WEBVTT 00:00:00.239 --> 00:00:01.760 Well, happy Labor Day. 00:00:02.240 --> 00:00:02.959 Glad you're here. 00:00:03.120 --> 00:00:04.480 Glad you're here with us this morning. 00:00:04.559 --> 00:00:08.560 And maybe more fitting, happy, uh, happy football. 00:00:08.640 --> 00:00:10.880 Um, for many of us, that's a big deal. 00:00:11.039 --> 00:00:12.240 Let's fold in here. 00:00:12.320 --> 00:00:12.800 There we go. 00:00:12.960 --> 00:00:18.239 Uh, we stayed up late last night watching football and the incredible end of the Auburn game. 00:00:18.320 --> 00:00:22.239 It was incredible whether you uh love Auburn, hate Auburn, or you're for Oregon. 00:00:22.320 --> 00:00:25.199 That's possible, maybe, probably not here. 00:00:25.600 --> 00:00:28.239 Um, but uh incredible ending to that game. 00:00:28.480 --> 00:00:43.200 Our little family, we were watching the Georgia game uh at the same time, uh, with our red shirts on, and we were in the den all snuggled up, um, you know, halfway bickering to each other because we're all tired and halfway enjoying uh the game. 00:00:43.280 --> 00:00:51.359 But we're there watching the game, and so uh we're Georgia fans, but we're playing, we were playing Vanderbilt, and I I I like Vanderbilt. 00:00:51.759 --> 00:00:54.159 I have nothing really against Vanderbilt. 00:00:54.240 --> 00:00:57.200 It's you know, it's kind of a smarty pants school if we're honest about it. 00:00:57.280 --> 00:01:01.679 I I would have liked to have gone there if I could have gotten in there or been able to afford it. 00:01:01.759 --> 00:01:03.119 I I would have loved to have gone there. 00:01:03.200 --> 00:01:06.159 Uh but I didn't go there, I went to Georgia for those reasons. 00:01:06.319 --> 00:01:09.200 So I have high regard for Vanderbilt, right? 00:01:09.519 --> 00:01:11.040 High regard for Vanderbilt. 00:01:11.280 --> 00:01:18.640 But as soon as the game started, I I don't I don't like Vanderbilt. 00:01:18.799 --> 00:01:20.560 I don't I don't want them to win. 00:01:20.719 --> 00:01:23.359 Um I'm for Georgia, right? 00:01:23.519 --> 00:01:26.560 Like as soon as the game starts, like everything changes. 00:01:26.640 --> 00:01:29.200 And Vanderbilt is against us, like at the same time. 00:01:29.280 --> 00:01:31.920 Like that immediately happens. 00:01:32.400 --> 00:01:34.079 A division is created. 00:01:34.239 --> 00:01:38.640 A division is created because of who we are for. 00:01:39.120 --> 00:01:44.319 And this is where our text this morning uncomfortably takes us. 00:01:44.719 --> 00:01:50.480 It takes us to division because of who we are for. 00:01:51.040 --> 00:01:54.400 And so we're gonna work our way through this passage in 1 John chapter 2. 00:01:54.560 --> 00:01:55.680 We could it covered a lot. 00:01:55.920 --> 00:01:58.319 Like if we now read it, you're like, wow, that's a lot. 00:01:58.400 --> 00:02:00.959 Like we could do like four weeks on this, to be honest. 00:02:01.120 --> 00:02:07.680 So we're just we're gonna kind of jump our way through it, and hopefully we'll kind of get the art, the main points of the passage. 00:02:07.840 --> 00:02:11.280 So, first off, 1 John 2, verses 18 and 19. 00:02:11.439 --> 00:02:13.280 Children, it is the last hour. 00:02:13.520 --> 00:02:19.520 And as you have heard that Antichrist is coming, so now many Antichrists have come. 00:02:19.680 --> 00:02:21.680 Therefore, we know that it is the last hour. 00:02:21.840 --> 00:02:33.120 They went out from us, but they were not of us, for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us, but they went out that it might become plain that they all are not of us. 00:02:33.520 --> 00:02:37.840 So, point number one is this the truth of Christ divides. 00:02:39.039 --> 00:02:48.240 So the background here is a group of people that was in the church, and then they left the church, and the reason why they left the church is because they are antichrist. 