PT. 1: WINNING THE WAR

Transcription

1 Spiritual Biohazards: Reinke, p. 1 Fri., August 26th, 2005 UNO Milo Bail Student Center PT. 1: WINNING THE WAR 1 John 5:1 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him. 2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. 3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. 4 For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world our faith. Purpose: The Christian life is a battle to overcome worldliness. Unfortunately, many college students lose the battle. God s Word pleads for our attention and diligence in the spiritual life and promises victory to the genuine Christian. INTRODUCTION: CHRISTIAN STUDENTS AND COLLEGE LIFE. Railsback study. Studies comparing incoming freshmen and outgoing seniors show that the college life is hostile to professing Christians. In a PHD dissertation, Gary Railsback writes that among those who enter college as freshmen claiming to be born again many end their college lives backed away from this claim. 1 In 2001, studies of graduating seniors showed that among college students in secular universities who first claimed to be born again nearly 1/3rd of those students no longer considered themselves to be born again after four years. The numbers are more staggering at 1 See Railsback, Gary Lyle. An exploratory study of the religiosity and related outcomes among college students. University of California, Los Angeles, PHD dissertation, Also quoted in Wheaton, pp

2 Spiritual Biohazards: Reinke, p. 2 other institutions. In private universities nearly half said they were no longer born again, 59-percents among Catholic schools, and even 31-percent in protestant colleges! The conclusions are pretty staggering. First, notice that private and religious schools are more hostile towards born again Christians than public, four-year universities. Second, notice generally how hostile four years of college are to the Christian life! As many as 50 percent of Christian students say they have lost their faith after four years of college (Wheaton, 31). Series introduction: Over the course of the next few months we are going to dissect these tragic numbers by looking at the specific causes Scripture presents as temptations and sins which would attack ones faith during college. The college life is a tidal wave of new ideology, new freedoms, new friends, new everything and it is important through this transition that the Christian remain grounded in Christ and the Word of God. Our goal at COC is to give you a strong foundation in which to build from and a discerning spirit, which looks by faith into the battles that present themselves. Lesson introduction: Tonight we are going to begin in a broad perspective by looking at the big picture before we look at the specifics in the coming weeks. We need the Word of God! If we start somewhere else we have started on the wrong foundation! 2 God loves us so much that we are not left to ourselves. There is a spiritual battle taking place around us! 1 John details the battle for us light v. dark, evil v. holy, fake v. genuine John has an uncanny ability to strip ethical differences (good v. evil) of their creative descriptions and lay bare the true nature of holiness and evil. 1 John is the field guide to overcoming nuts and bolts real world For some of you this is new the battle has gone unnoticed. For others you know that the Christian battles but you have lost your diligence in the fight, there is no longer the sense of diligence required. Here now we see the reality and details of this battle 1) THE WAR WITH THE WORLD. For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world our faith. a) What it isn t: Against matter, or anything not spiritual, or the created universe. b) What it is: It is a general reference to evil in the world. It is a negative reference to the human race in general. i) It is here and in 1 John a negative term. 2 Burgess, 3.

3 Spiritual Biohazards: Reinke, p. 3 ii) The world is a synonym for that which is repelled by God, those who are alienated from God. 3 iii) The worldly are those who live life with horizontal priorities, not vertical. It is God-ignoring. Those who are worldly, If they do not deny God, they ignore and forget Him, or else they use Him only for their selfish ends Worldliness, then, is human nature without God. 4 iv) Worldliness it the natural pull of our culture we feel in our lives that pulls us away from submission to God. It is as natural as gravity pulling us down to the earth. (1) The EVIL of worldliness is this: That God would create humans to worship Him and then they take their eyes off of Him and no longer worship God with all of their hearts and minds and souls (Matt. 22:37)! (2) It is morally evil to ignore God! (3) ILL: It is the pull to define beauty differently, power differently, Christ differently There is a naturally pulling away of you and me into Godignoring complacency. (4) Thus the Christian life is a life of war. Pulling ourselves away from the natural draw Like Neo in the Matrix, constantly under attack, always aware. v) The Christian War (a) For Christians new to this idea, I say, Welcome to the war. Christianity is not religion of ease and comfort but of strife, battle, contention, agony, wrestling, life-long struggle. But to be in Christ it is a sweet burden. (b) Enemies. Specifically there are several worldly ideas that confronted the early Christians things which must be overcome by the Christian (i) Claiming to walk with God and yet living in sin (1:5-7); Not seeing the depth of ones own sinfulness (1:8-10); Claiming to love Christ but not living as He did (2:3-6, 3:6-7); Claiming to love God but not loving those around us (2:9-11); Living in worldly lust and pride (2:15-17); Holding wrong thoughts about the nature of Christ (2:22-23, 4:1-6); Having a heart that does not love (3:11-24, 4:7-21); Belief that eternal life is not bound to Christ (5:11-12). (c) John would go so far as to say that the entire world lays in the sway of the evil one (5:19). (d) You can see the trend horizontal living, of neglecting the vertical nature of everything in our lives! 3 Plummer, Beeke, 16.

