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Reminders from history, Jude 5-10

I said something in our Bonfire Bible Study last Wednesday that I think bears repeating.  I said that there seems to be two basic types of theology out there.  But only one is correct theology, and the other one is wrong, even though it is the most popular.  The most common theology, the most popular theology,  has as it’s premise that God exists to serve man.  They may not say it so crassly, but nevertheless, that is the basics of it.  That God serves man, God loves man, God gives things to man, God helps man.  God is not much more than a miracle working genie who exists to serve man. And so, of course, God cannot judge man, He can’t punish man, because He loves us too much. The other theology, the correct one, has as it’s premise, that man exists to serve God. Man was made for God, to love Him, to serve Him, to do His will, and to live for Him. He is Lord and Master, and we are subject to Him. 

And all of our attempts at understanding of God we try to fit into one of those templates. You might even go so far as to say that all of religion is man’s efforts to control God.  Most of our preaching and teaching falls into that same error.  We try to interpret the Bible to fit our paradigm.  We try to create a message that fits our ideas of what is acceptable, what seems right to us.  If we can develop enough knowledge about God, then we can control God and control the outcome of our dealings with God.

And it is obvious that God allows us to have a go at it.  God doesn’t shut up fools.  God doesn’t always stoop to answer man’s wisdom.  God doesn’t always immediately respond to our foolishness with judgment.  But as Jude shows us in this section of scripture, God promises to judge man’s disobedience, whether it is immediate or in the future. But God will judge rebellion against the truth.

Jude started off his letter by saying that he planned to write concerning their common salvation.  He was planning on writing about the truth they held in common in salvation.  There is truth that leads to salvation, and there is no salvation without holding to those truths. But at the urging of the Holy Spirit, Jude felt the necessity to write about the need to contend for the faith. Because, as we will learn, the faith, the truth that leads to salvation, was under attack.  

Certain persons had crept into the church and sown seeds of bad theology, which served to give license to those who disobeyed the Lord and lived according to their lustful desires.  Particularly the lusts of a sexual nature, and the lusts for money.  Such people, Jude said, were already marked for condemnation because they turned the grace of our God into licentiousness and denied our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.

To turn the grace of God into licentiousness means that they disregarded the law of God, especially in the realm of promiscuity or immorality.  They said that they weren’t under law any more but under grace, and therefore what they did in the body does not really matter.  That’s the bad theology; God loves me, God forgives me, and God won’t punish or condemn me. 

The other thing Jude said they did was deny our Master and Lord Jesus Christ. That doesn’t mean that they denied His existence. But they denied His lordship.  They denied His right to reign in our lives.  Again, they had the theology that God exists to serve me, not the other way around.  I don’t have to serve the Lord with my life, my actions, my behavior.  I am captain of my ship.  I can exercise my freedom, my independence, in pursuit of my happiness, and the Lord is going to be ok with that because He just wants me to be happy.

Well, Jude disputes that type of theology.  He says we need to contend for the faith, that is, we need to fight for the true theology.  And furthermore, he says that those who have adopted the bad theology will be judged, and will receive condemnation from God, sooner or later.  Now to support that he is going to give three examples of those that rebelled against God’s truth, and ended up being condemned and punished by God.

In bringing up these history lessons from the past, Jude says that we need to be reminded of them, even though we already know them.  Vs 5, “Now I desire to remind you, though you know all things once for all…”  The point being that as Christians, who know the truth, we nevertheless need to be reminded of the truth again and again, to keep the truth fresh before us. It is far too easy to become complacent about doctrines that once established our faith and now are taken for granted.  It’s like the doctrine of salvation; though we are saved by knowledge of the truth of the gospel, by believing it, yet it is necessary to never let the glories of the cross fade from our view.  In reminding ourselves, whether by song or by scripture, we are brought further along in our sanctification.

Such remembrance also serves to undergird us in the faith, and ensure that we do not make the same mistakes as those before us.  As Winston Churchill once wrote, “Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”

The first lesson from history that Jude reminds us of is that of the danger of apostasy. He says in vs 5, “Now I desire to remind you, though you know all things once for all, that the Lord, after saving a people out of the land of Egypt, subsequently destroyed those who did not believe.”

He is, of course, reminding us of the story of Israel, who was delivered from captivity in Egypt by many miracles of God.  God exhibited His power to them again and again.  He gave them His word, His promises, His law.  God dwelt among them.  But nevertheless, they did not believe His word. They were faithless again and again.  They rebelled against Moses. And ultimately, they did not believe that He was able to bring them into the Promised Land, and at the point of entry they rebelled and would not go into the land.

And so God pronounced condemnation upon them, that they would all be destroyed.  We find the record of God’s condemnation in Numbers14: 32, “But as for you, your corpses will fall in this wilderness. Your sons shall be shepherds for forty years in the wilderness, and they will suffer [for] your unfaithfulness, until your corpses lie in the wilderness. According to the number of days which you spied out the land, forty days, for every day you shall bear your guilt a year, [even] forty years, and you will know My opposition. I, the LORD, have spoken, surely this I will do to all this evil congregation who are gathered together against Me. In this wilderness they shall be destroyed, and there they will die.”

This event is also remembered in the Psalms, in Psalm 95 it says, “Do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, As in the day of Massah in the wilderness, 9 “When your fathers tested Me, They tried Me, though they had seen My work. For forty years I loathed [that] generation, And said they are a people who err in their heart, And they do not know My ways. Therefore I swore in My anger, Truly they shall not enter into My rest.” And the author of Hebrews, quoting that passage, adds, “they did not enter because of unbelief.”

In that passage, we see that disobedience and unbelief are related.  One happens because of the other.  That’s why we must remember that Jesus correlated belief and obedience.  He said if you love Me you will keep my commandments.  Again and again Jesus urged His hearers not only to believe in Him, but to follow Him.  Belief must be tied to obedience.  As John told us in his epistles, you can’t say you have fellowship with God and yet walk in darkness.  You can’t say you believe in Christ and yet disobey Him. You can’t say you believe and yet rebel against His word. And the lesson we are reminded of in this example is that God punished Israel for their unbelief and disobedience.

The second illustration from history of those that received condemnation because of unbelief is found in vs 6.  “And angels who did not keep their own domain, but abandoned their proper abode, He has kept in eternal bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day.”  Jude is renowned for bringing up obscure facts in this little letter.  And this particular reference is such a one.

Jude is speaking of an incident regarding fallen angels which is mentioned in Genesis chapter 6. In that passage we read, “Now it came about, when men began to multiply on the face of the land, and daughters were born to them,  that the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves, whomever they chose.  Then the LORD said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, because he also is flesh; nevertheless his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.”  The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and they bore [children] to them. Those were the mighty men who [were] of old, men of renown.”

There are a lot that of questions that have arisen in regards to these verses which many have offered conjecture.  But I think we can safely say that the sons of God refers to angels, which in this case are fallen angels, part of the demons in Satan’s realm, and they took on the form of man so that they could have sexual relations with the daughters of men.  This act was not only rebellion against God, but it also was an attack by Satan upon the object of God’s love, which was the human race, made in His likeness and made in His image.  Satan orchestrated this to destroy the human race. Many theologians believe that this unholy union caused a half human half demonic offspring that was unredeemable and thus God was forced to destroy the human race in the flood. 

Jude goes on to say that those angels who left their proper place, God has kept in eternal bonds or chains under darkness for the judgement of the great day.  The apostle Peter also references this event in 2Peter 2:4-5 saying, “For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to pits of darkness, reserved for judgment;  and did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a preacher of righteousness, with seven others, when He brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly.”  Because of the way Peter ties the sin of the angels to the flood is evidence that he is speaking of the same event as Jude.

And by the way, I’ve heard people use the Genesis passage to say that man was limited to live 120 years because of that reference God made that His Spirit would not strive with man forever, but man’s days shall be 120 years.  But that’s not actually a reference to man’s lifespan, but a reference to the time left before the total destruction of the flood, which happened 120 years later.

Now there are a lot of rabbit trails that we could go down on this topic.  But let’s not forget what Jude is trying to convey through this example.  The reminder is that of the sin of autonomy, of denying the lordship of Jesus Christ.  To disobey, to rebel is to deny the Lord’s position of authority, to set ourselves up as the god of our own life, to decide what we think is right, or what we think should be ok, and in so doing, to set ourselves in rebellion against God and due for condemnation at the judgement.  If God did not spare angels when they sinned, neither will He spare us.  God put those angels that left their proper abode in eternal chains, in bondage, some believe that refers to a special section of hell, awaiting the final judgement.

In speaking of the angels sin, Jude segue’s into another form of rebellion, which is similar to that of the angels.  And he speaks of that in vs 7, “just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, since they in the same way as these indulged in gross immorality and went after strange flesh, are exhibited as an example in undergoing the punishment of eternal fire.” 

Notice than in referencing the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah Jude correlates it to the sin of the angels by saying, “just as.”  “In the same way as these…”  He is saying that the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah was like the sin of the angels, in the same way they were immoral and went after strange flesh.

I won’t take the time to read the account from Genesis 18 and 19 as I’m sure you are all familiar with the story.  But as Jude says, we need to be reminded.  The account says that the report of the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah had reached the point where God was going to destroy the city.  He sent two angels in the bodies of men to speak to Lot and his family and take them out of the city, lest they be destroyed with them.  But that night the men of the city congregated at the door of Lot’s house, demanding that he let them come out that they might have sexual relations with them.

Jude say that they pursued unnatural desires.  The Bible teaches that homosexual desire is unnatural desire.  It is rejecting the authority and design of God.  It is rejecting the command of God. God said in Leviticus 18:22 ‘You shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female; it is an abomination.”  It is a crime against God and man.

Peter spoke of this same event in the same passage we referenced while ago, 2Peter 2:6 “and [if] He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction by reducing [them] to ashes, having made them an example to those who would live ungodly [lives] thereafter.”   The point both Jude and Peter make is that God condemned the sin of those people, and brought about destruction upon them, as an example for those that come after them.  That we must not rebel against the command of God, lest we suffer the same condemnation.

Jude says they “are exhibited as an example in undergoing the punishment of eternal fire.” God brought fire and brimstone down upon the city and destroyed every living thing.  But in the final judgement, the fire is eternal, it never goes out, and the soul must endure that punishment forever.

After offering these Biblical  examples of the sins of apostasy, autonomy and immorality, Jude says in vs8,  “Yet in the same way these men, also by dreaming, defile the flesh, and reject authority, and revile angelic majesties.”  “ These men” refers back  those of his day, the objects of his letter, the certain persons who had crept in unnoticed into the church, and used the grace of God as a cover for licentiousness and denied the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ.

He says these men are guilty of the same sins as those of the Israelites who refused to believe, as the angels before the flood, and as the men of Sodom and Gomorrah.  He says these men also by dreaming, defile the flesh, and reject authority, and revile angelic majesties.  

I’m not sure what he means by his statement that they were dreaming.  I suppose it’s a reference to so called prophets who took their stand on visions that they had supposedly seen, which undermined, or over rode the scriptures.  That’s the danger of extra biblical revelation.  It’s not that God did not use visions at times in the past to reveal truth to His prophets.  But the problem is that today dreams and visions are rarely subjected to scripture for authentication.  Let me say this, if your dream is not supported by scripture, then it’s not of God.  Dreams and visions will never go against the scriptures.  But far too often today people claim a dream that they had to supply validation for something that they want to do, which is not aligned with scripture.  In Colossians 2:18 Paul warns against those that take their stand on visions that they have seen, and as such, defraud you of your prize.

Jude says they not only sin by dreaming, but they defile the flesh.  Defiling the flesh is probably a reference to immorality, which covers the gamut of sexual sins.  False doctrine is often used as a covering for immoral behavior.   Jude adds to that they reject authority.  Rejecting authority is tied directly to immoral behavior. But it goes further than just that.  It is rejecting the authority of the scriptures, it rejects the authority even of Jesus Christ, and sets itself up as it’s own authority.  

I can’t help but relate this to many of the mainstream denominations that claim to be Christian but for all intents and purposes have become apostate. They began by denying the authority and inspiration of all the scriptures.  They began to say that some things were simply cultural and we live in a different culture, and so there is no compulsion for us to keep certain restrictions and morals that Paul or other writers spoke of.  And so on that basis they made the decision to allow women as pastors in the church, because that was just a  cultural thing and we’ve gotten so far beyond that today.

And then they took it another step further and said that a homosexual lifestyle is not a sin, and that you can have full fellowship in the church irregardless of your sexual preferences. Then they took it a little further than that and said that since there was nothing wrong with homosexuality then there should be no restraint against ministers who are homosexual. That too should be allowed because we live in a different culture and a different time, and love is love, and God is love, and any scriptures saying otherwise are not to be taken literally.

The problem is that they have rejected the authority of the scriptures.  They have rejected the authority of Jesus Christ; it is His church, and He placed certain restrictions upon it.  And to reject His authority is to sin with the same terrible expectation of judgement that fell upon the Israelites, the angels, and Sodom and Gomorrah.  And if you are still in one of those churches, then I would suggest that you get out like Lot got out of Sodom, lest you end up being condemned along with them.

The third thing Jude says is a characteristic of these false prophets, is that they revile angelic majesties.  I can only assume that he is referencing the account of the angelic messengers who were sought after in the house of Lot by the men of Sodom and Gomorrah.  To revile is to insult.  

Jude says that these men revile angelic majesties.  However, in this case, Jude makes no distinction whether they be holy angels or fallen ones. But he gives us an illustration of reviling an angel, though in this case it is a fallen angel. In vs 9, Jude once again speaks of an event that is nowhere else mentioned in the scriptures.  He says, “But Michael the archangel, when he disputed with the devil and argued about the body of Moses, did not dare pronounce against him a railing judgment, but said, “The Lord rebuke you!”

Its very interesting that Jude says that Michael is an archangel. An archangel, from what little we know of such things, is the highest order of angels in the entire hosts of heaven. The Bible indicates there is a hierarchy of angels. I wish we could spend some time talking about angels and their positions, and look at the other references in scripture to Michael.  I don’t have the time to do that today, however.  But if you’re interested in further research you can look at Daniel 10:13, and 1 Thess. 4:16.  

Our purpose here today, and the purpose of Jude, is not to give a dissertation on angels, but to make the point that certain men in the churches were reviling angelic majesties of which they had no business doing, and did so to their own destruction.

As you probably know, Moses was not allowed to go into the Promised Land, however, God took him up on a high mountain that he might see it from a distance.  And then Moses died and the scripture says that God buried Moses in a place that no one knew.  We can read about that in Deut. 34:5-6 “So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the LORD.  And He buried him in the valley in the land of Moab, opposite Beth-peor; but no man knows his burial place to this day.”  The indication from Jude, however, is that the devil attempted to claim the body of Moses.  We are not told why, but we might guess that he intended to use it to cause Israel to worship the body of Moses.

The point though that Jude wants to make, is even though Michael is an archangel of God, and has the full authority of that position and incredible power, yet he did not dare pronounce against the devil a railing judgment, but said, “The Lord rebuke you!” Michael relied upon the Lord’s authority, and not his own. 

Jude has told us that we are to contend, or fight for the faith. It is a spiritual battle.  And the manner of Michael’s fight is a model for spiritual warfare. First, we see that Michael was in a battle, such as we are when we contend for the faith. Secondly, we see that he battled in the Lord’s authority.  

Michael did not mock or accuse the devil. God hasn’t called us to judge the devil, to condemn the devil, to mock him or accuse him, but to battle against him in the name of the Lord. That doesn’t mean we go around claiming the blood of Jesus over every thing and every body. But that we contend by the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  In His name comprises all the truth of Christ.

But in contrast to the example of Michael, who would not pronounce a railing judgement upon the devil, these certain men Judes speaks of spoke evil, especially when they rejected authority and reviled angelic majesties. Jude says in vs 10, “But these men revile the things which they do not understand; and the things which they know by instinct, like unreasoning animals, by these things they are destroyed.”

I am reminded by this passage of the seven sons of Sceva, who were casting out demons by the name of Paul.  These were men that were in effect false prophets, who were trying to cash in on what they saw Paul doing, but which they had no authority to do.  And it says in Acts 19:13-16 “But also some of the Jewish exorcists, who went from place to place, attempted to name over those who had the evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, ‘I adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preaches.’ Seven sons of one Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this.  And the evil spirit answered and said to them, “I recognize Jesus, and I know about Paul, but who are you?” And the man, in whom was the evil spirit, leaped on them and subdued all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.”

Jude says these certain men revile things they don’t understand, and by those things they are destroyed.  I find it telling that so many false prophets claim to have authority to cast out demons and they love to proclaim judgements that make them seem like a great man of God, with great power over the spiritual realm, when in fact they are often being duped and even controlled by the very powers that they purport to have authority over.

Well, in this last illustration, Jude has given us an example of whom we are to emulate.  We certainly don’t want to emulate the examples of the rebellious Israelites, nor the fallen angels, nor the men of Sodom and Gomorrah, but the example given we should emulate is that of Michael the archangel.  We are to recognize and bow to the ultimate authority who is Jesus Christ the Lord.  We are to contend for the faith which is His gospel.  We are to obey HIs commands.  We are to fight in the strength that He supplies and rebuke sin and licentiousness in the name of the Lord.  And in that way of following Michael’s example, we will ensure that we do not fall into the same condemnation as those who rebelled and did not believe.  

Love in the truth, 3 John

We come today to the study of a short letter which John wrote to a man who I believe was a pastor of a church of his day. Last week, we looked at another short letter to yet another church. But before we get into the letter, I think it might be helpful to make sure we understand some things about the churches that John was writing to.

I think there is a certain misunderstanding of the early life of the church that causes us a lot of confusion about the way God organized the church, and designed the church to operate.  When we read in the New Testament the word church, we invariably apply a template which is influenced by what the church has evolved into today, rather than what the church looked like when these words were written. 

For instance, we cannot separate in our minds the physical structure of the building that the church is housed in from the idea of a church. When we hear the word church, we automatically envision a building, which looks like what we are used to seeing here in 21st century America.  Tied to that picture in our minds is the organizational structure of the church.  We picture a pastoral staff, a music team, perhaps Sunday School teachers, and all the factors and people and programs that constitute what we are used to seeing in they typical church in America.

But in actuality, that is not what was indicated by the references to the church when the New Testament was written.  The church referred simply to the congregation.  I think that the early church was based loosely on the pattern of the local synagogue which had been in place in Israel for centuries. The synagogue, of course, was not the Jewish Temple nor was it intended to replace it.  But it was a local gathering where devotees could assemble on the Sabbath as well as throughout the week for teaching and for prayer and for studying the word of God.  The leader of the synagogue was a rabbi, a teacher, and the synagogue was in a neighborhood which allowed people to attend services without violating the Sabbath in terms of travel.  It was within a short walk or what was considered aSabbath Day’s journey from their home.  So this place where they gathered was located in a community, and served that local community. The minimum requirement for a synagogue was 10 men.  If they had 10 men they could create a local synagogue.  And that shows the nature of the synagogue as a local assembly for believers in a community. So that also means that in a large city, their could be many local synagogues.

