Christopher: Being a Christian means you're united to Christ and every good thing is flowing to you through that relational faith union. If that were severed, there's nothing left. Christ is everything. Every good thing flows from him.
Caleb: The following message was recorded at Kingstree Church. May the spirit use it to help you see, savor, and sing the beauty of God in the crucified and risen Jesus Christ.
Christopher: As I said, this is our second to last
Christopher: message in first John. And if you
Christopher: recall last week, we saw John call his audience, as he's bringing things to a conclusion, call his audience to pray for other believers that they saw falling into sin. Pray for them. If you see that happening, pray for that brother or that sister, and at the same time he was warning, giving an implicit warning about the sin, about sin I should say, that leads to death, which we said was unrepentant unbelief. It's not so much there's a particular sin that you commit, and now you're done for. That's not the idea.
It is there is unrepentant and continued sin. That's what shows one to be cut off from Christ who is life, and therefore sinning unto death, and John was implicitly warning his audience and us, don't walk in that way. Don't go in that direction. Now this week we're coming to the very last few verses of the book, and here in these last few verses, John synthesizes the heart of what he's been saying in three truths that he gives to the audience, gives to his readers to say, We know these things. We know these are true.
And he gives them three truths that they hold onto, that we can hold onto as we walk through the ups and downs, the joys and sorrows, the back and forth of this life. So let me read the whole text right up to the end of the book, we're only gonna look at the first two of these today, but just for the sake of context I'll read the whole thing. Verses 18 through 21 of one John chapter five.
Christopher: Here's what he says. We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but he who has been born of God protects him,
Christopher: and the evil one does not touch him. We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding so that we may know him who is true, and we are in him who is true, in his Son, Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. Little children, keep yourselves from idols.
So that's the remainder of the book. And you heard, I think, that repeated phrase, we know, we know, we know. He's giving his audience three things that he's saying, John is saying, we know this. As believers, as Christians, we know this. And he's giving that to them not just as here's some facts, here's some important facts for you to hang onto, or not just as here's some doctrines, have a list of things to say that puts you in the right category religiously.
He's giving them these things that they know to hold onto as truths to build their life upon. So think about in the statement, We know gravity holds things down to the earth. Okay? Seems like maybe you don't think about that very often, but your whole life is built on that. The fact that you go outside without fear of being sucked up into the void is because you know gravity's gonna hold you down.
It's a thing that you know so deeply, you build your life on it. You base things upon it. You make plans based on it. You don't worry about, Well, the ceiling's pretty high in here. No, gravity holds us down.
We know that. Or we know that food and clothing and shelter are necessary to life. You don't perhaps think about that all the time, but it's something that we know to be true, and it informs how we live. You get food. You get food from the grocery store.
You grow it from the ground, or you go and hunt it. You you get food. You clothe yourself. You put yourself in a shelter because you know life requires this stuff. Similarly, these we knows that John is giving here are not just good religious affirmations.
He's expecting his audience to build their life upon these things. These are things we know, and we build our life upon. We depend upon, we function from. So it's as if he's saying, We know these things as the bedrock of our lives. We know these things as fundamental truths from which we act.
We know these things as foundations that we build upon. We know the one born of God does not keep on sinning. We know we're from God, and the world is in the power of the evil one, and we know, most of all, the Son of God has come that we might know the one who is true. Now we're gonna look at the first two of those today. We'll save the last one for our final message in one John next week.
But may it be so for us today that these things would be known by us in such a way that we we don't just say, oh, I've got a little bit more religious knowledge now, but they'd be known by us in such a way that we build upon these, build our lives upon these. Let me pray for us, and then we'll look at this text more closely together.
Christopher: Father we thank you that you are true. You are yourself.
Christopher: Completely apart from what we know or think or feel you to be today, you are yourself, and you are who you are in Jesus Christ. And because of that, there are things we can know that are true. And even when the feelings aren't there, even when the evidences that we can supply are perhaps not there, even when the ability to argue to that place are not there, we're still able to know these things are true because you are true. So father, I pray today you'd help your people to know these things, that we would know what you would have us to know, and supremely father that we would know who you are in Jesus Christ. So this morning, who knows how many needs are here, burdens are here, you do father.
