TEXT:
‘ When He had come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, “Who is this?” So the multitudes said, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth of Galilee”’ (Matthew 21:10-11)
THOUGHT:
“This is!” Fact not fiction! Christians can have absolute confidence in these statements. In the Anglican Church when the Bible is read, the reader finishes with, “This is the Word of the Lord”. The congregation responds, “Thanks be to God”. What they are saying in reality is, “This is true, we believe it, are thankful for it, and are going to do it!” Mental assent is not enough, God’s Word has to change our lives.
Paul commended the Thessalonian Christians who, ‘Became followers … of the Lord, having received the Word … and welcomed it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the Word of God, which also effectively works in you who believe’ (1 Thessalonians 2:6, 13).
Do not make apologies for the Word of God. Read it, speak it, preach it and stand on it. If people do not like or agree with the Bible, you did not write. Let them talk to the Author themselves. Paul urged Timothy to, ‘Preach the Word! Be ready in season and out of season’ (2 Timothy 4:2).
1. This Is Love
John’s epistle is full of love. The word “Love” is mentioned twenty-seven times.
- God’s Love is the Initiator
‘In this is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation (the atoning sacrifice) for our sins’ (1 John 4:10 AMPC). Sometimes it is hard to believe that God loves us, especially when we sin, but it is true. The basis for the Gospel is, ‘For God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son so that anyone who believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life’ (John 3:16 TLB).
- God’s Love expects Obedience
‘Loving God means doing what he tells us to do, and really, that isn’t hard at all’ (1 John 5:3 TLB). Love is affection with action. ‘If you love Me, keep my commandments’ (John 14:15)
- God’s Love is the Indicator to the World
‘Let me give you a new command: Love one another. In the same way I loved you, you love one another. This is how everyone will recognize that you are my disciples—when they see the love you have for each other’ (John 13:35 MSG). God loves the unlovely and we can too!
2. This Is The Opposition
‘Every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world’ (1 John 4:3). Christians cannot just believe any sermon or prophecy. Both have to line up with the Bible. No one with the Holy Spirit’s anointing will ever call Jesus a curse, nor without Him can they truly say, “Jesus is Lord!”1
‘By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error’ (1 John 4:6). There will always be false prophets and false teachings, so Christians have to be on their guard. Always look at where someone puts Jesus. He must be central. ‘Watch out for the false leaders—and there are many of them around—who don’t believe that Jesus Christ came to earth as a human being with a body like ours. Such people are against the truth and against’ Christ’ (2 John v7).
The danger is love may cause Christians to welcome a wolf in sheep’s clothing into the church2, who will not spare the flock but cause untold damage and division. John warned, ‘Antichrist is coming, even now there are many antichrists’ (1 John 2:18). The nearer we get to the return of Christ, the more we will see the spirit of antichrist influence the world, preparing the way for a literal figurehead called The Antichrist.3
Christians are not to be afraid of or deceived by demonic spirits. John commended the church. ‘You have overcome the wicked one’. How did they overcome? ‘Because you are strong and the Word of God abides in you’ (1 John 2:13-14). Christianity is Christ in us and this is why we overcome because, ‘Greater is He who is in us than he who is in the world!’ (1 John 4:4).
3. This Is The Confidence
‘And this is the confidence (the assurance, the privilege of boldness) which we have in Him: [we are sure] that if we ask anything (make any request) according to His will (in agreement with His own plan), He listens to and hears us’ (1 John 5:14 AMPC).
Prayer is not intended to be hit and miss, but God honouring the promises He has made to us because we are in Christ Jesus. Faith will cause us to obtain and help us to believe we have got it even before we actually receive it.
Jesus stirred up His disciples to start asking. ‘You haven’t tried this before, but begin now. Ask, using my name, and you will receive, and your cup of joy will overflow’ (John 16:24 TLB). It is a wonderful feeling when God answers prayer. Rather than adding a tag line like, “If it be Your will’, find out first what God has promised you can have, then pray with confidence.
Remember, ‘For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God’ (2 Corinthians 1:20 NIV).
Christianity is intended to fill us with confidence.
Confident that God loves us no matter what.
Confident we know the difference between truth and error.
Confident to ask knowing we shall receive.
Confident enough to share our faith with others.
This is the Word of the Lord!
Thanks be to God!
Endnotes:
1 1 Corinthians 12:3 2 Matthew 7:15, Acts 20:29 3 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4
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