But the similarity of the first century church with the synagogue was not that they had a centrally located building that they conducted services from, but that they were local, small assemblies based in a community. The fact is, there is no record at all that they had a building of any sort.  These local churches met in the homes of one of it’s members. Possibly the pastor’s, but not necessarily.  It might have been more conducive to meet in a certain home because of it’s central location, or because of it’s size.  And again, there may have been several local churches in a large city, with each serving it’s local community.

Now in the church universal, there were certain men who were appointed by the apostles to establish or serve the local churches.  They may have even been called apostles, but it was understood they were not the 12, but acting under the authority of the 12.  For instance, Mark was a disciple of Peter.  He also was under Paul for a  while, but then became associated more with Peter.  Timothy was also an understudy of Paul, as was Titus.  Both of those men worked with apostolic authority to establish and serve regional churches beyond their own church.  And I think we can assume that John has such understudies who he has set up in various churches.  I believe we can assume that Gaius was a pastor who John has established, whom he has authority over, and Demetrius whom he talks about traveling to visit with Gaius’s church is an emissary of the apostle John.

These men were missionaries, or evangelists, or intenerant preachers who were sent out from the apostles to establish churches in every city. Eph. 4:11 says, “And He gave some [as] apostles, and some [as] prophets, and some [as] evangelists, and some [as] pastors and teachers,  for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ.”  In some cases these men raised up local pastors to carry on the work, or in other cases they merely ministered the word to the church, perhaps carrying a letter, a newly penned epistle from an apostle, so that the churches in those regions had access to the word of God.  These men disseminated the gospel, the word of God, penned by the apostles to the churches at large.  And that was an on going thing, because until practically the end of the first century the New Testament canon was not complete, but it came piecemeal.  And so this was an important means of supporting the churches that were being born throughout the Gentile world.

Now I say all of that because I think it’s important to understand the framework of the church in order to properly understand the letters of Second and Third John.  As I said last week,  I think that in Second John, when he writes to the chosen lady and her children, he is speaking euphemistically to a local church and the congregation. He may have used such language so as not to bring persecution on that particular church.  In Third John, my belief is that he is writing to a pastor of a local congregation in another city, a man by the name of Gaius.  Gaius is a very common Greek name at that time.  It’s a name that we find mentioned elsewhere in the New Testament, but it’s unlikely that those names are speaking of the same person as in this letter.  

So the apostle John, who identifies himself only as the elder, is writing to a local pastor named Gaius of an unknown church in an unknown town.  We have no further information to identify him. But this is a man well known by John.  He calls him beloved, whom I love in the truth. John mentions twice that he loves him.  I would assume that this man is a convert of John, and as such they have a special relationship.  

John says in vs1 “The elder to the beloved Gaius, whom I love in truth.”  Gaius is loved by God and loved by John because of the truth which Gaius professes.  Gaius and John are united by the truth.  They have fellowship because they share a common truth, and that is the truth of the gospel.  We are going to see in this epistle, what John has been speaking of in the previous two epistles, that the enemy is trying to attack the truth, to subvert the truth through false teachers. So John loves this man because he is committed to the same truth that John teaches.

And then in vs2, John offers a prayer for this pastor’s physical well being.  Notice how he says it, “Beloved, I pray that in all respects you may prosper and be in good health, just as your soul prospers.”  John knows enough about this man to know that he is spiritually in good health, he is walking in the truth.  But he also prays that he would be in good physical health, and would prosper.  I don’t think that the word prosper means that he hopes that he will win the lottery, or land a financial windfall.  But what he means is that he is successful in his endeavors.  He is able to do the work physically and have every need supplied so that he is not hindered by his circumstances.

He then commends Gaius for his walk in the truth. John wants to encourage this pastor who is perhaps laboring in a small church, laboring without a lot of accolades or publicity.  But who is faithful in his stewardship.  He is acknowledging what this man is doing, and he gives him praise and encouragement.  He says in vs 3, “For I was very glad when brethren came and testified to your truth, [that is,] how you are walking in truth. I have no greater joy than this, to hear of my children walking in the truth.”

These brethren that bore a good report to John about Gaius, were no doubt the evangelists, or missionaries that John had previously sent to the churches.  We might assume that Demetrius who he speaks of near the end of this letter was in that group of men.

John said something similar to the church in 2 John.  He said it gave him great joy to find some of your children walking in the truth.   In this letter, he is glad to hear that Gaius is walking in the truth, and John said nothing made him happier than to hear of his children walking in the truth.  By that we can assume that when John speaks of his children, he is speaking of Gaius being his child spiritually.  In other words, John probably led him to the Lord and discipled him.

That is such an important aspect to the job of the church, by the way.  The job of the church is not to just make converts, but to make disciples.  To be a disciple means to follow. To follow your teaching.  To walk in the truth given. And as a pastor, there should be no greater joy than to see a person whom you brought to the Lord continue in their walk with the Lord, walking in the truth, year after year.  Growing in the Lord. That is our goal.  Gaius has exemplified faithfulness, and he continues to walk in the truth, in contrast to others John spoke about previously in 1 John 2,  who he said went out from us, that it might be shown that they were not of us. 

Then for the second time, John commends Gaius’s faithfulness. He says in vs 5, “Beloved, you are acting faithfully in whatever you accomplish for the brethren, and especially [when they are] strangers; and they have testified to your love before the church. You will do well to send them on their way in a manner worthy of God.”  

John praises Gaius’s faithfulness in regards to way he has shown love for the brethren, and especially when they are strangers.  When we show love towards the brethren, we show faithfulness to God’s commands.  We show that we are walking in the truth by our actions, by our love towards the brethren. The brethren here spoken of are undoubtedly the same men who visited the church on behalf of John, and then carried a report back to John of Gaius’s hospitality and love towards them.

I can’t read that passage without thinking of the verse in Heb. 13:2  which says, “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it.”  Now we don’t show hospitality only because they might be angels, but we show hospitality towards the brethren because that’s the way we express God’s love. We are commanded to love the brethren, the stranger, and even our enemies with the love with which God loves us.  But there is the added factor that in so doing you might be entertaining angels unawares. By the way, that indicates that it’s unlikely that you recognize an angel.  The author of Hebrews says you are unaware that they are an angel.  

But in this case, these strangers were emissaries from the Apostle John.  And they received hospitality from Gaius and his church.  I used to be in the hotel business many years ago.  It’s also called the hospitality business. But the word hospitality has a broader meaning that just a room for the night.  Hospitality comes from the same root word as hospital.  It means to care for the physical needs of someone, whether that is food, or clothing, or medicine, or shelter, or other physical needs that they might have.

And these emissaries, these brethren, were clearly identified with the truth, with the gospel according to John. Gaius recognized that about these men, and so he welcomed them into their homes, into their congregation.   Now that act of hospitality is in contrast to the church that John wrote to in 2 John.  In 2 John, you will remember that John warned about false prophets who were trying to take advantage of the church, he said, 2John 1:10-11 “If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into [your] house, and do not give him a greeting;  for the one who gives him a greeting participates in his evil deeds.”  So in the first church John wrote to, he said do not show hospitality to these false teachers, don’t even give them a greeting. But in the second letter,  perhaps because these men bore letters from John as introduction, Gaius recognizes them as being of the truth, and he welcomes them and shows love towards them in physical ways by showing them hospitality while they were visiting them.  

John says, you will do well to send them on their way in a manner worthy of God.  I think John indicates here that Gaius should treat them as he would treat the Lord.  In Matt. 25:34-40 Jesus said, “Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.  ‘For I was hungry, and you gave Me [something] to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me [something] to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’  “Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You [something] to drink?  ‘And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You?  ‘When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ “The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, [even] the least [of them,] you did it to Me.’”  So showing hospitality to strangers who are of the truth, is a way that we can show love towards God.

Concerning those emissaries, John said in vs7, “For they went out for the sake of the Name, accepting nothing from the Gentiles.  Therefore we ought to support such men, so that we may be fellow workers with the truth.”  They went out, they left their home, for the sake of Jesus Christ, for the sake of sharing the truth of Jesus Christ with this church.  They were being obedient to the mandate that Christ gave to go into all the world and preach the gospel, making disciples of all men.  They were faithful to that call. Therefore, John says, it’s only right that we support such men by physical means who labor for the gospel. It is the duty of the church to support them.

You know, not all of us are called to be pastors, or evangelists, or missionaries. But we can share in their ministry by supporting such people.  It’s not proper for Christians to seek support from the world for their ministry.  We avoid seeking out government grants or support from the world, from non believers.  I think that’s actually a bad reflection on Christ when Christians have to try to get support from non-Christian entities.  But we should be able to count on support from the church.  And that’s what  Gaius appears to have done for these men, and he is commended for that, and held up as an example for the church even today.

In Matthew 10:41 Jesus tells us that “He who receives a prophet in [the] name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward; and he who receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man’s reward.  “And whoever in the name of a disciple gives to one of these little ones even a cup of cold water to drink, truly I say to you, he shall not lose his reward.”  So when we share in the work of an evangelist or missionary or church, then we share in the reward that will be given to those people as well.

Then John turns from commending Gaius for his hospitality, to reproving another pastor named Diotrephes for his lack of hospitality.  This may have been the pastor of another church in that city, or that region whose pastor Diotrephes wants nothing to do with the brethren that John sent.

He says in vs9, “I wrote something to the church; but Diotrephes, who loves to be first among them, does not accept what we say.  For this reason, if I come, I will call attention to his deeds which he does, unjustly accusing us with wicked words; and not satisfied with this, he himself does not receive the brethren, either, and he forbids those who desire [to do so] and puts [them] out of the church.”

We don’t know a lot about Diotrephes either.  But I think it’s safe to assume he is the pastor of another church in the same region.  But this pastor doesn’t walk in the truth.  He obviously rejects the truth which is taught by John.  He doesn’t want to be held accountable to that truth.  And so he wants nothing to do with John or his emissaries.  Furthermore, he doesn’t accept the letter which John had written.  We don’t know for sure if this is 1 John, or perhaps another unknown letter.  But either way, it’s similar to not accepting scripture.  Not wanting to have to be accountable to scripture.


John says it’s because Diotrephes loves to be first.  I was talking to someone the other day about leadership in the church.  And how humility is one of the most important characteristics for leadership.  That, and the heart of a servant. Jesus said in Mark 10:42-45 “You know that those who are recognized as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them; and their great men exercise authority over them. But it is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant; and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” Humility and servanthood are essential for a pastor or church leader.

On the other hand, one of the signs of a false prophet is that they are self aggrandizing. They love the spotlight. They draw attention to themselves. And the other is that they are always after money. John doesn’t mention that as an attribute of Diotrephes, but I would suspect that perhaps he doesn’t want to share with the brethren, because he wants everything for himself. If you watch a few of those false prophets on TBN,  you will soon realize that they never tire of asking for money in spite of owning private jets and mansions overlooking the Pacific, and great amounts of land and buildings for their so called television studios.

John says, if he comes, he will reveal the truth about this guy.  John is pretty old at this point.  He is in his 90’s.  Such a trip would undoubtedly be very difficult for him.  That’s probably why he sent the emissaries, to speak for him.  But even though it would be a very difficult trip, it sounds as if his intention is to come because he fears for the church there under this fraud who is the pastor there. Diotrephes even censors his own people by putting out of the church those who wanted to show hospitality to the brethren.

Then John gives a final admonition to Gaius as he closes the letter.  He says in vs 11 “Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. The one who does good is of God; the one who does evil has not seen God.” Four times now John uses this term beloved to refer to Gaius. And he now encourages him to continue in the walk of truth.  He says imitate what is good, not what is evil.

I think what he is saying is that there are two types of behavior on example before you.  One is Demetrius, the disciple of John, who teaches the truth, who walks in the truth, who carries the truth of the gospel to the church.  The other is Diotrephes, who rejects the truth, who walks in his own counsel, who rejects the commands of God to love one another and show hospitality, and who loves to be seen in first place.  One does good, one does evil.  John says, walk after the one who does good.  Follow his example.  Imitate him.  Don’t follow the bad example of Diotrephes.

Demetrius is well spoke of by everyone, that is those who are of the truth.  He has a good reputation.  John has commended him, he has sent him and speaks well of him.  And so Gaius can be confident as he patterns his life in imitation of this man.

You know, when I spoke to this person last week concerning spiritual leadership, that aspect of being an example of a godly person was a key point that I made.  It’s not just what they say, but what they do that is important.  The kind of life they live is an example for other Christians to follow, and the message of their life is more effective than the message of their mouth.

That’s why when Paul wrote Timothy about the credentials for spiritual leadership in the church he said that he should not be “a new convert, so that he will not become conceited and fall into the condemnation incurred by the devil.” And then he added “These men must also first be tested; then let them serve as deacons if they are beyond reproach.”  In other words, there must be a time of testing, of being proven that their walk matches their talk.  That they are not prideful.  He says in another place, don’t lay hands on anyone too suddenly.  That means, don’t appoint someone as a leader in the church too soon.  Give it time for their life to become apparent.

Demetrius had proven himself to John and the brethren.  And he was commended to Gaius that he should imitate that man’s walk in the truth. That’s how we disciple people, by the way. It’s by our example of living out our faith in their sight so that they might follow in our footsteps.  That’s a big responsibility on our part.  To walk in the truth, giving no cause for offense, not putting a stumbling block before others by our actions. But letting our deeds match our words. Our actions, match our profession.

John ends this message the same way he did in the previous letter.  He wants to say more, but he hopes to do it in person, rather than in a letter.  He closes by saying peace to you.  The friends here, that is the church here with John, send their greetings to him and his church.  And he asks Gaius to greet those in his church by name on his behalf. 

It’s a short letter, a letter of commendation, of warning, and an admonition to imitate godly leaders and shun evil ones.  Let us consider how we can apply this instruction to our walk, as we walk in the truth,  being sure to show love and hospitality to the church, and by being a godly example to others.

The positive proofs of knowing God, 1 John 2:3-6

As we continue in our study of 1 John, we are looking at line of reasoning which John has been presenting concerning the reality of our faith.  The great concern of his as he is writing this epistle has been the false teaching that has arisen in the church.  That false doctrine is what is called Gnosticism.  Gnosticism comes from the Greek word ginōskō which means to know.  John uses the word know 26 times in this epistle, and introduces it in the verses we are looking at today in vs 3-6.  For instance, John uses it twice in vs 3, saying, “By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments.” 

Now in the previous chapter, John identified three ways in which one professed to know God, but in actuality they showed by their actions that they did not know God. He said in vs6, “If we say that we have fellowship with Him and [yet] walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; …and in vs 8 “If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.” … and in vs10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.”

Now in chapter 2 vs 4, John adds another false claim to know God, saying, “ The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.”  Once again, as in the previous three, the claim is of an intimate knowledge of God which is not supported by one’s actions or behavior.

So one of the positive things that John is doing here is giving us assurance of our salvation.  But at the same time, on the negative side, he is revealing the false claim of the imposter, or someone who is really not a Christian.  And this is important in our day, just as much if not more than it was in John’s day, because in our culture there are many, many people that claim to know God, claim to be Christian, and yet their lives are evidence that what they claim is not true. John says if they say they know God and not keep His commandments then they are a liar. 

You know, our Christianity is not evidenced by what church we belong to.  Our Christianity is not evidenced by how many Bible studies we attend a week.  Our Christianity is not evidenced by what spiritual gifts we may exhibit.  Our Christianity is not evidenced by whatever theological degrees we may hold. Our Christianity is evidenced by our obedience to God.

Now in chapter one, the emphasis John made was on the claim of knowing God and yet practicing sin being incompatible with being a Christian. If you claimed to know God, but lived a life in which you practiced sin, then John says categorically, you are a liar and the truth is not in you. You may say you are saved, but you are deceived.  You may say that you know God but you do not.  You may say that you know the word of God but the truth is not in you.  John is pretty direct about that.  The proof is in the pudding, as they say. A Christian cannot, will not, live in sin, and if you do, then John you are not a Christian, period.

But in this chapter, John shifts gears somewhat.  He says, a Christian is not just known by what they don’t do, but what they do.  You know, when I was growing up, we used to sometimes hear this expression, “I don’t smoke, and I don’t chew, and I don’t go with girls that do.”  I guess down in the part of North Carolina I grew up in, we had a problem with girls chewing tobacco. I don’t know how the expression came about really. Maybe it was the lyrics to an old song, I don’t know.  But the thought behind it was that good Christians didn’t do certain things.  And sometimes that list was pretty long.  In the church I grew up in, we didn’t go to movies, we didn’t listen to rock music, we didn’t go to dances, men didn’t wear long hair, and  we didn’t smoke, drink, or chew tobacco.  And unfortunately, we oftentimes validated our Christianity by whether or not you kept that list.  

So rather than just saying what a Christian doesn’t do, in this passage John introduces some positive proofs of Christianity. He says this is what a Christian does. A Christian does not practice sin, but a Christian practices righteousness.  So John provides certain positive tests to our claim of knowing God.

Now these are tests by which we show we know God, not the means by which we come to know God.  We know that salvation is by grace, it is the gift of God. We know that we receive eternal life through the gift of the Lord Jesus Christ who died for sinners, and that gift of eternal life does not depend upon our good works, or by our attempts at righteousness, but simply by the free gift of Christ’s righteousness which is reckoned to our account. So we are not saved by our works. But make no mistake, the miracle of grace produces a change in us. The miracle of grace produces a conversion, a transformation in us.  So that I no longer am the same man I used to be.  But by believing in what Christ has done for me, I am born again, I am a new creation.  And so because I am a new creation, I have a new way of living.  A lot of preachers emphasize that because of grace we show gratitude.  And yes, of course we should.  But that is not entirely it.  What happened is that the grace of God changed me. The gift of God changed my heart, it changed my desires.  I no longer lust after the things of the world, but I love the things of God.

Consequently, because I am a new creation, I have a new behavior.  So that John can say in vs 3, “By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments.”

Now let’s break that down a little bit. John says,  “By this we know that we have come to know Him.”  If you look at that statement, you have to recognize that the apostle believed it was possible to know God, and secondly, he believed it was possible to know that you know. In other words, it is possible to know God, and it is possible to have assurance of that knowledge.