And I pray now for mercy that the Holy Spirit would be present because nothing can happen father. Nothing can happen apart from the working of your Holy Spirit. So come by the spirit, empower my frail and powerless words to become means of grace in the lives of your people, to give them Christ, to build them up into Christ, to unfold this word that we might all grow up closer into Jesus today. So we ask now for the present working of your spirit to this end, for our good, and our health, and our joy, and for your glory. In Jesus name we pray, Father, amen.
So let's look at this together. The first thing John says we know as he's wrapping up his book, We know that everyone who's been born of God does not keep on sinning, but the one who has been born of God protects him. Okay, very good. Before we get into what this says about the one who's been born of God, let's ask the question, who is the one born of God? Who are these ones born of God that John's talking about?
Who are they? Well, he gives us actually some pretty clear answers to that question. Let me just read this for you, see if you can piece it together as I read it. First John chapter five verse one, Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him, okay? Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, fairly clear.
And then again, chapter two verse 29 says this, If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him. Okay, so we got two things laid out there pretty clearly, and that gives an example, that gives a general picture of what John presents throughout his book, which is this. Those who are born of God, at least two things are true of them. They are believing in Jesus as the Christ and Son of God, and they are practicing the righteousness that he commands. Believing and practicing.
You see that in chapter five, verse one, chapter two, verse 29. So the one who's been born of God is one who is believing right now. It's not a question of did you at some time in the past. It's right now they are believing that the crucified one is risen, and he is the King of Kings, and he is the Son and revealer of God. Not as some abstract religious truth out there, but as something that I'm laying the weight of my soul upon.
The one born of God believes this, holds fast to this, bows themself down before the crucified one as King. They're believing in Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God. Secondly, it says they are practicing righteousness. They're obeying Jesus. They're not just saying, Oh, he's the king.
He's Christ. He's son of God. They're practicing it. It's working itself out in their life. They're doing this righteousness, which for John, as we've seen over and over and over again, means loving as he has loved.
The one who has been born of God is being conformed to Christ, is increasingly being made one who loves as Christ loves, which is to say who's obeying his commands. Now John is the first to tell us this doesn't mean they're sinless. This doesn't mean there's never sin. He makes that clear at the beginning of this letter, but it does mean that those who are born of God give the evidence of believing in Christ, and having a life that is looking more and more like him, bearing the fruit of likeness to Christ. We might say, what distinguishes one who's born of God?
Christopher: They're trusting and obeying, or they're believing and loving. They're receiving Christ and reflecting Christ. Or to use Paul's language from Galatians, they're showing faith working through love. Faith laying hold of Christ, working through love
Christopher: of others around us. This is the pattern of one who's been born of God. Now know this. In both those texts we just looked at, it says, Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God. Or again, The one who practices righteousness has been born of God.
So this is not to say you get born of God by believing strongly enough or doing well enough. This is to say believing in Christ, believing in Jesus as the Christ, and the obedience that flows from that, these show that we've been born of God. So just as we did nothing to be born of our parents, so this work of being born of God, John's not saying here, believe hard enough or do well enough so that you get born of God. He's saying, do you wanna know who is born of God? Look around.
Christopher: Who's believing? Who's obeying? This shows them to be
Christopher: born of God. John is not imposing on us the question, How do I get born of God?
Christopher: He's just saying, Don't worry about that. This is what you ask yourself. Am I believing? Am I obeying? That's the evidence that you've
Christopher: been born of God, and that's what he says. Concern yourself with that. Concern yourself with the evidence. Are you born of him? Are we born of him?
