7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.
13 By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. 14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 16 So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. 17 By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. 19 We love because he first loved us. 20 If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. 21 And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.
Takeaways
– A Great Revelation: God is love!
– A Great Confession: Jesus is the Son of God!
– A Great Demonstration: John insists that we prove our faith!
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4:1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.
2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. • How do we tell the truth from the lie? John keeps it simple. He gives us the test of the Spirits. Those that confess Jesus as Lord, the savior and Christ, speaks with a godly spirit.
3b This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already.
4 Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.
• The truth has overcome the lie. Even though we are not alone in the world, we share it with an enemy who hates us and wants to see the kingdom of God defeated. The good news is that God has overcome the enemy. WE have overcome the enemy. Jesus is greater than he who is in the world. • The word of God is has overcome the enemy; look how strong it is: o 12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. Hebrews 4:12 • The truth cuts through the lies. The truth does not have to keep its story straight. The world does not stand a chance against the truth. God is that truth. • John 8:32 “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” • When we abide in God’s word, when we sit under his teaching, when we soak in the word of God and let it permeate our lives, our actions, our thoughts, that is when we know the truth. This is our strength, confidence and our foundation
5 They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them. 6 We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error.
• We, as those who follow God, will never belong. We are not of the world and the world knows it. It can sniff us out a mile away. John has described at great length in this letter all the ways that Christians are to be recognized. • Do you remember what they are? What does it mean to be from God? • We practice righteousness. We love one another, we abide in his word. We walk in the light. We confess our sins. We share the good news with others. We do not love the things of this world. • Here John adds those who know God listen to us. Listen to his teaching. • There will be people who do not understand what you say. Who will twist your words and distort your views and convictions. They are of the world and they do not understand the way of God.
Summary
Victory in Jesus – God is greater than he who is in the world. What an incredible fact! – Are you living like a winner? Are you celebrating? Are you thankful? The victory in Jesus should inspire confidence and action.
Do not be ignorant of opposition – You and I have an enemy that is looking for ways to weaken us spiritually, are you aware of that, and what are you doing to protect yourself against it?
Do not neglect the support we have – What does your spiritual support system look like? Christian community. Are you spending time with other believers on a regular basis, or is it really just here on Sunday? – Who are you calling when you are struggling with sin? Who is keeping you accountable? – With the spirit living in us, are you attuned to it? Are you listening to the movement of the spirit in you?
Isaiah 61:1 “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;”
The spirit of truth sets us free. We have a spirit of victory living in us. That is what we celebrate at the table each week.
Acts 1:8 “you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
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11For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. 12 We should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother’s righteous. 13 Do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you. 14 We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death. 15 Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.
16 By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. 17 But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? 18 Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.
19 By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him; 20 for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything. 21 Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God; 22 and whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him. 23 And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. 24 Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God, and God in him. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us.
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4 Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. 5 You know that he appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. 6 No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him.
• John’s first point is that “sin is lawlessness”. It is to disobey God and his laws. It is rebellion, obstruction and disobedience. Sin is the ugly, smug dismissal of God’s desire for how we are to live and to act as if we know better.
•Romans 3:10 is quoting the Psalms when it says that “none is righteous, no, not one”.
•To see Jesus is supposed to change our life. If we keep on sinning, if we continue to cling to our old lives of rebellion and lawlessness, John says we certainly haven’t seen or experienced the real Jesus. The Jesus who has no sin who came to the world to take away our sins wants you to know him. Jesus wants us to abide in Him, he wants to be our shepherd and comfort.
7 Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. 8 Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. 9 No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God.
• The Greek word teknon or teknion is a good literal translation, but some versions that are more “idea for idea” might say “dear children”
• Imagine the affection he has for all these believers as he looks around as an old man in the faith and sees the great work God is doing in the world.
• We can practice righteousness. We ourselves are not good, but we are seen as righteous because of the spirit that lives in us. His advocate that lives in us IS righteous.
• John gives us another variation, v8 combines themes 1 and 2. Where previously sin is called lawlessness, here it is called the work of the devil.
• Being a Christian involves rebirth, dying to our old self and being raised to life with Jesus.
10 By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.
• With all that in mind, everything he’s told us twice in the last 6 verses, he gets to his conclusion. We are to be known as Children of the perfect God by the outpouring of righteousness in our own lives.
• John writes that the same is true for us; we can recognize the children of God by the way they live, how they practice righteousness.
• We are identified by our actions. If we are full of righteousness, it is because we have been given the righteousness of Jesus. If we are still making a practice of sin, we have not been born of Him.