So how may I know that I know him? Because I had some experience? No. Through signs and wonders? No. Through speaking in tongues? No. Through hearing voices from heaven or because God supposedly spoke to me? No, John says it’s we have assurance that we know God because we keep His commandments.

The word keep in the Greek is tēreō.  It was a word often used to speak of a sentry or a guard,  so it suggests that we should be on guard to obey God’s will.   Strong’s definition of “tereo” is to attend to carefully, take care of, to guard, to observe.   That reminds me of the way God spoke of His commandments to the Israelites in Deut. 11:18-21 God said, “You shall therefore impress these words of mine on your heart and on your soul; and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. You shall teach them to your sons, talking of them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road and when you lie down and when you rise up. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates,  so that your days and the days of your sons may be multiplied on the land which the LORD swore to your fathers to give them, as long as the heavens [remain] above the earth.”  That’s the idea behind keeping the commandments, or keeping the word of God.

So what John says simply, “I may know that I know him by the practical test of obedience to the commandments.” Now remember, the basis for our salvation is found in vs 2, Christ is the propitiation for our sins. And we receive forgiveness and His righteousness by faith through grace. But the evidence of our salvation is found here in vs 3, if we keep His commandments. We’re not saved by obedience, but our obedience evidences the salvation that we genuinely have.

The question arises then, what are the commandments? I can’t help but think that just asking that indicates a desire on our part to escape any obligation on our part, doesn’t it?  That’s what the rich young ruler asked.  Remember the rich young ruler came to Jesus and said, ““Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may obtain eternal life?” And Jesus said, “Why are you asking Me about what is good? There is only One who is good; but if you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.” And the rich young ruler replied, “Which ones?”  That question reveals his heart, doesn’t it? All the commandments of God are good. Paul said the law is good.  They all must be kept. 

John helps us to understand this principle  in vs 5. Notice in vs 5, John says, “whoever keeps His word.” Now up to this time he has been saying whosoever keeps His commandments.  Now he shows that the “word” is interchangeable with “commandments.”  So, he is speaking of more than just the 10 commandments. He is speaking of keeping the word of God, which encompasses the whole Bible, both Old and New Testaments.

But let’s try to summarize the commandments of Christ.  We can find a succinct statement by Christ to that point in John 15:12.  Jesus said, “This is my commandment, That you love one another, as I have loved you.”  Now at first glance that sounds simple enough, but it’s actually a lot more comprehensive once you consider it.

There was a lawyer who came to Jesus to test Him and he asked of Him the question, “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And He said to him, “ ‘YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.’ “This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’ “On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.” 

Now the point I want to emphasize there is that these two commandments encompass the entire law.  It’s not that we don’t consider the rest of the law because we only have these two that are in effect in the new covenant.  But it means that all the law can be summarized in these two.  

For instance, if you love your neighbor you will not commit adultery with his wife. If you love your neighbor you will not steal from him.  If you love your neighbor you will not covet what he has.  As Paul said in Romans 13:10 “Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of [the] law.”

Love isn’t some new law, it’s the same old law.  It’s just a new way of looking at the law. John goes on to say in vs 7, “Beloved, I am not writing a new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning; the old commandment is the word which you have heard.”  And as John gets further along in his letter, he is going to say a lot about the law of love, and how we need to think about it.  Love is not sentimentality, it’s not an emotional response, it’s not even predicated on whether or not you like someone, or whether or not you are attracted to someone.  Love is what you do for someone, how you act towards someone.

So John presents this truth of how we know that we know God by both a negative statement and a positive statement.  It’s one sentence, split over two verses.  Once again the translators did a disservice in their numbering of verses.  John gives the negative part of the statement in vs 4 and continues in vs 5 with the positive part of the statement.  “The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected.”

Once again, notice the correlation between the commandments and His word.  John makes them synonymous.  But then notice he says the person who keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected.  Now what does he mean by perfected?  Does this mean that we should reach some level of perfection where we no longer sin? Is it possible for a Christian to be perfect? 

Well, John answered that in the last chapter saying,  “If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.” So perfected doesn’t mean obtaining perfection, but rather completion.  The word translated perfected would be better translated completed.  And what that refers to is this.  John said in 1John 4:19 “We love, because He first loved us.” Because God first loved us, it produces love in us. John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” But then a few verses further Jesus says what the love of God produces in us in vs21 “But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.”  That indicates that the response of the new life is a new way of living, a life in which our deeds are manifested as having been wrought in God.”  It’s like a circle, we love, because He first loved us, and that love changed us, so that we have His desires and do His will, and His will is that we love one another.  Our response of love completes what God initiated.  So “whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected.”

Then in the second part of vs 5 and continuing through vs 6, John gives the second way we have assurance of our salvation.  He says, “By this we know that we are in Him: the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.”

It’s interesting that John changes the paradigm from knowing God to being in God. To be “in Him” is a curious expression, but one which refers to having our life in Him.  We are made alive in Him, we are made righteous in Him, we have eternal life in Him. It refers to our union with Christ. He is our federal head. In Him refers to Christ being our representative, our substitute, our propitiation, which was talked about in vs 2. We are joined to Him, in much the same way that a husband and wife are joined together in marriage so that they become one.

Paul speaks of being in Christ in 2Cor. 5:14-15, 17 “For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died;  and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf. …  Therefore if anyone is in Christ, [he is] a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.” So we died with Christ, we live in Christ, so that our works  are wrought in Christ. To be in Him is what it really means to know God.

Notice also that John uses the word ought in vs 6. He says “the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.” Ought is a good old fashioned word that means a moral obligation. Isn’t it funny that John doesn’t distinguish between love and ought, or you might say between love and duty or responsibility. 

You know, I love my wife.  So I married my wife because I love her.  I stay married to her because I love her. I’m faithful to her because I love her.  Some mornings when I wake up I don’t feel very loving. But simply because I don’t feel love doesn’t mean I am no longer married to her.  It doesn’t relieve me of my vow to God to love her until death do us part. I have a responsibility to love her, to treat her as I would like to be treated, to do what is best for her. Love is a commitment that is not dependent upon how I feel, but on how I treat her.

So the claim: he who says he abides in Him.  The responsibility: “ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.” To walk indicates behavior.  Our behavior should be the same as the behavior of Christ.

I’ve quoted from Peter in regards to this topic many times.  Peter was a person who knew the Lord, but he also knew what it meant to walk after the Lord.  He knew that there was a cost to following Christ.  He knew there was a sacrifice in following Christ.  But even better, Peter knew that there was a great reward in following Christ. Peter says in 1Peter 2:21 “For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps.”  The Greek word used there for example is hypogrammos, which was a writing tablet used to teach children the alphabet.  They would trace over the letters in order to learn how to write.  That’s what it means to walk as Jesus walked. To imitate Christ in our daily lives.

I shouldn’t have to detail for you the way Jesus walked.  But I can tell you this; there was no fault found in Him.  He broke none of the laws of God, and in fact, He fulfilled the law.  He followed the Father’s will explicitly in every respect.  He was the spotless, blameless, Lamb of God. And we are to follow Him so closely that we imitate Him, we mirror Him, we reflect Him to a watching world.

So John gives us two assurances of our salvation. One,  we can know that we have come to know Him if we keep HIs commandments.  And second,  we can know that we are in Him because we walk as He walked.  If that is true in our lives, then we have assurance of our salvation.  But it’s also a test, isn’t it?  It’s the evidence of our salvation by which we examine ourselves.  If we do not keep his commandments, then we are a liar. If we do not follow Him, then we do not know Him.  You can’t claim to know God if the evidence of your life does not show it. 

I urge you therefore today in light of this truth from God’s word that you examine your faith in regards to these tests of our faith.  Jesus said you will know them by their fruits.  Is there fruit of your faith that gives evidence to a new life in Christ? If not, then I urge you to call upon Jesus to save you, confessing Him as Lord of your life, and surrender to Him that you might be remade, converted, transformed into a child of God.  Today is the day God has given you to turn to Him.  Do not let this invitation to know God pass by without your commitment today.

Christ our Helper and Propitiation, 1 John 2:1,2

At the time of the writing of this epistle, this letter to the churches, John is about 90 years old.  His writing, which is inspired by the Holy Spirit, is brilliant.  His writing is pure, divine truth. He pens one statement of absolute truth after another, in a cyclical fashion, each statement building upon the other, oftentimes restating the same truth but from a different perspective.  It is really brilliant stuff that deserves our careful study and contemplation.  And it must be careful study, because even though every word that he writes is inspired truth, there are certain statements that if considered in isolation, taken out of context with the whole of his writing, can lead a person into false doctrine.

And that is exactly what John is writing to avoid.  In the seventy years or so since Christ’s ascension, the church had gone adrift from the sure anchor of the gospel.  The church had suffered many attacks from false teachers and false doctrines that threatened to shipwreck the faith of many. It doesn’t take a seismic change in doctrine to lead one to spiritual shipwreck.  It may only take what seems to be a minor change of course to lead one further away from the truth and eventually cause shipwreck.

Now John wrote this epistle he says in the first few verses of chapter one, that we might have fellowship with God and with Jesus Christ His Son, and that our joy may be full.  That is the purpose of the gospel, that we might know God, to be known by God, that we might have life in Him, that we might have fellowship with Him, and that our joy might be full. 


Then in chapter 2, vs 1 John says that he is writing that they sin not. And at the end of the letter, he says that he is writing that they might have eternal life. It’s interesting to note how all of these purposes work together, synchronistically. Our fullness of joy comes from our fellowship with the Father. Our fellowship with the Father is dependent upon our being cleansed from sin. And so, he now writes to them that they sin not.  Because sin breaks that fellowship we have with God, and that results in a loss of our joy.

So the area in particular that John is concerned about is sin.  He reveals sin as a hidden reef which threatens our faith, that robs us of fellowship with God, and takes away the joy of the Christian life. You know, the enemy tries to tell us that sin is not really a problem.  That sin isn’t really sin.  Or that God doesn’t really care about sin.  Or that you can live in sin and still have fellowship with God. But John argues conclusively in chapter one that such thinking is a lie.

For instance, in the previous chapter, John said this is the message, that God is light and in Him there is no darkness at all.  Darkness is a metaphor for sin.  God is pure, God is holy and righteous, and there is no sin in Him at all.  God cannot tolerate sin.  God cannot condone sin.  He cannot have fellowship with sin.

So based on that truth about God, John says that you can’t walk in darkness and have fellowship with God. You can’t live in sin and have fellowship with God.  Sin breaks fellowship with God.  1John 1:6 “If we say that we have fellowship with Him and [yet] walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.”  Sin prohibits our fellowship with God. By living in sin, we quench the Holy Spirit.  And God says His Spirit will not strive with man. God is light, and He cannot participate with darkness.  He cannot abide with sin.

John goes on to show the nefarious ways in which the enemy tries to get us to accept sin and think that all is well.   The enemy tries to get us to say we have no sin. To get us to think that we are somehow not guilty of sin. The law doesn’t apply to us so sin is not a problem.  Or to just ignore the problem of sin altogether.  Sin is never addressed in a lot of churches today.  God is love, and that is all that they want to focus on.  But John said in vs8, “If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.”

Instead of ignoring sin, or saying that sin is not an issue, or saying that we have no sin, John said the way to have fellowship with God is to confess your sins.  “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Another way that Satan tries to deceive and cause a broken relationship with God is to say that sin isn’t sin.  Something that you like, something that you think will make you happy, but which the word of God says is wrong, you say this favorite thing of yours is not sin. You over rule God’s word.  And that’s exactly what John says in vs 10, “If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.”  You have put yourself in the place of God and decided that what you want to do is not sin.  Obviously, the word of God is not in you because the word of God says that it is sin, and you say it is not sin. Once again, the result is the same, you are abiding in sin, and because of that you cannot have fellowship with God.

Let’s think of it this way.  Imagine you are learning to play the piano.  The teacher provides you with a piano that is in tune, it’s perfectly capable of playing the greatest songs ever written.  And she gives you a music sheet with all the notes written out of a beautiful song that you are supposed to learn.  And she tells you to learn to play that song perfectly.  Now to do that, you must practice.  In the process of practicing, you are going to make mistakes, aren’t you? But the key to learning to play the piece is not by pretending that the notes don’t matter.  It’s not learned by hitting the wrong notes and just continuing on as if nothing happened. It’s not learned by playing any notes that you want to play if you think it sounds ok.  The way to learn is to recognize the correct notes, and to recognize when you don’t play the right notes, and to correct it. That’s a poor illustration of what it means to recognize and confess your sin. That is what John refers to in chapter one as practicing the truth.  To practice the error is to walk in darkness, but we confess our errors, we confess our mistakes, and practice the truth.

So the goal of the Christian life that John wants to emphasize is that you should not sin.  He says in vs1 of chapter 2, “Little children, I am writing these things to you that you may not sin.” That is the goal. That is the standard.  As 1 Peter 1:16 says, “YOU SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY.”  We are to be conformed to Christ’s image, to walk as He walked, to follow in HIs steps. 

Eph. 1:4 says, “just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him.”  Ephesians 5:25 says, “Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless.”

God wants us to be free from sin so that we might have fellowship with Him and have fullness of joy. So make no mistake, God doesn’t want us to sin, He doesn’t want us to accept sin as a fact of life that we can’t really do anything about.  He doesn’t want us to condone sin and say it’s ok.  He doesn’t want us to ignore sin or try to act as if we don’t have sin.  God wants us to be free from sin, but if we sin, He wants us to deal with it so we can be cleansed from it.

God doesn’t say He doesn’t want us to sin because He doesn’t want us to have fun.  That’s what the devil tries to tell us.  Sin looks like fun.  In fact, sin sometimes is fun, but only for a season.  God isn’t concerned with limiting your fun, God is concerned with a life of joy.  Joy is eternal, fun is temporary. You can go out partying with your friends and start drinking and you may have a lot of fun for the evening.  But it doesn’t usually end well.  I was thinking yesterday of a friend I know that has recently reached the breaking point in alcoholism. Drinking was a lot of fun when he first started out as a young man. But over the years, drinking has taken it’s toll.  He has now lost his family, ruined his health, suffered so much loss.  Drinking is not fun anymore.

So John is writing unto them “That you may not sin.”  That’s the goal. That’s God’s standard for fellowship, for joy.  That’s the divine ideal.  But the fact is that no one is able to attain to it perfectly.  Sanctification is the process of being holy, but it is a process that will not attain perfection until Jesus returns. 

In the prayer of dedication for the temple, Solomon prayed in 1Kings 8:46 that God would answer their prayer, “When they sin against You (for there is no man who does not sin).”  And in Ecclesiastes 7:20 it says, “Indeed, there is not a righteous man on earth who [continually] does good and who never sins.” And we should all be familiar with Romans 3:23 which says, “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”  John in the previous chapter said that if we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.

So the fact that we will sin is a foregone conclusion, but that doesn’t mean that we have a fatalistic view of sin, that it is something which we can’t do anything about.  We should all strive to live a life in which we don’t sin. We should all strive to play the notes to the beautiful song that God has written for us, so that we may live a life that is joyful and harmonious with God, and beautiful in God’s eyes. But a lot of times we don’t make much of an effort to do that.  The author of Hebrews said in Hebrews 12:4 “You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin.” In other words, you’re not trying very hard. There is much that we can do to resist sin.  We fight against the temptation to sin on three fronts, from Satan, from the world, and from our own flesh.

In regards to Satan, James tells us to resist the devil and he will flee from you.   And in regards to the world,  1Cor. 10:13 says, “No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.”  So if you fall into temptation it is because you did not take God’s escape route that He provided.  You did not rely on the strength of God to endure it or overcome it.  And in regards to the flesh, Paul says to discipline your body and make it your slave, rather than being enslaved to the lusts of the flesh.

So we can overcome sin, we can practice the truth to eliminate sin, but if we sin, John says we have an advocate with the Father.  The word advocate in Greek is “paracletos”. It is the same word that Jesus used when He promised the disciples that He would ask the Father to give them another Comforter.  The word literally means, called alongside to help.  We have a diving Helper.  God doesn’t just tell us not to sin, and leave us on our own to resist and keep from sinning. But He gives us the Helper, the Spirit of Christ, to comfort us, to convict us, to control us, to give us the power over sin.

That word paracletos also can be interpreted as Intercessor.  An intercessor is one called alongside to help, but in the position of a defense attorney. And John identifies our Intercessor as Jesus Christ the righteous.  In the position as an Intercessor, Jesus is not declaring our innocence.  He is not saying that God should not count our sin as sin.  But He is saying, count their sin against Me. Charge Roy’s sin on My account.  I will pay for it through death on the cross. He is righteous, He is holy, He is the spotless Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world upon Himself.  He became sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.

Isaiah 53:4-6 speaks of this intercession saying, “Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted.  But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being [fell] upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed.  All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him.”

And Romans 8:34 asks, “who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.”  It is because Jesus is the righteous, Son of God, the One who created us, the One whom holds together all things by the word of His power, the One who is the exact nature of the Father, the exact radiance of the Father’s glory, because He died in my place, because He took the wrath of God upon Himself, I am free from the condemnation of sin. And because I am forgiven and made righteous through Him, I have fellowship with God and the fullness of joy.

If we sin, not only do we have an Advocate with the Father, but Jesus Christ the righteous is also, according to vs 2, “the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.”  Propitiation is one of those words that we may hear only in the Bible.  It’s not a word used in common language today. And so it’s not very well understood.  

Propitiation means quite simply Satisfaction.  As I said earlier, God did not suddenly decide to stop counting sins, but He stopped counting them against us that believe, and instead counted it towards Jesus Christ.  But the point made in propitiation is that God must count sins.  If God is just, if God is holy and righteous, if God is the Judge of the Earth as the Bible says He is, then He must count sin.  He must vindicate those who have suffered.  He must punish the evil doers.  And the Bible teaches that God will judge the earth and everyone that has lived on the earth.  Every thought, every word, and every deed will be judged.  God is a God of justice. And justice must be served.  Those who break God’s laws must receive the punishment due them.

In the Old Testament, there is a picture of propitiation that helps us to understand propitiation.  God gave Moses instructions for the building of the tabernacle and later for the temple.  And inside the courtyard of the temple, there was the holy place and inside the holy place was the Holy of Holies.  It was the place that God met with His people, and only once a year could the high priest enter it to make atonement for the sins of the people. The high priest would go once a year to placate God, to satisfy God, to appease God’s wrath against the sins of the people by the sprinkling of the blood of an animal sacrifice on the mercy seat.

Inside the Holy of Holies was the Ark of the Covenant.  And inside the ark there was the covenant of Moses,  which was the 10 commandments. I find it interesting that inside the Holy of Holies, there is a box, and the box contains the word of God.  That’s it.  There is no statue, no representation of deity, just the word of God in a box, a jar of manna and Aaron’s rod.  When we want to worship God we don’t go bow down to a statue, or kneel and pray to a statute, but we go to the word of God.  