00:02:48.479 --> 00:02:50.159 Now that's a big word. 00:02:50.639 --> 00:02:51.919 And you know what it means? 00:02:52.240 --> 00:02:53.120 Against Christ. 00:02:53.280 --> 00:02:54.800 That's what it means. 00:02:55.919 --> 00:02:58.879 It simply means that a person is against Christ. 00:02:58.960 --> 00:03:01.520 They do not believe Jesus is the Christ. 00:03:01.680 --> 00:03:06.879 They do not believe Jesus is the Savior of the world, Son of God, come, and that He is forgiveness and righteousness. 00:03:06.960 --> 00:03:16.000 And therefore, because they are not for that, they are against that, a division has occurred by the nature of it, just a division has occurred. 00:03:17.360 --> 00:03:20.319 And John says, hey, they're antichrists. 00:03:20.479 --> 00:03:24.400 Not only that, but they're behaving horribly on their way out, right? 00:03:24.479 --> 00:03:30.479 And we get this sense that they're not peacefully kind of walking out of the community and saying, hey, you guys do your thing. 00:03:30.560 --> 00:03:32.159 We love you, we're gonna go over here and do our thing. 00:03:32.879 --> 00:03:34.240 They're causing havoc. 00:03:34.319 --> 00:03:38.400 And John says, hey, these people are antichrists. 00:03:40.080 --> 00:03:47.840 Jesus in Luke chapter 12, he says that he comes to cast fire on earth and bring division. 00:03:47.919 --> 00:03:59.759 And then he says in verse 52, for from now on in one house, Jesus talking, for from now on in one house there will be five divided, three against two and two against three. 00:03:59.919 --> 00:04:08.080 They will be divided father against son, son against father, mother against daughter, and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law. 00:04:08.159 --> 00:04:11.360 We already knew that, and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law. 00:04:11.439 --> 00:04:12.639 We knew that one also. 00:04:13.199 --> 00:04:14.879 Here's what Jesus is saying. 00:04:15.039 --> 00:04:17.199 He's saying, I'm the truth. 00:04:17.680 --> 00:04:20.480 I am the truth about right and wrong. 00:04:20.800 --> 00:04:23.199 I'm the truth about forgiveness. 00:04:23.360 --> 00:04:25.040 I'm the truth about your sinfulness. 00:04:25.120 --> 00:04:26.560 I'm the truth about absolution. 00:04:26.639 --> 00:04:31.759 I'm the truth about righteousness, I'm the truth about your value or your worth and where you're gonna find that in life. 00:04:31.839 --> 00:04:36.160 He's saying, and because of that, it causes division. 00:04:37.680 --> 00:04:52.319 Because it doesn't follow the ways of the world, of where everybody else is gonna find absolution and justification and righteousness and worth and belovedness. 00:04:53.519 --> 00:05:02.480 And Jesus talks about the family because I mean, nowhere can we go where it's any more sensitive than into the family. 00:05:02.959 --> 00:05:19.600 Because if somebody in a family that is not following Jesus comes to follow Jesus, and that person in the family cares about their other family members, what happens is out of their care and love, they'll begin to speak something about it to their family, or their family will notice it. 00:05:19.759 --> 00:05:27.600 And then the follower of Jesus is speaking to the non-followers of Jesus, and the non-followers of Jesus can easily start to feel judged in that. 00:05:27.680 --> 00:05:39.120 And at the same time, the non-followers of Jesus start to think maybe the follower of Jesus has lost their mind, checked it at the door, they're not intellectual anymore, or maybe they're in a cult, they're not sure. 00:05:39.279 --> 00:05:40.480 And all of this is division. 00:05:40.560 --> 00:05:41.680 You see how easy that is? 00:05:42.560 --> 00:05:54.240 Even in a loving family, even in a loving family, there is a division because the truth of your life has just altered. 