They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the
world listens to them. 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.[1]
This stood out
to me this morning as a very important lesson regarding how God’s children feel
about their communication of hope in Jesus Christ. The internet gives many
opportunities to discuss differences of belief with others, sometimes with
people we don’t even know. Viewpoints and opinions abound.
One of the
struggles for those who want to share with others the good news of God’s loving
gift to the world is to know how much or how little to say. It is easy to get
lured into arguments that amount to nothing more than word-games. It is just as
easy to play the peacekeeper and never speak up at all.
The wonderful
letter of I John is filled with clarifications that will help anyone know whose
side they are on. The two sides are the world, and the people of God. We are
either alive in Christ, or dead in our sins.[2]
From both sides, people speak, and others listen.
The way we
recognize that it is the world speaking, and Worldlings listening, is that both
speakers and hearers are “from the world.”
What the teachers teach is worldly, and what the Worldlings hear and practice
is worldly.
On the other
hand, the way we recognize that we are on God’s side is that those who laid the
foundation for God’s church, the apostles and prophets,[3] “are from God,” and, “whoever knows God listens” to those who
are from God.
In summary,
Worldlings listen to the false prophets of the world, while God’s dear children
listen to his servants. As Jesus said much earlier, “When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the
sheep follow him, for they know his voice.”[4] Jesus
is the Shepherd, he speaks to his sheep, his sheep know his voice, and he is
the one they follow.
At the same
time, when it comes to the false teachers, Jesus spoke of his sheep in this
way, “A stranger they will not follow,
but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.”[5]
This is an interesting characteristic. Jesus’ sheep do not always know how to
explain what is wrong with something, but they know that it is not Jesus’ voice
that is speaking. This is true of those who heard Jesus teach in his day, and
those who hear Jesus’ apostles and prophets as they laid the foundation for the
church.
On the other
hand, Jesus described his enemies in this way, “Jesus answered them, ‘I told you, and you do not believe. The works
that I do in my Father's name bear witness about me, but you do not believe
because you are not among my sheep.’”[6]
Even Jesus, the living Word of God,[7] “full of grace and truth,”[8]
could not get some people to believe in him simply because they were not his
sheep.
To another
group Jesus said, “If God were your
Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here.”[9]
The apostle John speaks of this in many ways in I John as he identifies that
loving God, and loving one another, is a chief evidence that God is our Father.
Jesus went on
to tell this group, “Why do you not
understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word. You are
of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires.”[10]There
is the problem. The devil is the thief who tries to steal Jesus’ sheep, but he
cannot do it because Jesus’ sheep only follow Jesus’ voice. On the other hand,
even the most religious of people will hate Jesus, and speak against him,
simply because they do not know God as Father, and the one who is their Father
is a hateful, deceiving, destroyer.
So, Jesus gives
these people every opportunity to hear and turn when he concludes, “Whoever is of God hears the words of God.
The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.”[11]
There is it clear that, the way to know someone is “of God” is that they hear “the
words of God,” whether spoken directly by God himself through his Son, Jesus
Christ, or preached from the God-breathed words of God in Scripture.
What this does
for God’s children is encourage us to talk about Jesus. Share his word with
people. Tell people the latest thing you have learned from God’s word. Share whatever
gift God ministered to you through your Pastor’s sermon, or through your group
Bible study, or the Christ-exalting book you are reading. In whatever
opportunities you have, introduce people to thoughts from the word of God.[12]
Then stand
back and watch how people respond. Those who are Jesus’ sheep will hear Jesus’
voice in our proclaiming of his word, while those who are of their father the
devil will be just as angry with us as they were with Jesus.
It is very
easy to berate ourselves because someone’s lack of response suggests that maybe
we didn’t say the right thing, or to get caught up trying to prove a point in
some online argument. However, when we understand that Jesus’ sheep hear his
voice, and that this is now seen in the way that people listen to the word of
God as spoken through his holy apostles and prophets, we will simply continue
preaching the word in season and out of season,[13]
fulfilling our place in either sowing or harvesting, knowing that it is God
himself who gives the increase by bringing his sheep to hear Jesus’ voice.[14]
While we
always need the fellowship of God’s people to help and encourage us to know
when to speak-up and when to shut-up, the encouragement in these Scriptures
calls us to rest in the glory of God’s work that he saves anyone at all. Since Jesus
has not yet returned, he still has more sheep to bring into his fold. Let us
join his work by talking about the words of God in as many ways as we can find.
People are listening. Their response to Jesus will tell us whose side they are
on.
© 2014 Monte Vigh ~ Box 517,
Merritt, BC, V1K 1B8 ~ in2freedom@gmail.com
Unless otherwise noted,
Scriptures are from the English Standard Version (The Holy Bible, English
Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good
News Publishers.)
[1]
I John 4:5-6
[2]
Ephesians 2:1-10
[3]
Ephesians 2:19-22
[4]
John 10:4
[5]
John 10:5
[6]
John 10:25-26
[7]
John 1:1-3
[8]
John 1:14
[9]
John 8:42
[10]
John 8:43-44
[11]
John 8:47
[12]
Seeking to maintain a distinction between God’s Word, and a teacher’s thoughts
about God’s word. Paul dealt with this in I Corinthians, with a specifc warning
in I Corinthians 4:6 that no one was to go “beyond
what is written.”
[13]
II Timothy 4:1-2
[14]
I Corinthians 3:5-9
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