Grosey's Messages

16 By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.17 But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him?18 Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.

23 And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us.24 Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God, and God in him.

The Bottom Line And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ
John 6:29, 'This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.'
Don't make a saviour out of your

Religious feelings

Religious practices

Repentances

Regeneration

and love one another, just as he has commanded us.

'A new commandment give I unto you, that ye love one another.' There is the substance of the duty, and then it follows  'As I have loved you, that ye also love one another.' There is the manner again: John 15:12, 13, 'This is my commandment, that ye love one another, as I have loved you: greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends;' meaning thereby, not only to commend his own love to us, to heighten our gratitude, but also to commend his example to us, and to heighten our charity and love to the brethren.

Dr. Rene Spitz of New York made a study of children in orphan homes to determine what effect love and neglect had on them. The survey proved that children who were neglected and unloved were much slower in their development, and some of them even died. Even in a physical sense, love is the very atmosphere of life and growth. It is even more so in the spiritual sense. In fact, it is a matter of love or death!

11 Ὅτι αὕτη ἐστὶν ἡ ἀγγελία ἣν ἠκούσατε ἀπ' ἀρχῆς, ἵνα ἀγαπῶμεν ἀλλήλους·

16 ἐν τούτῳ ἐγνώκαμεν τὴν ἀγάπην, ὅτι ἐκεῖνος ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ ἔθηκεν

19 ἐν τούτῳ γνωσόμεθα ὅτι ἐκ τῆς ἀληθείας ἐσμέν,

Gnostic gnosis knowledge       John's got something better…Surpassing Knowledge.  Knowledge of the love of Christ.       The big experience…. Used to be second baptism and tongues.  Used to be believers baptism.. used to be ….    It doesn't matter… John has something that surpasses them all.  Actually the Lord Jesus has something that surpasses them all.. LOVE.  Spelt Agape

Agape was a word for love that had been forgotten.  It had gone out of usage.   'AGAPE' IN I CORINTHIANS XIII  ARTHUR G. VELLA, S.J. The Greeks had four terms to indicate 'love' and 'friendship', namely Philein  Stergein   eran agapai 

Philein is the most generic term and it covers all types of love: love of things and of persons, love of God and love of men; it denotes a love born out of a sensible attraction.

Stergein expresses a love that is sensible, but not sensual, a love that is constant and natural; such is, for example, the love of parents towards their children and vice-versa.

eran indicates a love that is passionate and, at most, sensual.

agapai denotes the love of esteem and friendship.

Agapaw is found frequently in classics, but not agapai which term stands for the old word agapasis

The Lord Jesus used a word gone and forgotten to ut new meaning into it, sacred meaning, that it is outward overflowing love towards others.    John, following Jesus, says we are to love consistently and comprehensively, continually and individually. Play no favorites. Show no biases. Practice no discriminations among your brothers and sisters. After all, we are family! Love for others flows out of God's love for us. It is at the heart of the gospel.

To love our brothers and sisters is to stand in stark contrast to the first murderer in the Bible, the man named Cain. This tragic and well-known story, recorded in Genesis 4:1-6, is the only direct Old Testament reference in 1 John. Cain's actions revealed his true spiritual father, the Devil (cf. 1 John 3:10). As Jesus taught in John 8:44,  You are of your father the Devil, and you want to carry out your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning and has not stood in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he tells a lie, he speaks from his own nature, because he is a liar and the father of liars.

The word "murder" means to butcher, slay, or slaughter. It speaks of a violent and brutal killing. And what were Cain's motives? Moved by his spiritual father, "the evil one," his heart was filled with jealously, envy, and resentment. Abel brought a sacrifice to God that was acceptable and "righteous." Cain brought one that was evil and unacceptable (v. 12). Cain hated Abel over this and murdered his own flesh and blood.

Regenerated Love Actually

14 We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death.

1 John 5:1, Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him.2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. 1 John 4:21, 'This commandment we have from him, that he that loves God, loves his brother also.' We ought not to live to ourselves only, but for the benefit of one another, especially of our fellow-christians.

