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ities as pastor of l arche daybreak community in toronto canada he published many books e g the one above digesting it was life changing for me just reading it calms me nouwen based his book on jn 15 viz jesus command to make our home in him abide in him even as he makes his home in us abides in us those who obey and choose to abide in jesus constantly and intimately will bear fruit plentifully the result is to enter into christ s promise of ecstacy joy in the light of the above we have two choices a remaining in the house of fear e g in our world and sadly even in the church there are so many fear mongering teachers and victims such have no real assurance and joy in the lord examine the faces of most church attenders on a sunday a 2nd example the legalism besetting some churches the sunday schools my wife and i grew up in resulted in our never feeling truly accepted by god yes i m saved no i m not a 3rd example is those teaching unbiblical rapture 2nd coming theories i ve seen so many victims especially children and young people but even including some pastors these relatively modern false teachings arrived with men like j n darby 1830 s c i scofield tim la haye et al cf my detailed blog series on christ s return i m on my way i ll be there soon 29 may 2020 conclusion there is only one valid fear i e the fear of the lord which is the beginning of wisdom this kind of fear reverence respect and loving submission b making our abode in the house of love nb ultimately this can only be sustained and motivated by a personal faith union with christ as the nt makes clear read rom 6 carefully cf watchman nee s classic the normal christian life life changing for my wife and i let me illustrate the implications of such a faith union some time ago here in south africa an injured eagle was kept in a cage so it could heal before being released into the wild again when the day of release came the eagle simply refused to fly despite all efforts from its carers it just sat there one day another eagle passed overhead and gave a cry the injured eagle became excited and at last looked up and then took to the sky soaring freely and enjoying the freedom it was created for what a picture of so many individual believers and congregations this is also why the apostle paul reminded the galatian assemblies in 5 1 for freedom christ has set us free stand firm therefore and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery i e slavery of sin legalism self indulgence resenting others etc for the nature of that freedom see gal 5 2ff long before john and paul the prophet isaiah 40 31 msg assured god s ancient people those who wait upon god get fresh strength they spread their wings and soar like eagles they run and don t get tired they walk and don t lag behind and so have you moved house footnote in recent years my wife and i have found phil 4 6 7 nlt most helpful don t worry about anything instead pray about everything if you do this you will experience god s peace thus i write out my particular anxiety that act in itself helps me break the cycle of a particular concern and i m able to leave it in the lord s hands and move on 7 comments love and god let no one separate posted on june 26 2026 by errollmulder under uncategorized prof emeritus at regent college vancouver canada 1932 2018 in his introduction to john s epistles wrote that the two most difficult things to get straight in life are love and god as revealed in the bible he maintains that more often than not the mess people make of their lives can be traced to failure or stupidity or meanness in one or both these areas the basic biblical revelation demonstrates that the two subjects i e love and god are inseparable if we want to deal with god the right way we have to learn to love the right way if we want to love the right way we have to deal with god the right way the apostle john s 3 letters to the congregations of asia minor emphasize this intimacy a their focus is on jesus the messiah of god s people he alone provides the full and true understanding of god jn 14 7 9 if you know me you will know the father also whoever has seen me has seen the father jesus alone shows us god and his agape love his love is personal sacrificial and practical in jesus alone god and his love are linked accurately intricately and indissolubly b throughout history there have been people e g the 1st century gnostics who didn t want to bow to the biblical definitions of god and love the israelites in the sinai desert temporarily under the leadership of moses brother aaron fashioned a golden calf while their leader moses was on the mountain encountering god ex 32 describes that pivotal moment of betrayal apostasy and judgment the hebrews grew impatient with moses long absence they pressured aaron to make them a god who would go before them until they reached the promised land sadly instead of resisting aaron yielded to the crowd s demands melting their golden jewellery and fashioning a golden calf aaron attempted to blend the worship of god with a physical idol the people loved it eating and drinking with wild revelry when moses came down the mountain to witness this scene he desperately interceded for god s people appealing to god s covenant with abraham in gen 12 in a most merciful response the lord relented from the total destruction he had threatened lesson one cannot substitute a controllable visible image for an invisible sovereign god yet we love to do just that in my visits to continents across the world i ve witnessed idolatry in every religion re read the story of rom 1 and humankind s resort to reason empiricism and arrogance in trying to argue away god s self revelation in creation conscience and ultimately in jesus of nazareth it s a story of basic rebellion we won t have anybody tell us who we are our purpose on earth what we must do so we resort to fashioning our own convenient ideas of god and love witness the wokist agenda seeking to rule the world praise god for the young men who are increasingly turning to the church barna gallup poll to affirm their masculinity the many footballers openly kneeling before jesus ahead of the2026 world cup in mexico etc humankind just hates to be pinned down to the god of the bible and his love as revealed in jesus and his cross thus we make up our own idea of god and decide what his love should look like in stark contrast the apostle john in his three letters re establishes the original and organic unity of god and love that comes to focus in jesus and becomes available to all people on earth as you will know by now i ve slowly been working through the first letter of john in 3 14 18 the apostle specifically focuses on the love of christ and his ecclesia he writes first of the evidence of love what it proves viz life v 14 15 he follows this up with the essence of love what it is viz self sacrifice whether in christ or in his people v 16 18 3 14 reads nrsv we know that we have passed from death to life because we love one another whoever does not love abides in death the verse begins dramatically in the greek with the pronoun we gr hemeis let the world hate we won t hate but love the fact that we love the brothers gives us ground for certainty that we possess god s eternal life we know as a fact gr oidamen that we have passed crossed over from death to life becoming a believer is nothing less than a resurrection from spiritual death into gr eis eternal life cf jn 5 24 great stress is laid in the nt on