Outline and Audio Sermons:
Dr. Walter D. Huyck Jr. D.Min. D.R.S.
www.thischristianjourney.com
How To Use This Outline
The Evidences Of
Life
A Character to
Develop
1 John
2.29-3.10; cf vs 29
[Why do people live the way they do?
Why do people do the things they do?]
[If ye know that he is
righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of him.
- Do righteousness, not because you
have to live a right life, but because you want to live a right life in Christ.
Your want to
will be changed by the presence of Christ in you.]
[Always do right. This will gratify most
people, and astonish the rest.]
[Mark Twain]
[Good men avoid sin from the love of
virtue;
wicked men avoid sin from a fear of punishment.]
[John Wesley, in The Almost Christian.]
Living a right life in Christ is,
A.
The Result Of
Godly Expectation - Purity (vs 2-3; Rev 21.4) [–
“And
every man that hath this hope in him
purifieth himself, even as he is
pure.” - Expectation is a dynamic motivator.
It compels us to do what we might otherwise prolong.
Knowing that an inspection, exam, or deadline is drawing near forces us
to complete the tasks required for the upcoming event.]
[The context of verses 1-3 in our text reminds us that as the
born again children of our Lord, we, in our mortality, are not all that our Lord
intends for us to be. One day soon
our Heavenly Father is going to send our Lord Jesus Christ to call us into
eternity. Then when this mortality
has put on immortality and this corruption has put on incorruption (1 Cor 15.54)
we will appear as God intended for us to be from the beginning.
We will be as our Lord Jesus Christ was after His resurrection and still
is today. Our Lord was physical,
flesh and bones (Luke 24.39), yet he was glorified in that he could just appear
in a room.]
[This state of being, one that is glorified and perfected
speaks to us as Christians of our future eternal state of being.
We will be real beings. We
will have real bodies. Yet our
bodies will be glorified, eternal, perfect bodies.
This causes us to think of:]
[Revelation 21:4
4
And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall
be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more
pain: for the former things are passed away. ]
]Hence we hear the inspired words of this passage,]
[1 John 3:2
2
Beloved, now are we the sons of God,
and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall
appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. ]
[And our hearts leap with hope and joy as John continues to
write in verse 3,]
[And every man
that hath this hope in him . . .]
[Our eternal hope, our understanding of our coming immortal
being, our ability to hear and cleave to our Lord’s promises concerning our
transformation to come ought to impact us in undeniable ways.
The fact that we are taught in God’s Word that this transformation could
occur in a moment, even before our mortal death ought have an indescribable
impact upon the way we live our lives as well.]
In a spiritual sense our expectancy concerning the soon return
of our Lord should lead us to:
1.
Make Our
Preparation (Luke 12.42-48; Rev
21.2; Philip 3.14)
[– Being ready to stand in the presence of our Lord is an
undeniable theme that permeates the New Testament.
The numerous passages dealing with our mortal preparations of our coming
immortality are more than could fully be expounded in this discourse.
Some of these passages refer to our:]
a.
[Stewardship
– Our Lord referred often to faithful stewards and unfaithful stewards as
examples of how every Christian ought to anticipate the arrival of our Lord’s
Kingdom and ought to be found fully prepared when it arrives.
Our Lord spoke of both wise and unwise stewards when He said,]
[Luke
12:42-47
42 And the Lord said, Who then is that
faithful and wise
steward, whom his lord shall
make ruler over his household,
to give
them their portion of meat in
due season? 43 Blessed
is that servant, whom his lord
when he cometh shall find so doing. 44
Of a truth I say unto you, that he will make him ruler over all that he
hath. 45
But and if that servant
say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming;
and shall begin to
beat the menservants and maidens, and to eat and drink, and to be drunken;
46 The lord of that servant will come in
a day when he looketh not for him,
and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in sunder, and will
appoint him his portion with the unbelievers. 47
And that servant, which
knew his lord's will, and prepared not
himself,
neither did according to his will, shall be beaten
with many stripes.
48 But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of
stripes, shall be beaten with few
stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much
required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.]
[Clearly our expectancy or anticipation of our Lord’s
arrival will have an undeniable impact upon the preparation we will make in His
kingdom’s work.]
b.
[Engagement
–
The idea of our espousal or engagement to our Lord lends to us the idea of
making our preparation for our upcoming marriage to our Lord.
It provides the word picture of a bride making herself ready for her
wedding day. In the Revelation of
our Lord Jesus Christ the apostle John wrote,]
[Revelation
21:2
2 And I John saw the holy city, new
Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for
her husband. ]
[Hence, as we
await the arrival of our Lord we ought to be making the needed diligent
preparations that a bride would make as her wedding day nears and arrives.
No one would dare say that a bride, in her sense of expectancy, does not
laboriously prepare for her wedding day.
With tenacity the average bride will labor, not for marginality, but for
perfection. Too many Christians in
our day are striving for some marginal sense of acceptability, which is almost
always expressed in some lowered form or standard, rather than striving for the
High Calling of our Lord’s Royal family.]
