The First Epistle of John Series Sermon 8 Let us Hope for Righteousness I John 3:1-10 August 8, 2004 Jerry Vines, pastor of the church in Jacksonville Trish and I visited in March, tells the story of a Christian children's home in Kentucky. Mentally handicapped kids are lovingly taught about Jesus' love. One day the Bible lesson was about Jesus coming back in the clouds. They say that from that day forward they can't keep the windows clean because each day the children press against the glass to see if Jesus is coming. Oh for such a child-like faith! 1 John 3:1 Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. bestowed upon us = lavished on us - extremely generous unmerited gift what manner, what kind, what species, what sort of love sons teknon is used instead of neuter, children, or other masculine terms for son, perhaps because it conveys more of the sense of having the attributes of the Father John 1:12-13 "But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become sons of God, even to them that believe on his name; Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." Behold th'amazing gift of love The Father hath bestowed On us, the sinful sons of men, To call us sons of God! -- Isaac Watts 1 John 3:2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. Note the term of endearment, one of many, sprinkled throughout the book giving his exhortation an encouraging rather than condemning tone - dear friends, beloved, from agape He appears, phanero , the unknown becomes known, the hidden appears, rather than something known re appears, or the familiar which is temporarily out of sight comes in view Remember when you were kids imitating your favorite character from some show or story? Remember wanting six guns and coon skin caps for Christmas and carving Z's on things. My grand son imitates Bob the Builder. Even now we imitate what we admire. When we see Him as He is we will admire Him so much we will be overwhelmed by our desire to be like Him Colossians 3:4 "When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory." 2 Peter 1:4 "Whereby are give unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust." Psalm 17:15 "As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness." 1 John 3:3 And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure. When you go for an job interview or to meet your fiancé's parents for the first time, you are conscience of the most minor things. A button missing from your shirt, a stain on your tie, a runner in your hose… doesn't matter how neat everything else looks, that one blemish draws your attention. You feel unfit because of that one small item. If we are going to be "confident" we must deal with it. How much more we should be conscience of our faults if we truly live in expectation of His imminent return. When you drive down the road you can tell when someone is expecting a bus. They look for it. Their whole demeanor is one of expectancy. Would you really be doing whatever it is you are doing if you were expecting the sudden and soon appearance of Jesus Christ? 1 Peter 1:3 calls it a "lively hope." 2 Corinthians 7:1 "Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God." Hope means "favorable and confident expectation" The thing hoped for must be believed possible and desired. What is the object of our hope? Going to heaven? Being rescued from this veil of tears? When you were a child maybe your mother had gone somewhere and while she was gone you did something maybe to the radio, the TV, the VCR, maybe a scratch on the dining table. Maybe you broke a window. There was no anticipation or eagerness; there was no expectation of desire for mom to come home. Why? Because you were not ready for her to come. There is only one thing that we need to do in regards to the expectation of the coming of Christ; that is to "purify ourselves." purify means to "make clean". Titus 2:13, "Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ;" In 1989, a terrible earthquake in Armenia killed 30,000 people. Among those uninjured were a man and his wife. Their son, Armon was in an elementary school that collapsed. The father had always told his boy that he would come to him if there was trouble. At the school he worked tirelessly removing debris. After 38 hours he heard Armon's voice and with the help of other rescue workers freed his son and several other children. Armon said, "I told my friends you would come because you had promised. I told them you would always be there for me. I knew you would return" (Great Stories, v.7, i.25, p.11). I like the last verse of the song ... "It Is Well with My Soul" ... "And Lord haste the day when my faith shall be sight, The clouds be rolled back as a scroll, The trump shall resound and the Lord shall descend, Even so it is well with my soul." 1 John 3:4 Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law. This is a pretty little sentence in Greek. Whoever does unrighteousness does unlawfulness for unrighteousness is unlawfulness. Not as literally accurate but closer to the sound of it. Romans 4:15 "Because the law worketh wrath, for where no law is, there is no transgression." 