GYC 2009: unASHAMED

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Generation. Youth. Christ. (GYC)

Raymond Holmes:  Studies in 1 John

C. Raymond Holmes

Focus on the Church

For me, it stands for Grandpa Yoked to Christ.

Now, you're a whole new generation, so you probably haven't heard the story of my transition into the Seventh-day Adventist Church from the Lutheran Church.

I don't have the kind of name recognition among your generation that some of these other young guys like David Ashrick has with you.

That's probably why this room is not full this morning, but I'm glad you're here.

I'm glad to be here because GYC represents a genuine revival movement.

It has all of the earmarks of a genuine revival And there are basically 4 earmarks of a genuine revival.

Because people that are usually involved in a genuine Revival want to know what the Bible says.

The second earmark is spending time in prayer, not only individually, but as a group.

The third earmark is the singing of the old traditional Christian hymns that have emerged out of the experience of God's people through the centuries that are filled with doctrinal truth as well as personal faith.

And then the fourth earmark of a genuine revival is sharing the faith.

And GYC does all of those, which is why I'm happy to be here and which is why I have been praying for years for GYC ever since it started.

And Frankly, I have been hoping for an invitation to come and share.

Because for the last 15 years I've been retired.

I'm not only an ordained minister, but I was a professor at the seminary at Andrews University.

I don't miss all of the committee meetings, but I miss the students.

So I don't know about you but I'm going to enjoy the hours that we share together.

So as I said last evening we're going to chew on first John like a dog chews on a bone because he's after the marrow that's inside.

And if you have a dog, you know what they'll do.

They'll drive you crazy chewing on that bone all day long because they know what's inside and that's what they're after.

So we're going to take that kind of a look at 1 John.

There's much more to be said about 1 John than we can cover in 6 hours, but I think we'll hit the high spots anyway.

The way you Chew on a Bible text like a dog chews on a bone is by asking questions.

You ask questions about what the Bible text is saying, about its meaning, and about how it should be applied in your life and in your experience.

Now a lot of the questions I've already asked, and so a lot of what I'm going to share with you is the answers to my questions.

We wanna find out what's on the mind of an old man, an old apostle who was nearing the end of his ministry.

The study of the Bible, by the way, is a lifetime course from which you never graduate.

Never get a hold of the idea that you know it all.

I used to be, years ago, as a young person, interested in art.

In fact, I had ambitions of a career in commercial art.

But the Lord got a hold of me and changed the direction of my life.

But I always enjoyed visiting the Art Institute in Chicago.

1 of the premier art museums in this country.

And every art museum has 2 exhibits, a visiting exhibit and a standing exhibit.

A standing exhibit is art objects, sculpture, paintings that the museum owns and are always on display.

The other 1 is masters whose work comes and goes, visiting exhibits.

But I used to go there, used to love to go there as a young person.

I lived not far from Chicago in those years.

Every time I came there, I would look at the same works.

But Every time I came there, I would look at the same works.

But every time I came there, I saw something new that I hadn't noticed before.

And then I began to realize that That was due to a number of different things.

If I went to the gallery in the morning, it was the morning light that was shining on the painting.

If I went there in the afternoon, It was the afternoon light.

If I went there in the evening when the fluorescent lights were turned on, and there was no natural light, it brought out something else in the painting that I hadn't noticed before.

But most importantly, I was not the same person I was the last time I looked at that painting.

So it was not just the light that shined on it that helped me to see something new that I hadn't seen before, but the fact that I was not the same person.

Something had happened to me in the meantime between my last visit and my current visit, something internally that made it possible for me to notice things that I hadn't noticed before.

And by the way, that's 1 of the advantages of growing older, as you will discover.

You begin to notice things that you didn't have time to notice when you were busy growing up and maturing.

That's why the study of the Bible is a lifetime course from which you never graduate.

I'm still studying it and I'm 80 years old.

And I always see something new, something that I didn't see before.

Well I'm going to try to squeeze 7 hours into 6 because this whole study really covers 7 hours.

Maybe they forget that they've said it and they need to say it again.

But anyway, I repeat for emphasis important things.

I used to be able to wing it like David Ashrig does when I was younger, but as I grow older, I have noticed that words don't come as readily to my mind as they used to, or phrases, so I'm going to stick quite close to my notes.

The words come if I have time, quiet, sitting at my computer, and composing, no problem.

But if I have to wing it, The words don't always come like they used to be.

By the way, there's another characteristic of old people is that when you get old, you get funny.

What I mean by that is you do funny things.

And I'm not gonna explain what I mean by that.

Heavenly Father, we're going to open your word this morning, and we need your Holy Spirit to be our teacher.

May what I say and what we hear be truth, as You have revealed it.

Impress it on our hearts and our minds so that we can understand it and live it.

By the way, I am using the English Standard Version and have been for a number of years now because I like the way the translators express themselves.

