Bread of His Presence

Lechem Panim #87 "Sowing Prayer" (1 John 5:13-15) Pastor Cameron Ury

Greetings! Welcome to the show today.

George Muller: Living by Faith— Many of you have probably at least heard of legendary prayer warrior George Mueller. An amazing man of faith whose life was a testimony to how God could move through someone who relied in faith and complete dependence on Him. There was a time when [Things looked bleak for the children of George Muller's orphanage at Ashley Downs in England. It was time for breakfast, and there was no food. A small girl whose father was a close friend of Muller was visiting in the home. Muller took her hand and said, ''Come and see what our Father will do.'' In the dining room, long tables were set with empty plates and empty mugs. Not only was there no food in the kitchen, but there was no money in the home's account. Muller prayed, ''Dear Father, we thank Thee for what Thou art going to give us to eat.'' Immediately, they heard a knock at the door. When they opened it, there stood the local baker. ''Mr. Muller,'' he said, ''I couldn't sleep last night. Somehow I felt you had no bread for breakfast, so I got up at 2 o'clock and baked fresh bread. Here it is.'' Muller thanked him and gave praise to God. Soon, a second knock was heard. It was the milkman. His cart had broken down in front of the orphanage. He said he would like to give the children the milk so he could empty the cart and repair it.]

It is amazing how our prayers (however flimsy they might feel to us) have the power to move the hand of God in amazing ways. If only we would pray…

In the closing chapter of 1 John we have been talking about the confidence that can be produced through faith in the life of the believer and how that confidence can re-shape the way that we come before God in prayer.

1 John 5:13-15 (NIV)— 13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. 14 This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 15 And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.

we presently have what we asked of him— Now one interesting thing about that last phrase is that it doesn’t say we know that we will have what we asked of him. Rather, it says we know that we have (already) what we asked of him. It is a belief and trust that is so sure (because of how sure we are of God’s revealed will to us, both through prayer but also through His Word) that we consider it already accomplished. We don’t need to see it to believe it; it is enough for us to know that it is the will of God, that we have prayed for it, and whether in our time or not God will accomplish it. 

George Mueller’s Persistence in Prayer— Now [When George Mueller was a young convert he began praying daily for five friends to come to know Christ as Savior. Two friends became Christians within two years of his own conversion. But it seemed as if his prayers for the remaining three friends would never be answered. But they were. One of those men was converted about ten years after Mueller’s conversion. The fourth apparently was converted shortly before Mueller’s death, in response to what was probably Mueller’s last sermon. And the fifth man was converted within a year of Mueller’s funeral. George Mueller had been praying for him for more than sixty years!] THAT is intercession at it’s deepest. But it is because Mueller was faithful to intercede for them; faithful to carry them in prayer all those years that they eventually came to Christ. And there ought to be similar people for whom you and I are doing the same. Because He really does move this way.

Tanya’s Aunts— My wife Tanya’s family had a similar thing happen in their family. Her mom and her sisters grew up in a strong Christian home all their young life. Their dad (Tanya’s grandfather) was even imprisoned for his faith. But, despite his and his wife’s prayers for their daughters to become Christians, after all the girls grew up, none of them were Christians except for one. And Tanya’s grandparents died without seeing all their daughters accept Jesus, though they had prayed for it. And now, many years after they have died, all the daughters (including Tanya’s mom) became Christians. God really does answer prayer. And ultimately this is why John is talking about confidence in prayer. Because he we wants to encourage us to believe enough; to have confidence enough to pray. Prayer is powerful. We know that it works. God has given us the promise to answer when we pray in accordance with His will. Now (after seeking His will) we just have to be faithful enough to pray; to believe in prayer enough to pray. You know one of our favorite passages on prayer; the one we probably think on the most whenever we are talking about faith and prayer?

Matthew 17:20b (ESV)— …For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.”

A Mountain-Top Experience— Now do you know the context of that verse? If we look at the previous section, what has just happened? Jesus has just been transfigured before His disciples Peter, James, and John. Jesus has revealed His divine glory. And Peter, James, and John are amazed. They have seen the glory of Jesus. And I am sure that you and I have had similar mountain-top experiences with Jesus; where we have seen and experienced Jesus’ presence in a special way. And I love mountain-top experiences. But at some point we have to come down from the mountain. We enter back into the drudgery of everyday life that is wrought with all kinds of trials and tribulations. Here the disciples descend the mountain and are instantly met with brokenness and need in the lives of other people, particularly a young boy who is not only sick, but is possessed by a demon. Talk about spiritual contrast. They go from a Spirit-filled experience on the mountain where they have seen Jesus glorified (it says his clothes became radiant, intensely white, as no one on earth could bleach them.) Not even Oxi-Clean could get it brighter. Jesus was glowing! Elijah and Moses appeared and began speaking with Jesus. Then they hear the voice of God audibly speak, saying “This is my beloved Son; listen to him.” , after which they are left alone and they begin to descend the mountain. And immediately upon descending the mountain, they encounter the demonic. And the question rises, are they going to carry the glory of Christ they have just witnessed into the frey of everyday life.

You know some of the disciples had tried to cast the demon out and failed. Do you know why? They ask Jesus afterwards and this is what He says…

Matthew 17:20 (ESV)— 20 He said to them, “Because of your little faith {(and Mark’s account (in which Jesus also rebukes their lack of faith, also adds: “This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer.”) They weren’t praying! Prayer is intimately intertwined with faith, which is why Jesus continues:}. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.”

NOTHING!!!!!!!! Imagine that!!!

Impala Faith— You know, when I was a kid, I loved to watch nature shows. Sometimes I still do. I love learning about all kinds of animals. And one animal that is truly amazing is the impala, the African antelope. [The African impala can jump to a height of over 10 feet and cover a distance of greater than 30 feet. Yet these magnificent creatures can be kept in an enclosure in any zoo with a 3-foot wall. The animals will not jump if they cannot see where their feet will fall. Faith is the ability to trust what we cannot see, and with faith we are freed from the flimsy enclosures of life that only fear allows to entrap us.] This is what living a life a confidence looks like in the life of the Christian. Nothing, not even Satan himself can hold back the accomplishment of God’s will through those who are living by faith in Jesus as the Son of God and are seeking His will and lifting up prayers daily to Him.

Flower Bed— Just recently my son asked me what a flower bed is. To an 8-year-old, the phrase flower-bed must sound really funny. But I explained to him that a flower bed is a section of dirt in which flowers are planted. But we know that the reason there is a flower is because there was first a seed that was planted there. And the only difference between soil that has plants and the same soil that doesn’t (if it was treated the same) is the fact that no seed was sown. And that is something we must all remember. The reason Jesus talks in this context about faith and prayer in connection with seeds is because the only difference between a life that is fruitful and a life that is fruitless is faith and prayer. You want your flower bed to be full, then you need to plant. Now it may take time, just like a plant takes time to grow. But if you plant your prayers and endure in faith (keeping on praying) then you will reap a harvest.

And as our passage today says, you and I can have faith and confidence when we pray; a faith and confidence flowing from our knowledge that God does both hear and answer those prayers offered by those who seek to pray in His will. If we can pray in faith; in accordance with the will of God; and do so persistently (even in the dark times when we feel like our prayers are not being heard; like their not reaching past the ceiling), God promises us here in His word that He HAS both heard and already answered our prayer; and as we abide in prayer, He is able to use us to move mountains in unspeakable ways for His name’s sake and for the sake of His kingdom.

Philippians 4:6 (NIV)— 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

​Let us do so. Amen.

Lechem Panim #86 "Praying in Confidence" (1 John 5:13-15) Pastor Cameron Ury

Greetings! Welcome to Lechem Panim. Today’s passage in 1 John 5 (like much of 1 John) has to do with confidence. I don’t know how confident you feel as a Christian, but I remember spending much of my younger years worried about destination of my soul; where I was going. I remember I would pray the sinner’s prayer sometimes a dozen or more times a day. I knew about faith, but didn’t have assurance. And you can imagine how most of my prayers came from a posture of fear, rather than confidence. This is why this epistle has been (at least for me) so transformative. John writes…

1 John 5:13-15 (NIV)— 13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. 14 This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 15 And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.

Ironside and the Seeker of Assurance— Once [An elderly man said to H.A. Ironside, "I will not go on unless I know I'm saved, or else know it's hopeless to seek to be sure of it. I want a definite witness, something I can't be mistaken about!" Ironside replied, "Suppose you had a vision of an angel who told you your sins were forgiven. Would that be enough to rest on?" "Yes, I think it would. An angel should be right." Ironside continued, "But suppose on your deathbed Satan came and said, 'I was that angel, transformed to deceive you.' What would you say?" The man was speechless. Ironside then told him that God has given us something more dependable than the voice of an angel. He has given His Son, who died for our sins, and He has testified in His own Word that if we trust Him all our sins are gone. Ironside read I John 5:13, "You may know that you have eternal life." Then he said, "Is that not enough to rest on? It is a letter from heaven expressly to you." God's Spirit used that to bring assurance to the man's heart. (H. A. Ironside.)]