So the box was made with gold, and the lid was gold.  And the lid on the top of the ark was known as the mercy seat. On each end of the ark, there was a cherub, a cherub made out of a piece of solid gold with its wings going across the lid. Cherubim were angels whose particular purpose was to be guardians of the holiness of God. Above the ark was the Shekinah glory of God, which was the light and smoke in which was the presence of God. 

On the Day of Atonement, the high priest entered with fear and trembling into the presence of God in the Holy of Holies, and sprinkled the blood of the sacrifice on the mercy seat.  The blood covered the law, so to speak.  It was the sacrifice made to appease the judgment of God, to be the propitiation, or the satisfaction,  for the sins of the people.

But actually the whole sacrificial system prescribed in the Old Testament by God didn’t satisfy Him. The sacrifice of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, year after year after year, and all the sacrifices in addition to that, all of the burnt offerings, all of the sin offerings, all of the trespass offerings, all of the other offerings offered millions of times through history never satisfied God. None of those sacrifices ever paid for one, single sin. They all just pointed to the ultimate sacrifice that one day would atone for sin.  And that ultimate sacrifice for all sins, of all people, was made by Jesus Christ on the cross. He was the propitiation, He was the spotless Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world.  Nothing else could do that, the other sacrifices could only symbolize His sacrifice.  And His sacrifice was sufficient, it satisfied the wrath of God against sin, once and for all.

The Bible says that punishment for sin is death.  God said, “If you eat of the tree, you will surely die.” Sin entered into the world and then death by sin.  It is appointed unto man once to die, and after that the judgment.   God is just, He is holy.  He is the Supreme Judge over all the earth.  He will not lie concerning what He required concerning His law.  He will mete out justice as demanded by His word.  Jesus satisfied that requirement of the law.

But that satisfaction for sin is applicable only for those who have accepted Jesus as their Savior and Lord.  For those who have not, who reject Christ, there remains the wrath of God. In John 3:36, it says, “He who believes in the Son has eternal life; he who doesn’t obey the Son shall not see life but the wrath of God abides on him.” The condemnation of the law abides on the one who rejects Christ. If you reject Christ, then the only way that God can be satisfied for your sin is to require your death.

Romans 6:23 says, the wages of sin is death. Thats the bad news.  Then the good news, “but the gift of God is eternal life to everyone that believes. First Thessalonians 1:10 says, “Christ has come to deliver us from the wrath to come.” 

First Peter 2:24, “He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness.” First Peter 3:18, “Christ also died for sins, once for all, the just dying for the unjust.” And then 1 John 2:2, “He is Himself the propitiation for our sins.” He was our substitute, He took our place, and paid our price, that we might have life through Him.

Rom 3:23-26 says, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,  being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus;  whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. [This was] to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed;  for the demonstration, [I say,] of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.”  God is just, He requires justice, but He is the Justifier, meaning that He has provided a way for us to be justified by transferring our guilt upon the righteous Son of God.

One last point that needs to be made.  John says at the end of vs 2, “He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.”

Does this mean that Jesus has literally satisfied the wrath of God for the whole world? Does the whole world mean that everyone is saved? Has Jesus  satisfied God’s justice for everybody who’s ever lived? If so, then why be concerned about condemnation? Why all the warnings and why preach the gospel?

The answer is found in Leviticus 16; 17 when God gave instructions about the day of Atonement, God made it clear that the high priest was making atonement only for the people of Israel. The Day of Atonement was only for the Jews.  But he great news for the rest of the world comes to light in the new covenant.  Here in vs2,  John says Jesus is the propitiation, He is the atoning sacrifice, not just for the Jew’s sin, not just for the select ones, but for the sins of the world.  Every person, from every tribe and nation has the offer of atonement presented to him. God has made salvation available to whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord, shall be saved.

I pray that if you have not accepted the free gift of salvation, the forgiveness of sins, the cleansing from sin and the righteousness of Jesus Christ that you would do so today.  Today is the accepted time of salvation.  The inviatation is open and waiting and has been extended to all who will believe. Call upon Jesus today and be saved from the condemnation of your sin, and receive life from God, that you may have fellowship with God, and that your joy may be full. 

Three false claims of false Christians, 1 John 1:6-2:1

In the first century, Christianity was facing a problem which we still have with us today. The problem was a false gospel, a false Christianity, propagated by false teachers. That has always been a threat against the church, and it remains so today.  The enemy works to destroy the church from within and without, and attacks from within are sometimes more difficult for us to discern and to deal with.

So John’s epistle is addressing this by looking at the doctrinal distinctive’s of the gospel, and in this passage, presenting a contrast between the message of God, and the message of false Christians.  In vs 5; he says this is what God says.  And then in the remainder of the chapter he says this is what false Christians say.  So he says in vs 5, this is the message of God; that God is light and in Him in no darkness at all.  That’s the standard.  That’s the absolute truth. God’s standard is total light, absolute truth, complete righteousness.  And he says if you have life from God, if you have fellowship with God, if you are born of God, then you must be like God, of the same standard as God.

That establishes the second part of John’s thesis in vs 5, which is that “in Him there is no darkness at all.”  God cannot have fellowship with darkness, because that is contrary to His nature that He is light. 

So John has given us God’s message, God’s standard, that God is light. Perfect, holy, the source of truth, the source of life. And then starting in vs 6 through chapter 2 vs 1, John gives us three messages of false Christians.  He identifies each statement with the phrase, “If we say…” And in so doing he gives us three false claims of false Christians. 

Let’s just identify the three messages of false Christians first of all.  Vs 6, “If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness.”  That’s the first one, claiming fellowship with God.  We will talk about what constitutes fellowship in a moment.  But that’s the first claim of man. The second message of man is in vs 8, “If we say that we have no sin.” And the third message sounds very close to that, which is in vs 10, “If we say that we have not sinned.”

Now after each of those assertions of man, Joh gives a rebuttal according to the truth of God. Notice that after each of the statements of man, which are introduced by the phrase “If we say…” that John follows with the rebuttal that what man says is a lie. And then he sets forth God’s standard in response to what man has asserted. 

So John draws a great contrast; God’s message is light.  Man’s message is darkness. God’s message is truth.  Man’s message is a lie.  And John wants to draw the distinction between what God says, and what man says.  As Paul states in Romans 3:4, Let God be found true, and everyman be found a liar.  John gives us here three claims, three false claims made by false Christians.

The first assertion that we’re going to look at are those who claim to have fellowship with God. The word fellowship is from the Greek word “koinonia.”  That word is part of the name of our church, incidentally.  I chose that name purposefully because it relates the true nature of the church with God.  Koinonia, according to the Greek concordance means association, community, communion, joint participation, intercourse, intimacy, partnership.  Literally, to have fellowship with God is to share common life.

So they claim to be possessors of eternal life. They claim to belong to God. They claim to possess salvation, to be in the Kingdom. They claim to be a Christian. So many people today claim to have fellowship with God.  They claim to know God. But in fact, the evidence of their life says that they do not.  Vs 6 says, “If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.” 

So they claim to be Christian, but they walk in darkness, and so they are liars because they do not practice what they claim.  If they were truly in fellowship with God, then they would not walk in darkness, because God cannot participate in darkness.  In Him there is no darkness at all.

John says that they walk in darkness.  That simply means that they live in sin.  They live habitual, consistent sinful lives.  He is not talking about just the big sins, the really blatant sins.  But sin is sin.  Sin is anything that is not in accordance with God.  

And we can inversely deduce from his statement, that they practice sin.  Notice he says that since they walk in the darkness, they lie and do not practice the truth.  So if they are not practicing truth, they must be practicing sin.  They walk in sin, they practice sin.  It’s speaking of a habitual sinful lifestyle.  Their life has a pattern of sin.

However a Christian is characterized by a change of lifestyle.  A change of heart.  A change of desires. If they have fellowship with God, then that means they want to be like God, to mirror God, to do His will.  John states the positive part of the contrast this way; vs7, “but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.”

So a true Christian does not walk in darkness, but he walks in the Light, because God is Light.  He walks after God.  He is a follower of Christ.  That means he goes where Christ goes.  He does what Christ does.  He loves what Christ loves.  Peter has a great way of describing that following, that discipleship of the Christian.  In 1Peter 2:21 he says, “For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps.”  He uses a word there translated as “example”  which in the Greek is hypogrammos. That was a writing tablet with all the letters of the alphabet, given to school children as an aid in learning to draw the alphabet, which they did by tracing over the letters. That is what is meant to be a follower of Christ. Tracing our attitudes, our actions, our steps over His life. And that is something that John and Peter both indicate must be practiced.

So that walk in the light, the life of following Christ, of patterning your life after Christ, results in fellowship with one another.  The one who is walking in the Light has fellowship with God and with the body of Christ, which is the church.  In the garden of Eden before the fall, Adam and Eve had fellowship with God.  The scripture says they walked with God in the cool of the evening. To walk with, to talk with, to have fellowship with God is the result of walking in the Light.  I think if you are truly saved, you will desire fellowship in the church.  If you’re going to a church that is truly preaching the word, that is populated by people who have been saved, I think you’re going to desire regular fellowship.  I think the mark of someone who is not truly saved is that they have no desire for fellowship with God’s people.  Their life of sin makes fellowship uncomfortable for them.  They don’t have fellowship because they are convicted, and they get irritated that they are convicted, rather than converted, and so they avoid church as much as possible. But the one who is truly walking in the light wants to be in church every time the door is open.

And the other aspect of walking in the light John says is that the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin.  If you believe in who Jesus is, that He is the Son of God, and you believe in what He came to do, which is to be a substitute for sinners through His death on the cross, then you receive forgiveness of your sins, and you receive His righteousness.  It’s the great transaction.  My sins are transferred for His righteousness.  But that results in more than just forgiveness.  It results in a new nature, a righteous nature.  It results in the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.  And all of that combined produces something greater than just forgiveness.  John says it cleanses us from sin. It takes away the desire for sin.  It takes away the power of sin.  The blood of Jesus not only provides forgiveness, but it provides the power over sin, so that we are no longer under it’s power.  We have been set free from the penalty of sin, and the power of sin. One day, at the return of Jesus Christ, we will be set free from the presence of sin.  But even now, we have been cleansed from sin.  It no longer defines us, or controls us, nor do we practice it any longer.

So the contrast should be apparent.  If you say you have fellowship with God but walk in darkness you are lying.  Because he that has fellowship with God walks in the Light with God and does not participate in darkness, but has fellowship with God and other Christians, and is cleansed from sin by the death of Jesus Christ.

The second assertion the false Christian makes is in vs 8, “If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.” There are a lot of self professing Christians who don’t like the word sin.  I remember one lady who came to our services for a while many years ago, and she obviously didn’t care for my constant preaching about sin.  She very pointedly made the comment to my wife and I one day that she had left the last church because the pastor always preached about sin.  Well, she left our church soon after as well, because I unapologetically preach about sin.  

I do so because sin is endemic to our nature.  Sin is the reason for the problems of the world.  Sin brought about the curse upon the world.  Sin is the number one cause of death in the world.  Did you know that? It’s not the Covid.  It’s not cancer.  It’s sin.  It is 100% fatal.  And every one of us has been infected with it.  In fact, the Bible says that is spreading, and it is terminal.  You are going to die because you have been infected with sin. And my job, as a preacher of the message of God is to tell you that you have been infected, but that there is a vaccine, there is a cure for sin.  And it is Jesus Christ.  He is the only cure.  I think it’s interesting to note that one of the things that they recommend for Covid is a daily mega dose of Vitamin D.  The best source of Vitamin D is the light of the sun. And I am here to tell you that the only cure for the disease of sin is the light of the Son. Walk in the light, as He is in the Light.

So John says that this person who claims that they have no sin are deceiving themselves.  They are not deceiving God, and they probably aren’t deceiving anyone else who witnesses their life. But they are self deceived. Because the truth is Romans 3:23 that says “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.”  The truth is Romans 3:10-12 which says, ”THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE; THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS, THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD;  ALL HAVE TURNED ASIDE, TOGETHER THEY HAVE BECOME USELESS; THERE IS NONE WHO DOES GOOD, THERE IS NOT EVEN ONE.”

And your sins have caused a fatal separation between you and the source of life and light. Your sin has created a great chasm between you and God that cannot be breached.  So if you say that you have no sin, you are deceiving yourself and the truth is not in you.  And if the truth is not in you, then the light is not in you, so the life of God is not in you, and you do not have fellowship with God. You are not saved. You are not a Christian. You’re deceiving yourself by thinking you have fellowship with God but in fact you are still dead in your sins.

Then John gives the rebuttal, the antidote for sin.  He says in vs 9, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”  The way to fellowship with God is through confession of our sins.  That’s how we are cleansed from sin.  That’s how we are cleansed from all unrighteousness.  I like how in that verse John distinguishes forgiveness from cleansing.  As I said, salvation is more than just forgiveness, it’s being given righteousness,  a new nature, a renewed spirit, an indwelling of the Holy Spirit to give us victory over sin. 

Now confession is the key to salvation, but it’s also the key to fellowship.  Even after we are saved, we still may find ourselves falling into sin from time to time.  It’s part of our old nature, and we are not delivered completely from our old nature until the day when we receive a new body and God creates a new earth. But when we sin, even as a Christian, we hurt our relationship with God.  We disrupt our fellowship with God.  2 Cor. 6:14 says, “what fellowship has light with darkness?”  In order to restore that right fellowship with God we need to confess our sins and ask for God’s forgiveness. 

David said in Psalm 32,  “When I kept silent [about my sin, my body wasted away through my groaning all day long. …  I acknowledged my sin to You, And my iniquity I did not hide; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD”; And You forgave the guilt of my sin.”  

In Psalm 51, when David prayed for forgiveness and restoration after his sin with Bathsheba was uncovered, he was a child of God.  He had fellowship with God, but it was damaged not only because of his sin, but because he had tried to cover his sin.  But he confessed his sin and asked for restoration.  Listen to part of his prayer.  “Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity And cleanse me from my sin.  For I know my transgressions, And my sin is ever before me.  Against You, You only, I have sinned And done what is evil in Your sight, So that You are justified when You speak And blameless when You judge. …  Behold, You desire truth in the innermost being, And in the hidden part You will make me know wisdom. … Hide Your face from my sins And blot out all my iniquities.  Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me.  Do not cast me away from Your presence And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.  Restore to me the joy of Your salvation And sustain me with a willing spirit.”

When we confess our sin as David did, then John says that God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. God is faithful and righteous, or just.  What does that mean?  God has punished Jesus Christ for our sin.  He has exacted the penalty due to us upon Jesus Christ.  So it would be unjust for God to hold our sin against us, because our sin was held against Jesus.  And so based on our faith in Christ as our substitute, we have forgiveness of sin. And notice once again John uses the word cleanse.  God gives us forgiveness and restoration that we might live free from the power of sin.

The final assertion that false Christians make is found in vs 10.  “If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.”  The previous person said that they had no sin.  This person says that they have no sin.  I don’t see much of a difference in the two statements.  But perhaps the previous person of vs 8 says that he was not a sinner.  And  this person denies that what he is doing is sin.  That may seem like a minor distinction.  But I think it’s a common claim among professing Christians today.  They would like to think that what they think is ok is not sin, even though it is contrary to what God says.

The usual excuse is that when the Bible spoke of this issue, whatever it is, it was a cultural thing.  When Paul said it was not permitted for a woman to teach, well, that’s cultural.  When the Bible speaks about homosexuality, it’s not really talking about a loving, committed relationship between two people of the same sex.  The big one today that is glossed over is living together.  The common refrain is that if the young people love each other and they decide to live tougher without being married it’s ok, because love is more important than legality. But whatever sin it is they want to excuse, they override the word of God.

Now when they make the excuse that their sin isn’t really sin, that God doesn’t care about this thing, then John says that they make God a liar.  That’s pretty serious.  In the other assertions, John said that the people making the assertions were lying.  In this claim, the person makes God a liar.  Now we know that God cannot lie, because in Him is Truth, and there is no darkness at all.  So I think what John is saying is that they are in effect calling God a liar.  God didn’t mean what He said.  God didn’t speak the truth.  To call God a liar is blasphemy.  

The other thing John says is that when they make this claim, God’s word is not in them.  Now some commentators say that the word should be capitalized.  That it is speaking of Christ.  And that may be true.  If they are blaspheming God and saying that their sin isn’t sin, then they cannot be saved, and thus Christ is not in them.  But I also think it is applicable to the written word.  Those that say such things cannot know the word, they do not have the light of the word in their hearts, they do not comprehend the word.  Psalm 119 says, “Your word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against you.”  The word of God is a preventative for sin. The Word of God is the antidote.  But the word of God is a preventative. 

So what is John’s rebuttal to this claim of the false Christian that they have not sinned?  It’s found in vs 1 of chapter 2. I would remind you that the chapter designations are not inspired.  I do think that they are for the most part helpful but they are later additions to the Bible as we know it. They are not in the original text.  And in this case I think the chapter break is not helpful.  The answer is in vs 1; “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.”

The Bible teaches  that we all are sinners by nature.  John desires that we do not sin, but because we are sinners, there is an antidote which is the blood of Jesus Christ.  And if we sin, we have an advocate who is Jesus Christ.  Advocate comes from the Greek word “Paracletos,” which means one called alongside to help; or an Intercessor. 

That word paracletos, someone called alongside to help is reminiscent of what John was talking about when he said Jesus cleanses us from all sin.  Because of the righteousness of Jesus Christ which is credited to us, which is granted to us, we have the Spirit of Christ residing in us.  And because the Spirit of Christ resides in us, we have the power to overcome sin.  God doesn’t just say to us in the new covenant, do not sin, but He gives us a Helper so that we might not sin. And that Helper is the Spirit of Christ.

Jesus in the Upper Room before His trial and crucifixion promised the Helper would come to them and what He would do.  He said in John chapter 16 “But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. 8 “And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment; 9 concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me; 10 and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you no longer see Me; 11 and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged. … 13 “But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. 14 “He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose [it] to you.”

When we have the Helper indwelling in us, then we will know the truth of God’s word, because He will reveal the truth to us.  Those that call God a liar the truth is not in them, and the Word is not in them, so they twist the truth to validate their sinful lifestyle.  But for those who know the truth, to them who are walking in the light, and are sons of light, the Spirit of Truth is given that we might know the truth and the truth would make us free from the bondage of sin.  We have a Helper and an Advocate with God who is in us, and who helps us, both at the throne of God where the judgment of God lies, and who helps us here on earth because He understands our weaknesses, having been in the flesh as a man like us.

