Grosey's Messages

4 Everyone who commits sin also breaks the law; sin is the breaking of law.
5 You know that He was revealed so that He might take away sins, and there is no sin in Him.
6 Everyone who remains in Him does not sin; everyone who sins has not seen Him or known Him.
7 Little children, let no one deceive you! The one who does what is right is righteous, just as He is righteous.
8 The one who commits sin is of the Devil, for the Devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God was revealed for this purpose: to destroy the Devil’s works.
9 Everyone who has been born of God does not sin, because His seed remains in him; he is not able to sin, because he has been born of God.
10 This is how God’s children—and the Devil’s children—are made evident.

Whoever does not do what is right is not of God, especially the one who does not love his brother.
11 For this is the message you have heard from the beginning: we should love one another,
12 unlike Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his works were evil, and his brother’s were righteous.

Rhinestone cowboys   "Rhinestone Cowboy" served as the basis for the 1984 movie Rhinestone, starring Sylvester Stallone and Dolly Parton.

I've been walkin' these streets so long
Singin' the same old song
I know every crack in these dirty sidewalks of Broadway
Where hustle's the name of the game
And nice guys get washed away like the snow and the rain
There's been a load of compromisin'
On the road to my horizon
But I'm gonna be where the lights are shinin' on me
Like a rhinestone cowboy
Riding out on a horse in a star-spangled rodeo
Like a rhinestone cowboy
Getting cards and letters from people I don't even know
And offers comin' over the phone
Well, I really don't mind the rain
And a smile can hide all the pain
But you're down when you're ridin' the train that's takin' the long way
And I dream of the things I'll do
With a subway token and a dollar tucked inside my shoe
There'll be a load of compromisin'
On the road to my horizon
But I'm gonna be where the lights are shinin' on me

Rhinestone christians…   … not the real deal…with a load of compromising…

F W Boreham perceived that a symptom of the prevailing blindness in society was the growing popularity of artificial things. His aversion to the artificial was focused on shows about which he said, “very few things look their best when on exhibition.” However, it was the artificiality of life portrayed by the cinema that received Boreham’s harshest criticism. Describing an evening at the cinema, sometime prior to 1915, he observed that the audience was full of admiration for the film’s lifelikeness but in Boreham’s assessment it was “a very stilted, flickery kind of affair.” Reflecting later, Boreham said, “The next day I saw the real thing .… It is a mad world truly! We go into ecstasies over the scene in the cinema; the scene as God paints it only makes us yawn.” Fake money, fake designer clothes, fake addresses, fake names. 1 John is all about fake Christianity.

John wrote this letter at a time when churches were under an ever increasing threat from Gnosticism. Full blown Gnosticism had not yet developed but it was in the makings and Church after Church was falling victim to false teachers who were teaching a more “enlightened” way concerning Jesus and sin. John wrote to expose this fake Christianity. He does this by presenting three main features of authentic Christianity – three characteristics that will be present in anyone who has a genuine faith.

These are: a) an obedient lifestyle b) a loving character c) a true knowledge of Jesus.

This is how God’s children—and the Devil’s children—are made evident.

Sin is breaking the law. 4 Everyone who commits sin also breaks the law; sin is the breaking of law.
SIN IS INCOMPATIBLE WITH THE LAW OF GOD (v. 4)

"Whosoever [continually, habitually] committeth sin transgresseth also the law; for sin is the transgression of the law."

That translation is not very good. The text actually says, "Whosoever is continually doing sin is doing lawlessness." The phrase "transgresseth also the law" is the word anomia in the Greek text. It means "lawlessness" or "without law." John is not referring to someone who accepts the law and breaks it, but to those who live as if there were no law.

There are many definitions of sin in the Bible. Romans 14:23 says, "Whatever is not of faith is sin." To doubt God is sin. James 4:17 says, "To him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin." First John 5:17 says, "All unrighteousness is sin." But the best and clearest definition of sin is right here in verse 4: sin is lawlessness. To live as if there were no law is to live as if there were no God. A Christian can't live that way because Christianity is about living in a relationship with God. John says Christians don't habitually practice sin because that would violate the very nature of God's law.

Don't ever underestimate sin. Whenever you or I sin, that constitutes open rebellion against God. God has standards. When you became a Christian, He didn't change them or lower them. You still have to obey His moral law, and He gives you the capacity to obey. Sin breaks that law we know so well. It rebels against the God we serve. And it denies that God even exists. Sin is practical atheism, and Christians are anything but atheists. Sin is totally inconsistent with the Christian's life. So John is saying that if certain people claim to be Christians, yet habitually sin, they aren't true believers.

