Building roads with a Friend who has friends

Listening to the Word of the Almighty

(1 John 4:4-6, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, December 11, 2016)

[4] Little children,

you are from God and have overcome them,

for he who is in you

is greater than he who is in the world.

[5] They are from the world;

therefore they speak from the world,

and the world listens to them.

[6] We are from God.

Whoever knows God listens to us;

whoever is not from God

does not listen to us.

By this we know the Spirit of truth

and the spirit of error.

God and you

God is in the body of Christ, and He is powerful. Our new life in Christ is from God. So much so that we can say that we are from God.

Friendship is the best environment within which a person can believe a new idea or grow in the living out of a new idea once embraced. Though God is so far above us in His nature and in the perfection of His attributes, Jesus calls us “friends.”

[John 15:13] Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. [14] You are my friends if you do what I command you. [15] No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.

Jesus came, that we might be friends with Him and grow in Him. As we grow in the experience of this friendship with God, we increasingly know the truth, and we speak and live out the truth.

The world

John writes not only about his brethren in the church. He refers to something called “the world.” What does he mean? Surely we all live in this world. Yes, but there is way of living that denies the existence of the Almighty who is so far above us and denies the fact that God has determined to be our friend through the life and death of His Son. The world will not receive Jesus as friend.

Those who are what John calls “the world” here reject these propositions. What does John tell us about the world? The church has overcome them through our association with the victory of Christ in His death and resurrection. The Spirit that the world receives is less that the Holy Spirit.

The world has people that are in it who are said to be “from” the world. They learn from the way of thought that treats God as less than He really is. This informs their speech and their lives. They also pass on their way of thinking and living to others. The world is filled with what John calls a “spirit of error.”

Listening and speaking

How does our relationship with God work? The church listens to and proclaims the Word of the Lord God Almighty. We receive the Scriptures as His voice. When they are faithfully expounded, we have truly heard from God.

Who do you listen to? The little children of God listen to His Word.

What do you speak? The little ones of Jesus speak as He speaks.

How do you live? The beloved of the Holy Spirit follow where He leads.

What is the role of the church in this and every era? Where do we find the power for living that we need in order to fulfill the mandate of dominion that the Lord has given to us? (Genesis 1:28) The Lord has blessed us with His eternal Word. By His Spirit we must listen well to His everlasting truth and proclaim it to all who have ears to hear His voice.

Friendship makes all the difference, but real friendship requires trust. When we lose our faith in a friend, there is a breech in the relationship. We no longer trust what our friend is saying. We learn not to listen to him with an open heart when he speaks. We no longer consider it safe to live as he lives. After a time we may easily give up on the friendship entirely.

In Jesus we have a friend who sticks closer than a brother. (Proverbs 18:24) He has touched us, and He is bringing us holiness. He has determined that we will be the light of the world. He places us on a stand so that others may see how one of His friends actually lives. That way others will come to give glory to our Father who is in heaven.

Do you want to be of some earthly good?

1. Be heavenly-minded through a friendship with Jesus and His friends.

2. Be engaged in the world as a friend of Jesus together with others who are friends of Jesus.

Being a friend of Jesus does not mean throwing away all your passions that touch upon secular things. You can love good roads and be a friend of Jesus like my friends Parsu and Hong Key.

Three ways to pursue friendship with Jesus and His church and to be engaged in the world:

1. Open your heart to the Word of God concerning roads, order, friendship, and so many other very related matters. Seem irrelevant? Not so. Roman roads were a key to gospel progress.

2. Pray to God about roads. He cares about it all, and He will give you other friends who care.

3. Give God the glory as you work together with His friends. (1 Corinthians 10:31) “If you eat...”

Old Testament Reading—Haggai 2:10-19 – Holiness and Blessing

Gospel Reading—Matthew 5:14-16 – [14] You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. [15] Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. [16] In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.