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Text of the page (random words):
ilization is in doubt under the threat of nuclear war even the christian church is filled with confusion and uncertainty against this background to read the epistles of john is to enter another world altogether whose marks are assurance knowledge confidence and boldness the predominant theme of these epistles is christian certainty gr ginoskein 15x to perceive eidenei 25x to know parresia confidence of attitude 4x christian certainty is two fold a objective certainty the historical verifiable life death resurrection of jesus of nazareth and b subjective certainty we have been born again of god into eternal life both are expounded by john needing attention in all ages on the historical certainty of christ as the embodiment of god s truth his followers as a result of the anointing they have received all know absolutely 2 19ff nrsv they went out from us but they did not belong to us by going out they made it plain that none of them belongs to us but you have been anointed by the holy one and all of you have knowledge i write to you not because you do not know the truth but because you know it and you know that no lie comes from the truth who is the liar but the one who denies that jesus is the christ this is the antichrist the one who denies the father and the son no one who denies the son has the father everyone who confesses the son has the father also i recall a house church friend who fell into the hebrew roots trap saying jesus is the son but he is not god we couldn t believe our ears v 26ff i write these things to you concerning those who would deceive you as for you the anointing that you received from him abides in you and so you do not need anyone to teach you but as his anointing teaches you about all things and is true and not a lie abide in him so that when he is revealed we may have confidence and not be put to shame before him at his coming when we say we know the truth this doesn t mean we know all things some things god has not yet revealed e g 3 2 rather our knowing includes the truth about this world and its condition ourselves our duty and divine destiny above all we know the truth about the living god and his eternal son jesus christ we know both god and christ we know that the son of god has come and given us understanding 2 13 14 3 6 4 6 7 we know that the cause of christ s coming to this world was love 3 16 4 16 with the purpose of taking away our sins 3 5 the ground of our certainty about christ hasn t changed the fact that we read john s epistles written 95 100 ad in the 21st century rather than the 1st makes no difference the christian faith is still tethered to the historical christ event and the apostles witness to him we must abide make our home in these 2 jn 9 everyone who does not abide in the teaching of christ but goes beyond it does not have god whoever abides in the teaching has both the father and the son to advance beyond this teaching will inevitably lead us into error and ruin congregations are not to stray into novel doctrines but to recall what they have heard from the beginning 2 24 furthermore those who believe in the historical jesus jn 1 1 14 the word became flesh and 1 jn 1 1 4 the word of life based on the unique testimony of the apostolic eyewitnesses are granted the confirmatory witness of the spirit within this all brings the followers of jesus into a magnificent certainty and assurance about eternal life they possess a joyful divine quality of life now on earth and in the future rather than simply length of time in summary the kind of knowledge which is distinctively treated in john s letters is not merely objective outside of ourselves but also subjective inside of ourselves it concerns not only the truth about god and his christ but also our own christian relationship with god which the apostle describes by 4 favourite expressions a we know that we know him 2 3 b we know that we are in him and that he dwells in us 2 5 4 13 c we know that we are of god 5 18 19 d we know that we have passed from death to life and have his divine eternal life 3 14 5 13 i o w to be a believer in the language of the apostle john is to have been born of god to know him and to be in him enjoying that intimate and personal fellowship with him which is eternal life 5 20 of this heavenly birth and life giving relationship we have no doubt in fact john declares that his whole purpose in writing his first letter is that those who believe might also know 5 13 nb john s argument is double edged if he attempts to bring believers to the the knowledge that they have eternal life he is equally at pains to show that unbelievers have not they re eternally lost at this point it s worth adding pastor author aw tozer s 1897 1963 special insight into the above there is a difference between the intellectual knowledge of god and the spirit revealed knowledge modern orthodoxy has made a great blunder in the erroneous assumption that spiritual truths can be intellectually perceived until a man receives the illumination that inward enlightenment he will not have anything because bible study does not of itself lift the veil or penetrate it there is the christ whom only the holy spirit can reveal you may be convinced that he is the son of god and still never find him as the living person he is jesus christ must be revealed by the holy spirit no one knows the things of god but by the holy spirit the final flash that introduces your heart to jesus must be by that illumination of the holy spirit himself or it isn t done at all this is critically important dr martyn lloyd jones 1899 1981 welsh medical specialist and expository preacher of westminster chapel fame penned a marvelous book on the anointing and baptism of the holy spirit viz joy unspeakable 1 pet 1 8 nrsv leading to heavenly joy and power humbly i refer to my own baptism of the spirit and anointing to preach coincidental with my new birth believe it or not at the tender age of 14 born into a totally nominal christian family the lord encountered me one day with the reality of eph 2 8 10 on the way back from a corner store to buy bread never will i forget that day as i hastened home walking and leaping and praising god acts 3 8 i could mention a child s anointing of the spirit during the hebrides revival of 1949 52 there had been earnest prayers for awakening to god including those of 2 elderly sisters in their humble croft and 7 men in a barn poring over ps 24 the story goes that a resistant woman was invited to a croft meeting in her village it was so crowded she couldn t get in but it took just one glimpse through a window of a young child s radiant face to bring her to christ in my young adult years i was privileged to hear mary morrison s testimony re the hebrides awakening during her tour of south africa these things are known not just individually but also corporately cf pic at head of blog viz the experience of jesus christ as loving lord and master of all in recent times i have personally experienced this in the company of a few life time leaders from the usa france and south africa we are currently busy pursuing the unique unity stemming from christ s headship over all please pray for our submission to one another and above all to our glorious lord jesus christ that he alone may be glorified 4 comments sweet revenge a sweeter way posted on may 9 2026 by errollmulder under uncategorized revenge is such a subtle thing and can take so many forms e g the