Route 66: 1 John - Light, Love, And The Litmus Of Faith

Somebody play with my ear like that.

Again, it's it is whoa, it is uh an honor and a privilege to uh share with you um to give a summary of first John.

First John is uh um so much more than I realize after studying um first John.

And uh my hope and goal tonight is to give you a perspective of this book so that when you do read it, it comes so much more alive.

Um, so that's what Root 66 is, uh just a summary of each book.

And um thank God it's only uh five chapters and not like uh other Old Testament uh books that we had to go, you know, summarize uh on.

But um so first John.

So manuscript evidence is unanimous that someone named John wrote uh first John, wrote this letter, which is the first and largest in a series of three uh epistles that bear the name.

The letter identifies no specific church, no location, uh, no individual to whom it is sent.

Uh 1 John also does not exhibit some of the general characteristics of uh epistles of that time.

Um there was no introduction, no greeting, no concluding salutation.

Though no author was uh uh identified, is identified, there's a strong, consistent, and uh the early testimony of the church ascribes it to John, the disciple and apostle of Jesus Christ.

Um, John and James, his older brother James, were known as the Sons of Zebedee, um, whom Jesus gave the name Sons of Thunder.

Um, it makes you wonder why Jesus would call them sons of thunder.

Um so you know, John MacArthur wrote a book, um, Twelve Ordinary Men.

It gave an analysis of the uh apostles.

And I just read the part on Peter, which I enjoyed, and I wish I read about John and James, uh, why they were called sons of thunder, you know.

I recall in the in the Gospels, remember that time when a town rejected Jesus, right?

And the sons of thunder, John and James, actually said to Jesus, should we call fire from heaven and destroy this town?

And uh, I think Jesus was probably shot um by this.

And I wonder if that's the reason why you know they were um they were called sons of thunder.

Okay um so John um was one of the three associates of Jesus, the close associates um of the 12.

Uh, there's Peter, James, and John, and they were always with Christ.

Um so being an eyewitness and a participant of Jesus' earthly ministry, um, in the Gospel of John, he also did not directly speak about himself, um, but mention himself, as many believe, as the disciple whom Jesus loved.

I suppose if you wrote a book, you would also say that you are the disciple whom Jesus loved as well.

But John was uh not um open necessarily when he writes uh that it's him that's speaking.

So the Gospel of John and 1 John was written with such similar style, vocabulary, and manner of expression that many believe that these two works may have been written around the same time.

You know, and like you write the same way in the given year compared to 20 years ago, you probably are uh somewhat of a different person in some ways.

But um, so they were probably written um around the latter part of the first century.

The beginning of the heresy which John was combating, was battling, was also in its early stages during the latter third of the first century when John was active in his ministry.

We'll talk more about that.

Um since many date the gospel um uh during the latter part of the first century, they also prefer a similar date for the epistle.

In addition, he also wrote the last book of the Bible called Revelation.

Okay, so um another point regarding the dating of this epistle is that since no one mentioned there there's no mention of the persecution under Domitian, which is which was pretty extensive, which began around um A.D.

95.

It may have been written, therefore, this this epistle may have been written before that began.

In light of such factors, there's a reasonable date of 1 John around 90 to 95 AD.

Okay.

At this point, John was an elderly person, and you know that because he uh often referred to his readers as my little children.

And according to the early church fathers like Justin Martyr, Iranius, Clement of Alexandria, Eusebius, John lived in Ephesus in Asia Minor, which is modern-day Turkey, where he likely wrote 1 John.

There he was still active in the ministry, despite an old age, um, carrying out evangelistic programs, overseeing many of the churches that had arisen, conducting an extensive writing ministry.

Um, we can surmise that John was well known to the readers.

Only someone of John's well-known status as an apostle could be able to write with such authority and expect complete obedience from his readers without clearly identifying himself.

Pretty much uh how Paul was to the Romans.

He never he's never been to the church in Rome, and yet he wrote with such authority.

Um and we it's the same way with first John, how John expected his readers to um listen to him practically as if he were ri speaking for God.

If you turn to First John four, six, let's turn to that.

I mean, this this is pretty uh what's the word?

Um pretty strong.