love as the preeminent virtue the first fruit of the spirit gal 5 6 and the greatest of the 3 abiding christian graces without which we are nothing 1 cor 13 i o w true love is the surest test of having life the contrary is also true whoever does not love abides in death 2 9 11 in the vocabulary of john love light and life belong together as do hatred darkness and death it s noteworthy that the precise proof of life which jesus gives is because we love one another true believers who have passed from death to life will hunger for genuine fellowship they won t neglect to meet together heb 10 25 but will delight to gather together to worship and pray together talk together on spiritual topics their personal relationship with each other being marked by unselfish and caring love cf acts 2 the habitual small gatherings in homes facilitated this fellowship dynamically and drastically my wife and i have witnessed the same in our house churches over some 20 years in 3 15 john makes the point that to take life is to forfeit life no murderer has eternal life abiding in him as a present and permanent possession the one who hates his brother doesn t have eternal life either because to hate is to be a murderer this echoes jesus teaching in the sermon on the mount mt 5 21ff and 27ff on the other hand true love is positive seeks the other person s good and leads to activity for him even to the point of self sacrifice jn 13 3ff talks about christ laying aside his garments to wash his disciples feet i was invited years ago to bring the word at a yfc camp in namibia during the worship time the national chairman a business executive took off his tie and beautiful white shirt and began to wash and dry the dusty dirty feet of some in the gathering unforgettable john s gospel talks about christ s laying down his life for us in order to rescue us from sin but true love is not only revealed in the giving of our lives as martyrs it is expressed in all lesser givings i o w not many of us are called to lay down our lives in some deed of heroism but we do have the opportunity to share our possessions with those in need jam 2 15 16 love is the willingness to surrender that which has value for our own life to enrich the life of another c h dodd i recall with gratitude the saintly uncle jimmy in our last congregation donating his little ford escort 1300 to us so that we could fetch and carry our school kidz who needed lifts at different times the family nick named her alfie who after a bit of spit and polish served as the bridal car for our middle daughter some other examples more recently our micro wave had rusted and given up the ghost our christ like neighbours arrived one day with a brand new model for us to use god s love was revealed historically in the death of jesus 3 16 but it dwells or should do in us also it s continuously active in his followers 1 jn 3 17 ceb reads but if a person has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need and that person does not care how can the love of god remain in him john fondly calls jesus followers my little children and reminds them that love is neither sentiment nor talk but deeds what s the ultimate christian apologetic before a watching world jesus gives the answer in jn 13 34 35 i give you a new commandment that you love one another by this everyone will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another 5 comments antichrists when who what to do posted on june 6 2026 by errollmulder under uncategorized the apostle john in his first letter 2 18ff warns the asia minor churches about heretics challenging the truth in christ twice he warns believers that it is the last hour nrsv since god s new age had dawned with the first coming of christ 1st century believers knew themselves to be already living in the last days wakey wakey western christians the age to come had come already the world and its darkness was passing away 2 8 17 john was convinced not only of the last days but of the last hour eschate hora having arrived renowned prof em blaiklock declared nothing is so damaging in the study of nt prophecy as to imagine that the eternal god who stands above and outside of time is bound by the clocks and calendars of men the nt writers who describe the start of the last days are already looking forward to its consummation it s clear that the last days will themselves have last days the latter a period of terrible moral and spiritual decadence 2 tim 3 1ff 2 pet 3 3ff the last times will have also have a last time when the ungodly will arise and our eternal inheritance as believers will be revealed 1 pet 1 5 jam 5 3 the last day of the last days will culminate in christ raising the dead and judging a rebellious world jn ch 6 11 12 the word antichrist occurs in the scriptures only in john s three letters 1 jn 2 18 22 4 3 2 jn 7 but the concept is found elsewhere e g the ot prophet daniel ch s 11 12 speaks of the abomination that makes desolate partly fulfilled when greek king antiochus epiphanes desecrated the jerusalem temple in c 168 bc and then repeated in 70 ad by roman emperor titus below john writes that although antichrist is coming according to the teaching of the apostles so now many antichrists have come apparently these many antichrists are forerunners of the chief antichrist still to come jesus himself warned his disciples of false christs pseudechristoi mk 13 mt 24 and of one to come aping christ himself whose teaching would fundamentally oppose his person and mission i e he would come as the great counterfeit and opposer of christ 2 thess 2 3 4 the lawless one the many antichrists who have already come are identified by john as human teachers 2 19 they no doubt included the many false prophets of 4 1 these had left the congregations under john s oversight having failed to to impress the church leaders of each assembly excommunicating themselves in my own house church experience of 20 years flaky believers have always left on their own it s hard to hide in a smaller group the apostle distinguishes sharply between those who have left and those who remain by their defection they have given clear evidence of their true character behind their secession was the divine purpose of unmasking the spurious and protecting the flock v 19 sheds light on two important doctrines a the perseverance of the saints b the nature of the ecclesia jesus said those who endure to the end shall be saved mk 13 13 we also have to distinguish between the visible church and the invisible church god intends his ecclesia to be visibly manifest in local worship witnessing fellowships baptisms observable love etc dr john stott 1921 2011 claimed in his day that perhaps most visible church members are also members of the invisible church the mystical body of christ but some i would venture many are not they share our earthly company but not our heavenly birth only on the final day of separation will the wheat and the tares be completely revealed 1 jn 2 22 23 teaches us the nature and effect of heresy the false teaching of those who had left the body is now revealed it is a denial that jesus is the christ jn 4 2 3 and 2 jn 7 make clear that the theological heresy john is combating amounts to a denial that jesus christ is come in the flesh the ancient antichrists gnostics taught that jesus was born and died a man that the christ was within jesus only during his public ministry descending on him at his baptism and leaving him before the cross they denied that t...
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