kingdom altogether. Every yoke works with us or against us as we move toward a goal. If we want to practice righteousness well, we must yoke with the righteous. Be careful who shares your spiritual yoke.

During the Roman persecutions, Christians were commanded to cast a little incense on the altar of a pagan god. They refused to do it, and thousands were killed.  Just a little incense. Why was this such a big deal?This was a question of allegiance and partnership. It seemed like one small thing, but it was practice. It was the first step in poeio.

This is the idea behind the imagery of the infamous “mark” in the book of Revelation (as I understand it). What marks you? What are you known for? Where is your allegiance? With whose identity does your practice yoke you and thus mark you?[6]

·    Who gets your conscious, deliberate sacrifice?  Not of incense, but of time, money, energy, thoughts, priorities? Who yokes you into supporting them in thought or in practice? And how does that mark you? If something is going to give in your schedule during the day, what gives? Poeio. If something is going to give in your week, what is it? Poeio.

·    For whom or what will you go out of your way, rearrange your schedule, bump other things?  Who or what yokes you into prioritizing them, and their agenda, and their schedule? Poeio.You are practicing something that will make you a particular kind of someone. 

·    With whom are you willing to unite to avoid hardship or discomfort or get what you want? How much are you willing to compromise for pleasure and comfort? Will you walk into or away from tension with others? Poeio. 

·    Who or what forms your view of world events, and thus orders your thoughts and speech and actions? Who yokes you into thinking like they do?  You can find out what leading Christian thinkers say about it first, or you can start with leading politicians or talking heads on TV. Every one is poeio. You are practicing. 

John has already told us the importance of yoking with Jesus, with the Word, with God’s people, through the power of the Holy Spirit. For the rest of the book, John is going to tell us how yoking in this way will mark as one of God’s righteous children. The mark is the practice of showing the righteous love of the Father to others. [7]  Those who practice righteousness and those who practice agape love for one another belong to God (v.10). We bear the mark of Christ when we live the love of Christ.

·      1 John 3:11  “For this is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another.”

·      1 John 3:14  “We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love each other.”

·      1 John 3:16: “We ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.”

·      1 John 3:23: “And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us.” 

·      1 John 4:7  “Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God.”

·      1 John 4:11  “Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”

·      1 John 4:21  “Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.”

·      1 John 5:2  “This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands.”

That which leads us to practice a greater righteousness and display the fruits of the Spirit (starting with love) is of God; that which leads us to practice sin and show contempt, disdain, or hatred to others is of the devil. 

You want to know with whom you are yoked? Are the fruits of the Spirit growing or fading, beginning with love?[8]

When we survey the cultural landscape and see all the things that stand in opposition to the Kingdom of God, are we marked in our internal and external response by the fruits of the Spirit that proclaim us to be a child of God and a practitioner of righteousness, and does it call out of us a desire to agape love those both near and far from Christ? 

When we watched or read the coverage of George Floyd’s death, and then the trial of one of the officers this past week, and then news stories with an intersection of violence and race, what increases in us? Was it a practice in righteousness? Did our thoughts, emotions, or words bear the mark of Jesus and show that we have partnered with him in spirit and in truth? Did it call out of us a desire for all those involved to experience the agape love of Christ, beginning with the embodiment of that love as displayed in His people?

As COVID rolls on with all of its devastation and frustration, are we increasing in peace, joy, hope and love, or are we increasing in anger, bitterness, judgment and fear? Is our voice and presence stabilizing and soothing a tumultuous world, or inflaming it?  Is the love of Christ for others growing in us for all of the following:

·      maskers and anti-maskers

·      COVID vaxxers and COVID anti-vaxxers

·      lockdown fans and lockdown opponents

·      people who have lost loved one; people who have lost jobs

·      exhausted health care workers in hospitals

·      people longing for unmasked faces – or masked faces

·      people wrestling with mental health issues more than ever

·      politicians whose decisions will always put them in somebody’s sights

·      that person walking through this church door that we think is living in fear because they wear a mask or don’t get a vaccine, or living in arrogance because they don’t wear a mask or brag about their vaccine

Do you feel it after that list? Something is rising within you? Are the fruits of the spirit bubbling up more than ever?  Did you feel agape love?  Did any of that take your joy?  Are you at peace even if something on that list triggered you?  Are you planning how you can show patience, kindness and gentleness to “that person?”  Were you considering how your presence around others on this list can be characterized by faithfulness and goodness?  Is your self-control being tested? What’s winning?

Is the love of Christ moving in us so that we are seeing all of these people as Christ sees them, thinking of them as Christ thinks of them, speaking to and of them as Jesus would speak if they were here? 

“How can we avoid sin? By keeping the commandments of Christ. And what is that commandment? It is that we should love. Love, and sin is undone.” (Augustine) 

Keeping the commandment of love. Poeio. 

Practice love, as one who has passed from death into life (1 John 3:14). 

_________________________________________________________________________

[1] A. “The present tense of the Greek suggests behavior that is characteristic or usual. In this way John acknowledges, but does not excuse, the possibility of occasional sin. Another possibility is that John has in mind the specific sin of apostasy, mentioned in 2:19 (cf. also 5:16–18). If so, John means that true believers will not totally abandon their faith.”   B. “John is not teaching sinless perfection (see 1:8, 10; 2:2). He speaks here of habitual practice of known sinful acts. The true believer’s actions will conform to the character of his true father, either God or Satan. The person born of God will reflect this in his behavior.” (Both quotes from commentary on Bible Gateway.)    C) “Christ in himself is most pure, and he came to take away our sins, by sanctifying us with the Holy Spirit, therefore whoever is truly a partaker of Christ, does not give himself to sin, and on the contrary, he that gives himself to sin does not know Christ. (Geneva Study Bible) 

[2] That moral anarchy is disregard of known law, or acting as if one has no law when if fact the law is known. (Cambridge Bible For Schools And Colleges)

[3] “Hath not seen him - It is no unusual thing with this apostle, both in his gospel and in his epistles, to put occasionally the past for the present, and the present for the past tense. It is very likely that here he puts, after the manner of the Hebrew, the preterite for the present: He who sins against God doth not see him, neither doth he know him - the eye of his faith is darkened, so that he cannot see him as he formerly did; and he has no longer the experimental knowledge of God as his Father and portion.” (Adam Clarke)

[4] Matthew 11:29

[5] “3:9 God’s seed. A daring metaphor employing the word “seed” (Greek sperma) to depict the Spirit’s work in believers. Unlike the children of the devil (in this case the secessionists), the children of God do not go on sinning because the Spirit dwells within them. There is an apparent contradiction in 1 John concerning sin in the believer’s life: those who claim not to have sinned are liars (1:10); those born of God do not and cannot sin (3:6, 9). A possible resolution is that, in context, 3:4 defines the latter sin as “lawlessness” (Greek anomia). In the NT this word refers not to breaking the law but to rebelling against God (like the devil’s rebellion). If this is the case, John is saying that those who claim to know God and yet sin in this way certainly do not know God and are, in fact, in league with the devil. This is the sin that those born of God do not and cannot commit. It is possible for believers to sin in other ways, as 1:8—2:1indicates.” (NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible)

[6] Question to the Bible Project guys: Is there a relationship between the engraving of Yahweh’s holiness on the golden plate of the priest’s turban in Exodus 39:30 also described in Exodus 23:28 as a mark on Aaron’s forehead, and the mark of God’s name on his bondservants’ foreheads in Revelation 7, Revelation 22? ? And is there also a counter relationship to the mark of the beast?

Their answer: “The descriptions of priests’ attire in the Hebrew Bible specify that priests are to wear the phrase “belonging to Yahweh” on their foreheads. And all Israelites are instructed to bind the words of the Shema, a prayer they learned to recite morning and night, on their hands and foreheads (Deuteronomy 6:4-9). In Ezekiel 9, there’s another instance of Israelites having their foreheads marked. In this case, the mark is a sign of people who are grieved by the idolatry of Babylon and therefore spared from Yahweh’s judgment. John had all of these images in mind when he described the forehead markings of God’s servants in Revelation, which are indeed an anti-mark to the mark of the beast.  (https://bibleproject.com/podcast/mark-priest-or-mark-beast/).

[7] All disobedience is contrary to love; therefore sin is the transgression of the law, whether the act refers immediately to God or to our neighbor. (Adam Clarke)

[8] “No man is of God who is not ready on all emergencies to do any act of kindness for the comfort, relief, and support of any human being. For, as God made of one blood an the nations of men to dwell upon the face of the whole earth, so all are of one family; and consequently all are brethren, and should love as brethren.” (Adam Clarke)

Walk In The Light (1 John 1:1-7)

Probably between ad 85 and 95, John [1] wrote to the believers near Ephesus, in present-day Turkey.[2] The persecution under Nero had come and gone, killing even Paul and Peter. John was the last  apostle, looking back at what had been happening in the early church. 

1 John 1:1-7

We declare to you what was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— this life was revealed, and we have seen it and testify to it, and declare to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was revealed to us— we declare to you what we have seen and heard so that you also may have fellowship (koinonia) with us; and truly our fellowship (koinonia) is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. We are writing these things so that our[3] joy may be complete. 

This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light and in him there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship (koinonia) with him while we are walking in darkness, we lie and do not do what is true; but if we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship (koinonia) with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.