Assurance for You— And those words of John can also be used by God to bring peace to your heart; peace concerning where you stand in relationship to the Savior. That is John’s chief aim in this epistle; to give you and me assurance of our salvation.

1 John 5:13 (NIV)— 13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.

Theme of Assurance— Now once again this verse summarizes the theme of the entire book, which is to give the believer assurance of their salvation so that we might have confidence of where we stand with Christ. There are signs of transformation in the life of the believer that point us to the saving presence of Christ and His Holy Spirit. If the Holy Spirit is there, making us like Christ, we know that we are in Christ because it is only through Christ that we can receive the Holy Spirit.

believing in the name of the Son of God— But how do we receive Christ to begin with? Verse 13 says that it involves us believing in the name of the Son of God. Now what does it mean to believe in somebody’s name? Keep in mind this is kingly terminology. If you come in the name of a king, you are a physical representation of them; you carry their authority; their power. So to believe in Jesus’ name is to believe in His authority and power as (what?…next phrase) the Son of God. And that is crucially important, because we believe that Jesus’ authoritative power to save and redeem comes from His being the Son of God; God in the flesh.

knowing that you have eternal life— If we have placed our faith and trust in Him, understanding who He is and what He has done for us, then we have come to the starting point of our salvation; we have entered the fold. And as we remain in the fold, we become more and more like our shepherd in our character and how we relate to our brothers and sisters and to the world. And so because of what Christ has done for us, in us, and is doing through us, we can have assurance that we are saved. 

Assurance & Prayer— But that assurance that we receive also can empower other aspects of our relationship with God as well, particularly prayer. And that is what John focuses on in our passage today. Look at verse 14…

1 John 5:13 (NIV)— 14 This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.

Ishmael: God Hears— I am reminded of the story of Hagar in the Bible, the woman Sarah gave to her husband Abraham as a wife in order to conceive and bear an heir. And sure enough she conceives. But she begins to despise Sarah and Sarah, unable to stand it, gets Abraham to surrender Hagar to her power and then Sarah mistreats her, forcing her to flee into the wilderness. Here was a woman in a desperate situation. She has lost all security; she has no home. And on top of that she’s pregnant and on her way back to her former home in Egypt. Yet God meets her by the well. He tells her to go back. And then He promises to bring many descendants from her and also makes a promise providing a future for her soon to be born son. And God commands her to name her son what? Ishmael. And what does Ishmael mean? God hears. God wanted her, every time she called her son’s name, to be reminded of the fact that He had heard her; and that He still hears her.

Even when things seem toughest for you and me, God wants us to always remember that He both sees and hears us. And because of that we can have confidence.

Hebrews 4:16 (NIV)— 16 Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

confidence in approaching God— Now this doesn’t mean marching into the throne-room of God with a long list of demands, but humbly knowing that our heavenly Father both knows our needs and is actually eager to meet them. So what do we have confidence in? We have confidence in the fact that God hears us; and John doesn’t mean that God simply knows what we need, but that word hear implies a response from God. God hears and answers our prayers.

The Two Oranges— Once [While crossing the Atlantic on an oceanliner, F.B. Meyer was asked to address the first class passengers. At the captain's request he spoke on "Answered Prayer." An agnostic who was present at the service was asked by his friends, "What did you think of Dr. Meyer's sermon?" He answered, "I didn't believe a word of it." That afternoon Meyer went to speak to the steerage passengers. Many of the listeners at his morning address went along, including the agnostic, who claimed he just wanted to hear "what the babbler had to say." Before starting for the service, the agnostic put two oranges in his pocket. On his way he passed an elderly woman sitting in her deck chair fast asleep. Her hands were open. In the spirit of fun, the agnostic put the two oranges in her outstretched palms. After the meeting, he saw the old lady happily eating one of the pieces of fruit. "You seem to be enjoying that orange," he remarked with a smile. "Yes, sir," she replied, "My Father is very good to me." "Your father? Surely your father can't be still alive!" "Praise God," she replied, "He is very much alive." "What do you mean?" pressed the agnostic. She explained, "I'll tell you, sir. I have been seasick for days. I was asking God somehow to send me an orange. I suppose I fell asleep while I was praying. When I awoke, I found He had not only sent me one orange but two!" The agnostic was speechless. Later he was converted to Christ. Yes, praying in God's will brings an answer. (Our Daily Bread.)] One of the most amazing things for us as Christians to witness is how God hears and answers prayer. And yet sometimes I think God is just waiting to move if we would just bend the knee and ask Him to.

if we ask in accordance with God’s will— Now one of the things about prayer that we have to remember is that although God’s love is unconditional, His response to our prayers is not, as John makes clear. What is the condition that John gives before God will answer our prayers? That we ask…according to his will…: if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. (v.14)

a common misconception about praying God's will— Now the way that you and I approach this is we will ask Jesus for something and hope it’s His will. If we watch and it doesn’t happen, then we conclude it wasn’t His will; if it does happen, then it must have been His will. But in either case we do not know what is going to happen and what does happen is what supposedly reveals to us what the will of God was. But I would like to challenge you on this point, because I believe that interpretation is out of tune with what John has been saying in this passage. He has just said that we can have confidence. Confidence of what? Not confidence only that God will hear us, but confidence that (v. 15) we have what we asked of him. In other words, what John is saying is that we can have confidence ahead of time (going into prayer; approaching God) knowing what His answer is going to be. I don’t think you can interpret that verse any other way because of the tense John uses. He tells us to believe that we have what we asked of him; in other words, that we have already received it. Well, how can we do that if we are are unsure of how God is going to answer? That wouldn’t make sense. No, what John is saying here is that you can know (maybe not always, but often) how God is going to answer. Well, how is that? Well we need to go back to that phrase if we ask anything according to his will because it is then that He is said to hear us. What John is saying is you can know ahead of time what God’s answer is going to be if you pray in accordance with His will. Well how do we do that?

seeking the will of God— First, we must seek the will of God. And waiting till after you pray to see what happens is to late to see what the will of God is. That isn’t confidence, that’s guessing and hoping. No, we first seek God’s will in a situation and then we pray that that will might be accomplished. And my point is that before we ask, there ought to be a seeking period when you ask God to make His will known to you. And that involves listening as much as anything else. We ask God to reveal Himself; we seek Him in His word; we follow the guidance of His Holy Spirit; and God makes His will known to us or (if not specifically) He will at least reveal to you how to pray. It is then that we can pray with certainty; with confidence; with assurance that it will indeed happen because God is leading our prayer. We can pray with confidence; with certainty. We can pray knowing that God will move.

praying in His will in confidence— Asking God for something is not enough; praying that God’s will will happen in a situation is not enough; we must take the time to actually seek His will so that when we pray (knowing as much of His will as He will allow us) we can pray in faith with confidence rather than just a shallow kind of “hit or miss” level of hope. Hope that is truly Christian goes much deeper than that. And so I want to encourage you today to pray in confidence. If you are like me, prayer can be a challenging thing at times. I tend to rush at God with my requests, maybe after a quick word of thanks. But prayer time in which you allow yourself the time to come into the presence of God; where you are seeking His will and aligning yourself to that? That is the kind of a prayer life that can move mountains. Let us commit to pray together that way as we always seek to enter into the awesome presence of God. Amen.

Lechem Panim #85 "The Water, The Blood, and The Spirit" (1 John 5:1-12) Pastor Cameron Ury

Greetings! Welcome to Lechem Panim. In today’s passage (1 John 5:1-12) we are going to be talking a lot about assurance; assurance of who Jesus is and assurance of who we are in Him.

If You Wake— I recently read a story about [A life insurance agent {who} was speaking with a would-be client. After a long presentation of the risks of not buying the policy, the man was still a bit hesitant. “I feel that you’re trying to frighten me into a hasty decision. “Oh, no, I would never do such a thing!” the agent assured him. “I’ll tell you what — Sleep on it tonight. If you wake in the morning, give me a call then and let me know your decision.”] If you want assurance, an insurance agent is not always the best choice. However, when it comes to where we are going to spend eternity, the apostle John wants his readers to have absolute assurance.

One of the things that makes 1 John such a valuable epistle is that it’s aim is to give us personal assurance of our salvation. While in his Gospel, John writes in order that we might “have” eternal life (John 20:20-31), he wrote this epistle so that we might “know” we have eternal life (I John 5:13). He uses the word "know" 39 times in this epistle alone. John wants us to have the assurance and peace that comes from knowing where we stand with God. Do you know where you stand this morning in your relationship with God? Do you have complete assurance of your salvation. John says we can. We can test ourselves in order to know whether or not we are truly children of God. And John gives us three major tests.