Now there's one other thing here that he says about those who've been born of God, and it comes in verse 19, so we have to jump forward a little bit. We know that we are from God or of God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. So this, can tack this on now to what we're learning about those who are born of God. Those who are born of God are giving the evidence of believing in Christ, believing in the crucified and risen one as son of God, and they're giving the evidence of a life conforming to Christ in love. And here's
Christopher: the third thing it says about them. They are from God or of God. Now in a sense of course
Christopher: all humans are from God. He's the creator of everyone, But there's a unique sense in which one who is believing in Christ and being conformed to Christ, there's a unique sense in which that one is from God or of God as his unique children. So just as a father may have a love for all children, if you're a dad, you probably have a soft heart toward kids. You wanna care for them, but there's a unique love for those who are of you, your own children, the ones who are yours. So too, God is God of all, but in a unique way, those who are claiming Christ as Lord are of him, from him, and so this language here is emphasizing Christian, you are uniquely God's own.
You're uniquely of him. You're from him. You're of his own household as it were. You're his own precious possession. So if you are trusting Christ, and walking, not without stumbling of course, but walking in his ways, then this is true of you.
You are of God, of God. Not because you did something to climb up into his lap and earn a place in his affections, but because he has born you of himself, and you are born of God. Are you trusting Christ? Are you saying, I have no good but Christ. I have no hope but Christ, and are you seeing your heart turned toward the things of Christ, to not want sin and to want Christ?
Christopher: These are evidences then that you are of him. You're born of him, not because of anything you did, but because he bore you of himself of grace. So parents, just consider this. Consider how you take care of your own children. Just think about your kids are sick.
How do
Christopher: you feel about that? You care about that. They need something. They come to you. Even later in life your adult children come to you and ask or seek your counsel.
Isn't your heart ready to meet them, to care for them, to be there? And that's us, sinful humans. How much more
Christopher: does God our father of whom we are born have a heart for us in everything, in everything? So take heart Christian, you are of God. You're from God. You belong to him. So this is what John tells us about those who are born of God.
That's what it means. Now, okay, so we've got it. Those born
Christopher: of God are those who are believing in and loving like Christ, and so are uniquely from God, okay? What now do we know about these ones? Because that's what John's saying here. We know something about those who've been born of God. What is it?
Well again, look
Christopher: at the text. Verse 18, We know that everyone who's been born of God, that's what we just looked at. Here's what we
Christopher: know about them. They do not keep on sinning, but he who was born of God protects them, and the evil one does not touch them. Okay, three interconnected things here for us to unfold about what John says we know about those who've been born of God. Three things. The first is the one who's been born of God does not keep on sinning.
Now keep on sinning, you I'm reading from the ESV. Keep on sinning is the ESV's way of translating John's present tense verb that he uses here in the Greek. Present tense meaning continual. So what John's saying here, what John's saying, he's not saying those who are born of God never sin. He's not saying, Hey, if
Christopher: you're born of God, you're done sinning. It's not gonna happen again. He's not
Christopher: saying that that's clear from the first chapter of the book where he says, If anyone says he has no sin, he's a liar.
Christopher: What he is saying is that the one
Christopher: who is born of God cannot continue in a pattern of sin. Sin, willful, recognized, unrepentant sin cannot be a pattern in the life of one who has been born of God. They cannot live in that. Or to use the language from last week's sermon, One who is born of God cannot sin unto death. Because remember we said the sin unto death is just that, sinning continually, unrepentantly, willfully.
