Christ in 3 John

~ Jesus Christ Is The Only Way To God ~

The Bible is about Jesus Christ  ~  “Jesus said to them, ‘How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken!  Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter His glory?’  And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning Himself” (Luke 24:25-27).

Jesus Christ in John’s Three Letters  ~   He is everlasting love in all three epistles.  He is the Great Lover coming for His Bride (His true Church).  But also note that the Apostle John wrote many familiar words in his account of the life of Jesus Christ.  One of the more familiar verses is amplified in these three epistles.  “Jesus said to him [Thomas], ‘I am the way [3 John], the truth [2 John], and the life [1 John].  No one comes to the Father except through Me’” (John 14:6).

Jesus Christ in the Epistle of 3 John  ~  He is the one who is the Way to the source of true prosperity.  He is the One who is good.  A curious fact in this epistle is that John refers by name to both good and bad individuals—but rather than lump The Messiah in with others he simply refers to Jesus Christ as The Name.  “Dear friend, when you extend hospitality to Christian brothers and sisters, even when they are strangers, you make the faith visible.  They’ve made a full report back to the church here, a message about your love.  It’s good work you're doing, helping these travelers on their way, hospitality worthy of God himself!  They set out under the banner of the Name, and get no help from unbelievers.  So they deserve any support we can give them.  In providing meals and a bed, we become their companions in spreading the Truth” (3 John 5-8, The Message).

Comment  ~  We have only touched the surface of Christ in 3 John.  The Apostle Paul told us the Scriptures present many shadows of things to come but the reality is found in Jesus Christ (Colossians 2:17). 

~~~ EXPLANATORY “JESUS CHRIST IN EVERY BOOK OF THE BIBLE” SERIES ~~~   

(1)  Approximately once a month ALN posts an overview of how Jesus Christ is seen in a specific book of the Bible.

(2)  In most cases these posts only scratch the surface regarding Jesus Christ in the particular book.

(3)  These posts will typically be in the same order as the books are found in the Bible.

(4)  These serial posts are in addition to our other ALN postings.

(5)  Subscription to ABUNDANT LIFE NOW blog is simple—just use the link on the left sidebar.  Once subscribed you will not miss future posts.

~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW

NOTES:

(1)     The current TOP 10 ALN posts are listed at the very bottom of this home page.

(2)     There is an INDEX of all ALN posts accessed by scrolling down the left column.

(3)     You may LINK to any ALN posts on your own blog or website. 

(4)     You may COPY any ALN post, but please credit ALN as the source by prominently displaying the following statement:  Reprinted from “Abundant Life Now,” a free blog which offers inspiring moments, thought-provoking comments, and solid Biblical insight at http://RobertLloydRussell.blogspot.com/ .

Fact Check, 54

~ My Heart Guides ~  

Bible Quotation?  ~  “Just follow your own heart.”  “At the end of the day, just follow your heart.”  “Follow whatever your heart is telling you to do.”

The Bible Says  ~  Those statements are not in the Bible, but the Bible does have a lot to say about the human heart.

“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?” (Jeremiah 17:9).

“Truly the hearts of the sons of men are full of evil; madness is in their hearts while they live, and after that they go to the dead” (Ecclesiastes 9:3b).

“When Jesus had entered a house away from the crowd, His disciples asked Him concerning the parable.  So He said to them, ‘Are you thus without understanding also?  Do you not perceive that whatever enters a man from outside cannot defile him, because it does not enter his heart but his stomach, and is eliminated, thus purifying all foods?’  And He said, ‘What comes out of a man, that defiles a man.  For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness.  All these evil things come from within and defile a man’” (Mark 7:17-23). 

The Significance  ~  Clearly following our heart is a bad idea!  Instead, we need to follow the instructions which God has given man in His written Word of God and the leading of His Holy Spirit.  Go to the divine heart surgeon for help. 

“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.  I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them” (Ezekiel 36:26-27).

Jesus said, “I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.” (John 14:16-17).

   

The Result  ~  “My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth.  And by this we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him.  For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things.  Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God” (1 John 3:18-21).

~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW

NOTES:

(1)     The current TOP 10 ALN posts are listed at the very bottom of this home page.

(2)     There is an INDEX of all ALN posts accessed by scrolling down the left column.

(3)     You may LINK to any ALN posts on your own blog or website. 

(4)     You may COPY any ALN post, but please credit ALN as the source by prominently displaying the following statement:  Reprinted from “Abundant Life Now,” a free blog which offers inspiring moments, thought-provoking comments, and solid Biblical insight at http://RobertLloydRussell.blogspot.com/ .

Learn From Gideon, 18

~ Gideon Obeyed God ~

The Biblical account of the life of Gideon provides for one of the most interesting character studies in all of Scripture.  In this series we will discover practical lessons for living the Christian life today.  

Scripture  ~  “Now it came to pass the same night that the Lord said to him, ‘Take your father’s young bull, the second bull of seven years old, and tear down the altar of Baal that your father has, and cut down the wooden image that is beside it; and build an altar to the Lord your God on top of this rock in the proper arrangement, and take the second bull and offer a burnt sacrifice with the wood of the image which you shall cut down.’  So Gideon took 10 men from among his servants and did as the Lord had said to him” (Judges 6:25-27a).  

Learn From Gideon  ~  This is one of the many positives of Gideon’s life.  He wanted to obey God and started out as a true disciple following God’s directions. 

1.  Obedience allows close relationship with God.  “‘Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine.  And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’  These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel” (Exodus 19:5-6).
2. Obedience brings consequences.  “‘And it shall be that if you earnestly obey My commandments which I command you today, to love the Lord your God and serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul, then I will give you the rain for your land in its season, the early rain and the latter rain, that you may gather in your grain, your new wine, and your oil.  And I will send grass in your fields for your livestock, that you may eat and be filled.’  Take heed to yourselves, lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside and serve other gods and worship them, lest the Lord's anger be aroused against you, and He shut up the heavens so that there be no rain, and the land yield no produce, and you perish quickly from the good land which the Lord is giving you.” (Deuteronomy 11:13-17).
3. God as Creator and Sovereign of the universe deserves our obedience.  “But Peter and the other apostles answered and said: ‘We ought to obey God rather than men’” (Acts 5:29-30).
4. It is a matter of Who or what you are controlled by.  “Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?” (Romans 6:16-17).

concluding comment  ~  We learn about Gideon primarily from Judges 6-8, but also Isaiah 9:1-7, and Hebrews 11:1-3, 32-34.

~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW

NOTES:

(1)     The current TOP 10 ALN posts are listed at the very bottom of this home page.

(2)     There is an INDEX of all ALN posts accessed by scrolling down the left column.

(3)     You may LINK to any ALN posts on your own blog or website. 

(4)     You may COPY any ALN post, but please credit ALN as the source by prominently displaying the following statement:  Reprinted from “Abundant Life Now,” a free blog which offers inspiring moments, thought-provoking comments, and solid Biblical insight at http://RobertLloydRussell.blogspot.com/ .