Belief in Christ— In verse 1 is the first test: What we believe about Jesus. It says: 1 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God,

Both Divine and Human— And as we said before, that involves our believing that Jesus was both fully God and fully man. And as fully God and fully man, He died on the cross for the atonement of our sins and was raised from the dead in order that we also might experience victory over sin and death. So belief in who Jesus claims to be and placing our faith and trust in Him for salvation is how we receive salvation. 

Love for God’s Children— Now in the second part of verse 1 we are given the second test: and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him. If we are truly saved, then we will truly love the Father. And if we love the Father the way we ought to, we will love and care about those He loves and cares about. Now John has made this point before. Remember he records in his Gospel Jesus saying in…

John 13:34-35 (ESV)— 34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Obvious, but Not Easy—  Now we know that we are supposed to love each other; that’s obvious. But just because something is obvious doesn’t mean it’s easy. I think sometimes we forget how difficult this really is. How do we think about that sibling who has wounded us? That person at church who has wounded us? Those people who you run into in life who, when you are down, enjoy kicking you and making you feel small? What about that person at work who always makes your job harder by how they do theirs. In our thought life, how do we view them? Do we love them? Apart from God, that love becomes very difficult; actually impossible. We can never truly love our brother or sister or neighbor until we first love the Father in and through Jesus Christ. Our love for God can enable us to love them because we love them not for their own sakes, but for Christ’s sake. And John is very careful to connect the two. We love our brothers and sisters and neighbors by first loving God. If we truly love Him and maintain that relationship, He will perfect the love we have for others. He says in verse 2…

1 John 5:2-3a (ESV)— 2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. 3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments.

Obeying God’s Commands— And in that verse is contained the third test of genuine Christianity: loving God and obeying his commands. If we truly love God, then we will keep His commands. And more than that, we will want to keep His commands. They will be a joy. As the second part of verse 3 says: And his commandments are not burdensome. Now why are they not burdensome? Because His Law; His commands are not just regulations He comes up with, but are an expression of His very nature and character. And therefore if we truly love Him, we will love His nature and character and therefore as a result will also love His Law and practice His commands.

Overcome the World— Now verses 4-5 mark what is perhaps one of the most encouraging passages in scripture. It says…

1 John 5:4-5 (ESV)— 4 For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. 5 Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

Living in Light— Through faith in Jesus Christ as the Son of God, we can have victory over sin and temptation because we can, as John says, abide by the commands that God has given us. We can live in His light and have victory over the darkness merely because of the fact that we are abiding in the Light of the World and He in us. And if we allow Him, He can expel all darkness in us and also much of the darkness around us as we bring the light of Christ to others. And once again if we truly love Christ, then we will want to do that.

Refuting Gnosticism— Now during this time there was a false heresy that was developing that served as the foundation for what would later become Gnosticism. And this was a belief system that denied that Jesus Christ had come in the flesh (1Jn 4:1-3; cf. 2Jn 7). And one of the representatives of this belief system was a man named Cerinthus. And he taught that the divine Christ descended upon Jesus at the time of his baptism and then left him before he died on the cross. And so (they claim) that “Christ’ never experienced death. Now WE know that it was necessary that Jesus (as the Christ) die in order to atone (to pay for) the sins of the world. And you cannot be a true Christian without believing in that foundational truth. This is why John has been trying to emphasize throughout this epistle first that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh (1 John 4:2) and secondly, those who believe that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh are “of God” and have been “born of God” (1 John 4:2; 5:1a). And in defense of this John presents to us specific witnesses we have concerning the truth that Jesus is the Christ and that he has come in the flesh.

1 John 5:6a (ESV)– 6 This is he who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ; not by the water only but by the water and the blood. 

The Water— Now the "water" refers to Jesus' baptism in the Jordan river, when the Father spoke from heaven and said, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matt. 3:13–17). And you will remember that after he came up out of the water, the Holy Spirit descended and rested upon him as a dove. And this was one of the means by which the Father testified (audibly from heaven) concerning His Son; right at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. Talk about validation!!!

The Blood— Now the second witness is “the blood”. And “the blood” refers to Jesus’ death on the cross and the testimony that was born of Jesus as He was hanging there. At the end of Jesus’ ministry [the Father gave further witness as the time drew near for Jesus to die. He spoke audibly to Jesus from heaven, and said, “I have both glorified it [My name], and will glorify it again” (John 12:28). Furthermore, the Father witnessed in miracle power when Jesus was on the cross: the supernatural darkness, the earthquake, and the rending of the temple veil (Matt. 27:45, 50–53). No wonder the centurion cried out, “Truly this was the Son of God!” (v. 54) Jesus did not receive “the Christ” at His baptism and lose it at the cross. On both occasions, the Father witnessed to the deity of His Son.]

The Spirit— Now “the water and the blood” are not alone in their witness, but are joined by a third witness: The Holy Spirit. It says in…

1 John 5:6b-8 (ESV)– And the Spirit is the one who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. 7 For there are three that testify: 8 the Spirit and the water and the blood; and these three agree. 

And so we see that the Holy Spirit is another key witness to the incarnate Christ. And He is certainly a strong witness, for He was heavily involved in every aspect of the earthly life and ministry of Jesus. He was involved in Jesus’ conception (Mt 1:20), played an active role in His baptism (Mt 3:16), was with Jesus and led Him during His time of temptation in the wilderness (Lk 4:1), and was upon Him for all of His ministry (Lk 4:18). He also came upon the disciples, sanctifying them and bestowing on them spiritual gifts (Hebrews 2:3-4); and inspiring some of the disciples to author New Testament books and letters. And so the Spirit is a huge witness to who Christ is. And John points out how The Spirit, the water, and the blood, all agree with one another, meaning that they agree in their testimony that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh. Now here John continues…

1 John 5:9 (ESV)– 9 If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater, for this is the testimony of God that he has borne concerning his Son.

The Greater Testimony— And this simply means that since in a court of law we receive and accept the witness of men, how much more should we accept the testimony of God. Isn’t he greater? Of course. Now for those who have been “born of God”, it says…

1 John 5:10a (ESV)– 10 Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. 

Confirmation in Our Spirit— And what John (and Jesus) is saying is that when we set out hearts and minds on doing the will of God, we will know that the doctrine of Christ is really from God. We will receive confirmation in our spirit regarding who Jesus really is and who we are in Him as born again believers. Now there are those (obviously) who reject the testimony of God. And John says of them…

 1 John 5:10b-12 (ESV)– 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. 11 And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.

And what John is saying is that you cannot have life apart from Jesus. All these witnesses that John is talking about (witnesses to who Christ is) ought to lead us to place our faith in Him as the ONLY source of life there is; and to follow Him with a complete and total commitment of ALL of who we are to Him. When we truly place our faith in Jesus like that, there will be (like John says) that fruit; that evidence in our lives demonstrated in righteousness and love; and we can have assurance that we are indeed children of God. And if you want to experience that deeper relationship with Him today, open your heart to God in prayer and invite Him to begin that work in you. And as it says in…

Philippians 1:6b (ESV)— …he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

Amen.

Lechem Panim #84 "Living in Confidence" (1 John 4:17-21) Pastor Cameron Ury

Greetings! Welcome to Lechem Panim. 

Before we begin today, I’d like to give you an update regarding the show. A couple of weeks ago we aired a special episode where I interviewed a very dear friend and mentor of mine name Bennette Ash. And one of the things we talked about was the difference it makes having a life that is built on the foundation of Christ. And not long after that we received an encouraging email from a gentleman named Thomas, expressing his thanks for her testimony of what a difference it means to be rooted in Biblical principles and in a relational experience of God. He said, “I caught this broadcast while flipping stations on my radio. So in some manner I took it as a message of encouragement from God to me during a tough time in my life right now. And of course we are glad to hear that the Lechem Panim broadcast is reaching people who need that hope and encouragement. There are many ways to listen to the broadcast; via our website (LechemPanim.org), as well as on our Facebook page and YouTube channel. But we are excited to announce that we are now available to listen to via Podcast; and you can subscribe to us through Apple Podcasts or your favorite Podcast provider. And so we want to invite you to do so. And thank you for listening (click here to subscribe).