Now John's made this point a number of times his letter. We've talked about it a number of times, but that's because it's important to him. So he says it again here at the very end as he's wrapping things up, and we'll look at it again here because he brings it up again. The one born of God, or we
Christopher: could just say a Christian, a Christian, does not continue to live in sin. Now hear me very carefully on this. I'm not saying the Christian doesn't sin anymore. I want you to
Christopher: be clear about that. What I am saying, and what John is saying, as far as I can understand, is this. If someone's life is marked by a pattern of continued, willful, unrepentant opposition to Christ, then there is absolutely no reason to think that that person is born of God. No matter what they say they believe. So they may say, Oh, I
Christopher: believe this. But if your life is not conforming to it, the New Testament gives you no reason to be confident in that salvation. So think about it like this. I've used
Christopher: this example before, but I find it helpful. Your nerves. If a nerve is alive, it feels things. It feels pain. There can be anesthesia or things that numb it for a time, but broadly speaking,
Christopher: if your nerves are alive, they're gonna feel pain. If you can lay your hand on a stove burner that is turned up to high, don't do this. If you
Christopher: can lay your hand on a stove burner and feel nothing, that's a sign your nerves are dead. That's a
Christopher: sign this isn't working. Something's wrong. I should feel something. Similarly, similarly, a living Christian feels the pain of sin, because the Spirit's in
Christopher: the midst. We've been born of God, and a Christian It's not that a Christian can't sin, but a Christian feels the pain of sin, and that keeps them from being able to live in it unrepentantly. Yes, just like there are times when your hand can be numbed and you can't feel, so too Christians struggle with sin. They fall into failure.
Christopher: They can fall into seasons of failure. But broadly speaking, if a Christian is not recoiling from the pain of sin, that implies they're dead. They're not there. They're not alive in Christ. So the ability to willingly lay our soul on the stove burner of sin and feel nothing is a sign we're not his.
Christopher: We don't belong to him. So let us examine ourselves, and this is not primarily look at the people around you. Examine yourself. The confession of our lips, Christ is Lord, will be confirmed by our life's conformity to that confession. The Christian cannot continue in unrepentant sin.
Do not be deceived as Paul says. Or no, John says that earlier on, do not be deceived. Those who practice righteousness are righteous as he is
Christopher: righteous. Now that's the
Christopher: first thing we see about those who've been born of God. They don't continue in a pattern of sin, but the next thing we see is that the reason they're not continuing in a pattern of sin is what?
Christopher: Look at verse 18 again, But he who was born of God protects him. So if this were finally up to us, okay,
Christopher: if my hold on Christ was only as secure as my ability to obey him, I would be hopeless. We would be hopeless. But John follows this up
Christopher: and says, The Christian does not continue in sin, but He doesn't
Christopher: say, But they work really, really hard and prove that they're righteous. He says, The Christian doesn't continue in sin, but the one born of God protects them, keeps them. They're being protected. So two things to see about that. What John is saying here is that the reason we don't continue in sin, Christian, is because Christ, the one who's been born of God, speaking of Jesus, he protects his people.
So two things about this. First, here John is using He's speaking about Jesus with the same language he speaks about us. Do you see that? Verse 18, We know that everyone who's been born of God, that's all of us, Christian, does not keep on sinning, but he who was born of God, that's speaking about Jesus, protects them. So isn't it interesting that here John uses language to talk about Jesus the very same he uses to talk about us, which is just a subtle way of him reminding us, Hey, the only reason you're born of God is because there's one who is born of God, and you're united to him.
There's only one truly born of God, Jesus Christ, and anyone else is born of God only by union to him. Every good thing, this is a reminder to us Christian, every good thing we have in this life and in the life to come, whether it's health or peace or hope, righteousness or adoption as sons and daughters, whether it's resurrection from the dead, every good thing we have, we have only by virtue of union to Christ. Just feel that. Being a Christian doesn't mean God gives you a great gift that you can now say, This is mine. I'm just gonna take it and do with it what I want.
Being a Christian means you're united to Christ, and every good thing is flowing to you through that relational faith union. If that were severed, there's nothing left. Christ is everything. Every good thing flows from him. So the reason we're born of God is because we're united to the one who is born of God.
Jesus is like dynamo of God's inexhaustible life, and the little light bulb of our soul is illuminated only to the extent that it's connected to the live wire of Christ, and as it's connected to him by faith, it's illuminated. It's his life, but if that connection is severed, there's nothing there. Christ is everything, everything, everything
Christopher: for us Christian. We have nothing apart from him. We have everything in him. John's implying that when he says, Those who are born of God are kept by the one who is born of God. But then
Christopher: the second thing he's implying here is he keeps us. Praise God. Christ keeps us. Christ keeps his own. We are persevering as Christians because he is keeping us.
