Bread of His Presence

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.

Lechem Panim #77 "The Fruit of An Abiding Life" (1 John 2:28-29) Pastor Cameron Ury

Greetings! Welcome to Lechem Panim. We’ve been taking a look at the epistle of 1 John. And last week we were in the middle of chapter two, where John warns about the coming anti-Christ; the man of Lawlessness; that great enemy of Christ, but also about the anti-Christ’s who are already in the world, even at that time, infiltrating the Church and spreading false teaching. And so John wants to show his readers how to spot the false teacher; the false Christian. 

PAWN STARS— One of my favorite shows I used to like to watch is a show on History Channel called Pawn (that's P.A.W.N) stars. This show centers around four individuals who run a pawn shop in Las Vegas. Now customers come into this pawn shop bringing all kinds of memorabilia to sell and these four individuals reveal a little about the history of each artifact and tell you if it is authentic or not. If it is authentic they will try to buy the artifact at a cheaper cost and sell it in their Pawn shop. But the failure or success of their business rests on their ability to decipher what is authentic and what is not; what has value and what does not.

Bike made to look old— Some time ago I was watching and this lady brought in this old, beat up bicycle from the 30's or 40's. She said it was authentic and it seemed to be so. But on closer inspection Rick (one these managers) began to see some things that did not seem right. A couple of pieces on the bike weren't in use until decades after that time period. Also, while the pedals turned, there were no chains or even a place for chains. It turns out that the bike was a replica (never meant to be ridden) that had been artificially aged to look like a rare, older bicycle. It was next to worthless.

Diamonds sold on the street-- Perhaps one of the most fascinating segments of the show when Rick was talking about diamonds and how to tell the real ones from the fakes: (1) First of all, a man is not going to sell you a genuine diamond on the street for $50 if he can go down the street and sell it for $2000 at a diamond store where they can verify its authenticity. (2) Secondly, Real diamonds do not have that cotton shape to them that many of the imitation ones do. (3) Thirdly, They reflect the light better than imitation diamonds. (4) Fourthly, if you take a piece of fine sandpaper and rub it on the diamond, it will scratch and crumble a fake diamond, but will not touch a real one. (5) Lastly, feel the rim around the diamond. Because diamonds cannot be cut smoothly, but must rather be cut jaggedly, if the rim of the diamond is smooth, it is a fake.

Now in addition to helping his readers to understand how to know when a teacher is not of the true faith; not in Christ, John also wants to help them to know and have assurance that they themselves are in Christ. And to do that we must examine ourselves.

2 Corinthians 13:5 (ESV)-- 5 Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!

And so that is what much of chapter 3 centers on. Now chapter 2 ends with John’s saying… 

1 John 2:28a (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.

Now I want you to turn to John 15 with me for a moment; because John isn’t pulling this word “abide” out of a vacuum, but is rather reminding his readers of something Jesus Himself had said. Jesus had said in…

John 15:4-11 (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. 5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. 7 If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. 9 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. 10 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. 11 These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.

Abide— One scholar I read explained, saying […this word abide means "live." We live in Christ and Christ lives in us. This relationship is often called "mutual indwelling." Christ lives in us and we live in Christ, so life flows from one to the other. One is to abide in him where his presence permeates my life and somehow he includes me in him. The best example we have of this kind of relationship is the relationship of marriage. Once two have "become one flesh" you can't separate the two. When you talk about one you have to talk about the other. As marriage is the grafting of two people together, so being a true disciple of Christ means we are to be grafted into Him. Only THEN can we be fruitful. The life apart from Him will bear nothing. If there is anything in our lives outside of our abiding in Him, it will come to nothing. Is there anything in you outside of Christ's abiding presence in your life? Is it your attitude; your anger; your lust; your greed; your jealousy? If we have any of these things in our lives, our ministries will not just be smaller or less affective. Jesus says "NO, YOU WILL HAVE NO MINISTRY! .......Apart from me there is nothing!!!!!!)]

Now this word, "abide," is a dominant word in the Gospel of John and is repeated often. 17 of the 18 times the word "abide" occurs in the New Testament are from either the Gospel or Epistles of John. Where do we abide? Jesus says abide "in me." Many scholars think that the heart of Johannine theology (a fancy way of saying "The Theology of John" are the words "in me" or "in him." Within the Gospel of John alone there are 23 uses of "in me" and 21 uses of "in him.

You Must Abide— So what is Jesus trying to say here? He is trying to say that "without me you can do NOTHING” I am the source of your salvation! I am the source of your transformation (your pruning, as it were, as we see in verse 2)! If you want to bear fruit both in your life and in the lives of others, you must remain IN ME!!!............you MUST remain....in me.”

What Does It Mean to Abide?— Now I read this passage numerous times over the years, but never quite understood what Jesus was talking about. I read the words "abide in me" but didn't really understand what Jesus meant. I wondered, is it my making use of the spiritual disciplines?, such as scripture reading and memorization, prayer, fasting, and going to church? What does Jesus mean by abiding in him? I found myself wondering to Jesus, "I WANT to be that branch that is firmly grafted into you, but what does that mean?" But then I kept reading. Look at verse 9:

John 15:9-10 (ESV)-- 9 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. 10 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. {And John says a similar thing in…}

1 John 2:29 (ESV)-- 29 If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him.

Obedience-- Ah, suddenly the passage began to make sense to me. So it is OBEDIENCE that Jesus is looking for. "Without obedience there is no abiding, without abiding there is no fruit.” Well, that sounds good, but obedience to what specifically? What kind of obedience is Jesus looking for in this passage? It is interesting that in my mind I immediately started to think legalistically, wondering what Law it was that I needed to follow. But then Jesus goes on in verse 12: 12 “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.

Ok, Jesus, I can do that. I mean I love my family; I love my wife. But Jesus says, "But Cameron, not just any kind of love. Listen..."

13 Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.

Whoa...this may not seem too serious, but remember that Jesus never once, anywhere in scripture asks His disciples to do anything which He is not first willing to do Himself. You see....just a few chapters later HE lays his life down for THEM. 