In his opening, John seems to be responding to the Gnostics, who thought there was no way Jesus was incarnate (“in the flesh”) because matter was evil.  John makes it clear that he was.  The incarnate Jesus could be seen, heard, and touched.

Then he explains how our relationship with Christ brings us into the family of God. We can have genuine fellowship with other followers of Jesus because our fellowship is grounded in our fellowship with God (1 John 1:3). The result is joy.

Fellowship flows from knowing God, who is “light.” In God there is “no darkness at all” (1:5) Light suggests purity, honest, goodness, righteousness, truth. There are no shadows or dark sides to God (James 1:17); he is perfect and free of sin (Psalms 145:17; Matthew 5:48).[4] Jesus said, “I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness”(Matthew 12:46). So if genuine fellowship comes from being in the light, the breaking of our fellowship comes from walking in darkness (1 John 1:6). 

Our profession of faith must be backed up by our practice (1:6). Children of the light walk in it (see John 8:12; Eph. 5:8; Col. 1:13; 1 Pet. 2:9.[5]

For John, fellowship with others follows faith in God and displays itself in works that build fellowship with God and others. Life from Christ exhibits characteristics of life of Christ. This is how we know we are ‘in the light’ with Him (1 John 2:5–6): we will increasing resemble Jesus.”[6]

* * * * * * * * * *

“God is light and in him there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship (koinonia) with him while we are walking in darkness, we lie and do not do what is true.” 

I've been hearing a lot of discussion about Christians should be responding to recent scandals among Christian leaders. I want to walk into this with fear and trembling, because I am well aware that when sinners talk about other sinners there is a danger of unrighteous judgment and pride. And yet we can’t shy away from this. We must wrestle with how it is that professing Christians  leave the light and head toward the dark, and how we get back out. Our fellowship with God and others is on the line. So I offer some (imperfect) thoughts meant to inspire us to wrestle with this. A lot of the discussion centers around some version of two common phrases: 

·      “There but for the grace of God go I.” 

·      “We are all sinners saved by grace, and so we are all in need of God's forgiveness.” 

There is truth in both of these, but it's a truth that can be misunderstood or misapplied. While it’s an important part of a broader biblical truth, they need to be situation within that broader biblical truth. #context  That's what I would like to explore today.

I think the foundational question is this: are all sins equal in the eyes of God? My question is: Equal how? In eternal consequence? In impact to humanity? In affecting my sanctification? From that follows other questions:

·      Do we all walk in the same kind of darkness? 

·      Are some in shadows while some are in inky, blinding darkness, and does that distinction even matter? 

·      Do all sins have an equal impact on our fellowship with God and others? 

Let’s start to build a framework. 

First, the unholiness of all sin is incompatible with the holiness of God. All sin happens in and contributes to the same darkness of evil’ all sins do something negative to our fellowship with God and others. All sin at minimum “misses the mark” (hamartia) of our holy calling, and at maximum just wreaks sinful havoc in the world (asebeia, parabasis).[7] In Christianity, every sin is fatal to us. That isn't intended to minimize the impact on victims, but to maximize the responsibility of perpetrators - and to remind us that, to vary degrees, we are all perpetrators.

All sin leads to spiritual death; all sin requires a price to be paid that we cannot pay ourselves; all sin requires repentance the leads to forgivenss that will be an act of God’s grace through Christ. 

“ But if you show favoritism… you’ll be sinning and condemned by the law. For if a person could keep all of the laws and yet break just one; it would be like breaking them all.  The same God who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also says, “Do not murder.” If you break either of these commands, you’re a lawbreaker, no matter how you look at it.  So live your life in such a way that acknowledges that one day you will be judged.” 

 (James 2:9-12)

“The wages of sin (hamartia – “missing the mark”) is death.” (Romans 6:23)

Just as “the love of God, which builds up the City of God,” is the source and root of all virtues, so too “the love of self, which builds up the City of Babylon,” is the root of all sins. (Augustine in De Civitate Dei)

 We all walk into the same kind of darkness.  The sinner pays either with his own life or Christ's, but death is due. There is a death my sin brings to me, as it ripples out to others: death of relationship, death of trust, death of innocence. These are not the same death kind of death, but they are real burdens borne by those around me. It requires the blood of Jesus Christ to cleanse us from the penalty of sin and the impact of sin, and move both perpetrators and victims into the same kind of light. 

So in that sense, when we say that the ground is level at the foot of the cross, that's what we mean. All of us kneel there. That is the great humbler in Christian theology. We all kneel. We are all dead in our sins without the life of Christ (Ephesians 2; Romans 6). We all require the grace of God given through Jesus, who paid the eternal penalty of death so we can have eternal life. 

But the temporal implications of sin are handled in a different way biblically than the eternal implications of sin. In other words, the great leveling in the spiritual realm stands arm-in-arm with a gradation of the wickedness and severity of sin in the physical realm. 

Starting at the Old Testament we see that God establishes a system of responses to sinful behavior that does not treat all sin the same. There is a principle of sowing and reaping. If you sow a lot, you reap a lot. That’s true of doing good and doing evil. And God will not be mocked. We will sow what we reap.  

·      Genesis 18:20 states that the sins of Sodom and Gomorrah were unusually grievous.

·      Jeremiah 16:12 tells the Israelites they have done worse than their fathers.

·      Exodus 32:30-31 “Moses said unto the people, Ye have sinned a great[8] sin…and have made them gods of gold.”

·      2 Kings 17:21 “Jeroboam drove Israel from following the LORD, and made them sin a great sin.”

·      God revealed the sins of Israel in three stages to Ezekiel. And in each stage Israel’s sins were “more detestable” (Ezekiel 8:6-16) than the previous ones.

·      In Numbers 15, the Bible contrasts sin done unintentionally and sin done “with a high hand,” meaning sin done willingly while shaking one’s fist at God. 

·      Scripture also speaks of “sins that cry out” that God himself will execute judgment because humans and government officials have acted unjustly towards others (e.g., Gen. 4:10; 18:20; 19:13; Ex. 3:7-10; Deut. 24:14-15).

 In the Old Testament, there were escalating temporal responses to violations against others and against God, from escalating fines to being cut off from the people (exile) or being put to death. God applied different temporal penalties to different sins. A thief paid restitution; an occult practitioner was cut off from Israel; one who committed premeditated murder was sentenced to death. In addition, 

“Distinctions are made between different levels of clean and uncleanness requiring different sacrifices (Lev. 11-15, cf. chs. 1-8), and especially between “unintentional” and “intentional” sins (Num. 15:22-30). Unintentional sin can be atoned for (e.g., Lev. 4), but certain intentional sins, specifically “high handed” sins are so grievous that they cannot be atoned for and they require the death penalty (Num. 15:30). This kind of distinction makes no sense unless we think in terms of degrees of sin.”[9]

So while everyone went to the temple to offer a sacrifice for the forgiveness of their sins, great or small, not everything played out the same in their community life.  Even Jesus talks about greater and lesser sins.[10]

·      Jesus answered him, “You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above [higher up – from Rome]. Therefore he who delivered Me over to you has the greater sin.”  Matthew 23:14 

·      Jesus, speaking to the Pharisees and scribes, said they shall receive greater damnation because of their hypocrisy. Some sins are called gnats, others camels (Matthew 23:24).

The New Testament writers felt the same way.

·      1 John 5:16-16 “6 In this regard, if you notice a brother or sister in faith making moral missteps and blunders, disregarding and disobeying God even to the point of God removing this one from the body by death, then pray for that person; and God will grant him life on this journey. But to be clear, there is a sin that is ultimately fatal and leads to death. I am not talking about praying for that fatal sin, 17 but I am talking about all those wrongs and sins that plague God’s family that don’t lead to death.”

The Catholic tradition makes a distinction between venial and mortal sins,[11] but we are not Catholic, so let’s see what the Reformers thought –which is that there is a difference between lesser sins and what they called gross and heinous sins.  

“The Reformers did not deny degrees of sin, but they did reject the mortal-venial distinction, especially as it was worked out in Rome’s sacramental theology. For them, all sin is “mortal” before God, and our only hope is that we are united to Christ in saving faith and declared justified in him. For fallen creatures to stand before God, we need Christ’s perfect righteousness imputed to us and all of our sin completely paid for by his substitutionary death. 

 Also, for the believer who is born of the Spirit and united to Christ as our covenant head, since our justification is complete in Christ, there is no sin that removes our justification, and ultimately thwarts the sanctifying work of the Spirit by the loss of our salvation. Yet, although we should reject the mortal-venial distinction as taught by Rome, this does not entail that we should reject a distinction between all sin as equal before God and various degrees of sin in terms of their overall effects on the person, others, and the world.”[12]

But what about this? 

“You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment… You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” (Matthew 5:21-28) 

Both scenarios reflect a dark heart that God sees; both are sins that have eternal implications. Both deserve judgment. Both require repentance. But they do not land in the world temporally in the same way. Jesus himself has other teachings that make that distinction. Not all sins have the same impact on the image-bearers around the sinner the same way. The sins of the heart deserve condemnation; the sins of the hand deserve a greater condemnation. Think of it this way:  

·      If sins were in every sense equal, in every sense not different, the person thinking about killing someone they hate might as well just do it, if these sins are not in some sense different, because Jesus says someone who wishes someone else dead is as guilty as if they had murdered them. 

