Monthly Archives: November 2013

Spotting a Fake – Part 2

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This world is full of false preachers, scam artists who seem to be following Jesus but who in reality are working to become wealthy and famous.  John calls these guys by the right name: “antichrists.”  Last time we considered one of the clues to look for in spotting this type of charlatan.  John says watch out for those who do “not really belong to us.”  (See Spotting a Fake).   But there is a better way:

But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth.   I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it and because no lie comes from the truth.  (1 John 2:20-21)

God designed humans to be intimately connected to Him by His Holy Spirit.  Sin destroyed that connection.  Jesus came to restore it.  (There is more detail about this in many of my earlier posts.  Click on the “New Here?” link above.)  To all those who would believe in Him, trust Him and follow Him.  He said:

“And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever—  the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.”  (John 14:16-17)

The reason Jesus called the Holy Spirit the “Spirit of Truth” is because:

But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth.  (John 16:13a)

John says, if you truly follow Jesus, He has “annointed” you (given you, filled you) with the Holy Spirit, the One Who guides you into all truth.  Listen to Him!  He will show you how to spot a fake!

I appreciate your tuning in to this “blog,” chewing over neat things from the Bible with me.  I hope you will share it with people you know who have never developed a “taste” for the Bible.  Let me wish you all a very happy Thanksgiving!  God is so good.  His blessings, His faithfulness are experienced new each day.  I’ll be taking a few days off from writing this as I spend time with family.

Spotting a Fake

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I’m going to be a millionaire! All I have to do is send my bank account information and social security number to a prince in Nigeria, and he is going to send me 5  million bucks.  Or not…

Don’t believe every email you get; there are bad guys out there who are trying to deceive you.  Don’t believe every preacher you hear, either, for the same reason.  Lots of preachers – even famous preachers with huge followings – are bad guys, trying to deceive you.  If this surprises you, it should not.  We were told to expect it:

Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour.  (1 John 2:18 )

The “last hour,” as John uses the term, is the time between Jesus’ first coming and His second coming.  No one knows how many years will be included in the “last hour” but we have been told several things to expect during that time.  One of them is false preachers, who seem to be following Jesus, who claim to be following Him, but who are in fact working against Him.  John calls these guys “antichrists,” whose work opposes Jesus.   They follow the same spirit and same purpose as the antichrist, who will come one day.   There were many antichrists in John’s day and there are many antichrists today.

How can you spot a fake preacher?   Just as with email scams, there are telltale signs to watch for.  The first thing John mentions is that a fake preacher, one who is working against Jesus, won’t be one of us.  He will separate himself from the rest of us.

They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained  (made their home) with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us. (1 John 2:19)

If you see a preacher who is larger than life, who holds himself aloof from the rest of the people, who struts about on the stage as though people should worship him, who adopts an opulent lifestyle that few in his congregation could match – watch out.  He a fake.  He is an antichrist.  Here is what Jesus said about these guys:

“Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.  By their fruit you will recognize them.”  (Matthew 7:15-16a)

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.  Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’   Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’  (Matthew 7:21-23)

It’s no proof of authenticity for a preacher to seem to pull off miracles or to boldly prophesy.  A real preacher will make his home (remain, abide) with us who follow the One who was humble, was gentle, who had no place to lay His head.  A real preacher will be filled with humility because he is overwhelmed by Jesus.

But let’s face it: some of these guys seem really persuasive.  That is true.  But there is another way to discern who is real and who is antichrist.  Stay tuned.

How to Live Forever

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The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever. (1 John 2:17)

The world  promises, if you just eat this, drink that, try this, buy that, build this, own that, then you will be fulfilled and happy.  The promise is a lie.  All those things of the world pass away; they are temporary.  That word, temporary, slaps us like the word, condemned, spray painted on an abandoned building.  Temporary.  They won’t last.

English: Artist's illustration of one model of...