It's impossible that the one who is born of God should finally fall into unrepentant sin, but it's impossible not because we're so good at not sinning, but because he is keeping us for himself. He's holding us fast. It says in John, as Jesus is talking about himself as the good shepherd, I'll just read this for you briefly. In John chapter 10, he says this, John chapter 10 verse 27, My sheep hear my voice and I know them, they follow me. I give them eternal life and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.
So in the last estimation Christian, we endure because he holds us fast. I've used this example before as well, but I love it. It's very helpful to me. So these Think about if you're holding someone like this, if you let go, well, you're done for. If they let go, you're
Christopher: done for. If you're holding like this, okay, this grip has got you, and if you wanna hold on, believe me,
Christopher: you wanna hold on, but if this hand slips, this grip has you. This is how Christ holds his own. We hold fast by faith. We hold fast by faith, but he is finally keeping, preserving us. So the load bearing relationship here, the load bearing member in this relationship is this one, this wounded hand holding us fast.
Now the one who's been born of God, when
Christopher: they hear that, they don't say, Oh, well then I
Christopher: can just go live a life of sinful pleasure because he's got me, right?
Christopher: No. If that's the response, indication you're not born of him.
Christopher: The response of the one born of God hearing about this is to pray, Keep me. Lord, keep me. And then to set our eyes on him, to set our hearts on him, to seek him. Like it says, Colossians three:one-four, If you've been raised with Christ, set your mind on the things above where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your heart on the things above, not on the things on earth.
So the Christian doesn't say, Oh, great. Well, if he's got me, I can do anything I want. The Christian says Hopefully the Christian does say, I can do anything I want, and more and more and more I'm wanting him. I'm wanting
Christopher: him. Okay, so that's the second thing.
Christopher: The one who's born
Christopher: of God doesn't continue sinning because Christ is keeping him. Those are
Christopher: the two things. And now a third thing we know about them, and the evil one does not touch them. The evil one does not touch them. Okay? This takes a little bit of thought.
What does John mean the evil one doesn't touch the Christian? Does he mean that being a Christian means your life will be untouched by hardship, by suffering. Well, Satan's just not gonna get anywhere near you. Hardship's not gonna get anywhere near you. If you're a faithful Christian, it's just blessing, and ease, and health from here on out.
Some say that
Christopher: blasphemously, insanely. That is not the case. That is not the case. No, look at the lives of the saints. In scripture and in the history of the church often those closest to Christ are those who suffer most.
Jesus keeping you so that
Christopher: the evil one does not touch you does not mean an easy life, and that's good news because if suffering meant we were being unfaithful, all of us would be condemned as unfaithful because we all suffer, and in fact Christ himself would be condemned most fully because he suffers most fully. So no, suffering It's not saying if Christ is keeping you, you won't suffer. Well then what does John mean when he says, Because Christ is keeping his own, the evil one does not touch us? I think the emphasis ought to fall here rather on touch. The evil one does not even touch them.
The emphasis should fall rather on the evil one does not touch them. The evil one does not touch them. Here's what I mean by that. Satan may indeed assail us, or suffering or brokenness or the curse. Satan's only in one place at one time, so he's probably not dealing with any of us here personally, but the evil one and brokenness of the world may indeed touch our lives.
Absolutely, look around. Be honest with yourself. It does touch our lives, but the point here is those things cannot touch you yourself as you are in Christ. These things cannot touch you as a child of God, as one who is held and known and loved by God. Think about this in Luke chapter 21, Jesus says this statement, You will be beheaded.
Some of you
Christopher: will be beheaded, but not a hair of your head will perish. You say, Well, my head is on the ground. I'm dead. How did not a hair of my head perish? The point is, let them behead you.
You won't be harmed. You yourself won't
Christopher: be harmed, and that body will be raised up again and given to you again, more beautiful, more full than ever. The evil one cannot touch you because you are in Christ. You are in Christ. So that seems to be what's being said here is the evil one is not able to drag you out of Christ. He's keeping Those who are born of God are being kept, and they're not drawn out.