·      If someone would say to me, “I might as well go ahead and commit adultery because I’m already guilty of lust. I can’t be in any worse shape in the sight of God, so I might as well finish the deed.” My answer? “Oh yes, you can be in much worse shape in the eyes of God and others.” The “sowing and reaping” judgment of actual adultery will be much greater than the harvest from internal lust. 

·      If abusers would restrain unrepentant lust in their minds, the people around them might be creeped out when they are around them (“Something’s not right with that guy”), but they would not be abused. It’s a foolish thing for a person who has committed a misdemeanor to say, “I’m already guilty; I might as well make it a felony.” God forbid that we should think like that.[13]

I was watching Knives Out, and there is scene where the villian, who had killed two people, tries to kill a third. “In for a penny, in for a pound.” This is a terrible idea. Killing three people is worse than killing two, and actually killing them was worse than if he had just thought about killing them.  

Both the Bible and our experience make a distinction between the severity of things. We can simultaneously recognize that all of them are bad – all of them are a walk into the valley of the shadows of spiritual death at minimum -  without having to level the impact that they clearly have on the world and on others. It's like cleaning up after a heavy wind storm versus a heavy hurricane. Both are storms; one leaves of disaster unlike the other.

There's a temporal difference between taking one step off the path and having taken a hundred. All the steps must be dealt with, surrendered, and repented for because they all traffic in darkness. But some of them rock the world and ways that other ones don't.  I think we ignore that difference at our spiritual and relational peril.

Justin Bieber[14] and Shawn Mendez sing a song in which they ask, “What if I trip? What if I fall? Then am I the monster?” Well, no, but if you land where monsters grow, you’d best get out. If you don’t, you will be. That’s how monsters start. If you track their lives back far enough, all monsters at one point looked a lot like us.

* * * * * * * * * *

I don’t make this point so that we can look at our sin and say, “It’s just a step into the shadows. I’m not like THAT person, who sprinted there and made a home there.” If that’s where your mind is going, you are missing the point and are further in darkness right now than you realize.[15] If you use the temporal severity of someone else’s sin to give yourself a pass, you need a serious revival in your heart.  

I read a book once that talked about the ripple effect of our sin. It’s like the Butterfly Effect. We see huge sin and the immediate temporal impact and think, “Terrible sin!” and that’s a correct judgment. But we don’t realize our smaller sins are stones cast in the water that ripple out and lead to sins we will never know about but may well be devestating.  We need to get over ourselves and our self -righteousness. It’s like filthy rags if we could see it.[16] 

I make the point  about the temporal gradation of sin for two reasons. You need to hear both reasons before you react to my first reason.  

The first point: if we are not careful, saying, “We are all sinners in need of forgiveness” can sound like a minimization of the terrible impact of what happened, as if stealing  a pencil the same as rape. It can make fail to pass a righteous judgment on what happened.  

Please. Pass a biblically appropriate judgment on all sin. We are allowed to weigh in on fruit. Please, don’t let the fact that we are all sinners stop us from lamenting the horrible nature of escalated sin. Don’t refuse to condemn sexual abuse because you have had lustful thoughts. Repent of your lustful thoughts, and then echo the OT prophets, who were certainly not perfect, and who had no problem calling out the abuse of God’s image-bearers, especially when the sin was committed by those who claimed to be God’s people. 

The second point: we must take seriously the truth that “We are all sinners in need of forgiveness,” and “There but for the grace of God go I.” I don’t mean we all would inevitably end up where some people have. I mean we all have the capacity to step into the shadows and keep going. We know this already in our own ways in our own lives. Even if we didn’t go so far as to become monsters, we know what it is like to at least explore lands of darkness where the monters looked attractive. 

People don't wake up one morning and think, “I'll be a serial sexual predator, or a mass shooter, or start Enron.” I suspect it was something much, much smaller, something that might even feel insignificant in the overall scheme of things but which was a step down a path that veered off the path of righteousness. 

Unless I am intentional and lean on God's grace, I will wade into the water of sin until a point that I am taken terrible places by the relentless undertow I helped create – and I will surely take others with me. It doesn't matter what the sin is - we can all drown accidentally because we went wading on purpose.

I read a book once by the lead detective in the Jon Benet Ramsey case. Something that has stuck with me is that from a police perspective they are not worried about the person who snaps and kills someone else. That person always confesses because their conscience can't handle it. It's the person who is slowly become more violent that they worry about, because by the time they get to killing people they just don't care, they're conscious doesn't bother them, they're not haunted by their sin.

“Sin is of an encroaching nature; it creeps on the soul by degrees, step by step, till it hath the soul to the very height of sin. ...By all this we see, that the yielding to lesser sins, draws the soul to the committing of greater… Ecclesiastes [says] ‘The beginning of the words of his mouth is foolishness, and the end of his talking is mischievous madness.’ ...”  Thomas Brooks

That's applicable to all of us. There, but for the grace of God. we take that first step and keep going, and eventually we end up somewhere very, very dark. So, what do those steps look like? 

·      It's entertaining rather than fighting those lustful thoughts because hey, nobody will know. 

·      It's not reporting that one source of income because it can't be that big of a deal and it's not that much taxes and it's not worth the hassle. 

·      It's clicking on that link because it's just one picture that will get my adrenaline pumping. 

·      It's making demeaning jokes about the opposite sex because they're funny, right? 

·      It's accepting that Facebook friend request from someone who likes to post racy pictures and who has no mutual friends with you because hey, why not?  

·      It's sharing that meme that yeah, it's a little harsh and maybe even a little unfair, but this is the time for it. 

·      It's listening to angry people on podcasts, TV shows and YouTube videos and thinking that they're probably too angry, but this is entertaining. 

·      It’s sharing prayer requests that are gossip. 

·      It's slowly moving from generosity to greed in just the smallest of ways.

·      It’s telling a slight untruth about someone else because it makes us look better.

·      It’s hiding that small sin from the accountability of others because it’s not that big of a deal.

There is the start of a path that, but for the grace of God, we go. And but for the grace of God, we'll keep going. I don't think it's fair to say that we would all end up at the same place with the same kind of sin. What is fair to say is that we will all walk to terrible places of some sort if we do not deal with each step that is taking us there.  

But if we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.

That which is hidden must come to the light.  This is the only way we have fellowship with God and others. We must walk in the light as Jesus was in the light. 

We don't usually sprint to sin,  at least not at first. We usually wander or walk. The speed comes when momentum is built over time. I remember once when I went skiing and I was feeling really confident at the end of the day, so I went up to one of the larger hills. I started down and it only took about 10 feet before I just threw myself to the ground and stopped all of my momentum because I knew it was not going to end well.  I took off my skis and crawled back up while everyone on the ski lift watched me. It was humiliating, but it was better than the alternative. That momentum was going to break a leg, or crash me into people. 

This is why it is so crucial to stop the momentum. The grace of God has given us his Word, his spirit, and his people. These are all meant to stop this momentum and move us back into the light. Part of the grace that God gives us are means of sanctifaction that are right in front of us. Things like accountability and community. Things like honesty and transparency.

I'd like us to think and pray about a few things this week.

·      Do I have a trajectory that is taking me toward darkness or light? 

·      Am I already in deep darkness in need of a blinding light? 

·      How much of my life is hidden? Particularly, what am I hiding? 

·      Am I being honest before God and others about what is happening?

·      What does it look like to turn around?  

·      How will repentance benefit my fellowship with God and others?

_____________________________________________________________________________________

[1] John was the one “whom Jesus loved” (John 13:23). He wrote five books in the New Testament: three letters, a gospel, and the book of Revelation.

[2] “His special vocabulary tells the whole story: To remain/continue/abide (24x) in the truth (9x) means to believe in (9x) or confess (5x) the Son (22x), to whom the Father (14x) and Spirit (8x) bear witness (12x); it means further to be born of God (10x), so as to walk (5x) in the light (6x), to hear (14x) and to know (40x) God, to keep (7x) the commandment (14x) to love (46x) the brothers and sisters (15x), and thus to have life (13x), which is from the beginning (8x), and finally to overcome (6x) the world. All of this is in contrast to the lie (7x), deceit (4x), denying Christ (3x), having a false spirit (4x), thus being antichrist (4x), walking in darkness (6x), hating (5x) one’s brothers and sisters but loving the world (23x), thus being in sin (27x), which leads to death (6x).”  (How To Read The Bible Book By Book, Gordon Fee)

[3] Other oldest manuscripts and versions read "OUR joy," namely, that our joy may be filled full by bringing you also into fellowship with the Father and Son. (Compare Joh 4:36, end; Php 2:2, "Fulfil ye my joy," Php 2:16; 4:1; 2Jo 8). It is possible that "your" may be a correction of transcribers to make this verse harmonize with Joh 15:11; 16:24; however, as John often repeats favorite phrases, he may do so here, so "your" may be from himself. So 2Jo 12, "your" in oldest manuscripts. The authority of manuscripts and versions on both sides here is almost evenly balanced. (Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary)

[4] “1:5 God is light. The connection between God and light begins in the opening verses of Genesis (see Ge 1:3) and continues in the Psalms (see Ps 27:1; 36:9; 104:2) and the Prophets (see Isa 49:6; Mic 7:8). The coming Messiah was also thought to bring God’s light (see note on Jn 1:4–13). Matthew and Luke used Isaiah’s image (Isa 9:2) that the coming Messiah would bring light to those in darkness to point to Jesus (Mt 4:16; Lk 1:79). There are numerous references to light and darkness in the Gospel of John (Jn 1:4–5, 9; 3:19–21; 8:12; 9:5; 12:35–36, 46). Outside of the New Testament, the Dead Sea Scrolls community called themselves the “sons of light,” playing on the same theme of God as light (see note on Lk 16:8).”  (NIV First Century Study Bible)

[5] Vines Expository Bible Study Notes

[6] “John challenges us to find in the mirror of our everyday lives clearer reflections of Jesus and to disregard the teachings of those who, like vampires, have no reflection at all and seek to suck the life from those who do.” How To Read The Bible Through The Jesus Lens

[7] https://www.theopedia.com/greek-and-hebrew-words-for-sin

[8] This particular word has to do with orders of magnitude greater. https://biblehub.com/hebrew/1419.htm

[9] https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/essay/degrees-of-sin/

[10] Some common markers theologians use to talk about what makes a sin “greater”: Awareness of breaking God’s law; rebellious motivation; puposeful intent to do harm to others; habitual revisiting of that sin; degree of impactful on others.

