Hebrews 11:8-10: By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.
Genesis 11:31-32: Terah took Abram his son and Lot the son of Haran, his grandson, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram’s wife, and they went forth together from Ur of the Chaldeans to go into the land of Canaan, but when they came to Haran, they settled there.The days of Terah were 205 years, and Terah died in Haran.
Genesis 12:1-3: Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
Genesis 12:4-5: So Abram went, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people that they had acquired in Haran, and they set out to go to the land of Canaan.
Key Takeaways:
– We are called to be a blessing. What hinders you?
– What do you value? This world or the world to come?
– Are you concerned about your name and reputation? Leave it to the Lord to do what He wills.
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He uses the phrase “we know” several times. He is describing things we Christians know. John summarizes things he’s told us already, things that we as Christians should know. The knowledge that binds us together. And now that we’re all on the same page, there are certain things we can move on to. We’ve got the foundation, now John begins to move to some nuanced theology.
John’s writing style is cyclical and meant to build on itself. But he’s been spiraling toward something, toward some themes he wants to leave us with and we’ll read that today.
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. • Our text last week told us the letter is written to “those who believe”, and here we see the reason this whole thing is written is “so you may know that you have eternal life”. • God gives us this letter for the assurance of our salvation, so we can know for certain of our salvation. • That knowledge by itself is yet another gift from God. It’s one thing to have it, it’s another for God to mercifully put us at ease, for us to know that we are saved from our old selves and our sin nature.
14 And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. 15 And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him. • John continues on his theme of confidence; we have confidence in our prayers. • John tells us about the power and purpose of prayer. This is a theme we haven’t seen much of. Ch 3:22 we get a small reference to it “whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him” • A non-believer would be inclined to think this feels awful cheap. Cool so if I ask God for what He wants, I’ll get it? Sure… sounds pretty rigged to me. • It’s only cheap if you’ve been told prayer is like a genie in a bottle. If that’s your expectation you’ll be disappointed. God is not merely a wish granter. • Prayer is an alignment, not a wish list. Look at the Lord’s prayer as the model. Give me the food I need. Forgive me my sins, and give me the capacity to forgive others. Help keep me away from sin, and help me lean on you for everything I need. • Sometime we get what we ask for, but the greater gift is to have your mind transformed to be more Christlike. To think more like God, what better gift is there?? • How much better are our lives when we are made more in to the image of God, compared to just getting what we think we want and need.
16 If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask, and God will give him life—to those who commit sins that do not lead to death. There is sin that leads to death; I do not say that one should pray for that. 17 All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that does not lead to death. • This is a little complicated and nuanced, we’ll take it slow. My biggest takeaway from this section of text is that we have a responsibility to our brothers. • Next, this passage brings up a new idea: not all sin is the same. • All sin has a common thread: it separates us from God, it is a crime against his law. All sin makes us imperfect but it is not all equal. Some sin is sticky, habit forming. • But the biggest distinction I think John is making is some sin is repented of, some is not. • I think that’s what he means by sin that leads to death. • Death is separation from God, so this must mean unrepentant, habitual sin. • 1 John 3:10 “whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God”.
18 We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but he who was born of God protects him, and the evil one does not touch him. 19 We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. 20 And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. 21 Little children, keep yourselves from idols. • We’ve arrived at the conclusion, the reason for my message title and what I hope we can all take away from our teaching of 1 John. Let’s examine some things we know… • The very end, “keep yourself from idols”, can feel out of left field, abrupt and disjointed from the sum of it all, but I don’t think so. I don’t think John is accidental with any of his words. It’s the last thing he says, gotta be important. Don’t settle for the cheap stuff. • We are left with a warning that to live with anything else as lord over our lives is to reject the understanding Jesus gives us. To idolize anything else is to deny God his rightful throne in our hearts, and turn away from understanding. Don’t give an inch. summary
some reminders of themes throughout the letter: • Ch 3:28 commands us to believe in Jesus and love our brothers and sisters • Ch 5:3 tells us His commands are easy • And our key verse from today, 5:13, the purpose of this letter is to assure us of our faith
Application:
We are assured of our salvation – What does the life of a believer who is certain of their faith look like? – Are they afraid of what their coworkers think of them? Their parents? Prayer posture is important – Do I have the right view of prayer? Do my prayers reflect what God wants or what I want We petition for our brothers and sisters – Do I love my brothers and sisters so much that I spend my coveted time with God interceding on their behalf? We are not under the control of the enemy – When we know that, how can I still make excuses for my sin? When we know the enemy has been defeated, you and I boldly reject the chains of sin that have been broken by the blood of Jesus! Jesus came so that we might know him – We can know all these things by knowing Him. Are we making it a priority? – There are a lot of “we know” statements. There are too many to put on the screen. But I want to draw your attention to them. If you’ve got the notebook, go through and circle all of them. It is a great thing to use as a prayer and meditation guide.
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Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
This is he who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ; not by the water only but by the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. For there are three that testify: the Spirit and the water and the blood; and these three agree. If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater, for this is the testimony of God that he has borne concerning his Son. Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning his Son. And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.
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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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