1 JOHN 1-5 DECEPTION PROTECTION2014 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: 1 John 1-5 Deception Protection

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2014. And we are here this evening in the book of 1 John. 1 John is a letter that was written by the Apostle John around 90 A.D.

He doesn't specify an exact recipient, and so we'll just, you can write your name in there. This letter is to you, and the purpose is that your joy may be full.

that you may not sin and that you may know that you have eternal life. And these are three specific things that John states in different portions of this letter as far as the purpose for his writing this epistle. Now, as we look at these things, and this is the purpose, you know, that your joy would be full, that you would not sin, and that you would know that you have eternal life, there's kind of some extra themes that go along with this.

Deception Protection

that what John provides here is some protection for us against deception, against the deceivers who will bring false doctrine, but then also against self-deception. As we've talked about recently, for a quip to serve, the heart is deceitful above all things, Jeremiah tells us. And so there is that tendency and that potential for us to deceive ourselves

And so we need this protection that John provides us here in this letter. And so I'll be highlighting some of the deception protection that he provides for us. Now, the other side of that deception protection, which I'll also be highlighting, is a sure confidence. Not only does he want to protect us from being deceived and led astray, but he wants to give us a sure confidence.

And he says, by this we know different things. And by this we know that we have eternal life. And by this we know. It's a surety. It's a confidence. He uses this word to know about 26 times throughout his letter. It's something that he emphasizes. He wants us to know certain things and to have this confidence in the truth and in our position in Christ.

Now, going along with that theme of knowing these things, he also hits really strongly the theme of love. That is loving God and loving one another. And these are all tied together because...

The evidence or by what we know is tied to our love of God and love for one another. And these things are intertwined. And so he talks about love about 24 times throughout this letter as well. And so this is a predominant theme. Again, this protection from deception, but then also the giving of the assured confidence that we have in knowing who we are in Christ.

Well, here's a quick look at the timeline of John the Apostle, the author of this letter. John began to follow Jesus probably around 28 AD when Jesus began his ministry. And you might remember on the Sea of Galilee, he called out to those fishermen, Peter and Andrew and James and John, and they began to follow Jesus.

In 32 AD, of course, Jesus was crucified, then resurrected and ascended to the Father. And then fast forward to 85 AD is when John wrote the Gospel of John. And so that was probably in the city of Ephesus where John spent the later years of his life. And then a little bit later on, he wrote this epistle as well as 2nd and 3rd John.

And then he wrote the book of Revelation a few years later. Tradition tells us that John died in Ephesus. He was, well, they attempted to put him to death. And so because of the persecution from the Roman Empire, so they boiled him in oil.

oil, but he survived that. And so then they exiled him to the island of Patmos, which is off in the Mediterranean Sea off of the coast of Ephesus there. And so it was there that he had the vision of Revelation. And then he was eventually released from Patmos and went back to Ephesus and

And that's where he wrote the book of Revelation and possibly 1st, 2nd, and 3rd John at that time too. And so this is towards the end of the Apostle John's life, about 60 years after Jesus resurrected. And so he writes not as a rookie apostle, but as one who has a lot of experience and there's a lot of meat involved.

in this letter. We could spend weeks and weeks and weeks studying it, but hopefully you read it this week and we're going to hit some of the highlights as we go through our chapters together.

So 1 John 1, verse 4 is the key verse. It says, Here's one of the direct statements that John gives as far as the purpose of the writing. And so he wants this letter to impact us in this way, that our joy would be full.

He begins in verses 1 through 4, a little bit different than some of the other letters. Usually the author introduces himself, but he just begins to talk about Jesus. And he talks about his relationship with Jesus, similar to what Peter said we studied last week. He says in verse 3,

The Apostle John had a real close and personal experience and relationship with Jesus before his crucifixion and after his resurrection. And so he is letting the people know right up front, he's letting us know, I was there. I'm not writing to you about things that are theoretical. I'm not writing to you about things that are theoretical.

I'm not writing to you things that I'm just like hopeful are true. I'm not delusional or it's not just wishful thinking, but these are the facts. We were eyewitnesses. I had a personal experience with Jesus. Our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. And so he wants us to know right off the bat that these things are established, they're steadfast, and we can trust in them.

In verse 4, again, he says, And I would ask you to consider if you could measure it, what would be the measurement on your joy meter? Maybe think about it like your gas tank in the car, right? You have the empty and then you have full. And you know when it's empty, you got to put gas in it. You got to fill it up. And when the needle's all the way to the end, you know, oh, it's a full tank of gas. Or you got to fill it up.

