Bible Text: 3John | Speaker: Pastor Mike Hale | Series: 1John 2John 3John |

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January 31st, 2021
3John
“Christian Hospitality: Part Two…”
 

3John:1-4
“1 The elder to the beloved Gaius, whom I love in truth. 2 Beloved, I pray that in all respects you may prosper and be in good health, just as your soul prospers. 3 For I was overjoyed when brothers came and testified to your truth, that is, how you are walking in truth. 4 I have no greater joy than this, to hear of my children walking in the truth.”

John, the aged apostle, continues to write as a spiritual father figure to those in the Church, expecting his readers/hearers to accept his teaching as being from God.

Who is Gaius?
He is a man whose walk matches his talk,
this brings great joy to John.

We don’t know who Gaius is, but it would seem that John considers him to be a son in the faith, one who is walking in the truth; this is apparently testified to by those who know Gaius and have witnessed his obedience to Christ.

John prays for Gaius’s physical health to be equal to that of his spiritual health. Here is a man whose walk matches his talk; and his reputation is well known among the believers, this brings great joy to John.

Many believers profess one thing with their lips, but their life expresses something else; not so with Gaius, his genuine belief in Christ is exhibited in and through his example as a servant of God.

3John 5-8
“5 Beloved, you are acting faithfully in whatever you accomplish for the brethren, and especially when they are strangers; 6 and they have testified to your love before the church. You will do well to send them on their way in a manner worthy of God. 7 For they went out for the sake of the Name, accepting nothing from the Gentiles. 8 Therefore we ought to support such men, so that we may be fellow workers with the truth.”

Gaius shows hospitality to some brothers

Gaius is evidently showing hospitality to some brothers in the faith who are traveling about teaching the Word of God and encouraging the believers and followers of Christ.

Gaius is an example of those who do the good works God has prepared for us to do
(see James 2:14-17; Ephesians 2:8-10).

James 2:14-17
“14 What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? 17 Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.”

Ephesians 2:8-10
“8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.”

The actions of Gaius showing Christian hospitality had evidently gotten back to John, who now commends him and then exhorts him to continue helping these brothers “in a manner worthy of God,” i.e., as God would want him to treat them.

Matthew 25:35-40
“35 For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; 36 naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? 38 And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? 39 When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ 40 The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’”

These itinerate teachers are in service

These itinerate missionary teachers, according to 3John 7a, are serving, “for the sake of the Name.” What does that mean exactly? Philippians 2:9-11, “For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father,”

3John 7a
“for the sake of the Name.”

Colossians 3:17
“Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.”

1John 3:23
“This is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He commanded us.”

1John 5:13
“These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.”

These traveling teachers are proclaiming the message of Christ, “the Name which is above every name,” and they are depending upon God’s people to help provide for them (3John 7b).

3John 7b
“…they received “no help from the Gentiles [unbelievers].”

John encourages Gaius (and the Church) to continue showing hospitality to these men (3John 8).

3John 8
“so that we may be fellow workers with the truth.”

Showing hospitality to God’s servants is just as important as
denying hospitality to those who aren’t serving God,
as we studied last week,
(cf. 2John 7. 10-11).

2John 7
“7 For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist.”

2John 10-11
“10 If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house, and do not give him a greeting; 11 for the one who gives him a greeting participates in his evil deeds.”

We are to do good to all people, but we must discriminate to whom we show Christian hospitality, for it is the Holy God of Creation we serve. John is not talking about those with whom we have minor disagreements, but with those who teach falsely about the divinity and the humanity of Christ. With such deceivers we are not to associate; and we are not to welcome them into our homes, for in so doing we actually help the cause of the enemies of God.

3John 9-10
“9 I wrote something to the church; but Diotrephes, who loves to be first among them, does not accept what we say. 10 For this reason, if I come, I will call attention to his deeds which he does, unjustly accusing us with wicked words; and not satisfied with this, he himself does not receive the brethren, either, and he forbids those who desire to do so and puts them out of the church.”

It would seem that Diotrephes is
slandering John and the other Apostles.

John had evidently written an earlier letter to the church about showing hospitality to these men who boldly taught the truth of God and trusted in God to provide for their needs through His people.

It would seem, this man Diotrephes (a leader in the church) who “loves to be first,” had kept the letter from being read, for he rejects John’s authority and is bad mouthing John and the other Apostles (3John 9) “Diotrephes, who loves to be first… does not accept what we say
[Lit us, meaning, the Apostles].

Diotrephes is acting just the opposite of Gaius, whom John has commended for his Christian hospitality to traveling teachers and for living out his faith according to the truth; whereas, Diotrephes has withheld John’s teaching from the church because it goes against Diotrephes’ own bad behavior and teaching.

Diotrephes did not display Christian hospitality to those who were bringing the truth; but instead, he was promoting only himself and his own authority, while slandering John and putting out of the church anyone who was helping these itinerant teachers of the truth.

Diotrephes will have to answer to John for his godless leadership, teaching, and behavior; but he will also, more importantly, have to answer to God.

3John 11
“11 Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. The one who does good is of God; the one who does evil has not seen God.”

John exhorts Gaius to keep doing what is right
(1John 3:7, 10) God’s children please God;
unsaved people serve the Devil.

John exhorts Gaius (and the rest of the believers) to continue doing what is right and not to imitate Diotrephes, who is doing what is evil and whose actions prove that he is not a Christian, for Christians cling to that which is right (Romans 12:9).

Romans 12:9
“Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good.”

1John 3:7
“7 Little children, make sure no one deceives you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous;”

1John 3:10
“10 By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother.”

God’s children will seek to do what pleases God; unsaved people are under the control and influence of Satan, so they do what pleases their flesh, for their heat is evil.

Jesus, speaking to the religious scribes and Pharisees,

John 8:44
“44 You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”

1Peter 1:14-16
“As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”

1Peter 2:11-17
“11 Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul. 12 Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may because of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation. 13 Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, 14 or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right. 15 For such is the will of God that by doing right you may silence the ignorance of foolish men. 16 Act as free men, and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil, but use it as bondslaves of God. 17 Honor all people, love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the king.”

The world we live in is rapidly throwing off behavioral and belief restraints and putting away what it calls old fashioned, out-of-date, archaic traditional values, especially those morals or values that are rooted in the Word of God. Why is that?

1Corinthians 1:18
“The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”

1Corinthians 2:14
“The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.”

God’s people will desire to please God above all.

Christians are new creations in Christ, indwelled by God’s Spirit: purchased, purposed, and eternally protected by Almighty God, that we might, each one of us, seek to honor, and serve Him with our heart, soul, mind, and strength.

Jesus Christ is our example, and we must expose and turn away from all that offends God; no matter how politically correct, culturally acceptable, and lawfully protected SIN may become, we are to honor and obey God! We must fortify our hearts and minds, in order to live in accordance to the authority of God’s Word. God is the ultimate judge, not the Pope, not the Supreme Court, not the President, and therefore God’s people will live to please God above all other authorities.

3John 12
“12 Demetrius has received a good testimony from everyone, and from the truth itself; and we add our testimony, and you know that our testimony is true.”

John has exhorted Gaius not to imitate Diotrephes
who is doing what is evil

Just as John has exhorted Gaius not to imitate Diotrephes who is doing what is evil; John now encourages Gaius to imitate a man named Demetrius, who is well spoken of among the believers and commended by John and the rest of the Apostles.

Concerning Gaius and Demetrius, we know nothing apart from what is written here, but it is clear that both of these men are known for their devotion to God, God’s Word, and God’s people.

It is very possible that Demetrius is the one delivering John’s letter to Gaius, so that Gaius can read it to the church for their instruction, encouragement and exhortation. Perhaps the combined presence and strength of Gaius and Demetrius is necessary to rebuke the teaching and self-imposed authority of Diotrephes (who it would seem, is a strong and perhaps intimidating personality).

3John 13-14
“13 I had many things to write to you, but I am not willing to write them to you with pen and ink; 14 but I hope to see you shortly, and we will speak face to face.”

John closes this letter

John closes this letter with similar language to that of 2John 12, that he has more to say, and will do so in person [face to face].

John desires to confront Diotrephes face to face; while at the same time commending both Gaius and Demetrius for their obedience to the truth of God, their love for the brethren, and their examples of Christian hospitality.

1Peter 4:7-9
“The end of all things is near; therefore, be of sound judgment and sober spirit for the purpose of prayer. Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins. Be hospitable to one another without complaint.”

 
And all God’s people said, Amen!
 
Pastor Mike Hale
>’(((><

Bible Text: 2John | Speaker: Pastor Mike Hale | Series: 1John 2John 3John |

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01-24-2021
“Christian Hospitality – Part One”
2 John
 

2John was written about the same time as 1&3John, sometime between A.D. 90-95, while John was serving the church in Ephesus; sometime before his arrest and excommunication to the island of Patmos.

John was elderly at this writing, but he writes as one with spiritual authority, expecting his listeners to accept and apply his instruction.

Read 2John 1-6
“1 The elder to the chosen lady and her children, whom I love in truth; and not only I, but also all who know the truth, 2 because of the truth which remains in us and will be with us forever: 3 Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us, from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love. 4 I was overjoyed to find some of your children walking in truth, just as we have received a commandment to do from the Father. 5 Now I ask you, lady, not as though I were writing to you a new commandment, but the one which we have had from the beginning, that we love one another. 6 And this is love, that we walk according to His commandments. This is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, that you are to walk in it.”
John is writing to a Christian woman and her children, someone he was no doubt, close to; most likely she was well known in the church. John is commending this woman for doing that which pleases God, while living as an example of Christ in this world.

John knows this woman desires to obey and serve the Lord, and so he makes it clear, that what he is instructing her (and all who receive his letter), is not a new command, but is wrapped up in the most fundamental truth of love and obedience

(John 14:15
“15 “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.”

John 14:21
“21 The one who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and the one who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will reveal Myself to him.””

It would appear that John has a special love and respect for this woman, and he reminds her that our love for God, is synonymous with our obedience to live out the fundamentals of our faith: the what, why, where, when, and how we live, should display our obedience to God’s Word and our love toward others.

John is reminding this saintly woman (and all his readers), that those who belong to God should live out the same attitude exemplified by Christ (Philippians 2:6-8).

Philippians 2:6-8
“6 who, as He already existed in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 7 but emptied Himself by taking the form of a bond-servant and being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death: death on a cross.”

Read 2John 7-11
“7 For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist. 8 Watch yourselves, that you do not lose what we have accomplished, but that you may receive a full reward. 9 Anyone who goes too far and does not remain in the teaching of Christ, does not have God; the one who remains in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. 10 If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house, and do not give him a greeting; 11 for the one who gives him a greeting participates in his evil deeds.”

John describes these deceivers as, “those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh,” they are moved by the spirit of the antichrist and they seek to destroy the work of God, especially in the lives of those who belong to Christ.

Christians must be on guard against false teachers and false doctrine, for they are many and very deceptive, just as Paul warns us.

2Corinthians 11:13-15
“13 For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. 14 No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. 15 Therefore it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end will be according to their deeds.”

Galatians 1:8-9
“8 But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed! 9 As we have said before, even now I say again: if anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed!”

Galatians 1:11-12
“11 For I would have you know, brothers and sisters, that the gospel which was preached by me is not of human invention. 12 For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.”