John is saying that continually loving others out of "gospel gratitude" (cf. v. 16) for all that Jesus has done is evidence, a proof, that we have definitely and decisively moved from the realm of spiritual death into the realm of spiritual life. What he is not saying is that eternal life is earned by loving others, but rather that loving others is evidence that we already have eternal life.

And may the Lord cause you to increase and overflow with love for one another and for everyone, just as we also do for you. (1 Thess 3:12)

Love Distinctively

11 For this is the message you have heard from the beginning: we should love one another … 14 We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death.

As I love my brothers and sisters in the community of faith well, I am assured that I am in the family of God. The word for "brother" occurs 15 times in this letter and almost always has in view the family of God. John, no doubt, would affirm our love for all men and women in general, but here he calls for us to love our brothers and sisters in Christ in particular. Paul says something similar to this in Galatians 6:10 when he writes, "Therefore, as we have opportunity, we must work for the good of all, especially for those who belong to the household of faith."

Those whose lives are characterized by hatred give evidence that they have never been born again, that they "remain in death" (v. 14; cf. Eph 2:1-3). Further, not only do they live in the world of spiritual death; they are actually murderers in the eyes of God (v. 15). John is clear: an attitude of hate in your heart is equivalent to having murder in your heart. John again is drawing from words he had heard from Jesus. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said in Matthew 5:21-22,

You have heard that it was said to our ancestors, Do not murder, and whoever murders will be subject to judgment. But I tell you, everyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. And whoever says to his brother, "Fool!" will be subject to the Sanhedrin. But whoever says, "You moron!" will be subject to hellfire. John says it is really quite simply: no love, no life.

Love Sacrificially

16 By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.

John 3:16 says that God gave His Son for us. First John 3:16 says we should give ourselves for others. The Bible says that if you want to see love, look at the cross! The Bible says that if you want to show love, look at the cross! The Bible says that if you want to know love, look at the cross! The Bible says that if you want to live love, look at the cross!

Out of "gospel gratitude" for His laying down His life for us, "we ought to lay down our own lives for the brothers." Warren Wiersbe says, "'Self-preservation' is the first law of physical life, but 'self-sacrifice' is the first law of spiritual life" (Be Real, 127). Jesus said it like this in John 15:13: "No one has greater love than this, that someone would lay down his life for his friends."

Here is love, vast as the ocean,          Lovingkindness as the flood,
When the Prince of Life, our ran­som,           Shed for us His pre­cious blood.
Who His love will not re­mem­ber?        Who can cease to sing His praise?
He can ne­ver be for­got­ten,          Throughout Heav'n's eter­nal days.On the mount of cru­ci­fix­ion,           Fountains op­ened deep and wide;
Through the flood­gates of God's mer­cy         Flowed a vast and gra­cious tide.
Grace and love, like mig­hty ri­vers,           Poured in­cess­ant from above,
And Heav'n's peace and per­fect jus­tice            Kissed a guil­ty world in love.

Love Practically

17 But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him?18 Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.

Talk is cheap" is a modern axiom, and I suspect that the concept originated in the Bible! In verses 17-18, John gets down where the rubber meets the road and provides some basic, real, and practical advice about love in the context of everyday living.

Verse 17 introduces a negative example using a "greater to lesser" argument based on verse 16. Jesus had a life to give and you have stuff ("this world's goods") to give. Jesus saw your need and gave His life. You, however, see your brother's need and "close your eyes" (lit. "entrails," i.e., feelings). How then, "can God's love reside in" you? The obvious and undeniable answer is, "It doesn't." It is not there.

John knows that our hearts control our hands. A closed heart will always result in closed hands and is evidence that your heart has never been opened by the "key of the gospel" of God's grace poured out in Jesus. The brother of Jesus, James, has the same concern as he writes in Jas 2:15-17,

If a brother or sister is without clothes and lacks daily food and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, keep warm, and eat well," but you don't give them what the body needs, what good is it? In the same way faith, if it doesn't have works, is dead by itself. 