Well, if you were to measure your joy in that way, where would it be on the scale? How much joy do you have? John says, I'm writing this to you because I want your joy to be full, to be complete, to be maxed out.

that you would have the fullness of joy that God has for you. Now, he's connecting this idea of joy with this idea of fellowship. And so we learn that joy comes from fellowship. It comes from fellowship with God, first of all, that if you want to have the fullest amount of joy,

Have fellowship with God. Walk with God. Have a relationship with God. But then also, he says, fellowship with one another. And our connections with one another as we, you know, carry out our roles in the body of Christ, this also has a big part of the fullness of joy or the, you know, the full joy that he has for us. And so I'd like to encourage you as we read through these things to

to make sure that you engage in time with God and that you have this real fellowship with God because that's a big part of your joy. It's directly tied to your joy. But then also engage with the body of Christ and participate with others in the work of the kingdom of God because that's also a big part of

of your joy. And so if you want full joy, fellowship with God and fellowship with one another. Now this is connected to the idea of loving God and loving one another. These are all related to each other. Well then in verses 5 through 7, he declares that God is light and in him is no darkness at all. God is light. No darkness, no shadow, no wickedness, no vile thing in God. He is light. He is holy. He is pure light.

And so the point that he's making is that you cannot have full joy while walking in darkness because God is light.

Joy comes from fellowship with God. And if you're walking in darkness, you are missing out on fellowship with God. If you are doing things that are shameful, if you are, you know, doing things that you have to keep hidden, if you are doing things that are sinful, if you're in darkness, then you are missing out on fellowship with God.

In verse 6, he says, if we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. And so if we claim to have fellowship with God, but we walk in darkness, he says, we lie. And here's where I say John is providing for us some deception protection so that we don't deceive ourselves and think, hey, I have fellowship with God, but

even though I'm living this sinful lifestyle. And we will be really good at convincing ourselves that we're okay. I'm okay with God. And when people challenge our lifestyle, we'll say, hey, I'm okay. Me and God are fine. But John says, I want to protect you from that self-deception. Don't be confused. If you're walking in darkness...

but you claim to have fellowship with God, then you're lying. If you're living a lifestyle of sin and you claim to have fellowship with God, then you are lying. We cannot claim that we are in the light if we're walking in darkness. You know, light and darkness don't go together.

Light drives out the darkness. And so we can't say, well, I am walking in the light, but you know, the darkness is so great. And so it kind of overrides the light. But darkness doesn't override the light. Light drives out the darkness. Darkness flees from the light.

And so when we are in the light, when we are walking in fellowship with God, it drives out the darkness. Not that we're perfect, not that we're flawless, but the whole idea as we go through 1 John, this will be a repeated theme, is that we don't live a lifestyle of sin. We don't continue to practice sin. We don't continue to engage habitually in sin. But we will sin. And so he tells us in verses 8 through 10, if we confess our sins, he is faithful to forgive us.

And so he says in verse 8,

And again, here's some deception protection, right? If we try to claim, oh no, I don't have a sin problem, I don't have an issue with sin, then we're trying to deceive ourselves. I think it's interesting, he says, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. He doesn't say we deceive others. They still recognize that we are sinful. But when we claim not to sin, we don't fool them. But we might fool ourselves. And so we just deceive ourselves and not others, right?

And John says, I want to protect you from that. So don't claim that you have no sin, but instead confess your sins, he says in verse 9, and then God is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. This idea of confessing our sin, the word confess means to agree with God.

And so we're not talking about confession to a priest in order to be forgiven. We're not talking about, okay, we're going to have a confession time in the service. Everybody announced, you know, the sins that you've committed this week. And when you make this public announcement, then you will be forgiven. We're not talking about confessing sins to a person. We're talking about agreeing with God about your sin.

That is, you, instead of trying to justify yourself and say, well, I wouldn't do this, but, you know, here's my excuse or here's my reason why it's okay that I did that. But it's when we come to terms that, God, you say this is wrong, and

And I'm not going to try to defend myself. I'm not going to try to explain it away. I'm not going to try to insist that I can keep on doing this. I'm just going to agree with you that it's wrong. I'm going to believe you at your word and say, okay, you say this is wrong and I keep doing it.

And I don't want to do it anymore. And so this confession is agreeing with God. It's coming into alignment with what God says about right and wrong. What God said is sin and righteousness.

And so John is wanting to protect us from deceitfulness and our self-deception, but he also wants to give us this sure confidence. Because he says, once you do that, once you agree with God about your sin, well then he's faithful and just to forgive you and to cleanse you from all unrighteousness. And so you may not feel forgiven,

You may not even think that God can forgive you. You might feel like it's too much and I've fallen into sin too many times. But you can have this sure confidence that God forgives you. He is faithful and just to forgive you and cleanse you

He says in verse 10, And so if we fight with God over this idea of sin and insist that we do not sin or have not sinned,

then we insist that he is a liar. And of course, you can't have fellowship with God in that way. And so we need to agree with God. We need to surrender and submit to his declaration of who we are and our actions and whether or not they are right or wrong. Well, now in chapter 2, verse 1 is the key verse.