​Sacrificial Love-- So we see here that this is not some kind of wishy-washy, merely emotional kind of love that our culture is trying to shove down our throats. No it is the kind of love that is only symbolized by the sacrifice manifested on the cross; a pure and perfect love that says "I love you Jesus, and because I love you, I am willing to lay my life down for you, your kingdom, and your people. That is what it means to abide in Christ. And John is very careful to keep this concept central in His writings because our salvation is IN Jesus Christ. To know Christ; to abide in Him is to know and abide in your salvation. And what shields us from hell is not a decision we made one time at an altar, but a continual abiding IN His presence. Because He IS our salvation. You can’t talk about heaven without salvation; and you can’t talk about salvation apart from Jesus Christ; because that is who He is. He IS life. He IS love. That is why salvation and love are never (for the Christian) abstract theological or emotional concepts. No, they are intimately personal because they are wrapped up in and defined by the personhood of Jesus. And just like a husband may take on some of the character traits of his wife and vice versa, so also we (when we abide in Christ) we become like Him in His character. We become more loving, we become filled with truth. That is what comes from fellowship with Jesus. And so I want to encourage you today to embrace the abiding life. Don’t settle for simply knowing about Jesus; transformation doesn’t happen at that level. They key to a transformed, vibrant life is one in which we abide in a continual communion with our Savior. Apart from that there is nothing. Everything begins in that life-giving relationship. And if you don’t have that relationship, I encourage you to start one today. Say to Jesus, “Jesus, please help me to belong to you in that kind of relationship.” And He will honor that requests. Let us do that today. Amen.

Lechem Panim #76 "Recognizing False Teachers" (1 John 2:19-27) Pastor Cameron Ury

Greetings! Welcome to Lechem Panim. Last week, in our study of 1 John, we talked about what John means by his saying that we are living in the last hour, and what the nature is of the Antichrist who is to come and the many antichrists he says are already in the world. These antichrists (he says) are false teachers who lead people astray by teaching false doctrine; and so we talked about the importance of knowing the Word of God so that we might recognize when somebody (however well-intentioned) might be twisting it. And so we come to verse 19, which we will look at in a moment.

Overwhelming Heresies-- But first I must say that for anybody who has ever studied all the various heresies of the church, you know how complicated and confusing many of them can be. And then you have the religious cults like Jehovah's Witness and Mormonism, which are mind-boggling in their complexity and how they subtly take giant leaps away from scripture. Even my uncle, who taught systematic theology for about two decades, said on his radio show that sometimes he has to go back and look at those cults once in a while to remind himself of particular details because of just how complicated some of them can be. But how do you and I best protect ourselves against falling into any of these heresies?

Good Theology vs. No Theology-- Now some people say that because bad theology can lead you astray, it's better not to deal with all that theology stuff. But, as a wise person once said, the answer to bad theology isn’t no theology, but good theology. It is only good theology that can keep bad knowledge at bay. And that means that you and must be students of the Word. 

The Loss of Bible Studies-- But one of the Great victories of Satan in our churches in America today is the loss of the spiritual education of the members of the Church; where they are being taught sound doctrine and how to get in to and study the Word of God for themselves. Therefore, the church in America is largely Biblically illiterate. I remember a conversation with a Christian young man that had grown up in Church. I began talking with him about the book of Ruth and he didn’t know who Ruth was. And I remember just how dumbfounded I was. And I want to say that that is why we are seeing more and more sin and heresy entering into the church. The Church is forgetting more and more of God’s Word because it is not being taught to our people. And because of that we are becoming more and more vulnerable to the Antichrist who is coming and the antichrists that are already here (as John says here in verse 2).

“The Man of Lawlessness” and “The Beast”— Now that is interesting to me because the antichrist is given a different name in 2 Thessalonians 2:3, where he is called "the man of lawlessness”. In other words, he is a man who has disregarded the Law of God. And therefore, the more we know the Law of God; His Word; the more easily we will be able to spot him and other false teachers and protect our churches from falling into sin.

Many antichrists— Now (as we have said before) in addition to the Antichrist, John also mentions the "many antichrists” who have already come. And these are false teachers who were leading God’s people astray. And John gives us some of their characteristics by which they can be recognized:

They Leave— First, we see that they leave the Church.

​1 John 2:19 (ESV)-- 19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us. 

Light & Darkness Mutually Exclusive-- And as we talked about recently light cannot abide with darkness; they are mutually exclusive; one must expel the other. And, in this case we see that these false teachers leave the church. [In John’s day they left the church because they had nothing in common with believers (v. 19).]

1 John 2:20-21 (ESV)-- 20 But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all have knowledge. 21 I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and because no lie is of the truth. 

They Deny Jesus is the Christ— Secondly, we see that they deny the incarnation (that God became flesh) and that Jesus is the divine Christ. And in that they are revealed to be liars and deceivers.

1 John 2:22-23 (ESV)-- 22 Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son. 23 No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also. 

The Gnostics— [The antichrists referred to in John’s letter were the early Gnostics.] And the fundamental teaching of Gnosticism is that our bodies of flesh and all that is physical, is evil; it is sinful. Only that which is entirely spirit is good. That is why they argue that God is completely good; for the very reason that He is entirely spirit. Now we know this teaching of all flesh being sinful and all that is spiritual being good is false because God created a physical world and called it good and also because Jesus himself had a physical body; but that didn’t make Him sinful. Also, what about demons? They are completely spirit and yet could you possibly consider them good? Obviously not.

Salvation is the escape from the body by special knowledge— But because of this whole flesh vs. spirit dualism they believe in, they believe that salvation is not a transformation or regeneration of the spirit, but an escape of our spirits (which are good) from our bodies (which, because they are physical, are said to be evil). So [Salvation is the escape from the body, achieved not by faith in Christ but by special knowledge (the Greek word for “knowledge” is gnosis, hence Gnosticism).] And one branch of this heresy (the Epicureans) taught that [since matter—and not the breaking of God’s law (1Jn 3:4)—was considered evil, breaking his law was of no moral consequence.] They taught that what is done in the flesh doesn’t really matter because the spirit is going to leave the flesh anyway. And that is a teaching that obviously goes against the clear teaching of scripture.

Christ’s Humanity Denied-- Now we believe that Jesus was both fully God and fully man. However, the Gnostics (because of their belief that flesh was evil and spirit good) found it necessary to deny Jesus’ humanity. And they did this in either one of two ways. [(1) Some said that Christ only seemed to have a body, a view called Docetism, from the Greek dokeo (“to seem”), and (2) others said that the divine Christ joined the man Jesus at baptism and left him before he died, a view called Cerinthianism, after its most prominent spokesman, Cerinthus. This view is the background of much of 1 John (see 1:1; 2:22; 4:2-3).] So we can see why John wants to make sure that they hold fast to the foundational doctrine that Jesus was both fully God and fully man, that He became incarnate and remains incarnate, and that He died and rose again. This is why John says in…

1 John 2:24-25 (ESV)-- 24 Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you too will abide in the Son and in the Father. 25 And this is the promise that he made to us—eternal life.

The Gnostic Background-- Now we may talk about Gnosticism more as we move through this epistle, but for now we just need to understand that this heresy was in the background of much of the early church and (particularly) this epistle of 1 John. And this will help to shed light on how we interpret certain verses. For example, look at the next one, which can be really confusing if we don’t understand the context…

1 John 2:26-27 (ESV)-- 26 I write these things to you about those who are trying to deceive you. 27 But the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no lie—just as it has taught you, abide in him.