Dead faith. Dead love. Neither one does any good to others.

Stott quoting Lewis: "It is easier to be enthusiastic about Humanity with a capital 'H' than it is to love individual men and women, especially those who are uninteresting, exasperating, depraved, or otherwise unattractive. Loving everybody in general may be an excuse for loving nobody in particular."

Love Confidently

19 By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him;20 for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything.

Let me all Thy love ac­cept­ing,      Love Thee, ev­er all my days;
Let me seek Thy king­dom on­ly      And my life be to Thy praise;
Thou alone shalt be my glo­ry,          Nothing in the world I see.
Thou hast cleansed and sanc­ti­fied me,        Thou Thy­self hast set me free.

In Thy truth Thou dost di­rect me       By Thy Spi­rit through Thy Word;
And Thy grace my need is meet­ing,         As I trust in Thee, my Lord.
Of Thy full­ness Thou art pour­ing          Thy great love and pow­er on me,
Without mea­sure, full and bound­less,         Drawing out my heart to Thee.

Love Prayerfully

Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God;22 and whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him.

 

23 And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us.24 Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God, and God in him.

W W Wiersbe  "Abiding in Christ" is a key experience for a believer who wants to have confidence toward God and enjoy answers to prayer. Jesus, in His message to the disciples in the Upper Room (John 15:1–14) illustrated "abiding." He compared His followers to the branches of a vine. So long as the branch draws its strength from the vine, it produces fruit. But if it separates itself from the vine, it withers and dies.     Each member of the Triune Godhead is involved in the "love life" of a believer. God the Father commands us to love one another, God the Son gave His life on the cross, the supreme example of love. And God the Holy Spirit lives within us to provide the love we need (Rom. 5:5). To abide in love is to abide in God, and to abide in God is to abide in love. Christian love is not something we "work up" when we need it. Christian love is "shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost," and this is your constant experience as you abide in Christ.

 

Do believe in Him.

Faith in Jesus Christ, that we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ. The name of Christ is Christ himself, or Christ considered as revealed in the gospel; then we believe in the name of Jesus Christ when we believe all that is revealed in the gospel concerning Jesus Christ.  This is to believe in his name, to assent to what is said concerning his person and offices, and to consent to deal with him upon these terms, depending upon him to obtain these benefits in the appointed way. The same expression is used, John 3:18, 'Because he believeth not in the name of the Son of God.' So Acts 10:43, 'Through his name whosoever believeth on him shall receive the remission of sins.' So John 20:31, 'These things are written, that ye may believe that Jesus is the Son of God, and that, believing, ye may have life through his name;' that is, obtain salvation according to the way appointed in the scriptures or the new covenant.

John 14:1, 'Ye believe in God, believe also in me.' We believe in God as an all—sufficient fountain of grace, and in Christ as an all—sufficient mediator, whom he hath sent to recover the lost world.

1 Tim. 1:15, 16, 'This is a true and faithful saying, that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners. Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show forth all long-suffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to everlasting life.'

Faith, believing is three things : —assent, consent, trust or dependence.

1.Assent to the truth of the christian doctrine, that Jesus is such as the word represents him to be, the Christ and the Saviour of the world, who came to recover us to God: John 6:69, 'We believe and are sure that thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.'

1 John 5: 4 For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world---our faith.5 Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

2.Consent to God's offer of Christ, that he may be our Lord and Saviour: John 1:12, 'To as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to as many as believe in his name;' Col. 2:6, 'And as ye have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him.

Morevolous          Canged  (besotted)

16 ἐν τούτῳ ἐγνώκαμεν τὴν ἀγάπην, ὅτι ἐκεῖνος ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ ἔθηκεν

19 ἐν τούτῳ γνωσόμεθα ὅτι ἐκ τῆς ἀληθείας ἐσμέν,

Gnostic gnosis knowledge

John's Surpassing Knowledge.  Knowledge of the love of Christ.