And one of the clearest exhortations in the New Testament, concerning the Gospel of Jesus Christ is found in 1Corinthians 15:1-8.

1Corinthians 15:1-8
“Now I make known to you, brothers and sisters, the gospel which I preached to you, which you also received, in which you also stand, 2 by which you also are saved, if you hold firmly to the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain.
3 For I handed down to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6 After that He appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep; 7 then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles; 8 and last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared to me also.”

The Biblical record proclaims that Jesus Christ is fully God and fully man; any teaching to the contrary is heresy, and anyone who teaches such heresy is not to be shown Christian hospitality.

Please turn to Romans 1:1-4
“Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, [called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, 2 which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures, 3 concerning His Son, who was born of a [descendant of David according to the flesh, 4 who was declared the Son of God with power according to the [Spirit of holiness [by the resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord,” [cf. Romans 10:9-10].

Romans 10:9-10
“9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; 10 for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.”

God expects us to be hospitable to those who are truly in need (if we can), as we are to care for the poor, the hungry, the downtrodden, and for the widows and orphans who are without immediate family support.

Christians are to show hospitality to those in need, if at all possible, for that is what Christ would do (Matthew 25:31-40).

Matthew 25:31-40
“31 “But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. 32 And all the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, just as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; 33 and He will put the sheep on His right, but the goats on the left. 34 “Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; 36 naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? 38 And when did we see You as a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? 39 And when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ 40 And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it for one of the least of these brothers or sisters of Mine, you did it for Me.’”

1John 2:4-6
“4 The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; 5 but whoever follows His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him: 6 the one who says that he remains in Him ought, himself also, walk just as He walked.”

Colossians 3:23-24,
“Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve.”

Yes, we are to do good, to treat others the way we want to be treated ourselves, but we must discriminate to whom we show Christian hospitality, for it is God we are serving. John warns us not to show hospitality to false teachers.

John is not talking about those with whom we have minor disagreements, but with those who teach falsely about the combined divinity and humanity of Christ [Incarnation]. We are not to associate with such deceivers, and we are not to welcome them into our homes, for in so doing so, we do evil (see 3John 11).

3John 11
“11 Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. The one who does what is good is of God; the one who does what is evil has not seen God.”

There are two main religious cults who promote false doctrine in our area (the Mormons and the Jehovah’s Witnesses); they send out their disciples to knock on our doors, with the desire to not only gain entrance into your home, but into your heart/mind with their deceptive and godless teachings.

When they come to your door, and you tell them, you are a Christian, they may same something like: “We are students of the Bible, just like you.” “We believe in Jesus, just like you.” But is that the truth? No!

Mormon doctrine Teaches that Jesus is a spirit child of Elohim, and is also a brother to Satan; but, through obedience and devotion Jesus obtained Godhood. They teach that there are many God’s, all of whom were once mortals like us, until they attained Godhood, through the teachings of Mormonism.

Jehovah’s Witness doctrine teaches that Jesus is not God, nor is He the Creator; but that He is none other than Michael the archangel, the very first creation of God.

So is John saying that you shouldn’t show hospitality to false teachers? Yes, I believe that is exactly what he is saying; but, and please understand, if you are equipped to authoritatively reprove these deceivers in reference to what God’s Word says in the areas where their cult has lied to them, and they will listen to you… go for it!

2Timothy 2:15,
“Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.”

If you aren’t equipped to handle the Word of God accurately, or if those who are deceived won’t listen (but only promote their own false teachings), you must turn them away. You are not to show them hospitality.

Read 2John 12-13
“12 Though I have many things to write to you, I do not want to do so with paper and ink; but I hope to come to you and speak face to face, so that your joy may be made complete. 13 The children of your chosen sister greet you.”
John’s desire is to speak “face to face” [up close and in person], to this woman and those who are part of the fellowship to which she belongs.

John writes a greeting to this woman from her sister, her nieces and nephews, who all appear to be believers. Perhaps John is experiencing Christian hospitality with them, as he writes this letter to her.

There were in John’s day, just as there are today, many false teachers who roam about, for the purpose of planting doubt, propagating falsehoods and deceptive doctrines in the minds and hearts of susceptible people, attempting to lead them away from the One True God.

2Timothy 3:12-13,
“12 Indeed, all who want to live in a godly way in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. 13 But evil people and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.”

We must always submit to sound biblical doctrine, exposing any teaching about Christ that does not acknowledge and confess that He is God: the Creator, Sustainer, Lord, Savior, and Judge over All.

Jesus is God in the flesh, He conquered sin, death and judgment forever, so that all who repent of sin, believing in and following Him, receive eternal life.

Our hospitality to others must be Holy, i.e., it must conform to that which pleases God; and so, we are not to help, in anyway, those who promote false teachings about the divinity and humanity of Christ.

As believers and followers of Jesus Christ, we above all people on the earth should be hospitable to each other, and those who need to be shown hospitality.

1Peter 4:7-9,
“7 The end of all things is near; therefore, be of sound judgment and sober spirit for the purpose of prayer. 8 Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins. 9 Be hospitable to one another without complaint.”

Pastor Mike Hale
>’(((><

Bible Text: 1John 5:6-21 | Speaker: Pastor Mike Hale | Series: 1John 2John 3John |

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01-17-2021
“God’s People are Overcomers”
1John 5:6-21
Through Christ, God encourages, equips and exhorts us to devote ourselves to knowing, applying, and proclaiming God’s Word through every aspect of our lives, giving evidence that we are in Christ.

Read 1John 5:6-8
“6 This is the One who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ; not with the water only, but with the water and with the blood. It is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. 7 For there are three that testify: 8 the Spirit and the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement.”

We overcome sin, death, and judgement in Christ, no wonder God gives clear testimony that Jesus is indeed both Lord and Savior. John says Jesus Christ has come by water and by blood; in fact, that there are three who testify (the Spirit and the water and the blood), and they are all in agreement:
At Jesus’ baptism both the Father and the Spirit testify (Matthew 3:16-17).

Matthew 3:16-17
“16 After He was baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and settling on Him, 17 and behold, a voice from the heavens said, “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.””

At Jesus’ death (Matthew 27:50-51, 54).

Matthew 27:50-51
“50 And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and gave up His spirit. 51 And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth shook and the rocks were split.”

Matthew 27:54
“54 Now as for the centurion and those who were with him keeping guard over Jesus, when they saw the earthquake and the other things that were happening, they became extremely frightened and said, “Truly this was the Son of God!””

Romans 1:1-3
“Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning His Son… …who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord.”

Hebrews 9:11-12
“11 But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things having come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made by hands, that is, not of this creation; 12 and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all time, having obtained eternal redemption.”

Hebrews 9:22
“22 And almost all things are cleansed with blood, according to the Law, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.”

Hebrews 9:27-28
“27 And just as it is destined for people to die once, and after this comes judgment, 28 so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him.”

Hebrews 10:4-18
“4 For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. 5 Therefore, when He comes into the world, He says,
“You have not desired sacrifice and offering, But You have prepared a body for Me;
6 You have not taken pleasure in whole burnt offerings and offerings for sin.
7 Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come (It is written of Me in the scroll of the book) To do Your will, O God.’”
8 After saying above, “Sacrifices and offerings and whole burnt offerings and offerings for sin You have not desired, nor have You taken pleasure in them” (which are offered according to the Law), 9 then He said, “Behold, I have come to do Your will.” He takes away the first in order to establish the second. 10 By this will, we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all time.
11 Every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins; 12 but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God, 13 waiting from that time onward until His enemies are made a footstool for His feet. 14 For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified. 15 And the Holy Spirit also testifies to us; for after saying,
16 “This is the covenant which I will make with them After those days, declares the Lord: I will put My laws upon their hearts, And write them on their mind,”
He then says,
17 “And their sins and their lawless deeds I will no longer remember.”
18 Now where there is forgiveness of these things, an offering for sin is no longer required.”

[Jeremiah 31:33]
‘This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws upon their heart, and on their mind I will write them,’ He then says, ‘And their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.’ Now where there is forgiveness of these things, there is no longer any offering for sin.”
God has clearly given testimony, as to the deity of His Son. He has done this through the writings of the prophets, through His birth, through His baptism, through His death, and through His resurrection.
In the OT, the law required that there be two or three witnesses in order to establish truth about any particular matter:

Deuteronomy 17:6
“On the evidence of two witnesses or three witnesses, he who is to die shall be put to death; he shall not be put to death on the evidence of one witness.”

Deuteronomy 19:15
“A single witness shall not rise up against a man on account of any iniquity or any sin which he has committed; on the evidence of two or three witnesses a matter shall be confirmed.”

This principle of 2-3 witnesses is also clearly established in the NT:

Matthew 18:15-16
“15 “Now if your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have gained your brother. 16 But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that on the testimony of two or three witnesses every matter may be confirmed.”

John 8:17-18
“Even in your law it has been written that the testimony of two men is true. I am He who testifies about Myself, and the Father who sent Me testifies about Me.”

1Timothy 5:19
“Do not receive an accusation against an elder except on the basis of two or three witnesses.”

Read 1John 5:9
“9 If we receive the testimony of people, the testimony of God is greater; for the testimony of God is this, that He has testified concerning His Son.”

If we accept the testimony of 2-3 men (in agreement); how much more then ought we to believe God’s testimony about His Son, written in His Word, confirmed by His Spirit, and written upon the heart of each and every true believer who then lives as a testimony to God’s plan, purpose and provision of eternal life through Christ.

Read 1John 5:10
“10 The one who believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself; the one who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has given concerning His Son.”

When anyone genuinely believes God’s testimony about Jesus Christ, God confirms in that person’s heart that he/she has been saved, for God’s Spirit takes up eternal residence in our heart (cf. Romans 10:9-10; Galatians 4:6; Ephesians 1:13).

Romans 10:9-10
“9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; 10 for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.”

Galatians 4:6
“6 Because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying out, “Abba! Father!””

Ephesians 1:13
“13 In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of the promise,”

God’s Spirit confirms that this testimony about the birth, baptism, death, and resurrection of God’s Son, sovereignly declares His divinity!

Those who do not believe that Jesus was God in the flesh, are calling God a liar and rejecting His Son, and to reject the deity of Jesus Christ, Lord and Savior, is to bring eternal judgment upon oneself (cf. John 8:24; John 16:8-9).

John 8:24
“24 Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am, you will die in your sins.””

John 16:8-9
“8 And He, when He comes, will convict the world regarding sin, and righteousness, and judgment: 9 regarding sin, because they do not believe in Me;”

John 10:24-30
“24 The Jews then surrounded Him and began saying to Him, “How long will You keep us in suspense? If You are the Christ, tell us plainly.” 25 Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe; the works that I do in My Father’s name, these testify of Me. 26 But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep. 27 My sheep listen to My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; 28 and I give them eternal life, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. 30 I and the Father are one.””

Read 1John 5:11-13
“11 And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. 12 The one who has the Son has the life; the one who does not have the Son of God does not have the life. 13 These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.”

Everyone who has genuinely repented of their sins, and trusted in Jesus Christ to save them, will have the sovereign testimony of God in their heart that they indeed belong to Him, for they have received eternal life.

God wants you to be secure in your knowledge that you belong to Him. If you have any doubt as to whether or not you have received forgiveness and eternal life, please, ask God right now to forgive your sins, and settle this issue once and for all, so that you may know that you have eternal life.