00:05:54.879 --> 00:05:57.120 It's just based somewhere else. 00:06:00.160 --> 00:06:05.600 And just a little bit of pastoral advice, and you don't have to receive this, maybe just hear it, you don't have to take it. 00:06:05.759 --> 00:06:08.959 The division's already there because of Christ. 00:06:09.199 --> 00:06:26.720 And until we surrender the desire to be known as right in our family or fix the other people in our family, and I'm gonna fix them by our conversation that I'm gonna have and I'm gonna prove my point, and all of that, until we surrender all of that, you're just adding division upon division. 00:06:28.000 --> 00:06:28.319 Right? 00:06:28.399 --> 00:06:29.360 The division's already there. 00:06:29.439 --> 00:06:30.639 Christ said the division's there. 00:06:30.720 --> 00:06:32.720 By nature of me, the division is there. 00:06:32.879 --> 00:06:40.399 This doesn't say, like, oh, this gives me the right to be superior and judgmental, and I can cause more division because I am a person of Jesus. 00:06:40.480 --> 00:06:43.920 No, it's actually the call to love our family and friends is still there. 00:06:44.160 --> 00:06:54.319 Jesus is saying, like, hey, just recognize in that call not to superiority, but servanthood and love and to speak truth in love. 00:06:54.800 --> 00:06:57.199 Just recognize there's going to be division in there. 00:06:57.279 --> 00:06:59.120 It's not always gonna be easy. 00:07:00.800 --> 00:07:03.920 John goes on to begin to speak to those who do believe. 00:07:04.240 --> 00:07:11.680 He turns it, you can see in verse 20, but you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all have knowledge. 00:07:11.920 --> 00:07:19.199 Point number two is this in Christ we have an immeasurable endowment inside of us. 00:07:19.759 --> 00:07:29.360 So the word anointed there in verse 20 is the word anointing, which comes from the word chrisma, which means smearing or special endowment. 00:07:29.920 --> 00:07:34.480 So John's beginning to build imagery for us that's going to carry through this passage. 00:07:34.720 --> 00:07:38.000 And John is saying, the Holy Spirit is inside of you. 00:07:38.879 --> 00:07:39.839 You've been marked. 00:07:40.000 --> 00:07:40.800 He's in you. 00:07:40.959 --> 00:07:43.600 You have an anointing, you have an endowment. 00:07:43.839 --> 00:07:47.120 And the word carries with it this imagery that comes from the Old Testament. 00:07:47.199 --> 00:07:52.720 There's this idea of a smearing of oil that would have been done on kings and priests. 00:07:52.879 --> 00:08:00.480 And so John is coming into this imagery and he's saying, You beloved, are like kings and priests. 00:08:01.759 --> 00:08:10.160 You have an internal endowment of God that resides in you by the Spirit of God that never ends. 00:08:13.120 --> 00:08:18.079 Jumping to verse 24, let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. 00:08:18.480 --> 00:08:25.519 And if what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you too will abide in the Son and in the Father. 00:08:26.079 --> 00:08:30.399 And this is the promise that He made to us eternal life. 00:08:31.040 --> 00:08:36.000 Point number three is this we are in union with God by Christ. 00:08:36.240 --> 00:08:38.559 We are in union with God by Christ. 00:08:38.720 --> 00:08:44.320 So my favorite illustration of this is, and I've done it several times here, and I've grew up seeing this illustration. 00:08:44.480 --> 00:08:47.200 Maybe you grew up seeing this illustration in the youth group or whatever. 00:08:47.279 --> 00:08:51.919 And so my favorite illustration is this is the tough ware illustration you've been picked up on it. 00:08:52.000 --> 00:08:55.440 So we grab some tougherware out of the drawer, and this is this is you. 00:08:55.600 --> 00:08:56.480 This is you. 00:08:57.120 --> 00:09:01.759 And so at some point in your life, you're saying, you know what, I can't be the savior of my life. 00:09:01.840 --> 00:09:04.080 And so you pray a prayer. 