Now this verse says that we do not need teachers or pastors or any form of education? Is that what John is saying? Being a pastor and a teacher, obviously not.

You do not need anyone to teach you— … [Since the Bible constantly advocates teaching…, John is not ruling out human teachers. At the time when he wrote, however, Gnostic teachers were insisting that the teaching of the apostles was to be supplemented with the “higher knowledge” that they (the Gnostics) claimed to possess. John’s response was that what the readers were taught under the Spirit’s ministry through the apostles not only was adequate but was the only reliable truth.] [The teaching ministry of the Holy Spirit (what is commonly called illumination) does not involve revelation of new truth or the explanation of all difficult passages of Scripture to our satisfaction. Rather, it is the development of the capacity to appreciate and appropriate God’s truth already revealed—making the Bible meaningful in thought and daily living.] So the Holy Spirit helps you to understand what has already been revealed. And if you ever meet somebody who says they have had a revelation of some new truth, you better watch out for them, because they’re lying to you; or are deceived.

​Now what does this all mean for you and for me? It means we have to value truth; know truth; and walk in truth. Well, how do we do that? By getting our theology right? That’s part of it. Knowing the Word of God, which means spending time in the Word of God and prayerfully seeking the Holy Spirit’s guidance to help you to understand it. But I also want to remind you that truth is not an abstraction. Truth is person. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life (Jn 14:6). And therefore if you want a life that makes sense; a life that is solid; it has to begin with a relationship with Jesus and culminate in a constant communion with Him in which He is teaching and growing you into a Christ-filled (and therefore Truth-filled person). And that is why I want to encourage you today to start an ongoing conversation with Him today. Draw near to the He who is the Truth this week. And let Him draw you near to Him. May you commune with Him day by day, hour by hour, and minute by minute. And may He in every way be your solid foundation. Amen.

Lechem Panim #75 "Standing on Truth" (1 John 2:18) Pastor Cameron Ury

Greetings! Welcome to Lechem Panim. We are continuing today our study of the epistle of 1 John, a book that is centered on helping us to be real, authentic Christians. And John writes in…

1 John 2:18 (ESV)-- 18 Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour.

[THE CAR ACCIDENT-- A woman and a man got into a really bad car accident. Both cars are totaled, but luckily no one was hurt.
After they crawled out of their cars, the woman said, "Wow, just look at our cars! They are destroyed. Fortunately, we aren't hurt. This must be a sign from God that we should meet and be friends and live together in peace for the rest of our days."
The man replied, "I agree with you completely. This must be a sign from God!
The woman continued, "And look at this, here's another miracle.... My car is completely ruined but this bottle of wine didn't break. It's a sign that God wants us to drink this wine and celebrate our good fortune." Then she handed the bottle to the man. The man agreed, opened the bottle and drank half, and then handed it back to the woman.
The woman takes the bottle, immediately puts the cap back on, and handed it back to the man. The man asked, "Aren't you having any?"
The woman replied, "No. I think I'll just wait for the police”] Sometimes we can be a little too trusting of people. A little discernment would no doubt have helped that gentleman. It is an important skill to learn how to tell the good people from the bad people. And though we don’t like to put labels on people, there are people we need to watch out for; some who could do us physical harm and some who could do us spiritual harm. And it is the latter that John expresses concern about in this epistle. There had been false Christians in the Church who had been perpetuating false doctrine. And people were being deceived. And today we still struggle with this as well; as there are numerous false teachers and heresies seeking to infiltrate the Church. And it’s not that hard to be deceived, especially in our day and age where the mantra is “It doesn’t really matter what you believe as long as you believe it with sincerity.”

Construction Not Relative— I have known people in construction. What would happen if one day one of their employees was supposed to bring them an 8 foot by 12 foot board and their employee brings instead a 5 foot by 11 foot board. Well, they would complain. But the employee says, “They’re the same thing.”
“No they aren’t!”
“Well, that’s your opinion. They’re the same to me.”
That employee wouldn’t last long, would he? Why? Because there are absolute, mathematical and geometrical truths associated with construction that are true whether you believe them or not!!! And if you have an architect who doesn’t understand that, you better not have him working on your house!

Music Not Relative— Or let’s say that you and your friend are listening to music together in the car. And you say to your friend, “Hey, lets play a little smooth Jazz” and he starts playing a Beach Boys song.
“What are playing?”
“Beach Boys?”
“But that isn’t Jazz!”
“Well, it is for me.” 
“You can’t make Jazz whatever you want it to be!”
And your friend says, “Come on man, don’t try to make me conform to what you think is or isn’t Jazz. Let me make up my own mind.”

Relativism Doesn’t Work in ANY Field— You see, my point is that Relativism doesn’t work in ANY field or occupation. So why then do we think it works when it comes to choosing a religion?

Sincerity of Beliefs-- [It is impossible to live a real life by believing lies. God has warned the church family (“little children”) about the conflict between light and darkness (1 John 1:1—2:6) and between love and hatred (2:7–17). Now He warns them about a third conflict: the conflict between truth and error. It is not enough for a believer to walk in the light and to walk in love; he must also walk in truth.] And so today our passage very much centers on truth. And John uses [two special terms: “the last time {(or hour)}” and “antichrist.” Both terms make it clear that Christians are living in an hour of crisis and must guard against the errors of the enemy.] It says in…

1 John 2:18a (ESV)-- 18 Children, it is the last hour,

What are the last days?— Now whenever you see phrases like “the last hour” or “the last days”, it is referring to the time between Jesus’ death and resurrection and His second coming; that time in which you and I currently live and dwell as we wait for the return of Christ and the culmination of His kingdom. And the phrases [“The last hour” or “the last times” are phrases that describe a kind of time, not a duration of time.] They describe a time of crisis. And [Christians have always been living in “the last time”—in crisis days.] Days when false teaching pervades. They began during the days of John and has been intensifying ever since as false teaching continues to grow. Now how do we know that this is the last hour? Look at the second half of verse 18…

1 John 2:18b (ESV)-- and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour. 

Anti-Christ-- Now [The second term, “antichrist,” is used in the Bible only by John (1 John 2:18, 22; 4:3; 2 John 7). It describes three things: (1) a spirit in the world that opposes or denies Christ; (2) the false teachers who embody this spirit; and (3) a person who will head up the final world rebellion against Christ. The “spirit of antichrist” (1 John 4:3) has been in the world since Satan declared war on God (see Gen. 3). The “spirit of antichrist” is behind every false doctrine and every “religious” substitute for the realities Christians have in Christ.] In fact “substitute” or “counterfeit” are good terms to think about in relation to this word “anti-Christ” because [anti- actually has a dual meaning. It can mean, in the Greek, both “against” Christ and “instead of” Christ. Satan in his frenzy is fighting Christ and His eternal truth, and he is substituting his counterfeits for the realities found only in our Lord Jesus.]