They're not dragged out. They're not pulled down into the death of sin, but they're kept by Christ. This doesn't mean we're indifferent. Don't hear me saying we're indifferent to the sufferings of this life. Oh, these things don't matter at all.
Our God enters these sufferings and weeps over them in Christ, but it is to say that the healing that is secured through Jesus is so profound. The security that we have in Jesus is so profound. The redemption that is coming in Jesus is so profound that we will see we've been preserved through it all. No, nothing finally touched me all throughout this life. Look what it says in Romans eight.
Who then shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As is written, For your sake, we're being killed all the day long. We're regarded as sheep to be slaughtered. And then Paul affirms, That's true, but in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
Here's why, For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. So when John says the evil one cannot touch you because Christ is keeping you, something like that seems to be in his mind. Nothing that comes into your life, Christian, can separate you from the love of God in Christ, from your place as his beloved child. Come what may, love that heals every wound, love that is able to melt every bitterness, love that redeems every loss, not in a shallow way, but in a profound way, love that transforms ashes of mourning into the oil of gladness. Come what may, this love is our story.
This love is our song. This love is our end, and so the evil one cannot finally touch us,
Christopher: come what may, even in a situation like
Christopher: Job. That's what's being said here. The one born of God will keep his own, and Satan will not drag them off from his love, because we're hidden in him. Now, we move toward a close here, let's look at the second part of this. It's much shorter.
The second thing John says we know, not just do we know that those born of God do not keep on sinning, but are protected, and the evil one does not touch them, but we also know this, verse 19. We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. So another way to say everything we just said is Christ will not allow his own to become like the world. He won't allow those born of God to slip away from him and lie in the power of the evil one, but that is in fact where the world is found, lying or reclining in the evil one. Power is added in the English.
It just says the whole world lies in the evil one. Now the language for lying here suggests total submission and passivity. It's a word that's used for the corpse lying in a grave. So the image John is giving us here is Satan as a grave, and the whole world as a corpse lying in the power of that grave, in the shadow of that grave, held by that grave. Now remember, we did this a few times a number of months back.
Remember what John means when he says the world. He doesn't mean creation or the cosmos. He particularly means this system of human power and authority, rewards and punishments, this way of living that entwines humanity in a particular system of values, a particular hierarchy of goals, a particular way of living. The whole world system that says value, pursue,
Christopher: achieve, and desire that which is opposed to Christ. That world system is the world.
Christopher: And John says that thing is lying in the power of Satan. That whole thing is in And we know this, Christian. We know the world is in the power of Satan like a corpse in a tomb. However, unlike a corpse, the world is active. It has an influence.
It's able to exert an influence upon us. Like it says in Ephesians, it says Ephesians two, Therefore remember that you at one time, Gentiles in the flesh called the No, hold on, I'm sorry. Verse two, verse one, And you who were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of the world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience. So we were once dead following the pattern of the world, and the world, John says, it's in the power of Satan. It exerts an influence upon us, and it is so easy to learn from the world.
It's so easy to learn what I value based on what it's telling me I should value. What I fear based on what it's telling me I should fear. What I pursue based on what everything's saying you pursue. Well, you
Christopher: don't have this yet? You don't
Christopher: have this? You don't have this system set up? The world presses its values upon us, but to learn priorities from the world is madness. It's like the queen getting up from the royal bed of
Christopher: the king and descending to the crypt to lie down among the bones. It's madness, and yet it's pressing upon all of us.
Christopher: The drive to make more money, to get ahead, to measure up, to be efficient, to be recognized, to play the game and win, to insulate myself from pain or from death, or to get more stuff than the other person, all of this, to have this kind of social media life, or to hear, you know, when we hear certain things from the media around us, all of this is shaping, shaping, shaping us to be like the world.
Christopher: And John says, don't be deceived, be very clear. The world is under the power of Satan. Don't be conformed to it. Don't be conformed to it Christian.