The Delight of God's Law

As a Christian, I have submitted to God and His law both lovingly and willingly. My greatest joy is to obey Him and fulfill His will.

a) Psalm 119

(1) Verse 1--"Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord." Characteristic of a believer's manner of life is his obedience to the law of the Lord.

(2) Verse 34--"Give me understanding, and I shall keep thy law; yea, I shall observe it with my whole heart."

(3) Verse 44--"So shall I keep thy law continually forever and ever."

(4) Verse 51--"The proud have had me greatly in derision; yet have I not declined from thy law."

(5) Verse 55--"I have remembered thy name, O Lord, in the night, and have kept thy law."

(6) Verse 70--"Their heart is as fat as grease, but I delight in thy law."

(7) Verse 77--"Let thy tender mercies come unto me, that I may live; for thy law is my delight."

(8) Verse 92--"Unless thy law had been my delight, I should then have perished in mine affliction."

(9) Verse 97--"Oh, how love I thy law! It is my meditation all the day."

(10) Verse 113--"I hate vain thoughts, but thy law do I love."

(11) Verse 163--"I hate and abhor lying, but thy law do I love."

(12) Verse 174--"I have longed for thy salvation, O Lord, and thy law is my delight."

As far back as Old Testament times, it has been characteristic of a believer to love God's law.

Romans 6:16-18--"Know ye not that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are whom ye obey" (v. 16). If you've yielded yourself to God, it's obvious that you're going to obey Him. Verse 17-18 say, "God be thanked, that whereas ye were the servants of sin, ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. Being, then, made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness." A Christian is a servant of righteousness who loves and delights in God's law.

Hebrews 8:10--"This is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord: I will put my laws into their mind, write them in their hearts." The law of God becomes internal with the New Covenant (cf. Heb. 10:16).

Romans 7:15-16, 22-24--Here is a portrait of a Christian who loved the law of God. Verse 15 says, "That which I do I understand not; for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I." The apostle Paul had a problem: He didn't do the things he should do and wanted to do, but he did what he shouldn't do and didn't want to do. Even though there is the capacity for sin in our new nature as Christians, our desire is to obey the law of God. Verse 16 says, "If, then, I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good." He loved God's law; He wanted to fulfill it. Verses 22-24 say, "I delight in the law of God after the inward man; but I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. Oh, wretched man that I am!"

That is a picture of a Christian struggling with sin. But what proves to me he is a Christian is his delight in the law of God. Christians are going to sin at times--they're going to do the things they don't want to do, and not do the things they want to do. But their delight will be in the law of God. As a result, they will never be characterized by perpetual sin, only occasional sin. The struggle will always be there. The Spirit gave Paul victory. Romans 8:4 says, "The righteousness of the law [will] be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." More than anything I want to fulfill God's law, but I can't do it on my own. Only the Holy Spirit can do it through me. In Romans 7 Paul shows us how he tried to fulfill the law on his own. In Romans 8 he shows us that we can fulfill the law only through the power of the Holy Spirit. As Christians we are called to fulfill God's law and are empowered to do so.

In 1 John 3:4 John is telling the assembly that if they want to know who the true believers are, they need only find those who love and obey God's law. The false will stand out because they habitually practice sin. Romans 10:10 says, "With the heart man believeth unto righteousness." First John 2:29 says, "If ye know that he is righteous, ye know that everyone that doeth righteousness is born of him." A true believer is righteous--he obeys the law. The believer and sin are incompatible because sin is incompatible with the law of God.

1. The Saviour‘s Purpose Was To Destroy Sin

5 You know that He was revealed so that He might take away sins, and there is no sin in Him.
'How can you call yourself a Christian, and then live in the denial of why Christ came in the flesh, why He died, why He rose again?'. Indeed, to continue in sin would be a denial of the name that we bear, for in Him, Christ, is no sin. How could we call ourselves Christ's ones, in whom is no sin, and take upon ourselves the complete existence of a sinful habitual lifestyle.

