SOAKED IN TRANSPARENCY: part 5

1John 4
October 5, 2008
with Adam Waters




My last class of the day my senior year of highschool was physics… PHYSICS! At the end of the day especially if it was warm outside, physics is hard to pay attention to. We had to learn formulas and do math and try to focus… plus I had several pretty girls in my class. Monday through Thursday was just and impossibility for most of us to do well. We learned all the math and took quizzes and did the problems each night in the book. But, then there was Friday…. Friday made sense to me. It took all the stuff of charting light waves or motion or mass v. speed stuff and it made sense. On Friday, our instructor would do an experiment showing us how the math we learned played out in real life… Then, she asked us to learn how to duplicate the experiment and tell us how A + B equaled C. Sometimes, Scripture can be like that… formulas, math, memorization and study. Today, I want to give you a way that all that stuff comes together in an experiment that will help you really apply the Scriptures we’ve been given…

The Transparency Test
What do they teach about Jesus?
· Truth:
o Jesus is human (4:2),
o he is God’s sacrifice to take away our sins (4:10),
o Savior of the world (4:14),
o Jesus is the son of God (4:15),
o he brings us confident before the Father (4:17).
· False: I don’t need to acknowledge Jesus’ lordship & I don’t need to belong to God (4:2-6)
· A teacher full of the Spirit of Antichrist is bound to teach an incomplete picture of who Jesus is. A teacher full of the Spirit of truth is bound to teach a growing picture of Jesus because they belong to him and are involved in a relationship with him still.


How do they treat those around them?
· Truth: God is love.
o His followers practice love.
o True love is sacrifice for those who don’t deserve it.
o Jesus followers love in spite of the fact that they can’t see God. (4:7-12)
· False: I know God, but I hate others (4:8).
· False: I love God, but I hate others (4:20-21).
· 4:13 – A person full of God’s Spirit will always put other’s needs above their own. They will trust in a God who loved them enough to give up His son so they in turn will give up everything for those around them in need. A deceptive spirit (4:6) will be selfish and will always justify why they should/should not do something for someone else… it will be about them not others.


What are they afraid of?
· Truth: Perfect love expels all fear (4:18 and Psalm 27 & 34). Fear is a tool of Satan.
· False: There are many healthy fears. PROVERBS 1:7 “Fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. Only fools despise wisdom and discipline.” (4:18)
· Judgment is not a bad thing! It is God’s. As God perfects his love in us and we become more like Christ (v17), all of our fears… even of facing our Father… will disappear!


Do they tell the truth?
· Truth: Those who belong to God listen to truth. They don’t reject it (4:6).
· Truth: Those who belong to God tell the truth by their actions not just their words (4:20)
· False: All I have to do is believe in God, my life doesn’t have to change (4:13-16)
· READ James 1:19-27

One of the nice things about physics tests was our FORMULA index card… Do you want to know who is from God and who is deceiving you? Take this formula and apply it.