Dr. Terry Threadwell's Blog

Brethren, I write no new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which you heard from the beginning. Again, a new commandment I write to you, which thing is true in Him and in you, because the darkness is passing away, and the true light is already shining. He who says he is in the light, and hates his brother, is in darkness until now. He who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him. But he who hates his brother is in darkness and walks in darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes. (1Jo 2:7-11 NKJ)

What is it with John and all this love business? Don’t blame John; love is a God thing—yes God loves you and wants, no, requires you to be a lover. I say requires because hating your brother or sister, and remaining in God is not an option.

The English Dictionary defines it as, “the belief, feeling, or hope that all men (and women) should regard and treat one another as brothers (and sisters).” (parenthesis is mine).  That love should be regardless of race, gender, color, religion, culture or sexual orientation.  Love would make this world a brighter and better place.

Dionne Warwick sang, “What the world needs now is love sweet love, Its the only thing that there’s just too little of.” The Beatles agreed, when they sang, “All you need is love, all you need is love, All you need is love, love, love is all you need.”

Share some love today, God said so.

Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this, we know that we are in Him. He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked. (1Jo 2:3-6 NKJ)

Simple devotion and John doesn’t hold back.

1.      If we spend time in the Word, prayer and meditation (thinking on what you have read), you will know God.

2.      The one that tries to bypass #1, and still claim to know God, according to John, is a liar.

3.      How will it show that we are #1? It will show by our actions, walking in partnership with God.

So, read the Word, pray, meditate, then walk it out daily.

My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world. (1Jo 2:1-2 NKJ)

Propitiation, here in 1 John Christ is called the “propitiation for our sins.” Here a different Greek word is used (hilasmos). Christ is “the propitiation,” because by his becoming our substitute and assuming our obligations he expiated our guilt, covered it, by the vicarious punishment which he endured.

It doesn’t make God love us; it merely provides a way for him to love us.  One translation puts it this way, “He is God’s way of dealing with our sins, not only ours but the sins of the whole world. (1Jo 2:2 CEB)

Not only did Christ become our substitute and assume our obligation, he also became our advocate.  When we stand accused, he speaks on our behalf. We never stand guilty, accused or alone. Christ is always there to remind the accuser that we have been redeemed.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

But the righteousness of faith speaks in this way, “Do not say in your heart, `Who will ascend into heaven?'” (that is, to bring Christ down from above) or, “`Who will descend into the abyss?'” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart ” (that is, the word of faith which we preach): that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart, one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth, confession is made unto salvation. (Rom 10:6-10 NKJ)

So what does Paul’s teaching in Romans have to do with 1 John? Absolutely nothing! I just felt the leading of the Holy Spirit to expand on the idea of confession.

In 1933, a new voice of change was being heard in Germany, the voice of nationalism, of patriotism, and of white supremacism, it was the voice of Adolf Hitler. Hitler’s message found favor in the German Evangelical church and by means of an illegal election, Hitler made sure that only those that supported his message were in control of the churches.

There was, however, a group of pastors and theologians that saw Christ as the head of the church and not the Führer. They called themselves the Confessing Church. The Confessing Church included notable Christian pastors and theologians as Martin Niemöller, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and Karl Barth.  Together, they published a declaration of faith, called the Barmen Declaration.  http://www.ucc.org/beliefs_barmen-declaration

At the end of the declaration they wrote, “The Confessing Synod of the German Evangelical Church declares that it sees in the acknowledgment of these truths and in the rejection of these errors the indispensable theological basis of the German Evangelical Church as a confederation of Confessing Churches. It calls upon all who can stand in solidarity with its Declaration to be mindful of these theological findings in all their decisions concerning Church and State. It appeals to all concerned to return to unity in faith, hope, and love. Verbum Dei manet in aeternum. The Word of God will last for ever.

Bonhoeffer didn’t believe in cheap grace.  Salvation is a free gift, but discipleship costs everything.