Airport Nervousness— This past Christmas season, I traveled with my family to go to my sister Lauren’s wedding. And so we found ourselves in a number of airports. And coming from a person who has flown quite a bit in his lifetime, I can say that airports are very interesting (and at times stressful; and at other times even very stressful) places, especially when you are traveling with kids. And if you are ever in an airport, {(as someone once pointed out)] one interesting thing to note is the the [the difference between passengers who hold confirmed tickets and those who are on standby. The ones with confirmed tickets read newspapers, chat with their friends or sleep. The ones on standby hang around the ticket counter, pace and … pace. The difference is caused by the confidence factor. If you knew that in fifteen minutes you would have to stand in judgment before the Holy God and learn your eternal destiny, what would your reaction be? Would you… pace? Would you say to yourself, "I don't know what God's going to say--will it be 'Welcome home, child,' or will it be 'Depart from me; I never knew you'?]

That is a question every one of us must at some point ask ourselves. Yet if we have placed our faith in Christ and chosen to follow Him, we can (and ought) to have assurance that we are indeed saved. And that is what our passage today is all about. In 1 John 4:17, we circle back to this theme of confidence. It says…

1 John 4:17 (ESV)— 17 By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world.

And this word “confidence” shows up a number of places in John’s epistle.

1 John 2:28 (ESV)— 28 And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming.

1 John 3:21 (ESV)— 21 Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God;

1 John 5:14 (ESV)— 14 And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us.

Abiding, Complete Love, & Confidence— So we see that this theme of confidence is and important theme in 1 John, and one that John emphasizes very strongly as we draw nearer to the close of his epistle. John wants his readers to be abiding in Christ, to have that relationship authenticated by having demonstrated in themselves the fruit of a transformed life (a love that that is “complete”); and lastly to have a life that is marked not by fear, but by confidence; and particularly a “confidence for the day of judgment ”.

Not Arnold’s Judgment Day— Now if were to google image search “judgment day” right now (and I did just recently) you would find that most of the pictures you would be greeted by are not Biblical pictures. Instead of pictures of Jesus you are greeted by photos of Arnold Schwarzenegger as the Terminator looking back at you. As cool as he may have looked in that movie (and as much as I have been told I look like him;…….okay that’s not true) we are talking about a very different kind of Judgment Day.

Day of Judgment— [The day of judgment is that time when all people will appear before Christ and be held accountable for their actions. {However, for Christians} With God living in us through Christ, we have no reason to fear this day because we have been saved from punishment.]

Romans 8:1 (ESV)— 8 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Looking Forward To Judgment Day— And so this means that [Instead, we can look forward to the day of judgment because it will mean the end of sin and the beginning of a face-to-face relationship with Jesus Christ.] We can have assurance during and leading up to that day; an assurance that produces a confidence; a boldness in how we live, how we pray, and how we witness. Now how do we get that assurance and confidence?

1 John 4:17a (ESV)— 17 This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment:…

So first of all, we see that we need to have a love that is complete. Well what does it mean to have a love that has been made complete?

1 John 4:17 (ESV)— 17 This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus.

Now this is a stunning and powerful statement. And what it is pointing us to is the marvelous reality that the true believer is clothed with the righteousness of Christ.

Romans 3:21-22 (ESV)— 21 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— 22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction:

2 Corinthians 5:21 (ESV)— 21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Philippians 3:9 (ESV)— 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—

Imparted Righteousness— Now John is clearly talking about more than our being covered by the righteousness of Christ (imputed righteousness) where God sees us through the blood of Jesus. As important as that doctrine is, John is careful to communicate that Christ’s imputed righteousness must also become our imparted righteousness; we can be made righteous as God Himself is righteous. A strong statement? Yes, but one that is in perfect accord with what God has always said was both possible and necessary.

1 Peter 1:14-16 (ESV)— 14 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, 15 but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”

Now with our being being clothed with the righteousness Christ as we experience His love for us and reflect that love back on Him, our former fear is replaced with confidence. John writes in…

1 John 4:18 (ESV)— 18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. 

Not Just Emotional Fear— Now I want to point out that what we are talking about here is more than just a feeling of fear or anxiety; which we all struggle with from time to time. We are talking about a significant doubt in our salvation.

John Wesley’s Doubt— Before Wesley’s famous Aldersgate experience where he receive assurance of his salvation, Moody writes how [After John Wesley had been preaching for some time, someone said to him, "Are you sure, Mr. Wesley, of your salvation?" "Well," he answered, "Jesus Christ died for the whole world." "Yes, we all believe that; but are you sure that you are saved?" Wesley replied that he was sure that provision had been made for his salvation. "But are you sure, Wesley, that you are saved?" It went like an arrow to his heart, and he had no rest or power until that question was settled.]

What the Apostle John is teaching us is that fear is banished by the confidence that comes to us in and through the love of Christ. And scripture teaches us that [we do not love God and come to Him in love, and at the same time, hide from Him in terror (cf. Rom. 8:14, 15; 2 Tim. 1:7).] We don’t have to fear the future judgment (and the moment or punishment that goes with it) because our sins have been forgiven through faith in Christ; and we have been redeemed and are being perfected in love. That is what it means to live by faith. And that faith is rooted (ultimately) in the love of God. As verse 19 says…

1 John 4:19 (ESV)— 19 We love because he first loved us. 

And [If we ever are afraid of the future, eternity, or God’s judgment, we can remind ourselves of God’s love. We know that He loves us perfectly (Romans 8:38-39).]

Romans 8:38-39 (ESV)— 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

And so [We can resolve our fears first by focusing on his immeasurable love for us, and then by allowing him to love others through us. {In doing so} His love will quiet your fears and give you confidence.] Now if we have that confidence in His love for us and our belonging to Him, that love will move us to love those around us. And that love is one of the clearest evidences of the fact that we truly belong to Jesus. John writes in…

1 John 4:20-21 (ESV)— 20 Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. 21 And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.

And so I want to encourage you today to ask God to create that kind of love in you in a deeper way. With that love will come righteousness; and with that righteousness will come the assurance that you belong to Him and a confidence and a boldness that will allow God to use you in a powerful way in your family, in your church, and in your community. Ask Him for that today. Amen.

Lechem Panim #83 "A Perfect Abiding" (1 John 4:12-17) Pastor Cameron Ury

Greetings! Welcome to Lechem Panim. 

The Tiny Thread of a Root— A few years ago I remember I had to undergo the task of pulling out numerous bush-like weeds that had grown up through the cement of my family’s back porch. And what amazed me was how such large weeds could protrude from such tiny little cracks. In other places on the porch, however, there were other weeds that had become withered and died. Both had received the same amount of rain and sunshine, and yet some flourished while others faded away. The key to the life of those that flourished wasn’t found in what they themselves could absorb from their environment, but rather upon a tiny thread of a root that (through the almost imperceptible cracks) connected them to the earth beneath the pavement. And the same is true of us. Jesus says to His disciples in…

John 15:4 (ESV)— 4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.

The Key To Life— Now what John is doing here in our passage today here in 1 John 4:12-17 is he’s expounding a little bit on what Jesus was saying, reminding his readers that the key to life itself lies in our abiding in Christ; we must abide in Him and He must abide in us. Take note as we read verses 12-17 just how many times we come across the keyword “abide” and the keyword “in”:

1 John 4:12-17 (ESV)— 12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.
13 By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. 14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 16 So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. 17 By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world.

Our Spiritual Transplant— So here we see the process by which the believer comes to abide in the family of God. We confess that Jesus is the Son of God (v 15) and then immediately in that same verse we see that after confession God abides in the Christian and the Christian in God. And in that abiding we experience two things. The first is the love of God for us; and the second is the presence of the Holy Spirit at work in our lives. And really the Spirit is the secret to the life of the Christian. He is the One who shapes us into the image of Christ to where we are holy and righteous (John even says “in this world”) as he is. In fact, it is helpful to think of the Holy Spirit as the Holy-making Spirit because His chief role is to make us like Christ. And it is the sense of the Holy Spirit at work in our lives that John says confirms that we are in Jesus. It says in…

1 John 4:13 (ESV)— 13 By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit.

Kinlaw on The Role of the Holy Spirit— Now one scholar I read often points out here how: [the Spirit whom Jesus gave to his disciples was not just the third person of the Trinity; it was the Spirit who had empowered Jesus’ own life and ministry. The secret to Jesus’ life was the Spirit, and the Spirit is anxious to be the secret of your life and mine. The Spirit was the one who initiated Christ’s conception. It was he who anointed Jesus at his baptism. The word Christ means “anointed,” so it was the Spirit who made Jesus the Christ. It was the Spirit who led Jesus and sustained him through his temptation in the wilderness. The Spirit was the source of Jesus’ power over the demonic, and the Spirit enabled him to endure the Cross. The writer of Hebrews speaks of Christ as the one “who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God” (Heb. 9:14). It was the Spirit who, with the Father, raised Jesus from the dead. The Spirit was the key to the earthly life of Jesus. Now on Jesus’ last night before the Cross, he told his disciples that he wanted them to have the same one in their lives who had been in his own. He promised them the Holy Spirit. And that promise is to you and me as well.]