Read 1John 5:14-15
“14 This is the confidence which we have before 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 which we have asked from Him.”

As God’s children, we have the right and the privilege to enter the throne room of God in prayer, at any time.

See Hebrews 4:14-16
“14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let’s hold firmly to our confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things just as we are, yet without sin. 16 Therefore let’s approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace for help at the time of our need.”

But, we must ask according to God’s will.

John 14:13-14
“Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.”

God’s people have God’s Word and God’s Spirit, and we can know God’s will; and so, as we come to God in prayer, we ask in accordance with God’s will.

Matthew 6:9-10
“9 “Pray, then, in this way: ‘Our Father, who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. 10 Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven.”

Romans 12:2
“2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”

Read 1John 5:16-17
“16 If anyone sees his brother or sister committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask and God will, for him, give life to those who commit sin not leading to death. There is sin leading to death; I am not saying that he should ask about that. 17 All unrighteousness is sin, and there is sin not leading to death.”

It would seem that there is sin which can lead to a believer’s death. Sometimes Christians become so insensitive to sin that they do not repent; but instead, they may continue in sin and become unwilling to repent, this could bring about God’s judgment, leading to physical death, so as to remove the rebellious believer from being such a bad witness for God (see Acts 5:1-11; 1Corinthians 11:27-32).

Acts 5:1-11
“But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property, 2 and kept back some of the proceeds for himself, with his wife’s full knowledge, and bringing a portion of it, he laid it at the apostles’ feet. 3 But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back some of the proceeds of the land? 4 While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not under your control? Why is it that you have conceived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to men, but to God.” 5 And as he heard these words, Ananias collapsed and died; and great fear came over all who heard about it. 6 The young men got up and covered him up, and after carrying him out, they buried him.
7 Now an interval of about three hours elapsed, and his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. 8 And Peter responded to her, “Tell me whether you sold the land for this price?” And she said, “Yes, for that price.” 9 Then Peter said to her, “Why is it that you have agreed together to put the Spirit of the Lord to the test? Behold, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out as well.” 10 And immediately she collapsed at his feet and died; and the young men came in and found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband. 11 And great fear came over the whole church, and over all who heard about these things.”

1Corinthians 11:27-32
“27 Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy way, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. 28 But a person must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For the one who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself if he does not properly recognize the body. 30 For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number are asleep. 31 But if we judged ourselves rightly, we would not be judged. 32 But when we are judged, we are disciplined by the Lord so that we will not be condemned along with the world.”

God may very well bring to an early end, the life of one of His children who continues in sin, unwilling to repent of it.

Read 1John 5:18-20
“18 We know that no one who has been born of God sins; but He who was born of God keeps him, and the evil one does not touch him. 19 We know that we are of God, and that 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. This is the true God and eternal life.”
Humility and obedience are to be practiced by God’s children, for we have been given God’s Spirit and God’s Word. As you serve and obey God on earth, the devil can’t touch you; Satan is powerful, but he is still God’s devil and he can do only that which God allows him.
We have nothing to fear from the devil, as we studied last week, we have overcome the world, the devil, and the curse of sin, through Christ. As you submit to God’s will in your life, you have nothing to fear; but when you turn your back on God, living as an unbeliever, you set yourself against God, and He will discipline you because He cares for you; He may also, if you do not repent, bring your life to a premature end.
We belong to God and therefore our life must be consistent with that which pleases God. We are not to live as those who reject God’s Son, for they serve the devil who is the god of this present world system; Christians, however, belong to and serve the God of the universe, the Creator and Judge over All.
If we genuinely belong to God through Christ, we know the truth that Jesus is the Son of God and that He has come in the flesh to provide forgiveness for our sins and eternal life; this should be reflected in and through our life by obedient service to God, as we express our love for one another.

Read 1John 5:21
“21 Little children, guard yourselves from idols.”

In closing this letter, John commands us to stay away from idols. Idols are representative of any and all philosophies and practices, attitudes and behaviors, that do not please God. We, God’s people, are to imitate our Father in heaven, and as has been sovereignly demonstrated by God’s Son on earth.

Ephesians 5:1-2
“Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; 2 and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.”

God and God alone is to be worshipped: God’s Word revealed is our divine and sovereign instruction; God’s Son is our example, being the fullness of God in human flesh; and God’s Spirit is our indwelling Helper, Counselor, Teacher.

And why has God lavished on us His great riches with all wisdom and power? So that we should live victoriously as overcomers in this world, with our confidence placed fully upon Jesus Christ; for it is He and He alone, who has overcome sin, death and judgment forever!

Therefore, let each of us who genuinely belong to God through Christ, commit to serve Him, through every aspect of our life, with full confidence that we might accomplish every good work that God has prepared for us to do, in Christ.

Ephesians 2:8-10
“8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.”

 
And all God’s people said?
Amen!
Pastor Mike
>’(((><
 

Bible Text: 1John 5:1-5 | Speaker: Pastor Mike Hale | Series: 1John 2John 3John |

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January 10, 2021
1John 5:1-5
God’s People are Overcomers…
1John 5:1-5
“Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves the child born of Him. 2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and follow His commandments. 3 For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome. 4 For whoever has been born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world: our faith. 5 Who is the one who overcomes the world, but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? ”

Read 1John 5:1-3a
“”Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves the child born of Him. 2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and follow His commandments. 3 For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome. ”

Being a Christian, born-again, a child of God, a believer and follower of Jesus Christ, are all synonymous with having repented of sin and trusted in God’s Son to eternally forgive and save you. If that describes you, you will desire to express God’s love toward your brothers and sisters in Christ.

God commands us to love other believers (cf. 1John 4:21); obeying God and loving those who belong to God is the same thing (John 13:35),

John 13:35
“By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Because biblical love is not a feeling, you don’t have to necessarily like someone in order to love them. It can be hard enough, at times, to love someone you like, let alone those who offend you, or those who, for whatever reason, you just don’t like!

Thankfully, we are never commanded in God’s Word to “like” our neighbor, or our Christian brother or sister; but we are clearly commanded to love them.

God’s love is supernatural, it is not dependent upon our emotions, i.e., we don’t have to “feel” like loving someone, but we are to love them regardless, for love is a willful, intentional act of obedience.

As we submit to the authority of God’s Word and the control of God’s Spirit, we will be able to obey God’s commands; we will love one another, and we may even find out that we actually like one another, imagine that.

Read 1John 5:3b-5
“3 For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome. 4 For whoever has been born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world: our faith. 5 Who is the one who overcomes the world, but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? “”

True believers are fully equipped and quite capable of loving other Christians; for you see, God never commands us to do something that we are not able to accomplish.

The Greek verb here in 1John 5:4-5, translated overcomes, is nikao, and it means to conquer, to win, to defeat, to be victorious, to overcome. The noun form of this word is spelled nikē but it is pronounced nee-kay. The Greeks had a goddess Nikē; she was the goddess of victory, conquest, success.

God never commands us to do something that we are not equipped to do.

Through Christ, we are able to have victory over, to conquer, the corruption of sin, the cravings of the flesh, and the deception of the devil. This is possible because Christ conquered sin, death, and judgment forever, and those who belong to Him, those who are in Christ, have also overcome these things.

Romans 8:37-39
“But in all these things (verse 35, tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword) we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Jesus said,

(John 16:33)
“These things I have spoken to you so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”

2Peter 1:2-4
“Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.”
God equips and exhorts us to love our neighbor, to love one another, even to love our enemies, for in doing so, we express our obedience to, and our love for, God.

Christians are born of God.

Every person who has confessed Christ as Lord, believing in Him for salvation, is born of God (cf. John 1:12-13), to all who received Jesus Christ, “even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God” [born from above, born of God’s Spirit], i.e., every true believer and follower of Christ, is able to overcome the self-centered human preoccupation with the flesh, because we have the Holy Spirit living is us.

John 1:12-13
“12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name, 13 who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of a man, but of God.”

In Matthew 1:20
an angel came to Joseph and told him, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.”

And in Luke 1:31
the angel came to Mary and told her, “you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus.”

Mary responded to the angel,

(Luke 34-35)
“How can this be, since I am a virgin?” The angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God.”

Jesus was born not of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God [born from above, born of God’s Spirit], isn’t that awesome!

God’s people (those born-again, born from above), are to devote themselves to knowing, applying, and proclaiming God’s Word through every aspect of their lives, just as Jesus did!

God’s people are to devote themselves to God.

Colossians 3:17
“Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.”

According to 1John 2:15-17, unbelievers, during the 1st century A.D. (like those of the 21st century A.D.), devoted themselves to serving the flesh and the godless world. John describes the love of the world as “the lust of the flesh” and “the lust of the eyes,” and “the boastful pride of life.”

1John 2:15-17
“15 Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. 17 The world is passing away and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God continues to live forever.”

How we respond to what we see, hear, touch, and taste, will either reflect the control by,

God’s Spirit in our life or the control of the flesh.

1Corinthians 6:19-20
“Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.”

We aren’t to live like unbelievers, we are overcomers; unbelievers are losers, in fact, every person on this planet is born a loser, an enemy of God, dead in their sins, until they come to trust Jesus Christ to forgive them.

Ephesians 2:1-3
“And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.”

What do the following verses have in common?

Joel 2:32
“And it will come about that whoever calls on the name of the Lord Will be delivered.”

Acts 2:21
“And it shall be that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Romans 10:13
for “Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Unbelievers are enslaved in a world system that is dominated by Satan, and the spirit of the antichrist; they are unable to overcome the lusts and cravings of this godless world because,

(2Corinthians 4:4)
“the god of this world [Satan] has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”

Christians overcome the world system.

Christians are able to overcome the flesh and the devil, and the world system that promotes them both. How is this possible? There is only one way.

John 14:6
Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.”

As we believe, trust, obey, and serve Jesus Christ, the Son of God, we give evidence to the fact that we are overcomers.

John 3:16
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”

We overcome eternal death in Christ, Who died, was buried, then came out of the tomb alive on the third day. Before His arrest and subsequent crucifixion

(John 11:25-26)
Jesus told Martha, “I am the resurrection and the life; the one who believes in Me will live, even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die.”

Moments later Jesus went to the tomb where Lazarus had laid dead for four days.

John 11:43-44
“[Jesus] cried out with a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, come out!’ Out came [Lazarus] who had died, bound hand and foot with wrappings, and his face was wrapped around with a cloth. Jesus said to [those who were there], ‘Unbind him, and let him go.’”

John 3:18
“He who believes in [God’s Son] is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”

Through Jesus Christ the Lord we have overcome judgment.

John 3:36
“He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”

We overcome God’s wrath by believing in and obeying the Son of God.

John 5:39-40
“You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me; and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life.”

We are overcomers because we are in Christ.

John 6:28-29
“‘What shall we do, so that we may work the works of God?’ [I.E., What does God require, that we might be made acceptable to Him who is Holy? How can we justified, i.e., how can we be without sin]. Jesus said to them, ‘This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.’”

Believe what about Him?

John 8:23-24
“[Jesus said] to them, ‘You are from below, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world. Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am He [God’s Son, the Messiah], you will die in your sins.’

John 8:25-28
“They were saying to Him, ‘Who are You?’ Jesus said to them, ‘What have I been saying to you from the beginning? I have many things to speak and to judge concerning you, but He who sent Me is true; and the things which I heard from Him, these I speak to the world.’ They did not realize that He had been speaking to them about the Father. So Jesus said, ‘When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and I do nothing on My own initiative, but I speak these things as the Father taught Me.’”

