July 7, 2002

Service Theme – "Our God is Worthy"

1 John 2:1-11

How to Walk in Obedience

1. Introduction

1. Illustration – From eSermons.com - Ken Shillito, in his book The Cost, wrote, A young man from India was brought up in a Hindu household. A young man from India was brought up in a Hindu household. A very strict one, in fact. Due to a set of circumstances, this man came in contact with Christians. And he was of course repelled by these people. But gradually he realized that what they said was true. In these people, he saw Jesus revealed, and he came to see that he was a sinner who needed a Savior, and that Jesus had died on the cross to save him, and that he must give his life to Jesus. Like millions and billions before him, he fell down helplessbefore the cross, and repented on his sin. When he told his parents he was to be baptized as a Christian, they were appalled, horrified, and told him in no uncertain terms that if he went ahead and became a Christian, he would never see them again. On the day of his baptism, his parents, brothers and sisters, and all his extended family held a funeral for him. And, up until the day I spoke to him, he also had never again seen his family. When I asked the man would he do it all again, he said, of course he would. He would hate to go through the pain again. Yes, he missed his family. But go back? Never! Any cost, any pain was worth it, just to be by Jesus' side. In his joys, in his sorrows, in his laughing and in his crying, Jesus was always there. To know Jesus - to follow Jesus - to sit at His feet, to take up his cross and walk with Him - to climb the mountains with Him - to walk the valleys with Him - this was his life. There was no other. He said, with a twinkle in his eye, and also with a tear, that he prayed daily for all his family to come to know Jesus too.
2. Context – The hardest thing in the world for us to do is to do what we’re told to do. It all started when we were kids, and we carry that same attitude over in how we relate to God. I believe John was keenly aware of this attitude when he wrote his first letter. But he wrote it not to deprive us of fun, but to show us how to truly live. Let’s look at 1 John 2:1-11 to see what he says.

1. Scripture Passage

1. 1 John 2:1-11 – My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. ² He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world. ³ We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. ⁴ The man who says, "I know him," but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. ⁵ But if anyone obeys his word, God’s love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him: ⁶ Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did. ⁷ Dear friends, I am not writing you a new command but an old one, which you have had since the beginning. This old command is the message you have heard. ⁸ Yet I am writing you a new command; its truth is seen in him and you, because the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining. ⁹ Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness. ¹⁰ Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and there is nothing in him to make him stumble. ¹¹ But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness; he does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded him.
2. In this passage, John lays out four basic rules for walking in obedience to God, ones that he knows will help us experience the relationship with God we long for so much!