The big experience…. Used to be second baptism and tongues.  Used to be believers baptism.. used to be

Agape was a word for love that had been forgotten.  It had gone out of usage. 

'AGAPE' IN I CORINTHIANS XIII  ARTHUR G. VELLA, S.J.

The Greeks had four terms to indicate 'love' and 'friendship', namely

Philein  Stergein   eran agapai 

 Philein is the most generic term and it covers all types of love: love of things and of persons, love of God and love of men; it denotes a love born out of a sensible attraction.

eran indicates a love that is passionate and, at most, sensual.

agapai denotes the love of esteem and friendship.

Agapaw is found frequently in classics, but not agapai which term stands for the old word agapasis

According to Grimm the word Agape is a 'vox solum biblica et ecclesiastica', and Cremer holds that it is 'entirely foreign to profane Greek'; on the contrary,

To love God is to make Him the complete gift of self; to be at His service in everything and for every.thing and to put at His disposal our intellect (in Hebrew 'heart'), our soul (the sensitive potencies), and our power (all physical qualities). But the Old Testament does not stop there! We find closely connected with this love for God a note of kindness and sympathy towards the afflicted, the orphans, widows, and the needy. In some of the Psalms and in the Prophets (I Sam. 15,22; Jer.7, 21ss; Hos. 6,6) this charitable attitude is placed even above the ceremonial rites themselves. Already in Deut. 10,12-19 we find love of neighbor  (strangers) prescribed to the Jews:

'For the Lord your God, he is God of gods, and Lord of Lords, the great God, the mighty, and the terrible, which regardeth not persons, nor taketh reward. He doth execute the judgement of the fatherless and the widow, and loveth the stranger, in giving him food and raiment. Love ye therefore the stranger: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt' .

And in Lev. 19,16ss we read:  'Thou shalt not go up and down as a tale bearer among thy people: neither shalt thou stand against the blood of thy neighbour: I am the Lord. Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thy heart: thou shalt surely rebuke thy neighbour, and not bear sin because of him. Thou shalt not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the Lord'.

'You have heard that it was said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy: but I say unto you, Love your enemies, and pray for them that persecute you; that ye may be sons of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sendeth rain on the just and the unjust. For if you love them that love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the Gentiles the same? Ye therefore shall be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect'.

 

We know that we have passed from death to life: A love for the people of God is a basic sign of being born again. If this love is not evident in our lives, our salvation can be questioned. If it is present, it gives us assurance.

We can know we have passed from death to life by our love for other Christians. The place of hatred, of jealousy, of bitterness you find yourself in is a place of death. You need to pass from death over to life.

This means knowing two things. First, we know that we were dead. Second, we know that we have passed to life from death. To pass from death to life is the reverse of the normal. We all expect to pass from life to death; but in Jesus, we can turn it around.

John seemed to have in mind the teaching of Jesus from the Sermon on the Mount regarding the true fulfillment of the law. (Mat_5:21-22)

"In the heart there is no difference; to hate is to despise, to cut off from relationship, and murder is simply the fulfillment of that attitude." (Barker)

Religious feelings

Religious practices

Regeneration

Regenerated Love Actually

14 We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death.

Let me all Thy love ac­cept­ing,
Love Thee, ev­er all my days;
Let me seek Thy king­dom on­ly
And my life be to Thy praise;
Thou alone shalt be my glo­ry,
Nothing in the world I see.
Thou hast cleansed and sanc­ti­fied me,
Thou Thy­self hast set me free.

Love Distinctively

11 For this is the message you have heard from the beginning: we should love one another … 14 We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death.

 

Love Sacrificially

 

Love Practically

 

By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him;20 for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything.

Love Prayerfully

Call To Worship  Psalm 1   Law Grace Reading: Ezekiel 36:22-29

Bible reading 1 John 3:4-10    Are You Slapping The Lord In The Face?