First John 4 6.

We are from God.

Anyone who knows God listens to us.

Anyone who is not from God does not listen to us.

This is how we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of deception.

I mean, he he's pretty authoritative there.

You know, he's saying that he's speaking for God.

If you don't listen to us, then you're not listening to God.

Um so um we can we can uh understand that the um you know he is the apostle and and and the and the doctrines of Christianity stands uh by the prophets and the apostles.

Um the church is the pillar and the foundation of the truth and um of which is built uh by the prophets and the apostles.

So around this time, false teachers were replete, even arising from within the church's own uh the church's own ranks, they began infecting the church with false doctrine, perverting fundamental apostolic teaching.

These false teachers advocate new ideas that eventually be became known as Gnosticism from the Greek word knowledge.

So after the Pauline, uh the Pauline battle for freedom from the law, Gnosticism was the most dangerous heresy that threatened the early church.

And we'll talk more about what they believed, because that will really give us an understanding um the polemic nature of 1 John.

Um so most likely John was combating the beginnings of this virulent heresy that threatened to destroy the fundamentals of the faith and the churches.

So Gnosticism, influenced by such philosophers as Plato.

Um, I don't know if you ever learned about Plato uh in college and how he wrote um The Cave, which became very popular.

Um I don't want to get into that, that's for sure.

I mean, it seems pretty reasonable if you don't know the Lord, but um, a lot of people started uh putting that this philosophy into the church, into theology, into the theology of the church.

And um basically um it advocated a dualism, asserting that matter or the flesh was inherently evil and this and spirit was good.

And as a result of this presupposition, these false teachers, although attributing some form of deity to Christ, denied his true humanity to preserve him from evil.

So it's amazing how your acceptance of certain philosophies really paint your view of God.

Um, and that's why it's so important to test the spirits, John was saying.

Uh you don't know, but we do, especially through social media, we get all kinds of ideas thrown at us.

And um a lot of things ring true, but we have to screen it through scriptures, through the scripture, or else we will certainly it'll change our view of God, and that will change our behavior.

Um, so this is what's was going on in the church.

Um so again, the Gnostic heresy featured two basic forms.

Okay.

First, some assert that Jesus' physical body was not real, but only seemed to be physical, known as docetism from a Greek word that means to appear.

So they didn't really believe that Jesus was physical.

Um it just appeared, he had just he just appeared to be physical.

But John forcefully affirmed the physical reality of Jesus by reminding his readers that he was an eyewitness to him.

Can we read 1 John chapter 1?

1 John 1 · chapter mention

Um 1 through 4.

Again, that's in uh page 1032 in your pew Bible.

So let's read John chapter 1, 1 through 4.

John 1 · chapter mention

And I want to I want you to read how um John really is stressing that he was real, he was physical.

What uh John chapter 1, verse 1.

John 1:1

What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have observed and have touched with our hands concerning the word of life.

And that life was revealed, and we have seen it, and we testify and declare to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was revealed to us.

What we have seen and heard, we also declare to you, so that you may all may also have fellowship with us, and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ.

We are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.

So you see, it's almost like John emphasized that Jesus was here in the flesh, physically.

So the um this Gnostic heresy has uh ramifications.

Um it also claimed um it also claimed that certain individuals had access to this knowledge, like a certain elitism, like uh not everyone has this knowledge that you have to obtain, um, this elevated knowledge, a higher truth known only to those uh in on the deep things.

Only the initiated had the mystical knowledge of truth that was higher even than that of Scripture.

So in first John, John deliberately stressed that the true believer has already access to the truth, that uh it's not uh we're not it it's not a secret society where the pastors uh only have access to to the truth about God and then the world.

That John is saying, as a believer, we have access to Christ, to the truth.

Okay, um, so John used the word know 33 times in this epistle, stressing to his readers that we already have all the truth in Christ.

We already know because we have this anointing as believers in Christ, that we have access to the truth through the Spirit and through the Word.

Let's read John chapter 2, verse 20, then 26 and 27.

John 2:20

Okay.

John chapter 2, verse 20.

John 2:20

But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth.

Okay, and verse 26.

I have written these things to you concerning those who are trying to deceive you.