English: Artist’s illustration of one model of the bright gamma-ray burst GRB 080319B. The explosion is highly beamed into two bipolar jets, with a narrow inner jet surrounded by a wider outer jet. Русский: Художественная иллюстрация одной модели яркого гамма-всплеска GRB 080319B. Взрыв представляется в виде мощных полярно направленных выбросов плазмы, состоящих из узких внутренних и более широких внешних струй. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Over coffee this morning, I read in the paper about a gamma ray burst that happened recently in space.  Astronomers calmly reported that it was so massive that, had it been closer to the earth, we would have been incinerated in an instant.  Thanks, guys…   Maybe I’ll get another cup…

The lusts of the flesh do not satisfy, except for the shortest of moments.  The “pause that refreshes” ultimately leaves you thirsty.  The finest meal is ultimately chewed, swallowed and eliminated.  The promise of sexual thrill can leave you stumbling around in the dark basement of self regret.  The newest computer quickly becomes too slow.  The bigger house soon becomes filled with junk.  Then it needs to be repainted.  Beauty, that comes at such high cost, ultimately slips away, cackling with cruel laughter.  The greatest achievement is quickly surpassed.

“But the man who does the will of God, lives forever.”  More literally, He abides forever.  He “makes his home” in God forever.  Jesus enables those who trust Him to connect to God like that – forever.

Doing the will of God is not a matter of knowing a list of things you should not eat, drink, say, do or buy.  It’s a matter of living in close harmony with God, naturally responding as He reveals His purposes in real time.  Living in the world, but not being consumed by it, is a matter of making your home, your true home, in God.  It’s a matter of knowing God and acknowledging God in all things, responding to His direction and looking ahead to His promises.  It’s receiving both good things and challenging things from His hand with the same attitude of trust and humility.

The one who hears and does God’s will discovers that:

Cravings are replaced with contentment.
Covetousness is replaced by gratitude.
Boasting is replaced by amazement.
“I need” is replaced by “I shall not want.”
“I want” is replaced by  “Thank You, Lord.”
“I matter” is replaced by “God shows His strength in my weakness.”
Sliding inevitably into death is replaced by abiding in God forever.

The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever. (1 John 2:17)

Don’t Settle for Stuff

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A very loving, generous and wealthy man invites you to come live with him as though you were a member of his family.  If you take him up on his offer, you can occupy one of the homes on his country estate, eat his food, and use his stuff.  You can ride his horses, race his ATV’s, swim in his pool, sail his boats; it’s all available to you.  Why?  Just because he loves you like a natural child.  He wants to wrap you into his family.

I know, I know, it’s not likely, but just humor me for a few lines here.

 You take him up on his offer and move in.  For awhile it is wonderful, but eventually you become discontent.  You would like different food, a faster ATV, more expensive horses.  And you really would like to own a few of these things.  Or a lot of them…    So, you watch for opportunities to steal from this man.  You are not caught – at least he doesn’t say anything about  your theft – but now you don’t really like to see him anymore.  It makes you feel bad to be with him. But you love your stuff.  It makes you feel superior.  You go to town and brag about how much you have.  Now others are envious of you and that makes you proud.   

Who would do such a thing?  Anyone, John says, who becomes dissatisfied with what he has and obsessed with getting more and better stuff.  Anyone, says John, who forgets the love and generosity of God who blessed him with everything he ever had – including life itself.  Anyone, says John, who thinks better stuff makes him more important.  Here’s how he said it:

Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.  For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world.  (1 John 2:15-16)

When someone ignores the One Who invited him (or her) to live in His “estate” and focuses instead on getting better stuff, he loses his love for his Father.  He trades in his relationship with his loving Father for a bunch of stuff.  That may sound like no big deal, until you realize that he also has traded in life for death.  John says:

The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever. (1 John 2:17)

There’s a story in Genesis about a guy named Esau, who gave up his birthright as the firstborn son so he could have something to eat (Genesis 25:34).  He could have had it all forever, but he exchanged his place in his father’s family for a temporary helping of stuff.  Dumb.  Don’t settle for stuff instead of life.  Jesus taught this principle with these words:

Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.”  (John 6:27)

For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” (John 6:33)

Don’t settle for stuff.

