Focus on the Church Family

A Study on God and Relationships

1 John 2:12-14

English Standard Version

Fellowship with Him and One Another

12 I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven for his name's sake.

13 I am writing to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I write to you, children, because you know the Father.

14 I write to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning.

I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one.

Focus on ATTITUDES:

Attitudes we have reviewed in the last several weeks:

Attitude about Adoration:

Who God is and What God has done;

Attitude about Confession:

Agreeing with God about our sin;

Attitude about Thanksgiving:

God wills that we be thankful all the time;

Attitude about Supplication:

Pleading a humble petition to God;

Attitude about Fellowship:

Be Ready to do any good work in His name;

Attitude about Joy:

Spiritual maturity produces lasting joy.

Attitude about Walking in the Light:

A strong desire to know Jesus and spend time with Him.

Attitude about A New Kind of Love:

Our love for one another is motivated by our love for Christ.

Look at another attitude:

Another Choice for A Person To Make:

Attitude about the Church Family: Spiritual Growth and Fellowship

STEPS TOWARD GROWTH AND MATURITY

Step 1 – Experiencing Forgiveness:

God is so rich in mercy,

and He loved us so much,

and we were dead because of our sins, BUT;

He gave us Life when He raised Christ from the dead;

He gave us His grace so that we have been saved;

He seated us with Him in the heavenly realms;

He united us with Christ Jesus;

God can point to us in all future ages;

As examples of his grace and kindness toward us;

As shown in all He has done for us united in Christ Jesus.

God saved you by His grace when you believed;

We can not take credit for this; it is a gift from God;

Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done;

So none of us can boast about it.

Step 2 – Overcoming the Evil One:

Carefully determine what pleases the Lord;

Take no part in the worthless deeds of evil and darkness;

Instead, expose them.

It is shameful to talk about the things that ungodly people do in secret;

Their evil intentions will be exposed when the light shines on them;

For the Light makes everything visible.

Living by the Spirit’s Power and Walk in Wisdom:

- Be careful how we live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise;

- Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days;

- Don’t act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants us to do.

Step 3 – Know God:

These are the gifts Christ gave to the church:

Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors, Teachers;

Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do His work;

Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to build up the church, the body of Christ.

This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son;

This will continue until we will be mature in the Lord;

This will continue until we measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.

Then we will no longer be immature like children;

We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching;

We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth.

SPIRITUAL TRANSFORMATION:

01. Is essential, not optional, for Christ-followers.

02. Is a process, not an event.

Justified: declared righteous because Righteousness in Christ is credited to you, no longer under judgment of God.

Sanctified: made righteous, real transformation;

The Doctrine of Sanctification:

Is it an event or a process after justification?

Can you be perfected in your sanctification before you die?

Glorified: completed in righteousness.

03. Is a work of GOD BUT requires OUR participation.

NOT JUSTIFICATION BUT SANCTIFICATION.

04. Involves those practices, experiences, and relationships that help us live intimately with Christ.

05. Is not a compartmentalized pursuit. God is interested in our life – all of it.

06. Can happen in every moment. It is not restricted to certain times or practices.

07. Is not individualistic but takes place in community and finds expression in serving others.

08. Is not impeded by a person’s background, temperament, life situation, or season of life.

09. It is available right now to all who desire it.

10. And the means of pursuing it. Fully devoted followers are handcrafted, not mass-produced.

11. Is ultimately gauged by an increased capacity to love God and people.

Do you believe you can be more like Jesus just by trying harder?

We are transformed to be more like Christ by cultivating a close, personal relationship with him.

John addresses himself to:1) children, 2) young men and 3) fathers.

This has nothing to do with age or sex but with levels of Christian maturity.

God’s family like every human family has members of different maturity.

1. Some in a church family are NEW in the faith: SPIRITUAL BABES

They know their sins are forgiven;

They are in the family of God and have experienced the new birth;

No longer is God feared as a Judge but is loved as a Father;

God knows our deepest needs and loves us with an everlasting love;

So we push on deeper into maturity for a more consistent walk with Christ.