John 8:38
“I speak the things which I have seen with My Father; therefore you also do the things which you heard from your father.”

John 8:44-47
“You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies. But because I speak the truth, you do not believe Me. Which one of you convicts Me of sin? If I speak truth, why do you not believe Me? He who is of God hears the words of God; for this reason you do not hear them, because you are not of God.”

John 10:24-26
“The Jews then gathered around Him, and were saying to Him, ‘How long will You keep us in suspense? If You are the Christ, tell us plainly.’ Jesus answered them, ‘I told you, and you do not believe; the works that I do in My Father’s name, these testify of Me. But you do not believe because you are not of My sheep.

John 10: 27-33
“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.’ The Jews picked up stones again to stone Him. Jesus [said to] them, ‘I showed you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you stoning Me?’ The Jews answered Him, ‘For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy; and because You, being a man, make Yourself out to be God.’”

Wow! To believe in Jesus, God’s Son, is to believe that He is God in the flesh, Immanuel [God with us].

Saving faith is not based upon something you do, or acquire, or something you intellectually agree with, i.e., salvation doesn’t occur in your head, but in your heart [your soul]; and therefore, genuine salvation is expressed in your life after you confess your sins and trust in Christ alone to save you.

Romans 10:12-15
“For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him; for ‘Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.’ How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without [someone telling them]? How will they [go to the them] unless they are sent? Just as it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of good things!”

Romans 10:17
“So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.”

Overcomers proclaim the message of Christ, so that others might be saved.

1John 5:5
“Who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God!”

Saving faith is expressed in and through your life, as you love others on God’s behalf, and by this, you testify that you genuinely believe and have been saved through Jesus Christ: crucified, resurrected, and coming again. You have overcome the world, the devil, and his opposition to God, God’s Word, and God’s Son; in Christ; you have overcome sin, death, and judgement!

God’s people are overcomers, and we are to live out and proclaim the message of Christ, so that others might be saved out of this corrupt generation.

Romans 10:9-11
“That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. For the Scripture

(cf. Isaiah 28:16) says,
‘Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed’”

1John 5:11-13
“And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.”

Do you know for sure that you have received forgiveness for sin and eternal life? If you are not sure, settle it right now; I beg you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God.

 
Pastor Mike
°°° >’(((><

Bible Text: 1John 4:7-21 | Speaker: Pastor Mike Hale | Series: 1John 2John 3John |

Links from Our Website:
Bulletin (pdf)
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01-03-2021
“God Loves Us -We Love Others”
1John 4:7-21
 

Genesis 1:26,
God said, “Let Us make [carve out, shape, form] man in Our image, according to Our likeness,” i.e., let Us replicate Ourselves in man.

Humankind was created to be like God, to exhibit His likeness; this is not talking about our physical attributes, but those having to do with our nature, and especially in reference to relationships.

John 1:1-2
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.”

Notice here, the “Word” was in the beginning, the Greek [Logos] means, the source, origin, embodiment of all divine authority, power and wisdom.

Not only was the Word [masculine] in the beginning, the Word was God, and yet was with God [the Greek phrase translated, “was with God,” literally means “was face to face with God,” i.e., the Word [Christ, God the Son] was in an intimate, up close and personal relationship with God the Father, and God the Holy Spirit, long before anything was created.

The Word, being there in the beginning, means He is God, because only God is
preexistent and eternal, everything else is created,

(John 1:3-4)
“All things came into being through Him [the Word], and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life [biological and spiritual], and the life was the Light of men [i.e., God’s revelation of Himself was presented to us in Jesus].

John 1:14
“And the Word became flesh, and [lived] among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten [unique, one of a kind Son] from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

John 1:18
“No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.”

Jesus is Immanuel [God in the flesh], God’s revelation of Himself to the world. No wonder Jesus said,

(John 14:6-7)
“I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him, and have seen Him.”

God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit existed before anything was created. Think about that (but don’t dwell on it too long, as you will not be able to make logical sense out of it); the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit were in constant relationship and intimate fellowship, before anything existed. This is not something our mind can grasp, but God’s Word helps to explain (Deuteronomy29:29).

Deuteronomy 29:29
“The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever, that we may observe all the words of this law,” i.e., in order to trust God, we don’t have to fully understand how God has always existed, and everything else has been created, but we know He is Omnipotent, Omnipresent, Omniscient, Eternal and Loving.

Today, let’s center in on God’s Love, and how He expresses that love in and through the relationship He has with those who are made in His image, those who demonstrate God’s love in their relationships.

The human soul desires love more than anything else in the world. No wonder the prominent theme or subject of most books, poems, songs, and movies, is love. We, as God’s children, are made for relationships, and love is the purpose and priority of those relationships.

Let’s turn our attention now to 1John 4:7-21.

1John 4:7-21
“7 Beloved, let’s love one another; for love is from God, and everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 The one who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 By this the love of God was revealed in us, that God has sent His only Son into the world so that we may live through Him. 10 In this is love, not that we 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 remains in us, and His love is perfected in us. 13 By this we know that we remain in Him and He in us, because He has given to us of His Spirit. 14 We have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God remains in him, and he in God. 16 We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who remains in love remains in God, and God remains in him. 17 By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, we also are in this world. 18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love. 19 We love, because He first loved us. 20 If someone says, “I love God,” and yet he hates his brother or sister, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother and sister whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. 21 And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God must also love his brother and sister.”

Read 1John 4:7-8
“7 Beloved, let’s love one another; for love is from God, and everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 The one who does not love does not know God, because God is love.”

To obey God is to love God: Love and obedience are synonymous, they are to be exemplified through the patterns and the priorities of a Christian’s life. Belonging to God, i.e., being born-again, born from above, born of the Spirit, born of God, will be reflected in the love expressed by those who are saved, those who have been spiritually and eternally born into God’s family.

John 1:12-13
“But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of a man, but of God.”

[not biological, ancestral, willful, or legal]

John 3:5-8
“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless someone is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which has been born of the flesh is flesh, and that which has been born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it is coming from and where it is going; so is everyone who has been born of the Spirit.”

God shows His love for us by placing His Spirit in us, and so, we are to express His love toward, and share His love with, others (cf. Matthew 22:36-40).

Matthew 22:36-40
“36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the great and foremost commandment. 39 The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 Upon these two commandments hang the whole Law and the Prophets.””

To say you love God but are unwilling to love others is a contradiction, a dichotomy, because God is Love. If you are born of God, you have His love in you and you will love others; if you don’t love others, it is evident that you are either not saved, or you are disobedient.

Read 1John 4:9-10
“9 By this the love of God was revealed in us, that God has sent His only Son into the world so that we may live through Him. 10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”

God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to die for our sins, so that we might live for Him. This is God’s greatest expression of love and His greatest gift to mankind; everyone who trusts in Him receives eternal life, and has come into an intimate relationship with God for all of eternity.

Read 1John 4:11-12
“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 remains in us, and His love is perfected in us.”

We do not deserve God’s merciful expression of love, sending His own Son to die for our sins, that is why it is called GRACE! But, if you have genuinely been saved through Christ, you will seek to obediently serve God, offering up your own life as a living sacrifice to God, being transformed day by day, knowing and doing His will, by HIs grace, for His glory.

Romans 12:1-2
“Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”

Jesus allowed Himself to be put to death, then raised Himself from the grave by His own authority.

John 10:17-18
“For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it again. No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father.”

After Christ completed all He had come to do, He went back into heaven to be at the right hand of the Father, to rejoin Him in intimate fellowship; and therefore, because of what Christ accomplished, those who believe in and follow Him also have fellowship with the Father, and the Holy Spirit.

John 14:16-20
“I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, so that He may be with you forever; the Helper is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him; but you know Him because He remains with you and will be in you.”

John 14:23
“I will not leave you as orphans; I am coming to you. After a little while, the world no longer is going to see Me, but you are going to see Me; because I live, you also will live. On that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you are in Me, and I in you.”

1John 1:1-3
“What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life— and the life was manifested, and we have seen and testify and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us— what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.”

As Christians we are God’s children and we will therefore demonstrate His love while we are here on this earth, so that others might come to be saved.

Read 1John 4:13-18
“13 By this we know that we remain in Him and He in us, because He has given to us of His Spirit. 14 We have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God remains in him, and he in God. 16 We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who remains in love remains in God, and God remains in him. 17 By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, we also are in this world. 18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love.”

God confirms in your heart that you belong to Him; He gives you the Holy Spirit at the moment of genuine salvation.

Romans 10:9-10
“if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.”

Romans 10:13
’Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.’”

Romans 8:1
“Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

John 5:24
“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.

Ephesians 1:13
“In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise.”

1Corinthians 12:13-14
“For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. For the body is not one member, but many.”

As Christians, we have full confidence that we have been eternally forgiven and we sovereignly belong to God, therefore we have no fear of condemnation, judgment, or punishment.

Read 1John 4:19-21
“19 We love, because He first loved us. 20 If someone says, “I love God,” and yet he hates his brother or sister, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother and sister whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. 21 And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God must also love his brother and sister.”

We are able to love because God first loved us. If you have received God’s love, you will love others in His name. Jesus is not only our Savior, He is our example of what real love is and how we are to express that love in our relationships.

1John 3:16-18
“We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoever has the world’s goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him? Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth.”

Godly love is not just a feeling, it is an intentional, selfless, unconditional sacrifice. When a Christian brother or sister is in need, we are to reach out and help them as God has provided for us to do so. You cannot love God apart from loving God’s children (your brothers and sisters in Christ).

1John 4:7-8
“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.”

1John 4:20-21
“If someone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also.”

We all fall short when it comes to sharing God’s love with those around us; and so, as we prepare to take the Lord’s Supper, let each of us sincerely ask God to reveal in our heart where we have failed to express our love for God, our love for God’s Word, and our love for God’s people; and then let us each, in the quietness of our own heart, admit our sin, thanking God for His forgiveness, and asking God to strengthen us, so that we might live in such a way that others may see our good works, and glorify our Father who is in heaven.

 
Pastor Mike
>’(((><

Bible Text: 1John 3:18-4:6 | Speaker: Pastor Mike Hale | Series: 1John 2John 3John |

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11.29.20
1John 3:18-4:6,
God’s Spirit of Truth…
 

Last week we studied how those who genuinely belong to God will desire to live in a manner that brings glory to God and benefits to God’s people.

As Christians, we are to love others as an expression of the love we have received from God, i.e., if you love God you will display love for others.

Read 1John 3:18-22…  God’s Spirit comes into the heart of everyone who genuinely seeks forgiveness for sin by trusting Jesus Christ to save them, at the moment of genuine faith, expressed by heart-belief in Christ, you are spiritually born-again into the eternal family of God (Romans 10:9-10), “that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.”

John 3:6-8, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

John 4:24, “God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” 

John 5:24, “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.” 

John 6:63, “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.” 

2Corinthians 1:21-22, “He who establishes us with you in Christ and anointed us is God, who also sealed us and gave us the Spirit in our hearts as a pledge.”

Ephesians 1:13-14, “In [Christ], you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.”

John 1:12-13, “But as many as received Him [Jesus Christ] to them He [God’s Son] gave the right to become children of God, …those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.”