Well, were it not for the warnings that we find in the Word of God in the New Testament, It would be hard to believe that some of the churches that arose out of the Reformation are today uncertain, divided, even disputing concerning the nature of what Paul, the apostle, refers to as the gospel, which he calls the power of God to everyone who believes, Romans 1 16.

In fact they are uncertain divided and disputing to the point even of preaching and teaching a confused misleading and even a deceptive message.

Paul referred to it as a different gospel.

I am astonished, he says, and I'm quoting here from the Apostle Paul, Galatians chapter 1, verses 6 and 7.

I am astonished, he says, that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel.

Not that there is another 1, he says, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ.

That's why you need to know what the Bible says.

Now the biblical gospel proclaims that the basic human problem is sin, for which the sin for which the solution was the cross.

It calls for the death of the old person, the old man, the old woman, the old self signified in baptism and then walking in newness of life, empowered by the Holy Spirit.

A different gospel being preached today says that sin in human beings is not the problem.

Instead sin is found in things like social oppression or in unjust social institutions for which the solution is that a loving God accepts everyone unconditionally because of their created goodness.

Inclusive social justice is the essence of this different gospel.

Walk in the Light

I hope you don't mind that I took my coat off.

We're supposed to dress representatively, the program book says, but I'm getting warm.

All right, obviously John loved the ones to whom he wrote this letter.

And his love and concern for the church of the last hour, remember he identifies that church and the historical context of the last hour.

His love and concern for the church of the last hour is vividly apparent all the way through, because he says, he writes in, as he says in chapter 1, verse 4, to affirm and to encourage so that our joy may be complete.

So that you may not sin, chapter 2, verse 1.

Because your sins are forgiven, chapter 2, verse 12.

Because you know him who is from the beginning, chapter 2, verse 13.

Because you have overcome the evil 1, also chapter 2, verse 13.

Because you know the father also, verse 13.

And because you are strong, chapter 2, verse 14.

And then he writes also to warn this church that he loves.

Chapter 2, verse 26, about those who are trying to deceive you.

And then lastly, he writes, to assure the church and to give confidence in the future, no matter what it may hold.

We talked a little bit about the events that opened the 21st century, and you know, things are quite scary today, aren't they, in the world, if you're paying attention.

And so he writes to give us assurance and confidence.

He says in chapter 5, verse 13, I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life.

Remember I said pay attention to every single word because it helps you understand what the writer is saying.

You remember when you studied a Bible, whether you're studying it for preaching or for your own devotional life, you chew on it like a dog chews on a bone by asking questions.

The first question is, what is the writer saying?

And then the second 1 is, what does he mean by what he says?

And then the third question is, how is that to be applied to me, to my life?

Anyway, this grandfatherly man takes his little children by the hand, as it were, on a journey of preparation for the mission, the demands of the mission that is required by the last hour.

And so what we're doing this morning is by faith, joining our hands with John and with each other and see where the journey takes us.

I had no idea when I was 16, 17 years old, where the journey was going to take me.

When the Lord found me, I'm not gonna tell you that whole story, and called me into the ministry, I literally rolled on the ground with laughter.

You know, I said, Lord, you have got to be kidding.

I graduated from high school by the skin of my teeth, 1 half grade above the average necessary to graduate.

I didn't even attend my high school graduation.

I was going to be a commercial artist, but the Lord got a hold of me and changed my life.

And then when he told me, you know, revealed to me that he was calling me into the ministry, I could not believe it.

To get up in front of a group of people and preach?

You have got to be kidding God, you goofed.

I had no idea what my journey was going to be like.

By the way, I never thought I'd write another book, but I'm writing 1.

I brought it along with me to give to Dr.

He's going to read it and critique it for me.

The title of it, the title is, The Road I Travel.

I had a different title, but Israel Ramos, you know who Pastor Ramos is?

The Road I Travel, subtitle, Spirituality and Adventist Perspective.

So, you know, I hadn't intended to write another book, But the Lord laid it on me, so that's what I've been doing the last 2 winters.

Anyway, just as at the time that John wrote, the church of today, to repeat something I said earlier, is threatened by forces that would destroy it at the very time that it's clear and courageous witness is most needed in the world that God so loved.

The church of the last hour is facing popular philosophies that threaten its very life and witness.

I know what I'm talking about because I could tell you stories of my former church, the Lutheran church, and what's happened in that denomination.

Just briefly, they have abandoned sola scriptura and have scuttled the Reformation.

So, the church of the last hour, that's you and me, is facing philosophies that threaten its very life and existence.

And that's why we need to be clear about the biblical message and certain about our mission and before we go any further we need to observe that this apostle of love does not begin his letter by talking about love.

Everybody wants to talk about love today.

I have heard, believe it or not, Seventh-day Adventists say to me as a preacher, don't preach doctrine, tell us about Jesus.