[Philippians
3:14
14 I press toward the mark
for the prize of the
high calling of God in Christ Jesus. ]
[Our preparation for our Lord ought to strive for
the High Calling that our soon coming Lord deserves.
Too many in our churches have
lost site of the Highness of our Lord, in the way we dress, in the way we serve,
in the way we minister. Our Lord is
King of Kings, and Lord of Lord’s and deserves the very best!]
[A brides expectation not only speaks to us of our
preparation but it also speaks to us of the nature of our preparation.
It speaks to us of the purity that ought to permeate our preparation.]
2.
Maintain Our
Purity (vs 3; Rev 21.2) [– And
every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.
– An expectation will lead us to make a preparation.
This same expectation will also drive us toward purification.
A bride not only plans and prepares for her wedding but she also
“adorns” (Rev 21.2) herself for her
wedding. Likewise a child of God
that understands with expectancy the arrival of their Lord and adds to that
expectancy the holiness and worthiness of their Lord will strive with diligence
to purify themselves for their audience with their Lord.]
[Sanctification and purification ought to fit neatly
together in our Christian minds. To
become more and more like our Lord in holiness and righteousness ought to be a
natural part of every Christians spiritual growth.
It is difficult to understand how a child of God, who is anticipating the
arrival of their Lord, could marginalize their preparation for their Lord and
the purity that naturally accompanies it.
Faltering purity and preparation are evidences of a failing expectancy.]
3.
Manifest Our
Passion (vs 1; 1 Peter 4.3-5)
[– Behold, what manner of love the Father
hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the
world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. – Our expectancy will drive
our preparation, guide our purity and govern our passions.
Those things that seemed important to us as lost individuals will dim in
comparison to those eternal values that will now drive us as Christians.
Our godly character will be formed by a new standard, the standard set by
our eternal Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.]
[Our preparation and purification for our Lord will be
driven by our passion for our Lord and His eternal Kingdom.
The carnal world we were once a part of will become foreign to us and we
will become foreigners in it. Peter
wrote it this way,]
[1 Peter 4:3-5
3
For the time past of our
life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in
lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and abominable
idolatries: 4
Wherein they
think it strange that ye run not with
them to the same excess of riot, speaking evil of
you:
5 Who
shall give account to him that is ready to judge the quick and the dead. ]
[In other words those who are in the world and knew you
when you were a part of the world will no longer understand what is going on in
your life. You, in your passion
toward your Lord are making an eternal preparation that is leading you into a
continuing and growing purification that is just ridiculous to your old lost
friends. You have indeed become a
Jesus Freak
and they just can’t get their
minds wrapped around that. Why are
you making the purifying preparations that have transformed your life?
Because you have become passionate about the one who passionately gave
everything for you, your Lord Jesus Christ.]
B.
The Reality
Of Godly Exposure - Actions (1 John 3.4-8)
[– Someone may say they
know the Lord Jesus Christ, but the true test of your relationship with our Lord
Jesus Christ is manifested in the way you live your life.
There are many multitudes who have an intellectual understanding
concerning the Lord Jesus Christ, but they do not have a personal relationship
with Him.
So the question being approached by John
in verses 4-8 is what is the evidence of your exposure to our Lord?
John’s answer is simple, your actions are on the other side of the equal
sign when it comes to the question,
“Do you really know the
Lord?”]
[If you have really received the Lord Jesus Christ as your
personal Lord and Savior, and if the Holy Spirit of God has really come to dwell
inside your heart and life, then there must be a deep spiritual work taking
place inside of you. This spiritual
work will manifest itself in the deep spiritual Passion, Preparation, and Purity
that we just examined. If these are
missing in your life, then the Character of God is not developing in you and the
truth being evidenced in your life is a lack of eternal life rather than the
evidence of eternal life.
]
[If you are truly walking in fellowship and communion with
God, through the new birth then the result of that companionship should mark
your life. This is never more
clearly evidenced than it is in regard to sin in an individual’s life.
John notes:]
1.
The
Removal of Sin (vs 4-5; Isa 59.2; cf. Heb 4.15; 1 Pet 2.22; Col 1.14; Rom
3.23; Gal4.4-5; Rom 6.14) [-
Whosoever
committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the
law. 5 And ye know that he was
manifested to take away our sins;
and in him is no sin.
– When you walk with the Lord Jesus Christ then His heart will soon become your
heart, His desires will soon become your desires.
One thing is certain our Lord cannot stand in the presence of sin.]
[Isaiah 59:2
2
But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and
your sins have hid his face from
you, that he will not hear.]
[So our Lord and Savior, who never committed any sin
(Heb 4.15; 1 Pet 2.22) died and shed His precious blood to take away our sin
(Col 1.4). Now, we all know that we
are all sinners (Rom 3.23), but our Lord saved us to redeem us from all our sins
(Gal 4.4-5). Hence, born again
Christians are sinners who have been brought out of the dominion of sin (Rom
6.14) that they might have
fellowship with their Lord. ]
[Hence, the undeniable affect of our Lord’s presence
within a Christian’s life will be a continuing growth away from sin and
sinfulness and a determined desire for righteousness and purity.