[THE GORILLA JOB— {There is a story about an incident at a zoo that has become infamous. The zoo’s} …famous Gorilla, Gabe, died unexpectedly and he had been one of the biggest attractions – especially for the children.
Well, since the busy season for the zoo was just around the corner and they did not have time to get a new gorilla, one of the zookeepers came up with this idea. They had one of the other zookeepers dress up in a complete gorilla outfit and pretend to be Gabe. This zookeeper really took to this new job and he got to be quite good at swinging from the branches, eating bananas and was fooling everyone.
One day, however, he was a bit too enthusiastic. He ended up swinging a bit higher than expected and let go at the wrong time.  He ended up sailing out of his cage and directly into the cage of the lion. He gulped and was barely able to squeak out a tiny “help!”
The lion sauntered over to him, got really close and whispered back. “Shut up, or we will both lose our jobs!”] Apparently there are was more play-acting going on than was originally supposed. And the same is true nowadays. And more dangerous than a man in lion’s suit is a wolf in sheep’s clothing; a person pretending to be an orthodox Christian while all the time trying to woo people away from a Biblical worldview, and especially a Biblical view of Jesus Christ. But that is what was going on in John’s time.

False Teachers— So he implores his readers to watch out for false teachers; for anti-Christs. They were around in John's day; they are very present and real in ours; and if we are not careful, they can very easily get us off track.

FAKE MONEY MAGIC TRICK— Now having been a magician/illusionist for most of my life, I have been in the business of fooling people. I have never practiced real magic or dabbled in any dark stuff; just tricks. But I know about smoke and mirrors, gimmicked coins and cards, hidden threads, and that kind of thing. Some of these props costed me a pretty penny (and a few ugly ones two). I had a fifty-cent piece that costed me close to thirty dollars that was engineered to house a copper coin secretly inside. The copper coin had the false back of a fifty-cent piece; so when the fifty cent piece (which was just a shell of the front of a fifty-cent piece) was placed over the copper coin; the two would join firmly together into one, looking like a whole fifty-cent piece. And it was meant to be handed out for examination after the illusion. And so it was designed perfectly to look like an ordinary half-dollar. But if you know what to look for, you can tell something is wrong with it. The front may at times not be in correct orientation with the back. The thickness is slightly off; the weight is slightly off.  Now in magic, people expect me to try to deceive them. It’s part of the game. But in real life deception is not a game; in the church it is not a game. It’s a serious business to be deceived when your soul is on the line. And so we need to be able to distinguish between truth and falsehood.

Telling the fakes by knowing the genuine—  Now I’ll tell you know the best way of knowing how to spot a fake coin. It is by becoming very familiar with a real one. And the same goes for spiritual and doctrinal issues as well. The way that you and I can best know how to distinguish that which is fake from that which is real is by having a close, personal, intimate relationship with what is real. If you know what is true, then you will more easily be able to tell what is fake. 

People Don’t Know Their Bibles-- But the problem nowadays is that so few people are familiar with what the Bible actually says, that they are left vulnerable to every kind of heresy imaginable. In fact, as somebody I knew once pointed out, there would be a lot less conflict amongst the different denominations of the church if each and every individual Christian would be faithful to read their Bibles regularly. We have to be so familiar with the truth of scripture that we can spot a fake merely by the fact that we are handling the Word of God so often and so frequently.

And that is what I want to encourage you with today. If you want to know Jesus, then you must become a student of His Word. Know it to the best of your abilities. It will draw you closer to Him and it will protect you from those who would rob you of the life that you have found in Him. Commit to anchor yourself on His truth today. Amen.

Lechem Panim #74 "Dear World, I Want A Divorce" (1 John 2:15-17) Pastor Cameron Ury

Greetings! Welcome to Lechem Panim. We are continuing today our study of the epistle of 1 John, a book that is centered on helping us to be real, authentic Christians. And John writes in…

1 John 2:15-17 (ESV)-- 15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life[a]—is not from the Father but is from the world. 17 And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.

The Lust of the Eyes— Now we took a look at the lust of the flesh last week. But the second thing John warns us about is the lust of the eyes. And what John means by this phrase is the coveting of anything that is not your own.

Ten Commandment Climax— I am amazed in looking at the Ten Commandments because we see that the last one is very different from the first nine. The first nine (You shall have no other gods, you shall not take the name of God in vain, you shall remember the Sabbath and keep it holy, you shall honor your father and mother, you shall not murder, commit adultery, or steal, or bear false witness) are all outward sins; sins of commission or sins of omission; things we do or don’t do physically. But the last one is completely unique in that it is the only commandment that deals with something internal; something inside of you. It says…

Exodus 20:17 (NIV)— 17 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

A World of Discontent-- And I wonder if this in not the climax of all the Ten Commandments. Many argue that it is. The Law of God climaxes in where your heart rests, not just in what you do or don’t do. We live in a world that is always trying to make us dissatisfied with who we are and what we have. It always tries to tell us that the grass is greener on the other side of the fence. [The problem is that when you get what’s on the other side you are never satisfied. The object of your desires never lives up to its billing and you are left feeling empty and unsatisfied and so you covet all the more. The burger on the TV ad is never as big and juicy at the pick up window. The truth is that the grass isn’t any greener on the other side of the fence. In fact, what’s on the other side often isn’t as good as what you already have.] 

Covetous Cows— One of the funnier things you can observe if you ever visit a farm is [seeing cows in a nice green pasture with plenty of grass stretching their necks through a barbed wire fence in an effort to get a bite of short, brown grass in a neighbor’s pasture. Too many Christians in our world today are acting just like those cows.] There is always something better.

Apple Crazy-- Having worked for Apple I follow the various new things they create. Apple is one of the few companies that truly inspires me by what they create. I watch their new product announcements much like any of you watch a football game. I enjoy seeing what advancements are being made; what boundaries are being pushed; what new ground is being broken. And their last one was this past week. Now I will say this; whenever Apple has one of their keynote events where they reveal their new product, they really know how to make what you have look old and obsolete. That iPhone you got a month ago; it’s not really cool anymore because this new one can do this or that. When iPhone 5 came out years ago, a comedian on tv said about the previous generation of iPhone she had bought not long before that: “I now know what iPhone 4s stands for: For suckers!” Now her phone was still pretty cool, but she didn’t feel that way anymore. Now I don’t really care too much about having the latest and the greatest. I will buy a computer or phone and use it till it breaks; and then I often keep using it. But for a lot of people, they cannot have peace until they replace what they currently have with the next level up. Just read the news announcements that are going to appear this fall about how long the lines are of people in front of their local retailer to get those new Apple products, many of whom have perfectly good devices already.