A Spirit-empowered Love— Now when the Spirit re-makes us in the image of Christ, the Christian finds that their life becomes characterized by love. Not the world’s standard of love (which is incredibly shallow) but rather the kind of self-sacrificial love that Jesus embodied and demonstrated on the cross; the kind of love that John has been talking about in and throughout this entire epistle. That kind of love is what separates Christianity from mere religion.

Getting On The Cross— It’s as someone once said: [“Religion is hanging around the Cross; Christianity is getting on the Cross."] Abiding in Jesus means we will also abide in and share His sacrificial love. John says in…

1 John 4:12 (ESV)— 12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.

The Best Preacher— [Dr. G. Campbell Morgan, famous British preacher, had five sons, all of whom became ministers of the gospel. One day a visitor in their home dared to ask a personal question: “Which of you six is the best preacher?” Their united answer was “Mother!” Of course, Mrs. Morgan had never preached a formal sermon in a church, but her life was a constant sermon on the love of God.] And that is what our lives are supposed to be as well; a constant sermon on the love of God. But that love does not begin in us, but rather starts with our first accepting Jesus Christ and His love for us. John says in…

1 John 4:14-16a (ESV)— 14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 16 So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. 

From Vertical to Horizontal— Before anything else, we must accept and receive the love that God has for us. And that means accepting Christ. It is only when that vertical relationship with God is healed through the work of Jesus that the Holy Spirit can come in and begin to transform our horizontal relationships with one another. And He will. Once we begin to abide in Christ, not only do we connect ourselves with eternal life, but also with the source of Love. And that forever changes our relationships with other people; to the point where we become identified by the love of Christ. John says in…

1 John 4:16b-17 (ESV)— God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. 17 By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world.

Cleansing of The Heart— Now how this works is that the Holy Spirit works in us a cleansing of the heart. Cleansing from what? Sin, yes; but what does that look like? What is sin? Sin is more than an act of disobedience. It is an orientation of the heart; an orientation that has been shifted from seeking to please and obey God to seeking our own wants and desires and placing them first.

The Two Men and The Two Fish— [You may have heard the story of two friends who met for dinner in a restaurant. Each requested filet of sole, and after a few minutes the waiter came back with their order. Two pieces of fish, a large and a small, were on the same platter. One of the men proceeded to serve his friend. Placing the small piece on a plate, he handed it across the table. "Well, you certainly do have nerve!" exclaimed his friend. “ What's troubling you?" asked the other. "Look what you've done," he answered. "You've given me the little piece and kept the big one for yourself." "How would you have done it?" the man asked. His friend replied, "If I were serving, I would have given you the big piece." "Well," replied the man, "I've got it, haven't I?" At this, they both laughed.] 

The Selfless Mark— The mark of a transformed, abiding Christian is that all that he/she does is not ultimately for themselves, but for the glory of God, which also means a placing of the needs of others before your own. That is the essence of love.

[LOVE OF A DISCIPLE— Clement of Alexandria, describing the person who has come to know God, wrote, "He impoverishes himself out of love, so that he is certain he may never overlook a brother in need, especially if he knows he can bear poverty better than his brother. He likewise considers the pain of another as his own pain. And if he suffers any hardship because of having given out of his own poverty, he does not complain.”]

The Self-Emptying of Jesus— As I was reading this quote, I began thinking about the self-emptying of Jesus. Jesus impoverished Himself; lowered Himself; bore our sins in our very flesh which He took on. In the same way we are to empty ourselves for one another and for Him. Our selfishness; our sin must give way to abiding in the Love of Christ and allowing that love to move us to give ourselves to others as Christ gave Himself for us. 

The question is, have we gotten on the cross? Are we living lives of sacrifice for other people that is characteristic of Christ’s own sacrifice for us? That is the mark of the Spirit-filled believer; and it is something that John comes to time and time again. And so we come full circle to the question of abiding. Are we just going through the religious motions? Or are we connecting ourselves (like that weed through the pavement) to Christ, the source of real, genuine, Spirit-filled Life? It is so easy to lose sight of what matters. The Ephesians John was writing to in this passage had become disconnected from God. And John wanted them to cast their roots and begin to connect back.

​   And today, that is what God is asking us to do. Now maybe you don’t feel able enough or strong enough to cast deep roots; and that’s okay. You might feel like the pavement is just a little too thick. But you know what, if you are willing to ask God to meet you where you’re at, He will bring His ground up to you and help you to get deeper into Him. But it begins with our asking; our invitation to Him to allow Him in. And so let us invite Him in today. Amen.

Lechem Panim #82 "The Divine Roots of Love" (1 John 4:7-12) Pastor Cameron Ury

 Greetings! Welcome to Lechem Panim. 

Years ago I worked at an Apple retail store. And during my time there I had an atheist acquaintance I used to work with that I tried to witness to. And he was open to Christianity, but remained unconvinced. But I will never forget what his chief struggle was. It wasn’t any of the typical things you might think an atheist would struggle with; the problem of evil in the world, or anything like that. No, it was something else. The primary thing he just could not get past and accept was the fact that the God of the universe would ever lower Himself to care for people like us to the depth and to the degree that the Bible says He did. For my friend, that seemed very un-God-like. 
    And you know I think you can even be a Christian and struggle with this question. I know sometimes I have questioned and even doubted God’s love for me simply because of how unworthy I feel of that love. But one of the things we will unpack as we begin to move through this passage today is that God loves us not on the basis of who we are, but on the basis of who He is. He is not just “loving”; no, He is love. He defines love. And though it is one of the clearest Biblical teachings, the doctrine of God’s love for us is at the same time one of the most profound truths and (at times) the most difficult to accept.

God is Love — Have you ever wondered why it is that God loves us? Or, on a similar note, why did He create us? Have you ever wondered why God created man? Is it because one day He just got bored and lonely and decided to create us for entertainment; or for company? I mean if God has always existed and existed before we were created, what did He do? Does God need us? Was He compelled to create us because, by Himself, He was deficient? Is He like some kind of Ferris Bueller character that says to us, “You complete me.”? Does God need us? That is an interesting question because of what is revealed to us in…

1 John 4:7-8 (ESV)-- 7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.

God is Love— Now notice that it doesn’t say that God is loving. No, it says God is love. He is the very definition of love. This is something that sets Christianity apart from every other religion. God is not merely loving; He is the very definition and source of all love.

Requiring and Object-- Now love, as we all know, requires an object. You cannot love; truly love by yourself. Love is something that is demonstrated by your actions in another person’s life. Love is not a feeling. It is an action verb. Well, let me ask you this. Long before man was created; long before the world was created; long before heaven and angels were created, was God still love? That is what Christianity teaches. But the question then becomes, “Well, how could God be love before there was anything to love?” How could God be love before there was an object that could receive that love?” Now you can say that God was not love until He created man, but that is not what the Bible teaches because then that would mean that God had to change at some point; and the scripture is very clear that God never changes. It says in…

Malachi 3:6 (ESV)-- 6 “For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed.

James 1:17 (ESV)-- 17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.

The Triune Nature of God-- So how could God be love from eternity? How could He possibly be love before there was a single created thing? Well the answer lies in the unique Christian doctrine of the Trinity. God is not one person, but three; God The Father, God The Son, and God The Holy Spirit. And so rather than being just one, God is three. God is a community of persons who live in constant communion; a fellowship of love with one another; and have done so from eternity. And so God has always been love in Himself because all three persons of the Trinity have always existed and have each poured themselves out in love to the others.

The Most amazing thing-- Now this is important in answering our first question: Does God need us? Because one of the most amazing things we come to know about our relationship with God is that while we need Him, He does not need us. He is already a community of persons in Himself (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit). He doesn’t need our companionship, our worship, or our prayers. Rather, He is sufficient; He is complete in Himself. So why then did God create us? Well, while our minds cannot even begin to grasp the depth of that love and every aspect of it, we do know one thing about it: IT CANNOT BE CONTAINED. IT CANNOT BE CONTAINED. You see, God’s love is always growing; always expanding. It is so selfless that it is always seeking for new beings to love. Why? Because God’s love is always creative; it always bears fruit. It always desires to expand. And so because God is that kind of love, He wanted to produce more beings who might be recipients of the overflow of His love. God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness...” The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit wanted to allow their love to produce a fruit. And so they created man. And that is the defining characteristic of Biblical love; Godly love always bears fruit.