He says, my little children, these things I write to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous. In verses 1 through 6, we see here that we know that we know Jesus if we keep his commandments. He's continuing on with this subject of sin. And he says in verse 1, I'm writing these things to you so that you may not sin.

So remember the three purposes, right? First, that your joy would be full. And now secondly, that you may not sin or that you would not continue in a lifestyle of sin. Not that you never sin. That's why he talked about the confession because we do sin. And so that's why we need and have the opportunity to confess our sin.

But he's saying, I'm writing to you so that you don't continue to practice a lifestyle of sin. So that you don't continue to do that sin or live it out over and over and over again. And so now he's going to go in to say, look,

But salvation, this relationship with God is going to bring a change of life. And you can tell the difference. In verse 3, he says, Now by this we know that we know him if we keep his commandments. Now this is some important stuff. I mean, this is a kind of a crucial idea that we need to allow to sink in. And that is that you can know that you are right with God.

It doesn't have to be wishful or just hopeful or just maybe you're going to make it to heaven. But he wants to give you this sure confidence. By this we know. You can know that you are right with God. You can know that you know God. You know, sometimes we talk about having a relationship with God and some of the ideas are somewhat abstract in the way that we talk about them. It's like, well, how do I really know if I'm right with God?

Well, here's a way to know. He says, we know that we know him. How? If we keep his commandments. Now, he's not saying that you have to keep his commandments in order to be saved. No, instead what he's saying is we keep his commandments because we are saved. And so us obeying God is the evidence that a real work has actually taken place.

Now, for those of you who know me, you probably know already that I'm pretty much a geek. And I thrive on technology, news, and gadgets, and all kinds of stuff. And I have as many as I can afford, which is not very much. But

One of the things that I do is I listen to a lot of technology podcasts or shows. And so I'm listening to news all the time and talk and discussion about all the latest things and overanalyzing, you know, little minute details about technology. Now, that's something I do regularly. And I do that, you know, a couple hours a week, listen to these detailed technology shows. Now, I don't do that in order to become a geek, right?

but I do that because I am a geek, right? Make sense? In the same way, I don't obey God in order to be saved. I obey God because I am saved, because it's in me. It's changed. There's a new work that God has begun. And that's what John is saying. We can know that we know him by looking at our life.

Has there been a change? Have we started obeying his commandments? Have we started doing what God calls us to do? Now, this doesn't mean that we're perfect and that we do everything perfectly, but that there should be the change in the lifestyle, that there should be the evidence of growth, that there's this progress in obeying God, that we're moving forward in doing what God has called us to do.

And so the other side of this in verse 4, he says, he who says I know him and does not keep his commandments is a liar and the truth is not in him. And so again, he provides this deception protection. You claim, he says, he who says I know him. You say you know God, but then you don't keep his commandments. And so you say, I know God, but then you continue to live in things that you

Well, you know God has said you're not to do. Well, then he says, you're lying. You're deceiving yourself. You claim to know him, but you disobey him. Then verse 5, but whoever keeps his word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in him. And so again, he emphasizes there's a sure confidence. You can look at your life. Are you keeping the word of God?

Are you putting it into practice? Are you living it out? Not perfectly, but is there growth? Are you doing things as God speaks to you? And that is one way that you can know that you know him. You don't have to guess. You don't have to hope. But you can have that surety that you know the Lord. Verses 7 through 11, he goes on to say, "...he who hates is in darkness."

In verse 9, he says, he who says he is in the light and hates his brother is in darkness until now. Now again, he's dealing with these claims that we might make. And so I claim, I say, I'm in the light. I'm a Christian. I'm a believer. But if I hate my brother, now that's not talking about a biological brother, although I suppose that could be included, but it's talking about the one another. It's the brethren. It's the people around you.

So if you hate your brethren, the people around you, he says you're in darkness. Now again, he's providing some deception protection to check your claims, verify your claims. You say that you're in the light, but if you're filled with hatred, then you need to know that you're in darkness. Verse 10, he who loves his brother abides in the light and there is no cause for stumbling in him. And so now you can have this confidence that

How can you know that you're walking in the light? Do you love people? Are you growing in your love for people? Are you loving the brethren around you? In verses 12 through 14, he says, I write because you are forgiven. And he lists all these different groups to the fathers and to the young men and so on and so forth, to the different age groups, the different spiritual maturities. He's essentially saying, I'm writing to you because you are believers.