Changing the Rules

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Did you know it is a sin to love the world?  That’s what John said:

Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.  (1 John 2:15)

But how can that be true, if “God so loved the world…”? (John 3:16a)

Someone once asked me if it was ethical  to keep a valuable guitar. He had been hiking in the wilderness and found it in an old, abandoned house, a home that was evidently abandoned.  He let himself in, looked around and found this rare and beautiful guitar.  Could he keep it?  Was it right?

If you had found that guitar, what would you have decided?   Wouldn’t your “rules” change, depending upon whether or not you thought someone else currently owned the home?  If someone had died and left no heirs, perhaps you would think:  “finders keepers.”  But, if you knew he was still alive but just away on a trip, then taking the guitar would be stealing. What you think it is right to do, would change if you realized you were in someone else’s home.

The same principle is at work when people fail to realize that we live in God’s “home.”   God created this world; it’s His.  Therefore He gets to make the rules.  The rules about what is right and wrong change substantially when you take God out of the equation.   Without God, we assume that we can do whatever seems right to us.  Do you remember in the 60’s when people decided “if it feels good, do it”?  It wasn’t long before we began to discover that that idea wasn’t necessarily accurate.

The “rules” that have been developed since people lost their connection to God, the mindset that assumes that we are in charge of what is right and wrong, is what John calls “the world.”  Jesus coined that term.  The mindset of “the world” is very different from the mindset of Jesus’ “logos.”  If you understand what “the world” means, then this verse that sounds so outrageous begins to make more sense:

Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. (1 John 2:15)

We’ll poke and prod this idea next time…

Connections

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Down in the back roads of West Virginia, I met a man who had once known an old guy who fought in the Civil War.  He showed me the house where that guy had been born and had died in the same bed, with his Sharps rifle hanging on the wall.  Although it is unlikely, that guy could have met Abraham Lincoln.  Think about it: Who is your closest connection to antiquity, the person you know who goes back the furthest?

When John “sings his song” to the ones who have followed Jesus the longest, he calls them “fathers” and says this:

I write to you, fathers, because you have known him who is from the beginning.  (1 John 2:13a )

When John “sings” to the newest Christians, he has a couple of different things to say.  Same thing with the “adolescent” believers.  But to the “fathers,” to the mature believers, John repeats this same reminder, word for word:

I write to you, fathers, because you have known him who is from the beginning.  (1 John 2:14a )

What does he mean?  Jesus is the One “who is from the beginning.”   In his Gospel, John opens with these words about Jesus:

In the beginning was the Word (Jesus), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning.  (John 1:1-2)

If you could go back in time and meet just one person, who would it be?  Can you imagine having a chat with one of the Wright brothers, about what it was like to be there for the beginning of flight?   It would be cool to meet Ben Franklin, because he was there at the beginning of this country.  But how about getting to meet Someone Who was “there” at the beginning of everything?  He was not just an observer, but the Creator!

Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. (John 1:3)

John says that He was, that He existed, from the beginning!  He is eternal – timeless.  He is the One, Who “became flesh and made His dwelling among us.” (John 1:14b)

Try to wrap your mind around the enormity of what John is asserting here.  John doesn’t say, “You got to meet him.”  He says, “You fathers have known Him.”   Chances are pretty good that you have met someone famous.  There is a big difference between meeting someone and knowing him.   Knowing means having a deep and intimate relationship with someone.

John reminds those who have followed Jesus for a long time, “Don’t forget, don’t lose touch with this amazing reality, this great privilege.  Since the moment you surrendered by faith to Jesus, He has welcomed you into an authentic relationship.  And He is the One Who has always been.   Imagine!”

