"The Darkness Is Passing Away" -- 1 John 2:3-11

The Third in a Series of Sermons on the Epistles of John

The contrast between Christianity and false religion is as apparent as the contrast between light and darkness.  John the Apostle, must deal with certain men who have departed from the faith, and who were now denying that Jesus is God manifest in the flesh.  To expose their errors, John uses a simple contrast.  God is light.  Darkness cannot exist in his presence, because light casts out darkness.  Since Jesus Christ is God manifest in the flesh, Jesus is that light which has come into the world.  That light which gives life, enables God’s people to walk in the light, even as Jesus is the manifestation of the light.  And since light casts out darkness, so too Christ’s coming in the flesh means that wherever the word of life is proclaimed, darkness passes away.

As we continue our series on the Epistles of John, we are now making our way through the second chapter of John’s first epistle.  In this section of John’s letter (vv. 1:5-2:29), John describes four ways in which Christians demonstrate that they are walking in the light.  The first of these four conditions is the necessity of repenting of our sin.  We discussed this last time as we made our way through 1 John 1:5-2:2.  The second condition mentioned by John–that Christians must be obedient to God’s commandments–is found in verses 2:3-11.  This is our topic in this sermon.  The third condition is spelled out in verses 12-17.  John says that Christians must reject all appearance of worldliness, which refers to both the lusts of the flesh and the desires of the eyes.  The fourth condition–that we must hold fast to the truth in the presence of antichrists–is spelled out in the balance of the chapter (vv. 18-29).  According to John, these things are characteristic of all those who live in the light of the word manifest in the flesh.

Since I spent a fair bit of time on background material for the epistles of John in the previous two sermons–in which I explain why I am approaching these epistles in the way that I am–I would ask you to listen to them, if you haven’t yet heard them.  Throughout these epistles, John (the apostle) is dealing an early form of Gnosticism, in which it is argued that a dualism exists between spirit (good) and matter (which is evil).  In this dualistic scheme of things, the Christian doctrine of the incarnation of Jesus Christ is an impossibility because God (pure spirit) could not in any sense be manifest in human flesh (because flesh is material, and therefore evil).  This is why John opens this epistle with the emphatic declaration that Jesus is God manifest in the flesh.  John has seen Jesus, heard Jesus, and even touched Jesus.  The good news (of the gospel) is that Jesus has come as a flesh and blood Savior.

To read the rest of this sermon, Click here

Ursinus' Large and Small Catechisms Together with the Heidelberg Catechism

Several years ago, one of the members of Christ Reformed Church (Greg Myers) learned that Dr. Fred Klooster (who died in 2003) and John Medendorp had prepared translations of Ursinus' Large (1560-61) and Small (1561-62) catechisms.  Greg contacted Dr. Klooster, and got permission to put the large and small catechisms in parallel columns along with the Heidelberg Catechism.

At the time, we made this document available as a PDF file on the old Christ Reformed web site.  When we moved to the new Christ Reformed Info blog, we didn't move this file. 

Recently, Wes Bredenhof made mention of it on his blog (http://www.bredenhof.ca/).  So, I am posting it here for your use and enjoyment!

Ursinus' Large and Small Catechisms

This Week's White Horse Inn

The Preached Word

According to William Willimon, Christianity is kind of like a foreign language that one is not born with, but must be baptized into. Unfortunately, many preachers today are attempting to "translate" the faith into familiar and comfortable terms that people are used to, but the result, he argues, is that things get "lost in translation." William Willimon, author of Peculiar Speech: Preaching to the Baptized, joins the panel on this edition of the White Horse Inn.

 http://www.whitehorseinn.org/

Who Said That?

"Christians don't steal or lie, they don't get divorced or have abortions.  If the Ten Commandments were followed by everyone we would be able to fire half the police force and in six months the prisons would be all half empty."

Leave your guess in the comments section below.  Please, no google searches or cheating.  Answer to follow next week. 

Update on Saturday, November 21, 2009 at 05:59PM by Kim Riddlebarger

This is a quote from a 2007 interview with John Hagee.  Hagee's pelagianism is readily apparent when he mistakenly assumes that since God commands something, after the fall we still have the ability to obey it.  We also see Hagee's perfectionism in his notion that Christians no longer sin.  Christian's should not do these things, but they do.