[11] https://catholicstraightanswers.com/what-is-the-difference-between-mortal-and-venial-sin/

[12] https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/essay/degrees-of-sin/

[13] https://www.ligonier.org/blog/are-there-degrees-sin/

[14] That’s right. I quoted Justin Bieber. 

[15] You may be wondering if this leads to the kind of judgment the Bible warns against. The Bible is clear that it is not our place to judge the thoughts and intents of the heart. That's what God sees. But what the Bible does make clear is that we can know people by their fruits. What people do is something that is an outward expression of something inside and yes, we can reach conclusions about whether what things people do are holy or unholy, whether they are steps in the path of righteousness into the light or steps away from the path of righteousness into the darkness. Ravi has already had conversations with God about the state of his heart. That's not mine to figure out. What I can do is figure out how what he did aligns with what God calls us to do. And that was a pretty easy one to figure out. 

[16] Isaiah 64:6

Repentance: Planning Not To Sin

OPENING PRAYER OF REPENTANCE

Where the life changing truth of the salvation offered through Jesus Christ is either not known or not embraced, may we, your ambassadors, go into the highways, byways with the bold, truthful, grace-saturated message that the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is the only hope for the brokenness in the world and the evil in our hearts. May your Holy Spirit prepare the soil in those who hear, and may your Holy Spirit enable us to be faithfully present in a dark world with the light of holiness, truth and love.

Where lies and deception flourish, bring the light of truth that we can shine into the darkness of deception.

Where fear lurks, bring hope that we can spread to the despairing and hopeless.

Where hatred festers, bring loving peacemakers – like ourselves, dedicated to the hard and messy work of dragging real peace from deep conflict.

Where revenge motivates, bring forgiveness and reconciliation that is genuinely demonstrated and taught by your people.

Where injustice rages, let justice roll down through our words and actions.

Where cruelty simmers, bring gentleness and mercy from the lips and by the hands of your children.

Where chaos erupts, bring calm and order that begins in our hearts and permeates our cities.

Where lawlessness lives, bring accountability and lawfulness that begins with us.

Where evil abounds, may goodness much more abound, and may our heart, soul, mind and strength display it.

Where hard and cold hearts motivate, bring grace that first saved us, and continues to be extended to us, the most unworthy of all.

And where we have failed to bring heaven to earth in these ways – and we have – oh, merciful God, forgive us, and give us another chance.

______________________________________

To recap last week:

1. Repentance involves submission. We have to recognize that, if we choose to surrender our lives to Christ, there is a sense in which choices have been made for us. In moments of temptations, I think, “This isn’t my choice to make. It’s already been made for me. God established the path of righteousness, and when I surrendered my life to Him, my steps were ordered in that path. The choice has been made.” Question #1: What choices are you wrestling with that have already been made for you?

2. Repentance involves action. Repentance literally means we “turn around” and to the other direction. I believe God gives us the strength and the grace to repent; I also believe that we can experience the act of turning very differently. Question #2: What change of direction will follow your repentance? Depending where you see yourself in the analogy, what has God strengthened you to do right now?

3. Repentance involves humility. This means not just acknowledging your sin to God, but to others who were hurt by your sin without equivocation or defensiveness.so that peace can follow. Question #3: To whom do you need to go and make peace through humble confession and repentance?

This week, point #4: Repentance Involves Planning Not To Sin.

You've heard the saying "those who fail to plan, plan to fail." Never was this more true than with Christian character formation and discipleship. When it comes to sins of various sorts, it is a necessary and good beginning to "not plan on sinning." In other words, not positioning myself, my heart, my attitude in such a way that I am ready and eager to sin. I'm not planning to "rent that movie, pick at my spouse, sow discord, etc."

However, this is what I will call a ‘negative’ approach to righteousness. It's defensive, as it were, telling me what I won’t do. I am not "planning" to sin. Real discipleship - hence, real repentance - requires that we add the positive counterbalance by shifting the terms around. Instead of merely "not planning to sin," I need to "plan--not--to--sin."

See what I just did there? I still need to plan. I need to plan and position my heart, my attitude, my circumstances in such a way that I am filled with light because of what I view, read, listen to, dwell on, say, etc. This plan puts me in places and around people that will tend to effectively crowd out the temptation to sin. What kind of movie will I rent? How might I bless my spouse? How will I sow seeds of unity, etc." It is taking the offensive, rather than the defensive. Instead of hoping to hold the ground I have, I take new ground and am transformed in the process. Consider the following

▪ "And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has been forcibly seized, and aggressive men seize it aggressively." (Matt 11:12) (Matt 11:12) What in the Heaven does this mean? Well, there are differences of opinion, but this could very well be a picture of Jesus' apprentices taking positive action to get the Hell out of themselves and the Heaven in. Picture a bunch of sheep bursting through the opening of their pen in the morning when the shepherd lets them out after being penned up all night. They ‘thunder’ out into the world. They don’t stay penned up in a defensive structure.

▪ "And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." (Matt 16:18) Imagine the gates of Hell having been erected inside your own soul. Their purpose is to keep your soul "separated" from the Kingdom of the Heavens. What God has done through Jesus is batter down those gates and invite us to participate in building new ones: gates that now protect the holy kingdom that has been set up in our hearts. One of our primary battering weapons is repentance.

▪ "When an impure spirit comes out of a person, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, 'I will return to the house I left.' When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that person is worse than the first. That is how it will be with this wicked generation." (Matt: 12:43-45) What is your plan for putting something new in place of the bit of Hell that just got removed from you? Repentance isn't just ceasing some sinful action. It is turning and going the other direction. Repentance isn't negative and defensive, it is positively offensive against the Gates of Hell. For example, if we struggle with lustful thoughts, we need to put new thoughts in our head, or the lustful ones will simply move back into that empty space. If we struggle with saying harsh words, we need to practice saying kind words. If we struggle with spending money selfishly, we need to make a practice of spending money sacrificially. If we like to fill our time with anxiety -producing news, we need to replace it with peace-inducing material.

In the same way that Jesus improves on the Silver Rule "Do not do to others what you would not have done to yourselves" (a negative, defensive maneuver) and gives us the Golden Rule (Do to others what you would have them do to you), we are to go on the offensive (Do); we are not to remain on the defensive (Do Not). We Christians are already known predominantly for what we are against.

We talk a lot about getting as many people as possible into Heaven. This is indeed the end result of the Great Commission. However, I think it’s helpful to remember that the means to this end is to diligently evangelize to get Heaven into as many people as possible--starting with ourselves. This is literally why Jesus came--to get the Hell out of humanity by putting Heaven into us. This is what God’s grace through Jesus does on the other side of repentance; this is the aim of discipleship; it has got to be the primary goal of our Church fellowship.

Question #4: With regard to repentance, in what specific way can you ‘plan not to sin’ by going on the offensive and ‘taking new ground’ with the help of Jesus, in the power of the Holy Spirit, to the glory of God?

The Day After Christmas: The Story Of The Christmas Dragon (Revelation 12: 1-6, 13-17)

A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars[1] on her head.  She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth. Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon[2] with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns[3] on its heads. Its tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth.  

The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that it might devour her child the moment he was born. She gave birth to a son, a male child, who “will rule all the nations with an iron scepter.”[4] And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne. The woman fled into the wilderness to a place prepared for her by God, where she might be taken care of for 1,260 days[5]… 

The dragon pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. The woman was given the two wings of a great eagle,[6] so that she might fly to the place prepared for her in the wilderness, where she would be taken care of for a time, times and half a time,[7] out of the serpent’s reach. Then from his mouth the serpent spewed water like a river, to overtake the woman and sweep her away with the torrent.  

 But the earth helped the woman by opening its mouth and swallowing the river that the dragon had spewed out of his mouth.[8] Then the dragon was enraged at the woman[9] and went off to wage war against the rest of her offspring—those who keep God’s commands and hold fast their testimony about Jesus. (Revelation 12: 1-6, 13-17)

Did you know that was a Christmas story? Here’s what part of it looks like in Matthew’s Gospel.