What a wonderful gift we have been given in our salvation.  We have forgiveness of sins, power over sin, power over death, even eternal life, and fellowship with God who is the source of life and the source of joy. And we have the help of God, we have the Helper, the Spirit of God within us to help us as we go through this time on earth.  He is our Comforter, our Helper, our Advocate, our Shield, our Defender, our Captain, our Substitute, our Sacrifice, He is the Word of God, our Savior, and our Lord.  I hope that you know Him, that you know the fellowship of God.  If you don’t have fellowship with Him, you can do so today by confessing Jesus as Lord and Savior, confessing your sins to receive forgiveness and cleansing, that you may receive life everlasting, and the power to live life free from the condemnation of sin.  The invitation is given to you today to receive Jesus as your Savior and Lord.  Call upon Him today and receive life in Him. 

The Parable of the Wedding Feast, Matthew 22:1-14

Today we are concluding our series on the parables of Christ by looking at the parable of the wedding feast. And I want to first consider the historical context in which this parable is given. This would have been Wednesday of the last week before Christ’s death. On Friday, He will be crucified. On Sunday, He will rise from the dead. For three years He has been preaching and teaching the Gospel of the kingdom. He has been presenting Himself as the Messiah, the Son of God, the Savior of the world. He has been offering an invitation into His kingdom to the people of Israel, the Jews. And now at the end of His ministry He has come into Jerusalem for the final act. He knows that the religious leadership have rejected Him as the Messiah. And in just two more days they will turn Him over to the Romans to be crucified.

On Monday, He had entered Jerusalem on a donkey to the sounds of crowds crying Hosanna! The common people expected Him to be king and to overthrow the Roman occupation and take the throne of David. But on Tuesday, instead of doing that, He went to the temple and overthrew the money changer’s tables and drove out the merchandisers from the temple. And in so doing, He sealed His fate with the High Priest, the Pharisees and the Sadducees. They wanted Him dead.

So this is Wednesday, and He has come back to the temple, and this time He comes to preach. And in His message, He gives three parables, a trilogy of kingdom of heaven parables, which prophetically forecast the rejection by the Jews and the judgment that will befall them because they failed to accept Him as their Messiah and King.

The first parable He gives in this trilogy is the Parable of Two Sons. It is found in chapter 21 vs 28. “But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, ‘Son, go work today in the vineyard.’ And he answered, ‘I will not’; but afterward he regretted it and went. “The man came to the second and said the same thing; and he answered, ‘I [will,] sir’; but he did not go. Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly I say to you that the tax collectors and prostitutes will get into the kingdom of God before you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him; but the tax collectors and prostitutes did believe him; and you, seeing [this,] did not even feel remorse afterward so as to believe him.”

Jesus explains this simple parable to show that the religious Jews claimed to do the will of God, but actually did not, and thus would not enter into the kingdom of heaven, whereas the sinners who repented would enter the kingdom of heaven.

The second parable of the trilogy speaks of the judgment that will fall on those who rejected the gospel of the kingdom, which was again directed at the religious leadership of the Jews. Jesus said in vs 33 “Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who PLANTED A VINEYARD AND PUT A WALL AROUND IT AND DUG A WINE PRESS IN IT, AND BUILT A TOWER, and rented it out to vine-growers and went on a journey. When the harvest time approached, he sent his slaves to the vine-growers to receive his produce. The vine-growers took his slaves and beat one, and killed another, and stoned a third. Again he sent another group of slaves larger than the first; and they did the same thing to them. But afterward he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ But when the vine-growers saw the son, they said among themselves, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him and seize his inheritance.’ They took him, and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. Therefore when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vine-growers?” They said to Him, “He will bring those wretches to a wretched end, and will rent out the vineyard to other vine-growers who will pay him the proceeds at the [proper] seasons.” Jesus said to them, “Did you never read in the Scriptures, ‘THE STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED, THIS BECAME THE CHIEF CORNER [stone;] THIS CAME ABOUT FROM THE LORD, AND IT IS MARVELOUS IN OUR EYES’? Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people, producing the fruit of it.”

Now that parable is pretty self explanatory as well. But irregardless, in expounding it, Jesus makes it clear that He is speaking it about them, the religious Jews. That the kingdom of God will be taken away from them, and they will receive the judgment of God because of their rejection. Whereas the kingdom will be given to a people who will produce spiritual fruit.

And Matthew says that the Jews did recognize that He was speaking about them. I think it’s possible that they recognized Jesus was speaking of God as the Father, and He as the Son of God, and that they would kill Him. I think it’s possible that they even knew that He was the Messiah, but He was not the kind of Messiah that they wanted. He was going to destroy their livelihood, their financial rackets, and their position of power. Look at vs 45 “When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard His parables, they understood that He was speaking about them. When they sought to seize Him, they feared the people, because they considered Him to be a prophet.” They had already planned on killing Him, but were just waiting for the right opportunity.

Now we come to the third parable in this trilogy, which we will look at in a little more detail, as Jesus gives more insight, and a different perspective on the same issue of rejection of the kingdom of God and the judgment due to those who do so. There are four parts to this parable, similar to four parts in a play. The first act we will call the invitation rejected.

The story is about the kingdom of heaven, which was the foremost topic of Jesus’s teaching. As we have repeatedly stressed, the kingdom of heaven is not speaking of what we often think of as heaven, per se, but is referring to the rule of heaven, the rule of God in the hearts of His people. It is a spiritual kingdom, where those who have been born of the Spirit have their life, their inheritance, in the realm of Christ.

Jesus says in vs 2 “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son. And he sent out his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding feast, and they were unwilling to come. Again he sent out other slaves saying, ‘Tell those who have been invited, “Behold, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and my fattened livestock are [all] butchered and everything is ready; come to the wedding feast.”‘ But they paid no attention and went their way, one to his own farm, another to his business, and the rest seized his slaves and mistreated them and killed them.”

So the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a wedding feast given by the King for His Son. A wedding was in those days the most important social event of a person’s life. And a royal wedding would have been the most important social event of a lifetime. Imagine being invited to attend Prince Charles and Diana’s wedding back in the early 80’s when that event occurred. It was perhaps the most prestigious, most desirable social event in England of the century.

Jesus says that the kingdom of heaven can be compared to that kind of wedding. He is taking the most important, significant event of person’s spiritual life and comparing it to a situation that can be more easily comprehended by mortal man -a wedding invitation by the royal family.

In those days, the wedding was not given a specific date. The exact timing of the bridegroom was something of a surprise. The general time frame would be known, and the invitation was given out to make the people aware that it could be very soon, on a moments notice.

We know from a previous parable we studied that the bridegroom is Christ, and the bride is HIs church. Jesus is saying in this parable that the invitations to the wedding feast had gone out. And as the moment arrived for the celebration, the slaves of the king were sent to those who had been invited to attend, but they were not interested in coming. It says in vs 3, “they were unwilling to come.” This was an unthinkable thing, that the people would not want to attend the king’s wedding celebration.

But the king responds to their rejection with graciousness. He sends out his slaves again, to ask them to come to the wedding feast. This time he adds that he has prepared this grand feast, the oxen and livestock have been butchered, and everything is ready. That indicates a tremendous expense on the part of the king, which was prepared for their enjoyment.

But they paid no attention to the second summons from the slaves. They went on about their business, one to his farm and one to his place of business. Such a callous display towards the king’s invitation would have been unthinkable. The listeners of Jesus would have been shocked to hear of such disregard for the king’s invitation. The first group of people in the parable were just too busy with their own agenda to be bothered with the king’s business. What they were doing seemed more important and more enjoyable.

As bad as that was, the second group of people Jesus describes are even worse. They take the king’s slaves and beat them, and murder them. In the context of the story, this is just outrageous behavior. Why would you beat up and murder the servants who invited you to the king’s celebration? It’s unthinkable.

Now what is Jesus describing here? I think it’s pretty clear. The king is a picture of God, the king’s son is the Christ, and the wedding celebration is an invitation to be part of the kingdom of His Son. The invitation had been given to the Jews. They were the ones first invited to enter the kingdom of heaven. They were the preferred guests, the priority list. The gospel was given to the Jews first. They were the called people of God.

And the kingdom was offered to them. They were invited as the special guests who were able to enter the kingdom. But they were not interested. They had their own agenda which they were more interested in. They were busy making money, doing deals. They were so callused that they refused the invitation again and again.

And even worse, they mistreated and killed the prophets that God sent to them. Jesus said in Luke 11:47 “Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets, and [it was] your fathers [who] killed them.” Vs 49 “For this reason also the wisdom of God said, ‘I will send to them prophets and apostles, and [some] of them they will kill and [some] they will persecute, so that the blood of all the prophets, shed since the foundation of the world, may be charged against this generation.”

That takes us to the second act, the rejecters punished. Verse 7, “But the king was enraged, and he sent his armies and destroyed those murderers and set their city on fire.” The king’s graciousness and mercy has an end. HIs patience has run out. His wrath is poured out on the rejecters, and it is justified. They have murdered His innocent servants, rather than submit to His rule and be a part of His administration. So the wrath of God is poured out on the Jews because they have rejected His invitation.

History tells us that just as Jesus depicts in this parable God burned the city of Jerusalem with fire in AD 70. Over a million Jews were killed when the Roman general Titus surrounded the city and in the process the temple was destroyed and burned. The remaining Jews were scattered all across Asia. God’s justice was served against a people that rejected His invitation, they rejected His grace, and they rejected His Son. Because Israel as a nation rejected the Messiah, God rejected them as nation. And so the invitation is given to others who will bear the fruit of it.

That brings us to the third act, the new guests are invited. We see that in vs 8 “Then he said to his slaves, ‘The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. Go therefore to the main highways, and as many as you find [there,] invite to the wedding feast.’ Those slaves went out into the streets and gathered together all they found, both evil and good; and the wedding hall was filled with dinner guests.”

The instruction from the king is to go everywhere and get everyone that will come. That’s the mandate of the church’s mission, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.” That’s the mission. Because of the rejection of Israel, we that were not a people have become the people of God. He has sent His message into every nation to everyone. “As many as you can find, invite them all to come.”

Vs 10 “Those slaves went out into the streets and gathered together all they found, both evil and good; and the wedding hall was filled with dinner guests.” The invitation to enter the kingdom of heaven is given to whomever will come. What Jesus is indicating here is that their acceptance of the invitation is the key to entering, not their morality, not either how good of a person they are, nor how bad of a person they are. It’s not dependent upon their nationality. But simply all who accept the invitation can enter. Accepting the invitation is the criteria, accepting the grace of God, not how good of a person you may be.

And that brings us to the last act, the intruder expelled. Vs 11 “But when the king came in to look over the dinner guests, he saw a man there who was not dressed in wedding clothes, and he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here without wedding clothes?’ And the man was speechless. Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ For many are called, but few [are] chosen.”

So this great crowd of people who accepted the invitation were in the wedding hall. And there is one man who is not dressed in the wedding garment. Now we are not told exactly what this garment looked like, nor exactly how it is given, nor how this man does not have it. But what we can assume is that it correlates to the robe of righteousness which God provides to those who believe in Christ and have accepted Him as their Lord and Savior.

We find direct correlation to this robe of righteousness that all who enter must wear, in Isaiah 61:10 which says, “I will rejoice greatly in the LORD, My soul will exult in my God; For He has clothed me with garments of salvation, He has wrapped me with a robe of righteousness, As a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.”

The hymn we often sing, “The Solid Rock” has a line which speaks to this, which says, “Dressed in HIs righteousness alone, faultless to stand before the throne.” The robe of righteousness is one that we receive by faith from Christ. It’s His righteousness. Our sins are transferred to Him, and His righteousness is transferred to us. That’s what 2 Corinthians 5:21 says, “God caused Jesus, who knew no sin, to become sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” It’s Christ’s righteousness which becomes our wedding garment, without which no one can enter the kingdom of heaven.

This man without the wedding garment is asked by the king, “Friend, how did you come in here without wedding clothes?” And the man was speechless. He had no answer. When we stand before God in all His holiness, we will be ever so aware of our own sinfulness. We will have no excuse. In our natural state, many people think that they are a pretty good person. I can’t tell you how often I hear people say that. Somehow, in spite of all that they have done wrong and all the good that they have not done in this life, they somehow think deep down inside I’m really a good person. Well, when the day comes when they stand before God and they see themselves in the light of righteousness and perfect holiness, then they will throw themselves prostrate on the ground and say as Isaiah said, “Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I live among a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.”

I want you to notice that the garment which the guests received was provided by the King. It was given to them. They did not already have it, they could not earn it, but when they accepted the invitation it was given to them. That gift is called grace. Eph.2:8,9 “For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it’s a gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast.”

So this man who rejected the garment is in effect no better than the Jews who rejected their Messiah. He is indifferent. He doesn’t value the garment which the King provided. He wants the benefits of the kingdom perhaps, but He doesn’t think that the means by which he is granted an invitation is important. He thinks he can do it his own way.

I think one of the most tragic songs I have ever heard is the song by Frank Sinatra, “I did it my way.” I remember after he passed away a few years ago, and hearing all these tributes about him on the radio, and they all seemed to want to play that song. And I just couldn’t help but wonder where he was at that moment, and if living life his way, according to his agenda and his set of standards, was good enough to enter the kingdom of heaven. I don’t know the state of his soul, but I know the standard for heaven, and it’s not doing it your way. It’s not entered according to how you think God should be, or based on your own merits. But entrance is only admitted through Jesus Christ.

I know that when I stand at the gate of Paradise, and perhaps some angel says to me, “Friend, what are you doing here?” My only plea will be, “I am with Him. Jesus Christ invited me to come, and He has provided the garment of righteousness required to enter.”

Well, this man had no answer. He was speechless. And so the king said “bind him up and throw him into outer darkness. in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
Listen, the Bible says hell was prepared for the devil and his angels. Hell wasn’t made for you and me. Paradise was made for you and me. God has prepared a place beyond our imagination for those that love Him. But when we reject Jesus, we reject Paradise and choose to listen to the enemy, and as such they that do so will suffer the same fate as he who they chose to obey.

Jesus closes this parable with a very simple statement, “For many are called, but few are chosen.” The call has gone out to the world, but only a few are chosen. The gospel invitation is sent out everywhere to everyone. Some are indifferent. Some are hostile. Some try to crash the wedding party on their own terms. But few are chosen. And with the word “chosen,” we’re introduced to the sovereignty of God in salvation. I think we can parse this word from a lot of different perspectives, but the one perspective I want to focus on is the sovereign act of God in granting salvation, granting righteousness to those who believe. You believe, and God grants you the kingdom. He graciously bestows upon you an inheritance in the kingdom. He makes you His child and gives you all the benefits of an heir.

But the great emphasis that Jesus gives in this parable is not on the election of God, but the acceptance of the invitation by man. He has extended to you that invitation today, to join HIs kingdom, to receive the righteousness of Jesus Christ and become a child of God. The question is, will you come to Him and bow to Him and believe in Him, that you may be dressed in the robe of righteousness by which you may enter? Come to Him today. The invitation is given to you.

Parable of the wheat and the tares, Matthew 13:24-33

We are continuing in our series on the parables of Jesus, and today we have come to a trilogy of parables which I believe are teaching a similar principle, albeit from differing perspectives.  These parables are part of a greater sermon that Jesus taught which is called the Olivet Discourse.  

Last week we looked at another parable from this sermon, which comes directly before these three. It is the parable of the sower. If you will recall, in that parable Jesus spoke of four types of soil, representing four conditions of the heart, all of which received the seed which was the word of God, but two failed to produce any real spiritual growth, one produced growth which was choked by weeds and thorns and did not produce fruit, and then one soil, the good soil, which produced varying degrees of fruitfulness.

Now the first parable in this series of three sort of builds on the parable of the sower by using a similar illustration of sowing.  Some aspects are similar, and some are different. For instance, in the previous parable Jesus taught that there were four types of soil, indicating believers and non-believers.  In this next parable, He teaches that there are two types of seed. 

Let’s consider then the parable of the wheat and the tares.  Jesus said, ““The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went away.”  

I have repeatedly explained in our study of the parables that when Jesus speaks of the kingdom of heaven, He is not speaking of the eternal abode of the righteous, or a place somewhere in outer space where God lives and the saints shall live with Him.  But Jesus is speaking of the sovereign reign of God.  The Bible says that heaven is My throne, and the earth is my footstool.  God is the creator of the world, and He rules over the world.  Not all the people in the world have submitted to Him as Sovereign, but one day every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord.  Until that day, when He is revealed from heaven in power and glory, men are given the gospel, an invitation, that the way to gain citizenship in the kingdom has been offered through Jesus Christ.  That invitation was given when Jesus came to earth the first time. Men are given the opportunity to receive Him in this age and be spiritually reborn as sons and daughters of God.  And then when the King returns in His glory at the end of the age, those who are His people will join Him to live and reign with Him forever, but those who rejected Him during their life, will be cast out of the kingdom into eternal punishment. 

So when Jesus speaks of the kingdom of heaven, He is speaking of the intermediate age between the first coming and the second coming of the King.  It is the age in which we live on earth now.  God is on the throne in heaven, and He is over all the earth.  He has established His rule and law and proclaimed the good news of the kingdom and invited all who believe to enter.  And at the end of this age He will come again to judge the earth and consummate the final age of His kingdom on earth. 

The teaching of the kingdom of heaven was nothing new to the Jewish audience that listened to Jesus.  But they had a distorted view of what that would look like.  They were expecting the Messiah to be King, and to take up the throne of David in Jerusalem, to defeat the enemies of Israel, and establish Israel as the nation of God, which dominates the world, and to whom the world serves.  They expected a kingdom on earth, but with Israel as the people of God, and the rest of the world to be in subjection to them, or to be destroyed by the Messiah.  They expected that reign to begin immediately upon the inauguration of the Messiah and that it would never end.  They did not understand that it would be a spiritual kingdom for a long time, during which both righteousness and evil would be in effect on the earth for what has been 2000 years now, until the day when the Messiah returns to consummate that kingdom.

So when Jesus teaches concerning the kingdom of heaven, He is in effect correcting, if not  overturning the stereotypical views of the Jews.  And it must have been difficult for them to understand because like most people, they heard what they wanted to hear.  That’s why Jesus concluded the previous parable by saying, those that have ears to hear, let them hear.  Their hearing was hindered because they did not have spiritual insight.

The disciples,  on the other hand, did have spiritual insight, and so after Jesus had given the parable to the multitude, He went in the house, in vs 36, and the disciples asked Him then to explain the parable to them.