Cell Phone Madness— I mean cell phone plans are changing now because while people used to sign contracts for two years and use the phone they chose for that long or longer, now people want to be upgrading all the time. There are cell-phone and computer buy-back programs set up now in mobile stores and stores like Best Buy to accommodate that insatiable desire to have the latest and the greatest.

Marital Discontent-- We live in a world that always makes what we don’t have seem better. And partially this may be why we struggle with divorce so much in our culture. We run into problems in our relationships, so we are told to abandon ship and start over with somebody better. But when we do we find out that that person has, if not the same flaws, flaws of their own. Many have affairs because they are seeking to gratify something in a relationship with someone else that they feel that they need and can’t find in the person they are married to. But the secret of contentment doesn’t lie with the thing possessed but in the heart of the possessor. Paul says in…

Philippians 4:11-13 (NIV)-- 11 I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13 I can do all this through him who gives me strength.

A Very Misinterpreted Verse-- Now notice that last verse (verse 13): 13 I can do all this through him who gives me strength. This has to be one of the most misinterpreted verses in all of scripture. We strip that verse out of its context and use it in whatever area of our life we want to see victory. I can reach that next level; I can get that better job; I can obtain more and more because I can do all this through him who gives me strength. But what we always forget is that that verse is a summary, if you will of verses 11-12, which talk about Paul’s learning to be content no matter what situation he is placed in. What Paul is saying is that he is victorious in his contentment because God gives him the strength to maintain that contentedness. And ultimately Christ can help you and me to be content no matter where we are because it is in Christ we find our ultimate fulfillment. And it is when we understand that that God is more freed up to bless us. God blesses those who find fulfillment in Him; otherwise He runs the risk of placing idols in your life. 

The Pride of Life-- The last thing John warns us to watch out for is the pride of life. And one author I read pointed out how [This “pride of life” essentially consists of two things: (1) Boasting about material possessions; and (2) Boasting about accomplishments. …proud of either your position in life or your possessions in life.… Such pride causes you to put your faith in yourself rather than in God. Therefore, such pride will ultimately cut you off from the grace of God because his grace is received through faith alone. The Bible clearly teaches that pride will lead to our downfall. “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall” (Proverbs 16:18). It should come as no surprise to you that Jesus was also tempted in this manner. Satan dared Jesus to show off by leaping from the top of the temple. Jesus responded, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test’” (Matthew 4:7). If we have been blessed with positions and possessions we must be careful not to put our confidence in them because verse seventeen tells us that they will not last.]

“the world is passing away along with its desires”— [Verse seventeen says, “The world and its desires pass away...” The Bible teaches us that one day the world and all the things of the world will be destroyed by fire (2 Peter 3:10-11). If you have lived your life only for the things of this world, what will you have left on that day? Nothing! That is why Jim Elliot said, “He is no fool who gives up that which he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.” This verse is teaching us that we will share in the destiny of whatever we give our lives to. If we give our lives to the world we will burn in the lake of fire for all of eternity. If we give our lives to God we will enjoy paradise for all of eternity as the verse says, “the man who does the will of God lives forever.” The following quote says it well: “Only one life, ‘twill soon be past; only what is done for Christ will last.” Are you living for eternity or for the now? Are you more concerned about laying up treasure for retirement or for heaven? Are you more concerned about what people will think of you today or about what God will think of you on Judgment Day?] Let us preserve our bodies from the lust of the flesh; let us preserve our eyes from the seduction of covetousness; let us guard our hearts against the pitfall of pride.

Dear World, I Want A Divorce— This week my secretary asked me for my sermon title so she could print it in the bulletin. Preaching on this passage, I told her “Not Loving The World”. And then I thought, “No, that’s boring. Let me think of something catchy that represents the heart of what John is talking about.” And I came up with the opening of a letter: “Dear World, I Want A Divorce.” And I liked that much better. But it got me thinking; if you and I were to write a letter of divorce to the world, what would it say? Maybe something like: Dear world, I have been married to you for years. I indulged in the gluttony, the lust, the sex, the ambition; I tried every amusement and spent a lot of valuable time and money on material gain. But I just became more and more dissatisfied. And I gotta tell you, things just aren’t working out. You aren’t making me happy anymore. And what’s more, I have found Somebody better; a Way that is better; a Life that is better. So, Dear World, I want a divorce. Maybe that’s a letter you want to write this week. Then maybe write a second letter, this time to the new object of your love, your Lord. “Dear Jesus, here’s why I have chosen to unite myself with and be faithful to you. Please help me to be. Change my heart and mind so that they are aligned with Your Word and Your Kingdom.

Let me tell you, don’t write or say something like that unless you are ready for God to move, because God will always respond to that kind of request if it is offered from a heart that is willing and ready to obey Him. Let’s commit ourselves to Him today.

Romans 12:1-2 (ESV)— 1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

May you know that transformation and renewing today. Amen.

Lechem Panim #73 "Freedom From The World" (1 John 2:12-17) Pastor Cameron Ury

Greetings! Welcome to Lechem Panim. We are continuing today our study of the epistle of 1 John, a book that centers so much on what are the marks of a true Christian and the freedom that holiness and love can bring into each and every one of our lives.

​L.O.T.R.-- Recently my wife Tanya and I started to watch again one of our favorite movie trilogies; a movie trilogy made of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Christian masterpiece The Lord of The Rings, a story about sin’s effect on the world, how it can poison the mind and make us slaves to it, and ultimately our redemption from it by putting it to death and coming under the rulership of the true king.
    Now in this film, one of the characters we are introduced to is a character by the name of Gollum, a hideous frog-like creature named for the sound he makes in his throat. He used to be very much like a hobbit, a human-like creature in the story. His name had been Smeagol; but then he came to possess the evil ring of power, which corrupted him with its evil and led him into sin. And he became a twisted, greedy little creature that felt a great need for the ring, the very thing that was destroying his life.
    Now as the story progresses he comes under the authority of the hobbit Frodo, who becomes his “Master”. And Frodo shows him grace and kindness. And Gollum slowly but steadily begins to change. And there is a powerful scene in the film when Gollum’s two natures are arguing with each other (the renewed Smeagol and the evil Gollum). And Gollum brings up all of Smeagol’s old sins and tries to make him feel hopelessness and despair; and stirs up the desire to betray his master and seize the ring again. But Smeagol weeps and then suddenly comes to a point of realization. He says that Master takes care him and that he no longer needs Gollum. And so he tells Gollum (his sinful self) “Go away! We don’t need you” “What?” Asks Gollum. But Smeagol responds, “Leave, and don’t come back!” And suddenly Smeagol looks up and Gollum has vanished. And when he realizes he is free from his old self, Smeagol jumps up and begins to dance, saying, “Gone! Gone! We told him to go away, and away he goes! Smeagol is free!” 
    Now what Tolkien wanted to communicate in this part of the story was the fact that you and I can experience the same kind of freedom from sin.