He's letting them know. As he challenges them, he says, you know, hey, if you make these claims, but you don't live according to them, you're lying. You're not telling the truth. But now he goes on to say, I'm not saying that you're not saved, but I'm challenging these notions and these claims that you might make or that people might make. I'm not writing to you because I don't think that you're saved. I'm writing to you because you are forgiven. You do know the truth. I had a coworker

a while back when I was working for Paychex. And he shared with me and a friend who was working there as well. He said, you know, I could tell that you're new Christians because you still read the Bible. Now, of course, I grew up in the church, so I wasn't a new Christian at the time. But that was his perspective. You're a new Christian because you still read the Bible. And he felt that he had grown beyond that. He's gotten to the point he doesn't need to read the

And so that was his mark of maturity. When you're really mature, you don't read the Bible. You don't need to read the Bible. John says the opposite. He says, I'm writing to you and I want you to read this because you are saved, because you have been forgiven. Not because you're not saved or not because you're not growing, not because you've walked away, but this is for you as a believer.

And so you need these sureties. You need to be strengthened in these things. And you need to understand there is self-deception. This is for us as believers. I write this to you because you are forgiven. And then he goes on in verse 15 through 17. He says, do not love the world. Verse 15, do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. So because we're saved...

He says, here's what you need to do. Make sure that you do not love the world. Make sure that the world is not your passion.

Because if anyone loves the world, then the love of the Father is not in him. Now, when he talks about the world, he's talking about the world system. He's not talking about the people. He's not talking about the planet. He's talking about the world system. An illustration that's been given many times throughout the years is the idea of a boat in the water. Now, a boat in the water is normal and it's fine, but water in the boat is a problem.

And in the same way as Christians, we are in the world, but we're not to be of the world. We're not to love the world. We're to be like a boat in the water. That it doesn't enter into us. It's not, you know, our passion, but that we are pursuing the things of God. Now, when he says, do not love the world, that idea of do not love, it could also be translated, stop loving God.

The idea is that we do naturally love the world and we need to stop loving the world. We've always loved the world and we need to stop loving the world. We must learn to stop. It's something that we learn to do, that we catch ourselves and realize, hey, my heart's tied to this and I need to separate that and attach it to Jesus. My heart is inclined to pursue this and that's not good. And so, and we learn to catch these things.

It's a process as we seek the Lord and he shows us, look at how you're holding on to this part of the world system. Look at how you're holding on to these things of this life. And as he reveals those things, then we have to learn to let go. And it's hard every time, but we learn to let go and then we grasp hold of Jesus in that area. And then he'll show us a new area. Look how else you're holding on.

And we let go of that and we grasp hold of Jesus. And it's a continual process of turning our hearts to Jesus and turning our affections upon him. He says, for all that is in the world, in verse 16, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life is not of the Father, but is of the world. Everything that the world is about, he sums up into three things. The lust of the flesh is

That is the cravings and desires of our physical body, the lust of the eyes. That is the cravings and desires of our minds or our imaginations and then the pride of life. And so these three things sum up all of the world system. Now it's been correlated many times. You could look back at Eve in the garden and the temptation that came as she was deceived corresponds with these three things.

the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. And so for extra credit, you can go back to Genesis 3 and see those three things evident. You could also look at Matthew chapter 4 as the devil tempts Jesus. Three temptations that the devil brings against Jesus line up with these three things, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. And if you want double extra credit, then check out Luke chapter 8 in the parable of the soils.

And I would suggest to you that in the parable of the soils, where there's four soils, one of them is a good soil. The other three are bad soils, talking about the seed being sown in our hearts. Those three bad soils correspond with the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. And so these are the things that are of the world, are real.

lives are tied to these things. Our hearts are tied to these things and we need to stop loving the world. We need to stop engaging in these things and start pursuing the Lord in these areas. Well, verses 18 through 23, he says, "...whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either."

In verse 18, he says, you know, we're in the last days and you've heard the Antichrist is coming, but also already many Antichrists have come. And so there is the one Antichrist, you know, the main guy who's going to oppose God in the last days, but he's not the only one. And already, he says, there are many Antichrists who have come. Many who are against Christ have already appeared.

And in verse 19, he says, And so he says there are those who are against Christ. And the thing that he's pointing out is these aren't pagans or atheists who are against Christ, but these were people within the church who were against Christ.

And they rose up from within the church and opposed the things of Jesus. And he says, so then they went out from us because they were never of us because they were anti-Christ. Now, who is he talking about? What is going on with these anti-Christ? Well, he explains in verse 22. He says, who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is anti-Christ who denies the Father and the Son.