"Paul, the False Prophet and the Proconsul" -- Acts 13:1-13

Here's the text of this morning's sermon: Click here

Audio from Friday's Academy Lecture

Here's the audio from Friday night's Academy lecture (11/20/09).  Ken's lecture is entitled,  "Learning How to Learn / Intelligent Reading - Three Types of Arguments: Deductive, Inductive, and Abductive"

Here's the link: Click here

Tonight's Academy Class

Ken Samples continues his Academy series "Learning Skills 101: Learning How to Learn." 

You are invited to join us tonight (November 20 @ 7:30 p.m.) at Christ Reformed Church when Ken will be lecturing on "Logical Fallacies, Part 1."

As always, there will be refreshments and a time for question and answers following the lecture.

For more information, click here, http://www.christreformed.org/

Christianity Today Interviews Mike Horton

There's a  great interview of Mike Horton by Mark Galli in the latest Christianity Today covering Michael's two newest books, Christless Christianity and the Gospel-Driven Life:  Click here

There's even a Bible study based on Mike's books at the end of the article.  Click here

What on earth is the world coming to?  John Frame doesn't like Mike's Christless Christianity, but CT gives Mike a major plug?????

"If We Walk in the Light" -- 1 John 1:5-2:2

The Second in a Series of Sermons on John's Epistles

Imagine stumbling through life in complete darkness, not knowing where you are going, and unable to avoid danger or disaster.  For the Apostle John, walking in darkness is a powerful metaphor depicting the fate of those apart from Christ–forced to live as slaves to sin, in complete ignorance to the things of God, and at the mercy of false teachers who claimed to be “enlightened,” but who are completely in the dark about the things of the Lord.  As John opens this epistle, he reminds us that God is light, and because we have eternal life, we walk in the light of God’s revelation of himself in the person of Jesus Christ, the word of life made manifest in the flesh.

We return to our series on the Epistles of John.  As we saw last time, the three epistles we know as 1st, 2nd, and 3rd John were written by the Apostle John, who is also the author of the Gospel bearing his name.  We know this to be the case based upon the grammar and style of these epistles, which repeatedly allude to, or are dependent upon, the gospel of John.  As I mentioned last time, it is highly probably that these epistles were written after John had completed his gospel.  Christian tradition tells us that John had fled Jerusalem at some point before the destruction of the city in 70 A.D., eventually relocating to Ephesus, where it is believed that he lived well into old age, dying during the reign of the Roman emperor Trajan.  Since I spent a fair amount of time on background material last time, I would ask you to consider the previous sermon so as to understand the situation in which these epistles were written.  

Since we are covering new ground, it is important to briefly recap John’s purpose in writing before we work through our text.  Based upon the content of these epistles it is reasonable to conclude that they were written for the purpose of explaining and elaborating upon themes within John’s gospel, as well as to correct the errors of various false teachers who were distorting things John had stated earlier.  This will become clear shortly when we come to verses 6-2:1, in which John responds to a series of errors being taught by those who departed from the faith.  

Like the Book of James, John’s first epistle is probably a sermon of sorts in which John proclaims to us that Jesus is God manifest in the flesh, who came to earth to bring the word of life.  At many points, John simply sets out the truth regarding the person and work of Christ in full confidence that the truth will cast out all error.  At the heart of this truth is the fact that Jesus is God manifest in human flesh who came to save us from our sins.  This is the light of the gospel, and those who know and understand Christ’s person and work will walk in that light.  Walking in the light means repenting of our sins, loving our brothers and sisters, and living confidently in the hope of eternal life.

To read the rest of this sermon:  Click here

Samples and I Have "Issues"

Ken Samples and I were both guests on "Issues, Etc." yesterday.

Ken discussed the Vatican's recent (and rather surprising) interest in extra-terrestrial life:  Click here

I was on to discuss Jerome's and Augustine's response to the fall of Rome, and the lessons to be learned from their differing reactions.  Click here