The interesting thing which Jesus taught,  is that during the present age, as the kingdom of heaven is in effect, there are those who are in subjection to the king, and those that are not. He says in vs 38, the field is analogous to the world. The entire world belongs to the king.  Those that have submitted to the King are those illustrated in the previous parable as the good soil.  They received the word of God, the seed, the gospel, and that seed sown in good ground has produced spiritual life.  And a similar analogy is given in this parable; Jesus says the good seed that was sown by the sower are the sons of the kingdom.

But in the parable Jesus says that there is an enemy of the king, who sowed tares among the wheat while the king’s men were sleeping.  In HIs interpretation of the parable Jesus identifies the enemy as the sons of the evil one.  These are those who have believed the lies of Satan. They are not concerned about the things of God because they have believed the lie rather than the truth. And so consequently they are doing the devil’s work in spreading lies and deceit amongst the world.

The idea of this happening while his men were sleeping is something that should be elaborated on.  There was a book that was written by John F. Kennedy while he was still a young man at Harvard.  And the book was titled, “Why England Slept.”  It was about how England and other western countries seemed to sleep while Hitler was ascending to power and preparing to take over Europe.  

A similar reference was made by many people regarding the Japanese invasion of Pearl Harbor.  While America was asleep, the warplanes of Japan were making their descent upon the unsuspecting forces in Pearl Harbor.  That same stealthy kind of approach by the enemy is what Jesus is referring to here in this parable.  It indicates the way in which the enemy works.  He is deceitful.  He works by lying, by subterfuge. He takes advantage of darkness, which is an idiom for ignorance.  And he works by counterfeiting.  The tares look like wheat.

It also indicates that Satan takes advantage of the lethargy and slumber of the church.  The job of the church is to be the watchman, to be wakeful, to be on the alert.  Peter says, be on the alert, because your adversary the devil goes about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.  But the devil is working while we are sleeping.   There was an album that came out years ago by Neil Young, called Rust Never Sleeps.  That may be said about the devil.  He is working 24/7 knowing that his time is short.  But meanwhile, the church seems to be taking a perpetual nap, while the corruption that is in the world is spreading at a frightful pace.

Jesus said the enemy sowed tares among the wheat.  Tares look like wheat when they are young, but in fact produce a poisonous fungus which makes a person sick.  That sickness is a pretty apt illustration of the nature of the lie of Satan. He promises happiness and fulfillment but in the end it only produces death. And the field which is the world receives the lie of Satan and they become corrupted and poisoned by sin which produces death.

That illustrates an important principle which I mentioned a moment ago.  The work of Satan is often a work of counterfeiting the gospel with another gospel.  A gospel without power, without conviction, without repentance, without the cross, without  judgment. Someone has aptly said, “Where the good seed is sown, there the evil is scattered thickest. False christs and false apostles dog the true like their shadows. Every truth has its counterfeit.”  Satan masquerades as an angel of light, and his message is a lie construed to look like the truth.

We have counterfeit churches in which the true gospel is not proclaimed. We have counterfeit ministries in which the Word of God is not taught. We have counterfeit ministers who open up the Bible and who twist it into false doctrine.  In other words, the counterfeit is always there in the presence of the true, and it is very easy to be misled by them if we are not students of the Bible, and come to the Lord and ask him to explain His word for us.

In the parable, the servants of the landowner come and ask him “‘Do you want us, then, to go and gather them up?’  That would seem to be the logical conclusion.  But Jesus says the landowner replies, “No; for while you are gathering up the tares, you may uproot the wheat with them. Allow both to grow together until the harvest; and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather up the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them up; but gather the wheat into my barn.”’”

What that indicates is that there is a danger to uprooting the counterfeit.  In an actual field of wheat, the roots of the tares may be intertwined with the wheat.  Pulling up the bad would perhaps inadvertently uproot the good. Also, the similarity between the two may be cause for a mistake to be made by the reapers.  And so Jesus says let them both grow.

I think it’s a mistake to try to draw too many conclusions from some elements of the story, particularly this element of not uprooting the tares until harvest. I”m not sure that we can draw too many analogies from that and be certain of our deductions. We might be tempted to say that perhaps even a false teacher could lead someone to become a believer.  And that may be one way of looking at it.  However, what I think the salient  point that Jesus is teaching is that the angels of God will wait until the judgment to separate the wheat from the tares.  I don’t think that Jesus is saying that we should not identify false teaching or should not call out false teachers.  There is plenty of evidence in scripture that indicates that we should call out false teaching and we should warn others concerning it.

But that is not what Jesus is primarily teaching here.  I think the primary lesson that He is illustrating is that both wheat and tares will be allowed to grow until the harvest.  And at the harvest, it will be clear which are wheat and which are tares, because the fruit will be evident.  The point is that there will be a judgment which will determine the sons of the kingdom from the sons of the evil one. Jesus said, “Allow both to grow together until the harvest; and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather up the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them up; but gather the wheat into my barn.”

Jesus expounds on that in vs 40 “So just as the tares are gathered up and burned with fire, so shall it be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then THE RIGHTEOUS WILL SHINE FORTH AS THE SUN in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.”

I want you to notice that in the parable, Jesus refers to the tares as being burned, and in the interpretation of the parable Jesus again says that that lawless and stumbling blocks will thrown into the furnace of fire.  The point being that in both the parable and the interpretation, fire is fire.  The fire doesn’t symbolize something that is not fire.  So we don’t see the terror of hell which is symbolized by fire,  diminished in any way by the interpretation, but actually the reality of hell is reinforced.  The fact of a burning, actual fiery hell that lasts forever is clearly illustrated in this message.

But while the judgment at the end of the age is given great emphasis, the main point of the parable is that both wheat and tares are sown in the kingdom, and will be allowed to continue to grow until the day when Christ returns, and at that time will come the judgment.

And another point that is illustrated in the interpretation of the parable is that the deeds of the unrighteous will be the evidence that they never were converted. Jesus calls them stumbling blocks and those that commit lawlessness.  And by inference, the deeds of the righteous will be the proof that they are sons of the kingdom, even as the fruitfulness was an indication in the previous parable.  Deeds are not the means of salvation, but deeds are the evidence of it, or the evidence that you are not of the kingdom.  That should be clear from the parables. 

Now there are two other parables that Jesus gives immediately after the wheat and the tares. These two are not interpreted by Jesus.  However, I believe the key to a proper interpretation is found in the fact that they come in the sermon before the interpretation of the wheat and the tares.  And so I think that positioning indicates that they are part of a trilogy of parables which are teaching a similar principle, only one of which will be interpreted, but the juxtaposition of the other two before the interpretation means that they share in that interpretation.

Notice then the parable of the mustard seed. Jesus said in vs31 “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field;  and this is smaller than all [other] seeds, but when it is full grown, it is larger than the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that THE BIRDS OF THE AIR come and NEST IN ITS BRANCHES.”

In this parable we see that the birds of the air nest in the branches of the mustard tree when it is full grown.  If we use the principle of expositional constancy, then we can deduce that the birds are a picture of the devil and his angels as identified in the parable of the sower.  In that parable Jesus says the birds who snatch away the seed is the evil one.  

The sower would be Jesus, if we follow the exposition of the previous parable. In this case, the mustard tree would be the church, which springs up from the good seed, which when fully grown becomes a tree big enough to have birds nest in it’s branches.  

What Jesus is illustrating here is similar to that of the wheat and the tares.  Within the kingdom exists both wheat and tares, both good and evil.  And within the church, the offshoot of the seed, exists both good and evil.  The devil and his angels find safe haven in the church.  We saw that same principle in the previous parable with the idea of counterfeit churches, and a counterfeit gospel.  Satan has always found a suitable site for subterfuge in the branches of the church, counterfeiting the truth with a lie.

Another thing that is worth pointing out about this parable is that a mustard seed does not produce a tree that big, but is actually a bush. Jesus seems to lay stress on the fact that this plant grows bigger than the other plants in the garden to become a tree.   A mustard seed producing a tree is abnormal growth.  And so we can see that what Jesus is teaching is that the church grows abnormally large, and as a result it harbors false teachers and false churches within it.  But if we apply the same teaching about the end of the age which we have seen previously, then at the end of the age, the fruit of the church will be evident and will precipitate the judgment of the unrighteous who have counterfeited the gospel.

Now I would be remiss if I didn’t say that the interpretation I have presented of the mustard seed and the parable of the leaven, is not the mainstream interpretation.  Most traditional commentators have taken the approach that the mustard seed is a picture of the church which will expand throughout the age and throughout the world. They say the same thing about the leaven, that it’s a picture of the church’s rise and prominence in the world.  That may be true, or not true, but either way I don’t think that is what Jesus is teaching.  Again, besides the principle of expositional constancy, I would point to another evidence for my view as the positioning of these two parables.  They are a continuation of the principle being taught in the wheat and tares, which is interpreted after they are all presented, signifying that they all share in that interpretation. 

Now that being said, let’s look at the last parable in this trilogy which I think will verify my position even further.  Vs 33 “He spoke another parable to them, “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three pecks of flour until it was all leavened.”  All these things Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables, and He did not speak to them without a parable.  [This was] to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet: “I WILL OPEN MY MOUTH IN PARABLES; I WILL UTTER THINGS HIDDEN SINCE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD.””

This parable of the leaven is very short and simple.  And yet it too is often misinterpreted as a picture of the growth of the church.  But the problem with that is that leaven is always presented in the Bible as a picture of sin and corruption. Jesus on at least a couple of occasions preached, “beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.” They were the stumbling blocks which prohibited the Jews from coming to Christ.  He was speaking of the corrupt teaching which was being done by them which kept the Jews in bondage.  And in the Passover, leaven is a picture of sin, and they were to search out the house for leaven and throw it out, and eat unleavened bread.  It was a  picture of getting rid of the sinful, corrupting influences of the world.

So if you are consistent with that symbolism, then the woman taking flour and adding leaven to it until it was all leavened is not a picture of the church growing in a good way, but growing in a bad way.  The leaven is a corrupting influence which causes the dough to rise.  And so the corrupting influence of sin in the church spreads to all the church.

We also see a similarity in the woman hiding the leaven in the dough, and the enemy sowing the tares while they were sleeping.  Both indicate the stealthy, subversive nature of the tactics of the enemy to sow bad seed in the church.

The idea of hiding leaven in three measures of meal would have offended any observant Jew. This certainly isn’t a picture of the church gradually influencing the whole world for good. Rather, in the context of increasing opposition to His work, Jesus announced that His church would be influenced by corruption and false teaching and a tolerance for sin.

In the final analysis, we must examine ourselves in light of these parables as to whether or not we are truly sons and daughters of the kingdom, or whether we have been deceived by the lie of the devil and are actually children of rebellion.  Jesus said by their fruits you shall know them.  Those who have confessed Jesus as Lord have received the righteousness of Christ resulting in being born again spiritually as children of God.  And as such, they have a new nature, and their deeds are evidence of that.  Those that are in rebellion are still in their sins, and are  still carnal, and their lawless deeds are evidence of their nature.  

The difference might not be easily seen.  On the surface, the regenerate and the unregenerate may look the same.  But God sees the heart.  And on the day when we all are judged at Christ’s appearing, God will separate the sheep from the goats, the righteous from the unrighteous, and the wheat from the tares. 

If you are here today and you have realized in your heart that you have never been born again spiritually through faith in Jesus Christ as Lord, then you still have the opportunity to surrender to Jesus Christ today.  Today is the acceptable day of salvation.  Today Jesus invites you to join His kingdom.  I pray that you will call upon Him today and be delivered from the dominion of darkness to the kingdom of Jesus Christ.  Don’t put it off.  Call upon the Lord today and be saved.  

The Parable of the Sower, Matthew 13:1-23

Today, of course, is the holiday we call Easter. The origins of this holiday are not completely clear. Some people think that the Emperor Constantine changed a pagan holiday on this date to become a day which the resurrection of Christ would be celebrated. That cannot be verified. But we do know that by the time of Martin Luther and the Reformation, the association by Christians with Easter as a celebration of the resurrection was pretty much established. So much so that the translators of the King James Version substituted the word Easter for the original word Passover in Acts 12:4. Most of our modern versions do not have that substitution. The NASB, for instance, reads the passover, not Easter.

So consequently, we do not actually find Easter mentioned in the scriptures. However, we do celebrate the Lord’s resurrection every Sunday. It being the day of His resurrection, the first day of the week, we come together to worship the Lord.

One aspect of the resurrection though that is rarely considered is how it applies to me. The Bible says in 1Cor. 15:20-22 “But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep. For since by a man [came] death, by a man also [came] the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.” So we learn from that there is a resurrection for us that believe, in the same way that Christ was resurrected.

But in a manner of speaking there are two resurrections for the believer. The first is when we are dead in our sins, and made alive in Christ. There is a resurrection from death to life which is our spiritual rebirth. It is when we become a Christian. Jesus said you must be born again by the Spirit. Salvation then, comes as a result of first dying to the old man, and then being born again as a new man by the Spirit of God. And then at Christ’s second coming, there will be a bodily resurrection, at the last trumpet, when the dead in Christ will rise first and meet the Lord in the air. At that point our bodies will be changed from corruption to that which is incorruptible. It will be changed from mortal to immortal. But first comes the spiritual regeneration, when we die to the old man and are born again in the Spirit.

In speaking of the bodily resurrection from the dead, Paul said in 1 Cor.15:36, “That which you sow does not come to life unless it dies; and that which you sow, you do not sow the body which is to be, but a bare grain, perhaps of wheat or of something else. But God gives it a body just as He wished, and to each of the seeds a body of its own.” Now he is speaking of the resurrection from the dead there. But it also can apply to our regeneration, when we die to the flesh, and are raised up to live with Christ, to walk from that point on by the Spirit, and not by the flesh any longer.

Now I don’t intend on preaching a typical Easter message today. But I did want to make the point that the importance of Christ’s resurrection has greater implications than simply His body coming out of the tomb. But because He lives, we live. Because He was resurrected we shall be resurrected. However, I also think that this principle of resurrection to new life is illustrated to some degree by the parable we are studying today. As most of you should know, we have been studying the parables of Jesus for a number of weeks now, and today we come to what is known as the Parable of the Soils.

This chapter is a continuation of a long day of teaching that Jesus did beginning in chapter 12. That same day, according to vs 1 of chapter 13, Jesus sat by the seashore. Jesus teaching at the beach seems to be a common occurrence in the gospels, as most of the time His teaching was outdoors. And on this occasion such large crowds gathered to Him that he moved to a boat and the crowds came near the waterline to hear Him.

Jesus began to teach them, and He spoke to them in parables. Just as a reminder, a parable is not a morality tale, it’s not an allegory. It is a fictional illustration set in the physical world used to teach spiritual principles. The first story that He tells is one that would be readily appreciated by his audience, who were from an agrarian culture, people that would easily understand and relate to this illustration of sowing and reaping. Not only that, but surrounding the Sea of Galilee were farm fields on the hillsides which could have been in the process of being sown at that very moment. And so the people could have been hearing Jesus describe what their eyes were witnessing in the distance at that very moment.

Now we are also fortunate, because in this parable, which is not always the case, Jesus explains the parable later to the disciples. So we can be certain that we understand what He was teaching. So there are two parts to this passage, the first part is the telling of the parable which the crowd received, and then the explanation of the parable which the disciples received. And there is an interlude in between where Jesus explains why that is so.

So Jesus presents the parable to the crowd on the beach saying, “Behold, the sower went out to sow; and as he sowed, some [seeds] fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate them up. Others fell on the rocky places, where they did not have much soil; and immediately they sprang up, because they had no depth of soil. But when the sun had risen, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. Others fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked them out. And others fell on the good soil and yielded a crop, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty. He who has ears, let him hear.”

Now that’s all that the crowd got to hear. They had to figure it out from there. And I have to say that even though the crowd was from an agrarian culture, and they probably had living examples on the hillsides doing the exact thing that Jesus was speaking of, they probably had no clue as to what He was really saying. Perhaps the best that they could extract from it would have been something along the lines of – most of your work will be unprofitable, but if you do a lot of it, some will be profitable. So perhaps they thought the moral of the story is to work hard and some of it will pay off eventually. After all, there was no real reason for the people to be see a spiritual application in that story. Everything that the gospels tell us makes it pretty clear that the multitudes who were drawn to Christ were really only looking for physical “blessings” in the way of food, or healing, or being able to have Israel reinstated as an independent monarchy under the reign of the Messiah who would be an actual king and would defeat their enemies.

There inability to discern the truth of the parable is why Jesus ends the story with the cryptic phrase; “he who has ears, let him hear.” This was not a call for all to listen. Rather, it was a call for those who were spiritually aware to understand the spiritual lesson being taught. It was said in recognition that they were not spiritually listening. They were only interested in physical things. But Jesus is saying that there is more than physical lessons here. There is a spiritual lesson which they needed to hear, but they first needed to gain spiritual awareness.

So Jesus has this great big crowd who have all come to see Him. And He gives them this cryptic sermon that they can’t possibly figure out on their own and He walks off the beach. And the disciples, I imagine, think that Jesus has blown a good opportunity. He failed to make the message clear, and bring it home with a suitable sentimental story and an invitation to walk the isle repeat this prayer after me.

So perhaps reproachfully, they say, “Why do You speak to them in parables?” There might have been a huge number of people who made a commitment to follow Christ that day, but instead, He left a lot of people on the beach scratching their heads, asking one another, “what did it mean to you?”

So the disciples question why Jesus taught in parabl, and He answers by saying in vs 11 “To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted. For whoever has, to him [more] shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him. Therefore I speak to them in parables; because while seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. In their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says, ‘YOU WILL KEEP ON HEARING, BUT WILL NOT UNDERSTAND; YOU WILL KEEP ON SEEING, BUT WILL NOT PERCEIVE; FOR THE HEART OF THIS PEOPLE HAS BECOME DULL, WITH THEIR EARS THEY SCARCELY HEAR, AND THEY HAVE CLOSED THEIR EYES, OTHERWISE THEY WOULD SEE WITH THEIR EYES, HEAR WITH THEIR EARS, AND UNDERSTAND WITH THEIR HEART AND RETURN, AND I WOULD HEAL THEM.’ But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear. For truly I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see [it,] and to hear what you hear, and did not hear [it.]”

Now that answer deserves a message of it’s own to plumb all the depths of what Jesus said. But we aren’t going to take the time to parse it all this morning. However, the gist of what Jesus is saying is that it takes spiritual life, new eyes and new ears that are spiritually tuned, in order to understand the spiritual truth of the parable. The disciples had that new life. The multitudes did not.

In His answer Jesus revisits the principle we talked about last week in regards to the Parable of the Talents. That to him who has, more shall be given, and him who does not have, even what he has shall be taken away. And if you remember we said that which they had was spiritual life, and those that did not have spiritual life would even lose what they did have, which was natural life. Jesus says the same thing here in regards to why He speaks in parables. If they don’t have spiritual life, then they cannot understand spiritual truth.