As for you, the anointing you have you received from him remains in you, and you don't need anyone to teach you.

Instead, his anointing teaches you about all things, and is true, and is not a lie, just as it has taught you, remain in him.

Okay.

So, you know, that's why John mentioned the word know to know, that we know um the truth.

Uh according to Iranius, another form, well, Iranius is a church father, another form of this heresy that came about because of this uh belief system of the dualism of of the matter and spirit, um, John was combating um this uh uh a heresy led by a man named Serenthus, who contended that Christ's spirit, this Christ's spirit descended on the human Jesus at his baptism, but left him just before his crucifixion.

I'm not sure why he came up with this idea.

Um, and I guess it's related to Gnosticism, where um um uh only the flesh can really die on the cross, but not the spirit, so the spirit left Christ.

Um so but uh according to John, and uh John actually wrote that Jesus, who was baptized at the beginning of this ministry, was the same person who was crucified on the cross.

Um if you turn to John chapter 5, verse 6 and 7, this is a little uh deeper than I than I um knew about, but let's turn to John 1 John chapter 5 verse 6 and 7.

John 5:6 1 John 5:6

Jesus Christ, he is the one who came by water and blood, not by water only, but by water and blood, and the spirit is the one who testifies, because the spirit is the truth.

For there are three that testify the spirit, the water, and the blood, and these three are in agreement.

So uh according to at least this commentary, um the John wanted to counter what Serinthus was uh talking about, saying that um the Spirit descended on the human Jesus at baptism, hence water, and left him before his crucifixion, hence talking about the blood.

Um but again, as Christians, we believe that Jesus was completely human, 100% from beginning to end, and completely 100% God from beginning to end.

Such heretical views destroy not only the true humanity of Jesus, but also the atonement.

For Jesus must not only have been truly God, but also truly human and physically real, and uh and be a physically real man who actually suffered and died on the cross in order to be the acceptable substitutionary sacrifice for sin.

The biblical view of Jesus again affirms that he was completely human as well as completely deity, that he was fully God.

The Gnostic idea that matter was evil and only spirit was good, led to the idea that either the body should be treated harshly, a form of asceticism, or sin committed in the body doesn't really matter because um it's the spirit that matters, not the body.

So you could do whatever you want with the body, as long as you're you keep your spirit safe.

So again, um that wrong understanding of Jesus uh produces all kinds of um consequences.

So uh again, this led to um, especially in John's opponent, to conclude that sin committed in the physical body didn't matter, absolute indulgence in immorality was permissible.

One could even deny sin existed because the spirit wasn't affected, um, and disregarding God's law.

John emphasized the need for obedience to God's law, for he defined the true love of God as obedience to his commandments.

A lack of love for fellow believers characterizes false teachers, especially as they react against anyone rejecting their new way of thinking.

And they separated their deceived followers from the fellowship of those who remained of those who remained faithful to the apostolic teaching.

Um John replied uh that such people who followed these false teachers lacked genuine salvation.

If they were able to leave the truth, uh then they were never really possibly saved.

Um their departure from the truth of Christ and from fellowship with God and the people of God showed that they were never true believers.

I've always said before that um when a person leaves the church um and fellowship with God's people, that's like the first sign of apostasy.

It's pretty scary.

Because I think by nature as Christians, we want to be with the people of God.

You know?

Um that's just how God gave us his spirit to want to connect, to want to be with God's people.

And uh responding to the popularity and spread of this heresy, the apostle wrote to reassure the faithful and to combat this grave threat to the church.

Since the heresy was so acutely dangerous and the time period was so critical for the church in the first century, in danger of being overwhelmed by false teaching, John gently, lovingly, with apostolic authority, sent this letter to the churches to stem the spread of the of a plague of false doctrine.

Okay.

In light of the circumstances of the epistle, the overall theme of first John is to help us recall the fundamentals of the faith.

He didn't necessarily directly go against the the false teachings, but he um affirmed the basics of Christianity, and in doing so, he really went against what they were talking about, what these false teachers were talking about.

So um, so he basically brought us back to the basics of Christianity.

The apostle deals with certainties, not opinions or conjectures.