Humanity the Overflow of God’s Love-- Humanity is the fruit of the overflow of God’s love. And, because Biblical love is always fruitful, so was mankind to be fruitful. Just as God is plural, yet one, so man was to be plural, yet one. Man was to cleave unto His wife and become one flesh. And that relationship was meant to bear fruit. The first command given in all of scripture was to “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, .…” (Gen. 1:28 ESV)

Fruit Now Born Through Pain-- But then of course man sinned. And sin changed everything. Adam and Eve did what they thought was best for themselves rather than what was in God’s interest or each other’s interest. And the result of that sin was that we became separated from God. But it is interesting how the curse immediately affected them. Adam would work the ground, which would no longer easily bear fruit. Eve, who would become the mother of all living, would from this point onward experience pain in childbirth; at the very point of her fruitfulness. God would still allow them to bear fruit; fruit from the ground and fruit from the womb, but that fruitfulness was now limited and associated with pain and toil. And that is what sin does; it always touches us at the point of our fruitfulness.

Love as Christ loved us— Now God could have turned His back on us. He could have said, “You are no longer my children. I am going to leave you to the death that your sin has produced, which will be the end of you.” But He doesn’t. Instead, He begins to show His true Father-ness; the depth of His love for us.

1 John 4:9-10 (ESV)— 9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 

Frequency of the World Love-- Now in verses 7-21 the word “love” appears 27 times. Now there are many words for love in the New Testament. But I looked every one of these up in Greek. They are all agape. Well, what is agape love?

The Boy Rewrites the Story of The Ant and the Grasshopper— I remember reading a story a number of years ago. [The mother of a nine-year-old boy named Mark received a phone call in the middle of the afternoon. It was the teacher from her son’s school.

“Mrs. Smith, something unusual happened today in your son’s third-grade class. Your son did something that surprised me so much that I thought you should know about it immediately. The mother began to grow worried.

The teacher continued, “Nothing like this has happened in all my years of teaching. This morning I was teaching a lesson on creative writing. And as I always do, I tell the story of the ant and the grasshopper:

“The ant works hard all summer and stores up plenty of food. But the grasshopper plays all summer and does no work. Then winter comes. The grasshopper begins to starve because he has no food. So he begs, ‘Please Mr. Ant, you have much food. Please let me eat, too.’”

Then I said, “Boys and girls, your job is to write the ending to the story.”

“Your son, Mark, raised his hand. ‘Teacher, may I draw a picture?’

“ ‘Well, yes, Mark, if you like, you may draw a picture. But first you must write the ending to the story.’

“As in all the years past, most of the students said the ant shared his food through the winter and both the ant and the grasshopper lived. A few children wrote, ‘No, Mr. Grasshopper. You should have worked in the summer. Now I have just enough food for myself.’ So the ant lived and the grasshopper died.

“But your son ended the story in a way different from any other child, ever. He wrote, ‘So the ant gave all of his food to the grasshopper; the grasshopper lived through the winter, but the ant died.’

“And the picture? At the bottom of the page, Mark had drawn three crosses.”]

Defined by the Cross-- You see agape love is the deepest kind of love; it is self-sacrificing love. And it is defined by Christ’s own love demonstrated for us on the cross. And it is a love we are called to as well.

1 John 4:11-12 (ESV)-- 11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

By The Spirit-- Now the only way for us to love self-sacrificially not only those who love us, but even those who wound us (just like Christ loved those and prayed for forgiveness for those who were at that time wounding him on the cross) is by the Holy Spirit. Only the Holy Spirit can enable you to love like that. So if you are loving like that, then that is strong evidence that the Holy Spirit is at work in your life. But the self-giving, sacrificial love of the cross is the standard. And you and I can know that love. But it must begin with your own relationship with Jesus; you have to come to the point where you accept and receive God’s love for you in and through His Son Jesus Christ; and the sacrifice He made for you on a personal level.  Only then can we fully reflect a love that is (like Christ’s) perfect and complete. And though we may never understand why God loves us (at least FULLY), we CAN know that He loves us. Let’s embrace that Love today. Amen.

Lechem Panim #81 "Building on The Rock" (Matthew 7:24-29) Pastor Cameron Ury

Join us as I interview Bennette Ash about her ministry of mentoring those going through storms and what a difference it has made in her life to have Christ as her foundation.

Lechem Panim #80 "Testing The Spirits" (1 John 4:1-6) Pastor Cameron Ury

Greetings! Welcome to the program today. In our study of 1 John, we have been talking about false teachers. John was adamant in writing to the church in Ephesus that they ought to be wary of any false teaching that might lead them astray; teaching that might present a false view of Christ that would affect their faith, their love, and their holiness in the world. 

False Prophecy of Mt. Saint Helens-- Someone once pointed out how [Sadly, those who believe the false teachers will be judged with them. Believing the "experts" can kill you. On March 20, 1980, Mount St. Helens {here} in Washington {not far from where I live}, a supposedly dormant volcano, began to quake and rumble. {Many of you remember it well. And you will remember that} The local population was evacuated to a “safe” distance 8 miles away. Later, the side of the mountain began to bulge. Scientists were not alarmed because past research of volcanoes indicated that they never blew sideways.Then on May 18 the side of Mount St. Helens exploded, shooting tons of debris downhill at the speed of 150 miles per hour. A minute later, the volcano exploded upward with the equivalent power of 500 atomic bombs! Two hundred thirty square miles of forest were devastated and 57 people lost their lives. The scientists had assumed that natural events would continue as before. But they were wrong.] It’s easy to believe the experts, especially when that person is wearing a lab-coat or even a clergy uniform. That is why John says here in verse 1…

1 John 4:1 (ESV)— 1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. 

Test— Now here [The word “test” is a metallurgist’s term used for assaying metals to determine their purity and value.] And so [Christians are to be like the Bereans {in the book of Acts} who, as students of the Word, examined the Scriptures to determine truth and error (Acts 17:11, 12).]

“Chapter and verse!”-- You and I always need to be cultivating the habit of testing every thought; every idea; every teaching against the Word of God to make sure that whatever is claimed to be true matches up with God’s truth. Don’t be afraid to ask questions like, “Hey, I just want to understand you better. Where exactly does it say that in scripture?” My mentor Roman Miller would always tell me how he always lived by the motto, “Chapter and verse, my friend. Chapter and verse!” And then look it up to see if the Bible does in fact say what they say it says; being sure to look at the context it is in. The context of a verse always determines its meaning; therefore we have to always look at the verse in context.

[the spirits…many false prophets. By juxtaposing “spirits” with “false prophets” John reminds his readers that behind human teachers who propagate false doctrine and error are demons inspired by Satan (see notes on 1 Thess. 5:20–22; cf. Acts 20:28–30). Human false prophets and teachers are the physical expressions of demonic, spiritual sources (Matt. 7:15; Mark 13:22).]

Measuring Experiences-- Now when we deal with people’s claimed spiritual experiences, we have to always measure those experiences by the Word of God. John Wesley was a master of this. If anybody claimed to have some kind of special revelation or new insight, he always tested that against the Bible. Does it enhance someone’s Christian experience? Is it workable? And, most of all, is it in accord with Scripture? Now that’s not being judgmental in a bad sense, for Jesus tells us in…

John 7:24 (ESV)-- 24 Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.”

Mr. Red Pen-- I remember when I was in school I had an English professor named Mr. Redmond. But Mr. Redmond had a nickname; Mr. Red Pen; because whenever you handed in a book report and you got it back there would often be more red ink on it than black. He would show with his red pen your grammatical mistakes and what you should have done instead. Now you might have had the best of intentions, but when you got that paper back you realized that as good as your intentions were, those intentions apparently did not match up with the rules of the English language. But what would have happened if I challenged my teacher one day. Nah, “I’m right; you’re wrong. My sentence here is correct because I have had a special revelation that this is in fact the correct way to use the English language.” What would he do? He’d pull out his own revelation; an English grammar book and dictionary, point me to the chapter on sentence construction, and reveal where and how my sentence had gone astray. Well, the same is true when it comes to how we live our Christian experience. If there is an experience that is unfamiliar (like a sentence that just doesn’t look right), look it up in God’s Word to make sure that it fits with the rules and teaching God has already clearly given us in His Word. God’s revelation in your personal experience will always agree with His written revelation, the Bible.

Test The Spirits-- So how do we wade through what is false and find that sure foundation of what is true? [In this section, John gives two doctrinal tests to determine truth from error and false teachers from true teachers.]

What About Jesus?-- First and foremost, the most fundamental way to test every spirit to see if you are dealing with an evil spirit or the Holy Spirit is to examine what that spirit/teaching says about Jesus. For Jesus says (as recorded in John’s Gospel):

John 15:26 (NIV)-- 26 “When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me.

