1 John Chapter 2 Verses 26 – 27

· John tells us exactly why he has written this portion of scripture. These things I have written to you concerning those who try to deceive you… Is it possible for a Christian to become deceived? Absolutely! Not deceived unto condemnation, but deceived unto error and all that can come with error. Division, strife, contentions, agitation…, joy killers! And the word for deceive is actually, “seduce.” That’s far more of a subtle thought because deception we can defended against (to me this makes sense) far more effectively than seduction…

· Seduction is the “thought meaning” that no matter how mature you are or how much you know, seduction is going to work… That’s why its seduction… So how do you overcome seduction? Well, in the flesh, good luck! Situational, momentary, impulse…, you have no chance! To overcome and win against seduction, you have to love something more, be committed to something that is allowed even to cause you pain, than to be carried away by the emotion and draw and desire of something else… (OR, set up DEFENSIVE STRONGHOLDS!)

· It’s really a commitment to something greater than the pleasure of the predicament you find yourself in… To not be playing the “short game” all the time, but having a mind that understands the “long game.” Knowledge gives you insight to the immediate, wisdom applies that knowledge towards a purpose. And so, the seduction of the moment, that fiery dart, hits the breastplate of righteousness (which all righteousness really happens to be is a synonym for wisdom) and the shield of faith prevails… (picture)

· And John gives us a solid statement of that commitment as protection against being carried away, protection against setting aside truth, (Wisdom Himself), the anointing of God on your life! God will do the things, He will do the protecting and the guiding and the securing and the opposing and the preventing because it is His anointing of His strength within YOU, our play alone is to abide in Him! What’s that mean? LISTEN TO HIM!

· And I love the fact that he says, “You do not need anyone to teach you!” It’s true! You have the greatest resource in all of eternity within you! The truth is not me, its not any teacher no matter how convincing they are or how great of an orator they are. The truth is the Word of God! Jeremiah 31:33-34 even tells us, “But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”

· So, what am I doing up here!? Why are you listening to me!? First of all, not to reveal anything new to you that you couldn’t know on your own! It is the height of arrogance for anyone to say that they have the inside scoop on the scriptures! So called prophets, deconstructionists, apostles, and the like. That is the height of arrogance! We need teachers and I’ll tell you why/how, that are skilled in confirming the Word of God. When you walk away from a teaching, the Holy Spirit should be confirming what you heard. If not, watch out…! Remember this, if its new its not true and if it’s true, it’s not new!

· Paul said something extremely important and revealing in 1 Corinthians 4:15. He said, “For every father we have they are worth 10,000 teachers.” So, one reason we still need teachers today is because teachers that are called care more about you than they do about teaching you. Sorry if you don’t like that. That’s Biblical. AND, I am saying this not to be praised but for myself, having a teacher, a mentor, someone who watches over my soul and calls to mind for me the heart and Word of God, is a gift from God Himself beyond priceless!! Jeremiah 3:15, God said, “I will give you shepherds according to My own heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding!”

· AND, just because you can know it, doesn’t mean you do! The only thing common about common sense, right…!? So, my job, and any teacher’s job, is first to care about each and every one of you. If I don’t, I have no biblical business teaching you. Second, is to confirm the scriptures through the power of the Holy Spirit, and third, to prod you towards truth and away from error – which we all need, HOWEVER, truth is personally accessible to every Christian in its highest form! (Remember common sense – give the traffic story)

1 John Chapter 2 Verses 28 – 29

· Ok, some folks take these verses one way and others take them another… When the Lord returns for His church, when He appears in the clouds at the time of the deportation of Christians before the judgement of God, the Great Tribulation, comes upon the earth, Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 15:51-52, “Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet.” And at that moment, Paul explains in 2 Thessalonians 4:16-17, “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.”

· AND 1 John 3:2 tells us that, “We know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is…” So, these three truths together, when we are taken into the presence of Jesus at the rapture of the church, John calls it, “His coming,” in our scripture set, we will be changed, perfected and become like Jesus. Without the constraints and burden of our fleshly nature any longer. And so, shame at that moment… I can’t get there. So, what must John mean?

· Not sure. But some translations give this as, “We may have confidence and not be ashamed before His coming.” This may be a statement of eternal life, that quality of life where shame is defeated and confidence calls the shots. However, I’m flexible, perhaps there will be tears of shame when I stand in front of Jesus, although I know that no shame can be in His presence…, He defeated shame…, however perhaps this is a sort of righteous shame…, Godly sorrow if you will, which we do see in the scriptures…

· With that being said, Paul does tell us of an accounting of sorts, a judgement that all believers will enter into with Jesus Himself, and many believe, at His coming. A very personal thing. Something just between you and Him, in which you have a discussion with Him concerning what you did with your life. You find this in 1 Corinthians Chapter 3.

· We read in 1 Corinthians 3 and because its such an important chapter, I want to read verses 1 – 15, although we will concentrate on verses 9 – 15. “And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal (not yet free is a way to look at this, not yet walking in the freedom of Christ and the rest of Christ) and behaving like mere men? For when one says, “I am of Paul,” and another, “I am of Apollos,” are you not carnal? Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers through whom you believed, as the Lord gave to each one? I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase. Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor. (And now the accounting…) For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, you are God’s building. According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it. For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire (recall Jesus’ eyes of fire in Revelation Chapter 1); and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is. If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.”

· That phrase, “suffer loss,” is one word in the Greek. The word “zemioo,” and it literally means, “to receive damage,” or, “to lose.” It’s the same word used in Matthew 16:26 when Jesus said, “What profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?” That’s wild! So, the Bible appears to perhaps offer that there will be a moment with Jesus where we will give an account for our lives and its possible, for that moment only perhaps in all of our heavenly lives, that we sense and feel sad and sorry for having a lack of faith in this life. Wasting our times or seasons and even refusing to submit our hearts to the Lord… That perhaps is what John is talking about here in this chapter and that certainly is a sobering thought.

· And, John gives us this last thought of this chapter…, if you know the Lord, you can see the Lord in those that know the Lord. The kids today say it this way, real recognizes real. The one that practices, the word in the Greek is “commits to and brings forth” righteousness… The one that is close to the Lord, abiding in Him, in fellowship with the Holy Spirit, we light up when we see others who love the Lord also. We enjoy love, joy, peace, long suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control…, force multiplying each other unto the glory of God!