There are three New Testament passages that deal with the sinlessness of our Lord Jesus. Peter, that great man of action, said: 'Christ did no sin'. Paul, that man of great thought in the mysteries of God's word, says: 'Christ knew no sin'. John, who was the disciple whom Jesus loved, the one who had an intimate fellowship and communion with the Lord, says: 'In Him was no sin'. He was without spot and blemish, as the Levitical offering in the Old Testament being offered to God. He had to be, to bear the sins of the universe. But John's point is this: how could anyone take His name, and claim to bear His likeness, and then relish a life of sinfulness? It is impossible! It is a denial of Christ's character!

2. The Saviour’s Presence Was To Destroy Sin

That is why He was incarnated. Everything about the Saviour’s coming into our world was about saving us from our sin. That saving from our sin includes Saving us from the Penalty of our sin, the power of our sin and the presence of our sin.

3. The Saviour’s Purchase Was To Destroy Sin

5 You know that He was revealed so that He might take away sins, and there is no sin in Him.
Then not only is it a denial of Christ's character, but he tells us it is a denial of Christ's cross. This is why Christ came into the world, John is saying in verse 5, to take away our sins. Doesn't the Scripture say that He was the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world? The first time John the Baptist lays eyes on Him in the ministry of Christ, what does he say? John 1:29: 'Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away' - takes away - 'the sin of the world'. Now that phrase 'takes away' is interesting, it literally means 'to lift up and to haul off'. 'Behold, the Lamb of God, who will lift up the sin of the world and haul it off!'. Now, I think it's on a Friday we get our bins collected, and you know what happens when the bin lorry comes round your way - I shouldn't call it 'bin lorry' or 'bin men', the 'waste disposal technicians' I think is the correct terminology. They gather the rubbish up, and then they throw it into the lorry, and they haul it off for you and you never need to see it again. It's wonderful, throw all your rubbish in your own domestic bin, put it out in the wheelie bin, and before you know it, a week later it's all gone. That is the sense here, Christ is lifting up our sin, He's hauling it off. When the Lord Jesus died on the cross and shed His precious blood, He took away all the rubbish, all the trash and the garbage of our lives, and He has hauled it off forever. Here's the wonderful thing: when God hauls it off, we don't need to look at it again! 'There is now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus', but better than that: when God hauls it off, the devil can't haul it back.

The Psalmist has said: 'As far as the east is from the west, so far has God removed our transgressions from us'. How far is that? It is an immeasurable distance, East from West, it keeps going, one away from the other. Not only do you never see your sin again, and the devil can't haul it up in your face again, but perhaps greater than those two things: even if you go looking for it, you'll never find the dump where God has put it. It's gone forever, for Christ took it, died, buried it, and three days later rose again without it - it's gone! The chorus says:

'Rolled away, rolled away,
And the burden of my heart rolled away'

Now here is John's point: there is something wrong if a so-called Christian is a bin-hoker, if they're looking for their sin again. My friend, is that you? I know people can backslide, I know the prodigal son, Luke chapter 15, and I know where he found himself after he spent all his inheritance in riotous living. He finds himself among the pigs, eating the swill - but remember this please: he couldn't be satisfied eating it, and he came to himself, and he got up and he went to his father. There's something wrong if you can live a lifestyle which is a complete denial not only of the character but of the cross of Christ, and it doesn't figure on you at all! The prodigal didn't stay with the pigs!

Now the positive in this point of John's for us is that if we are defeated, if we are constantly falling into sin - well, first of all, we need to question whether we're truly saved - but whatever the condition is that we find ourselves in, there is an answer. It's inherent in this verse 5, the answer is found in the victory of the cross of Jesus. This is why Christ has been manifested: to take away our sins, for in Him was no sin. The message is this: there is deliverance! My friend, whatever your particular sin is, even if it is an habitual lifestyle of sin and you're not even converted tonight, the wonderful message of the gospel, the good news of Jesus, is that you can be. The power of God's Son at the cross is the dynamite of God that is able to deliver all men.

4. The Saviours’ Preeminence Will Destroy Sin

6 Everyone who remains in Him does not sin; everyone who sins has not seen Him or known Him.

2 Cor 6:14 Do not be mismatched with unbelievers. For what partnership is there between righteousness and lawlessness? Or what fellowship does light have with darkness? 15 What agreement does Christ have with Belial? Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? 16 And what agreement does God’s sanctuary have with idols? For we are the sanctuary of the living God, as God said: I will dwell among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be My people.17 Therefore, come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord; do not touch any unclean thing, and I will welcome you.
18 I will be a Father to you, and you will be sons and daughters to Me, says the Lord Almighty.1 Therefore dear friends, since we have such promises, we should wash ourselves clean from every impurity of the flesh and spirit, making our sanctification complete in the fear of God.