00:09:04.320 --> 00:09:05.679 God, I repent of my sin. 00:09:05.840 --> 00:09:08.159 I want to follow you, Jesus, your savior of my life. 00:09:08.240 --> 00:09:11.200 You raise your hand, you walk an aisle, you take communion, you baptize. 00:09:11.679 --> 00:09:14.480 I don't know how that was manifested outward. 00:09:14.559 --> 00:09:24.960 The point in it is that you have you had a soul and a heart change where you said, in the inner core of who you are, I can't be my own savior. 00:09:25.039 --> 00:09:32.000 I need to recognize God, your authority, I'm under you, I need your forgiveness, and I need your righteousness. 00:09:32.159 --> 00:09:33.840 And that is in the person of Jesus. 00:09:33.919 --> 00:09:37.600 And I repent, I surrender, I want to follow. 00:09:38.559 --> 00:09:42.879 And so in that moment, you have Christ coming into you, right? 00:09:42.960 --> 00:09:45.679 So now you have you and you and Christ in you. 00:09:45.840 --> 00:09:57.200 Now, if we're not careful, what can happen at this point is you have Christ in you, but but then you get sent out to just work really hard because you're a little concerned if you don't work quite hard enough. 00:09:57.279 --> 00:10:11.360 Maybe Christ is gonna like sneak out of you, or like you're not gonna be in the right position with God, or that position with God could be threatened, or you know, so you can get on this treadmill of Christian life or doing good enough or being good enough, even while you have the endowment inside of you. 00:10:11.600 --> 00:10:22.720 But grace upon graces to realize the entire time it's not just Christ abiding in you, but then you also abide in Christ. 00:10:23.600 --> 00:10:29.200 And this is why we as Christians are so unbelievably secure. 00:10:30.320 --> 00:10:34.399 Because we abide in Christ, but he's abiding in us. 00:10:34.559 --> 00:10:36.159 We have full union. 00:10:37.440 --> 00:10:38.399 That's the point here. 00:10:38.559 --> 00:10:41.039 We are in union with God by Christ. 00:10:41.200 --> 00:10:45.679 We have full union in this secure relationship. 00:10:47.440 --> 00:10:56.960 And John's saying, hey, his presence takes up residence in you, and and all of you is in him. 00:10:59.120 --> 00:11:01.679 I read this this week, this slide here. 00:11:01.840 --> 00:11:06.960 You may feel unworthy, but in Christ you are loved by God. 00:11:08.080 --> 00:11:12.240 You may feel guilty, but in Christ you are spotless. 00:11:12.879 --> 00:11:17.759 You may feel rejected, but in Christ you have been chosen by God. 00:11:18.960 --> 00:11:23.600 You may feel condemned, but in Christ you are righteous. 00:11:24.240 --> 00:11:29.919 You may feel lonely, but in Christ you are never alone. 00:11:32.000 --> 00:11:36.000 Verse 28 says, and now, because of all of that, because all that good news. 00:11:36.159 --> 00:11:40.159 I mean it's huge to understand our position with God because of all of that. 00:11:40.399 --> 00:11:49.679 Little children, abide in him, we're just talking about that, so that when he appears, we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming. 00:11:49.840 --> 00:11:52.240 So there's no fear here, is what John's saying. 00:11:52.399 --> 00:11:59.679 If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him. 00:12:00.720 --> 00:12:03.840 So verse 29 lays out this kind of train of thought. 00:12:04.159 --> 00:12:05.440 Know he's righteous. 00:12:05.600 --> 00:12:07.759 We've been talking about our word know the last few weeks. 00:12:07.840 --> 00:12:12.080 This is intimate relational knowing in the core of who you are. 00:12:12.240 --> 00:12:15.279 So it's not like obligatory religious knowing. 00:12:15.840 --> 00:12:19.200 It's the core of who you are, the most intimate possible way of knowing. 