1. Rules for Obedience

1. The first and foremost rule that John lays down is DON’T SIN! He says that’s the reason why he’s writing all this down. Don’t sin. Make the choice not to sin. But how can we possibly make that choice when there are so many temptations we face every minute of every day? How can we be pure and not sin? The answer: we have to be so filled with the Holy Spirit that, when temptation comes, we will have the power to make the right choice. To say no to sin and yes to relationship with God. To be pure in heart. There is no other way to not sin than to surrender totally and completely to the Holy Spirit in our hearts and lives and allow Him to clean us out and fill us up. We talked a little bit last week about the fact that, when we confess our sins and repent of them, they are purged totally from us. We can allow the Holy Spirit to purge the desire to sin from our hearts by completely surrendering to Him. That’s how we follow what John is saying and DON’T SIN!
2. Second, DON’T PANIC IF YOU DO SIN! John reminds us that we’re not hung out to dry if we do sin. If we repent of our sin and ask forgiveness, Jesus speaks on our behalf with His Father and the sacrifice Jesus made more than covers over our sins! Now if we go around looking for ways to sin, this whole thing is off. We can’t use Jesus as fire insurance and continue looking to sin. God doesn’t work that way! But if we do sin, and we repent and confess, we’re covered. DON’T SIN, BUT DON’T PANIC IF YOU DO SIN!
3. Third rule: WE HAVE TO WALK THE TALK IF WE WANT TO KNOW GOD! Knowing God comes only from obedience. If we want to know God, we’ve got to obey Him. John tells us that it doesn’t matter how much we claim to know God, if we don’t obey Him we’re lying! Dietrich Bonhoeffer, in The Cost of Discipleship (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1963, 72-73), wrote, Are you worried because you find it so hard to believe? No one should be surprised at the difficulty of faith if there is some part of his life where he is consciously resisting or disobeying the commandments of Jesus. Is there some part of your life which you are refusing to surrender at his behest? Some sinful passion, maybe, or some animosity, some hope, perhaps your ambition or your reason? If so, you must not be surprised that you have not received the Holy Spirit, that prayer is difficult, or that your request for faith remains unanswered. Go, rather, and be reconciled with your brother, renounce the sin which holds you fast - and then you will recover your faith! If you dismiss the word of God's command, you will not receive his word of grace. How can you hope to enter into communion with him when at some point in your life you are running away from him? The man who disobeys cannot believe, for only he who obeys can believe. Bonhoeffer knew what he was talking about, and it cost him his very life! Obedience brings faith which enables us to know God. Obedience is also a sign of our love for God. That’s what John is saying! WE HAVE TO WALK THE TALK IF WE WANT TO KNOW GOD!
4. Fourth, IF YOU HATE ANY PERSON, YOU DON’T KNOW GOD! Love isn’t a feeling. It’s an act of obedience! Even if somebody drives you absolutely nuts, you can still love them! Hating people comes from a core of darkness – allowing darkness personified to dictate how we think and feel. You can’t have a pure heart, one in which the Holy Spirit has complete control, if you hate another human being. It’s that simple. It’s spelled out in black and white in such a way that there are no loopholes. I know it’s hard not to hate someone who’s badly hurt you or someone you love. But that road of hatred and bitterness leads away from God, not toward Him. I have a relative who has hated his dad for over fifty-five years because of what that man did to his family, and that has kept my relative away from God. "How can a God who loves me have allowed this to happen?" That same loving God gives you the freedom of choice to sin however you want to and He gives it to you because He loves you! The same rules apply to everyone. Hatred and bitterness will destroy you eventually! That’s why John is so explicit! IF YOU HATE ANY PERSON, YOU DON’T KNOW GOD! It’s as simple as that!
5. Of course, it would be ridiculous to think that we could condense Christianity down into four rules. But that’s not what John is trying to do. He’s trying to get us to see the big picture of how loving obedience brings us to the center of God’s will. So he tells us how to get started in obeying God. DON’T SIN! DON’T PANIC IF YOU DO SIN! WE HAVE TO WALK THE TALK IF WE WANT TO KNOW GOD! IF YOU HATE ANY PERSON, YOU DON’T KNOW GOD! None of these are easy, but then God didn’t promise easy! We’ll do them anyway if we love God enough to allow Him to purge us and fill us and use us. We have to obey if we want to know God!
6. Illustration - Shawn Craig, in Between Sundays (cited in Christianity Today, February 8, 1999, 72) wrote, Obedience to God's will does not mean everything will go smoothly, that the wind will always be at our backs and that the journey will be easy. Jesus told his disciples to cross to the other side of the lake, even though he knew the wind would be working against them. Despite the wind's contrariness, they struggled on because they knew they were doing his will. Obedience costs, but oh how awesome the rewards are! If we want to know God and see Him move among us, we’ve got to open our hearts to Him for purging, and then obey Him in all we do. That’s what John is saying!

1. Conclusion

1. Are you struggling with obedience to God in your own heart and life? Do you need your heart to be purged of sin and darkness so you can be free to obey Him? Do you struggle with refusing to forgive yourself when you sin, and try to stop God from forgiving you? Do you struggle with hating someone? Do you struggle with walking the talk?
2. God knows our struggles. We’re not telling Him anything He doesn’t know when we confess them to Him. But when we openly confess our struggles to God, we free Him to help us through them. Do you want His help to overcome your struggles and sins and obey Him? Come forward now to the altars and confess them to God, then receive the life and relationship with God He has waiting for you. Come forward and be freed!