When evil is knocking at the door, you have to make the decision whether to cozy up with the devil or stand, confessing your faith in Christ. What’s your confession?

https://thebostondeclaration.com/

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us. (1Jo 1:9-10 NKJ)

“Confession is good for the soul”—so says the old cliché. Like many clichés, it has the virtue of being true.

According to John, confession is not an option. We sin, and we confess, and God cleanses us from all sin.  Augustine of Hippo once said, “the confession of evil works is the first beginning of good works.”

As the writer of Proverbs says, “He who covers his sins will not prosper, But whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy. (Pro 28:13 NKJ)

John is telling us that confessing our sin brings it out of darkness and into the light. Only there can God deal with it.

I said to myself, “I will confess my rebellion to the LORD .” And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone. Therefore, let all the godly confess their rebellion to you while there is time, that they may not drown in the floodwaters of judgment. Psalm 32:1-6

Be not ashamed to confess thy sins; and force not the course of the river. (Sir 4:26 KJA)

This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. (1Jo 1:5-7 NKJ)

Bell, Rob,in his book, ‘What We Talk About When We Talk About God,’ says, “If you found yourself riding on a train that was traveling at the speed of light and you looked out the window, you would not see things ahead, things beside you, and things you had just passed. You would see everything all at once. You would lose your sense of past, present, and future because linear, sequential time would collapse into one giant NOW.

God moves no slower than the speed of light, that’s why God is I AM, the ever present God.  In fact according to scripture, God may even move faster than the speed of light.  God tells us in the Book of Isaiah, “It shall come to pass That before they call, I will answer; And while they are still speaking, I will hear. (Isa 65:24 NKJ)

Mind blowing!

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life–the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us–that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. And these things we write to you that your joy may be full. (1Jo 1:1-4 NKJ)

By the time the Apostle John started to write, Jesus had been dead some fifty years. The early Church had endured the persecution of Nero.  Mark was the first to write his account of the gospel in AD70, followed by Matthew and Luke. Finally, in a ten year period, John writes his gospel, three epistles, and the Revelation of Jesus Christ.  So why did John wait all that time to write and then suddenly sprint to the finish line?

Domitian was emperor; persecution was on the increase, the people possibly wondered if he might be Nero reincarnated? Sound strange? Believe it or not, that was the most significant fear of Christians at that time. Also, by the end of the first century, Greek philosophy was beginning to influence the culture. To the Stoics, the Logos was the impersonal face of reason, John says, ‘no,’ the Logos in the Word, God incarnate.

Into this mix, John writes to his churches.  It may be that by now people were beginning to doubt that Jesus existed or that he would return. John wants to make it clear, Jesus is real, and he is coming soon.  I’ve seen him and declared unto you, John says, repeating himself three times.  That’s how passionate John was.

December 15, 2017. Studies in Nehemiah
Artaxerxes, king of kings, To Ezra the priest, a scribe of the Law of the God of heaven: Perfect peace, and so forth. I issue a decree that all those of the people of Israel and the priests and Levites in my realm, who volunteer to go up to Jerusalem, may go with you. And whereas you are being sent by the king and his seven counselors to inquire concerning Judah and Jerusalem, with regard to the Law of your God which is in your hand; and whereas you are to carry the silver and gold which the king and his counselors have freely offered to the God of Israel, whose dwelling is in Jerusalem; and whereas all the silver and gold that you may find in all the province of Babylon, along with the freewill offering of the people and the priests, are to be freely offered for the house of their God in Jerusalem–now therefore, be careful to buy with this money bulls, rams, and lambs, with their grain offerings and their drink offerings, and offer them on the altar of the house of your God in Jerusalem. And whatever seems good to you and your brethren to do with the rest of the silver and the gold, do it according to the will of your God. Also, the articles that are given to you for the service of the house of your God deliver in full before the God of Jerusalem. (Ezra 7:12-19 NKJ)
So, as we close out the week, and our studies in Nehemiah, I want to draw upon some verses from a parallel book, Ezra. As Nehemiah focused on building the walls and hanging the gates, Ezra’s concern was the rebuilding of the temple and establishing the Law.
Let’s put this text in a modern-day context. Artaxerxes, the leader of Iran, tells Israel, to take the priests and Levites, along with gold and silver and rebuild the house of God and bring the Torah back to the land. Unfortunately, neither Iran nor Israel is the people seen here in Ezra. Governments today seek to establish a culture of fear and distrust. You might be a king, queen, president or prime minister, but you are a child of God. Therefore, in your prayer time today and every day, make a degree to share some love and create an atmosphere of peace.