The word Antichrist could be looked at in two ways, and probably both are meant whenever the word is used. Against Christ or instead of Christ. And so whenever someone is against Christ, they're offering something instead of Christ. And that's the idea. And so the Antichrist is coming, but there are already many who have come

in John's day and continuing to our day, who are against Christ in that they offer something instead of Christ. And these antichrists, first of all, deny salvation by Jesus. He says in verse 2, they deny that Jesus is the Christ. Remember that Christ, it means Messiah or Savior. They deny that Jesus is the Savior, that the plan of salvation is found in Jesus Christ and in Jesus Christ alone.

or they deny the deity of Jesus. He says he who is antichrist denies the Father and the Son. Now referring to Jesus as the Son is a reference to the deity of Jesus Christ. And so these are the two essential elements of who Jesus is. He is the Savior and he is God. He is equal to God. He's the Son of God or the second person of the triune nature of God.

And so verse 23, he says,

But the Antichrist, or those who are against Christ, are those who deny salvation by faith in Jesus or deny the deity of Jesus. Well, then verses 24 through 29, he says, "...abide in him that we may have confidence."

The word abide is used several times in these verses. In verse 24, he says, Therefore, let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father. Now, as we talk about this sure confidence that we have in Christ, this word abide is a key idea in that.

I always liked what Pastor Chuck would share. You know, when the question would come up about whether or not a believer could lose their salvation, you know, they're looking at John chapter 15, talking about abiding in the vine. And Pastor Chuck would always use the illustration of riding in the bed of a truck, which today, you know, young people would never know. But when I was growing up, that was a common thing. Like we just, we were always in the back of dad's truck, you know, as he drove around. It was a fun thing to do.

But riding in the back of a truck, he would say, if you're worried about falling out, then what you need to do is stay close to the cab. If you're close to the tailgate, if it's open, and then you hit a bump, yeah, it might be easy to fall out. And so if you're worried about that, then stay close to the cab so that you're not near the edge and you're not in danger of falling out. There was one time when I was in youth group,

And I was hoping Pastor Tom would be here this evening so I could pick on him a little bit. We, as a youth group, had a scavenger hunt. And so there were several drivers and we were going all around town trying to, you know, beat the other team to get all the things that we had to get for the scavenger hunt that they had designed.

Well, Pastor Tom had a pickup truck. And so in the mad rush, you know, there was often quick, you know, get up and go type situations. And so there was one scenario where I wasn't with them, but we were across the parking lot and watched it happen, where they got what they needed from that location. And so he jumps in the car, he starts it up, and he guns it.

Well, his niece is not yet in the vehicle. She's like, you know, about to get in and he takes off. And so she starts running to try to like catch it. And she dives for it in the parking lot. And, you know, he just rushes right out from under her and she hits the pavement. And she was fine. But it was really funny. It was hilarious because it's like one of those classic, like a cartoon, right? She's in the air and then the truck moves out from under her. At least that's how I picture it in my head. But again, she was fine. No problem. But

But don't do that. That's what John's saying here. Abide. If you're, you know, hanging off at the end of the truck or you're like trying to catch, you know, like I'm going to jump in at the last minute, then you're in danger and that's not a wise thing to do. But he says, let what you heard, the gospel message, abide in you. Live in the gospel.

Don't set it aside. Don't like neglect it, but live in the gospel. Live in the word of God. And if you live in the gospel, he says, you will abide in the son and the father. You will live in the son and in the father. And so don't hang off on the end. Don't try to jump into the last minute, but stay close to the father. Stay close to the son. Stay close to the gospel message. Verse 25, he says, and this is the promise that he has promised us, eternal life.

And so it's worth it. It is work to abide. It takes work. It takes effort. You have to decide. You have to determine. You have to walk with God. You have to develop and maintain and continue in that relationship with God. But it's worth it. There's a sure confidence. He's promised us eternal life.

So abide. Now in verse 26, he says, these things I've written to you concerning those who try to deceive you. You see, he's protecting them against deception. There are those who are trying to lead them astray, to take them away from Christ so that they don't abide in Christ. And then he says in verse 28, and now little children abide in him that when he appears, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before him as at his coming. He's coming.

And there's this sure confidence that we have when we abide in him. And so we need to live in Jesus. We need to think about him every day. We need to talk to him every day. We need to hear from him every day. We need to obey him every day. It needs to be our life, that our life is all about knowing Jesus.

Well, moving on now to chapter 3 of 1 John, verse 10 is the key verse. He says, In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest. Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother. In verses 1 through 3, John says that when Jesus is revealed, we shall be like him. Now, he just finished talking about Jesus coming back, and if we abide in him, then we have this great hope

And now he kind of reflects on that. Verse one is one of those great verses. I'm not going to talk about it. I'm just going to read it. He says, How amazing it is, the love that the Father has bestowed upon us, that you could be called the child of God.