germans speak of schadenfreude i e the experience of pleasure joy or self satisfaction coming from learning of the troubles failures suffering or humiliation of our enemies the closest english equivalent is to gloat over our enemies troubles i guess even as believers we ve all been guilty of such sentiments at times as a pastor i recall expounding rom 12 17ff in the early 80 s challenging ourselves not to take revenge but leave it with god at the end of the series our church treasurer approached me at the door after the service and with a fairly smug look on his face asked me how i could expect anyone not to retaliate after someone had harmed them i tried to explain that it was difficult but necessary he left dissatisfied after a happy pastorate we left that congregation in 1982 some years later my successor was confronted with a church financial problem it unraveled that for some years the same treasurer had secretly been gambling on horses using church finances it was a large amount he had to sell his upper class mansion to pay back the money his lovely wife and children were left devastated on a recent global level there have been videos circulating online showing iranian christians in europe and the usa celebrating the recent attacks in iran thanking benjamin netanyahu for his actions and for freeing their nation the iranian diaspora claims that the tragic us and israeli strikes mark the beginning of iranian freedom insisting this is what all iranian believers desire regardless of the cost in the above narrative israel and the usa become the heroes and those who suffer believers and non believers alike are portrayed as beneficiaries not as victims however to use the joy of a few as a political tool to legitimize the killing of innocent citizens in iran is both un biblical and morally indefensible standing in the rubble of tehran with the body of a loved one in your arms tells a different story pastor ali who leads several house churches in iran through online ministry recently shared how a christian family in one of iran s major cities had lost their father he had sent his wife and two children to a safer city but as he was preparing to leave their home a nearby bomb explosion took his life his family is now overwhelmed with grief we need to learn again the central lesson of a savior who brought reconciliation not through force but through forgiveness and self giving love to use the pain of others as a tool for one s own political agenda is not only morally questionable in the language of faith it is a sin mike burnard south african middle eastern missionary analytical strategist at dia logos 16 april 2026 recommended dr daniel shayesteh s the house i left behind a journey from radical islam to christ insights into iranian culture and fundamentalist islam fast forward a few decades later after much spiritual and numerical growth in a congregation in our home city we as pastoral family after 23 years of service suffered much secret opposition from a few entitled foundation members undermining the assembly s unity an underground concerned group was secretly set up to take us down as leaders at the height of our fellowship s numerical baptismal and missional growth we had no option but to resign it became clear that this was by god s sovereign intervention in our lives we resigned at the beginning of 2005 however the elders pleaded with me not to rock the boat but carry on until the august agm those were terrible months lesson learned take god s advice rather than man s deeply scarred our family left the organized church for simple organic type house churches in different parts of our metro these turned out over 20 years to be by far the most productive and joyful years of serving christ s body at the time of our leaving the above congregation we prepared the way by inviting all who had something against us to meet with us privately after morning and evening services so that we could resolve any feelings of animosity we wanted to fulfill the abiding principles of rom 12 17ff hopefully in and through christ alone we succeeded i spoke at a memorial service of a long standing member a week ago and was warmly received glory to god all kinds of temptations to avenge ourselves come our way in the family in business sport etc you can draw up your own list of hurts we can engage in revenge overtly or subtly instead of reveling in self pity there is a clear methodology from the lord as to how to deal effectively with our temptations of revenge rom 12 17ff do not repay anyone evil for evil but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all beloved never avenge yourselves but leave room for the wrath of god for it is written vengeance is mine i will repay says the lord no if your enemies are hungry feed them if they are thirsty give them something to drink for by doing this you will heap burning coals on their heads do not be overcome with evil but overcome evil with good nrsv note 1 the good news of rom 1 11 forms the background i e our gracious justification by faith ch 1 3 assurance and sanctification by faith alone ch 5 8 god s sovereignty regarding israel and the gentiles ch 9 11 then follows the application of the gospel as outlined above including the summons to love like god has loved us in christ the outstanding nt scholar ff bruce wrote doctrine is never taught in the bible simply that it may be known it is taught in order that it may be translated into practice jesus said now that you know these things you will be blessed if you do them jn 13 17 i vividly recall this verse as the dominating text above the pulpit in the world renowned cell church pastored by pr dion robert in abidjan coite d ivoire it spoke to me in an unforgettable way note 2 mark the re emphasis of our new life in christ in 12 1ff central to romans and indeed the whole nt is the phrase in christ and we are in christ by faith alone gal 2 21ff i have been crucified and it is no longer i that live but it is christ who lives in me and the life i now live in the flesh i live by faith in the son of god or by the faith of the son of god nrsv who loved me and gave himself for me for if justification comes through the law then christ died for nothing in my christian life of a life time i have come across so many believers who say something like this i m trying to do this or that the fact is that this false gospel of trying harder totally frustrates believers rather we should exchange it for the truth i am in christ i m resting in that and therefore i shall overcome note 3 in 12 9ff paul deals with the marks of the true christian the greatest mark is love i e god s self sacrificial agape love not a sentiment or feeling but a practical observable action note 4 rom 12 10 proclaims do not take revenge my friends but leave room for god s wrath for it is written it is mine to avenge i will repay says the lord deut 32 35 justice will be done i e by the sovereign just god in his own way and time our duty is to get out of god s way ps ff bruce in his commentary on romans mentions that heaping burning coals on our enemy s head may have referred to an egyptian ritual in which a man gave public evidence of his repentance by carrying a pan of burning charcoal on his head ouch i o w treat your enemy kindly for this may make him ashamed and lead to his repentance my dear brother sister drop every thought of revenge do it now once for all and you will be free at last thank god almighty free at last mlk the song below is a suitable prayer for us all ...