THE STUDY
This is the last contrasting statement used by John in this opening chapter. He started this with a negative and ends it with a negative proclamation "we make him a liar and his word is not in us." This statement, no matter how uncomfortable it makes us, is true in so many ways. First, if we are professing this idea of being sinless we are not accepting the teachings of Jesus and the understanding of the fall of Man "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). And if we are not accepting and practicing the teachings of Christ then his word is not in us.
I would like to point out two things from this passage: How do we make him a liar? And, what does it mean to not have the word in us?
How do we make him a liar? If we maintain that we have not sinned, we make ourselves equal to God, the sinless One. Through his Word, God convicts man of sin. But if man refuses to listen to evidence God presents, man accuses God of lying. This is a point that John will bring up later in this epistle, Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning his Son (I John 5:10).
What does it mean to not have the word of God in us? When I first read this my thought was John was saying the Word of God was removed from us. It was once there but now is gone. This is not the case. John is saying that we become ignorant to God's word. How? By the fact that we are no longer reading the Word or studying it. We cannot become proficient in computers if we are not reading the books and manuals concerning how they oporate. Due to the fact that computers are getting more powerful and a lot smaller we would need to be continually reading and staying up on the latest technology.
The same can be said concerning God's word. It needs to be read everyday because life is ever changing and the Word will help us deal with the change. Let us not become ignorant of God's word.
How do we make him a liar? If we maintain that we have not sinned, we make ourselves equal to God, the sinless One. Through his Word, God convicts man of sin. But if man refuses to listen to evidence God presents, man accuses God of lying. This is a point that John will bring up later in this epistle, Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning his Son (I John 5:10).
What does it mean to not have the word of God in us? When I first read this my thought was John was saying the Word of God was removed from us. It was once there but now is gone. This is not the case. John is saying that we become ignorant to God's word. How? By the fact that we are no longer reading the Word or studying it. We cannot become proficient in computers if we are not reading the books and manuals concerning how they oporate. Due to the fact that computers are getting more powerful and a lot smaller we would need to be continually reading and staying up on the latest technology.
The same can be said concerning God's word. It needs to be read everyday because life is ever changing and the Word will help us deal with the change. Let us not become ignorant of God's word.
WHAT WE CAN WALK AWAY WITH …
- We can take away two things from this verse today. First, let us stay so close to God that he doesn't have to yell, or even talk loud. He can simply whisper and we hear him. Let us not ignore God's convictions for His word is truth!
- Let us not get to a point where we start to think, "I got this!" We will never have IT ALL due to life ever changing. There will never be a time in our life when we will not need God. Let us not become ignorant to that fact.
CONCLUSION:
I heard of a man who was handicap. He wanted to go fishing one day and a couple of buddies agreed to take him out on Lake Erie. While out in the boat a storm came out of nowhere. the boat was capsized and there was not enough life jackets for all three men. The handicap gentleman said he can float pretty good so the other two men took the life jackets.
Many hours passed and darkness started to set in. The three men lost sight of each other. The two with life jackets stayed close to the capsized boat, one on each side. The handicap gentleman had drifted away from the boat and was not able to be seen. When the rescue boat arrived they were able to rescue the two men with life jackets but they could not see the handicap man anywhere near the capsize boat. They moved to the other side of the rescue boat and all of sudden they heard the man cry out from the water, "Here I am! I am handicap and I cannot help myself."
Church let us never forget that as humans we are handicap in one way or the other. We are handicapped and cannot help ourselves. But there is someone who can and His name is Jesus.
Many hours passed and darkness started to set in. The three men lost sight of each other. The two with life jackets stayed close to the capsized boat, one on each side. The handicap gentleman had drifted away from the boat and was not able to be seen. When the rescue boat arrived they were able to rescue the two men with life jackets but they could not see the handicap man anywhere near the capsize boat. They moved to the other side of the rescue boat and all of sudden they heard the man cry out from the water, "Here I am! I am handicap and I cannot help myself."
Church let us never forget that as humans we are handicap in one way or the other. We are handicapped and cannot help ourselves. But there is someone who can and His name is Jesus.
Blessings my friends
Pastor Rod
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