• Regardless of what people tell you, they reveal their beliefs by how they act. If they do not love their brother, how on earth could they be of God? If God is love, and love is not found in that person, then certainly God’s seed does not abide and is not growing in Him.
Application:
What is my practice?
24 Instead, I want to see a mighty flood of justice, an endless river of righteous living. Amos 5:24 (NLT)
– Am I practicing evil or practicing righteousness?
What makes you right before God?
– Are you holding on to something that you do that makes you better than the rest of us sinners?
What sin has Jesus defeated in my life?
– What victories are you celebrating right now? How can we celebrate with you? How can you encourage those around you of the victory you’ve seen in their life?
2 Corinthians 5:21
21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
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See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.
Takeaways:
– Are you born of God?
– If yes, your nature will change.
– If yes, your life will be new.
– If yes, you will share a family resemblance to your Father and His other kids.
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Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us. But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all have knowledge. I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and because no lie is of the truth. Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also. Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you too will abide in the Son and in the Father. And this is the promise that he made to us—eternal life. I write these things to you about those who are trying to deceive you. But the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no lie—just as it has taught you, abide in him. And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming. If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him.
KEY TAKEWAYS:
– Get going with growing in the Lord and serving Him. (Time is short)
– There are deceivers/false teachers (Antichrists). But fear not!
– Stay (abide) in the Lord and His Word. (What you have heard)
– His Spirit (anointing) will stay with you.
– Being born of God will produce a family resemblance in us. (Practicing righteousness = born of Him)
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Beloved, I am writing you no new commandment, but an old commandment that you had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word that you have heard. At the same time, it is a new commandment that I am writing to you, which is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining. Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness. Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling. But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.
I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven for his name’s sake. I am writing to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I write to you, children, because you know the Father. I write to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one.
Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.
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The word of God is an encouragement, today is no exception. John says things that at first glance sound bad. In fact, they might terrify you and discourage you. But all is not lost. We sin, we mess up time and time again, and there is still good news. Our hope is in something more powerful than ourselves
1 My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.
• An advocate with the father. Jesus is leaning over in to God’s ear, whispering things about you. Tipping the scale in our favor. What power Jesus has to be in such a position! • Not just anyone can do that, John tells us that Christ Jesus is the righteous one. Your bible might have this as a proper noun, as a title. This is a title unique to him, which means what church? We are certainly NOT righteous. • We are morally bankrupt; we lack goodness and justification before God. But there is more good news.
2 He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.
• Jesus IS the sacrifice for our sins. What we cannot do, Jesus did. • Our sin is gross and messy and there is nothing we can do about it. But again, there is good news here, it is all on Jesus. It is His sacrifice that atones. It is not our lives lived in a manner worthy of anything, not even worth saving. Romans 5:8 “but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us”. He atones for our sin. • Galatians 3:28 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
3 We know that we have come to know him if we keep his commands. 4 Whoever says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person.
• We have all been saved by Jesus’s atonement for our sins. And the spirit gives us assurance of our faith. If we find ourselves obeying the word of God, we have come to know him. We have certainty of our knowledge of God when we follow his commands. • Our actions, the way our life is lived, is a testimony to the truth that we really do know Him! Those actions are not what saves us, let me refer you to verse 2. But the lack of obedience is incompatible with truly knowing God.
5 But if anyone obeys his word, love for God is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in him: 6 Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.
• Likewise, when we obey God, it draws us closer to him. We experience first-hand the life he wants for all of us. Our love for him grows as we obey his words and live it out. • It’s hard to live like someone if you don’t know them. As we conclude our text today, let’s look at some examples. How did Jesus live? What characteristics come to mind when you think of the life of Jesus? • Jesus was (and still is) patient with his creation. Jesus loved others, especially the ones the religious leaders neglected. He was obedient to the father.
We have hope in Jesus • What is your hope in? Even though we cannot keep ourselves from sinning, the gospel brings the message of salvation apart from anything we have done to earn it.
Knowing God results in obedience to Him. • Is the way you are orienting your life based on your personal knowledge of who God is and the love that He has for us? • Do you know Jesus? Are you spending time learning about who he is, what he teaches and how it impacts your life today?
Through obedience our love is made complete • Does your love for God feel complete, or empty? Something missing? • When our actions don’t match our words, it betrays how we really feel. • What areas is your love of God hypocritical? Confessing and repenting is step 1 • what are growth areas for you to be more Christlike?