In 1John 3:1 it says, “See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are,” and in 1John 3:18, “Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth.”

Look again at 1John 3:21-22, “Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God; and whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight.”

God loves to hear the prayers of His people, and God loves to bless His people as they live obediently before Him.  

1Corinthians 6:19-20, “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.”

Colossians 3:17, “Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.”

God has provided forgiveness for sin, eternal life, and adoption as God’s own children, bringing us into a relationship with every true Christian; all this being made effectual through God’s Spirit living in us.

God’s Spirit encourages and equips us to live for Christ; when we fail to do what honors God, God’s Spirit convicts us so that we will ask for forgiveness, resulting in God’s power to know, to pray for, and to accomplish that which pleases Him.

Ephesians 2:10, “We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.” 

John 15:12, “This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you.” 14, “You are My friends if you do what I command you.” 16, “I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you.”

Read 1John 3:23-24…  Anyone born of God will love his brothers and sisters in the Lord.  The more you and I express God’s love for one another and serve as His witnesses to the godless world around us, the more God’s assurance of salvation is made manifest in us. God expressed His love for us through the sacrificial death of His own Son; and we who belong to God, will express our love for Him by loving others through the power of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.

John 14:15-17, “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you.” 

John 14:24-26, “He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father’s who sent Me. These things I have spoken to you while abiding with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.”

Read 1John 4:1-3…  As God’s beloved children, we have God’s Word and God’s Spirit to guide us; but we must test every teaching and discern whether or not it is from God.

Satan, his demons, and all his workmen (false teachers) seek to dilute and/or distort God’s Word, in order to deceive, if it were possible, even God’s own people.  Therefore, God’s people must diligently test all teachings and reprove and/or rebuke any that do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as both the Son of God and the Son of Man.

There are many false teachings being propagated by those who oppose God; but God’s Word is the final authority by which every teaching must be judged.  Some teachings say Jesus was a man, some say He was God; but God’s Word is sovereignly clear that Jesus was both – fully man and fully God – and any other teaching is a lie straight from the Devil.

John is speaking here of a future time when Satan will raise up the final world ruler (the Antichrist) who will seek to oppose and take the place of God (during the Tribulation Period, after all Christians, those who have died and those who are still alive at Christ’s return in the air, will be caught up to be with the Lord forever).

John reminds his hearers/readers that many antichrists have appeared, which is part of the birthing pains in the last days; and that there are many antichrists present, these are the false teachers who promote doctrine that is hostile toward God’s Son and contradictory toward the whole counsel of God’s Word.

John specifies (1John 2:19) that these false teachers arise from within the physical church; for although they appeared to be genuine believers, they have departed from fellowship in the true church and now they attempt to lead people out of Christianity into false religions and cults. 

2Corinthians 4:1-6, “Therefore, since we have this ministry, as we received mercy, we do not lose heart, but we have renounced the things hidden because of shame, not walking in trickery nor distorting the word of God, but by the open proclamation of the truth commending ourselves to every person’s conscience in the sight of God. And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they will not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants on account of Jesus. For God, who said, ‘Light shall shine out of darkness,’ is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.”

Read 1John 4:4-6…  True believers belong to God forever, and are capable of discerning truth from falsehood, because everyone who is born of God has God’s Spirit in them and can therefore overcome the spirit of the antichrist. 

Satan’s false teachers will either reject the sovereignty of God’s Word or they will add to or subtract from it.  You and I must be diligent about discerning and judging all that is said to be from God. 

Revelation 22:18-19, “I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his part from the tree of life and from the holy city, which are written in this book.”

God’s children are to be like the Bereans (Acts 17:11), “Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.”

Those who fail to remain in the truth, those who fall away, believing and promoting Satan’s lies, never belonged to God in the first place.  

Both the OT and the NT have been given to God’s people that we might have full confidence of sovereignly and eternally belonging to God, and that we might not be deceived by the spirit of falsehood; but instead, we will know, apply, and proclaim God’s Truth for as long as we have life.

Romans 12:1-2, “Therefore I urge you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.” 

2Timothy 2:15, “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a worker who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.” 

2Timothy 3:16-17, “All Scripture is [God-breathed] and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be [thoroughly] equipped for every good work.” 

I thank God for His Spirit, through whom I am able to know the Truth of God, through His Word, and so not be deceived; if you belong to God, you have the Holy Spirit of Truth to guide you.  

God has graciously and powerfully equipped every Christian with the God’s Word of Truth and God’s Spirit of Truth, in order to guide, provide for, protect, and empower us, as we serve Him; we are God’s children, and as such, we are to (1Thessalonians 5:16-18), “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.

And all God’s people said?  Amen!
Pastor Mike
>’(((><

Bible Text: 1John 3:10-18 | Speaker: Pastor Mike Hale | Series: 1John 2John 3John |

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11-22-2020
“Loving God, Loving Others”

1John 3:10-18
“10 By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother and sister.  11 For this is the message which you have heard from the beginning, that we are to love one another; 12 not as Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And for what reason did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil, but his brother’s were righteous.  13 Do not be surprised, brothers and sisters, if the world hates you. 14 We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers and sisters. The one who does not love remains in death. 15 Everyone who hates his brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life remaining in him. 16 We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers and sisters. 17 But whoever has worldly goods and sees his brother or sister in need, and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God remain in him? 18 Little children, let’s not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth.”
Last week, while we were studying 1John3:4-11, I mentioned the Greatest Commandment [Foremost, Supreme, Number One Commandment] which is all about Love [agape = the sacrificial, uncompromising, unmerited, and intentional act of serving God and anyone who is in need].
1John3:4-11
“4 Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and 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 remains in Him sins continually; no one who sins continually has seen Him or knows Him. 7 Little children, make sure no one deceives you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous; 8 the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil. 9 No one who has been born of God practices sin, because His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin continually, because he has been born of God. 10 By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother and sister.  11 For this is the message which you have heard from the beginning, that we are to love one another;”
The foundation for this commandment is found in:
Deuteronomy 6:5
“5 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.”

Leviticus 19:18
“18 You shall not take vengeance, nor hold any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am the Lord.”

We find those commands in the New Testament, coupled as one command: Please turn to the references in Matthew, Mark and Luke.

Matthew 22:36-40
“”36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the great and foremost commandment. 39 The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 Upon these two commandments hang the whole Law and the Prophets.”

Mark 12:28-31
“28 One of the scribes came up and heard them arguing, and recognizing that He had answered them well, asked Him, “What commandment is the foremost of all?” 29 Jesus answered, “The foremost is, ‘Hear, Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one; 30 and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.””

Luke 10:25-29
“25 And behold, a lawyer stood up and put Him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 And He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How does it read to you?” 27 And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.” 28 And He said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this and you will live.” 29 But wanting to justify himself, he said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?””
Jesus then uses a parable to illustrate the priority of His teaching about loving God, loving others.
Please turn to Luke 10:30-37…
“30 Jesus replied and said, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he encountered robbers, and they stripped him and beat him, and went away leaving him half dead. 31 And by coincidence a priest was going down on that road, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32 Likewise a Levite also, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan who was on a journey came upon him; and when he saw him, he felt compassion, 34 and came to him and bandaged up his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them; and he put him on his own animal, and brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 On the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper and said, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I return, I will repay you.’ 36 Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the robbers’ hands?” 37 And he said, “The one who showed compassion to him.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do the same.””

The command from Leviticus 19:18, “you shall love your neighbor as yourself,” that is found in Matthew 22:39; Mark 12:31; Luke 10:27, is also repeated in Romans 13:9; Galatians 5:14; and James 2:8 [Royal Law, Golden Rule], reiterating that God expects His children to demonstrate agape love [God’s love] toward others.

Leviticus 19:18
“18 You shall not take vengeance, nor hold any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am the Lord.”

Matthew 22:39
“39 The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’”

Mark 12:31
“31 The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.””

Luke 10:27
“27 And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.””

Romans 13:9
“9 For this, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.””

Galatians 5:14
“14 For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.””

James 2:8
“8 If, however, you are fulfilling the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well.”
Read 1John 3:10-12…
“10 By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother and sister. 11 For this is the message which you have heard from the beginning, that we are to love one another; 12 not as Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And for what reason did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil, but his brother’s were righteous.”
John reminds us of how Cain murdered (1John 3:12) Abel. Cain was so angry that Abel’s offering was accepted by God, and his own was not, that he murdered his own brother (SEE Genesis 4:1-8).

1John 3:12
“12 not as Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And for what reason did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil, but his brother’s were righteous.””

Genesis 4:1-8
“Now the man had relations with his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain, and she said, “I have obtained a male child with the help of the Lord.” 2 And again, she gave birth to his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of flocks, but Cain was a cultivator of the ground. 3 So it came about in the course of time that Cain brought an offering to the Lord from the fruit of the ground. 4 Abel, on his part also brought an offering, from the firstborn of his flock and from their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering; 5 but for Cain and his offering He had no regard. So Cain became very angry and his face was gloomy. 6 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why is your face gloomy? 7 If you do well, will your face not be cheerful? And if you do not do well, sin is lurking at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it.” 8 Cain talked to his brother Abel; and it happened that when they were in the field Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him.”

God is righteous and merciful, and though it is not recorded in Genesis, both Cain and Abel had to know what was required of them as an offering unto the Lord. How do we know that (SEE Hebrews 11:4).

Hebrews 11:4
“4 By faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain, through which he was attested to be righteous, God testifying about his gifts, and through faith, though he is dead, he still speaks.”

Abel obeyed the Lord and offered a firstborn lamb from his flock. Cain did what he felt like doing, he brought some of his produce; but this was evidently not in accordance with what God had directed him to do.
Not only did Cain disobey God by what he brought as an offering; but I believe Cain got angry with God and jealous of his own brother all at the same time. Cain couldn’t take his anger out on God, but he could take it out on his brother, and so he did.
By his actions, Cain showed himself to be a child of the devil. As I said last week, in the eyes of God there are really only two groups of people on earth: God’s children and the Devil’s children. Those who are unwilling to do what God requires are showing hatred, not love, toward God; whereas, God’s children, all those who have received eternal life, will not act like Cain who expressed hatred; but instead they will show love because God is Love (see 1John 4:7-10).
1John 4:7-10
“7 Beloved, let’s love one another; for love is from God, and everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 The one who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 By this the love of God was revealed in us, that God has sent His only Son into the world so that we may live through Him. 10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”

Read 1John 3:13-16…
“13 Do not be surprised, brothers and sisters, if the world hates you. 14 We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers and sisters. The one who does not love remains in death. 15 Everyone who hates his brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life remaining in him. 16 We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers and sisters.”

Jesus Christ is God’s sovereign example of what
God’s love is, i.e., to love sacrificially, showing compassion toward others. God’s love is demonstrated completely in Jesus Christ, who gave up His own life so that we might have life from God (John 10:10), (John 15:13), (Philippians 2:5-8).
John 10:10
“10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came so that they would have life, and have it abundantly.”

John 15:13
“13 Greater love has no one than this, that a person will lay down his life for his friends.”

Philippians 2:5-8
“5 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, as He already existed in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 7 but emptied Himself by taking the form of a bond-servant and being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death: death on a cross.”
We are called to demonstrate love for God.  What does that look like? How do we do that?  By demonstrating God’s love toward others.
Read 1John 3:17-18…
“17 But whoever has worldly goods and sees his brother or sister in need, and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God remain in him? 18 Little children, let’s not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth.”