00:12:19.279 --> 00:12:26.320 If you're going to know he is righteous, then you will be born again and then practice righteousness. 00:12:26.399 --> 00:12:33.279 And what we've been talking about in this language that John's been building with the idea of practicing righteousness, it's not me, it doesn't mean we're perfect. 00:12:33.440 --> 00:12:39.440 It actually means that there's an imperfect walk in an ongoing direction towards godliness. 00:12:41.360 --> 00:12:49.120 Point number four is this because Christ abides in us, we abide with confidence. 00:12:50.799 --> 00:12:55.840 Now, this word confidence comes from the word paressea, which means ease. 00:12:56.720 --> 00:12:58.480 I didn't get that feeling when I read the verse. 00:12:58.559 --> 00:13:04.639 That was what was so interesting when I studied that word and clicked a few things on my computer, and I got down to that meaning. 00:13:04.879 --> 00:13:05.279 Ease. 00:13:05.360 --> 00:13:07.120 Well, I didn't see that coming. 00:13:07.840 --> 00:13:08.879 Isn't that interesting? 00:13:08.960 --> 00:13:19.679 Because John's building an image for us to grasp, but because that we are at ease because we are already held and loved. 00:13:21.679 --> 00:13:28.080 We are called to abide in the wealth already given to us in his presence in us. 00:13:28.320 --> 00:13:31.840 This is that endowment that John is talking about. 00:13:32.000 --> 00:13:37.759 This is what brings security of the self and empowerment for change. 00:13:40.080 --> 00:13:42.639 Back to my school, University of Georgia. 00:13:43.279 --> 00:13:46.480 We have an endowment of one billion dollars. 00:13:46.799 --> 00:13:51.279 I thought that was kind of impressive until I looked up the endowment of Vanderbilt University. 00:13:51.679 --> 00:13:55.039 They have an endowment of five billion dollars. 00:13:56.799 --> 00:14:00.240 So then I began to nerd out a little bit about endowments this week. 00:14:00.320 --> 00:14:02.639 And I'll be honest, I can get a little bit into that. 00:14:02.720 --> 00:14:06.320 And so I'm I'm Googling away, I'm like way down the rabbit trail. 00:14:06.480 --> 00:14:08.080 And sometimes churches have endowments. 00:14:08.159 --> 00:14:09.200 I don't know if you realize that. 00:14:09.279 --> 00:14:10.720 Sometimes a church will have an endowment. 00:14:11.039 --> 00:14:11.600 We don't. 00:14:11.759 --> 00:14:20.559 Um you're welcome to, you know, if you want to gather together, I can reserve a room in the church, y'all can talk that through of how that could happen. 00:14:20.879 --> 00:14:22.879 We're open, we're open to such things. 00:14:23.120 --> 00:14:34.639 So I begin to nerd out, and so I found this one church, this one church, it's one of the wealthiest churches in the entire world because of its endowment. 00:14:35.039 --> 00:14:37.039 Here's a picture of the land. 00:14:37.200 --> 00:14:42.639 This is a picture of the land that it was started on and built on in 1696. 00:14:42.799 --> 00:14:44.720 Here's a picture of that land today. 00:14:45.440 --> 00:14:46.720 That's the land today. 00:14:46.799 --> 00:14:48.240 So you've picked up on where it's at. 00:14:48.320 --> 00:14:49.600 It's in Lower Manhattan. 00:14:49.679 --> 00:14:51.279 It was started in 1696. 00:14:51.360 --> 00:14:56.320 Here's a picture of the church in 1846 there in Lower Manhattan. 00:14:56.480 --> 00:15:02.000 Now, here's a picture of the outside view of the church today, and the inside of the church today. 00:15:03.360 --> 00:15:07.600 So the history of this church is Trinity Church there in Lower Manhattan. 00:15:07.679 --> 00:15:13.519 In 1696, a group of Anglicans started a church in Lower Manhattan. 00:15:13.679 --> 00:15:16.879 Their rent was 60 bushels of wheat. 00:15:16.960 --> 00:15:19.600 Okay, that's how the rent was being laid out. 00:15:19.840 --> 00:15:30.080 In 1705, the Queen of England, Anne, gave the church 205 acres of land in New York City. 00:15:30.480 --> 00:15:31.120 Whew. 00:15:32.080 --> 00:15:34.480 So they start all sorts of stuff over time. 00:15:34.639 --> 00:15:39.200 In the mid-1700s, they start King's College, which turns into Columbia University. 