When [the Wise Men] had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.” So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.” 

When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled: “A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.”  (Matthew 2: 13-18)

What happens after Christmas? “The dragon will wage war against those who keep God’s commands and hold fast their testimony about Jesus.” I think John intended his audience to understand Rome/Herod/Caesar as the dragon. It would make sense considering how biblical writers used the image of Babylon.

• Babylon, the actual city, become an image of all great cities and empires whose love of pleasure, indulgence, and excess wreaks havoc among God’s people. In Revelation, she is represented as a prostitute seducing the people of God.

• Rome, the actual city, represents the power empires used to undermine and attack God’s people. 

 We can be attacked by both; we can fall in love with both. Revelation’s ‘prostitute’ (Babylon’s pleasure) and ‘dragon’ (Rome’s power) have made war with us for 2,000 years.

I think John was reminding God’s people that what the old map-makers wrote was right: “Here there be dragons.” Except now it’s everywhere. Isn’t Revelation the first version of Huxley’s Brave New World (Babylon) and Orwell’s 1984 (Rome)? In the United States, I think we get to battle both: the spiritual war we face in a culture infatuated by both pleasure and power.[10] But that’s another sermon….  

* * * * *

We've already talked about life in between the two Advents, the birth of Christ in the return of Christ. We've already talked about how while Advent begins in the darkness it ends in the light. We have the hope of Jesus behind us and in front of us. There is a stabilization in our lives because of this. The Advent focus on peace, hope, love, and joy all depend on the reality of the life, death, resurrection and future return of Jesus.

That foundation is in place.

But we see how life unfolds between the two advents right away in scripture. After Jesus is born, Mary and Joseph have to flee with him to a foreign land, a land that represented a history of bondage and slavery to the people of Israel. They live separated from family and perhaps livelihood for months, perhaps years. In the area from which they fled, Herod promptly slaughtered children.[11]

The dragon was unleashed. Just like that, the darkness begins to push in to the light. As John made clear in his apocalypse, that war would continue. Indeed, it has, in great and small ways. The dragon hates the light of truth, love, goodness, hope, joy, peace…. When life feels ‘kingdom good,’ expect pushback. Expect war. It’s after Advent begins and the gymnatorium gets decorated and peace on earth starts for feel tangible after a hard year that a fire forces us to pivot yet again in a year with an exhausting number of pivots. 

It's often after great moments of God's revelatory light that the darkness pushes in hard.[12]

I’ve not been persecuted in any meaningful sense of the world, so I don’t want to compare my experience with that of the persecuted church around the world. When I talk about the dragon in my life, I’m talking of the ways in which spiritual/emotional/relational darkness presses in to spiritual light. I don't know if you've experienced this in your life, but I've often found moments of great depression after times of great satisfaction.  

• I go teach in Costa Rica, and it's a profound experience, and I come home and I wrestle with physical and emotional health.  

•  It's the sermon that feels really good followed by a Monday of doubt and anxiety and second-guessing. 

•  It's the fantastic vacation with my wife, and two weeks later feeling like there is a relational chasm between us. 

•  It's feeling really good about my fathering one day, and then having the wheels come off the next.

• It's thinking one day how much I love the people in my life and the next day having my heart torn out by one of them. 

• It's having a much better financial year at church than I would have anticipated because of Covid, only to realize we have to cut budget for next year because we lost momentum in the latter half of the year.  

• It’s going from a moment where I think, “I am finally grounding my identity in Christ” to days of thinking, “Dear God, I am such a screw-up.” 

• Sheila and I both had bad experiences with dreams this past week. We went to sleep after a meaninful evening at home, and woke up from inexplicable chaos in a way that darkens and disorders our day. I told Sheila, “I think the dragon is making war.”

This is the pattern.[13]

But how does it end? With the resurrection and life. How will history end? With the return of the king to make a New Heaven and New Earth. What happens when my life ends? Joy unspeakable and full of glory.

So we know the beginning, we know the middle, and we know the end of the story. We're just in the middle right now. The light shines, the dark pushes in, the light shines, the dark pushes in. This is life between the advents.

This, too, is an apocalypse of sorts, an unveiling that the Bible makes clear to us and that is confirmed throughout our life. We think of the apocalypse as something earth-shattering and perhaps catastrophic, but in some ways it's the ongoing pattern of our life. Truth is constantly being unveiled to us by the grace of God. We see through a glass darkly on this side of heaven (1 Corinthians 123:12), so there is a constant need for an unveiling.

·      It's when we finally understand that obscure passage of scripture. 

·      It's when we finally see how a biblical truth applies to our life in a life-changing way. 

·      It's when we begin to actually understand the power of repentance, and grace, and justice, and mercy.

·      It's when the biblical interplay of both grace and works clicks. 

·      it's when we see the flow of our life in the reality of God's plan. 

·      It's when one our Christian brothers or sisters speaks truth into our life that opens our eyes. 

·      It's when we see ourselves as God sees us. 

·      It's when we learn how to lift up our heads (Psalm 27:6; 3:3; Luke 21:28)

·      It's when we understand how God in his mercy and power could take people like us and tell us to arise and reflect his light  (Isaiah 60:1) in a way that will bring glory to him. 

These, too, are unveilings. We participate in an ongoing apocalypse. So one of the questions I have between the two advents of God is this: “How do these dark valleys work in our favor? How does God take the war leveled by the dragon and use it for our good and God’s glory?” 

Apocalyptic literature in scripture was always literature of Hope. How does my life participate in that kind of story?

Think back to what we've read the last two weeks from the prophets in the Old Testament. What was the key to living in the light? It was repentance. 

Those who walked in darkness had often walked in the darkness of their own making. In fact, the Bible has far less to say about the attacks from the dragons “out there” than the ones that have burrowed into our hearts. We tend to think of dragons like Smaug in The Hobbit: huge, overwhelming, flying over out towns or churches and just breathing fire, and so we pick up weapons and fight the dragon that came from over there, on that mountain. Let’s go take that mountain! That feels like a noble quest, right? It fits with the image in Revelation nicely.

To be sure, the dragon will make war against the saints in a very public way, no doubt. There are Smaugs that fly over our spiritual Laketowns. The church for 2,000 can give testimony to persecution and martyrdom. In those situations, we are told to be strong. The story ends in glory for the people of God, even if we wade there through blood.

But that’s only part of the story. God’s people in the Old Testament didn't get taken into exile in Babylon and bondage in Rome because Babylon and Rome were overwhelmingly strong. Israel had Yahweh. If Yahweh was for them, who could take them? 

God’s people ended up there because they trashed their covenant with God and reaped the consequences of what they sowed – consequences God had made clear. And if Old Covenant physical realities are meant to teach us truths about New Covenant spiritual realities – and I think they are – I find myself with this conclusion: Our greatest threats as Christians and as a Church are not out there. Diablo- the devil, the dragon - is in here too, ever since Eden. “The call is coming from inside the house!” 

There is no person, politician, law, educational system, Hollywood star, or organization that can make us give in to Babylon or Rome. There is no dragon that can force our hand or batter down our spiritual doors. The gates of hell cannot prevail against a holy church. But… we can embrace temptation.  

They may not be able to force my hand, but I can choose to lie in Babylon’s bed or sit on Rome’s throne. They can’t storm the gates of heaven, but I can begin to worship their power and influence and pleasure. The most thoroughly conquered people are not those who are too weak to plot resistance; it’s those who see no reason to resist.[14]

If you read through the Old Testament prophets, they don't pull any punches. God's people gave in, and they did not see their sin. They did not see the darkness as darkness, and they embraced it. 

“Arise, shine – absorb the light and shine in the darkness.” A crucial step to staying in the light of salvation in the Glorious kingdom of God is to repent. Since we started with a passage from Revelation, let’s look at where John goes with this. 

Then I heard another voice from heaven saying, “Come out of her, my people, lest you take part in her sins, lest you share in her plagues; for her sins are heaped high as heaven. (Revelation 18:4-5) 

God told his people through the Prophet Jeremiah that if they humbled themselves and sought the face of God, their nation would experience the blessings that God told them were in store for them if they were true and loyal to God. If they didn't (as Jeremiah warned so vividly), it wasn't going to end well for their nation at all. They were always going to be God’s covenant people, but their experience of that covenant, their experience of life, was going to be radically different based on the posture of their hearts. 

Their flourishing in the Kingdom God had planned for them had almost nothing to do with what the nations around them did. It had everything to do with how seriously they took the covenant. And if Old Testament physical realities teach us something about New Testament spiritual realities, our flourishing as Christian individuals and as a church will have almost nothing to do with what our Empire does to us or for us. It will have everything to do with how seriously we take our covenant. 

This, I think, is the way in which we experience life more abundant, the fullness of the richness of God’s redemption of the world in our lives. And that can’t help but make us the kind of salt and light in the world that God intends.

We want revival in ourselves and in our nation; we want holiness in ourselves and in our nation; we want a rejection of sin and a love of justice and mercy in ourselves and in our nation. We want the light of Christ and his gospel to push back the darkness of sin. Where does this start? In the church (1 Peter 4:17). Revival begins here.[15]

Cultures cannot become more holy if the church does not become more holy; churches cannot become more holy if we fail to repent of our sinful contribution to the brokenness of the world and beg first for forgiveness from God and those we have wronged, and then for God’s wisdom, love and strength to walk in righteousness.[16]

We are going to take time for repentance this morning. I’m going to pull from the list of sins that were undermining Timothy’s church because it’s fresh in our memory.[17] You don’t have to limit yourself to this, but if you follow these categories as far as the Holy Spirit takes them in reference to your life, I think you might be surprised how much territory this will cover. 

