Part 2 - 06-17-19
Sermon: “Measuring up to the Marks of the Christian.” Part 2
Date: June 17, 2019
Teacher: Brother Underwood
Prayer: Dog Pen Church Prayer
Premise: To better understand the true marks of the Christian and how to identify other Christians according to Scripture that we may fellowship in the Word.
Scripture Reference: See Sermon Body
Attendance: 6
Dog Pen Church Prayer June 17, 2019
Hear our cry, O God, attend unto our prayers. From the end of the earth will we cry unto Thee, when our hearts are overwhelmed: lead us to the Rock that is higher than us. For we have found you to be altogether true and faithful as your word promises. “If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart, man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth, confession is made unto salvation.” — Romans 10:9-10 Truly our soul waiteth upon you: From you cometh our salvation. We will sing of thy power, yea, we will sing aloud of thy mercy in the morning, at noon, and night: for thou hast been our defense and refuge in the day of our trouble. Thus will bless thee while we live: we will lift up our hands in thy name, and we will rejoice in the shadow of thy wings. May God continue to bless us that all the ends of the earth shall fear Him as we claim the victory through Christ. We ask all these things in Jesus’ Name — Amen!.
“Measuring up to the Marks of the Christian”-Part 2
By: Justin H. Underwood Date: 6/17/2019
One of John’s primary purposes in his epistle was to develop genuine Christian fellowship.
Do we, as Christians, have a clear picture of what that looks like? Do we, as Christians, even know what that feels like?
Fellowship does not happen just because Christians belong to the same Church. Most people appear at Church waving their hands and stomping their feet, which is their only appearance.
There are lots of people that join together because they share a common interest or goal. Groups of friends may get together for a picnic or even a party.
Athletes commit to a sports team to play a game that they all enjoy.
During times of natural disasters, communities band together to fight against fires, floods, and storms.
All of these things may have genuine and legitimate intentions, but they are not genuine fellowships. As soon as the common interest is achieved, you once again see a separation because there was never a tied bond.
To grow in fellowship with one another, we must all grow in accord with the Lord. The fellowship is a bond in which God draws his children together as they draw closer to Him — Psalm 133; John 13:12-15; 1 Thess. 4:9-10.
Fellowship with the Lord is active with your brothers and sisters in Christ, a church. Attending Church allows us to receive support from other believers, to worship God with other Christians, and to serve those in the Church and the community — Heb. 10:23-25
Fellowship with the Lord is active with other believers in Bible study. Studying the Bible is how we learn and teach one another what the Holy Spirit has etched on our hearts about God that we may grow in a greater relationship with him — 2 Tim. 3:16-17.
Fellowship with the Lord is participating actively in prayer as we come together to talk to God. It is those precious moments that we ask him to forgive us for what we have done wrong.
We thank Him for what He has done for us, and we ask Him to provide for our every need — Matt. 6:9-13; 18:20.
When we share our deepest feelings with Him and each other, we create an atmosphere to minister the truth of God’s word in times of need.
When we are transparent and truthful with God and each other, we build a relationship with a faithful friend — Rom. 1:16-17; Prov. 18:24.
Good friends are among our greatest blessings: they keep us back from much evil, they quicker us in our course, they speak a word in due season, they draw us upward, and they draw us on.
Sin, however, always threatens to undermine fellowship. Sin is deceptive, and it can attack us in many ways.
Fellowship and sin cannot go hand in hand. To nurture fellowship, we have to confront sin and all of its deceptions.
That is essential for the growth of our relationship with God and with each other.
Too often, Christians spend their idle time in the midst of the unbelieving’s foolishness as they take pleasure in unrighteousness.
Too often, Christians spend valuable time gossiping about the things of the world instead of sharing the enrichment and the blessings of the word.
John’s epistle to Christians plainly rips the mask off these deceptions as he teaches the truth about sin and then turns his focus on Christ, who can cleanse every sin — 1 John 1:5-2:2.
John’s fundamental idea is this: “God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all.” In this statement, John sets up a clear contrast between what belongs to God’s realm and what is outside God’s realm.
What belongs to God is light, and what is not of God is darkness. This truth parallels what Jesus said as recorded in John 8:12 — “I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.”
Jesus also tells us that we must be light — Matt. 5:14-16.
Light speaks of God’s absolute perfection. In 1 John, light pictures God’s truth and also His moral purity.
Darkness, on the other hand, indicates error and sin, which contradicts God’s light.
John challenges Christians to make God the fixed standard for their lives, and he exhorts us to measure our lives against God’s truth and purity rather than following behind or mingling in the path of darkness in error and sin.
He wanted his readers, and us, to know of the erroneous beliefs and behaviors that can lead to our spiritual collapse.
John gave three examples of beliefs that belong to the realm of darkness, and each begins with “If we say that…” — 1 John 1:6, 8, 10.
John was quick to reject the false teachers' false claims that sin will not interfere with our fellowship with God and with other believers, and he followed them with the declaration of the truth — 1 John 1:7, 9, 2:1-2.
Sin destroys fellowship both with God and others, but godly living keeps us right with God and other Christians.
Christians will commit sins because we all still have a sinful nature even after we are saved. However, we must not underestimate the threat of sin but rather recognize that the blood of Jesus Christ is sufficient to cleanse us from Sin — Rom. 6:17-23; Rom. 8:5-13; 13:12-14; Gal. 5:13-18.
What Christ does for us enables us to have fellowship with God and with other people who are also walking in the light.
In His forgiveness and cleaning, Good deals justly with our sins in that He does not require of us more than what Christ has already paid on the cross.
His faithfulness and justice guarantee that when we confess our sins, He will forgive and cleanse us because Christ’s death has already paid the full price for our sin — Eph. 1:4-7; Col. 1:9-14; 1 Pet. 2:21-24.
Christ’s substitutionary death fully satisfied the righteous demands of God. His propitiation extended potentially to every human being because it was sufficient to pay the price for all sins past, present, and future.
This potential benefit becomes actual for each person who accepts Christ by faith. Jesus Christ functions as our advocate before the Father and pleads our case when we confess our sins to God.
Through Christ, we have all that we need for salvation, cleansing, and continual fellowship with God.
Although we have been saved by grace, it doesn’t mean that we can go and spent all our time in an enclosure with rattlesnakes cause you’re likely to get bit.
We must use our time wisely, adequately, positively, efficiently, and purposefully to give God glory in every way.
When we do that, we water the seeds of righteousness that have been sown by the word of God, and we reap joyfully. — Mark 4:20; 2 Cor. 9:10-13.
And so, the question lingers: “Do you measure up to the marks of the Christian”?
The Apostles understood the difficulties in being leaders and ambassadors of Christ and therefore advised that we all lead by example. — 1 Tim. 4:6-16.
It is only when we diligently read, study, and meditate on the word of God that we become familiar with the treasures, the value, and the power of the Scriptures.
Only then will we get a feel of the “Sword of the Spirit” in our hand and are empowered in the very hour of conflict.
But when all is said and done through the many illustrations in the Bible, the Christian's marks come in casting one’s self upon the Savior and trusting Him wholeheartedly to be all that He was promised to be too needy sinners.
We are saved by trusting Christ. Wherever there is true faith in Chris, genuine love to Christ also will be given, and where there is love to Christ, there will be obedience to Christ.
We should be content if our behavior is marked by the ways of Christ and therefore comfortable in death and safe in the Day of Judgement.
For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain — Phil. 1:21.