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Sermons About 1john

House Rules Part 1

Nov 9, 2008
Sovereign King Church

Every single family has rules that are specific just to their family. They are those little things that define individual households and to a certain extent, demonstrate the values of a particular family. For example, at our house we have a few of those. One of those is, "No whining and dining," which means you cannot whine at my dinner table. You may not like what we are having for dinner, but you can't whine about. Another one is that you must at least take a "No thank you bite," which means if you are eating something brand new for the first time, you have to at least take bite and say, "No thank you," before deciding you don't like it. When I was a kid, the rule was that it was always better to confess than to be found out which meant you were going to get a much less profound beating if you told your parents what you did rather than them founding out from someone else. I remember one time walking into the kitchen and my parents said, "We know what you have been up to." I was petrified. One family in our congregation has this rule about the dinner table: "Clear, Cheer, and Chore" - clear your plate, show gratitude and thankfulness with a cheer for Mom or Dad for having prepared the meal, and chore being help cleanup afterwards. (Isn't amazing how many rules we make for eating btw?) Well, the family of God is no different. Belonging to that family comes with certain expectations and values. As we approach the letters of John, those expectations and values are exactly what we are going to find. In fact, John, the brother of Jesus, is going to use a lot of family language. His most common way of addressing the people in the letter is, "my children," or "my dear children." Sometimes, he will sound like Hulk Hogan and say, "brothers," and once in a while he will even say, "my dear friends." But no matter how he addresses the letter, the tone is always one of a kind family elder dispensing wisdom as to how to live. The interesting thing though is that this not wisdom in a vacuum. What I mean is that He is not just giving you random truths to live by. He is giving theological truth by which to guide you in greater living. Let me explain what I mean. When someone just walks up to you and starts giving you advice or just tells you what to do, most folks don't respond well. The thought is that that their advice is more or less just veiled criticism because it is not based on prior understanding. It just feels like an attack. However, if you notice, the writers of Scripture, and very much Jesus Himself, frame the practical truths of how to live our lives around the solid theological truths of who God is. Let me give you an example. In Romans 8, Paul talks about how we should endure suffering with great joy. Now that truth alone is harsh. That's like walking up to someone who is suffering and saying, "Hey, stop your whining. Nobody likes a whiner." But Paul doesn't give that truth alone or truth in a vacuum. He says: Our present suffering doesn't compare to the glory we will have in heaven. If we suffer for Jesus, we will be glorified with Him. And as we struggle, we have a great hope for the future. Just in the same that the earth groans to be liberated from the effects of sin, so do we. Framing that truth in that way is lot more gracious, encouraging, and inspiring than just saying, "Hey buck up little camper. Have some joy." We find much greater meaning and much greater sensitivity in our hearts when wisdom, encouragement, and advice are attached to truths of scripture or to theological depth surrounding the person of Jesus. That is what we are going to find in the books of 1,2, and 3 John.