Benediction: 1 Corinthians 16:22-24  If anyone has no love for the Lord, let him be accursed. Our Lord, come!23 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you.24 My love be with you all in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness.5 You know that he appeared to take away sins, and in him there is no sin.6 No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him.7 Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous.8 Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.9 No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God.10 By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.

 

Anything Goes, is a song by Cole Porter. It was revived by Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga! 2014.  Celebrating Profanity and nudity it represents the moral relativism of our society today.  Porter wrote show tunes in 1915 sung by people like Frank Sinatra: Ive got you under my skin, Don't fence me in. I get a kick out of you.  After making it all he became drugged, drunk depressed and diseased.  The bible anticipated the decadent times like our present age. There were people in John's time who said, it doesn't matter how you live. Live it up. Get as much as you can while you can.

And some of these were in the church.   There is a lot of confusion then as now about the relationship between purifying ourselves, holiness, and our state as declared righteous by God.  Some people err to much on one side to say "Well you have to be holy or you are not getting to heaven."  They tend to deny justification by faith. That we are completely pardoned by what the Lord Jesus, God the Son did at the cross.  Others say "Well we now we are set right by God through what Jesus did, sin doesn't really matter that much!"   Well that is wrong too. Sin matters more now.

The appeal for holiness is always made in terms of doctrine.  Some want to say "Well doctrine doesn't matter that much anyway, what matters is love!"  I heard that this week at the Penrith Pastors Meeting.

For the apostle John,  holiness and love has everything to do with who Jesus is and what He came to do.  Holiness, purifying ourselves,  is an inevitable consequence of a true understanding of our position in Christ Jesus.  Holiness is a matter of working out what we claim to believe;  failure in practise does suggest a failure truly to understand the doctrine, and is an indication that there is something essentially and fundamentally wrong with one's view of Christ, and therefore something wrong of our view of the Christian life.

Now the particular failure with which he is concerned here is the failure really to understand the nature of sin.

John doesn't want us to regard sin lightly, dismissing it in some inadequate way as if it were something that really does not matter very much so long as one is a Christian. But John is careful to guard very strongly against that. He says, 'Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness' (v.4). 'You must be right, therefore,' says the Apostle, 'about this whole question of the real nature of sin, because if you are wrong there, you must be wrong on your doctrine of salvation, and then you are wrong everywhere.' And so his great emphasis at this point is that sin is lawlessness, the breaking of God's law, rebellion against God, disobedience, a failure to live our lives as God would have us live them.

That is the very essence of sin. It must not be thought of as just a sort of weakness or failure on our part; it must not be regarded as some sort of poor evolutionary bit of us which we have not yet evolved out of. No, John says It is the transgression of the law; it is disobedience to God and His holy will with respect to us. 'So if you fail to realise this,' says the Apostle in effect, 'then it does just show that you are muddled and confused in your thinking about the whole principle of the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ into this world. And it seems clear that your whole conception of salvation must be entirely false and erroneous'—and then he proceeds to deal with that.

'Man's essential trouble,' says the Apostle, 'is that he is guilty and condemned by the law of God. Sin was introduced into this world by the devil; the devil came at the very beginning and tempted man to disobey God. That is lawlessness: he tempted him to break God's holy law, and man in his folly listened to him and did so. That is a part of the work of the devil, and its effect has been to make us break the law of God and to render us guilty in the sight of God and His holy law. There we are, under the wrath of God, meriting and awaiting punishment. That is the position,' says John, 'so that if you do not view your sin in that way, then it is quite obvious that you cannot understand anything else because the Lord Jesus Christ was manifested, or appeared, in this world because of that.'

John makes two separate statements with regard to the object of the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ: 'You know that he was manifested to take away our sins' (v.5), and 'For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil' (v.8). That is the whole purpose, and we must view His coming in the light of those two great statements.

John is going to raise a mirror to your life about the issue of sin in this passage! And how to keep clean from sin! In verses 4 through 10, of First John chapter 3, the Apostle John mentions the word sin ten times; ten different times in 7 verses.   We've all got to daily address the reflection of sin and our fallen predisposition to sin and the marring effects of sin.  There's no need hiding it . . . let's not redefine it . . . Let's expose it for what it is and then deal with it.