Love is not a feeling, it is behavior that reflects the gracious and unmerited love we have received from God. When a Christian brother or sister is in need, we are to reach out and help as God has prospered us to be able to do so.
God doesn’t want us to express our love toward Him through sacrifices on the alter, as was required all through the Old Testament under the Law. God’s requirement for New Testament Christians, living under Grace, is very practical and easily exhibited through day to day situations and circumstances.
1Timothy 6:17-19
“17 Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to set their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy. 18 Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, 19 storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.”

James 2:14-17…
“14 What use is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone says he has faith, but he has no works? Can that faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? 17 In the same way, faith also, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.”

If a person is unwilling to reach out and help those in need, it is questionable as to whether or not that person really belongs to God’s family. Anyone who lives in a manner that does not demonstrate a loving concern and willingness to help those in need, is either being disobedient, or they are not a child of God.
According to the Bible’s eschatology in reference to future events, at the end of the Seven Year Tribulation Period (which follows the Rapture of the true Church, i.e., all born-again Believers and Followers of Jesus Christ. Matthew 25:31-33), “when the Son of Man comes in His glory… …He will sit on His glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep (believers) from the goats (unbelievers); and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left.
Matthew 25:31-33
“31 “But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. 32 And all the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, just as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; 33 and He will put the sheep on His right, but the goats on the left.”

See Matthew 25:34-40…
“34 “Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; 36 naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? 38 And when did we see You as a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? 39 And when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ 40 And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it for one of the least of these brothers or sisters of Mine, you did it for Me.’”

The believers (sheep) on His right are those who lived through the most turbulent time in eternity, a time when God’s wrath is poured out upon those who take the mark of the beast, those who reject the Word of God, Jesus Christ; in fact, Revelation 8, 9, 16 is a narrative of the catastrophic destruction of the earth’s salt water and fresh water turning to blood, the trees and vegetation will burn up, and the planets and stars will fall from the sky.
The faith of true believers during this time is made evident by their actions toward Christ, symbolized by their care for those who belong to God. In Matthew 25:37, the believers ask, “when did we do these things, when did we provide food, drink, clothing, care and comfort to You?”
Matthew 25:37
“37 Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? ”

All the writings of the Prophets and the Apostles, both Old and New Testament, is summed up in the Greatest Commandment: Love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and Love your neighbor as yourself.
Believers living during the last 3.5 years of the Tribulation will be in great need of food, drink, shelter, clothing, hospitality, and encouragement, because the Antichrist, the False Prophet, and all those who take the mark of the beast (666) will be hunting them down.
See Matthew 25:41-46…
“41 “Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, you accursed people, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; 42 for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; 43 I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.’ 44 Then they themselves also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or as a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?’ 45 Then He will answer them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it for one of the least of these, you did not do it for Me, either.’ 46 These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.””

Those on His left (goats=unbelievers) didn’t show care or compassion toward God’s children; and so they will be cast into the eternal fire, where there will be no care or compassion shown to them for all of eternity.
God’s Love (Hebrew, ahab; Greek, agape] will be eternally experienced by those who believe in His Son, but those who rejected His Son will exist apart from the love of God for all of eternity.
The first time the word for God’s love is used in the Scriptures is in reference to Abraham’s love for the long awaited son that God promised and finally gave him (Genesis 22:2), God tells Abraham “take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love [Hebrew, ahab], and offer him as a burnt offering.” In Genesis 22:12-13, it is clear that God never intended for Abraham to harm his son, for God provided a ram to be sacrificed in his place; this was an illustration of the future sacrifice of God’s One & Only Son.
Genesis 22:2
“2 Then He said, “Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you.””

Genesis 22:12-13
“12 He said, “Do not reach out your hand against the boy, and do not do anything to him; for now I know that you [a]fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.” 13 Then Abraham raised his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram caught in the thicket by its horns; and Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering in the place of his son.”

In Matthew, Mark, and Luke, the first use of the word love [agape] is by God, speaking from heaven about Jesus Christ saying (Matthew 3:17; 17:5).

Matthew 3:17
“17 and behold, a voice from the heavens said, “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.””

Matthew 17:5
“5 While he was still speaking, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and behold, a voice from the cloud said, “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to Him!””

In John’s Gospel the first use of the word love is in John 3:16.

John 3:16
“16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life.”

Jesus, is the standard by which all love is evaluated, given, and received; and we can only realize, be redeemed by, and become recipients of God’s love through the once for all sacrifice of God’s Son; everyone who calls upon Him for the forgiveness of sins is eternally saved, becoming a child of God the Father in Heaven.
Claiming to be a Christian and claiming to love your brothers and sisters in the Lord is not enough. The love we demonstrate must be more than words of concern or wishing someone well; our actions must be rooted in a desire to do that which pleases God, and what we do must align with that which is taught in God’s Word .
1John 3:14
“14 We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers and sisters. The one who does not love remains in death.”

1John 3:16
“16 We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers and sisters.”

1John 3:18
“18 Little children, let’s not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth”
So, let’s sum up what we have studied today: If you belong to God the Father through Christ the Son, you have God the Holy Spirit indwelling you, compelling you to express your love for God by demonstrating your love for others.
And all God’s children said? Amen!
 
Pastor Mike Hale

Bible Text: 1John 3:4-11 | Speaker: Pastor Mike Hale | Series: 1John 2John 3John |

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11-15-2020
1John 3:4-11
A Christians Spiritual DNA is LOVE…
Read 1John 3:4-6…
“4 Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and 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 remains in Him sins continually; no one who sins continually has seen Him or knows Him.”
Because Christians are “in Christ,” we are to live as if we are incompatible with sin. The verb used (1John 3:4) in the phrase, “everyone who ‘practices’ sin,” speaks to the habitual lifestyle of ‘committing’ sin.

1John 3:4
“4 Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness.”

We all have a conscience and we know right from wrong, whether believers or unbelievers (Genesis 3:22).

Genesis 3:22
“22 Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil; and now, he might reach out with his hand, and take fruit also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”—”

(Romans 2:15), “They show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience [con=with, science=knowledge] bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them.”

Romans 2:15
“15 in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience testifying and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them,”

Unbelievers are controlled by the flesh because they do not have the Spirit of God (Romans 8:8).

Romans 8:8
“8 and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.”

Christians have a built-in sin detector [the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Truth, the Spirit of Christ] to help guard against the practice of sinning, for (Romans 8:9).

Romans 8:9
“9 However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him”

Do Christians sin? Yes! But because we have been born of God our new nature desires to avoid sin, not to practice sin.

1John 3:4 says “Lawlessness” depicts those who live apart from God, those who ignore God’s plan for people to exemplify Christ in their life.

1John 3:4
“4 Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness”

Christ died to pay for our sins, and the Holy Spirit marks [indwells] those who have been made holy (2Corinthians 5:21).

2Corinthians 5:21
“21 He made Him who knew no sin to be sin in our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

1Corinthians 6:9-11
“9 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, 10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor those habitually drunk, nor verbal abusers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.”

1Corinthians 6:19-20
“19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? 20 For you have been bought for a price: therefore glorify God in your body.”

Listen! We are not to live in a pattern of sin, for we have been born again by God’s Spirit; a continual pattern of unbroken sin is representative of those who don’t know Christ, those who are still dead in their sins.

Read 1John 3:7-9…
“7 Little children, make sure no one deceives you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous; 8 the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil [a]has been sinning from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil. 9 No one who has been born of God practices sin, because His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin continually, because he has been born of God.”

There are those today who teach (as in John’s day), that it doesn’t matter how you live or what you do. John warns us not to be deceived or led astray by these false teachers and teachings.

God’s children seek to do what God’s Word says pleases Him. Those who reject God’s Word and Christ’s authority can’t please Him because they are of the devil.

Ever since Satan’s original rebellion and his eviction from the presence of God, Satan has diligently sought to destroy the plan of God, that being: To save and to sanctify a people who will love, serve, and desire to honor God.

Those who habitually practice sin belong to the devil [Greek, diabolos, “accuser,” “slanderer”) or Satan (Hebrew, “opposer,” “adversary”). Satan is himself the originator for all sin and leads the rebellion against God.

Unsaved people are under the control and influence of Satan; in a sense, they are Satan’s children, just as Christians are God’s children.

Satan was created perfect, and he originally served in the very presence of God; then he willfully chose to rebel against God by placing his own pride above his worship of God (cf. Isaiah 14:12-14; Ezekiel 24:13-14).

Isaiah 14:12-14
“12 How you have fallen from heaven, You star of the morning, son of the dawn!  You have been cut down to the earth, You who defeated the nations!  13 But you said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God, And I will sit on the mount of assembly In the recesses of the north. 14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’”

Ezekiel 24:13-14
“13 In your filthiness is outrageous sin.  Because I would have cleansed you, Yet you are not clean, You will not be cleansed from your filthiness again Until I have expended My wrath on you.  14 I, the Lord, have spoken; it is coming and I will act. I will not overlook, I will not pity, and I will not be sorry; according to your ways and according to your deeds I will judge you,” declares the Lord God.’””

To place any thoughts or actions above or against the sovereign authority and holy nature of God, is to exemplify the very foundational rebelling in heaven by Satan, which led to the ultimate deception of Adam and Eve on earth, and through their sin, came the curse of death to each and every person who is born.

God’s plan all along, was that Jesus Christ would come and destroy that which had begun at the time of Satan’s rebellion, he is the preeminent enemy of God.

Satan is aggressively working against God, trying to deceive, confuse and corrupt the very people of God; but one day that will cease and Satan will be sent to hell forever and he will no longer be an adversary of God or a deceiver of humans (Revelation 20:10).

Revelation 20:10

“10 And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.”

Through the sacrifice and resurrection of Jesus Christ (1John 3:9) we have been given a new birth, a new nature; becoming children and servants of God.

1John 3:9
“9 No one who has been born of God practices sin, because His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin continually, because he has been born of God.”

Read 1John 3:10-11…
“10 By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother and sister.  11 For this is the message which you have heard from the beginning, that we are to love one another;”

There are only two groups of people on this earth: those who seek to do what is right are children of God; those who seek not to do what is right are children of the devil!

Let me speak to one of my pet peeves here. You know when you fill out an application or questionnaire for the County, State, or Federal Government, and it asks you to signify what your Race is, basically wanting to know if you are of the Black, Brown, Red, Yellow, or White Race.

Look! There are many ethnicities or nationalities, but there is only one Race, the human race. This has been scientifically proven and undeniably demonstrated through genetic research, which should not surprise us, as God’s Word tells us that God made Adam and God made Eve and everyone on this planet came from them, as Paul says (Acts 17:26).

Acts 17:26
“26 and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation,”

Paul goes on to say (Acts 17:27-28) that, the reason God made humans was so, “they would seek God… … though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and exist.”

Acts 17:27-28
“27 that they would seek God, if perhaps they might feel around for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; 28 for in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we also are His descendants.’”

Because God is righteous, we who belong to Him will also seek to be righteous. And our righteousness is most clearly seen when we express our love for one another (John 13:34-35).

John 13:34-35
“34 I am giving you a new commandment, that you love one another; just as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are My disciples: if you have love for one another.””