Now he goes on in verse 2 to say, although we're children of God, the work that God has begun in us is not fully realized yet. We don't see the finished product yet. We still struggle with sin. We still are in this fallen nature. But what he says in verse 3 is, everyone who has this hope purifies himself just as he is pure.

The hope of being united with Christ. The hope that when we are with him, we will be like him. We will be perfect. We will be finished and complete. We're so blessed. The love that the Father has given us to be called children of God and to have this hope. And so he says, if you have that hope, then here's what you do. You purify yourself. And we need to make sure we get the order right.

You don't purify yourself in order to have this hope, but because you have this hope, you purify yourself. Sometimes we get things backwards. We try to purify ourselves so that we can have the hope of eternity. But if there's issues regarding purity in your life, then the focus needs to be, well, on having the truth.

Having the truth of who we are in Christ, the love bestowed upon us that we should be called children of God. Having an accurate understanding of the return of Jesus and our appearance before him and how all that's going to work. And as we have that hope, as we have the understanding of who we are and what he's done on our behalf, as we learn about grace, then the result is we purify ourselves. But too many times we try to go around it the opposite way.

We try to work really hard on purifying ourselves so that we can be pleasing to God and have the hope of eternity. But that's the wrong order. No, focus on knowing God. Focus on abiding in Jesus. And as you do that, then the result will be this purification. You're going to be letting go of things because you're abiding in Jesus and you're enjoying that. He says in verse 4 through 9, "...whoever abides in him does not sin."

Now, as he talks about sin in this chapter, and again, I mentioned it earlier, he's talking about a lifestyle. He's not talking about a sin or he's not talking about, you know, falling into sin. We do sin because of the weakness of our flesh, but we are not to be actively pursuing a life of sin.

And as he refers to sin in this passage, it's in the present tense, which means it's this ongoing thing. It's a sinful lifestyle that we're actively continuing in sin or practicing sin. And you can also see that in verse 7. He says, Now again, he offers some deception protection.

And this is needed because there is deception about this. He says, look at the lifestyle. He who practices righteousness, this is their lifestyle. Do they practice doing what is right? Is that what their life looks like? God is righteous. And so his children practice righteousness. Let nobody deceive you about that. And so people will claim, oh yes, I know God very well.

And God loves me and I love God. But if their lifestyle is not that of one who practices righteousness, don't be deceived. Verse 8. He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose, the Son of God was manifested that he might destroy the works of the devil. He who sins is of the devil. Now again,

Just to be clear, we're not saying if you ever sin, you're of the devil. But if you're actively pursuing a life of sin, then there is a problem. The contrast that he's giving us here is we are either born of God and we practice righteousness, or we're of the devil and we practice sin. And so if you're comfortable living in sin, you are not born of God.

He wants to protect us from deception. And there are some people who are deceived, who are living in sin, but convinced they're okay. But you're not born of God if you are comfortable continuing to live in sin. Verse 9, he says, whoever has been born of God does not sin, for his seed remains in him, and he cannot sin because he has been born of God. If you're born of God, you can't continue in a lifestyle of sin.

God's going to convict you. He's going to change you. You're going to begin to live out his commandments. And so you are not going to continue in that same lifestyle. Now, sometimes the mistake that we make as we look at these things is we kind of expect these things to all happen at once, either in us or in the people around us. And there is a process. And sometimes, you know, as a person is born again,

there's, well, there's a lot of issues that God is working through. And sometimes he cuts everything off right away. And sometimes through a process, you know, he's working in their life. And the same thing for us. There's going to be things that you struggle with until the end of your life. You're not going to be perfect. But as, you know, as you live, as you walk, God's going to be working and doing different things and removing these sinful areas of your heart and

through this process. But the main thing to look at is the change. What's the pursuit of your life? What is the lifestyle? I like the way that David Guzik describes it. He says, when one becomes a Christian, there is a change in their relationship with sin. And so he's going to list a few things that change. A Christian no longer loves sin as he once did. A Christian no longer brags about their sin as they once did.

A Christian no longer plans to sin as they once did. A Christian no longer fondly remembers their sin as they once did. A Christian never fully enjoys their sin as they once did. A Christian no longer is comfortable in habitual sin as they once were. And this change in relationship to sin is the evidence that

that you are born of God. That you don't live the way that you used to live and you're not comfortable with the things that you used to do. And you don't continue in those things that you know are not of God. In verses 10 through 15, he says, whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God. He says it's really clear in verse 10, in this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest. It's revealed, it's clear.

Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother. So again, protecting us from deception. Here it is very clear. If you do not practice righteousness, you are not of God. The point he's making is that our lifestyle shows whether we are a child of God or a child of the devil. And church attendance doesn't reveal that we're a child of God.

