You Can Be Certain

Many people aren't sure if they'll make it to heaven.

Will I have done enough good things? Will St Peter let me in the pearly gates? Did I go to church enough? Did I give enough to the church?

John says that we can know for certain that we have eternal life.

"I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that yo may know that you have eternal life" (1 John 5:13).

So what are "these things" that he has written about?

The letter is full of evidences of having eternal life and John is pretty clear about it. He often says, "By this you know..."

Here's a list by chapter:

1. Dealing with sins. Admitting sin. Confessing sin. Claiming the blood of Christ to cleanse us from our sins, not our works. Enjoying fellowship with God, Jesus and others.
2. Obeying Christ. Abiding in Christ. Not loving the world. Loving one another. Believing that Christ came in the flesh. Practicing righteousness.
3. Anticipation of being in the presence of Christ. Not continuing to sin. Loving in action, not just word. Heart does not condemn. Obedience. Testimony of the Spirit.
4. Loving one another. Having the Spirit. Confessing that Jesus is the Son of God. Abiding in love. Loving brothers.
5. Overcoming the world through Jesus Christ. Believing in Jesus. Answered prayer. Not continuing in sin. Free from the power of the evil one.

It's not a guessing game. It's not wishful thinking. It's confidence.

Go through the list and evaluate yourself.

Do you have eternal life, or not?

Loving the World or Enjoying God's Blessings?

"Do not love the world or the things in the world..." (1 John 2:15a).

It's challenging to walk that line of loving the world and enjoying God's blessings.

We are commanded often to not love the world. The rest of the above verse says that if we love the world, the love the Father is not in us. And a few verses later John reminds us that the world and it's desires are passing, so loving them is pointless (v 17).

Yet we have examples of wealthy people in the Bible, who became wealthy because God blessed them. Abraham and Solomon easily come to mind. One lesson of Ecclesiastes is that we should enjoy the good things that God has given us. The woman of Proverbs 31 is praised by her husband and children. There are good things that can happen to us in this world, and there's nothing wrong with them.

How can we tell if we are loving the world, or enjoying the blessings that God has poured out on us?

Perhaps we can ask ourselves some questions of self-evaluation:

1. How do I react if the things around me are taken away?
2. How do I react if I don't get the things that I want?

If my responses in either of those situations is sinful, then I'm loving the things of the world than God. If I respond in bitterness, anger, envy, jealousy or greed, then having those things is more important to me than living to please God.

The objects have become more important than the Giver.

Enjoy the blessings from God, but don't let them take the place of God.

Who is like the LORD our God?

Psalm 113 begins with a call to praise the LORD. All day, every day and everywhere the LORD's name is to be praised.

Why?

Because He is above all nations. He is sovereign over the rulers, over the United Nations, over the Taliban. He is more powerful than the electoral college, the Supreme Court, or Wall Street.

And because His glory is above the heavens. He is more glorious than any star, any planet, any cloud nebulae. He is more magnificent than any mountain, any waterfall, any ocean. He is more amazing than the tiniest microbes, the growing trees or the human body.

He is seated on high, yet He looks down on the earth.

"Who is like the LORD our God, who is seated on high, who looks far down on the heavens and the earth?" (v 5-6).

He is exalted, yet He concerns Himself with the needs of man.

He lifts up the poor from the garbage heap to set him with nobles. He lifts the individual out of the pit of sin and seats him at the right hand of Christ. That's pretty amazing!

He gives the barren woman children. He performs miracles which medicine can't explain. He puts a baby in the womb of a woman. He heals cancer patients. He makes the lame to walk.

High and powerful, yet concerned about the needs of His creation.

That's my God!

You don't have to sin!

"My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin" (1 John 1:1a).

Wow! John is pretty bold to write that he has the secret to a life without sin.

I'm guessing that most of us would like to read what that secret is.

Then we just have to study what John has written, so we'll back up to the beginning of 1 John.

John begins by writing about the Word of life, Jesus Christ. He has eternally been with the Father, but was revealed to man. He came to earth and revealed the Father to us (1:1-2).

Christ was revealed so that we can have fellowship with the Father, with His Son Jesus Christ and with other  believers (v 3).

And when we enjoy this type of fellowship, our joy can be full (v 4).

So Christ came that we can have relationships and joy.

How do we maintain fellowship with the Father, the Son and other believers, gaining the by-product of joy?

By having a biblical view of God and sin.

God is light. Sin is darkness. Light and darkness can't exist in the same place at the same time.

If we want to have fellowship, we have to choose not to sin (v 5-7) and admit our sinfulness and sins (v 8-10).

We can choose not to sin, but if we fail and choose sinfully, there's still hope.

The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin (v 7). Because He is faithful and just, He will forgive us and cleanse us (v 10). He is the advocate with the Father on our behalf (2:1) and He has satisfied God with His sacrifice (2:2).

Put it all together and we have no reason to sin.