4 Spiritual Biohazards: Reinke, p. 4 vi) It should be obvious by now, that the Bible is clear that the Christian life is a life of battle. Genuine Christians are Overcomers. That is their name, their title, their victory. (1) We are either overcome by the world or we overcome the world. (2) I hope your heart is longing to hear the solution, I hope that you see the desperation of it, the urgency of overcoming the world! (3) Let me give you the greatest fact of this war the Christian will win! 2) A PICTURE OF THE VICTOR. For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world our faith. i) In this passage we have a snap shot of what an overcomer looks like a glimpse of a warrior. ii) The overcomer is what we want to be. b) NEW LIFE i) A NEW LIFE 4 For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world our faith. (1) You must be born again. (2) You must be re-created, you must become a new person! God does not give makeovers He recreates. (a) Horatius Bonar (1864): The new birth is not merely the old life retouched and made more attractive, defects struck out, roughnesses smoothed down, graces stuck on here and there It is to a new life that God is calling us; not to some new steps in life, some new habits or ways or motives or prospects, but to a new life. 5 (b) 2 Cor. 5:17: Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. Perfect tense in this passage make it definitive: old has gone and will not come back, the new has come and remains present. 6 (i) Radical change. A radical transformation takes place in the heart of one who has been born again. From spiritually dead to spiritual bearing of fruit. (ii) Authenticity. Of those students who say they are born again entering into college and 50-percent of students say they are no longer born again. Ho does this work? Obviously there is a big difference between those who are born again and those who merely think they are. The best test to see if a heart is truly born again is to 5 p. 8 and 7. 6 On the new birth see also Ezek. 11:19, 36:26; Rom. 6:4; Gal. 6:15; Eph. 4:24; Col. 3:10; 1 Pet. 2:2.

5 Spiritual Biohazards: Reinke, p. 5 give it time, trials, pain, decisions, etc. for it is here that one s claim to being born again is proven. (iii) Our victory is tied to God not our efforts. The Greek of this passage literally reads, everything that has been born of God overcomes the world. Victory is the guarantee with being born again. 1. Before you can confront the power of worldliness, before you can be an overcomer, you must be born again. To succeed in godliness throughout four years of college, it is obviously not enough to merely say you are born again. 2. Mere religion will not suffice! (3) FORMALITIES IN RELIGION FALL SHORT. (a) Christianity is about victory over sin and the new birth. The Christian life is not first about church attendance, ritual and rote religiosity Christianity is about victory over spiritual forces of sin, about being born again. It is about being genuine, truly converted, changed from the inside-out not reformed from the outside-in. (b) It is heart work! Merely doing religion will not help you to overcome the world, in fact religiosity makes your heart more prone to sinfulness. (i) John Owen (1658): Formality in religion will be apt to creep upon thee; and that lays the soul open to all temptation in their full power and strength. 7 (ii) Mere religion is not only powerless over sin but makes the soul more vulnerable to attack. This is primarily because mere religion is seen as the end and the temptation comes in unnoticed and ignored. (iii) Charles Spurgeon (1855): it is not the cloak of religion that will do for you; it is a vital godliness you need; it is not a religious Sunday, it is a religious Monday; it is not a pious church, it is a pious closet; it is not a sacred place to kneel in, it is a holy place to stand in all day long. There must be a change of heart, real, radical, vital, entire. 8 a. To content yourself in personal reform, but not to be recreated by this new birth through faith is to have a fraudulent Christianity and sure loss in the battle! Tonight you must ask yourself if this change has taken place in your life or not. 7 6: Taken from sermon, The Victory of Faith, presented on March 18, :108.

6 Spiritual Biohazards: Reinke, p. 6 ii) GENUINE FAITH For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world our faith. (1) Overcoming the world is not a concern of the biceps but of the heart belief. (2) What is faith? (a) Its, the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen (Heb. 11:1). (b) Faith is the personal conviction of the things that are not immediately visible to the physical eye. Faith is the enjoyment now of past actions (Cross) and the enjoyment of future hopes (eternity). (c) Octavius Winslow: Faith glorifies God, for it seeks all in Him, and from Him; as it brings nothing to Him, so it expects everything from Him. 9 (d) Faith is the victory we have over God-ignoring worldliness. (e) Faith is the acknowledgement that we have nothing to offer, that we come empty-handed. (i) What a scary thought we come to a battle empty handed. (3) Jonny and Heb. 11. One evening my wife and young son were reading through Hebrews 11 and we got to that part in which we are told that there were saints of old who were, tortured suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. And my son said, if they ever tried to hurt him, he would just beat them up and then run away. It was a great opportunity to explain how we treat our enemies but it was also a reminder that human strength does not overcome our major battles in life. Even in Hebrews 11 the emphasis is on faith. Our battles are spiritual in nature. (i) Faith reveals the battles to us (ii) Ephesians 6:12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 1. Nearly half of professing born again Christians walk right into this battle during the college years, naked of spiritual armor, unprepared for the fight. 2. I would guess that many professing Christians are more concerned with computer viruses than the spiritual dangers. 9 Precious,