And it is our coming to experience that kind of victory that is one of the central purposes of John’s 1st epistle. He says in verses 12-14…

1 John 2:12-14 (ESV)— 12 I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven for his name's sake. 13 I am writing to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I write to you, children, because you know the Father. 14 I write to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one.

Fathers, Young Men, and Little Children-- Now John is referring here to people who are on all different levels of spiritual maturity; fathers, young men, and children. But no matter what stage they are at on their spiritual journey, there is one thing that unites them; and that is a desire to keep their hearts from becoming entangled with the world.

1 John 2:15-17 (ESV)-- 15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life[a]—is not from the Father but is from the world. 17 And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.

Loving Good Means Hating Evil-- Warren Wiersbe once told of: [A group of first graders {who} had just completed a tour of a hospital, and the nurse who had directed them was asking for questions. Immediately a hand went up. “How come the people who work here are always washing their hands?” a little fellow asked. After the laughter had subsided, the nurse gave a wise answer: “They are ‘always washing their hands’ for two reasons. First, they love health; and second, they hate germs.”]. And in a similar way, our love for Christ is going to awaken in us a hatred of those things that hurt our relationship with Him. If we love Him who is good, we will hate those things that are evil.

The World?— Now the first phrase of verse 15 can bit a bit confusing: 15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. I don’t know about you, but there are a lot of things in this world that I love, and I think I do so rightly. I love the beauty of creation, fishing and getting out into nature and experiencing the glory of creation; I enjoy many of the things God created. But John isn’t talking about the beauty of creation; nor does he mean that we are not supposed to love the world in the sense that we love people. John himself says in his Gospel…

John 3:16 (NIV)-- 16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

The World/Realm of Sin-- In that sense we are to love the world and live our lives as a sacrifice to God for others. So what are we talking about here? Well, [World is used in three different ways in the Bible. (1) World of creation (Acts 17:24). (2) World of human beings (John 3:16, 17). (3) System of this world, which aligns with Satan and opposes both God and Christ (John 12:31; Eph. 6:11, 12; James 4:4).] And it is the last of these that is used here. [This “world” named here as our enemy is an invisible spiritual system opposed to God and Christ.] And if we have friendship with that system, we are in trouble, because it sets us against God. James writes in…

James 4:1-4 (NIV)-- 1 What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? 2 You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. 3 When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. 4 You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.

Unhealthy Appetites-- You see, what we are talking about here are appetites that we don’t seek fulfillment for in God. Instead we allow them to drive us and lead us to covet those things around us. As verse 3 indicates, they drive us to have an unhealthy focus on personal pleasure and fulfillment rather than on God. And this is what John wants to help his readers with in our passage today. And he mentions three things in particular.

The Lust of the Flesh— The first is the “lust/desire of the flesh”. Now whenever we hear that word “lust” we immediately think of sexual lust and impurity. And that is not wholly misguided because that plays a major part of it (especially in our culture). But it is not limited to that. It could also be an unhealthy desire for food or a particular kind of food. Gluttony isn’t all about eating too much; it’s about your appetite for something taking priority over what is good for you and taking control of your life. 

Jesus’ Fast-- Jesus was tempted by Satan in the wilderness with the same temptation Satan tempted Adam and Eve with; to eat something against the will of God. And Jesus resists that temptation. Now you have to understand that Jesus, during most of His 40-day fast in the desert, was not hungry. After the first several days of a prolonged fast, the hunger pangs go away as the stomach shrinks and goes into hibernation mode. And you can often go weeks with little hunger. When the hunger pangs come back (which is usually around the 40-day mark), that means that the body has entered starvation mode and has now begun to feed on live tissue; and it is then that you need to break your fast. Now (knowing this), look at what it says in…

Matthew 4:2 (ESV)-- 2 And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.

The hunger pangs have returned. Jesus is starting to starve; and there is a medical necessity for Him to start eating again. We sometimes say Jesus was tempted during that 40 days. No, it was afterwards, when Jesus was at His weakest; which is always when Satan comes; because he’s a coward and likes to kick us when we are down. And listen to how Jesus responds to Satan’s temptation to turn stones into bread and satisfy His hunger His own way. It’s so powerful. It says…

Matthew 4:4 (ESV)-- 4 But he answered, “It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

​Jesus was being very clear; food is not my life. And I would rather honor God and keep His Word and starve than break with His will for my life. Is there a more challenging verse in scripture than that? Now your struggle may not be with food. It may be something else. But whatever it is, Jesus can help you achieve the same victory over the flesh as He did. But we have to be willing to put God’s will first and obey. Obedience to the will of God is what brought life to Jesus; and is what He promises will bring life into our daily experience. You want life in your home or your place of work. It is going to come from your choosing to make Christ the center of your life rather than whatever else you may be clinging to; whatever the lust of the flesh looks like for you. I want to encourage you today (whatever that is), give it to Jesus. Give your life into His hands. Choose to obey Him; choose to give Him that old Gollum (that old self) and He will renew you and will make you altogether new. Give your life to Him today. Amen.

Lechem Panim #72 "An Invitation To Freedom" (1 John 2:1-11) Pastor Cameron Ury

Greetings! Welcome to Lechem Panim. We are continuing today our study of the epistle of 1 John, a book that was written during a time when there were those who were trying to lead the Church astray. And one of the things these early gnostics  were teaching was that it didn’t really matter how you lived in the flesh. Do whatever you want; because eventually you are going to be saved out of your flesh anyway. This ideology was very new age like in its teaching.

Cheap Grace-- Now while most Christians today would say Christians ought not to sin, some Christians (if they can be called Christians) keep sinning time and time again. And they do so not because they are ignorant of the fact that what they are doing is sin, but because they have a cheap view of grace. They think they can watch whatever they want to watch; look at whatever they want to look at; think about whatever they want to think about; talk however they want to talk and then just say a quick prayer afterwards and everything will be ok. But that is not how we are called to live. Why does John write this letter at all? He tells us in 2:1a…

1 John 2:1 (NIV)-- 1 My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin.

Powerful Purpose Statement-- That’s a pretty powerful purpose statement for your book. He's saying,"I'm going to help empower you; to help strengthen you; to give you the spiritual equipment you need to have complete victory over sin.”

