Friday, March 26, 2010
1 John 5 The Power
Everyone who believes that Jesus is the • Messiah has been born of God, and everyone who loves the parent also loves his child.
2 This is how we know that we love God’s children when we love God and obey His commands.
3 For this is what love for God is: to keep His commands. Now His commands are not a burden,
4 because whatever has been born of God conquers the world. This is the victory that has conquered the world: our faith.
5 And who is the one who conquers the world but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
WHAT IS A DEFEATED LIFE?
A life without fruit. We are commanded by the Lord to bear fruit. Jesus said, "Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples" (John 15:8).
A life without power. If the power were present, the life would not be defeated. Jesus said, "But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me. . ." (Acts 1:8).
A life without a positive influence. The life of the victorious Christian points in one direction—toward the Lord. The defeated life has no positive influence.
A life dominated by the flesh. The Corinthians were defeated Christians. Paul called them "babes in Christ." They were carnal, not spiritual.
A life directed at times by Satan.
Are you saying that a Christian's life is never directed by the evil one? If so, you are speaking against the Word of God. Simon Peter said to Christians, "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world. "—I Peter 5:8,9.
James also said, "Submit yourselves therefore to God. "Resist the devil, and he will flee from you" (James 4:7). These and many other Scriptures show that the Devil is constantly after us. Some Christians succumb to his enticing words, and they are directed for a while by Satan.
A life dictated by the world. John tells us, "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him" (I John 2:15). The apostle indicates the danger of loving the world; therefore, he warns the children of God against this love.
In a much stronger way, James said, "Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God" (James 4:4).
The Apostle Paul, knowing the great danger of a Christian s life dictated by the world, said, "Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?" (II Cor. 6:14). And again, "Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you" (vs. 17).
The defeated life is dominated by the world, the flesh and the Devil— three enemies who work for the constant defeat of a Christian.
God wants you to be victorious! Satan wants you to be defeated! Your soul is beyond his reach, but you can still be touched through the world and his subtle suggestions.
What a dead drag the defeated Christian is to himself and to all around him! What a hindrance to the cause of Christ! He does not glorify God, and he constantly sheds a negative influence of defeatism on others.
But listen to John: "For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith" (I John 5:4). Victory Overcomes = Nikao . . . to get the victory Victory = Nike . . . victory
Satan has a campaign in this world
John 12:31 Now is the judgment of this world. Now the ruler of this world will be cast out.
Ephesians 2:2 And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;
2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:
Ephesians 6: Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. 11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. 13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
Satan has control of this world
1 John 5:19 And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness. 19 We know that we are of God, and the whole world is under the sway of the evil one.
1. The Power Of Love
Mark 3:17 and to James the son of Zebedee, and to his brother John, He gave the name “Boanerges” (that is, “Sons of Thunder”);
Mark 9:38 John said to Him, “Teacher, we saw someone driving out demons in Your name, and we tried to stop him because he wasn’t following us.” 39 “Don’t stop him,” said Jesus, “because there is no one who will perform a miracle in My name who can soon afterwards speak evil of Me.
Luke 9:54 He sent messengers ahead of Him, and on the way they entered a village of the • Samaritans to make preparations for Him. 53 But they did not welcome Him, because He determined to journey to Jerusalem. 54 When the disciples James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do You want us to call down fire from heaven to consume them?”55 But He turned and rebuked them, 56 and they went to another village.
But something happened to John
Something happened to Paul.
Gal 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith,
The power of a seed pushing up paving stones.
1 Cor 13:7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
2. The Power Of Life
John 3:16 For God loved the world in this way: He gave His One and Only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.
1 Cor 6:19 Do you not know that your body is a sanctuary of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God? You are not your own,
Believers demonstrate the supernatural power and presence of Christ in their lives by obedience to God's commandments (verse 4a). Grace operates within the believer and gives him the ability to keep God's commandments (Philippians 2:13 For it is God who is working in you, [enabling you]both to will and to act for His good purpose. ).
The change that Jesus brings to a believer is a living testimony to others of the power of God (II Corinthians 3:1-3 Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or like some, do we need letters of recommendation to you or from you? 2 You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, recognized and read by everyone,
3 since it is plain that you are Christ’s letter, produced by us, not written with ink but with the Spirit of the living God; not on stone tablets but on tablets that are hearts of flesh. and 5:17Therefore if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation; old things have passed away, and look, new things have come.
Such examples as Paul, the demoniac, the Samaritan woman, etc. are the greatest evidences of God's supernatural power!
The change that Jesus brings into a believer is a living testimony to the believer himself. In fact, an absence of obedience and growth will result in doubt and discouragement to the believer (II Peter 1:5-9 For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with goodness, goodness with knowledge, 6 knowledge with self-control, self-control with endurance, endurance with godliness, 7 godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. 8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they will keep you from being useless or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 The person who lacks these things is blind and shortsighted, and has forgotten the cleansing from his past sins. This over-coming victory over the flesh, Satan, and the law is a universal reality to all who are truly born again (verse 4a). You will notice the word "whatsoever". This means anyone and anything and everything that is born of God will overcome the world. In 1 John 3:8-10 John has declared that God's seed enters and abides in all believers. The one who commits sin is of the Devil, for the Devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God was revealed for this purpose: to destroy the Devil’s works. 9 Everyone who has been born of God does not sin, because His seed remains in him; he is not able to sin, because he has been born of God. 10 This is how God’s children—and the Devil’s children—are made evident. Whoever does not do what is right is not of God, especially the one who does not love his brother.