He expresses the absolute character of Christianity in very simple terms, terms that are clear and unmistakable, leaving no doubt as to the fundamental nature of those truths.

I like the definitive statements of 1 John.

John is very cut and dry, black and white.

You know, I actually like that.

I I love that um because it clarifies uh the truth for us.

Um, there might be some people that might not appreciate that, and I'll talk a little bit about that.

Um, but I love the definitive statements in John that says, God is light, God is love, sin is lawlessness.

This is the victory we have uh that has overcome the world, our faith.

This is the testimony that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his son.

It's very clear, very direct.

And there is a clear and loving tone to first John, like a father, like a grandfather talking to his children.

You know, he and he gives you the reasons for why he wrote this.

I write to you, fathers, I write to you sons, and I write to you children.

Okay, so John communicated to his flock as a shepherd um in a tender way, and he wanted them to reassure them regarding the basics of the faith.

But first John is also polemical.

Polemical means to um he wanted to counter the heresy, not only positive but also negative.

John refutes the defectors with sound doctrine, exhibiting no tolerance for those who pervert divine truths.

He labels those departing from the truth as false prophets, those who are trying to deceive as antichrists.

He pointedly identifies the ultimate source of all such defection from sound doctrine as demonic.

Regarding the overall and recurrent theme of 1 John, there are three factors in the epistle that reveal the key cycled true spirituality.

A proper belief in Jesus produces obedience to his commands.

Obedience produces love for God and fellow believers.

When these three sound faith, obedience, and love operate in concert together, they result in joy, holiness, and assurance of faith.

They constitute the evidence, the litmus test of a true Christian.

Joy, holiness, and assurance, security in this relationship.

There is no fear in love.

I had a friend in college that was never sure of his relationship with God.

But the scripture says the spirit testifies with our spirit that we are children of God.

If you're here tonight and you're not sure and there's always that doubt, I mean, there is a healthy doubt.

Maybe you're not a believer, but once you have accepted Christ as your Lord and Savior and come to God in His terms, you should have an assurance that you are a child of God.

If you don't have that assurance, then you need to really um again submit yourself to God and be sure and have a proper view of Jesus and obey his commands, and then you'll have that assurance.

There are some interpretive challenges that some believers grapple with regarding first John.

Um, it seems that there's still some thunder in this son of Zebedee.

Um, I think some people uh it's somewhat unnerved by how firm and black and white John seems to be in his doctrines, while Paul seemed like he gave exceptions in dealing with some believers with behavioral issues in in Corinth, for instance.

Um, you know, some people were carnal, and yet Paul still called them brothers.

But John was uh, it seems, seems merciless here, you know.

Either you're in or you're out.

It seems black and white.

Um, but I kind of disagree with that.

I think John does uh talk about what if I fail uh issue.

And let's turn to John chapter um John chapter one.

And uh I was gonna talk about this later, but I might as well talk about it now.

Uh a verse that's close and dear to my heart, John chapter one, verse nine, uh, until two, verse two.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous or just to forgive us of our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

This was a significant passage.

You know, this is our way of maintaining our fellowship with God.

God is merciful, God is loving, and um if we if we sin, it does short circuit our fellowship with God.

That's why we always have to have uh short accounts with God.

Um the word confession here in another in the in the Greek is homologio.

The Greek for confession is homo logio.

Same word, agreeing with God that you have sinned.

So that's what confession is.

When we agree with God that we've sinned, um then we can confess it, give it to Christ on the cross, and and now we are in fellowship with God again.

And um in verse uh chapter two, verse one, my little children, I am writing to you these things that you may not sin.

If anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous one.

He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours, but also for those of the whole world.

So John does deal with people who are stumbling, people who are um sinning, um, and we all sin.

And um, and there is a way to come back to God um in our fellowship with Him.

I believe our relationship with Him would never change.

Once you are a child of God, you are a child of God, but um our communication, our fellowship with God can be short-circuited because of our sin.

You know, we can walk a thousand paces away from God, but it only takes a turnaround that we are again close to God.

And that's the beauty about Christianity.

There's a lot of grace built in.

Praise the Lord.

