『This is What We Know』のカバーアート

This is What We Know

This is What We Know

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God has given us each other, and he has given us himself, to ensure that we will not succumb to evil, but are secure in our eternal life. Well, we are pulling into the station this morning, ending our journey in First John. Next week we’ll resume our study of the Gospel of Luke. John has written this letter to the church. And by being part of the church ourselves, he has written this letter to us. Now, that might seem like a stretch to you. You might even think that that sounds incorrect. After all, John wrote 2000 years ago to other churches on the other side of the world. Did he really have us in mind? It was the practice of the early church, the first century church, to share letters written by the apostles so a church would receive a letter and they would read it aloud to the congregation, and then they would send the letter on to the next church. In fact, the letters were written with that intention in mind that they would be circulated. Paul tells us in the letter he wrote to the Colossians, in Colossians chapter four, verse 16, he says, make sure the Laodiceans get this letter. Make sure you get it over to them. Oh, and by the way, read the letter that I wrote to the Laodiceans. So change letters as you exchange them and read them to your congregations. Now, we actually don’t know what that letter was coming over from Laodicea. It’s either lost to history or it might have been the letter Ephesians. We’re just not sure. But we know that they changed letters. Peter is even clearer. He addresses his first letter this way. He says to those who are elect exiles of the dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia. So he just says, look, this letter is for everybody. Everybody in the entire region. The early church took this distribution of apostolic instruction to the church so seriously that they made copies. They made copy after copy of these letters. It’s the reason we have such a well preserved, reliable New Testament today. And the gospel. As the gospel spread across the world, the church knew that they were going to need sound doctrine in their churches to have healthy churches. And so they work diligently to make sure the words of the apostles who testified to Jesus and to the kingdom of God would be preserved for generations to come. So it’s true. First John was not sent by messenger by foot to Calvary Evangelical Free Church; that did not happen. But the intention in John’s heart was that when the gospel reaches the ends of the earth, which to John certainly would have included Rochester, Minnesota, this letter would be here to give us confidence. That’s how John ends this letter. He wants us to have confidence in our faith, knowing full well that we have eternal life in the Son of God. Last week we looked at how we can have confident approach to God in our prayer. We can be sure that when we pray for things that align with holiness and righteousness, that we will be heard. Prayer is a powerful tool, and it’s a privilege that God has given us. It’s why we take everything to God in prayer. This morning, John’s going to give a final summary of what it means for us to be the church in this evil world, to be a light that shines in darkness. He wants us to do that with the utmost confidence. God has given us each other, and he’s given us himself to ensure that we will not succumb to evil, but are secure in our eternal life. We’re starting in First John chapter five, verse 16 this morning. John first gives us an example of what it looks like to pray confidently for each other. And it’s one of the ways that we lift each other up as a church. And then he gives us three things that we can know for sure that give us confidence. Let’s start with how we pray for each other. If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask and God will give him life to those who commit sins that do not lead to death. There is sin that leads to death. I do not say that one should pray for that. All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that does not lead to death. Now, I know at first glance that looks complicated, doesn’t it? Does that seem complicated to everybody? I can see confused faces. It’s complicated. It’s complicated to me. He’s been so clear throughout this letter, hasn’t he? And then we got to chapter five, and suddenly blood and water are testifying, and some sins lead to death and others don’t, and ahh! I mentioned this passage to my wife, Rachel this week. She asked me what I was preaching on and I told her about this and she said what we were all thinking. She said, don’t all sins lead to death? Isn’t that pretty clear in the Bible? Paul said, the wages of sin is death. I don’t need an elaborate, logical syllogism to understand the relationship between these two things. Our sin causes eternal death. Christ’s sacrifice on our behalf gives us eternal life. By taking that death for us, that’s the gospel. That’s ...
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