Now, there's certainly nothing wrong with preaching Jesus, right?

But how can you do that without preaching truth?

He mentions love briefly 4 times in chapter 2 verses 10 through 15, but not until chapter 3 does he talk about love, love more fully and we'll get into that later.

Instead of beginning his letter by talking about love, he begins by talking about walking in darkness, as opposed to walking in the light.

He begins by talking about Sid, remember, which is the basic human problem.

And he begins by talking about not practicing the truth.

He begins by talking about deceiving ourselves, about confessing sins, about being cleansed of unrighteousness, and even about making God a liar.

So look at chapter 1, beginning with verse 5.

And remember, I'm using the English Standard Version.

This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you that God is light and in him is no darkness at all.

If, by the way I have been threatening for years to preach a series of sermons on the Bible ifs.

If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.

But, and by the way, I'm going to preach another series on Bible buts.

But if there's, they happen together, a but and an if.

But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with 1 another, we're on the same page.

And the blood of Jesus, his son cleanses us from some sin, all sin.

If, there's another if, we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.

If, there's another 1, If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins.

And to cleanse us from some unrighteousness, all unrighteousness.

We say, we have not sinned, we make him a liar.

You know, we're saying, we don't believe what you're telling us, God.

And His Word is not in us." Now, how do we hear those 5 verses in the context of the last hour?

And in relationship to fulfilling the mission that is required by the demands of the last hour.

The first thing that John makes clear is that the message that he is communicating did not originate with himself.

It didn't originate with any other human being.

It was given by the Father and the Son, and That message and none other is what John heard and what he passes on to his little children, the believers that he loved.

He says, God is light and in him there is no darkness.

What would happen if we turned these lights off?

Stay With It

For those of you that weren't here this morning, I want to summarize a little bit what we were talking about when the session ended this morning.

Anyway, we were talking about the fact that the Apostle John in this little letter underscores or underlines the truth that sin is not the determining force or power in the believer's life.

You have all heard it said probably, as I have, that we will always be sinners and we will always commit sin.

As though sin was the ruling force, even in the believer's life.

And as though grace, God's grace, has no power to transform a person.

But for John, if you read his epistle carefully, it will become apparent, for John, Righteousness is the determining or ruling force in the born-again believer's life, not sin.

And so, he makes it clear that the atmosphere in which the born-again believer lives is the atmosphere of righteousness, not the atmosphere of sin.

And this is why he says, I am writing to you so that you may not sin, chapter 2, verse 1.

I'm writing to you so that you may not sin.

In other words, truth is the antidote for sin.

And you remember the words of Jesus when He says, if, whenever you see an if, that's, it introduces a condition.

He says, if you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.

What are we, what does Christ set us free from?

3 powers that hinder us from living righteously.

Number 1, the power of sin, the power of the devil, and the power of the self.

He sets us free from those powers so that we are free for something, free for righteousness.

And I said for those of you that were here during the morning, that I would begin this session this afternoon by telling a personal story that demonstrates what I just said.

That You know, John says, if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Way back in the late 1960s, when my wife became a Seventh-day Adventist.

And that event was a devastating 1, not only for me personally and for our family, we had 2 small children, for our marriage, but also for my ministry and for my congregation.

God had blessed my ministry in that church.

We had a revival among the young people going on.

There were over 600 members in that congregation.

But what happened to me was even more devastating than all of that.

I couldn't understand how after 7 long years of preparation for ministry, 4 years of college and 3 of seminary, and then 10 years of successful ministry as a Lutheran pastor, God would allow this kind of a thing to happen because my ministry was falling apart.

The congregation would not accept us anymore with my wife, not a member of the congregation, and also in another denomination.

And when I spoke to my bishop about it, He told me that, frankly, under the circumstances, I don't think you have much of a chance to get another call.

So I remember telling the Lord, Why would you do this to me after 7 years of preparation and 10 of successful ministry?

Go and sell shoes, which is a, you know, reputable profession.

But after 15, 17 years, And I began to get angry.

I became very angry with my wife, and very angry toward the Seventh-day Adventist that had influenced her.

She went to the Wisconsin camp meeting and made a decision there with her Adventist friend.

And she came home and wanted to tell me about the Sabbath, and I wouldn't hear a word of it.

So I was wrestling with this beast that was manifesting itself within me, anger, hatred, and bitterness.

I couldn't stand it because the Christian who attempts to live with that kind of sin in his heart will die spiritually and maybe even eventually physically.

I had—I remember the day I had been at a hospital visiting 1 of my church members and driving home.

I stopped at the church and I went into it.

It was a very beautiful Lutheran sanctuary, stained glass windows and everything.

I was there all alone, and I laid down on the floor in the aisle, the center aisle of the church in front of the altar, on my face.

Series

Raymond Holmes: Studies in 1 John

Walk in the Light

Transcript

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