So the rest of the book presents, I mean, this is still how some people view first John, that there's a lot of truths are black and white rather than shades of gray, often a stark contrast between light and darkness, truth and lies, children of God and children of the devil.

I mean, let's turn to that.

I mean, that's uh pretty stark.

Um 1 John 3 10.

1 John 3.10.

This is this is how God's children and the devil's children become obvious.

Whoever does not do what is right, it's not God, especially the one who does not love his brother or sister.

So, I mean, that's that's pretty uh direct.

Um, you know, uh some people are unnerved by that.

Um, but again, there's grace in Christ in Christianity.

I know that if you are believing in Christ with a proper understanding of of his nature, of his character, and trusting On him on the cross, you are a child of God.

So um so now let's look at the text.

I just want to see now that we have an understanding of of the circumstances, the the background, this the circumstance that John was writing um this epistle, we can better appreciate um certain words in this um in this book.

Um so I'm just going to go through the outline um that some commentators talked uh spoke about.

Um did you know that first John can be divided up into two parts?

Um God is light and God is love.

And uh both of these categories start with a statement this is the message we have heard or you have heard.

The first one is in chapter one, verse five.

So let's turn to that chapter one, verse five.

This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you, God is light, and there is absolutely no darkness in him.

Okay, and and from that point until uh 3.11, John spoke about God as light.

And in 1 John 3.11, let's turn to that.

For this is the message you have heard from the beginning.

We should love one another.

Okay, and from that point on, uh John spoke about the love of God and how we should love one another.

So that's uh the general categories, um, which I found fascinating, very interesting.

Um, so let's go through the outlines, okay?

Chapter 1, verse 1 through chapter 2, verse 2 spoke about fellowship with God, what it means to have fellowship with God.

And uh John begins by affirming the reality of Christ's incarnation, stressing that Jesus is the eternal word of life.

Believers are called to walk in the light, confess sin, and rely on Jesus as they advocate uh as their advocate and atoning sacrifice for forgiveness.

Chapter 2, verse 3 to 7 talks about obedience and love.

And this section also can help those who are asking, Am I really saved?

So if you're asking those questions, please read uh chapter 2.

This section defines what being uh also this section also defines what being worldly means.

Can we turn to that?

I love I love that passage.

Um 1 John chapter 2 verse 15 and 16.

1 John 2:15

I tell you what, can it um someone read that?

Um uh Walter, can you read that?

1 John 2, 15 and 16.

Do not love the world or things in the world.

If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is on him.

It's not from the Father, things from the world.

Exactly.

So um uh again in in Gnosticism they they became prideful of what they knew and and they gave themselves, some some of them, to um debauchery.

And John is saying that this is of the world and there's no need to know the things of the world.

And if you look at it closely, this is also the the same temptation that the serpent used on Eve, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of of one's possession.

Okay, and if you also remember the devil tempting Jesus, he practically used the same temptation.

Um it's it's amazing to me how unified the scripture is.

I mean, um when when you see it, when you read the whole, it's so amazing to me that um it's so unified, you know, written by 40 different authors um from different walks of life, and and uh they can speak about hundreds of controversial topics, and they they still have a cohesive um understanding of the things of the world and the things of God.

That is in and of itself a testimony that we had the truth.

Um verse uh uh and then in chapter 2, 18 through 27, there's warnings against false teachers.

John addresses the threat of the Antichrist.

Antichrists are false teachers who deny that Jesus is the Christ who has come in the flesh.

Believers are encouraged to remain faithful to the truth, they receive and rely on the Holy Spirit's anointing.

Our faith gives us understanding and knowledge, and this in turn increases our faith.

And so we go on from glory to glory.

Chapter 2, verse 28 through um chapter 3, 20, verse 24 talks about living as God's children.

Believers are God's children called to live righteously and love one another.

Sin is incompatible with God's nature, but Jesus purifies believers.

Love is the evidence of genuine faith.

Chapter 4, 1 through 6 speaks about testing the spirits, testing what you believe in, the philosophies that we are uh are are shown, whether it be the internet or the TV or anywhere, we have to test them and screen them through scripture.

John instructs believers to discern true spirits from false ones, emphasizing that truce true faith confesses Jesus Christ, Jesus as God incarnate.