And in verse 2 of our passage today John tells us what the true Spirit of God will testify…

1 John 4:2-3 (ESV)-- 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already.

Dan Brown De-Bunked-- I am sure most of you have heard of Dan Brown, author of such books as The DaVinci Code, an appalling work of fiction. But someone I read this week pointed out that [Brown is right about one thing (and not much more). In the course of Christian history, few events loom larger than the Council of Nicea in 325. When the newly converted Roman Emperor Constantine called bishops from around the world to present-day Turkey, the church had reached a theological crossroads. An Alexandrian theologian named Arius had argued for a small minority that Jesus had undoubtedly been a remarkable leader, but he was not God in flesh. Arius was enough of a problem and persuasive enough as a false teacher to justify dealing with the issue in this formal fashion. Actually, more specifically, Arius claimed that Jesus was a created being. This effectively denied His divinity. This was a departure from what the church had understood and accepted from the beginning. It was what the martyrs had been willing for three centuries to die for. It is absurd to say that Constantine decided to make Jesus a God. In The Da Vinci Code, Brown apparently adopts Arius as his representative for all pre-Nicene Christianity. Referring to the Council of Nicea, Brown claims that "until that moment in history, Jesus was viewed by His followers as a mortal prophet … a great and powerful man, but a man nonetheless."In reality, early Christians overwhelmingly worshipped Jesus Christ as The Son of God, God in the flesh, their risen Savior and Lord. And as for the vote: it was 318-2 – a "real close" vote as Dan Brown claims.]

Always Attacking Jesus-- But that is what these heresies always do. This spirit of false teaching; the spirit of the antichrist always attacks the biblical teachings on Jesus. They will either attack His divinity in saying He is not God, or His humanity in saying He is not man. He is and must be both. By contrast, those who are true followers of Christ embrace the truth of Christ revealed in His word. If they are truly Spirit-filled people, then they will agree with what the Holy Spirit has revealed about Christ through the writers of scripture.

1 John 4:4 (ESV)— 4 Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. 

God is Stronger-- Now that is encouraging to me because, honestly [It is easy to be frightened by the wickedness we see all around us and to be overwhelmed by the problems we face.] [Evil is obviously much stronger than we are. John assures us, however, that God is even stronger {than evil}. He will conquer all evil—and his Spirit and his Word live in our heart!] We don’t have to be afraid because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. Now the second test John gives is we fin in verses 5-6.

1 John 4:5-6 (ESV)-- 5 They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them. 6 We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

Who The World Likes to Hear-- [False teachers are popular with the world because, like the false prophets of the Old Testament, they tell people what they want to hear. John warns that Christians who faithfully teach God’s Word will not win any popularity contests in the world. People don’t want to hear their sins denounced; they don’t want to listen to demands that they change their behavior. A false teacher will be well received by non-Christians.] 

But we will not always be. And yet when we offer people truth (even when they may not want to hear it at the time), it will often take root and slowly move them closer to Jesus. Now you may have to plant and water for years before you see any fruit. But God will reward your efforts. It is merely up to us to be that voice that is willing to speak truth into a person’s life at the right time and in the right way; let me repeat that: at the right time and in the right way. This week, commit to stand for truth in a deeper way. And let people be changed by the truth they experience in and through you and me. Let us ask the Lord for grace to help us to be revealers of truth to people in order that they might come to know He who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Amen.

Lechem Panim #79 "Right Judgment" (1 John 4:1) Pastor Cameron Ury

Greetings! Welcome to the program. We’ve been taking a look at the epistle of 1 John. And this epistle centers around helping believers to recognize false teachers and how to be sure that they themselves are in Christ.

Three Tests-- And so John gives three vital tests that can be used to determine whether or not someone is a true believer. First, does the person hold to sound doctrine? Do they believe the essentials regarding Jesus, man, sin, atonement, etc? Secondly, are they living lives that are moral in keeping with God’s commandments? This is a major theme in 1 John; the fact that the Christian is one who lives a life that is holy, demonstrating consistent victory over sin and a death to their old way of life. And thirdly, is the love of Christ manifest in that person’s heart and life? Do they demonstrate a love for God and a love for people that is (like Christ’s) self-sacrificing?

Spirals-- Now the outline of 1 John is kind of like a spiral. He touches on each of these topics and then circles back to them multiple times, taking us a little deeper each time. And so in the beginning of chapter 4 he circles back to the importance of doctrine. Let’s go ahead and look together at…

1 John 4:1 (ESV) Test the Spirits-- 1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.

The Gullible Cop— Not long ago I ran across an interesting story. [A cop pulled a guy over for speeding at which time the following conversation was exchanged:
Cop: May I see your driver's license?
Driver: Sorry, I don't have one. It was suspended when I got my 5th DUI.
Cop: May I see the owner's card for the vehicle?
Driver: It's not my vehicle. I stole it.
Cop: Are you telling me this is a stolen car?
Driver: That's right. Mind you, now that I think of it, I believe I did see the owner's card in the glove box when I was putting my gun in there.
Cop: There's a gun in the glove box?
Driver: Yep. I put it there after I shot and killed the woman who owns this car. Then I stuffed her in the trunk.
Cop: There's a BODY in the TRUNK?!?
Driver: Yes, sir.
When the cop heard this, he immediately called his captain. Within minutes, the car was surrounded by police and the captain approached the driver so he could handle the tense situation:
Captain: Sir, may I see your driver's license?
Driver: Certainly. Here it is. (It was a valid license.)
Captain: Sir, who owns this car?
Driver: I do, officer. Here's the owner's card. (The driver owned the car.)
Captain: Sir, slowly open your glove box so I can see if there's a gun in it.
Driver: Yes, sir, but there isn't a gun in it. (There was nothing in the glove box.)
Captain: Would you mind opening your trunk? I've been informed you said there's a body in it.
Driver: No problem, officer. (The trunk is opened and there is no body.)
Captain: Sir, I don't understand any of this. The officer who pulled you over said you told him you did not have a license, you had stolen the car, you had a gun in the glove box and there was a dead body in the trunk.
Driver: And I'll bet he told you I was speeding too!]

Ideas Have Consequences-- The gullibility of others can be used in many devious ways. And the same is true in our day and age; gullibility can be a powerful tool of the enemy. We live in a world that is filled with all kinds of conflicting ideas and different belief systems. False ideologies; false teachings are very dangerous because “Ideas have consequences.” What we think about things matters, because it affects the way we live our lives. John talks a lot about walking in light and walking in love. But he also emphasizes just as much the importance of walking in the Truth. We have to be sure to expel false ideas and adopt the good ideas. But how do we do that? May it involve our having to tell people (at times) that what they believe (although it may be well-intentioned) is false? And if so, isn’t that being judgmental?

The Angry Bouncer-- Many years ago I was part of a Christian group that ministered to men and women coming in and out of strip clubs. And from outside the parking lot, we were trying to encourage people to find a better path of fulfillment and were sharing with them the hope of Christ. Now this was difficult to do because the owners were often set against us. And I remember one night in particular; one of the workers came out and began yelling at us; preaching at us irrately, saying “Don’t you know the Bible says ‘Do not judge.’”! You see, we were the hateful, judgmental Christians who were just trying to make people feel guilty. Now we weren’t there to protest (we didn’t have signs or anything like that), but were trying to persuade the men and women going in and out to seek Christ rather than to seek fulfillment in that kind of sinful place.

Jesus Mis-quoted-- But let me ask you, “Does the scripture really teach that we are not to confront the evil in other people?” The passage that I hear so often quoted regarding this message is…

Luke 6:37 (NIV)-- 37 “Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.

We Can’t Tell People They are in Sin?-- And many take this to mean that you and I are not in any position to tell anybody they are wrong or that they are going to hell. Why? Well, they quote: 

Luke 6:41-42a (NIV)-- 41 “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 42 How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye?

Are We All Sinful?-- And they interpret this to mean that we don’t judge because we are all sinful people. But that is not what Jesus is saying at all. In fact, like we’ve said before, the word Christian literally means “little Christ”. Therefore for a Christian to be sinful (full of sin) is a contradiction in terms; because Christ was never full of sin. That is why John argues so strongly in his first epistle about how our victory over sin is one of the chief ways we can know that we are Christians. He says in…

1 John 3:6-7 (ESV)-- 6 No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him.

Called To Be Holy-- You see, we are called to be a holy people; separate from sin; like Christ was. The issue Christ is talking about here isn’t with our telling sinful people what they are doing is wrong; the issue is condemning people for the very sins we ourselves are guilty of. Notice how Romans 2:1 supports that interpretation…

Romans 2:1 (NIV)– 1 You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things.

Hypocrisy the Real Issue-- So the issue, we see, is really with hypocrisy, not recognizing sin in another person. The last part of Jesus’ teaching here (about the plank), which is often overlooked, makes this abundantly clear. Jesus says…

Luke 6:41-42b (NIV)-- You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

We Are to Remove the Speck-- You see, we are called to help remove the speck, but we must be careful not to be guilty of committing the very sins we are pointing out in the lives of others. But we are supposed to correct somebody when we see that they are going astray. You need to tell them when and how they are wrong so that they can correct their ways, repent, and get right with God. We are to be ambassadors of truth, yet always in a respectful way.