We May Stumble— Now does this mean we cannot sin? No, because everybody is vulnerable to temptation; even Jesus was. And succumbing to temptation is always a choice. And sometimes Christians (even holy Christians) may stumble into sin. That is why John says here, as a means of encouragement…

1 John 2:1b-2 (NIV)-- …But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. 2 He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.

We Can Stand-- But notice John doesn't say, "when anybody does sin” but “if anybody does sin”. While the possibility to fall is always there, so also the ability to stand is always there. And we can choose the right path; the way of obedience. Because if we don’t do so consistently, then we clearly do not know or love Christ. This is why John says in the next verse (verse 3)…

1 John 2:3-6 (NIV)-- 3 We know that we have come to know him if we keep his commands. 4 Whoever says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person. 5 But if anyone obeys his word, love for God[a] is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in him: 6 Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.

Christ’s Life the Model-- And verse six points us to the reality that Jesus always intended the life that He lived on earth to be a model for how we ourselves were to live on earth. We are to walk in his footsteps, not only in his mission, but also his righteousness. We are to love the way He loves; we are to care about the people that He cares about; and we are to remain so close to Him that His righteousness becomes ours. 

A Sign of Holiness Manifested in our Lives— Now how is that righteousness manifested? I am sure that you could list a dozen different things right off the top of you head. You could say, “A stronger prayer life; a growing hunger for God’s Word; a changing of your thought life.” But what does John focus on here. It is very interesting what he chooses; how practical John gets in this next section; as to what is that ultimate thing that sums up how the holiness of God is revealed as being manifested in your life. He says it is revealed in how you and I treat one another.

1 John 2:9-11 (NIV)-- 9 Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sister[a] is still in the darkness. 10 Anyone who loves their brother and sister[b] lives in the light, and there is nothing in them to make them stumble. 11 But anyone who hates a brother or sister is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness. They do not know where they are going, because the darkness has blinded them.

“I’ll Be Right Back”-- [Pious Lydia was kneeling down saying her prayers when her four-year-old brother sneaked up behind her and pulled her hair. “Pardon me, God,” said Lydia. “I’ll be right back after I kill my brother”]. Now we always can find a good reason to harbor bitterness towards another person. Often times we feel justified in doing so because of some wrong that they have done to us in the past. But here John says that there is no room in a Christian’s life for those kinds of feelings. We need to love, even when it is difficult; even when that might involve our forgiving them for something monumental.

Joseph-- You know, in talking about this verse I cannot help but think of the story of Joseph; how he ended up in prison for a crime he didn’t commit; living the life of prisoner-slave. God had made a promise to his great-grandfather Abraham to make his descendants a great nation and he finds himself (to all appearances) cut off from that inheritance. Why? Because his own jealous brothers hated him so much that (as an alternative to killing him and so that they could make a buck off him) sold him into slavery. Joseph had every excuse to go to sleep every night cursing their names; naming every rat he saw in that prison after one of them. He could have let hatred consume him. But what is amazing to me is that he never does that. He keeps his heart pure. And because of that, God grants him favor in everyone’s eyes and he eventually (because of the providence of God) rises to become the second in command of all of Egypt. And his brothers then come because of the famine and present themselves before him (not recognizing him). And Joseph has the perfect opportunity to exact that revenge. But he doesn’t. He tests them, but he never exacts any kind of revenge. Instead he spares them and pours out his love for them. And you and I are left in kind of a stupor. How was it that Joseph was able to forgive them after all that they had done to him? And his own brothers don’t believe it. In fact, they believe that after their father is dead, then Joseph will surely kill them.

Genesis 50:15-21 (NIV)-- 15 When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “What if Joseph holds a grudge against us and pays us back for all the wrongs we did to him?” 16 So they sent word to Joseph, saying, “Your father left these instructions before he died: 17 ‘This is what you are to say to Joseph: I ask you to forgive your brothers the sins and the wrongs they committed in treating you so badly.’ Now please forgive the sins of the servants of the God of your father.” When their message came to him, Joseph wept.18 His brothers then came and threw themselves down before him. “We are your slaves,” they said. 19 But Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? 20 You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. 21 So then, don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your children.” And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them.

Recognizing God’s Plan-- It is such an amazing thing to me; not only that Joseph is able to forgive; but how he is able to forgive. He was able to forgive because he saw how their sin against him allowed God to do something great through Him to accomplish His purpose. He was able to forgive because he recognizes and accepts that plan God had for His life.

Can We Have That Perspective?— When is the last time you and I were hurt by somebody in any context; and we immediately were able to forgive and release them in Christ and even love them because we saw how God was using what they intended for evil to produce good in or through you. That is stunning to me; that someone can have such a perspective.

This is What it Means to Walk in the Light-- Now I want to impress this upon you because a love that can allow you to forgive like that; that is at the heart of what it means to be the Church. It doesn’t matter what has been done to you; what differences separate us; we are to love our brothers and sisters in Christ and those in the world we engage with. If we cannot do this, John says we are then those who still walks in darkness.

Radical Holiness— Is this radical? Yes. That is what Christ’s call to holiness is. A complete change of who we are that affects how we live, how you and I see our circumstances and relationships with other people; a change of mind and a change of heart. The ability to walk in the light of the kingdom and not in the shadow of the world. That is depth of the salvation Christ offers; a present transformation where our hearts become oriented on Him. And that orientation can start right here today when you say, “Jesus, I am tired of walking in darkness. I’m tired of the shadows. Help me to walk in the light as you are in the light. Separate me from all darkness. Make me holy as you are holy so that I might live and walk victoriously as I abide in you.”

Invitations to Freedom-- Dr. Dennis Kinlaw (former President of Asbury College) expressed his gratitude for John Wesley making clear something very important. God’s commands are also God’s implicit promises. “If God tells me to have a pure heart, it is because he has the power to purify my heart. If he tells me to live above conscious sin, it means he can keep me there; he will enable me not to sin. His commands are promises that he will do in me all that I need him to do. His commands are not burdens, but invitations to freedom.”

Romans 6:12-14 (ESV)-- 12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. 13 Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. 14 For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.

​Let us embrace that freedom today. Amen.

Lechem Panim #71 "Walking In The Light" (1 John 1:5-10) Pastor Cameron Ury

Greetings! Welcome to Lechem Panim. 

[One summer evening during a violent thunderstorm a mother was tucking her small boy into bed. She was about to turn off the light when he asked with a tremor in his voice, “Mommy, will you sleep with me tonight?” The mother smiled and gave him a reassuring hug. “I can’t, dear,” she said. “I have to sleep in Daddy’s room.” A long silence was broken at last by his shaky little voice: “The big sissy.”] 