Calvin Coolidge was the president of the United States in 1923. He was known for being a man of few words – in fact, somewhat renowned for never using an unnecessary word. One Sunday morning, he returned from a church service and a white house staff member asked him what the preacher had preached about in his sermon that morning. "Coolidge replied with one word, "Sin!" The staff member waited for a little more information and when none came, he asked "Well, what did the preacher say about it?" Coolidge responded, "He was against it."

There are a number of definitions of sin by the way, in the Bible:  The devising of folly is sin (Proverbs 24:9);  All unrighteousness is sin (1 John 5:17);  To one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin (James 4:17);

It is the attack on God's justice, His very nature as sinless.  Jesus was without sin! But we all have sin!

John Bunyan said Sin is the dare of God's justice, the rape of His mercy, the jeer of His patience, the slight of His power, and the contempt of His love.

Sin then is repudiating – denying – disobeying – refusing to apply the standards holiness established by God.  The word John uses here for sin (hamartia) literally means to fail to hit the target – to miss the mark; which is primarily a classical Greek definition of the word. What's typically lost in that definition is the fact that throughout the New Testament, the word hamartia has the added characteristic of open rebellion – an attitude of hostility against the authority of God.

In other words, sin is wilful rebellion – it isn't an unfortunate choice or a mistaken accident – it is wilful, deliberate deviation from the target of God's righteous standard. That's what John means here when he writes, notice in verse 4, "sin is actually lawlessness." That is, sin is breaking the law of God.  Some folks wonder how close to the edge of the cliff they can go without falling over. Dumb isn't it? Some Christians wonder how far into sin they can fall and get away with it.  John is going to tell us that that is just plain dumb. Be against it!  Why should you be against sin?

5 You know that he appeared to take away sins, and in him there is no sin

Sin is a Slap in God's face about Christ's purpose in coming into the world. Sin is the rape of His mercy, Bunyan says.

He came to deliver us from sin. 3:4-6  Sin is the great enemy and problem of humanity and only God can rescue us and solve our problem. There is a universal truth John sets before us in v. 4: "Everyone (no exceptions) who makes a practice of sinning (pre. tense) also practices (pre. tense) lawlessness (Gr. anomian)". And, sin is lawlessness, rebellion, a defiant disregard and rejection of God's rightful rule as Lord over your life. In your practice of sin you rebel against your rightful King and say, "I hate your law." Sin is nothing less than personal treason against the Sovereign of the Universe. And it is not a onetime offense, it is the habit and settled disposition of your heart and your life. You are "an outlaw against God." And Jesus came into our world to deal with our sin problem!

5 You know that he appeared to take away sins, and in him there is no sin

Because our predicament was so great, a great rescue was required. We know this is why Christ came in the incarnation. This is why "he appeared to take away sins" (v. 5). Can't you hear John the Baptist at the Jordan River heralding to the top of his lungs, "Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29). By his bloody death on the cross Jesus lifted up, removed and carried away our sins. The Son of God came to provide full and forever forgiveness of sins to all who trust in Him.   The contempt of His love!

Listen, one author wrote, if mankind's true need was education, God would have sent us a host of teachers;   If mankind's greatest need was advancement in technology, He would have sent us engineers and inventors;   If mankind's greatest need was sickness, He would have sent us medicine and a doctor;   If mankind's greatest need was finances, He would have sent us a financial planners and economists;   But our greatest problem is sin . . . so He sent us a Saviour.

He only could do what He did because He only is who He is: sinless. "In him there is no sin." Not even one! This is a consistent theme that resounds throughout the Bible. John, himself, has already taught us he is the righteous one (2:29) and the pure one (3:3). Now he affirms Jesus in the sinless one.

2 Corinthians 5:21  "For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." The author of Hebrews agrees. In Hebrews 4:15 he tells us, "For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin" and in Hebrews 7:25-26 he says, "Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them. For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens." And, Peter agrees because in 1 Peter 2:22 he writes, "He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth." He came to save you from your sin, this also means separating you from your sins.

