Don't get ahead, get connected! (2 John 9)

Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God. Whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son.

THE STUDY:

Was the one who goes ahead adding “advanced” teachings to the received traditions from Jesus? Did they consider themselves progressives? This is the sense of the NASB’s “goes too far” in an alleged “advance teaching”. They failed to keep “in step with the Spirit”.

The secessionists’ separation from those they had formerly walked with shaped the self-understanding of the believer’s community. They had experienced this “with us or against us” mentality early by their expulsion from the synagogues (John 9:22). Later the departure of the secessionists from them reinforced this mentality.

Along with the potential for lost reward (v 8) the elder warns that whoever does not abide in the teaching of Christ does not have God. Anyone who separated from the faith community would lose what he or she had “worked for” (v 8). None is exempt from the possibility of spiritual failure. To avoiding such loss one must abide (ESV) (lit. remaining). The image is not passive but relational, drawing on the imagery of the vine and branches in John 15. To continue, or abide, is to intentionally stay linked to the divine life (God/Christ) and to the like-minded (the church).^[1]

WHAT WE CAN WALK AWAY WITH ….

• We walk away with the understanding that in order to avoid spiritual failure we must/need to abide (continue) in our walk with Christ. Coasting in our relationship with Christ is just as, if not more, harmful as turning away or refusing one with Him.

CONCLUSION:

          Today, I close with an illustration of the importance of remaining in the teachings of Christ.  

The vine clings to the oak during the fiercest of storms. Although the violence of nature may uproot the oak, twining tendrils still cling to it. If the vine is on the side of the tree opposite the wind, the great oak is its protection: if it is on the exposed side, the storm only presses it closer to the trunk.

What we need to be is the vine. Not one that is separated but understands and depends upon the tree (God). The one who does this is the one who realizes that in some of the storms of life, God intervenes and shelters us; while in others He allows us to be exposed, so that we will be pressed more closely to Him.

Whatever side of the tree you are on today, remember you are either being protect or being pressed closer to the source of life: GOD!  

Blessings my friends

Pastor Rod

---

^[1] Williamson, R. (2010). 1, 2, & 3 John: A Commentary in the Wesleyan Tradition. New Beacon Bible Commentary (192–193). Kansas City, MO: Beacon Hill Press.

I John 3:24

View Video Blog, Right Click Link: I John 3:24

Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God, and God in him. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us.

THE STUDY:

          One of the things that I am finding as I study God’s word is that God is a reactional God! James 4:8 “Come near to God and He will come near to you,” and in this passage we read, “Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God, and God in him.” This is a prime example of God not violating our free will. We are the ones God is waiting on, not the other way around.

          In this verse we read the word “abide” which means to remain in God! Looking at the entire book of I John we can find this word used over 25 times. This is a great indicator that John is trying to make a point: REMAIN IN GOD! John's readers are followers of Jesus but yet they are being led astray by this new view of Jesus (Gnostics). If they remain in God, He remains in them. We can safely say that if they don’t remain in God, He will not remain in them.

WHAT WE CAN WALK AWAY WITH ….

• We walk away this morning knowing this, those who keep God’s word in their heart experience God making his home with them. As an eighth-century English theologian, the Venerable Bede, wrote, “Let God, then, be a home for you, and you be the home of God; remain in God and let God remain in you.”^[1]

CONCLUSION:

           I find, in my own life, times when I try to get God to do what I want and not what He wants. These are those times when we must remain in Him. You might be having a difficult time in your life right now or you might come across someone today who is going through a difficult time. Remember to remain in God and He will remain in you.

Blessings my friends

Pastor Rod

---

^[1] Kistemaker, S. J., & Hendriksen, W. (1953-2001). Vol. 14: New Testament commentary : Exposition of James and the Epistles of John. New Testament Commentary (318–319). Grand Rapids: Baker Book House.

I John 2:27 (Part 2)

View Video Blog Right Click Link: I John 2:27 (Part 2)

But the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no lie—just as it has taught you, abide in him.