The apostle John was so affected by that statement that he repeated it in 1John 3:11.

1John 3:11
“11 For this is the message which you have heard from the beginning, that we are to love one another;”

As God’s children, we have God’s spiritual DNA, giving us the capacity to know, to receive, and to give God’s love [agape – unconditional, uncompromising, unmerited, irrevocable, intentional, and eternal].

If we were loving others as Christ loved us [He died for us], there would be no need for laws or courts; for there would be no conflicts, no assaults, no thefts, no murders. Why? Because we would be treating one another the way we want to be treated; we would be living out Ephesians 4:32.

Ephesians 4:32
“32 Be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.”

Jesus’ love is sacrificial, compassionate, and forgiving; only that kind of love can fulfill the Greatest Commandment: Love the Lord with your heart, soul, mind, and strength (Deuteronomy 6:5; Matthew 22:36-40; Mark 12:28-31; Luke 10:25-37).

Deuteronomy 6:5
“5 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.”

Matthew 22:36-40
“36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the great and foremost commandment. 39 The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 Upon these two commandments hang the whole Law and the Prophets.””

Mark 12:28-31
“28 One of the scribes came up and heard them arguing, and recognizing that He had answered them well, asked Him, “What commandment is the foremost of all?” 29 Jesus answered, “The foremost is, ‘Hear, Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one; 30 and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.””

Luke 10:25-37
“25 And behold, a lawyer stood up and put Him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 And He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How does it read to you?” 27 And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.” 28 And He said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this and you will live.” 29 But wanting to justify himself, he said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” 30 Jesus replied and said, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he encountered robbers, and they stripped him and beat him, and went away leaving him half dead. 31 And by coincidence a priest was going down on that road, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32 Likewise a Levite also, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan who was on a journey came upon him; and when he saw him, he felt compassion, 34 and came to him and bandaged up his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them; and he put him on his own animal, and brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 On the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper and said, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I return, I will repay you.’ 36 Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the robbers’ hands?” 37 And he said, “The one who showed compassion to him.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do the same.””

The proof of which is displayed (Luke 10) by loving your neighbor as yourself (Leviticus 19:18; Romans 13:9; Galatians
5:14; James 2:8).

Leviticus 19:18
“18 You shall not take vengeance, nor hold any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am the Lord.”

Romans 13:9
“9 For this, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.””

Galatians 5:14
“14 For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.””

James 2:8
“8 If, however, you are fulfilling the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well.”

I’ll expound on this next time, in 1John 3:10-18.

1John 3:10-18
“10 By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother and sister.  11 For this is the message which you have heard from the beginning, that we are to love one another; 12 not as Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And for what reason did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil, but his brother’s were righteous.  13 Do not be surprised, brothers and sisters, if the world hates you. 14 We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers and sisters. The one who does not love remains in death. 15 Everyone who hates his brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life remaining in him. 16 We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers and sisters. 17 But whoever has worldly goods and sees his brother or sister in need, and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God remain in him? 18 Little children, let’s not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth.”

If Christians exemplified that kind of love for God and for other people, the world would be in awe of Christ; but because many, calling themselves Christians, live as self-centered, pious hypocrites, lacking Christlike love, the church has become ineffectual, ignored, and even disliked, in this world.

Paul writes (Ephesians 5:1-2).

Ephesians 5:1-2
“Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; 2 and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.”

As a Christian, you are a new creation (John 1:12-13).

John 1:12-13
“Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; 2 and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.”

If you are a Christian, you are born-again from above, through God’s Spirit, made effectual by Christ’s atoning death on the cross. Therefore, it most definitely matters how you live, both what you do and why you do it should align with that which is taught in God’s Word and reflective of God’s character (John 3:16), (1John 4:8).

John 3:16
“16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life.”

1John 4:8
“8 The one who does not love does not know God, because God is love.”

We who belong to God through Christ will seek to love others, as God has loved us, and has commanded us (John 15:12).

John 15:12
“12 “This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you.”
Pastor Mike
>’(((><

Bible Text: 1John 2:28-3:3 | Speaker: Pastor Mike Hale | Series: 1John 2John 3John |

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11-8-2020
1John 2:28-3:3, Our Hope is in Christ…

Last week (1John 2:18-27) we were exhorted to remain in the truth and not to be led astray by false teachers, false religions, cults and doctrines that deceive and lead people away from the forgiveness and eternal life provided in and through Jesus Christ, for He is (John 14:6) the only Way to receive God’s Salvation, the only revealed Embodiment of God’s Truth, and the only source of Eternal Life from God.
John 14:6
“6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through Me.”
1John 2:28-29…
“28 Now, little children, remain in Him, so that when He appears, we may have confidence and not draw back from Him in shame at His coming. 29 If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness also has been born of Him.”
1John 3:1-3…
See how great a love the Father has given us, that we would be called children of God; and in fact we are. For this reason the world does not know us: because it did not know Him. 2 Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. 3 And everyone who has this hope set on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.
The world we live in is hopeless apart from Jesus Christ and God’s love expressed in and through Him to all those who believe; and those who have this hope are able to experience the great joy of forgiveness and the eternal security made effectual by the Spirit of God, through Whom we are able to prayerfully come into the throne room of God in heaven, and to have fellowship on earth with our brothers and sisters in Christ, purposing to offer ourselves as a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is our spiritual service of worship.
The hope we have received is a gift of God’s grace that cannot be earned or acquired; it is (Titus 1:2), (Romans 15:4).
Titus 1:2
“2 in the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised long ages ago,”
Romans 15:4
“4 For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.”

1Peter 1:3
“3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,”

John 11:25-26
“25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; the one who believes in Me will live, even if he dies, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?””

1Corinthians 15:1-4
“Now I make known to you, brothers and sisters, the gospel which I preached to you, which you also received, in which you also stand, 2 by which you also are saved, if you hold firmly to the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain.  3 For I handed down to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,”

Romans 15:13
“13 Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

Read 1John 2:28…
“28 Now, little children, remain in Him, so that when He appears, we may have confidence and not draw back from Him in shame at His coming.”

To “abide in [Christ]” means to persevere in the faith we receive at the moment of salvation: abide [Gk. men-o, meaning ‘to remain’ or ‘to stay’], i.e., we stay true to Christ, remaining in Christ, so that when “He appears” [Gk. in His presence], most likely talking about the Rapture, because that is when John’s audience and future believers will be joined with Christ, having been made perfect (see John 14:1-3; 1Corinthians 15:51-54; 1Thessalonians 4:16-18).
John 14:1-3
““Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. 2 In My Father’s house are many rooms; if that were not so, I would have told you, because I am going there to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I am coming again and will take you to Myself, so that where I am, there you also will be.”
1Corinthians 15:51-54
“51 Behold, I am telling you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53 For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality. 54 But when this perishable puts on the imperishable, and this mortal puts on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”

1Thessalonians 4:16-18
“16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who remain, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore, comfort one another with these words.”
There are some commentators who say this is talking about the Lord’s Return to the earth, at the Second Coming; but I’m sure not going to support that claim, as I believe the Greek words and their syntax, here in 1John 2:28, do not allow such an interpretation.
1John 2:28
“28 Now, little children, remain in Him, so that when He appears, we may have confidence and not draw back from Him in shame at His coming.”
As I study to show my self approved to God (2Timothy 2:15), as a worker who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth, I try to seek the most accurate, clear, contextually coherent, concise yet comprehensive meaning in such cases.
2Timothy 2:15
“15 Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a worker who [a]does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.”
I believe the priority of this verse is that our hope (our confidence) in Christ’s return should encourage and even exhort us to live in a manner that honors God and aligns with His Word.
Our hope is in Christ, not in ourselves, or our works, or in our religious performance; Jesus alone is righteous and only through Him are we made acceptable to God, now and forever (see Romans 3:10-12, 23-26; 2Corinthians 5:21; Ephesians 2:1-10).
Romans 3:10-12
“10 as it is written: “There is no righteous person, not even one; 11 There is no one who understands, There is no one who seeks out God; 12 They have all turned aside, together they have become corrupt; There is no one who does good, There is not even one.” ”

Romans 3:23-26
“23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in God’s merciful restraint He let the sins previously committed go unpunished; 26 for the demonstration, that is, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.”

2Corinthians 5:21
“21 He made Him who knew no sin to be sin in our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

Ephesians 2:1-10
“And you were dead in your offenses and sins, 2 in which you previously walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. 3 Among them we too all previously lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the rest. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our wrongdoings, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the ages to come He might show the boundless riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.”

But then, what does the phrase (1John 2:28), “we may have confidence and not shrink away from Him in shame at His coming [lit., in His presence] mean?  We are convinced of our salvation, the forgiveness of sins, and we are confident of Christ’s return, so we continue to do that which pleases Him, according to His Word. Why? He gave His life for us, took our punishment for sin; and so we belong to God, having been purchased with the very blood of Christ.
What if, at the time of the rapture, you are involved in committing a sin, or at the very least, you are doing something that is not pleasing to God at that moment, then you are immediately caught up, transformed, perfected in Christ. I believe anyone who genuinely loves the Lord would hate to be doing something that did not honor Him, at the moment of the Rapture.
Read 1John 2:29…
“29 If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness also has been born of Him.”

Everyone who genuinely belongs to Christ will seek to find out what pleases Him and attempt to do it! When we express our desire to please and obey God, we are showing that we are “in Christ,” and have indeed been born again by God’s Spirit.
When Jesus Christ returns to receive those who belong to Him, we can be confident of our acceptance by Him, because He loves us, and He loses none of those who belong to Him (see John 10:27-28; Romans 8:24-25, 28-30).
John 10:27-28
“27 My sheep listen to My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; 28 and I give them eternal life, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand.”
Romans 8:24-25
“24 For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, through perseverance we wait eagerly for it.”

Romans 8:28-30
28 And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. 29 For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters; 30 and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.
Read 1John 3:1…
“See how great a love the Father has given us, that we would be called children of God; and in fact we are. For this reason the world does not know us: because it did not know Him.”
God calls us, forgives us, and saves us; and when Christ returns all true Christians will be brought together with God. God is the one who initiated our salvation and He will see it through to our glorification.

John 15:16
“16 You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you.”
Why God the Father should love us so much as to sacrifice His own Son, we’ll never fully understand (cf. John 3:16). But one thing we do know; if we belong to Him, we will want to live our life on earth in a way that exemplifies Christ, and this will be totally foreign and most likely objectionable to those who aren’t saved.
No wonder Christians are described as aliens and strangers among those who live on the earth. God’s divine nature should be seen in and through the lives of those who belong to Him (see 1Peter 2:11-12, 1Peter 2:15).
1Peter 2:11-12
“11 Beloved, I urge you as foreigners and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts, which wage war against the soul. 12 Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may because of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God on the day of visitation.”
1Peter 2:15
“15 For such is the will of God, that by doing right you silence the ignorance of foolish people.”

2Peter 1:3-4
“3 for His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. 4 Through these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world on account of lust.”

Read 1John 3:2…
“2 Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is.”