If the Saviour dwells in us, how can we ever go back to sin? 1 Cor 3:16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? 17 If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.

The sign of a Christian, John is saying first of all, is that they will have a surrendered will to God's will. What is God's will? Well, we've already learnt this in chapter 2 verses 3 and 4: 'Hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him'. We are to be obedient in love to the Lord Jesus, His principles and His precepts, as He in His completeness has fulfilled the law of God. What did He say? 'If ye love me, keep my commandments'. So I'm asking you tonight: do you have a desire, is the ruling principle of your life trying to get at breakneck speed to lawlessness before God? Or is there a desire, even though you fail and fall at times, like all of us do, is your desire to be obedient? Or is your desire to continually rebel? My friend, if it is to rebel, John says it's doubtful if you're one of God's children.

5. The Saviour’s Power Will Destroy Sin

8 The one who commits sin is of the Devil, for the Devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God was revealed for this purpose: to destroy the Devil’s works. 9 Everyone who has been born of God does not sin, because His seed remains in him; he is not able to sin, because he has been born of God.

Following the relocation of MacArthur to Australia in March, to serve as Allied Supreme Commander, South West Pacific Area, Wainwright inherited the unenviable position of Allied commander in the Philippines. Also that March, Wainwright was promoted to Lieutenant General (temporarily). On April 9, the 70,000 troops on Bataan surrendered under the command of Major General Edward P. King. On May 5, the Japanese attacked Corregidor and on May 6, in the interest of minimizing casualties, Wainwright surrendered. By June 9, Allied forces had completely surrendered. Wainwright was then held in prison camps in northern Luzon, Formosa and Manchuria until his liberation by the Red Army in August 1945.^[1] He was the highest-ranking American POW, and despite his rank, his treatment at the hands of the Japanese was not pleasant. After witnessing the Japanese surrender aboard the USS Missouri (BB-63) on September 2, together with Lieutenant-General Arthur Percival he returned to the Philippines to receive the surrender of the local Japanese commander, Lieutenant-General Tomoyuki Yamashita.

One day a plane landed with the news that the war had ended, and the next day the Japanese, out of sheer habit, came to the compound with the General and started to torture him and beat him as they did every single day. They hadn't recognised that the war had ended, and they were defeated, and the General effectively was on the victory side. Just as the soldiers came in and started to lay into him, he said: 'Wait a minute! Put down your weapons, I'm in charge! You're my captives!'. They put the weapons down, because that was the fact - what had changed? Nothing had changed, they were in the same environment, the same forces, but what had changed was historical fact: the Allies had won the war. The fact of the matter is this: Christ is the Captain of our salvation, but Satan is the captive! Christ has sapped all his power, and we need no longer be under his control. Whilst the devil, at times, may throw us to the ground - praise God, he cannot pin you to the ground!

Is the ruling principle of your life trying to get at breakneck speed to lawlessness before God? Or is there a desire, even though you fail and fall at times, like all of us do, is your desire to be obedient?

Have you been born of God? If you have then sin will not rule over you. His Spirit indwells you and you cannot go back to sin.

6. The Saviour’s Principle Will Destroy Sin                    love.

10 This is how God’s children—and the Devil’s children—are made evident.

Whoever does not do what is right is not of God, especially the one who does not love his brother.
11 For this is the message you have heard from the beginning: we should love one another,
12 unlike Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his works were evil, and his brother’s were righteous.

Romans 13:8--"He that loveth another hath fulfilled the law." The objective of the Christian life is to obey God and fulfill His will.

Galatians 5:14--"All the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself" (cf. James 2:8). That states the simplicity of fulfilling the law through love.

Galatians 6:2--"Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law."

As Christians we love God's law and delight in it. The desire of every believer is to fulfill God's law. If that is not your desire, you are not a Christian. That's not my opinion; that's what the Word of God says. To live as if there is no law and no God contradicts all that Christianity is. We have been saved to be righteous (1 Pet. 2:24; Eph. 2:10). When you were saved, you died to the dominion of sin and were made alive to the dominion of righteousness (Rom. 6). The believer loves God's law. Occasionally he violates it, even willfully, but not persistently and habitually.

Deuteronomy 30 :6 "Moreover the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, so that you may live.

…8 "And you shall again obey the LORD, and observe all His commandments which I command you today

# posted by Groseys messages @ 11:40 AM