The affect that a real relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ will have
on a truly born again Christian will be a developing character of Preparation,
and Purity driven by a holy Passion.]
[The presence of the Lord Jesus Christ in a Christian’s
life will be marked, without any doubt, by a passionate desire to be distanced
from sin and sinfulness.]
2.
The Rebuke
of Sin (vs 6; 1 John 1.9-2.1)
–
Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen
him, neither known him. [– The Apostle John further expounds the evidence of
sin and sinfulness in a professed Christian’s life when he reveals what we might
call the Rebuke Of Sin in verses 6.
In essence John is saying, if there is willful sin and sinfulness in your life,
then you just do not, you just cannot know the Lord Jesus Christ at all.]
[With certainty the apostle is not saying that
Christians never sin. Just a few
verses ago in this same book of the Bible John wrote,]
[1 John
1:9-2:1
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful
and just to forgive us our sins,
and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10
If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word
is not in us. 1 My little children,
these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an
advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: ]
[What John is clearly saying is that if you claim to be
a child of God, and you find yourself living in a lifestyle of sin and
sinfulness, then you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ, and you are not walking
under the influence of the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit (Almighty God
in you). Because if Jesus were in
your heart and life you would never be able live with yourself as long as you
are living in sin.]
[Born again Christians sometimes sin, but when they sin
they will come under the heartfelt, immediate conviction of the presence of God
within them. That undeniable,
spiritual, powerful, and heart rending voice of God, against their sin will
remove any sense of peace and tranquility from their sense of being until such
time as they repent and get their life right with God.]
[Without any doubt the Apostle John is saying, if you
want to know whether or not you are really saved, just look at your life and ask
yourself, “can I live with sin in my life?”
If you can, you can call yourself a Christian as long and loud as your
like, but the scriptural truth is, you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ.]
3.
The Regard
of Sin (vs 7-8; James 2.19; John 1.12-13) [–
Little children,
let no man deceive you:
he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous.
8 He that committeth sin is of the devil;
for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was
manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. – In verse 7-8 the
Apostle John reiterates with undeniable clarity what he has already said in the
previous verses. If you are walking
with the Lord Jesus Christ then spiritual Preparation and Purity will mark your
life with a Passion. These will
manifest themselves in the undeniable mark of righteousness upon your character
and life.]
[However, if sin and sinfulness marks your life, then
you need to know and see who and what you are.
You are a child of the devil and you are lost and undone with out the
Lord Jesus Christ in your life. You
eternal destiny has been eternally revealed by God, you are on your way to Hell
and an eternity in the Lake
of Fire, the vary wrath of God. What do you
need to do, you need to repent and accept the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal
Lord and Savior.]
[Watch out for
the deception – Be careful, there are many in our world who would say, “Oh,
you’re all right! You know the
gospel, you know about Jesus, you believe all those stories.
You don’t have anything to worry about.”
The Bible declares,]
[James 2:19
19
Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils
also believe, and tremble. ][There is a lot more to salvation than just mere
intellectual assent. You must
receive the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior.
John wrote,]
[John 1:12-13
12
But as many as received
him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God,
even to them that believe on his
name: 13 Which were born, not of
blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.]
[The point here is simple, is there continuing,
excused, desired sin in your life.
The evidence of your sinful lifestyle reveals where you truly stand with the
Lord Jesus Christ.]
C.
The Regard Of
Godly Examination – Discernment (1 John 3.9-10)
[– Now you must make
a choice. Whose are you, and whose
will you be? To which spiritual
family does your life reveal that you belong?
There are two spiritual families revealed in verses 9-10 and your
membership is revealed through the evidences of your life.
There is:]
1.
The Divine
Family (vs 9-10; Matt 7.15-20) [– “Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in
him:
and he cannot sin,
because he is born of God. 10
In this the children of God are manifest, . . . ”
- Notice what must be the most compelling phrase concerning sin contained
within Scripture. As a born again
Christian, with the presence of Almighty God dwelling within you, you will not
find it in your self to tolerate sin in your life for long.
Because the God who lives within you will not tolerate that sin in you,
and He will drive you away from that sin with all of heaven’s resources.
This is reminiscent of what our Lord said, when He said,]
[Matthew
7:15-20
15 Beware of false prophets, which come
to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do
men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?
17
Even so every good tree
bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.
18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil
fruit, neither can a corrupt
tree bring forth good fruit. 19
Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into
the fire. 20 Wherefore by their
fruits ye shall know them. ]
2.
The Devils
Family (vs 10) [– “.
. . and the children of the devil:
whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his
brother.” – On the other hand if you find sin comfortable, enjoyable, and
desirable in your life, then you need to hear God and recognize the loud
testimony of your life and character.
You cannot love God, be God’s, and love sin in your life. The love of sin
in your life reveals who you are, and whose you are.
You need to be saved today!]
CrossRoads Baptist, Sunday
Evening, June 22 2008
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