From the very moment of salvation, every Christian should begin to exhibit saving faith through a desire to know and to obey God’s Word.
John 1:12-13
“12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name, 13 who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of a man, but of God.”
John 3:5-8
“5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless someone is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which has been born of the flesh is flesh, and that which has been born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it is coming from and where it is going; so is everyone who has been born of the Spirit.””
Romans 8:12-16
“12 So then, brothers and sisters, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh— 13 for if you are living in accord with the flesh, you are going to die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 14 For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons and daughters of God. 15 For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons and daughters by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!” 16 The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God,”
The presence and power of God is to be seen in our life, as God’s Holy Spirit works to conform us into the nature of Christ while we serve Him on this earth.
I don’t believe anyone can really understand, let alone describe, what it will be like for mortal man to put on immortality and live in heaven with God. And yet, that is what the Bible says will happen!
1Corinthians 2:9,
“Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, And which have not entered the human heart, All that God has prepared for those who love Him” [pp. Isaiah 64:4, Isaiah 65:17].  1Corinthians 2:10, “To us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God.”
We are to live as if the hope we have of Christ’s return makes a difference right now, right here; as we live in accordance to His Word in conformity to His nature, we give testimony that we are continuing in Him; we are to be exemplifying Him (1John 2:6).
1John 2:6
“6 the one who says that he remains in Him ought, himself also, walk just as He walked.”

Read 1John 3:3
“3 And everyone who has this hope set on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.”

Those who genuinely belong to God will live in a manner that brings honor and glory to Him; exemplary of the character and nature of Jesus Christ, the full embodiment of the Godhead, in the flesh.
Do Christians sin (1John 1:8-9).
1John 1:8-9
“8 If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous, so that He will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
Often we fail to obey God’s Word, and at times we even turn a deaf ear [spiritually] to God’s Spirit nudging us to do what is right (Romans 8:6-9)
Romans 8:6-9,
“6 For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, 7 because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, 8 and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.  9 However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.”
Paul offers a test (2Corinthians 13:5).
2Corinthians 13:5,
“5 Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you—unless indeed you fail the test?”
This is a simple Pass/Fail test! If you haven’t repented and you are not trusting Jesus Christ to provide forgiveness (for all your sins: past, present and future) then you “fail” the test, and you have not received eternal life.
If you are seeking to live in obedience to God’s Word, allowing God’s Spirit to conform you to the image of God’s Son, as you wait expectantly for Christ’s Return, then you will have full confidence that you “pass” the test!
1John 5:11-13
“11 And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. 12 The one who has the Son has the life; the one who does not have the Son of God does not have the life.  13 These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.”
All our hope rests in Jesus Christ, God’s Son, Lord and Savior: Crucified, Resurrected, and Coming Again, to take all those who belong to Him to be with Him in heaven, forever.
Pastor Mike
>’(((><

Bible Text: 1John 2:3-11 | Pastor: Pastor Mike Hale | Series: 1John 2John 3John | Sunday Morning:
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9.27.20 ~ 1John 2:3-11, The Life and Light of God… (full sermon notes)
 

Read 1John 2:3-6…
“3 By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. 4 The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; 5 but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him: 6 the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.”

John repeatedly states that those who genuinely know Christ (i.e., Christians) will strive to keep the commands of God. Our obedience illustrates that we are indeed saved

Ephesians 2:10,
“10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.”

To call yourself a Christian and not seek to do the good works God has prepared for you to do, is to call God a liar (1John 2:3-4).

A person who has truly been saved (1John 2:5-6) will live in a manner that honors the One who has saved them. In other words, if you are a Christian, you will purpose to follow Christ’s example as you live in this world for Him.

God is “light” (1John 1:5, 7) and therefore His people will reflect that light; just as Jesus Christ obeyed the Father, so those who have come to the Father through Christ will follow Christ’s example.

1John 1:5, 7…
“5 This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.”

“7 but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.”

God gives you His Spirit so that you will have both the capacity, and the capability, to do that which pleases Him, i.e., that which reflects your obedience to the most fundamental command of Christ

(cf. Mark 1:15, 17).
“15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.””

“”17 And Jesus said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men.”

Jesus’ by His words and deeds summed up all of that is written in the Law and the Prophets.

Jesus set the example of what real love is, when He took upon Himself our punishment, though He Himself was innocent of any crime. We who have received God’s sovereign payment for sin (cf. 1John 1:9), will want to honor and imitate Him

(cf. 1John 4:7-11).
“7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8 The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. 9 By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. 10 In this is love, not that we 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.”

Jesus’ crucifixion is the greatest expression of love the world will ever know; and though Jesus is in heaven, we serve Him here on earth, following His example and obeying His commands.

See John 10:14-18;
“14 I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me, 15 even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. 16 I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become one flock with one shepherd. 17 For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it again. 18 No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father.””

John 15:12-17…
“12 “This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends. 14 You are My friends if you do what I command you. 15 No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you. 17 This I command you, that you love one another.”

Read 1John 2:7-8…
“7 Beloved, I am not writing a new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning; the old commandment is the word which you have heard. 8 On the other hand, I am writing a new commandment to you, which is true in Him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true Light is already shining.”

John says he isn’t giving us a new command, but an old one; and yet, he says it is a new command manifested in Christ. What does he mean?

Well, the command that we should love one another has been taught since the events in the Pentateuch took place

Leviticus 19:18,
“You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am the Lord.”

In Romans 13, Paul gives instruction on how we are to love one another, our neighbor, quoting from Leviticus 19:18, but also from the Decalogue [The Ten Commandments: Exodus 20; Deuteronomy 5].

See Romans 13:8-10…
“8 Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. 9 For this, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 10 Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.”

(the Royal Law, James 2:8).
“8 If, however, you are fulfilling the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well.”

John exhorts us to obey what God commands, for that expresses our Love for God (cf. John 14:15, 21, 23), the biblical word ‘love’ and the word ‘obedience’ are synonymous, i.e., those who love Christ will live in obedience to God’s Word, and they will love others.

John 14:15, 21, 23…
“15 “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.”

“21 He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him.” ”

“23 Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him.”

Matthew 22:34-40;
“34 But when the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered themselves together. 35 One of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, 36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the great and foremost commandment. 39 The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.””

Mark 12:28-34
“28 One of the scribes came and heard them arguing, and recognizing that He had answered them well, asked Him, “What commandment is the foremost of all?” 29 Jesus answered, “The foremost is, ‘Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is one Lord; 30 and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” 32 The scribe said to Him, “Right, Teacher; You have truly stated that He is One, and there is no one else besides Him; 33 and to love Him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as himself, is much more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.” 34 When Jesus saw that he had answered intelligently, He said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” After that, no one would venture to ask Him any more questions.”

Jesus repeats what the Old Testament teaches about loving others, calling this the Greatest Commandment because it fulfills all the Law and the Prophets.

By His own willful sacrifice to the point of death, Jesus demonstrated how we, God’s people, are to love.

John 13:34-35,
“34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 35 By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.””

How did Jesus love us? He died for us, taking our punishment upon Himself

(2Corinthians 5:21),
“21 He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

But you know, Christ commands us not to just love one another, and love our neighbor, but we are also to love our enemies.

(see Luke 6:27-36).
“27 “But I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. 29 Whoever hits you on the cheek, offer him the other also; and whoever takes away your coat, do not withhold your shirt from him either. 30 Give to everyone who asks of you, and whoever takes away what is yours, do not demand it back. 31 Treat others the same way you want them to treat you. 32 If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. 33 If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. 34 If you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners in order to receive back the same amount. 35 But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men. 36 Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.”

Our relationship with Christ is reflected in the way we treat others, even our enemies. To “love” someone does not mean we have to “like” them or have good  feelings for them; in fact, we are never commanded in the Bible to “like” someone, but we are commanded to love everyone. You see, God’s love [agapao] is a verb, meaning a willful and intentional act, saying and doing what is necessary or required to be an example of Christ to someone.

The oldness and newness of this commandment about perfect love (1John 2:7-8), is made manifest in and through the incarnation of Jesus Christ, God’s Son, Lord and Savior, for He fulfills all the Law of the Old and New Testaments.

(1John2:7-8)
“7 Beloved, I am not writing a new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning; the old commandment is the word which you have heard. 8 On the other hand, I am writing a new commandment to you, which is true in Him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true Light is already shining.”

Read 1John 2: 9-11…
“9 The one who says he is in the Light and yet hates his brother is in the darkness until now. 10 The one who loves his brother abides in the Light and there is no cause for stumbling in him. 11 But the one who 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.”

We can say we are Christians, but if we aren’t ‘loving’ others by God’s definition, we are expressing hatred toward them and rebellion toward God. According to God’s definition (1John 3:18), we must “not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth.”

(1John 3:18),
“18 Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth.”

See Colossians 3:12-17, 23-24;
“12 So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; 13 bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you. 14 Beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity. 15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17 Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.”

“23 Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men, 24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve.”

The false teachers of John’s day, like those in our day, claimed to know and to teach Christ; but their actions negated that they had any personal knowledge of, let alone a relationship with, Christ the Lord.

I’m sure you have heard it said that your walk [your way of life] should match your talk; in other words, what you say you believe in your heart should be reflected in how you behave in this life.

Words are cheap, but if you are genuinely saved and living in obedience to God’s Word, it will be plainly seen by the way you treat other people.

Ask yourself, “Are my actions and words toward others reflective of the teachings of the Bible and the character of Jesus Christ?” If your answer is unabashedly “yes,” perhaps you should, if you dare, ask those who know you the best if that is indeed true most of the time.

Is the Light and Life of God being exemplified in and through your life, where others can see it?

Ephesians 5:7-13…
“7 Therefore do not be partakers with them; 8 for you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light 9 (for the fruit of the Light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth), 10 trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. 11 Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them; 12 for it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret. 13 But all things become visible when they are exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible is light.”

Look at 1John 2:11
“11 But the one who 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.”

again… There is no middle ground with God, no gray area, nothing hidden in the shadows; everything is to be brought out into the Light of God’s Word; if nothing shines, if nothing shows up, then it is all darkness.  John says, “the one who hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness,” i.e., those who live apart from Christ or in disobedience to His Word are groping around in the darkness with no idea what direction they are going in, because the darkness has blinded them.

We must be witnesses of the message of Christ and we must be coming together to encourage one another toward love and good deeds, in order that we will help the blind to see, and set the prisoners free, as Paul writes in

2Corinthians 4:3-6,
“3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, 4 in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 5 For we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants for Jesus’ sake. 6 For God, who said, “Light shall shine out of darkness,” is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.”

Last week I reiterated that God’s Word, from beginning to end, demonstrates God’s sovereign plan to separate Light from Darkness, forever; darkness exists and is representative of all things that are offensive to God and void of the Life and Light of God.

Genesis 1:1-4,
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters. 3 Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness.”

Revelation 22:3-5,
“3 There will no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His bond-servants will serve Him; 4 they will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads. 5 And there will no longer be any night; and they will not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God will illumine them; and they will reign forever and ever.”

[Speaking of when the end will come to all things that are under the curse of sin, it says “There will no longer be any curse… …And there will no longer be any night [darkness]; and they [God’s people] will not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God will illumine them; and they will reign forever and ever.”

1John 1:5-6,
“5 This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. 6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth;”

Listen, all those who genuinely belong to Christ will desire to shine the Light of God, by displaying Life from God, as they walk by the Spirit of God, in obedience to the Word of God.

We must each seek to know, to show, and to share the Good News of God’s Word, that everyone who repents of sin and believes in Jesus Christ, God’s Son, for salvation will be saved; and then they will know, and show and share this message with others.

Pastor Mike
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