Christopher: Don't lie down with the world. That then brings us to the table, to coming to the Lord's table together, and you might say, how does that bring us to the table? Well, here's why. How do you keep from lying down with the world? How do you keep from just learning from the world what you value from saying, oh, maybe I should get twice as much money.
Maybe I should be more efficient. Maybe I should do more, do this more, this more, this Efficiency's not wrong, but efficiency elevated as the goal. Maybe I should start being like this. How do we keep Christian from being like the world? The only answer is Christ himself, being satisfied in Christ, living in the world of Christ, allowing my mind like a sponge to be saturated with Christ.
We must live in him. And so we come to this table because here is a place where tangibly together we come to Christ. We're going
Christopher: to go here next week, but just look briefly with me at verse 20. It says this,
Christopher: the third thing we know. We know that the son of God has come and has given us understanding so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true. In his son, Jesus Christ, he is the true God and eternal life.
Christopher: So you can be There's two ins here, right? We can be in the world or in Christ.
Christopher: And John says, We know the Son of God has come and given us understanding. Christian, Jesus Christ dying on the cross and rising up from the tomb is not just what you believe so you can go to heaven. He is the revelation to you of who God is. That act, that work, this Christ, he is showing you what reality is. It's not just, Oh, that's how I get saved.
No, Christ is showing you what's true. The cross is showing us the truth of God's heart, and therefore the truth of reality. The resurrection is showing us where everything's going. Jesus is not just our ticket. He is literally our life.
We must live in him. He must be the shape of our outlook on reality so that we look at the world around us and say, No, that doesn't fit, because the truth is in Christ. So how do we keep from lying down with the world? By feasting continually on Christ. Never get tired of Christ.
The minute you're tired of Christ, we're dead. We're hopeless. We need, need, need Christ every day. My life, my light, my breath, my song, my perception of reality must be Christ, and when we come to the table by faith, this becomes a tangible receiving of Christ. So what's the first thing that we need to do having heard a message like this?
Lay hold again of Christ. That's the first thing. Christ be my all. Jesus be everything to me. Jesus keep me.
Jesus satisfy me. Lord cover me. That's what we need. And here's an opportunity to do that. Coming by faith to this table, putting this bread and this cup to your mouth is saying with your body, Christ, my life, Christ, my food, my drink, my all.
And that's what we need. That's what keeps us from falling into the world. We can recline in the world, or we can recline in Christ. And I invite all of you now who are trusting Jesus to come, and as we take the Lord's Supper together, have this be the first act as a result of what we've heard today, saying afresh, Jesus, Jesus, you are the one I need. Here, as we come to this table, we come to the one who's born of God, to whom we're united.
Here is the one who keeps us from continuing in a life of sin. Here is the one who guards us from the evil one, and here is the one upon whom we can cast the whole haggard weight of our soul and be upheld. So come to this table together, and as we do, may we find the one who keeps us, keeps us through to the end. Let me pray for us, and then I'll talk about how we're going to do this together. So father, we praise you that in your mercy, in the mystery of your grace, you have caused us to be born again into a new and living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
And we know that those who are born of God do not continue in sin because Christ keeps us, and the evil one cannot touch us. Father, may we not just know that, but live that, but live upon that, act out of that, hope in that. And we know that this whole world lies in the power of the evil one, but may we, father, lie in Christ. May he be our dwelling place. And as we come now to this table, I pray that your spirit would be present to make this moment not a mere ritualistic act, but to make this moment by faith a receiving afresh of all that you are for us in Jesus Christ.
May the weary, crushed, and lowly spirits of your people find with wonder and joy that here you are in the bread and in the cup meeting them in their weakness, meeting them in the love of the cross. So come, Lord, glorify your name as in Jesus Christ and by the Holy Spirit, we
Christopher: come to this table and partake. We pray all these things, Father, and consecrate to you ourselves. In Jesus' name, amen.
Caleb: Thank you for listening to this message from Kingstree Church in Sabina, Ohio. To see more of the beauty of God in the crucified and risen Jesus Christ, come worship with us on Sundays at 10AM or visit our website at kingstreechurch.org.