7 Spiritual Biohazards: Reinke, p We see the battle because we walk by faith and not by sight (2 Cor. 5:7). (iii) Faith is our victory. 1. When we battle and win by faith we are not the ones getting the glory. Look at corporate sponsorship in sports who did Lance Armstrong win his seventh Tour de France with? Team Discover channel. How about number six? Team USPS. The sponsor wants to ride the glory of the athlete s victory. Not so with God. He does not sponsor His children to get some glory while His child gets the glamour, but we battle by faith and so when the victory is won and our victory takes place with an empty hand, the glory of victory can only be directed towards our heavenly father. (iv) Faith and Reason. 1. Spurgeon (1855): Reason is a candle, but faith is a sun I prefer the sun, though I do not put out the candle. I use my reason as a Christian man; I exercise it constantly; but when I come to real warfare, reason is a wooden sword; it breaks, it snaps; while faith, that sword of true Jerusalem metal, cuts to the dividing of soul and body. 10 (b) The heart is deceitfully wicked. Let us admire grace, that any stand. 11 iii) I cannot be any more emphatic: To win the battle in college you must be an overcomer there are no other options! iv) OBJ: But that sounds like hard work, I m too busy with school and work and friends to really take time for this 3) THE BATTLE PLAN a) Watch your influences. The philosophy of the world attacks the soul us primarily through indirect influence. i) Media watch what pours into your heart. Magazines. ii) Friends Solomon s wisdom were not greater than his influences. b) Watch your heart. i) Sin is deep and deceptive. Spend time looking into its depths. c) Watch your love. i) Your love to God obedience is the purpose and evidence of overcoming the world. We cannot obey God when we are concerned with pleasing the world. (1) Read 1 John 5:1-3: 1 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has 10 1: Bunyan, 2:524.

8 Spiritual Biohazards: Reinke, p. 8 been born of him. 2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. 3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. ii) How do I know if I am loving God? Here in the context we are talking about loving others. (1) Read 1 John 4:20: If anyone says, I love God, and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen [perf.: and continues to see] cannot love God whom he has not seen [perf.: and continues to not see]. 12 d) Draw near to Christ. 13 i) The stakes are very high for those who lose this battle. The consequences for those who live ungodly who merely go with the cultural flow ii) I hope tonight has been a wake up call to those who are not taking the spiritual conditions of college life seriously. (1) Purify yourself in the hope of Christ s return. (a) 1 John 3:2 Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. 3 And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure. e) This passage is all about GENUINESS! i) I can think of no greater proof of the genuiness of their Christian profession than those who draw near the Cross of Christ, find their daily strength from it and find that their affections are ever new towards Christ. This is the mark of a Christian the mark upon the victor. ii) Delight yourself in the Cross, draw near to Him find your joy, your delight, your happiness and fulfillment in Him and you will be far less suceptable to the worldliness that surrounds us! 12 And if a man fails in duties which are ever before his eyes and are easy, how can we credit him with performing duties which require an effort to bear in mind and are difficult (Plummer, 108). 13 CUT. Bonar: It is not merely that we glory in the cross but we draw strength from it. It is the place of weakness but it is, notwithstanding, the fountain-head of power to us; for as out of death, came fourth life, so out of weakness came fourth strength He that would be holy or useful, must keep near the Cross. (p. 64)

