Sunday, February 26, 2017, 2:02 a.m. – The Lord Jesus put in mind the song “Seek the Lord.” Speak, Lord, your words
to my heart. I read 1 John 1 (NASB).
We Proclaim Him
(vv. 1-4)
What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what
we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands,
concerning the Word of Life— and the life was manifested, and we have seen and
testify and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was
manifested to us— what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that
you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the
Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ. These things we write, so that our joy
may be made complete.
When our Lord walked the face
of this earth, John was one of Jesus’ twelve disciples. So, John gave
eyewitness testimony here as to Jesus Christ, the promised Messiah, Lord and
Christ of God. He and the other eleven traveled with and worked with Jesus in
ministry for at least three years. He was also an eyewitness to Jesus’ death on
the cross and of his resurrection from the dead. So, he was able to say that he,
along with the others, had heard him, seen him, and that he had touched him. He
was sharing first-hand testimony and knowledge concerning the Christ, the Son
of God (God the Son).
In the Gospel of John, he
shared even more detail concerning the Word of Life. Jesus Christ was in the
beginning with God, and he was God – the second person of our triune God –
Father, Son and Holy Spirit. All things came into being through Him, i.e. Jesus
Christ is our creator. He is the Light of men (humankind) which shines in the
darkness. The Word (Jesus) became flesh, and he made his dwelling among us. Grace
and truth came through Jesus Christ. Jesus, too, was the Lamb of God who took away
the sins of the world, via his death on a cross and resurrection from the dead.
Yet, not everyone received
(believed on) him. Many hated him, were jealous of him, and despised him
because he told them the truth about who he is, about their sin, about
judgment, and about their eternal destiny, as well as he gave many messages of
hope and healing for the penitent. So, they killed him. But, this was God’s will
that he should die for us so that we could believe on him, be delivered from
slavery to sin, and have eternal life with God, and so we could be born of God
and could become children of God.
In the Light
(vv. 5-10)
This is the message we have heard from Him and
announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. If
we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie
and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in
the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son
cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving
ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and
righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If
we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.
When I woke up this morning,
the phrase “mere accolades” was in my mind, so I did a dictionary search on the
word “accolade.” The words which jumped out at me, which were contained within
the definitions, were “ceremonial,” “ritualistic,” “formality,” “performance,” “nominal,”
and “acknowledgment.” To acknowledge something means to admit its truth or existence.
For something to be nominal, it means that it is in name only, or it is so-called.
And, other words for “formal” are “mechanical” or “performed.” And, to “perform”
means to “play act.” The phrase “ceremonial embrace” was also included, which means
formality or show of acceptance, agreement or belief.
So, how does this apply to
this passage of scripture? Well, first of all we read here that God is light
and that in him is no darkness at all. Light is truth, morality, righteousness,
goodness, mercy, holiness, and purity, etc. Darkness is the opposite of light,
so it is lies (deception), unrighteousness, wickedness, sinfulness, hatred, immorality,
impurity, and irreverence, etc. God is not a mixture of both light and
darkness. Only goodness exists within him. So, if we say we are in Christ
Jesus, by faith in him, and thus we have fellowship (friendship, partnership)
with God, but we conduct our lives (walk) in darkness (wickedness), then this
says we are liars.
So, what is a liar? He (or
she) is a fraud, fake, pretender – a phony. He is a fibber, storyteller, and a
deceiver. He is someone who pretends to be what he is not, i.e. he is a hypocrite.
He is someone who goes through the motions of being a Christian and a follower
of Christ, but it is just an act. He is just performing for the crowds. He is a
Christian in name only, but not in reality, i.e. not in lifestyle, i.e. not in
actions. His profession of faith in Jesus Christ is ceremonial only, i.e. it is
ritualistic or mechanical, but his heart is far from God. His praise of God is
for show only. His worship is in vain. He acknowledges the existence and truth
of Christ, but it is head knowledge only. His lifestyle does not back up his
profession. Thus, he is a liar.
This is not saying that, as
Christians, we will live in absolute perfection, though, or that we will never
sin (See: 1 Jn. 2:1). But, it is saying that when we put our faith and trust in
Jesus Christ to be Lord and Savior of our lives that our lifestyles (the way we
live our lives day in and day out) should reflect Christ in our lives. If we
truly have believed in Jesus, our old self was put to death with him, and we
have been born anew of the Spirit of God, “created to be like God in true
righteousness and holiness” (Eph. 4:24). We died to sin so that we might live
to righteousness. So, this should be evident in our lives that this spiritual
transformation has taken place. Daily we should be dying to sin and self; daily
we should be putting to death, by the Spirit, the misdeeds of our flesh (See:
Lu. 9:23-25; Ro. 8:1-14). And, daily we should be walking (living our lives)
according to the Spirit of God.
You see, there are many
people today who are preaching a false grace gospel. What I mean by this is
that they are not teaching that genuine faith in Christ means death to sin and
living to righteousness. True faith in Christ includes repentance (turning from
sin) and obedience (submission) to Christ and to his Word. This is because genuine
faith is a gift from God, i.e. it is God’s divine persuasion (convincing) of us
as to his will for our lives. It is him moving us to some kind of action, and
that action is holiness, which is what we were called to. So, if we believe in
Jesus with God-given faith, our hearts will be transformed of the Spirit of God
away from sin to God and to his righteousness. We will be crucified with Christ
in death to sin, and we will be resurrected with Christ to newness of life, and
our lifestyles will reflect this, although this is an ongoing process of being
made holy by God.
Yet, if we get this idea that
we can just acknowledge that Jesus Christ died for our sins to free us from
condemnation, and to promise us heaven when we die, and that we can make a mere
profession of such, but with no real heart transformation ever having to take
place, then we are lying to ourselves. If we think God is pleased by our mere formality
of service to him, by our false worship of him, or by our mere church
attendance, and/or with us just going through the motions (rituals) of
Christianity, while we hold on to our old lives of living for sin and self,
then we need a wakeup call! Genuine belief in Jesus Christ results in genuine
lifestyle change. We no longer live our lives to please our sinful passions and
desires, but we live our lives to please God, and we keep growing in our faith
and service to our Lord, and he continually cleanses us and renews us and grows
us in Him.
Then, like John, we can give
first-hand witness, knowledge and testimony of Jesus Christ and of his saving
grace, not because we touched him physically, as did John, but because we have
a real-life relationship with him. We know him, not just intellectually, but
experientially. We have true fellowship with him because we walk in the Light,
and we’ve been cleansed from all sin.
Seek the Lord / An
Original Work / July 20, 2012
Based off Isaiah 55
“Come to Me all you who thirst; come to
waters.
Listen to Me, and eat what’s good
today,
And your soul will delight in richest
of fare.
Give ear to Me, and you will live.
I have made an eternal covenant with
you.
Wash in the blood of the Lamb.”
Seek the Lord while He may be found;
call on Him.
Let the wicked forsake his way, in
truth.
Let him turn to the Lord, and he will
receive mercy.
Freely, God pardons him.
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,”
declares the Lord, our God.
“My word that goes out of My mouth is
truthful.
It will not return to Me unfulfilled.
My word will accomplish all that I
desire,
And achieve the goal I intend.
You will go in joy, and be led forth in
peace.
The mountains will burst into song…
before you,
And all of the trees clap their hands.”
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