If you indulge in your sins, you are despising the Son of God who loved you and gave Himself for your sins. It is a slap in the face, a rebellious act, against Him who loved you and died to redeem you.

Redeeming you means getting you out of the bog of your sin.

Sin is a Slap in God's face in His very presence!

6 Everyone who remains in Him does not sin; everyone who sins has not seen Him or known Him.

No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him.    So what does John mean in verse 6 – No one who abides in Him sins.

John is referring to someone whose lifestyle is sinful. He isn't talking about big sins or little sins – he's describing someone who maintains ongoing, unrepentant, unremitting, unashamed sin.

SINNING DEMONSTRATES ALIENATION FROM THE INDWELLING CHRIST.

Remember last week we talked about being born again?

John 1:11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

You received the Lord Jesus Christ into your life. You became a child of God. He came to reside and abide in you.   He abides in you!  How can you go on in some sins that you choose to go on in, when you have a holy guest living inside you?

God's Holy Spirit abides in you.  The Lord Jesus abides in you and you abide in Him!

Remember, if you are keeping close to Him, if you are holding His hand, there are sinful things you will not do! Sinful places you will not go! Sinful things you won't watch!

 SINNING DEMONSTRATES ALLEGIANCE TO THE ENEMY OF CHRIST (VV. 7-8) 

7 Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous.8 Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning.         Why would the Christian ever want to be involved in sinning – because in sinning, you are actually supporting the enemy of Christ; you are actually deferring to the enemy who delights to use our sin to bring:  dishonour to Christ and reproach to His name  and discredit to his gospel  and scandal to His church.  Someone openly rebelling against God is acting just like the devil openly rebelling in an attempt to overthrow God and reign in heaven, whereupon God removed him from heaven and his fallen angels with him. Which one are you going to demonstrate? Sin or the Saviour?

3. THE SAVIOUR'S POWER IN US WILL DESTROY SIN

8 … 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.     The slight of His power!
Born of God!  Born of God.   John 3: Jesus answered a Pharisee named Nicodemus "3 Jesus answered him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God."4 Nicodemus said to him, "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?"5 Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.7 Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.'8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit."

Evangelist George Whitefield was asked "why do you preach so often that you must be born again?" He replied, "Because you must be born again!"

 The new birth, being born again, being born from above (john 3) which the Lord Jesus promised. John draws attention to the new birth, to the doctrine of regeneration. Re means "again"; generate means "to be born." We are regenerated. We are born again. One of the distinguishing marks of the Christian is the new birth, that he has been converted, born again, regenerated.  What is regeneration? What does being born of God mean? The BF&M 2000 says, "Regeneration, or the new birth, is a work of God's grace whereby believers become new creatures in Christ Jesus. It is a change of heart wrought by the Holy Spirit through conviction of sin, to which the sinner responds in repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Repentance and faith are inseparable experiences of grace. Repentance is a genuine turning from sin toward God. Faith is the acceptance of Jesus Christ and commitment of the entire personality to Him as Lord and Saviour."  Regeneration is "a drastic act on fallen human nature by the Holy Spirit, leading to a change in the person's whole outlook. He can now be described as a new man who seeks, finds and follows God in Christ." (New Bible Dictionary p. 1005).  There is something supernatural that took place in me when I was saved: I was born again. It took place in you, and that seed is there, and it gives you a new nature. John teaches us this happens because "God's seed abides in him," in the believer. Without the new birth it is impossible for us to live like new people. Sin will dominate us. Satan will have his way with us. Hate and not love will fill our hearts.  However, as a result of the new birth, the Bible says we cannot "make a practicing of sinning" and we "cannot keep on sinning because we have been born of God."  He will pick me up and get me moving again in the right direction. I am destined to be like Jesus (3:2)! Neither sin nor Satan will have the last word.  These words humble me because if it were not for Christ, His atonement, His advocacy, His victory, I would forever be enslaved to Satan and sin. Any righteousness I do flows from the righteousness of Christ poured into my life by means of the new birth. Your Sin is a Slap in God's face about His powerful new birth.