Talk about connections…

For Spiritual Teenagers

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When a person discovers the truth about Jesus and surrenders to Him, the first few days and weeks of new life is filled with wonder — and also doubt.  Is it really true my sins are forgiven?  Is God really accessible to me as my Father?  In John’s first letter he “sings a song” to those who experience those doubts.  He calls them “dear children” and reassures them of the truth of  those promises.  (See: No Doubt)

But following Jesus isn’t just about coming to faith in Jesus, it’s a lifelong process of learning to consistently live according to Jesus’ “upside-down” understanding of reality.  Jesus’ teachings tend to contradict the knee-jerk reactions we learn from the world.  His command to love with self-sacrifice is perhaps the most stark example of that (See: John vs. John Lennon).  Living by Jesus’ teachings is only possible by the power of His Holy Spirit within us.

Most of us are like spiritual teenagers.  We have passed the excitement and wonder of new life in Christ and are now experimenting and learning how to live this new life.  Frequently we stumble with painful awkwardness.  John “sings his song” to us, too.  He says:

I write to you, young men,
because you have overcome the evil one  (1 John 2:13b)
I write to you, young men,
because you are strong,
and the word of God lives in you,
and you have overcome the evil one.  (1 John 2:14b)

Addressing us as “young men,” John repeats his most urgent reminder:  “you have overcome the evil one.”  Peter, from first hand experience, knew that “Your enemy the devil prowls around like a restless lion, seeking someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8).  Lions look for the weak and the frightened.  They don’t waste their energy on those who know they are strong.   That’s why John wants us to know, in the adolescence of this new life in Christ, that we have overcome the evil one.

How did we do that?  Jesus did it, on our behalf, on the cross.  Without meaning to diminish the sacred significance of the crucifixion in any way, it was the ultimate “rope a dope.”  Jesus allowed Satan to take his best shot.  And then He got back up.  In Him we have overcome Satan.

It doesn’t feel  that way, though, does it?  In a fight, or in most athletic contests, there are many things that happen that cause us to feel as though we have lost.  But the person that knows he will win, the one who can feel it in his bones, generally does win.  In our case, John says, we have already won!  

John also reminds us “adolescents in Jesus” that we are strong.  How so?  It’s not in our own strength, but “…because the Word of God lives in you.”   He doesn’t mean we have memorized a bunch of Scripture, although that is a good thing to do.  It is the “logos” of God, the mind and mindset of God that lives in us by His Holy Spirit.

If you have not yet surrendered to Jesus, keep looking and investigating until you become convinced of Who He really is.  None of this will fully make sense to you until you experience it in Jesus.  If you have surrendered by faith, if you have received the new life of the Holy Spirit, then John wants you to understand that the struggle you experience is a normal part of the deal.  It’s as normal as a teenager’s voice cracking when he tries to ask a girl to go to the prom.   But, as you struggle with these various, normal temptations, remember these truths:  you have already won the fight against Satan, and it is the Spirit of God, the Living Word of God in you in Whom you are strong.

No Doubt

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I was halfway out to my car at the end of a long day.  I thought, “Did I lock the workshop?  Better go back and check.”  I knew it was locked, but I couldn’t get past the feeling of doubt that was seeping into my mind.  I went back and shook the door; it was locked (of course…).  Turned around and went back to the car.  But something inside my head was going, “Are you sure?  Maybe it just seemed locked…”  Did you ever find yourself doubting something you knew was true?  It’s okay; you don’t have to raise your hand.  I think most of us have had moments of doubt like that.

John was a man who had walked with Jesus, saw Him die, and who spoke with Him after his resurrection.  Now, perhaps as much as 40 years later, with the wisdom and perspective that only come to the elderly, he observes some troubling changes in the body of believers.  He could have scolded them, tried to lay down the law.  But John knew that if he could solidify some of the basic truths in their hearts, help them turn away from doubting things they knew to be true, that the Holy Spirit would keep them on track.  So he writes a kind of song to the believers – to the ones newest in the faith, to those who are in their most robust years of living out their faith, and to those who have grown old in the faith.