December 14, 2017. So Your Called to Minister—Studies from Nehemiah

Nehemiah 13:4-11  Now before this, Eliashib the priest, having authority over the storerooms of the house of our God, was allied with Tobiah.  And he had prepared for him a large room, where previously they had stored the grain offerings, the frankincense, the articles, the tithes of grain, the new wine and oil, which were commanded to be given to the Levites and singers and gatekeepers, and the offerings for the priests.  But during all this I was not in Jerusalem, for in the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes king of Babylon I had returned to the king. Then after certain days I obtained leave from the king,  and I came to Jerusalem and discovered the evil that Eliashib had done for Tobiah, in preparing a room for him in the courts of the house of God.  And it grieved me bitterly; therefore I threw all the household goods of Tobiah out of the room.  Then I commanded them to cleanse the rooms; and I brought back into them the articles of the house of God, with the grain offering and the frankincense.  I also realized that the portions for the Levites had not been given them; for each of the Levites and the singers who did the work had gone back to his field.  So I contended with the rulers, and said, “Why is the house of God forsaken?” And I gathered them together and set them in their place.

1 Corinthians 3:16-17  Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?  If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.

Walls built, gates hung and the storehouses ready and complacency sets in. twenty years later, the prophet Haggai prophecies to the people regarding their priorities and values. The enemy will invite himself in and take up residency if he is given a chance, but whether it is the house of God or your own personal life, the Devil has no place there.  Not only should he be kicked out but all his items and the then you need to find out what’s in your life that gave him access.  Holiness and sanctification require separation unto God and from sin.

Nehemiah 9:5-13   And the Levites, Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabniah, Sherebiah, Hodijah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah, said: “Stand up and bless the LORD your God Forever and ever! “Blessed be Your glorious name, Which is exalted above all blessing and praise! You alone are the LORD; You have made heaven, The heaven of heavens, with all their host, The earth and everything on it, The seas and all that is in them, And You preserve them all. The host of heaven worships You.  “You are the LORD God, Who chose Abram, And brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans, And gave him the name Abraham;  You found his heart faithful before You, And made a covenant with him To give the land of the Canaanites, The Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, And the Girgashites — To give it to his descendants. You have performed Your words, For You are righteous.  ” You saw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt, And heard their cry by the Red Sea.   You showed signs and wonders against Pharaoh, Against all his servants, And against all the people of his land. For You knew that they acted proudly against them. So You made a name for Yourself, as it is this day.  And You divided the sea before them, So that they went through the midst of the sea on the dry land; And their persecutors You threw into the deep, As a stone into the mighty waters.  Moreover You led them by day with a cloudy pillar, And by night with a pillar of fire, To give them light on the road Which they should travel.  “You came down also on Mount Sinai, And spoke with them from heaven, And gave them just ordinances and true laws, Good statutes and commandments.

Revelation 12:11  “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.

The people had been in exile 70plus years, many were actually born in captivity, and yet they never lost their identity as the people of God.   One of the reasons was that they maintained the oral tradition of storytelling.  Even in today’s text, they remind themselves and others of the goodness of God. 

Are you telling your story?  When you’ve gone on to be with the Lord will anyone know what God did for you?  I became a Christian in 1976, and though I may have told my testimony several times, I need to remember that there are two things that bring the Devil down:

Blood of Jesus Christ.

Testimony of what God has done.

Take the time today to tell your story.