4. THE SAVIOUR'S PRINCIPLE WILL DESTROY SIN    CONTEMPT FOR HIS LOVE.

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.  11 For this is the message you have heard from the beginning: we should love one another,  12 unlike Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his works were evil, and his brother's were righteous.

Romans 13:8--"He that loveth another hath fulfilled the law." The objective of the Christian life is to obey God and fulfill His will.

Galatians 5:14--"All the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself" (cf. James 2:8). That states the simplicity of fulfilling the law through love.

Galatians 6:2--"Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law."

Your Sin is a Slap in the Lord's face about love. Do you love Him? Do you love others? If you continue in your cherished sin, you have put someone else before the Lord who loved you. We love Him because He first loved us. Do you love Him or not?

Love makes all things easy.

A little secret.  I have always found mowing the lawn frustrating.  From  my grandmothers mower, aged 12 that just wound;t start.  TO a part time job that had a working mower locked in a garage, but the mower they left out for me just didn't work. To a mower in Glen Innes, where after hours of trying to make it go, I picked it up above my head to throw it down on the ground (as a deacon walked up).  When I mow the lawn, although I hate it, I remember that I love my wife Lorelle, and a mown lawn makes her happy. So mowing the lawn becomes easy.  And I am so glad growing season is over for another 6 months! And all the men said "Hallelujah!"

The theme of this book that we're studying  is blessed assurance. And one way that I can have that blessed assurance that I'm a child of God is that I know—I know—that God is delivering me day by day from sin. And I know that God is causing me day to day to live righteously. Oh, I haven't attained; I'm not already perfect. But I know that something has happened in my life. Has that happened in your life? Have you been saved? Has there been a time in your life when you knowingly, consciously, wilfully invited Jesus Christ into your heart? Has God forgiven your sins? Does God's Spirit bear witness with your spirit that you are a child of God? (Romans 8:16) And are you now living as a child of God? Are you behaving the gospel that you say that you are believing? Are you? If so, you can have that blessed assurance that Jesus is yours.

 

John has just previously dealt with a rabbit hole chase over a guy named  Cerinthus: the Christ descended upon Jesus at baptism         John: this guy is an antichrist. Once they met up in a bathhouse, and 90 year old John went running out saying that the walls might fall in, because evil Cerinthus was in there. 2:22,23. 2 John 10-11

1.Enjoy The Thrill of Preoccupation  28 And now, little children, abide in Him  Keep the main thing the main thing. Best vs interesting.  2:29 abide to have confidence.

Abiding In His Word John 15:7 If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, abiding in teaching who He is what he did. (2:24,25)

Abiding in Righteousness 2:29

Abiding in His love. Jude 20 But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit,21 keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.

2. Enjoy The Thrill of Exhilaration 3: 1
Behold: A Word Of Admiration the cross love Unique Undeserved
Behold: "Amazement bestowed upon us .. Permanently.

Behold: " Achievement children of God! Jn 1:10-12
Behold: " Attention Keep your eyes here!

3. Enjoy The Thrill of Anticipation 3:2      Carrie Breck wrote
Face to face with Christ my Saviour, Face to face what will it be?

When with rapture I behold Him, Jesus Christ who died for me!

Only faintly now I see him With the darkened veil between

But a blessed day is coming When his glory shall be seen

The Body of B. Franklin, Printer; like the Cover of an old Book, Its Contents torn out, And stript of its Lettering and Gilding, Lies here, Food for Worms. But the Work shall not be wholly lost; For it will, as he believ'd, appear once more, In a new & more perfect Edition, Corrected and amended By the Author.

Horatio Bonar: And when I see Him face to face What glory that will be

To Look upon my Saviour's scars And know they were for me.

4. Enjoy The Thrill of Purification 3 And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure. 2Cor 3:18 And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.