Adrian Rogers Quote-- [Listen to Adrian Rogers: “It is better to be divided by truth than to be united in error. It is better to speak the truth that hurts and then heals, than falsehood that comforts and then kills. It is not love and it is not friendship if we fail to declare the whole counsel of God. It is better to be hated for telling the truth than to be loved for telling a lie. It is impossible to find anyone in the Bible who was a power for God who did not have enemies and was not hated. It’s better to stand alone with the truth than to be wrong with a multitude. It is better to ultimately succeed with truth than to temporarily succeed with a lie.”]

​Now John is very careful to connect in this epistle the concepts of truth and love. You have to stand for truth unequivocally, but it is not because you simply want to impose your ideology on somebody else in order to show them that you are right and they are wrong. No, it is because you know the barren wasteland that sin produces in the human heart. The emptiness; the brokenness. You know where the false paths lead. As a pastor, all throughout my ministry in EVERY church I have pastored, there have always been at least one or two people that I knew who were on the path to utter destruction. One young man I remember in particular had been strung out on drugs for an extended period of time; and I remember sitting with him in an institution one day, telling him if he ever wanted to be free (which he did) he had to surrender to Jesus and receive his help if ever he was to conquer his addiction. And that would mean a change of environment; a change of friends; a complete forsaking of all those things that continually led him astray. I had to confront and lead HIM to confront those areas in his life that were causing him to fall. And he eventually did and completely turned his life around. The reason we stand for truth is because we stand for Jesus; knowing that when surrender to Him comes into the lives of people, their lives are going to explode with the joy of experiencing liberation from sin as they are literally going to be brought from death to life. I have seen it over and over again. To stand for truth is not to be a bigot, but to be an agent of change in somebody’s life; not condemning, but coming alongside of them to help empower them to choose life over death. You will not always succeed in that, as not everyone is willing to make that choice. But if you are willing to speak truth in love, God can use you in amazing way. And so let us commit to be those voices that carry that hope found in surrender to Jesus Christ. Amen.

Lechem Panim #78 "Children of God" (1 John 3:1-24) Pastor Cameron Ury

Greetings! Welcome to Lechem Panim. We come in our study of 1 John to chapter 3. In this chapter John writes about that relationship we have with God (IN Christ) as His children and how that contrasts with those who are not IN Christ; who are called children of the devil (v.10). And we will see in this chapter an interesting comparison between those children of God and the children of the devil and how we can easily tell the difference between them. Look with me at…

1 John 3:1a (ESV)— 1 See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.

Children of God— Now I love how John opens chapter 3. He opens with a call for us to ponder what an amazing thing it is that the God of the Cosmos; the Creator of the Universe; the One who is Holy; the One who is Transcendent; cares about each and every one of us, formed from the dust of the earth as His children. We talked not long ago about Logos (meaning Word), the Greek concept of a divine force-like ordering principle of the Universe. But what John enjoys pointing out, especially in the prologue of his Gospel, is that that Logos (that Word) became flesh and dwelt among us so that He might bring us into the family of God. Clearly John had a very clear understanding that Jesus is the divine ordering principle of the universe. And I don’t think John ever could get over that; that he broke bread; ate and drank and walked with his Creator. And John, in all of His writings it seems, wants to point us to the amazing glory of Christ and to the amazing reality that we have been invited by God into His family. Now John says in…

1 John 3:1b-3 (ESV)— The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears[a] we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. 3 And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.

William Seeks to Emulate Me-- When my son William was very young, I remember one time he got up from his nap. And he wanted me to hold him. And I tried to put him down, but he wouldn’t have it. He wanted to be held, so I held him. But I am finding that in everything I do, my son wants to be right there with me and be a part of it. I can hardly go anywhere without him tagging very close behind, eager to share in whatever I’m doing. But he always wants to do what I’m doing. Once I remember doing a handstand against a wall just to entertain him. But seeing me do it was not enough. Immediately afterwards he put his head on the floor and attempted to himself perform a handstand.

John and Us Seek to Emulate Christ-- Well that is what John is talking about in verse 3. If we are children of God, then we will want to be like Christ. He says: 3 And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure. For John, holiness became not just doing the right thing because that is what God wanted, but because he saw his Lord live a life of holiness and he saw the benefit. And he wanted to live that kind of life too as a child of God. But then you have this contrast with those who are not children of God. John says…

1 John 3:4-9 (ESV)— 4 Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. (Now keep in mind the man of lawlessness we talked about last week.) 5 You know that he appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. 6 No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. 7 Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. 8 Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. 9 No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's[a] seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God.

Bearing the Characteristics of Our Father-- Now that is a pretty powerful statement: cannotkeep on sinning,. Why? for God’s seed abides in him; Now seed here does not mean plant seed. Rather [The picture is of human reproduction, in which the sperm (the Greek for “seed is sperma) bears the life principle and transfers the paternal characteristics.] Just as our children bear much of the characteristics from their fathers (and mothers too), so also we bear the characteristics of our Heavenly Father. 

In Our Likeness-- Now my son looks and acts very much like me. Sometimes it drives my wife crazy because of how much people say he looks like me. In many ways he is almost a carbon copy. His feistiness and stubbornness he gets from her, but the rest is from me. But he is like me because he is my child. And you can really see a parent in many ways by watching their child. 
    Now there are certain characteristics we look for in those who claim to be children of God. And John focuses on of course holiness, but even more specifically on how that holiness is lived out in perfect love of one another…

1 John 3:10-11 (ESV)— 10 By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother. 11 For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.

Cain and Abel— So love and hatred is what distinguishes the true child of God from the false one. And John gives us a specific example in the first example of hatred in all of scripture; the story of Cain and Abel…

1 John 3:12 (ESV)— 12 We should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother's righteous.

Why the World Hates Us-- Now John’s point here is to show why we ourselves are hated by the world. Just like Abel and Cain (though they shared the same physical parents) did not share the same spiritual parent. Abel was a child of God and Cain was a child of Satan. So while we love our brothers (and especially those lost in sin), they, the hateful brothers (the World) rejects us. Why? Because their deeds are evil.

1 John 3:13-15 (ESV)— 13 Do not be surprised, brothers,[a] that the world hates you. 14 We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death. 15 Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

So we understand that it is love that separates the believer from the unbeliever, the Child of God from the child of the devil; but how do we recognize that kind of love? If that is the single most important defining characteristic of a child of God, then it is important we have a definition; an explanation of what that kind of love is and looks like. John tells us in verse…

1 John 3:16-18 (ESV)-- 16 By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. 17 But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him? 18 Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.

Laying Our Lives Down For Each Other-- Wow, talk about application; a very practical laying out of what Jesus had taught in John 15 and how to apply it. And what John is talking about here is compassionate ministry; providing for the needs of another person. But the standard John sets isn’t to just give of your possessions. No, we are to emulate the love of Christ. What does that love look like? Verse 16: 16 By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us,… You and I are called to lay down our lives for one another; to live lives of sacrificial love that mirrors the same kind of love Christ first showed us.

My Doubt-- When I was younger I always wrestled with the issue of whether or not I was saved. Some people have a healthy understanding of guilt; mine was a bit unhealthy and in many ways I had an over-sensitive conscience. Not to say I never did anything wrong, but I was always worried about my salvation. And that worry is not foreign to many believers. And John here wants to lay some of that worry to rest. And he does so by pointing back to whether we bear the likeness of the One we have received, Jesus Christ; if we bear the marks of being true children of God: whether we are living lives free of sin and whether or not we have manifested in our lives the sacrificial love of God. If those things are there, then we are truly His children.

1 John 3:19-24 (ESV)-- 19 By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him; 20 for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything. (In other words, God is greater than our anxiety and has the complete perspective on our lives. Holiness of heart and life and an active love of others is strong evidence that we are in fact His children.) 21 Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God; 22 and whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him. 23 And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. 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.

“by the Spirit”-- And by the Spirit doesn’t mean we just somehow feel saved in our spirit. Rather, it means that because we see God’s work of transformation being worked out in our lives that we know God’s Spirit dwells with us. We know He is there because there is evidence He is there. We are being made more like Christ. Like a child is growing more and more into the likeness of it’s parent, so we are growing more and more into the likeness of our Heavenly Father.

​And so in our day to day lives we need to ask ourselves, “Do we bear the characteristics of our Father in heaven? Are we like Christ? Are we holy like Him? Are we loving like He is loving? Do we live sacrificially?” It is that kind of love that John says identifies us as Children of God. Let us live in that love and commit to reflect that love we have been given upon a world that needs to be touched by it. Amen.