1 John 3:5 And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin. manifested is phanero , same word as appear in verse 2 take away, aero, has three possible senses. (1) To lift something up where it can be seen clearly, (2) to pick up and carry a burden, or (3) to pick up and haul something off like they haul off the garbage. I think John meant all three. He came to shine a light on our sin, carry its weight for us, and to take it away and dispose of it. John 1:29 "The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." 1 John 3:6 Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him. abideth - a permanent dwelling, remain, endure, persist sinneth - continuous action not flawlessness If you really knew Him, saw Him, were with Him, you would not want to continue in sin. 3 John 11 "… He that doeth good is of God: but he that doeth evil hath not seen God." Romans 6:12 "Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof." 1 John 3:7 Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. even as He is righteous, note the capitalized He. deceive from planao , same word from which we get planet - lead you astray or cause you to wander 1 John 3:8 He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. If you compare with verse 5 taking away our sins is equated to destroying the works of the devil. of the devil is the genitive of diablos . It means possession. He that committeth sin belongs to the devil, is the devil's. Notice it says committeth sin, not committeth a sin. Notice how long the devil has been sinning John 8:44 Jesus speaking to some Jews who believed on Him, "Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because here is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own, for he is a liar, and the father of it." 1 John 3:9 Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. for His seed remaineth in him commit sin = continue to sin, sin continually, go on sinning, or practices sin John 3:5-8 Jesus talking to Nicodemus, "…Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and wither it goeth; so is ever one that is born of the Spirit." 1 Peter 1:22-23 "Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently." Romans 6:14-15 "For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace. What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid." 1 John 3:10 In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother. are manifest = are made evident, are made obvious, are exposed to view God's family will get along with each other. John 14:35 "By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another." "The supreme happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved." - Victor Hugo In Moody Magazine, Carl Armerding recounted his experience of watching a wildcat in a zoo. "As I stood there," he said, "an attendant entered the cage through a door on the opposite side. He had nothing in his hands but a broom. Carefully closing the door, he proceeded to sweep the floor of the cage." The worker had no weapon to ward off an attack by the beast. In fact, when he got to the corner of the cage where the wildcat was lying, he poked the animal with the broom. The wildcat hissed at him and then lay down in another corner of the enclosure. He remarked to the attendant, "You certainly are a brave man." "No, I ain't brave," he replied as he swept. "Well, then, that cat must be tame." "No," came the reply, "he ain't tame." "If you aren't brave and the wildcat isn't tame, then I can't understand why he doesn't attack you." The man chuckled, then replied with an air of confidence, "Mister, he's old -- and he ain't got no teeth." Too often Christians think of Satan in that way. He may be old, but the Bible says in 1 Pet 5:8, "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour." Some people question the existence of the enemy. D.L. Moody once said that he knew Satan was real for two practical reasons. First, the Bible tells us so and second because he had done business with him. All around us is evidence of the presence of Satan. How else can we explain the horrible and grotesque acts beyond the manifest presence of incarnate evil? Years ago, Billy Graham said, "Our world is on fire and man without God cannot control the flames. The fires of greed, hate and lust are sweeping uncontrollably around our globe. We live in the midst of crisis, danger, fear and death." A man in Haiti wanted to sell his house for $2,000. The only man who would buy it offered him half as much. He agreed to sell all of the house but a nail above the front door. Later he asked to buy the house back and was refused. So he hung the rotting corpse of a dead dog on the nail until the house was uninhabitable. If we leave the devil a foothold in our life, he will ruin our fellowship with God. Physical Vital signs – pulse, pressure, and temperature Spiritual vital signs – what we say, what we do, and what we do not do If we really believe what we say we believe we want to be God imitators. As a God imitator you are missing the mark if you are sinning. If you are sinning you are imitating Satan. Is that what you really want to do? If not, stop it!