To live in Jesus is to live like Jesus • We have a model of what obedience to God is. • What ways does your life look like Jesus’s? • What has encouraged you in your life to see where he’s making you more like himself?
This last point to take away is an encouragement to us, not a reason for shame or guilt. We should not read this and be burdened at the prospect of being like Jesus, God gave us this as a blessing and a calling for our lives.
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This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we 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 his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 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 we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
Takeaways/Application:
Do you affirm scripture that there is no wrong or darkness in God? Or do you believe that He can’t be all true about what He did and who He is.
What are specific things in your life you may believe God is purposely hiding or keeping from you that alter his being in your mind.
Unconfessed and unrepentant sin enslaves you to fellowship with darkness. Having heard that God is light will you truly repent and walk in the light and have fellowship with Him?
Do you confess and repent of sin daily? Monthly? Yearly? Never? Your awareness of sin may reveal how close your fellowship with God truly is.
What does your fellowship with God ultimately look like after today? Has it changed you in the past or are you still the same?
Fellowship with God should lead to repentance which should cause actual change and genuine sanctification to be seen and felt among others.
Do you believe that you are wiser than God and that he lies about your sin and need for a savior?
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1John 5:13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.”
He wrote this letter, we have it still and we are reading it today, so that we may know of the eternal life offered to us by our Creator. This letter is primarily to encourage us.
We will study the first 4 verses of chapter 1 (one sentence!) and in this short text this morning we see John start on two important threads: the incarnation and the fellowship it brings. Both of these ideas will be talked about again as we go through the letter. John tells the church how important it is to understand who Jesus is and how that should affect our lives and our relationships with others.
1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— • John is writing to tell us about something that has existed since the very beginning. there is only one thing: God. • And this God has been seen by his own eyes, touched with his own hands. • He is talking about Jesus, who was and is God himself, and John is writing this letter because of his position as a witness to it all! • He calls him “That which was from the beginning”. Jesus has always existed. He took on a human body the better part of 2 millennium ago, but he has always existed. He is the uncreated God.
2 the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us— • Jesus came to earth from the spiritual realm. He “was made manifest” means he took up a body, became like you and me with flesh and blood, hair and limitations. • And the purpose of his letter is so we will know that Jesus was not some legend or myth, but that he really was a man, who lived and taught what he did. • We have a letter that a man you and I never met, written two thousand years ago. He is using what he’s got at his disposal to impart the importance and the evidence behind what he saw.
3 that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. • God became man. We saw it with our eyes! And now, we are telling you about it, so that you can be in fellowship with us. • What did John see? Transfiguration, crucifixion, Jesus asks him to take care of his mother, he leans up against Jesus and asks who will betray him. He knew who Jesus was. • The point of this letter is so that you and I can be in fellowship with other believers, the ones who did see it and experience it first-hand. • The truth of Christ Jesus bonds us together unlike anything else. • Matthew 12:48, Jesus says: “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” 49 And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 50 For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”
4 And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete. • John desires to tell us these things; he knows the truth and he wants to share it with us. He has a responsibility to share, I believe he was compelled because of the spirit in him, and because he knows his spiritual satisfaction will only increase by sharing it further! • This is true for all of us today; a Christian takes joy in sharing the good news, in declaring the truth about God. We call the gospel the good news because we believe that! It is exciting to talk about and we love to see others embrace it!
Takeaways
What is your reaction to the witness accounts of the bible? • As I researched this book I was comforted and amazed at how robust the historical record is surrounding this. The legitimacy of the manuscripts, the amount of referencing and quoting by other early church fathers • Talk to me after if you have questions on this, I am no expert but I spent a lot of time looking in to it and was encouraged and would love to share it with you.
Are we in fellowship with other believers over the things of God? • Fellowship in Jesus is unlike anything else • Find your teammates. Pick each other up. Allow yourself to be held accountable to your brothers and sisters. Be one in Jesus. • “How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity!” Psalm 133:1
Am I sharing? • It can be tough to share our faith. It is personal, and sometimes private. This is hard for me • John is a great example however, that a Christian should wear it on his sleeve. The truth that we know about the world is draped over us, and we can get the same outcome as John. Our joy is made complete in sharing the work God has done in our lives. • Do I believe that my joy will grow? • Encourage you this morning to complete your joy, don’t keep it to yourself • Knowing who Christ is, believing what he has done and living in fellowship with Him and fellow believers brings us complete joy.
1 John is not a to-do list for Christians. Instead, it is a letter proclaiming what has been done, in sending his son to die for us.