In 1 John 4:4You are from God, little children, and you have conquered them, because the One who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. he has declared that God's seed is greater than Satan's seed. Now, in I John 5:4, because whatever has been born of God conquers the world. This is the victory that has conquered the world: our faith. he declares that these facts will cause every born again believer to be a victorious Christian. Any believer who Is not experiencing this today needs to look into their lives for the causes and patiently persevere (Psalms 138:8 The Lord will fulfill [His purpose]for me. Lord, Your love is eternal; do not abandon the work of Your hands. and Philippians 1:6 6 Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ: ).
The pressure of a river flowing down to the sea. I and my cousin were caught in a current at Shoalhaven Heads and we rowed against that current for hours. We were not gaining ground. What made it worse was when a local fisherman powered by in his fishing boat and told us to be careful, he had followed a 12 foot shark into the estuary. We got out on a sandbank near the beach just before were going to sucked out to sea, and pushed the boat the couple of miles back to his house. Filled in a whole day, rowing that boat and pushing that boat. Some years later I was in a small boat at Foster, and the girls were young and again we were caught in the massive current trying to haul us off out to sea. The situation was even more fearsome, but, no, because on that boat was a little engine, and it chugged away “I think I can I know I can”, and pushed us up river against that current. Remember the little red caboose.. going up the hill “I think I can I know I can, and chugged right over that hill!
You know, we need some power. And we have that power.
3. The Power Of A Living Faith
Vance Havner used to tell the story of an elderly lady who was greatly disturbed by her many troubles both real and imaginary. Finally she was told in a kindly way by her family, "Grandma, we’ve done all we can do for you. You’ll just have to trust God for the rest." A look of utter despair spread over her face as she replied, "Oh, dear, has it come to that?" Havner would say, "It always comes to that, so we might as well begin with that!"
The initial step of salvation is done in faith (verse 4b-5). The only way that any person can be born again is through faith in the redemptive work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Salvation is where a person acknowledges that they are a sinner by nature, a sinner by choice, a sinner by habit, and a sinner who cannot save themselves. Salvation is where a sinner acknowledges that if they received what they deserved, it would be eternal separation from God in hell. Salvation is where a person who acknowledges their sin also acknowledges their faith in the biblical record of Jesus Christ. This believe is more than just head knowledge. This belief is more than just verbal ascent. This faith, which saves, confesses that Jesus Christ was the sinless Son of God, who alone is worthy to be our sin substitute. This faith which saves acknowledges that He was born without original sin (through the virgin birth), that He was in all ways tempted as we are, and yet never sinned; that He died upon the cross, not for His sins, but for ours, and that His substitutionary death was accepted by God the Father. Believing faith is where a sinner places all his sin and all his hope of forgiveness under the blood of Jesus Christ, which was shed upon the cross. Believing faith is where a person accepts God's record that they are pardoned, forgiven, and justified in the sight of God through Jesus' redemptive work alone.
That is why Ephesians 2:8 declares that even "the faith" to believe and be saved is "a gift from God". Hebrews 11:6 declares "that without (this kind of) faith, it is impossible to please God".
F.B. Meyer said, "Unbelief puts our circumstance between us and God, but faith puts God between us and our circumstances." Whatever the circumstances, choose to believe God. And sometimes that means you’ll have to take a risk.
Miss Jones, an elderly spinster, lived in a small mid-western community. She had the notoriety of being the oldest resident of the town. One day she died and the editor of the local newspaper wanted to print a little caption commemorating Miss Jones’ death. However, the more he thought about it, the more he became aware that while Miss Jones had never done anything terribly wrong, she had actually never done anything of note. In despair, the editor decided to assign the task to the first reporter he came across. The only fellow around was the sports editor, so he gave him the assignment. This is the result:
Here lie the bones of Nancy Jones, Her life held no terrors.
She lived an old maid. She died an old maid. No hits, no runs, no errors.
Someone who works in the field of Chemistry pointed out that if you mix hydrogen and oxygen, the well-known components of water, you get no reaction — and no water! But if you add a small amount of platinum to this stable mixture, things begin to happen rather rapidly. The hydrogen and oxygen unite and a chemical change occurs which produces H2O. Just as platinum is needed as a catalyst to achieve the desired result so faith must be present in our walk with the Lord to pull together everything else we do. Our church attendance, Bible reading, prayer, and faithful deeds bring us to a place of victorious overcoming only as they are mixed with faith. We need to understand the "chemistry" of faith. It is explosive!
Charles Haddon Spurgeon once wrote, Men usually swim with the stream like a dead fish; it is only the living fish that goes against it. It is only the Christian who despises customs, who does not care for conventionalisms, who only asks himself the question, "Is it right or is it wrong? If it is right, I will be singular. If there is not another man in this world who will do it, I will do it; should a universal hiss go up to heaven, I will do it still; should the very stories of earth fly up, arid stone me to death, I will do it still; though they bind me to the stake, yet I must do it; I will be singularly right; if the multitude will not follow me, I will go without them, I will be glad if they will all go and do right as well, but if not, I will despise their customs; I care not what others do; I shall not be weighed by other men; to my own Master I stand or fall. Thus I conquer and overcome the customs of the world."
It is strange we trust each other, And only doubt our Lord;
We take the word of mortals, And yet distrust His Word.
But, oh, what light and glory, Would shine for all our days,
If we always would remember, God means just what He says.
When Cardinal Manning was experiencing great depression of soul and a darkening of his faith, he went into the shop of a well-known book concern. There he saw one of his own books entitled, Faith in God. As he waited for a copy of his book to be sent up from the storeroom, he heard a clerk calling up from the elevator shaft, "Manning s Faith in God is all gone!" He took the words to heart.—w. B. Knight
