I Write These Things to Warn You
Ignatius of Antioch warns against vain doctrine and emphasizes the importance of full assurance in Christ, highlighting His divinity, humanity, life, death, and resurrection.
Ignatius of Antioch emphasizes the importance of guarding against false teachings and encourages believers to have full assurance in Christ. He highlights Christ's miraculous life, healing ministry, revelation of the one true God, crucifixion, resurrection, ascension, and future return for judgment. Those who have a deep conviction and belief in these truths are blessed, and Ignatius commends his audience for their love for God and Christ, urging them to remain steadfast in their hope.
Text
These things [I address to you], my beloved, not that I know any of you to be in such a state; but, as less than any of you, I desire to guard you beforehand, that ye fall not upon the hooks of vain doctrine, but that you may rather attain to a full assurance in Christ, who was begotten by the Father before all ages, but was afterwards born of the Virgin Mary without any intercourse with man.
He also lived a holy life, and healed every kind of sickness and disease among the people, and wrought signs and wonders for the benefit of men; and to those who had fallen into the error of polytheism He made known the one and only true God, His Father, and underwent the passion, and endured the cross at the hands of the Christ-killing Jews, under Pontius Pilate the governor and Herod the king.
He also died, and rose again, and ascended into the heavens to Him that sent Him, and is sat down at His right hand, and shall come at the end of the world, with His Father's glory, to judge the living and the dead, and to render to every one according to his works. He who knows these things with a full assurance, and believes them, is happy; even as ye are now the lovers of God and of Christ, in the full assurance of our hope, from which may no one of us ever be turned aside!
Sermon Outline
- Introduction
- Christ's divinity and humanity
- Christ's life, death, and resurrection
- Christ's second coming and judgment
- Christ's return with His Father's glory
- Christ's judgment of the living and the dead
- Christ's resurrection and ascension
Key Quotes
“He who knows these things with a full assurance, and believes them, is happy;” — Ignatius of Antioch
Application Points
- Believers should strive for full assurance in Christ, trusting in His divinity and humanity.
- Christ's life, death, and resurrection demonstrate His power and love for humanity.
- Believers should be cautious of vain doctrine and instead seek to deepen their understanding of Christ's teachings.