MAC KIRK

 Different Maturity in the Christian Life  I John 2:12-14    We see three different stages of spiritual pilgrimage here.  They are all in the Father.  Here John wants to reassure his readers that he does not doubt the validity of their Christian faith; he wants to encourage them.  Our Lord said in Mark 4:28 " first the blade, then the ear , after that the full corn in the ear..." 1. The Word has been planted in the heart.  It has taken root in good soil. " the man who hears the Word, and understands it, and brings forth much fruit." Mt. 13   John calls this " little children".  " I am writing to you little children , because your sins have been forgiven for His name's sake." 2:12  (forgiven is in the perfect tense , have been & remain forgiven) .    These are new born in Christ.  Jn 6:44 " No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him" 2 words for children in Christ- teknia to bring forth parent-child relationshi

 I John 2:7-11  The Love Test Begins      As you remember I think I said that as we go through I John,  we will see the Apostle John reminds us three times of what they are--the tests of eternal life, so he repeats himself as any good teacher does.  In other words, he knows we need to be reminded because we too soon forget the love of God --- in His Son Jesus Christ.  The new commandment he speaks of is not new at all but what we heard from the beginning of our Christian lives.  3:11 describes it: " For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning , that we should love one another". How did your Christian life begin?  I know I needed and still need a lot of help as I began mine and continue it.  I needed to know the gospel, that God in Christ reconciles us to Himself and that we can be born from above, or born again.  The old has passed away & all things have become new.  Christianity is not a set of rules and laws.  It is a relationship of love and trust with Him

 I John 2:2-6   We need to visit the good news in I John 2:2 before moving on in the Epistle series.  Not a verse to skip!!!( I remembered while I was working on this series the vs in Hebrews about Moses---the , :"By faith Moses, when he was grown, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. 25He chose to suffer oppression with God’s people rather than to experience the fleeting enjoyment of sin. 26He valued disgrace for Christ above the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking ahead to his reward.…" Berean Bible) 2:2 "And if any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and He is the propitiation for our sins: and not for our sins only , but also for the sins of the whole world" "Sometimes it only takes one person to hold your hand to remind you that everything is going to be ok"  --- Roger Lee ( thank you to my fb friend who shared this on Thursday ) Advocate in orig language means 'called alongside' especial

 Falling at the Feet of Jesus is our Recognition of our Need of Cleansing I John 2:1-2- We read this together so we may understand what John is saying now. I John 1:9 is helpful that we know that we need confession and God is faithful to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. The best illustration of John's thoughts in the beginning of his letter in ch. 2 may be the woman in the Gospel,  I read in Luke 7:36 in the morning reading on Friday of last week.  She fell at the feet of Jesus and her tears were many at her need of cleansing and forgiveness .  Christians need this as well every day of the week. Sin does break our fellowship with God John tells us.  We are all born into the world as sinners John confirms and no one is untouched by sin.   The Greek word sin could be translated as not hitting the target.  The Presbyterian/reformed children's catechism gives us many ideas about our original sin , and the need of seeing that we are in danger as we violat

 July 4 Weekend.     The date is so important our nation observes it almost religiously and even some Churches have special events as well as their Order of Service includes it as a special day .  I agree it is very important so the lessons we read today describe what one Church thought it should be about on July 4.   Certainly the Galatians reading is easy to relate to with the word freedom being used in today's passage.  The Deuteronomy and Matthew passages are more difficult to see but they too relate to being new people and having God's outlook on situations . In Deuteronomy we read of statutes and laws that God has given to bless the land that Israel was going into.  The people will be happy and blessed if they follow God's directions.  14: 6-7 describes that they are wisdom and understanding and observing them will distinguish Israel from other nations ."  Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, whic