God's Spirit enables believers to overcome false teachings.

Chapter 4, 7 through 21 speaks of God's love and our response.

God is love demonstrated through sending Jesus as the propitiation for sin, believe for sins.

Believers must reflect this love, which casts out fear and confirms their relationship with God.

Chapter 5, verse 1 through 12, faith and victory.

Faith in Jesus as the Son of God grants victory over the world.

Eternal life is found in him, and God's testimony confirms this truth.

I remember when I came to know the Lord September 25th, 1985, at 8 35 p.m.

All I know is that someone spoke to me that night.

Um, and this was a particular verse that hit me.

Okay, let's turn to um John chapter 5, verse uh 11 through 13.

John 5 · chapter mention

Let's turn to that.

1 John 5, 11.

And this is the testimony that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his son.

The one who has the son has life.

The one who does not have the son of God does not have life.

I have written these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.

That hit me because I didn't know that we can know for sure that we have eternal life.

You know, I was a Catholic, and so I was trying to to uh um earn my way to to to God by my good deeds, by fulfilling what the church wanted me to fulfill.

And you know, no one can know that they're going to heaven, right?

I mean, that's what they believe because you're you're trying to, I mean, are you good enough to go to heaven?

You know, but that's what they that's that's what I was believing as a as a pre-Christian.

You know, they were we were taught that we can never know, you know, but they're basing that belief by their by man's righteousness.

But if we believe that Jesus' righteousness is charged to our account when we embrace the cross, when we embrace the cross, his goodness is charged to our account, so that when God sees us, it's as if we've never sinned and as if the goodness of the goodness of Christ is what we've done.

And so we were accepted, not on our basis, but on the basis of Christ.

And when I came to realize that I'm declared not guilty, that I received, that I can know now that I'm going to heaven, it didn't matter.

Nothing else mattered anymore.

I was I was set free.

Yeah, I got I got problems, but this this is it.

This is amazing, you know that that we are going to heaven.

We are surely going to heaven.

And it makes sense because the righteousness of Christ is given to us.

That's the only basis.

And so when I heard that, I was like, you know how it is when you're anticipating Christmas, you know, like your that that joy, that happiness is there because uh because we we're going to heaven.

It doesn't matter.

What what kind of problems do we have?

You know, we're dying, we're we got financial problems, we got um, you know, relationship problems, we're going to heaven, and that's all that matters.

You know, this is just a blip in the road map of eternity, this this life.

And because we this verse says that so that this is the testimony, this is God testifying that we have eternal life, and this life is in his son.

He who has the son has the life, and um, we have Christ by the grace of God.

What a great privilege.

And that was, I know these are simple verses, but that made me so happy.

That made me so happy that um I it was a radical transformation.

Um just to continue, sorry I lost my place.

Um yes, faith is the victory, and the last part is assurance and prayer in John 1 John chapter 5, 13 through 21.

1 John 5 · chapter mention

John writes to assure believers of their eternal life.

He encourages confident prayer, mutual care, vigilance against sin, and idolatry, concluding with a certainty that Jesus is the true God.

First John is an amazing epistle.

It is simple, direct, and profound.

John gave us these truths, and if you believe it and accept them, then you have saving faith, and you have eternal life.

You have fellowship with God, which is assuredly the eternal life now.

Let's pray, Lord God.

We are so blessed, Lord, that you open our eyes and and ears and you change our heart of stone into our heart of flesh.

Lord, we are privileged.

We are privileged of all the peoples of the world.

Why us?

Why did you choose us to receive your son?

We thank you for him.

We thank you that he lived a perfect life.

We thank you that you take his life as a sacrifice.

You have accepted him and applied, imputed his righteousness to us, that we are declared not guilty.

Lord, this is great news.

This will take us through the trials of life into eternal life.

Lord, thank you for my brothers and sisters.

Thank you, Lord, that for this church that is the the pillar and the uh um the the place where truth is always proclaimed.

I praise you for that, Lord.

Again, Lord, thank you for tonight.

I pray that uh this message would um be in our hearts and that we would read first John with such expectancy now that you revealed the background to us.

We praise you in Jesus' name, amen.

Amen.