NOTE:

The way into God’s family is through the new birth which comes from God:

Man’s responsibility is to believe in Jesus Christ: His works and His words.

2. Some in a church family are ADOLESCENTS in the faith: SPIRITUAL TEENAGERS

They are strong,

The word of God lives in them;

They have overcome the evil one;

Adolescents in spiritual maturity BUT are growing spiritually;

They are busily involved in the battle of Christian living;

They are spiritually minded but not yet mature;

They are young Christ-followers have overcome the evil one and are continuing to overcome him;

They are energetically engaged in the business of Christian living.

3. Some in a church family are MATURE in the faith: SPIRITUAL ADULTS

Like older parents, they have progressed into a deep communion with God;

Their knowledge of Him ripens with the years;

They are mature or Spiritual Adults in a congregation;

They have gained much personal knowledge of God by experience;

The Spiritual Fathers have progressed into a deep communion with God.

A person matures through regular, systematic Bible study.

Self-feeders. The key to spiritual maturity is spending time in the Word of God.

Recently, we have talked about observing A True Christian:

1. Walk in the light;

2. Keep the commandments of God;

3. Love the brethren.

Recently, we have talked about observing A NON-Christian:

Those who are false counterfeit Christians:

1. Do not walk in fellowship with God;

2. Do not keep the moral law of God;

3. Do not love the family of God.

How does Scripture define a CHURCH?

The church is heaven on earth;

It is a heavenly experience brought down to earth;

It is not going to be anything like the world;

The church is going to be the place where you hear the truth proclaimed;

The church is the pillar and foundation of Divine truth;

The gathering of true worshipers worshiping in Spirit and Truth;

The church is your nation;

The church is your country;

The church is your state;

The church is your city;

The church is your tribe;

The church is your ethnicity;

The church is your family;

The church is the realm of your most essential and all-satisfying relationships;

A church is a fellowship:

-where the superficial is replaced by the supernatural;

-where carnal desires are replaced by spiritual desires.

NOTE:
When A Person states they have a personal relationship with Christ and is detached from the church it is like saying I’m connected to the head but not to the body.

What Is A Christian's Responsibility to the Church:

1. It is an obedience issue:

The Lord wants involvement in His church fully.

The Lord wants obedience to His word;

The Lord wants submission to those responsible as under-shepherds;

2. It is a fellowship issue:

Forsake not the assembling of yourselves together, as is the manner of some.

Stimulate one another to love and good works that we might encourage one another.

It’s not about what we get, it’s about what we give.

We are not coming here to receive, we are coming here to give.

This is where we give our life.

3. It is an authority issue:

We need:

to be trained;

to be discipled;

to be led;

to be admonished;

to be warned;

to be reproved;

to be rebuked;

to be exhorted;

to be instructed;

to be edified.

4. It’s an identity issue:

We are in Christ. We are inseparable from Christ.

We are in His body;

We bear His name.

We literally are one with Christ.

We are crucified with Christ; nevertheless we live; yet not me, but Christ lives in me.

5. It’s a loyalty issue:

You’re called and gifted to show love and ministry to others.

The church is where you come to serve others, and in so doing, you’re served.

6. It’s a ministry issue:

It is collectively with other believers to advance in the name of Christ in the kingdom of God;

7. It’s a truth issue:

It is faithful to teach the Word of God get a systematic understanding of the Word of God.

It is to help new believers from being tossed about with every wind of doctrine.

8. It’s an evangelism issue:

It is about showing Love one another as Jesus has loved us.

To be victorious over the attacks of the Devil a Christian must be strong in the Lord;

The secret to being strong is found in abiding in the Word of God;

Knowing and applying the Bible to life is the secret to all Christian living.

This is why Satan fights:

- Bible study;

- Building your life around the centrality of the scriptures;

- The authority of the Bible.

Ignorant and rebellious Christians are great tools in the Devil’s hands;

But victory is for those who know and apply the Word to their experience through faith and obedience;

Not just enjoying the forgiveness and fellowship of God, but fighting the enemy.