Areas of Repentance

1.  proud/boastful  “Boasting to anyone who is foolish enough to take him seriously! This kind of person claims many things he can't really do, so he must always keep moving on to new, naive listeners.”  (HELPS Word Studies).  Pray for the Holy Spirit to give you humility. God gives grace to the humble (1 Peter 5:5) “Who is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom.”  (James 3:13) “Better to be lowly in spirit along with the oppressed than to share plunder with the proud.” (Proverbs 16:19) 

2.  arrogant/haughty  “Literally, ‘hyper shiny’. These are they who contemptuously look down on others beneath them, either in social position or wealth (the boasters), or perhaps in natural gifts (the proud).” (Ellicott’s Commentary)  Pray for Holy Spirit to help you “honor everyone” (1 Peter 2:17) “above yourselves” (Romans 12:10). “God has put the body [the church] together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other.” (1 Corinthians 12:24-25) “Don't do anything from selfish ambition or from a cheap desire to boast, but be humble toward one another, always considering others better than yourselves.” (Philippians 2:3) 

3.  abusive “Revilers/railers/blasphemers. Reverses spiritual and moral realities” by calling evil good, and good evil. (HELPS Word Studies) Pray for the Holy Spirit to give you gentleness and truth. “Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.” (Ephesians 4:2)  “Let every word you speak be drenched with grace and tempered with truth and clarity. For then you will be prepared to give a respectful answer to anyone who asks about your faith. (Colossians 4:6)

4.  Treacherous; Traitors.—Or, betrayers… of their Christian brethren. It does not mean traitors to their king or country, but generally betrayers of the persons who trust in them, and of the cause of the trust committed to them; perhaps specially… of their brethren in times of persecution. (Pulpit Commentary) Pray for the Holy Spirit to give you loyalty. “Never let loyalty (steadfast love) and kindness leave you! Tie them around your neck as a reminder. Write them deep within your heart.” (Proverbs 3:3) “How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity!” (Psalm 133:1) “Be devoted to one another in love.” (Romans 12:10)

5.  Reckless - Better rendered “headstrong” in words, or thoughts, or actions. Rash. "Headstrong" rather denotes obstinacy which will not be influenced by wise advice… the person who acts from impulse, without considering consequences, or weighing principles. (Pulpit Commentary) Pray for the Holy Spirit to give you prudence and self-control. “Better a patient person than a warrior, one with self-control than one who takes a city.” (Proverbs 16:32) “Like a city whose walls are broken through is a person who lacks self-control.” (Proverbs 25:28) “The wisdom of the prudent is to give thought to their ways, but the folly of fools is deception.” (Proverbs 14:8)

6.   Self-important - Highminded.— blinded by or inflated by  pride. (See 1Timothy 3:6.) Pray for the Holy Spirit to give you humble self-awareness. "Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the Lord." (Lamentations 3:40) "Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like." (James 1:22-24)  “For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.” (Romans 12:3)

7. Rebellious against parents [authority] ’Unwilling to be persuaded (by God), which shows itself in outward disobedience (outward spiritual rebellion).” (HELPS Word Studies)  Pray for the Holy Spirit to help us honor our parents/spiritual authorities. Pray for the ability to “add wealth” or “give weight” (biblical imagery) to godly voices in your life.  Paul planted and Apollos watered (1 Corinthians 3:6-7); we all need holy planters and waterers in our lives. Hebrews 5:12 says, "you need someone to teach you." Pray for those that ‘have weight’ in your life; they are in desperate need wisdom, grace and truth.

 8.   Ungrateful – “properly, without God's grace (favor) which results in unthankfulness (literally, "ungrace-full"). (HELPS Word Studies) Pray for the ability to respond to God’s grace by “presenting our bodies (lives) as a living sacrifice” as a “reasonable act of service” (Romans 12:1). Pray for the Holy Spirit to enable you to pass this grace on to others.

9.   Unholy - “A lack of reverence for what should be hallowed.” (HELPS WORD STUDIES) Pray for Holy Spirit to help you treat with reverence, or set apart as holy, all that should be hallowed. What are those things? God, clearly, and people (who are all image bearers (Genesis 1:26-27, 5:1-2); followers of Jesus are temples of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 3 and 6). Now ask yourself, “Am I treating everything in God’s created world with appropriate  honor, with appropriate care and reverence?

10.  Without restraint  - “Incontinent.—Having no control over the passions or urges – emotions, words, appetites of all kinds.” (HELPS WORD STUDIES) Pray for the Holy Spirit to give you temperance and restraint, especially when it comes to moral and relational issues. Between the Holy Spirit, the guidelines of God’s Word, and the company of God’s people, there is no temptation to sin that we cannot bear (1 Corinthians 10:13)

11.   Savage (bestial) - Fierce.—Inhuman, savage, or merciless, harsh, cruel. They are both soft and hard, incontinently indulging themselves and inhuman to others, when they should be hardened to self-indulgence and soft toward others.” (Pulpit Commentary) Pray for the Holy Spirit to give you the ability to be hospitable (merciful), or “soft toward others.” God is described as “abounding in mercy.”  Jesus told people to learn what it means that God desires mercy more than sacrifices (Matthew 9:13).  Blessed are the meek and the peacemakers (Matthew 5). Greater love has no one more than laying down your life (John 15:13). Serve others sacrificially. Turn away wrath with a soft answer (Proverbs 15:1). Overcome evil with good (Romans 12:21). If someone strikes you or takes your cloak, don’t seek revenge (Luke 6:29). ‘Shame’ them with kindness (Romans 12:20). Give food and water to your enemy, and the Lord will reward you. (Proverbs 25:21-22)

12.  Haters of anything good - “Despisers of those that are good; that is, hostile to every good thought and work and person.”  (HELPS Word Studies) Pray for the ability to be lovers of good (good thoughts, actions and persons), the things that are true, honest, just, pure, lovely, and of good report (Philippians 4:8). Pray for the ability to not only dwell on them, but to celebrate them everywhere we see them.

 13.  “Uncaring, coldhearted; without natural affection.” “Careless and regardless of the welfare of those connected with them by ties of blood, like spouses, parents and children. Plato says, ‘A child loves his parents, and is loved by them;’ and so, according to St. Paul's judgment in 1 Timothy 5:8, were "worse than infidels."  (Pulpit Commentary) Pray for the Holy Spirit to give you the ability to love your spouses, parents, children and extended family. This may be a hard prayer. Remember: you are praying for a miracle, as supernatural gift from God. Also, pray for the wisdom to know what genuine love looks like in your situation. This may be a good one to pray in a small group of people who can offer wisdom. 

14.  Slanderers/false-accusers - the word is diabolos. People who a) have no regard for truth and b) like quarrels. Pray for the Holy Spirit to guide you into all truth (John 16:13), beginning with Scripture and extending into the rest of the world (Proverbs 23:23). Pray for the ability to know which ‘hills to die on,’ and which ones to give ground. Pray for the abilit to listen before you speak, and long for peace rather than thrive on conflict. 

15.  Despisers of covenant - Those unwilling to embrace bonds of treaty or covenant….one who will make no truce or treaty with his enemy.”  (Pulpit  Commentary)  Pray for the longing to enter into biblically covenanted relationships (spouses (Genesis 2), friends (1 Samuel 20), family (see #13), church (Hebrews 10). Pray for the strength and grace to endure. Pray for wisdom to know how to be faithfully present in the covenants in your life. 

THREE QUESTIONS

In what ares of your life do you need to repent?

To whom, besides God, do you need to repent?

What does it look like for you to move forward in a lifestyle of repentance?

_________________________________________________________________________________

[1] “The woman is commonly thought to represent Israel. The imagery is similar to the sun, moon, and 12 stars that bowed down to Joseph in his dream (Genesis 37:9–11). In Revelation 12:2 we see Isaiah’s prediction (Isaiah 66:7–8) of a woman (Israel) bringing forth a man child fulfilled.” (Halley’s Bible Handbook Notes). The 12 stars are the faithful remnent from the Tribes of Israel. “The prophets portrayed righteous Israel as the mother of the restored future remnant of Israel (Isa 26:18 – 19; 54:1; 66:7 – 10; Mic 4:9 – 10; 5:3), and also as the mother of the leader who embodied Israel’s restoration (Isa 9:6; cf. Mic 5:2 – 3).” (NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible)  In this case, the mother of Jesus, Mary, arises from ‘mother’ Israel. 

[2] The dragon is commonly understood as the Roman empire.

[3] These symbols represents great power.

[4] This is Jesus, the Messiah. See Isaiah 7:14 and Psalm 2:7–9.

[5] “1,260 days. The time of spiritual protection corresponds to the time of persecution (see Revelation 11:2; and 13:5). (NIV Study Bible Notes)

[6] Exodus 19:4

[7] See Daniel 12:7. This is also 1,260 days. 