And if we give in the offering, it doesn't show that we're a child of God. And if we can quote the Bible, that doesn't show that we're a child of God. But it's what we practice. It's what we do on a daily basis. It's how we live that shows whether or not we're a child of God. He says in verse 14, He who does not love his brother abides in death.

And so how can we know? As we look at our lifestyle, what is it that we're looking for? John says, look for love. And when you can see the growth in your love for the people around you, then you can have this sure confidence. You know that you've passed from death to life because you love the brethren. And so he gives us great clarity here. He says, if righteousness is not your lifestyle, then you are not of God.

And if you do not love the brethren around you, then you are not of God. But if righteousness is your lifestyle, you are of God. And if you love the brethren around you, then you are born of God. And so there's great clarity here. He wants to protect us from deception and help us to have this sure confidence in who we are in Christ. In verses 16 through 19, he says, "'Let us love in deed and truth.'"

So as he talks about loving one another, he says, okay, don't just look at your words. You might say that you love people, but do you see the evidence? In verse 16, he says, by this we know love because he, that is Jesus, laid down his life for us and we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. And so he says, here's how we know what love is. We look at what Jesus did. We don't look at what Jesus said, right?

unless it matches up with what Jesus did. Now, Jesus said he loved us. John 3.16 says, for God so loved the world. But that's only trustworthy if it matches up with what he actually did. And it does. Jesus gave himself for us. He died upon the cross for our sin. And that's how we know what love is.

And so he says in verse 18, my little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. So don't just say that you love or don't just say, you know, look at your lifestyle and say, well, yeah, I say that I love a lot of people, but are you giving your life for people? Love in deed, love in truth. Make sure it's something that you live out and not just say.

In verses 20 through 24, he says, this is his command, to believe in Jesus and love one another. He kind of boils it down for us. Here's what we are called to do. Believe in Jesus and love one another. And these go hand in hand. If you believe in Jesus, you will love one another. It's a sure confidence that we have.

He goes on in verse 24 to say, Now he who keeps his commandments abides in him and he in him. And by this we know that he abides in us by the Spirit whom he has given us. So he gives us another evidence by which we can consider and have this sure confidence. Here's how we know that we abide in him and him in us, by the Holy Spirit. And if the Holy Spirit is at work, if you have the Holy Spirit indwelling within you,

then you can know that you abide in him and he in you. It's a sure confidence that we have in him. Well, chapter four now, verse two is the key verse. He says, by this you know the spirit of God. Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God. In verses one through six, he says, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits.

Now again, he's providing this deception protection. There are those who were amongst them, who have gone out from them, trying to lead them astray and lead them away from Christ. And John is saying, don't just believe whoever stands up and speaks.

Don't just believe whatever doctrine comes to you. Don't just believe whatever experience or spiritual thing that happens. Test the spirits. Test the things that are going on. And how do you test it? Well, that's what he says in verse 2. Here's how you can tell whether or not something is of God. Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God. And so here's how you can know. Here's the test.

What do they say about Jesus? How does this relate to Jesus? Does it line up with what the Bible says about Jesus? Remember in 2 Corinthians chapter 11, when Paul was writing to the Corinthians, and he was expressing his concern for the Corinthians, and he said, if someone comes to you and preaches another Jesus, you might put up with it. That's what I'm worried about, Paul says. Because there were those who would preach the name Jesus, but

they would attach different meanings than the truth to the name of Jesus. And that still happens today. And so it's not just about the name Jesus, but does it line up with who Jesus really is? With how the Word of God reveals Jesus? That he is, first of all, the Christ, the Savior, the Messiah, the only way of salvation. And that he has come in the flesh to

Now that means that Jesus, having always existed, became man. And so it's talking about the deity of Christ, the humanity of Christ, and the fact that he is the Savior. That's the test. And if someone has that doctrine, we can have fellowship. Jesus being God became man, died upon the cross. He's the only means of salvation. We can have fellowship. There might be a lot of other things that we disagree on.

But this is the core of Christianity. And so he says, here's how you know if a spirit is not from God, if a doctrine is not from God. Verse 3, every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. This is the spirit of the Antichrist. This is against Christ. So anything that teaches, anyone that teaches, any doctrine that teaches something instead of Jesus for salvation, it's against God. It's not of God.

Jesus is the only way of salvation. He's the only Savior. He is God who became man. Well, then verses 7 through 11, he says, He says, And so again, giving us this evidence in our lives. Loving God, loving one another is evidence that we know God because God is love.