THE STUDY:

          I keep repeating to you that John is reacting to a false teaching of Christ. This is radiating from the Gnostic's and John is reminding the believers that they have all they need in Christ.

          “His anointing teaches you about all things.” That is, the Spirit of Christ will teach the believer everything (John 14:26) and will guide him in distinguishing truth from error. All believers receive the Holy Spirit and all of them are equally equipped to oppose those teachers who proclaim the lie instead of the truth.^[1]

          The heart of this verse, however, lies in the last three words which form a command to have fellowship with Christ. The encouragement is direct: “abide in him.” In view of John’s reference to Jesus’ return (v. 28), the words in him relate to Jesus Christ.^[2]

WHAT WE CAN WALK AWAY WITH ….

• As a believer, we walk away with the understanding that Jesus is all we need. There is a passage of scripture that sums this up, “I (Jesus) am the way, the truth, and the life.” (John 14:6) Jesus is the way: The way we should think, the way we should act, and the way we should talk. Jesus is the truth in our life and that truth will set us free. Jesus is the life we should live.  

CONCLUSION:

          I remember walking into the Nazarene church for the first time. I was scared, nervous, and even a little intimidated, but after hearing the song, “He’s All I need,” I realized this group of people was not people who I needed to fear, to be nervous around, or even intimidated by. They were people just like me who needed Jesus.

          In this walk with God I can testify to this: Everything I need, to live a life that is pleasing to God, is found in Jesus. Everything you need this day is found in Christ. Don’t forget what you already know, Jesus is all you need.

Blessings my friends

Pastor Rod

---

^[1] Kistemaker, S. J., & Hendriksen, W. (1953-2001). Vol. 14: New Testament commentary : Exposition of James and the Epistles of John. New Testament Commentary (285–286). Grand Rapids: Baker Book House.

^[2] Kistemaker, S. J., & Hendriksen, W. (1953-2001). Vol. 14: New Testament commentary : Exposition of James and the Epistles of John. New Testament Commentary (286). Grand Rapids: Baker Book House.

I John 2:24-25 (Part 1)

View Video Blog Right Click Link: I John 2:24-25 (Part 1)

²⁴Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you too will abide in the Son and in the Father.

²⁵And this is the promise that he made to us—eternal life.

THE STUDY:

          This morning we read this passage and we should be reminded of verses 1:1 “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard” and 2:7 “Beloved, I am writing you no new commandment, but an old commandment that you had from the beginning.” With the rebuking of this Gnostic teaching, again, John is referring back to the beginning what you heard from the beginning.

          We, as parents, have disciplined our children. In doing this we have said things like, “you know better than that!” What are we really saying? We have taught them from the beginning how to behave and every once in while they slip up and we have to remind them by leading them back to the very beginning of what we taught them. John is doing the same thing by referring his flock back to what they were taught from the very beginning.

          Not only does John take them back to the beginning but he reminds them to what he is referring too: abide in you. This is the very thing they have heard, been taught, and have believed in from childhood: about the Son and the Father. John is reminding them to remain in the Son and in the Father.  

WHAT WE CAN WALK AWAY WITH ….

• We walk away with this morning understanding that in or times of valleys or troubles we need to go back to the beginning: What we have been taught and what we understand as the truth. There are going to be days, when our faith is challenged, when the lies from Satan get us to question and doubt, or when we our physically weak! When those days come let us “abide” (remain) in the truth of Jesus Christ and of the Father.

CONCLUSION:

           I was talking with the dean of an American college some years ago. She shared a story about a woman who for the last four years had taken the same course in algebra even though she had passed it the first time.

          The dean inquired of her for an explanation. The woman said she was so tired of arguing with her neighbors about everything in the world that she wanted to study something she couldn’t argue about.

          Mathematical calculations certainly do not change. Two times two will eternally be four. And that truth is authoritative as well as eternal.

          The same is true with the Word of God. It is authoritative and eternal. When in doubt during your life, go back to the truth! It will never changed nor will it ever left you.

Blessings my friends

Pastor Rod