Living in the Light: Discernment and Community in Faith

1) "And so if you have your bibles, and I hope you do, I want you to turn with me to first John. We're going to be in chapter two, but we're going to start in chapter four. And if you have the same Bible that I do, that does not bother you because it's on like the same two pages. And so you don't even have to flip back and forth that much. If you don't, I'm sorry. We'll do better next time. But we're in this text of one John that's talking to us about how to live out our faith. What does living in the light look like in the midst of a world that is full of darkness and despair and hopelessness, and yet we are not people without hope. And John is reminding the church of who Jesus is, whom has called them, whom has saved them, and who is bringing about this faith in this life, even to completion in the day of Christ Jesus." [57:38] (53 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


2) "And here's the reality that just hit me and overwhelmed me as I thought about this passage this week is that we still live in a world that is filled with many false teachers that have a desire to lead God's people as astray in your holiness, astray in truth. And usually those things work in tandem together that by any means the enemy could bring you down and defame the name of the church. And even above all that, defame the name of Christ so that the gospel won't move forth in power to a world that desperately needs the hope of Jesus Jesus Christ. And so we have this real enemy. And here's the thing that we need to understand. If we have a real enemy and if we are in a real spiritual battle, then we need to be on guard." [01:02:18] (62 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


3) "We need to understand what God's word says. We need to understand the truth in which we stake our lives and our salvation on. I'm reminded of first Corinthians chapter 15, where Paul writes to the church in Corinth, and this is what he says. Now I want to make clear for you, brothers and sisters, do you hear the pastoral concern, concern and compassion of the apostle as he's writing to a church whom he loves so similar? He says, this gospel that I preached to you, which you received, on which you have taken your stands and by which you are being saved, if you hold to the message that I proclaim to you, unless you believed in vain, for I have passed on to you what is most important. What is first important, what is the priority of the message of the gospel? That Christ died for sins according to the scriptures, that he was buried and raised on the third day according to the scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas and then to the twelve, and then to over 500 brothers and sisters at one time, and most of them are still alive." [01:06:29] (72 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


4) "If Jesus has saved our soul, our lives will be tangibly different than they were before. That will not mean we are perfect. We will be far from it. By the way, I'll speak for myself, but if we really believe in this gospel of Jesus Christ, it will impact how we live. We can also say we see the prosperity gospel well at work among our, you know, the churches of our day and time. I'm reminded again in one corinthians. Corinthians, chapter four. Paul writes to the church, and he says, you are already full, you are already rich. You've begun to reign as kings. By the way, Paul is speaking tongue in cheek right here. He says, you're already reigning as kings without us, and I wish you did reign, that we could reign with you. For I think God has displayed us, the apostles, in last place. Like men condemned to die. We have come, become a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to people." [01:10:46] (69 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


5) "And so what John is trying to tell the church is that we need to be on guard against that. And in chapter two, he's going to tell us how we can be on guard against that, because it's nice to say you should be on guard against this. But then how do we practically live a life in the light on guard against these false teachings? And I'm so glad you asked, because this is what chapter two says. He says, children, in the last hour. Children, it is the last hour. And as you have heard, the Antichrist is coming. Even now. The Antichrists have come by this. We know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they did not belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us however they went out, so that it might be made clear that none of them belonged to us. You. You're different, right? That's what John is saying." [01:13:56] (49 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


6) "And the only way you are going to know that is that you yourself are in God's word, studying God's word, meditating on God's word, living out God's word. It says this again in this passage I have written, remember, over and over and over and over again. John is using this phrase to say, I'm writing to you so that you don't miss it. He's writing to you about the significance of being a person that is rooted and grounded and build up upon the word of God. I'm reminded of what he says in John, his gospel, 1717. He says, sanctify them in truth. Your word is truth. If we don't know God's word, we won't know what is true and we're certain to be led astray. I'm reminded of what it says in psalm one. It's my favorite psalm scripture. It says, how happy is the one who does not walk in the advice of the wicked or stand in the pathway of sinners or sit in the company of mockers. Instead, his delight is in the law of the Lord." [01:18:05] (77 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


7) "And this is the promise that he himself made to us, eternal life. And I have written these things to you concerning those who are trying to deceive you. As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you don't need anyone to teach you. Instead, his anointing teaches you about all things and is true and is not a lie, just as it has taught you. Remain in him. Here is what I would say John could conclude with is that we not only must be people who recognize false teaching, and we not only must be people who must stay reminded of sound doctrine, but we also must be people who stay rooted in Christ and in community. Check this out. He begins by saying what you've heard from the beginning, that gospel that we've already talked about allow it to remain in you. And as the gospel remains in us, we remain in Christ. Stay rooted in Christ Jesus." [01:21:01] (84 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)