Which Way Are You Going?
Sermon: Which Way Are You Going?
Scripture: Psalm 127
By Gordon R. Bland Jr.
at Raleigh Heights Baptist Church
November 20, 2022
Category: Expository Study
Expository Bible Study Archives: Gain an in-depth understanding of God’s Word with a exegetical hermeneutic in the proper context and modern application!
The Tabernacles Discourse: The Light of the World John 8:12-30
The Tabernacles Discourse is a memorable event in the Gospel of John, but in the Jewish cultural context, it is an even more dramatic event. Scholars disagree on the Light of the World discourse, whether it belongs to the Tabernacles Discourse or not, as the woman caught in adultery exists between the two exchanges. The oldest manuscripts lack the woman caught in adultery; thus the two exchanges would both occur in the context of the Festival of Tabernacles, providing a further dramatic and provocative exchange.
The Christian Response to False Teachers
In this short letter, John begins with a traditional greeting, but this time, he uses his title, “The elder.” His recipient is the church, by which he refers to as “the lady.” This would be a respectful term that uses the typical feminine reference of the church as in the “bride of Christ.” No specific church is named, so it should be assumed per the context of the letter, there was but only a single recipient, so no further name would be needed. John’s purpose of the letter was to protect the faithful from the false teachers that would abuse their hospitality to deceive others and increase their personal gain.
Do Not Be Like the World
In this short section of John’s letter, with few words, he teaches a significant lesson. The bottom line is that Christians shall not love the world, for it is passing away. It is such a simple statement, but it has a great depth found in the language that is used. While John often speaks of love, this is the one time that love is used in a negative manner.
Worry Not, Jesus is Lord!
We know that the Lord will win over all His enemies, so perhaps the Lord has given the secular world to their own debased thinking. In the absurdity of post-modern thought, the Truth will come out. It is an opportunity to bring people back to the Truth that God has revealed to us. So how shall we then live?
Scripture is the Truth, and Our Foundation
By listening to the present rhetoric of politics, culture, and education, Christianity is backward and in great danger of extinction. According to the world, Christianity’s only hope is to modernize by assimilating to the present day’s standards. The church should no longer teach the “mythical stories” of the Bible, and the moral teachings of Scripture should be updated to accept the cultural direction of the day. The teachings that disagree with science should be cast into the garbage, and perhaps then, the church may survive.