Separated From Darkness-- What do you do when things get stormy; when the lights go out? One night a few weeks ago it was particularly stormy; and I was having devotions with them in bed. And we read the story of Jesus’ quieting the storm and how we don’t have to be afraid because He is with us and He is bigger. (LONG PAUSE) He is the Light of the world; and being the Light of the World, darkness has no power over Him. And that applies to every physical storm we face; but it also applies to the spiritual storms as well. When we abide in Jesus; the darkness of sin need not have any power over us either. And that is one of the central themes we will discover as we continue our study of the epistle of 1 John. In Genesis 1:3-4 it says…

Genesis 1:3-4 (ESV)-- 3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness.

And in this epistle we discover that through the Holy Spirit, God wants to do the same thing in our hearts that He did at the very beginning of creation. Just as God separated light from darkness at the beginning of creation, so also we as Christians are called to separate ourselves completely from darkness. John writes in his Gospel in…

John 8:12 (ESV)-- 12 Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

And much of this epistle is an unpacking of that theme; what that actually looks like in the Christian’s life, starting with verse 5 of 1 John chapter 1.

1 John 1:5-7 (ESV) Walking in the Light-- 5 This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.

A Focus on Sin— You know it is amazing to me as I look through the Old Testament to see just how much emphasis; How much focus the biblical writers give to the doctrine of sin. They come to it again and again and again. In fact, the very first chapters of Genesis can be very uncomfortable to read because we see in those stories just how deep into brokenness sin can carry us. It infects the world, infects agriculture, it infects society, and especially family relationships. And we see that immediately after Adam and Eve take that bite of the forbidden fruit. And we see from that moment onwards, in just about every family relationship that comes after that; each is marred by and filled with brokenness; with anger; with murder; with competing with one another; selling siblings into slavery. You know what I'm talking about. And you don't really get much of a glimmer of hope until you come to that place in the story of Joseph where Joseph, amazingly, is able to forgive his brothers because he has a sense of his own place in God's sovereign plan. That is really the first glimmer of hope we get after the fall. And we will come back to that. But all this to say is that before we can understand anything about salvation; we have to first have laid the foundation of an understanding of this thing called sin and what it has caused.

We don't like to talk about SIN-- Now we don't really like to talk about sin in our postmodern churches. It's unpleasant. We prefer to talk about the grace, the love, the mercy of God. We want nice messages. We don't want to talk about judgment and don't certainly don’t want to talk about hell; or the wrath of God being poured out on a world that has turned its back on God’s righteous revelation of Himself makes many people (even Christians) very uncomfortable. We want a loving God who overlooks our sin; not a holy God who must deal with and cleanse us of sin.

Where All Worship Must Begin-- But all true worship must begin with the recognition of what sin has done to us and our need for a Savior. Because until we understand the depth of our own sin, we will not understand our need for a Savior.

Sins’ Destruction-- The reason the biblical writers return to this subject over and over again is because they want us to recognize (through the Old Testament narrative) the destructive nature of sin; what sin has done to the human heart; how it damages the mind; how it infiltrates and destroys relationships; how it brings bondage; and, most importantly, how it separates us from the Holy One. 

The Work of Christ-- Christ has come to mend that relationship; set us free from that bondage, transform our minds; heal our hearts, and give us new natures.

Umbrella Theology-- Now when I was growing up, I went to a Baptist school most of my life. And I had many teachers who you could tell really loved the Lord. And I appreciate the years of instruction they gave me. However, one of the things that I was taught there was umbrella theology; the idea that the blood of Jesus shed for me covers me like an umbrella. I was sinful before I got saved and am sinful afterwards. The only difference now is that whenever God looks at me, He can only see me through the umbrella of Christ’s blood; that my sinfulness has been covered by that blood and though I am still sinful, He sees me through the righteousness of Christ and therefore I am declared righteous, even though I’m not really; it is not until I get to heaven that I will actually be made righteous. Now they told me I ought to try to be good, but can’t really be holy until I get to heaven; I just need to try my best; and if I sin, just ask God to forgive me and He will automatically wipe the slate clean and I could have a fresh start.

Not Better, but Holy-- The problem with this is that God doesn’t command us to try our best; He tells us to be holy as He is holy. As John talks about in verses 5-7, we are called to be holy, to live in consistent victory over sin. We are to allow Christ to change our behaviors. But we can’t have victory over sin until we first acknowledge that there is a problem. And sin is the problem. But the false teachers who were influencing the Ephesian Church were claiming [that people had no natural tendency toward sin, that they had “no sin,” and that they were then incapable of sinning.] But the next verse says…

1 John 1:8 (ESV)-- 8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 

Misinterpretation-- Now this is often misrepresented to mean that all of us have sin in us and to say that we can ever have victory over our sinful natures and live in consistent victory over sin this side of heaven is not Biblical. But that is not what this verse is saying at all. John is confronting specific beliefs that are being perpetuated by the false teachers who were influencing the Ephesian Church regarding the nature of sin. But he wasn’t saying for one minute that we have to be in bondage to it. Why? Because he has just said in verses 5-6 (and keep in mind we are talking about fellowship with God; abiding in Him): God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. And we see that he says later in…

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

So what John is saying here in verse 8 is that we need to confront the reality of our sin. And once we do, we can find complete freedom from that sin. And it starts with confession. He says in…

1 John 1:9 (ESV)-- 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 

Confession-- Now confession is very interesting word in Greek. It is homologeo, which is a compound of two words: homo (meaning “the same”) and logeo (which means “to say”). So to homologeo (to confess) to God literally means “to say the same thing.” We are to say the same thing about our sin that God says about it. We are to look at it from God’s perspective and call it for what it is; sin. That is what the scriptures mean when it tells us to confess our sins.

Prophecy Fulfilled: Total Darkness-- Once a minister was preaching. [The Scripture reading was from the Book of Job and the minister had just read, “Yea, the light of the wicked shall be put out,” when immediately the church was in total darkness. “Brethren,” said the minister with scarcely a moment’s pause, “in view of the sudden and startling fulfillment of this prophecy, we will spend a few minutes in silent prayer for the electric lighting company.”] Now they obviously didn’t want to admit that they could be the ones who had sin in their lives. And that is a conclusion we often seek to avoid as well. But John writes in…

1 John 1:10 (ESV)-- 10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him {(God)} a liar, and his word is not in us.

​Admission-- We have to admit (at some point in our lives) that we are sinners. Until we reach that point, we are incapable of receiving salvation. We can’t receive the cure until we first come to terms with our disease. But when we do, the Great Physician of our souls has license to come in and heal us. Do you want that healing today? If so, all you need to do is ask; and Christ will touch you, make you clean, and empower you to walk no longer in darkness, but in the Light of Life. Choose to walk in that Light today. Amen.