[8] Jesus is delivering them from bondage, just like Moses. Thus the borrowing of image from the Exodus. “A flood of water could represent any sufferings (Ps 32:6; Jer 47:2), including unjust opposition (Ps 18:3 – 4; 69:1 – 4,14 – 15; 124:2 – 5); serpents’ mouths represent slander in Ps 140:1 – 5. But God would be with his people through the waters (Isa 43:2).” (NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible)

[9] “The victory that God has previously accomplished over Leviathan is the pattern for the woman’s triumph over the dragon.”  See Isaiah 51:9-10; Psalm 74:14; Job 41. (Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary)

[10] “If God is dead, somebody is going to have to take his place. It will be megalomania or erotomania, the drive for power or the drive for pleasure, the clenched fist or the phallus, Hitler or Hugh Hefner.” – Malcolm Muggeridge

[11] “Advent is the right time for the asking of hard questions. Advent comes to a climax, not only on Christmas Day but also in the massacre of the innocents by Herod. The church has historically observed the Feast of the Holy Innocents on December 27, a remarkable conjuncture that remembers a massacre of infants in the same season that we rejoice in the birth of Christ. The great theme of Advent is hope, but it is not tolerable to speak of hope unless we are willing to look squarely at the overwhelming presence of evil in our world.”  Fleming Rutledge

[12] It’s a pattern found in Scripture. 

·       After God calls light into the world in Genesis 1, in Genesis 3 the darkness moves in with serpents and sin. 

·       After God Saves Noah and his family, Noah falls into sin almost immediately. 

·       Joseph gets miraculously insightful dreams from God, and it turns him into an arrogant, boastful jerk. 

·       Moses meets God on the mountain, and yet his sin keeps him from entering the Promised Land. 

·       Israel gets the promised land and then ends up in Exile when it all falls apart.

·       Mary gives birth to the Messiah, but will eventually lose her husband and watch her son be crucified.

·       Paul’s account of what his life was like after a personal apocalypse of the Risen savior is characterized by persecution.

[13] It doesn't surprise God. He entered into a world in which he experienced life in this pattern. He was revealed in the light of God's glory, only to go to a wilderness to endure temptation. (Matthew 3-4) He entered Jerusalem to adoring crowds who would eventually kill him. (Matthew 21:1–11, Mark 11:1–11, Luke 19:28–44, and John 12:12–19).He surrounded himself with 12 disciples, only to have one of them betray him. (Luke 22)

[14] Me. I just put it like a quote so I could read it word-for-word J

·       [15] Isaiah 30:15 “This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says: "In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it.”

·       Psalm 139:23: “Search me o God and know my heart. Try me and know my thoughts. See if there be any wicked way in me, and Lead Me into life.” 

·       Acts 20:20-21 "I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus."

·       1 John 1: 8 "If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." 

·       2 Peter 3:9 "The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance." 

·       Acts 3:19 “Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord.” 

·       Acts 2:38 “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

·       Matthew 3:8 “Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.”

·       Romans 2:4  “Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God's kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?”

·       1 John 1:8-9  “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

·       Revelation 2:5  “Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.”

·       Proverbs 28:13  “Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper, but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy.”

·       Acts 26:20  “[They] declared first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout all the region of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with their repentance.”

[16] What about Ninevah? Jonah told Ninevah that there was one particular thing God was going to judge them for: violence. They paid attention. There is every reason to believe the rest of life in Ninevah remained as pagan as ever. They did not become holy. What about Constantine’s embrace of Christianity for Rome? That, too, did not bring about holiness. It doesn’t appear much changed in daily Roman life except that Christians weren’t persecuted. And because Christians (understandably) were quite pleased not to be killed, they eventually began to support the nationalistic agenda of Roman to stay on Rome’s good side. And that, friends, is called syncretism.

[17] We went through in our 2 Timothy series in the three “Roots and Fruits” sermons.

What Is Christian Unity (Build Up Part 2)

 I got a lot of really good questions about unity after last week’s sermon. Does unity mean we never confront sin? Do we just ignore false teaching?  Does unity mean we avoid any type of tension at any cost? So this Sunday I am going to offer four points to clarify what biblical Christian unity looks like.

 1) Christian Unity Is Between Christians

“As a prisoner of the Lord, I urge you: Live a life that is worthy of the calling He has graciously extended to you.  Be humble. Be gentle. Be patient. Tolerate one another in an atmosphere thick with love.  Make every effort to preserve the unity the Spirit has already created, with peace binding you together.” (Ephesians 4:1-3)

We should show Christian love to everyone, but we simply can’t have the kind of unity that should happen between disciples of Christ with those who are not also disciples.  I have great friends who do not share my allegiance to Christ. We unite around other things - a love of philosophy, sports, books, social issues - but we don't unite around Christ.Unity must be with regard to something. Saying "we are unified" as Christians doesn't mean anything unless we have a common cause, allegiance, motivation – in this case, the unity the Holy Spirit brings through Christ.

2) Christian Unity Has Boundaries.     

There are plenty of “secondary issues” within the faith that Christians legitimately disagree about and should not break our unity.

• Is the earth old or young? 

• How will End Times unfold?

• How is the Holy Spirit active today? 

• What is the purpose of church services and how should they be done? 

• Does God predestine who will be saved, or do our choices make a difference?

• Is Song of Solomon about marriage and sex or is it an allegory for Christ and the church?

Yes. Sure. Different perspectives are found within the boundaries of united allegiance to Christ (Check out Romans 14:1-12 for a practical example). However, there are things that will either make Christian unity impossible or will destroy unity within the church if left unchecked. 

Theological Boundaries (the person and work of Christ)

 The Bible clearly shows that Jesus was God in the flesh (a member of the Trinity), who lived, died and rose again. Sin destroys peace within us and between God and others, and  punishment is our just reward. God (through Christ) provided a way out of that penalty of eternal death, and Christ alone has brought salvation and made peace between us and God. Once we give our allegiance to Christ, we can be “conformed” to increasingly reflect His image but we will never be Him.[i] One day we will stand before God to give an answer for our lives. Those who enter into reward instead of  punishment will do so only because they have accepted Jesus' offer to pay their debt.

Christian unity is not possible if we don’t agree on these things, because these points are all integral to the person and work of Jesus. I can think of at least five different phrases I have heard about Jesus from others who claim allegiance to Christ that give me a lot of concern.

• “I am a Christian because I follow Jesus’ teachings. I don’t think he was God, but He showed us how to live.”[ii]

• “Jesus is one of many ways to God.”[iii]

• “Jesus is only about love, not anger. We have to lighten up on all this talk about sin and wrath and hell.”[iv]

• “You can be just like Jesus! You can be a little god too!”[v]

• “Jesus and the Holy Spirit are just names or titles for different ways God has shown himself.”[vi]

 We can’t be in Christian unity if we are fixing our eyes on a different kind of Christ.

• If he was just a good man, Jesus is not divine and should not be worshipped.

• If there are many ways to make peace with God, then Jesus is not the only way and is certainly not the necessary way, and his death and resurrection were unnecessary.

• If sin and its eternal consequences aren’t important, then Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection aren’t important, and the day of judgment should not concern us.

• If we can become just like Jesus, then the bar for what it means to be God is incredibly low, and there is no way Jesus should be worshipped.

• If there is no Trinity, then Judaism and Islam have been right about the nature of God all along, and Christ was not who we thought he was. If thats true, then his life, death and resurrection did not accomplish what we claim they did.

When Paul is writing about the importance of unity, he’s not saying that anything goes as Christians when we look at Jesus. He clearly calls out false teachers numerous times in his letters (Galatians 5:7-12; 1 Timothy 1:3-11; 1 Timothy 6:3-5; 2 Timothy 2:14-19). Even if we attend church together, if we are not united about the most important thing, we may be respectful friends who genuinely like each other, but we are not united around the same Christ.

Moral Boundaries (Committed Discipleship)

Christian unity does not require perfection. Sinfulness will always be present within our Christian unity on this side of heaven. When that happens, we don't just step over our brothers and sisters when they fall down, and we certainly don’t kick them while they are down. We don’t enable sin, and we don’t berate and humiliate sinners. We help them back up like we have constantly been helped up, and we revisit the foot of the cross not to regain our salvation, but to ask for the forgiveness only Christ can give.

However, unity doesn’t mean we act like sin is no big deal. Paul writes numerous times about how to confront sin in the context of church (Matthew 18:15-20; 1 Corinthians 5:1-13); (1 Corinthians 5:6-7; (2 Corinthians 2:5-8). Why? Because sin can begin to permeate the church, and that will destroy our unity. There’s a reason God says not to do these things that goes beyond our individual holiness. True unity cannot be sustained if these things are allowed to flourish in a church.

Unity does not require that we overlook sin.  If we are going to be unified around Christ, we have to have a healthy respect for the reality and devastation of sin. The more our personal sin hurts others or draws others in, the more crucial it becomes to confront for the purpose of the individual and the unity of the group. If we overlook or enable these things, they will take our eyes off of Christ, our walk as a disciple will erode, our unity with others will crumble, and our witness for Christ will be compromised. So the fact that we are sinners is not the thing that divides us; it should actually unite us at the foot of the cross. It’s what we do with or how we respond to the sin that cannot help but bring disunity. Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote in Life Together:

“Reproof is unavoidable.. Where defection from God’s Word in doctrine or life imperils the family fellowship and with it the whole congregation, the world of admonition and rebuke must be ventured. Nothing can be more cruel than the tenderness that consigns another to his sin. Nothing can be more compassionate than the severe rebuke that calls a brother back from the path of sin. It is a ministry of mercy, an ultimate offer of genuine fellowship…”

As a church community, we are in this together. Unity requires a community of grace, forgiveness and hope that always points us toward a Christ who offers all these things to us. But sin corrodes, and it must be addressed.               