To the newest believers, he writes:

I write to you, dear children,

because your sins have been forgiven on account of his name. (1 John 2:12)

When someone says, “I forgive you,” even though it is a relief, we more or less assume that they haven’t done so completely, or that if we did the same bad thing again they would “unforgive” us.  That’s why it is so hard for new believers to truly understand that God’s forgiveness doesn’t work that way.  When God forgives our sins, they have been forgiven, all of them.  It’s over!  John knows that doubting that can undermine our understanding and experience of everything else about our life in Jesus.  John knows Satan knows that, too, and loves to tempt us to doubt.  So he nails it down for the children in the faith.  You are forgiven.

A bit later, he addresses the newest Christians again:

I write to you, dear children,

because you have known the Father.  (1 John 2:13c)

John knows how essential it is for us to understand that God – Almighty God, Creator of the Universe –  is our Father.  Jesus taught us by His example to approach God as our “Abba,” our Papa, particularly in times of great distress (Mark 14:36).

John “sings” to the new believer, reminding him (or her) that God, Who is their loving Father, has completely and irrevocably forgiven them all their sins.  He has not done so capriciously, but rather has accepted full payment on their behalf in the blood of His Son, Jesus.  “…your sins have been forgiven on account of His Name.”  

Maybe you have had some doubts about those basic truths.  Let John’s “song” sing to you.

Deep Lyrics

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How many people do you know who break into song when they are trying to teach you something?  Me either.  It’s pretty rare, I’d think.  But pretty cool, too. Hanging out with an old guy who did that would be pretty interesting.  Guy like John.   John’s been laying out all this astonishing stuff in his letter –  stuff about the Word of Life, the Holy Spirit, overcoming sin, and loving in a radical way.  Then, unexpectedly, he breaks into song!   Like most good songs, the lyrics are pretty simple on the surface but carry a mother-lode of deep meaning for the one who stops to ponder what they say.  Here it is:

     I write to you, dear children,
because your sins have been forgiven on account of his name.
     I write to you, fathers,
because you have known him who is from the beginning.
I write to you, young men,
because you have overcome the evil one.
I write to you, dear children,
because you have known the Father.
     I write to you, fathers,
because you have known him who is from the beginning.
I write to you, young men,
because you are strong,
and the word of God lives in you,
and you have overcome the evil one.  (1 John 2:12-14)

Don’t be fooled by how apparently simple this is.  Chew on it and try to tease out what John is trying to  sing/say…

Hate is Blind

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They say “Love is blind” but John says they got it wrong.  Hate is blind.  Here it is:

Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness.  Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and there is nothing in him to make him stumble. 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.  (1 John 2:9-11)

Love, as Jesus taught it, is a radical choice to put aside what I want so I can take care of what you need.  Hate is the opposite:  taking care of what I want instead of ministering to what you need.  Thus, the default attitude of the world – take care of number 1, in effect is hate.

The interesting thing, is that John says people hate  because they have been blinded by “the darkness.”  The darkness, in John’s words, is the attitude of people in the world who have not received the Holy Spirit.  They live in the darkness and are blinded by it.

Jesus, on the other hand, John says, is the Source of “Light.”

In him was life, and that life was the light of men.  The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it. (John 1:4-5)

John’s logic (and Jesus’ “logos”) leads us to this conclusion:  If we understood reality the way Jesus does, if we had not been blinded by the ways of the world, we would naturally love.  Self-sacrificial love, Jesus’ kind of love, would make more sense to us than selfishness or hate.   Trouble is, people don’t like to change.  Radical, “upside down,” ideas are threatening to our comfortable rhythms as we live in the “same-old same-old.”    That’s why Jesus said:

This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.   (John 3:19)

This is a tough teaching.  Tough, but true.  How is it with you?