00:15:39.840 --> 00:15:43.200 Many of the leaders of our country were members of the church. 00:15:43.360 --> 00:15:46.320 Alexander Hamilton's buried in the cemetery there. 00:15:46.480 --> 00:15:50.879 And they still own today, they own 14 acres of land in New York City. 00:15:50.960 --> 00:15:53.039 They're one of the largest landowners. 00:15:53.200 --> 00:15:56.639 That church is one of the largest landowners in New York City. 00:15:56.799 --> 00:16:04.799 They have 5.5 million, 5.5 million square feet of commercial real estate. 00:16:06.720 --> 00:16:13.759 This acts as an endowment of over$6 billion for that church that we just saw. 00:16:14.559 --> 00:16:22.960 Their assets, those assets every year, they just create hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars every single year for that church. 00:16:23.120 --> 00:16:24.000 Here's the point. 00:16:24.159 --> 00:16:33.200 The point is they have a reservoir of wealth by gift from centuries ago. 00:16:34.960 --> 00:16:39.200 Now maybe you agree or disagree on whether a church should have an endowment, not really the point. 00:16:39.440 --> 00:16:49.440 The point is an endowment is a reservoir of wealth by gift to sustain you, no matter what. 00:16:50.720 --> 00:16:54.559 No matter what life throws at you, no matter what you throw at yourself. 00:16:56.159 --> 00:17:01.360 And John's just building this imagery throughout this passage is getting stronger and stronger and stronger. 00:17:01.440 --> 00:17:08.799 And he's saying, you beloved, have the presence of God in you, and you are in Christ. 00:17:09.039 --> 00:17:11.119 Christ in you, you in Christ. 00:17:11.279 --> 00:17:15.519 You have been anointed like kings and like priests. 00:17:15.839 --> 00:17:23.759 You have a wealth of absolution and forgiveness and righteousness and value and worth inside of you. 00:17:25.519 --> 00:17:28.480 An endowment that will never go away. 00:17:28.799 --> 00:17:34.160 A wealth, an embarrassment of wealth that will never fade. 00:17:34.400 --> 00:17:41.519 And it is not by what you do or have done or will do, it is by gift from centuries ago. 00:17:42.880 --> 00:17:44.480 Because of Christ's word. 00:17:45.680 --> 00:17:48.720 My brothers and sisters, this is the good news of Jesus the Christ. 00:17:48.880 --> 00:17:49.759 Let's pray together. 00:17:50.400 --> 00:17:56.880 God, thank you for this good news that we have inside of us your very presence. 00:17:58.799 --> 00:18:05.039 And the work of Christ is enough for us, more than enough. 00:18:06.559 --> 00:18:09.599 That we have an endowment inside of us. 00:18:09.759 --> 00:18:14.400 We have been anointed like kings and like priests. 00:18:16.880 --> 00:18:23.119 And though we are not perfect, and we are sinners. 00:18:26.240 --> 00:18:30.079 We are in complete reliance upon this gift. 00:18:31.440 --> 00:18:35.519 To sustain our absolution, our forgiveness, and our righteousness. 00:18:36.000 --> 00:18:41.599 Help us to see more and more what is true about us because you have deemed it so. 00:18:44.400 --> 00:18:48.000 Help this imagery of this morning built by John for us. 00:18:49.839 --> 00:18:53.519 May it just resonate in our hearts and our minds. 00:18:55.839 --> 00:18:59.759 That we don't have to go out and build a wealth of morality. 00:18:59.839 --> 00:19:03.279 We don't have to build a wealth of wealth or a wealth of status. 00:19:04.880 --> 00:19:12.240 And in all the ways that we have come so short of creating any wealth of these things. 00:19:16.160 --> 00:19:18.240 The gift of Christ is sufficient. 00:19:21.839 --> 00:19:23.519 We thank you for this great gift. 00:19:24.400 --> 00:19:26.400 Help us in our faith.