3) Christian Unity Confronts Tension

Ephesians 4:25 Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. 

Galatians 6:1 Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted.

“But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. For before certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party. And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, “If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?” (Galatians 2:11-14)

Unity is not the absence of tension.  If it were, we would never be unified. We would always hide our true self from others, or avoid people or situations that make us uncomfortable, or never have the hard conversations about protecting doctrine or living holy lives.We must confront it instead of retreat from it. The Bible does not say blessed are the peacekeepers, it says blessed are the peacemakers (Matthew 5:9). Keeping peace is easy, passive, and ultimately destructive. Making peace is uncomfortable, but necessary and always fruitful. The unified do not hide.

We must learn how to say, “I love you and I am for you, so we must have this conversation.” Then we pray for wisdom, we may seek godly counsel, and we turn to the Bible for our foundational truths because it is” profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness…”(2 Timothy 3:16)

 4) Christian Unity displays Christ-like love

“ Since you are all set apart by God, made holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with a holy way of life: compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Put up with one another. Forgive. Pardon any offenses against one another, as the Lord has pardoned you, because you should act in kind. But above all these, put on love! Love is the perfect tie to bind these together. Let your hearts fall under the rule of Jesus’  peace (the peace you were called to as one body), and be thankful. (Colossians 3:12-16)

Love is the ultimate gift of the Spirit as seen in 1 Corinthians 13.[vii] It’s the glue that is meant to hold the church community together. The Bible is really specific about what Christ-like love looks like (and I am pulling this list from 1 Corinthians 13).

• Patient (good things take time)

• Kind (it’s a basic human quality)

• Content (not jealous)

• Humble (not boastful or proud)

• Decent (never rude or crude)

• Other-centered (not self-absorbed)

• Composed (not easily provoked or resentful)

• Forgiving (doesn’t keep tally of wrongs)

• Rejoices in Truth (doesn’t avoid it)

• Rejoices in Justice (is not content to let injustice unfold)

• Bears all things (endures and protects insults, burdens, and hardships)

• Never loses faith (does not become cynical or jaded)

• Hopeful (never forgets that Jesus saves)

• Persevering (keeps going even when it's tough

This kind of love is the greatest gift given us to preserve the unity that Christ brings, Is far more than emotional connection. It comes from fixing our eyes on Christ and walking with others in loving, faithful discipleship. Paul gives an example of how this looks in Romans 12:14-18.

“If people mistreat or malign you, bless them. Always speak blessings, not curses. If some have cause to celebrate, join in the celebration. And if others are weeping, join in that as well. Work toward unity, and live in harmony with one another. Avoid thinking you are better than others or wiser than the rest; instead, embrace common people and ordinary tasks. Do not retaliate with evil, regardless of the evil brought against you. Try to do what is good and right and honorable as agreed upon by all people. If it is within your power, make peace with all people.” (Romans 12:14-18)

This kind of loving unity will never compromise truth or holiness, but it will always guide the attitude and presence we bring to any situation.

 ________________________________________________________________________________________________

[i]  Paul’s Creed (from 1 Corinthians 15:3-11) often considered the earliest creedal statement: “For I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. For I am the least of the apostles, unfit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me has not been in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them—though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. Whether then it was I or they, so we proclaim and so you have come to believe.” Note the three key subjects: Jesus’ life, death and resurrection; the fact the Jesus died for our sins; and the reality of grace as the means of salvation.

The Apostles Creed(150 AD) reads: “I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit
 and born of the virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
[‘he descended to hell’ was added much later in response to doctrinal challenges].
The third day he rose again from the dead. He ascended to heaven and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty. From there he will come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit,
[‘the holy catholic (universal) church' was added in the 4th century], the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.” As a response to different doctrinal challenges, this creed is more broad (and more specific) than Paul’s.

 The Nicene Creed (325 AD) reads: “We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of Heaven and Earth, and of all things visible and invisible; And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Only-begotten, Begotten of the Father before all ages, Light of Light, Very God of Very God, Begotten, not made; of one essence with the Father, by whom all things were made: Who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven, and was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, and was made man; And was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate, and suffered and was buried; And the third day He rose again, according to the Scriptures; And ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of the Father; And He shall come again with glory to judge the living and the dead, Whose kingdom shall have no end. And we believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, and Giver of Life, Who proceeds from the Father, Who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified, Who spoke by the Prophets; And we believe in one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one Baptism for the remission of sins. We look for the Resurrection of the dead, And the Life of the age to come. Amen.” This was written in response to the Arian heresy, which denied the divinity of Christ. In 381, it was revised to address the Macedonian heresy, which denied the divinity of the Holy Spirit.   

[ii]  Google the term “moralistic therapeutic deism” to see this in action. Michael Horton provides a good overview of this position at http://www.modernreformation.org/default.php?page=articledisplay&var2=917

[iii] " I don't believe making disciples must equal making adherence to the Christian religion. It may be advisable in many (not all!) circumstances to help people become followers of Jesus and remain within their Buddhist, Hindu, or Jewish contexts.” (Brian McClaren)  For a good response, check out a book by Ravi Zacharias called Jesus Among Other Gods.

[iv] The fact is that the cross isn’t a form of cosmic child abuse—a vengeful Father, punishing his Son for an offence he has not even committed. Understandably, both people inside and outside of the Church have found this twisted version of events morally dubious and a huge barrier to faith. Deeper than that, however, is that such a concept stands in total contradiction to the statement: "God is love". If the cross is a personal act of violence perpetrated by God towards humankind but borne by his Son, then it makes a mockery of Jesus’ own teaching to love your enemies and to refuse to repay evil with evil (Steve Chalke and Alan Mann, The Lost Message of Jesus, pp. 182-183).”John Piper has a good response at http://www.desiringgod.org/articles/defending-my-fathers-wrath

[v] “Man…was created on terms of equality with God, and he could stand in God’s presence without any consciousness of inferiority…. He made us the same class of being that He is Himself…. He lived on terms equal with God…. The believer is called Christ, that’s who we are; we’re Christ.” (Kenneth Hagin, Zoe: The God Kind of Life, pp. 35-36, 41).

“Why didn't Jesus openly proclaim Himself as God during His 33 years on earth? For one single reason. He hadn't come to earth as God, He'd come as man.”  Kenneth Copeland, Believer's Voice of Victory magazine, Aug. 8, 1988. p.8.

"The most remarkable "messiah" at (the time of the writing of this book) ... is to be found at camp Manujothi Ashram in the desert in South India. It is the extreme American evangelist, William Branham, whom Christians have to thank for this false messiah. His name is Paluser Lawrie Mathukrishna. When Branham was on (a) tour of India, Brother Lawrie became a disciple of his, and Branham described him as the "Son of God" and "Christ returned." (Kurt Koch, Occult ABC, 1978, p. 66) Read more at http://www.deceptioninthechurch.com/thirdwaveteachings.html

This is also a key teaching of Mormonism. Here is a short but good response from Hank Hannegraaff: http://www.equip.org/perspectives/little-gods-are-we-little-gods/

[vi] This is a position called Modalism, which has been considered heretical (so far from orthodox Christianity that it cannot be authentic Christian belief) since almost the beginning of the church. Two popular names associated with this movement are Tommy Tenney (because of his Oneness Pentecostal roots) and T.D. Jakes (who is a Oneness Pentecostal). Here’s a link to a great article that gives a very thorough discussion of this issue: http://thecripplegate.com/modalism_oneness_and_td_jakes/

In an unusual (and false) twist, Benny Hinn has been promoting Tri-theism, the idea that each member of the Trinity is its own Trinity. ”God the Father, ladies and gentlemen, is a person; separate from the Son and the Holy Ghost. Say, what did you say? Hear it, hear it, hear it. See, God the Father is a person, God the Son is a person, God the Holy Ghost is a person. But each one of them is a triune being by Himself. If I can shock you - and maybe I should - there's nine of them. Huh, what did you say? Let me explain: God the Father, ladies and gentlemen, is a person with his own personal spirit, with his own personal soul, and his own personal spirit-body.” (Benny Hinn” program on TBN, 10/30/90) 

[vii] “The apostle bookends his famous chapter on love (1 Corinthians 13) with these two (perhaps surprising) charges: “earnestly desire the higher gifts” and “earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy” (1 Corinthians 12:31; 1 Corinthians 14:1). God means that we desire all of his gifts, not to glut our selfishness, but to selflessly strengthen others — “so that the church may be built up” (1 Corinthians 14:5)… Desire all the spiritual gifts, knowing that “the greatest of these is love” (1 Corinthians 13:13; cf. 2 Thessalonians 1:3). Compared to other “higher gifts” (such as tongues, healing, and prophecy† among others), love is “a still more excellent way” (1 Corinthians 12:31).” 

 Read the entire article at http://www.desiringgod.org/articles/10-reasons-to-desire-all-the-spiritual-gifts.