It really goes back to what Jesus said to Nicodemus in John 3. You must be born again. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Without being born again, without new eyes and new ears, there can be no understanding of spiritual things.

Then Jesus explains the parable to the disciples. He says, hear then the parable of the sower. I originally called my message the Parable of the Soils. That seemed to make sense to me, and besides, that’s what most commentators called it. But Jesus calls it the parable of the sower. And so I changed my title. It’s Jesus’s story, and I suppose He knows best.

However, the tendency to call it the parable of the soils is due to the fact that Jesus describes four types of soil in the parable. He gives practically no description of the sower. We are not even told who he is. But we can deduce that the sower is Jesus Christ Himself. And we can find justification for that in another parable,

There is a parable which we will look at next week which begins in vs 24 of this chapter, called the parable of the wheat and the tares. And Jesus explains that parable in vs 37, saying, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man…”

I’ve mentioned before a principle of hermeneutics called expositional constancy, that means symbols in scripture seem to have the same meaning. And you might be able to make that case here. It’s safe to say that if the Lord is the sower in one place, He certainly could be the sower in another place. After all, the good seed comes from Him, doesn’t it? That’s not a stretch. So we could conclude then that the one who sows initially is the Lord Jesus Christ, the One who has the word of life.

And that assumption clues us in on what is the seed in the parable. The seed is the word of God. Jesus calls it in vs 19 “the word of the kingdom.” It could also mean the message of the kingdom. Luke records this same parable and in Luke 8:11 he adds “the seed is the Word of God.” So the message of the kingdom is contained in the Word of God. Jesus began His ministry preaching the kingdom of God is at hand. Over and over again He has given instructions concerning the kingdom of God, or the kingdom of heaven. The message is that Jesus is the King of the kingdom of heaven, and His rule is over heaven and earth. The message is the good news, the gospel, that God has made a way for man to enter into His kingdom, and receive the blessings of the kingdom. The blessings of the kingdom are life, spiritual life, abundant life, eternal life. So the gospel, the word of God, is the seed which Jesus Christ is spreading abroad over the earth.

And I think the point should be emphasized that without the word of God a man cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. Jesus doesn’t give an example here of a patch of soil in which no seed was cast, because that should be obvious. Without seed, there can be no growth, no life. So it’s important that we recognize the essentiality of the word of God in salvation. I could say a lot about that, but we don’t have time. However, I do want to emphasize it, because I’m afraid that so often today the word of God is being de-emphasized. We substitute all kinds of things in the church for the preaching of the word, singing, skits, dramas, films, etc. And we wonder why people are not saved. Paul said in 1Cor. 1:18 “For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”

Now that brings us to the soil. Jesus gives us four types of soil. And the soil symbolizes the heart of man. The heart, when spoken of spiritually, is really the soul. It is the seat of man’s intellect, emotions and will. Jesus references the aspect of the intellect especially in the first soil, the packed hard road beside the field. There were byways through the farmer’s fields that allowed people to traverse across their property without trampling on the crops. And these byways were not cultivated. They were hard packed. And some of the seed cast by the sower falls on the hard packed soil that is not broken up. It lays on top and Jesus says the birds of the air come and eat the seed.

He says when anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. So we see in that statement several things. First, the necessity to understand the word. That incorporates the intellect. Secondly, the birds are interpreted as the evil one. That references the devil and his angels, and Jesus indicates that they can snatch away the word of God. The word of God is foolishness to these people who don’t understand it. So they disregard it, and the devil makes sure that it is dismissed as foolishness and not brought back to their mind. And the third thing Jesus teaches in that statement is that the soil is the heart. The word of God was sown in the heart.

Romans 10:10 says, “for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.” The first soil illustrates a hard, unbelieving heart in which the word is not received.

Jesus next interprets the rocky soil. Vs20 “The one on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, this is the man who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet he has no firm root in himself, but is only temporary, and when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he falls away.”

Rocky soil is soil that is a very thin layer of dirt over a bed of rock. And because the root can’t go down, the growth spurts up, but when the sun becomes hot, there is no moisture in the soil and the plant wilts and eventually dies. Jesus interprets this as a person who hears the word, but has not counted the cost of discipleship. This is what I spoke of earlier, in order for the seed to grow, it must first die. There is a cost to Christianity, a cost to following Christ. It requires a sacrifice of your will, for doing His will. Some people are happy to accept that Jesus died for their sins so that they can receive the blessings of God. But they don’t realize that they need to die to their flesh as well. Jesus said take up your cross and follow Me. That’s what it means to confess Jesus as Lord. These people were not saved and then lost it, they were never saved at all. They had a superficial salvation, but never a true conversion.

The third soil is the thorny soil. Charles Spurgeon gave a great sermon on just this soil alone. He hardly mentioned the other soils, just the thorny soil. And perhaps because if I had to guess this is the most pervasive one. Thorns are pervasive, aren’t they? I noticed again yesterday that the first things to get green in the field around my house is the thorns. They take over. You don’t need to plant thorns, they are naturally prolific.

Jesus said in vs22 “And the one on whom seed was sown among the thorns, this is the man who hears the word, and the worry of the world and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.” I’ve always had a question in my mind whether or not this person is saved or unsaved. The first two were clearly unsaved. This one I’m not so sure. I think the indication is that if he persists in that condition then he is unsaved. But perhaps there is a chance that this person is saved, he has new life, but he backslides. He turns back to the things of the world that he was supposed to have forsaken. He becomes so enamored with the world again and the pursuit of money, or his career, or something that is carnal, fleshly, that it chokes the spiritual life to the point that it doesn’t produce fruit.

But maybe I’m being overly generous in that assumption this person could be saved. Because Jesus says in Matt. 7:16-20 “You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn [bushes] nor figs from thistles, are they? So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So then, you will know them by their fruits.” So, the bottom line is that a life that does not bear fruit is not truly a Christian. Perhaps there is a time where God has to do some pruning, some cutting away, some cultivation in order to take away the thorns and weeds which are choking out the life, but the bottom line is that fruit is the evidence of spiritual life and the lack of fruit is evidence of no spiritual life.

Well that leads to the last type of soil, and that is the good soil. The seed which fell on the good soil *yielded a crop, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty. Jesus said in vs 23 “And the one on whom seed was sown on the good soil, this is the man who hears the word and understands it; who indeed bears fruit and brings forth, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty.” The number of the fruit there is not of primary importance. But what is important about the good soil is that it is fruitful. How much may depend on other conditions. But the point is that believers bear fruit.

The question is, what is fruit? A common misconception is that fruit is leading other people to Christ. That may play a part in it, but that is not specifically what Jesus is talking about. Fruit is righteousness. It’s a life of righteousness. Not just being declared righteous by faith, resulting in justification. But living righteously, which is sanctification.

I’ll give you a couple of verses to support that. Phil. 1:9-11 says, “And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ; having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which [comes] through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.” The fruit of righteousness. It comes through Christ living in you. No longer you living for your desires, but Christ living in you.

Another is Heb. 12:10-11 talking about our earthly fathers, “For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He [disciplines us] for [our] good, so that we may share His holiness. All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.” There it is again, the fruit of righteousness, sharing in God’s holiness.

Righteousness is the fruit of the new life. John said in 1John 3:7 “Little children, make sure no one deceives you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous.” That’s the evidence of being truly saved. That’s the evidence of being a Christian. There is a new life of righteousness which is evident to the world.

That life of righteousness is what the scripture refers to as sanctification. Hebrews 12:14 says, “Pursue peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord.” Sanctification is holiness, righteousness. It is being holy because He is holy. And so let me close by saying this. Examine yourselves this morning in the light of this parable. Which soil do you think characterizes the state of your heart? Do you not understand this message and are going to forget about it as soon as it’s over? That’s the soil by the road. Or are you like the rocky soil? You had some sort of spiritual experience once and because of that you think you are saved. But in reality the word of God has never taken root in your heart. And so there has not been any spiritual life.

Or do you recognize yourself as the soil that is thorny? You believed the word, you have had some spiritual growth, but the the worry of the world and the deceitfulness of wealth are choking the word, and your life is unfruitful. If that’s the case, you need to uproot those thorns, confess your sin to the Lord and ask Him to cleanse you, to renew a right spirit within you. Repentance is the plow that produces good soil, which results in the fruit of righteousness.

Psalm 51:10, 12, 17 Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me. … 12 Restore to me the joy of Your salvation And sustain me with a willing spirit. … 17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.

The Parable of the Good Samaritan, Luke 10:25-37

Today we are looking at another parable of Jesus which is called the Parable of the Good Samaritan.  That’s a title that was given by the translators and editors of the original manuscripts.  It’s not phrase that would have been understood by Jesus’s audience.  That phrase would have been considered by Jesus’s listeners as an oxymoron.  In the opinion of most Jews of that day, the only good Samaritan would have been a dead Samaritan.  Samaritans were considered people of the lowest, most despicable character.  They were half breeds who were the descendants of those Jews left in the land of Israel during the exile under the rule of the Assyrians and who had intermarried with their oppressors and produced an offspring called the Samaritans.  They not only were looked down upon, but the Samaritans themselves added insult to injury by building their own temple and adapting certain pagan rituals in their worship.

But before we delve too far into all the particulars of the Samaritan in Jesus’s story, we must consider the context in which Jesus gives this story.  It is given in response to a conversation with a lawyer, an expert in Jewish law.   And the lawyer asked Jesus how he could obtain eternal life. Notice how Luke describes it though.  “And a lawyer stood up and put Him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”

It would seem that this man was not genuinely seeking the wisdom of Jesus concerning eternal life because he recognized that Jesus was the Son of God and was the way to life.  But his motive seems to be to put Jesus to the test.  He is trying to catch Jesus saying something that was contrary to the law. The religious rulers were constantly testing Jesus, trying to entrap Him in something that He might say.  

So this lawyer asks a good question, but with an ulterior motive.  In fact, it’s the most important question that any person could ask. You could say that it is mankind’s greatest question, which reveals man’s greatest need.  We looked a couple of weeks ago at the rich, young ruler who asked virtually the same question; “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” Unlike this lawyer, the young ruler’s question was sincere.  But Jesus answered him much the same way that he answered this man.  In answer to his question, Jesus turned him to the law.  

Now this man was a lawyer – he was supposed to be an expert in interpreting Biblical law.  And so Jesus responds to his question with a question; Vs 26 Jesus said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” 

I think it’s noteworthy that when this lawyer or the rich young ruler asked how to enter into eternal life, Jesus did not give them a gospel tract and tell him to repeat the sinner’s prayer after me. You know, 21st century evangelical Christianity wants their theology reduced down  to a simple formula.  Do these three things, or take these three steps and “presto” you are saved, you will avoid hell, and you will live forever in heaven.  But Jesus never seems to use a formula or a prescription for salvation.  He rarely gives a pat answer.  Jesus’s response should raise a caution flag for us when we try to teach people how to lead someone to salvation through some formulaic prayer.

In fact, seemingly contrary to all evangelical, grace dominated church doctrine, Jesus turns this man to the law.  That would seem to put the Romans Road plan of salvation on it’s ear.  Except, if you listen carefully to what Jesus taught, He isn’t teaching that keeping the law is the way to salvation.  He is teaching that righteousness is the means of salvation. Jesus points them to the law so that they might understand God’s standard of righteousness. But as Paul says in Galatians 3:24 that the law is our schoolteacher to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. The law reveals God’s standard of righteousness which we all fall short of, necessitating a righteousness which we receive from Christ by faith.

So Jesus refers this man to the law to show this man his need for salvation.  And the lawyer  responds by quoting the two great commandments, which as Jesus said in Matthew 22 all the law was summarized in these two commandments.  And the lawyer shows that he obviously knows that as well by his response, saying; “YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND; AND YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.”

The amazing thing though is how Jesus responds to this man’s answer.  Jesus says, “You have answered correctly; DO THIS AND YOU WILL LIVE.”  Jesus unconditionally says “if you do these two commandments you will have eternal life.” Now that would seem to fly in the face of evangelical, reformed doctrine.  But we have to accept it as Jesus said it, without caveat.

However, let me hasten to say that perfect obedience to the law is righteousness.  Jesus is not saying occasional righteousness gives eternal life.  He is not saying that if your righteousness outweighs your unrighteousness then you will be saved.  He is saying perfectly keeping the law is perfect righteousness and therefore you have no sin, and consequently, there is no punishment for sin which is death. So you will live. 

But keeping the foremost commandment is impossible if you do not believe that Jesus is the Son of God. If you really love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul, then you will have saving faith in Jesus Christ. To believe in Him, to trust Him, to follow Him, to have faith in Him are all ways in which you love Him with all your heart, soul, mind and strength.

The problem is that this lawyer doesn’t believe Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. So he may claim that he loves Jehovah, but he really doesn’t love Him, because He doesn’t believe in Him.  Jesus said in John 5:21-24 “For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son also gives life to whom He wishes. For not even the Father judges anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son,  so that all will honor the Son even as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him. Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.” So Jesus would say that “I and the Father are One.”  If you reject Jesus, then you cannot love God.

However, from his next answer the lawyer makes it clear that he thinks he has the first commandment locked down, and if there is any concern he has it’s about the second commandment.  So he will narrow down the possibility of failing that commandment by asking Jesus another trick question. Luke says that wanting to justify himself he said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Notice, he wanted to justify himself.  We saw a moment ago in Galatians that Paul said that the law was meant to be a schoolteacher to turn us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.  But this man thinks that he is justified by keeping the law.  But the law convicts him, and so he wants to find a way to justify himself. He wants to find a way to be able to believe he is keeping the requirements of the law.

So his question is really a means to try to escape the conviction of the law.  But he felt he was justified in that respect, because the religious Jews of that day narrowly defined who qualified as a neighbor by only including other Jews who lived righteously.  Never in a million years would the average Jew consider a Gentile as a neighbor, or a Samaritan a neighbor, or even a Jewish person whom they considered to be a sinner to be a neighbor.

So Jesus tells a parable in order to answer the man’s question, who is my neighbor.  It’s very important to recognize that Jesus does not tell this story to illustrate how to enter into eternal life.  A lot of people have erred into a social gospel through misunderstanding the purpose of this parable.  It is not to answer the question “how to enter eternal life,” but to answer “who is my neighbor?”

The parable begins with a man traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho. These two cities were separated by seventeen miles of desolate countryside. This particular highway was notoriously dangerous and would have been well known at least by reputation among the Jews. Merchants would often travel this road in order to sell their wares in Jericho. The desolate and rocky terrain made this road a popular site for raids by bandits. 

It’s interesting to notice that Jesus does not describe this man with any ethnic or nationalistic or religious characteristics. He is just a man.  There are no defining marks to put him into a specific category of people.  Jesus just simply identifies him as a man traveling on this road, and he fell among robbers.  I’m sure that on that road robbery was a well known risk, and  in this case, the man fell victim to what was already a high probability.

Jesus said not only did they rob him, but they beat him and stripped him of his clothes and possessions and left him lying on the side of the road half dead.  This man suffered terrible consequences for his decision to take this road.  Obviously, not everyone faced the same consequences even though they made a similar decision.  But the point should be made that as Christians we do not rush to judgment about a person because they suffer the consequences of a bad decision. How and why they are in the predicament that they are in is not our concern as much as how we are to respond to their need.

And to make that point, Jesus introduces two other characters into the story.  He says in vs 31, “And by chance a priest was going down on that road, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. Likewise a Levite also, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.”

Most of you know that I just got back from a trip to LA yesterday.  And I could not help but be reminded of this story as I walked down certain streets in LA and saw the many homeless people that live on the sidewalks in certain areas. Some of the homeless you see look like they are physically capable enough I guess to take care of themselves to some degree.  A lot of them though seem mentally challenged, perhaps through addiction to drugs or alcohol.  And every once in a while you see a person who is laying on the street, and you can’t really tell if they are ok or not.  And you are kind of afraid to find out.  The homeless situation out there is so dire, so out of control, that it seems overwhelming.  You really don’t know where to begin, and so you tend to just keep walking, to pass by and try to put it out of your mind.  It’s easier if you say to yourself that they are on drugs, that they brought it on themselves, that they could go in a shelter if they wanted to, but they want to live like that.  We make all kinds of rationales in order to justify ourselves.

But we are negligent in our comprehension of this law of loving our neighbor if we only relate it to homeless people we see on the street.  This parable teaches that anyone that we cross in our path is our neighbor, whether or not we identify with them culturally, financially, geographically, or by any other metric which we might use to make distinctions about people.

Now Jesus doesn’t elaborate on how the priest or the Levite justified passing the man by.  It’s noteworthy though that the distinction that He makes about them is they are of the religious order of the Jews.  They worked in the temple.  They were the religious leaders of Judaism. If anyone should have been attuned to the requirements that God expressed concerning how we are to treat one another then these guys should have been prime examples.  And yet Jesus shows that the religious leaders did nothing for this man.  They passed on the other side of the street.  That indicates that they wanted to distance themselves from the situation as much as possible.

You know, I used to hear a phrase in the church growing up, which was “There, but by the grace of God, go I.” It was used in conjunction with seeing someone who had fallen into sin, that had been overcome by some vice or calamity.  I hope it was used in the right way,  humbly recognizing that if it had not been for the grace of God which delivered them, then they could be where that person is.  That but for the saving grace of God they would be homeless,  they would be addicted, or they would be in financial or physical ruin.  As Christians, we should have a heightened view of our sinfulness and overflowing gratitude for the grace of God which delivered us.  And consequently, we should have compassion on those who are still captured by such circumstances.

Any number of possible excuses might have kept these two religious leaders from helping the beaten man. They might have said this man should have avoided this road at that time of day.  He brought it on himself. They might have said I am in a hurry, I can’t miss my appointment.  Or I can’t afford to touch this man lest I become unclean and won’t be able to perform my duties in the temple.  Or their excuse might have been that it could be a trap.  Or maybe the man is already too far gone, there is nothing I can do to help him.  But whatever the excuses, at the end of the day that was all that they were – excuses.

Then Jesus introduces a Samaritan who was traveling down the road.  The very use of that term Samaritan eliminated in the minds of the Jews any inherent good in this man.  He was someone who was avoided by God fearing Jews.  They would travel an extra day to avoid having to cross into Samaria. After all, when the inhabitants of Judah returned from exile in Babylon, they experienced opposition and antagonism from the Samaritans. And so perhaps they thought they were justified in treating them with contempt.  So for Jesus to cast this Samaritan in the light of someone who kept the law of God would have been shocking and disturbing to them.