Verses 12 through 16, he says, he who abides in love abides in God. Again, he gives us this sure confidence. By this we know that we abide in him and he in us because he has given us his spirit. The fruit of the spirit is love. Paul said in Galatians chapter 5, these all go hand in hand. Knowing Jesus, loving God means we love one another. Knowing Jesus means that we have his spirit, which means we love one another.

And so we can look at the evidence of our lives and have this confidence. Verse 17 through 19, he says, we love him because he first loved us. Where does this love come from? It's not something we generate of our own selves, but it's something we respond to. He loved us first. And that's why we're able to love him. And that's why we're able to love one another. He says in verse 17, and because of this love, we can have boldness on the day of judgment.

Because when we stand before God, we know he loves us. And so we have this boldness, this confidence. Verse 20, he says, if someone says, I love God and hates his brother, he is a liar. He says, if you can't love the person right in front of you, there's no way that you can love God who you cannot see. Here's some deception protection. You say, hey, I love God, but I hate the person next to me. He says, you're a liar. You're a liar. Now, if I say, I love sushi, I'm

It's hard to verify that statement unless you put a plate of sushi in front of me. And then you'll find out I was lying. I hate sushi. But you can tell the truth of the statement by the evidence, by the lifestyle. In the same way, if you say I love God, you can verify that statement, well, by what you do with the people in front of you. Do you love one another?

Well, let's finish it up now in 1 John 5, verse 13 is the key verse. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God. And so here's the third purpose. I'm writing this to you so that you can know that you have eternal life. In verses 1 through 5, he says, whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ knows

is born of God. Again, he gives us this sure confidence. Here's what it boils down to. Believing that Jesus is the Christ, that Jesus is the Savior, that he is the only way to the Father, that he being God became man to die upon the cross for us. That's the gospel. Live in that. Abide in that. And when you believe that, you are born of God. You are born again when you believe that.

He's been giving us over and over these ways to verify and prove that we have real relationship with God. And so if you believe this, you're born again. You love God. And the result is that you love God's children. You love one another. And so these things are all tied together. You start to practice righteousness and you turn away from wickedness. In verses 6 through 13, he says, "...these things I have written that you may know that you have eternal life."

He says in verse 12, if you have the Son, you have life. And if you don't have the Son, you don't have life. It comes down to Jesus. Jesus is the core of Christianity. It's all about Him. So abide in Him. And if you have the Son, you have life. In verse 14 through 17, He says, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.

Now, the idea here is attached to you're abiding in Jesus. You're believing in Jesus. You're walking with Jesus. You're seeking to please Jesus. And so when you ask the Lord, when you ask God in prayer for things that correspond with his will, then you know that he's going to do that because, well, it's his will and you're walking in his will. And so he's going to be faithful to answer those prayers. So if you know that he hears you, then you know that you have whatever you ask.

as we ask according to the will of God. He closes in verses 18 through 21 saying, little children, keep yourself from idols. He gives us kind of a summary here. Verse 18, we know that whoever is born of God does not sin, but he who has been born of God keeps himself and the wicked one does not touch him. So here's the surety. Here's the way that we can make sure. If I'm born of God, I don't continue to live a lifestyle of sin.

Verse 19, Salvation is all about knowing God, walking with God, fellowship with God.

And so he says in verse 21, little children, keep yourselves from idols. Watch out for idols. Watch out for things that would creep in and try to take the place of God. Watch out for antichrists who would try to take your attention off of Christ, who would try to present something else instead of Christ. Watch out for something that you would trust in instead of God. Watch out for these things. Don't be deceived. There are those who have gone out. There are those who would lead you astray.

Don't let yourself deceive you. What does it come down to? Abiding in Jesus. Knowing him, making sure your life is all about him. And as you do that, you have a sure confidence. You are his child. You're born again. You love him. You keep his commandments. You walk in righteousness, loving one another. Sometimes we see, well, I don't really love that person that much. So we try to fix that.

But I would encourage you to kind of go backwards and recognize the root issue is us abiding in Jesus. When you're abiding in Jesus, when He's the pursuits of your life, then He does the work on these other issues. He does the work in the sin that you're struggling with or the area that you're falling short in. You put your attention, your focus on abiding in Jesus and you have a sure confidence that

You are born of God and you will enter into eternity with him. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you that you give us these truths so that we don't have to live under a big question mark, wondering, wishing, and hoping, but that we can have great confidence and know that we are your children.

as we look at the changes that you're making in our lives, as we look at what you're doing in us, as you continue the work that you began in us, knowing, Lord, that you will be faithful to complete that work that you began in us. And so, Lord, help us to abide in you, to put all of our attention, all of our passion into knowing you, walking with you, hearing from you, and putting into practice the things that you call us to do.

And as we do that, thank you that you will do the rest and you'll do the work in us that needs to be done. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.