9 Spiritual Biohazards: Reinke, p. 9 Bibliography Primary Sources Hiebert, D. Edmond. (1991). The Epistles of John: An Expositional Commentary. Bob Jones: Greenville, SC. Plummer, Alfred. (1886). The Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges: The Epistles of S. John. Cambridge: London. Stott, John R.W. (1988). Tyndale New Testament Commentaries: The Letters of John, revised. IVP/Eerdmans: Leicester, England. Thomas, Robert L. (1992). Revelation 1-7: An Expositional Commentary. Moody: Chicago. Secondary Sources a Brakel, Wilhumus. (1700, trans ) The Christian s Reasonable Service. 4 volumes. Grand Rapids, MI; Reformation Heritage. Recent translation of very useful volumes formerly only available in Dutch. Baxter, Richard. (1673) A Christian Directory. Soli Deo Gloria; Morgan, PA. Though Baxter is not a reliable writer on the doctrine of justification, his massive book on Christian living has many benefits on the subject of sanctification. Beeke, Joel R. (2005). Overcoming the World. P&R: Phillipsburg, NJ Puritan Reformed Spirituality. (2004). Grand Rapids, MI; Reformation Heritage. Excellent introduction to Puritans and various works. Bennett, Arthur. (1975). The Valley of Vision: A collection of Puritan prayers and devotions. Banner of Truth: Edinburgh. Bonar, Horatius. (1864, 1999). God s Way of Holiness: Finding True Holiness Through True Peace. Christian Focus; Great Britain. A very helpful introduction to living the godly, Christian life by one of the churches great hymn writers. Bunyan, John. (1854, 1991) Works of John Bunyan, 3 volumes. Banner of Truth: Edinburgh. Burgess, Anthony. (1654). Spiritual Refining: Part II, or, A Treatise of Sin with its Causes, Differences, Mitigations and Aggravations. Printed in London. Durham, James. (1682). Christ Crucify d: or, The Marrow of the Gospel, Evidently set forth in LXXII sermons on the whole 53 d chapter of Isaiah. Printed in London. Edwards, Jonathan. (1834). The Works of Jonathan Edwards. 2 vols. Banner of Truth: Edinburgh , (1997). The Works of Jonathan Edwards, Volume 14: Sermons and Discourses Yale University: New Haven and London , (2003). The Blessing of God: Previously Unpublished Sermons of Jonathan Edwards. Broadman & Holman: Nashville , (2004). The Glory and Honor of God: Previously Unpublished Sermons of Jonathan Edwards. Broadman & Holman: Nashville. Gurnall, William, edited by Jay P. Green. (1655, 1990). The Christian in Complete Armor. Sovereign Grace: Lafayette, IN. Harris, Joshua. (2003). Not Even a Hint. Multnomah: Sisters, OR. Lundgaard, Kris. (1998). The Enemy Within: Straight Talk About the Power and Defeat of Sin. P&R: Phillipsburg, NJ. Manton, Thomas. (1650s-70s). The Complete Works of Thomas Manton in 22 volumes. James Nisbet; London. Owen, John, and William H. Goold, ed. The Works of John Owen, vol , Banner of Truth: Edinburgh The Works of John Owen, vol , Banner of Truth: Edinburgh. Piper, John. (2003) Don t Waste Your Life. Crossways: Wheaton, IL. Reynolds, Edward. (1826, 1996). The Whole Works of the Right Rev. Edward Reynolds, D.D., vol. 1. Soli Deo Gloria; Morgan, PA. Rogers, Cleon L. Jr., and Cleon L. Rogers III. (1998). The New Linguistic and Exegetical Key to the Greek New Testament. Zondervan: Grand Rapids, MI. Ryle, J.C. Holiness. (1879). Evangelical Press: Great Britain (1878). Old Paths. Banner of Truth: Edinburgh (1878). Practical Religion. Banner of Truth: Edinburgh. Spurgeon, Charles Haddon. ( ). The New Park Street Pulpit, volumes. Pilgrim: Pasadena, TX. Teellinck, Willem. (1636, 2003). The Path of True Godliness. Baker; Grand Rapids, MI. Another Dutch Puritan work recently translated into English for the first time. Tozer, A.W. (1982). The Pursuit of God: The Human Thirst for the Divine. Christian: Camp Hill, PA. Wallace, Daniel B. (1996). Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics: An Exegetical Syntax of the New Testament. Zondervan: Grand Rapids, MI. Wheaton, David. (2005). University of Destruction: Your Game Plan for Spiritual Victory on Campus. Bethany House: Bloomington, MN. Winslow, Octavius. (1860, 1994). The Precious Things of God. Soli Deo Gloria; Morgan, PA. One of the greatest of Christian books a superb treasure! It has recently become by favorite book second only to Scripture Help Heavenward: Guidance and Strength for the Christian s Life-Journey. (1869, 2000). Banner of Truth; Edinburgh The Spiritual Life. (1874, 1998). Tentmaker: Stoke-On-Trent, Staffordshire.

10 Spiritual Biohazards: Reinke, p. 10 ESV KJV NAU NIV NLT BNT For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world- our faith. For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world-- our faith. for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. For every child of God defeats this evil world by trusting Christ to give the victory. o[ti pa/n to. gegennhme,non evk tou/ qeou/ nika/ to.n ko,smon\ kai. au[th evsti.n h` ni,kh h` nikh,sasa to.n ko,smon( h` pi,stij h`mw/n