Jesus introduces the Samaritan, saying in vs 33 “But a Samaritan, who was on a journey, came upon him; and when he saw him, he felt compassion,  and came to him and bandaged up his wounds, pouring oil and wine on [them;] and he put him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn and took care of him.”

You know, the Samaritan was probably in a hurry as well.  Jesus said he was on a journey, and later on the Samaritan said when he returned he would stop again and pay whatever was owed.  So he had someplace to be, and somewhere to go.  He wasn’t just out for a Sunday drive and had nothing better to do.  It was probably inconvenient for him.  But nevertheless, he saw a man in need, and put everything else aside in order to tend to this man’s needs.

I want to point out his motivation for doing what he did.  Jesus said he felt compassion. Compassion means sympathy or empathy, it can mean love, pity, concern.  I feel confident that Jesus used it in the sense of love. After all, the law said you shall love your neighbor as yourself.  Compassion is a form of love that indicates action.  It’s not just feeling sympathy or pity for someone and moving on and eventually not thinking about it any more.  But compassion means being moved into action.

Compassion in Strong’s Greek dictionary is defined literally as being moved in one’s bowel’s.  Now before you jump to conclusions, the bowels were considered at that time to be the seat of love and pity.  We might think that sounds odd, but yet we use similar expressions sometimes, such as “gut wrenching” to describe something that moves you in the pit of your stomach. Fear can cause that kind of response, and I suppose love could as well.  But it’s noteworthy to see how often the word compassion is used in the New Testament in relation to Jesus.  He was frequently moved with compassion when He saw the lost sheep of Israel, the Jews. And it always spurred Him to act on their behalf, whether it was to feed them or heal them or teach them.   To have compassion is not to remain unmoved, but to be moved to act in love towards someone.

And notice how the compassion of the Samaritan for this stranger, possibly even someone who would have considered him a natural enemy, resulted in such loving care for his needs.  He goes above and beyond to ensure that this man will have a full recovery.  Jesus said “he felt compassion,  and came to him and bandaged up his wounds, pouring oil and wine on [them;] and he put him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn and took care of him. On the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper and said, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I return I will repay you.’”

So not only does he stop to help and tend to his wounds, but he actually spent the night there  with him.  That probably really upset his plans for his trip.  And then he not only did he use his provisions and his horse or donkey to carry the burden of this man, but he also used his own money, and promised to pay whatever was needed when he returned.  I think that idea of returning is sorely missed in a lot of our evangelism today.  I remember many years ago seeing a man who was supposedly a really great soul winner, who would just witness to anyone at the drop of a hat, I saw him supposedly lead a young man to the Lord one night.  And after he had led him in the sinner’s prayer, he said “Praise God, but I have somewhere to go” and he left right away.  I was the liaison between these two men, and I couldn’t help but notice over the next few years that the soul winner never asked once how the young man was doing, was he still living for the Lord. We are not told to make converts, but to make disciples.  That requires an investment in time, in revisiting that person, to stay in touch, to follow up.  Not to chalk one up for the kingdom and keep moving on like you’re in a basketball game.  This Samaritan shows his compassion is legitimate, because he comes back to check on him and to follow up.

So having given the illustration, Jesus returns to the lawyer’s question, once again by asking him a question.  Jesus said “Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the robbers’ [hands?]”  Even a child should have been able to answer that question after hearing this story.  The lawyer answered, “The one who showed mercy toward him.” And Jesus said, “you have answered correctly.  Go and do the same.”

Of the three passerby’s, the Samaritan was the only one who showed mercy to the injured man. The neighbor wasn’t the one who only felt sorry, or saw the plight, or passed by, but the one who acted in mercy towards someone who crossed their path. Love is showing mercy.

But Jesus’s parable does not simply encourage us to have compassion upon those
who we see are in need who we find some affinity with. But it also teaches us that our concept of neighbor is not limited by national or ethnic or geographical characteristics.  Every human being is our neighbor whom we are to love as much as we love ourselves.

I also think that there is another story that is being presented in this parable which is sort of like a story within a story.  I think it’s the story of salvation, and our need to be the means of bringing salvation to the world.  We are to be the supply of the greatest need humankind faces.  The need for eternal life.

Jesus said in John 10:10 “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have [it] abundantly.” He is talking about the devil and his angels; they are the thieves, the robbers on the road of life, that lay wait and prey upon unsuspecting men and women.  People that perhaps are naive, that are foolish, that are on the road of life and they think they are going to be ok.  And somehow or another they fall into the hands of robbers.  The devil attacks them, robs them. His intention is to destroy them, to kill them. 

And unfortunately, most of what is considered organized religion fails to help those who have fallen into sin.  As Paul said in Romans 3:23 all have sinned and fallen short of the kingdom of God.  We are all dead in our trespasses and sins.  Satan has deceived us. He has robbed us of the life that God had given us.  But God so loved the world, He had such great compassion on us, that He left the throne of heaven to come down to our level, to pick us up from the side of the road and bandage us up, to pay the price for our redemption, for our salvation.  And one day He is coming back for us.  

As the children of God, as people who have been born again of God, we are to be like Christ in the world, having compassion on the world. Going to a world that is sick, that is dying, that is wounded and bleeding because of the deceit and robbery of the evil one. And we are to bring the message of forgiveness, of reconciliation, of spiritual healing, and of eternal life. The greatest need of the world is Jesus Christ.  Not just to give some down and out guy a bowl of soup and a pat on the back and send him on his way, but give him the Bread of Life and the Water of Life, by which he will never hunger and thirst again, by which he might have life and have it more abundantly.  

We are commanded to love our neighbor as ourselves.  To see their greatest need and be the supply of that need for the sake of Christ. The greatest problem in the world affecting mankind is not hunger, it’s not climate change, it’s not Covid 19, the greatest problem in the world is sin and the death that reigns because of sin.  So then if that’s the greatest problem in the world, then the greatest question in the world is “what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”  And we have the answer; Confess Jesus Christ as Lord and you shall be saved. 

Let us show mercy and compassion towards our neighbors, and share with them the saving knowledge of the gospel.  Let us not be like the religious people who passed by the man on the side of the road, but realize that God has commanded us to love our neighbor, and show compassion towards them by leading them to Christ.  

The Parable of the Unforgiving Servant, Matthew 18:21-35

This parable teaches the universal need for forgiveness – both the need to be forgiven, and the need to forgive. Jesus illustrates in this parable how God’s forgiveness is to be a precursor to our forgiveness of others. If we have been forgiven, then we should forgive others. This principle is essential to our psychological well being, in dealing with two common causes of anxiety, depression, and all sorts of psychological problems; those two causes being on the one hand guilt, and on the other hand resentment. Jesus illustrates in this parable how we can be set free from the bondage of the soul that comes as a result of harboring these two psychosises.

Now before we consider this parable, we want to first understand the context in which it was given. In the preceding verses starting with vs 15, Jesus is teaching some principles regarding what is often called church discipline. What that really entails is interpersonal sins – one person sinning against another within the context of the church. In vs 15, Jesus says, “if your brother sins…” and many manuscripts include the phrase “against you.” That would seem to be the thought behind what Jesus is saying. One Christian in the church sins against another in some way. I think it could also include a sin which a person in the church commits which is outside of church relationships, but the general thrust is in the context of the church.

Jesus says concerning this kind of sin starting in vs 15, “If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother. But if he does not listen [to you,] take one or two more with you, so that BY THE MOUTH OF TWO OR THREE WITNESSES EVERY FACT MAY BE CONFIRMED. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven. Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven. For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst.”

Notice that those last verses are given in the context of church discipline, that Christ is in the midst of the church and that He has set the boundaries for life in the church. That verse which says where two or three are gathered together in my name is often quoted out of context. I don’t have time to go into that further this morning but it basically refers to Christ being the head of the church, and thus all things in the church are subject to Him.

So Jesus says, if one Christian sins against another, the one who has been wronged is to confront the offender privately. If the offender does not repent, the one who has been wronged is to confront him again but this time accompanied by one or two other believers. If the offender still refuses to listen, the matter is to be brought before the church. And if the offender remains unrepentant and does not listen to the church, he is to be regarded as a tax collector, which was another way of saying an unbeliever. The church is to break fellowship with such a person.

One of the most difficult experiences the church may face is having to confront a church member who refuses to repent of sin. I also happen to think that it should be a rare event. But when it’s necessary, it needs to be done to protect the sanctity of the church as well as for the good of the person who is unrepentant. But the goal of church discipline is not to punish such a person, but to bring him to repentance and restoration within the church. This ecumenical rebuke is not to be used for just anyone who sins, but only for those who sin and are unrepentant. They brazenly, openly defy any rebuke, any appeal to repent from their sin and continue in that sin.

Sin is a serious thing in the eyes of God, and it should be considered as such in our eyes as well. There is a view among some Christians today that there is no need of repentance once you are saved. But this section of scripture makes it very clear that repentance is a part of the life of the Christian, and one cannot be a part of Christ’s church unless they have been born again. So it should be obvious from this scripture as well as many more that I don’t want to take the time to show you today, that repentance is a necessary ingredient in the Christian life, and the lack of repentance is evidence that a person is backslidden at best, and quite possibly not saved at all.

Then after Jesus had spoken concerning the protocol for church discipline, Peter speaks up, and asks Him a question concerning forgiveness. It’s possible that perhaps Peter is speaking up in hope that his question will bring a commendation from the Lord because He seems to be so magnanimous on this subject of forgiveness.

Peter says, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times?” Peter was in effect asking how many times he should be willing to confront in this way a brother who had wronged him. If a brother sins against Peter, and Peter confronts the brother, and the brother then repents, how many times should Peter confront the brother 
if the same offense happens again? Peter magnanimously suggests that he should forgive him seven times.

But Jesus responds, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.” Now there seems to be some controversy there between various translations of the Bible. Some say seventy times seven, and some say seventy seven. The original language would seem to express the idea of seventy times seven times seven times seven. In other words there is no end to forgiveness.

But to the argument that Jesus may have said 77 times, He might have had in mind Genesis 4, which after Cain sinned and had received judgment from the Lord, Cain appealed to the Lord and said that everyone would be against him from now on, and they would take vengeance against him. And the Lord issued a statement to the effect that if anyone wrongs Cain, he shall be avenged seven times. Now later there was a great, great, great, great-grandson of Cain, and he is described in that 4th chapter of Genesis. His name was Lamech. And like his forefather Cain he was in rebellion against God and living in willful sin. And Lamech makes the statement, “If Cain is avenged seven times, I with my sword will be avenged seventy and seven times.” And so perhaps what we see in this number is the unlimited revenge of man giving way to the unlimited forgiveness of Christians in the statements of Christ.

Either way the numbers are interpreted, the principle is that forgiveness should be unlimited, even as God’s mercies are unlimited towards us. When Peter suggested that he keep count until it became seven sins, Jesus reminded him that true forgiveness does not keep score. That reminds me of a joke I heard once about a newlywed couple back in the old days when men on the prairie would order themselves a mail order bride. I don’t know if you will think it’s funny or not, I kind of doubt it. But I think it’s funny, though not exactly politically correct.

As the story goes, this man and his new mail order wife was driving their buggy back from the justice of the peace’s office to her new home. And as they are on their way, suddenly, the horse stops in his tracks. The man gets down out of the buggy and walks in front of the horse and says, “That’s one.” He then gets back in the buggy and cracks the whip and the horse starts trotting again. A mile or so further along, the horse stops again. Once again the man gets down from the buggy, stands in front of the horse and says,“that’s two.” Climbs back on the buggy, pops the whip and the horse starts off again. A couple of miles further the horse stops again in the middle of the road. The man gets down out of the buggy, walks in front of the horse and says, “that’s three” and pulls out a pistol and shoots the horse dead. Meanwhile, his new wife can’t believe what she just saw. She harshly exclaims to the man, “You must be crazy! How could you shoot the horse like that?” He turned around and looked her in the eyes and said, “that’s one.”

The point of the joke is that you don’t keep score. Peter wanted to keep score, even though he thought in his mind he was being generous by counting to seven. But true forgiveness forgets, it doesn’t remember how many previous times a person has done you wrong. Now Jesus told a much better story than I did. He told a parable about the unrighteous steward to illustrate the principle of forgiveness.

Notice at the beginning an important phrase; Jesus said, ““For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves.” What I want to impress on you to begin with is what Jesus means when He says “the kingdom of heaven.” He is not talking about where you go when you die. He is not talking about what most people think of when they hear the word heaven. He is speaking of the rule of Christ in the hearts and minds of His people. That kingdom began with the incarnation of Jesus Christ, and it continues after His resurrection, when He ascended on high as took His seat on the throne of heaven. It is the kingdom of God, the rule of God on the earth in the lives of His citizens. We live now in the kingdom of heaven, and we are to submit to the Lord’s rule and reign in all aspects of our life.

If we have confessed Jesus as Lord, and believed in who He is and what He has accomplished, then we have become His stewards, His ministers of the kingdom of heaven. We are part of His family, we are a noble race. To quote Peter from 1Peter 2:9-10 “But you are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR [God’s] OWN POSSESSION, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; for you once were NOT A PEOPLE, but now you are THE PEOPLE OF GOD; you had NOT RECEIVED MERCY, but now you have RECEIVED MERCY.”
Now what Jesus says then in this parable is this is how we as ministers of the kingdom of heaven operate. We are to act like Christ.

Jesus begins this parable by telling of a king who is settling accounts with his servants. Someone has suggested that perhaps the man described here by Jesus had a significant post in the kingdom, perhaps one that he handled or took in a great sum of revenue for the kingdom, like a tax collector might. And when the time came for such servants for their accounts to be settled with the king, it was found that this man owed the king 10,000 talents. A single talent was an extraordinary sum of money, the highest unit of money in that day. A talent was equal to many years wages. So 10,000 talents would have been similar to millions of dollars that this man was short. Such a debt was far beyond any person’s ability to repay.

It’s interesting that Jesus correlates his disciples as being like this debtor, and by extension all of us who are citizens of the kingdom of heaven are debtors like this man. We have a debt that is beyond our comprehension, a debt that we can never repay. Our sins indebt us to God. Every time we sin, we add to that debt. And because we are sinners by nature, we have a debt to God that is virtually insurmountable. Paul describes that debt we have to God as falling short of the kingdom of God. Romans 3:23, “For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” None of us can meet the standard of God’s law. It’s like trying to jump the Grand Canyon. Some of you might be better jumpers than others, some of you might be in better shape. But regardless of how fast and how far you might jump, we are all going to fall far short of the other side. The gap is too great. Our sins are too great.

A common problem though is we don’t really see ourselves that way. We may think we have messed up a couple of times in our lives, but overall, we aren’t all that bad. Your spouse, on the other hand, is a real scoundrel. He needs saving, but by comparison you are golden. Jesus loves us because we are lovable, and we are saved because He is happy to get such a good person on His side. We fail to realize the extent of our sinfulness and how our sin has corrupted everything in us so that there is nothing good in us. So Jesus presents this picture to show us the magnitude of our sin and our debt to God and how much He has forgiven us.

Since the servant he did not have the means to repay, the king commanded him to be sold, along with his wife and children and all that he had, so that some repayment might be made.
The servant begged him for a chance to pay back the debt. Yet, even if the king had given him years to repay, it still would not have been long enough for the servant to repay the debt. So even though he could not comprehend the extent of his debt, he recognized that his only hope was to throw himself on the mercy of the king.

Jesus said in vs 23, “And the lord of that slave felt compassion and released him and forgave him the debt.” Instead of giving the servant more time to repay his debt, the king forgave it completely. Not just a portion of it, but he forgave all of it. The magnitude of the king’s kindness and mercy exceeded the magnitude of the debt. The king spared him of what he justly deserved.

Now obviously, this king is a picture of our Lord, who had compassion on us, and showed us such great mercy, forgiving us of all our sin, and giving us new life in the kingdom of heaven.

Now the story could have ended there and been a great picture that illustrates our salvation. But there is another side to the parable. Jesus continued, saying, “But that slave went out and found one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii; and he seized him and began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay back what you owe.’ So his fellow slave fell to the ground and began to plead with him, saying, ‘Have patience with me and I will repay you.’ But he was unwilling and went and threw him in prison until he should pay back what was owed.”

Now the denarius was the standard day’s wages, and it took thousands of denarii to equal a single talent. This debt of a fellow servant, which could have been repaid in a matter of weeks, was a minor amount compared to the first servant’s debt, which never could have been repaid. But although the second servant begged for mercy in the same way that the first servant had, using almost identical language, the first servant refused to forgive him his small debt. Sadly, the servant who had been forgiven so much failed to pass along even a tiny portion of the mercy that he had been given to him.

Vs 31 “So when his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were deeply grieved and came and reported to their lord all that had happened. Then summoning him, his lord said to him, ‘You wicked slave, I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. Should you not also have had mercy on your fellow slave, in the same way that I had mercy on you?’ And his lord, moved with anger, handed him over to the torturers until he should repay all that was owed him.”

When the other servants told the king what had happened, he sent for the servant and delivered him to the jailers until he could pay his debt in full, because he had not shown mercy on his fellow servant, even as he had received mercy. Jesus was teaching that in the same way, when forgiven sinners refuse to show the same mercy towards others that we received in salvation, then we can expect the justice of God to fall upon us. 

What God wants to see from us is first of all, repentance. If we are truly repentant, then we are not only sorry for our sin, but we turn away from sin. What this man illustrates is that he really had not repented of his sin. He was sorry that he got caught, and sorry that he had to pay the consequences of his error, but the fact that he was unchanged in his heart was revealed in his attitude towards his fellow servant. If we are truly repentant, then there will be a consequent transformation in our heart that will be evidenced in the way we treat one another.

For someone who has become saved by God’s mercy and grace, forgiveness towards others is not a option, it’s an obligation. Jesus taught us that principle when He taught the disciples to pray. In the Lord’s prayer, Jesus said in Matthew 6:12, , “forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.” Our forgiveness is contingent on our willingness to forgive others. And then at the conclusion of the Lord’s prayer, Jesus says this in Matthew 6:14 “For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.” That’s pretty heavy. I don’t know if we truly grasp the significance of that statement. But this parable illustrates the same principle.

Unless we are willing to forgive those who sin against us, we should not expect God to forgive us when we sin against Him. Since God’s extravagant mercy towards us is the basis of our conversion, we should be transformed into a Christ like people, forgiving others even as we have been forgiven. So part of our salvation is crying out to God for a change of heart, so that we might have the heart of Christ. We must be changed, which is the full measure of God’s grace in that He gives us a new nature, a new heart, and a new life. That’s complete repentance, changing direction, which has to be facilitated by God as we are transformed by faith in Jesus as Lord.