We can choose to have fellowship with God, Jesus and other believers, filled with joy.

Or we can choose to live a secret life of sinfulness, filled with fear of discovery.

What's your choice?

God Save the Queen.

Stan Boelman, missionary in England posted this on Sunday on his Facebook page:

Happy Coronation anniversary to the Queen. 60 years ago today, Elizabeth was crowned as "Her Majesty Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God, of Great Britain, Ireland and the British Dominions beyond the Seas Queen, Defender of the Faith, Duchess of Edinburgh, Countess of Merioneth, Baroness Greenwich, Duke of Lancaster, Lord of Mann, Duke of Normandy, Sovereign of the Most Honourable Order of the Garter, Sovereign of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath, Sovereign of the Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle, Sovereign of the Most Illustrious Order of Saint Patrick, Sovereign of the Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George, Sovereign of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, Sovereign of the Distinguished Service Order, Sovereign of the Imperial Service Order, Sovereign of the Most Exalted Order of the Star of India, Sovereign of the Most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire, Sovereign of the Order of British India, Sovereign of the Indian Order of Merit, Sovereign of the Order of Burma, Sovereign of the Royal Order of Victoria and Albert, Sovereign of the Royal Family Order of King Edward VII, Sovereign of the Order of Merit, Sovereign of the Order of the Companions of Honour, Sovereign of the Royal Victorian Order, Sovereign of the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem." God save the Queen.

That's quite a list of titles.

I suppose there are people who know what they all mean. Talk about wearing a lot of hats.

And 60 years is a long time for her to hold all those positions. Not many of us have held any job for 60 years.

But it made me think of another sovereign.

That would be "Sovereign" with a capital "S."

The Queen of England does deserve respect because of her position and her title.

But God is sovereign over her.

In fact, God is sovereign over the whole universe. From the massive amounts of empty space to the subatomic particles. He's in control over all of those.

No one crowned Him to be sovereign. He didn't inherit the title. He didn't defeat any enemies to gain the throne.

He has always been and always will be sovereign.

So while we may celebrate the Queen of England's 60 year reign, let's not to celebrate and submit to our Sovereign Lord (Psalm 93).

Finally! A Sermon about Something!

Pastor Dave Tebbenkamp has been preaching a series through Ecclesiastes entitled, "Sermons about Nothing." Today was the last sermon and it was a sermon about something!

Throughout the book, Solomon has been telling of his experiences through his life. He had tried everything, been everywhere and knew more than anyone else. Yet his sermon repeats the phrase, "Vanity of vanities, all is vanity."

All of his experiences amounted to a meaningless life...without God.

But with God, all of those experiences have meaning.

"When all has been heard, the conclusion of the matter is: fear God and keep His commands" (Ecclesiastes 12:13).

Work hard.

Study hard.

Enjoy your career.

Fix great food.

Build a house.

Have a family.

Go on vacation.

Accumulate wealth.

Enjoy the arts.

Keep your body fit.

Enjoy your retirement years.

There is nothing wrong with these. But if any, some or all of them are the sum total of your life, you'll come up short.

If you're living for any, some or all of them, you'll be disappointed.

Just ask Solomon. He did it all 100 times better than most of us will be able to afford.

But what he found was that these things with God in the picture will give meaning to life.

Work hard and fear God.

Study hard and fear God.

Enjoy your career and fear God.

Build a house and fear God.

Get the picture?

Fearing God in all of life's endeavors will give them each an eternal perspective. No longer is it living from one event to the next. No longer is it looking for the next kick. Nor is it avoiding those "kicks" for some hyper-spiritual reason.

Rather, it's putting God into your life in every aspect. Seeking to please Him in everything you do.

That will give you a life with meaning.

A Heart of Integrity

God told Solomon:

"As for you, if you walk before Me as your father David walked, with a heart of integrity and in what is right..." (1 Kings 9:4a).

Wait! Wasn't David the king who committed adultery and murder?

What's this "heart of integrity and in what is right?"

That's usually what we think about David. How can God say that David walked with a heart of integrity when he committed those awful sins?

I wonder if it's an attempt to maximize the sins of David to make our sins look not so bad. We try to rationalize that our sins aren't so bad.

"God said that David walked with a heart of integrity, and I'm certainly not THAT bad!"

The heart of integrity is not seen in David's sin, but in David's response to the sin.

After committing the sins, he was in physical, emotional and spiritual anguish (Psalm 32).

When Nathan confronted David, the king's response revealed his heart of integrity (Psalm 51).

David confessed, repented and lived with the consequences.

Two lessons to learn:

1. We look at the sin and condemn. God looks at our response to the sin. David responded like God desired. He didn't remain in the sin, but chose to return to God and godly living.
2. God can use us, even when we fall into sin. It's not the end of life and ministry. We have to choose to get out of the pit of sin like David: confession and repentance.

Will God look at your life and say that you walked with a heart of integrity and in what is right?