The Country Church Bourbon Indiana

Morning Greeting:

(Recognize Veterans Day)

Announcements:

Recognize Veterans –

• Karen Aguon
• Rev Blake
• Jon Carrothers
• Jim Fawley
• Irvin Lemler
• Steve Feldman
• Carl Grebe
• Devon Hepler
• Don Kuhn
• Joe LaChance
• Steve Sechrist

Introduction:

We have been steadily going through the Gospel of Luke. I believe it is important for us to regularly return to the Gospels because we are not called Christians for nothing. Christians trust in Christ, they worship Christ, they seek to emulate Christ and please Him. Hearing about all of the wonderful things that He did and taught while He walked the earth in the flesh helps us to do that. Reading the Gospels helps us to love Jesus more and have greater faith in Him, and those are powerful motivators for obeying Him.

For the next several weeks we are going to take a look at a letter written by one of those disciples who were closest to Him – John. Luke is a collection of the life events and teachings of Jesus.

John, in the letter 1 John, is going to be telling us about what it looks like to be a Christian. It’s a challenging book. It is even a life changing book. Because in 1 John, John tells us about several characteristics that ought to be present in the life of a Christian.

John has to say that if you have a lifestyle of sinning, then you are not a Christian.

If you hate other Christians, then you are not a Christian.

If you deny that Jesus came to earth in the flesh, then you are not a Christian.

And he gives still more things that are evidence either for or against a person’s claim to be saved.

There are many people who will say that they are a Christian. John tells us how to know if you are a Christian.

And so, as I said, it can be a very challenging book. I pray that as we go through the book we receive the word with humility and open hearts. I pray that it is an occasion for us to evaluate ourselves to see if we are really in the faith or not.

Because who better to tell us what it looks like to be in the faith than one of the apostles like John. John opens his letter saying that he and the other apostles heard Jesus, they saw Him, looked upon Him, and even touched Him.

And let this sink in: the man who wrote 1 John took care of Jesus’ mother after Jesus was crucified. Jesus trusted John to take care of His own mother. And John was there at the foot of the cross to hear as Jesus said to his mother “woman, behold your son!” and then to John he said “behold, your mother.”

A lot of us when talking about how we are a Christian might talk about experiences, or feelings, or prayers or these sorts of things. Listen, whatever experience you have had, whatever feeling you have had, whatever prayer you have done, then let me tell you – if as we read through John you come across something that tells you that you are not a Christian, then if I were you I would listen to John over whatever experience you have had and get right with God.

He was with Jesus from the beginning. His words are not to be ignored.

So yes, 1 John can be a challenging book. But here is the encouraging part. By the time we get through the book of 1 John, you as believers should have extreme confidence that you do indeed have eternal life. Because you will have greater testimony than a prayer or a feeling: you will have the assurance of the word of God, written down for us by one who touched our Savior.

Link: So, let’s begin!

Verses 1-4

We have already touched on the meaning of these verses a little bit. Here John is laying out his authority to write these words and his credentials are impressive. He touched the word of life. The word of life is Jesus.

That kind of authority is a little bit frightening to be honest, because it is the kind of authority that you cannot argue against. A lot of people these days have problems with authority, but take note: this guy was close enough to Jesus to touch Him. He was there while the events of the Gospel happened.

And also notice: he has fellowship with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. He is in a right relationship with both of them. He is seriously well connected!

Talk about connections! Someone says “Hey, I know a famous actor. Hey, I know some good singers. Hey, I know some business people or politicians.”

John says “I know God the Father and Jesus.” Ok! Enough said. You win.

He gives us the purpose of the letter in verses two and three – it is to proclaim eternal life to us, so that we can have fellowship with the Father and the Son too.

There are two important elements to that statement for interpreting the book. One – he is proclaiming eternal life. Two – he wants us to have fellowship with the Father and the Son.

So first, proclaiming eternal life: John will sometimes say something like “If you are doing this, then you do not have eternal life.” That means if that statement is true of your life, then you are not saved.

On the second, fellowship with the Father and the Son: Other times John will say “If you do this, you do not have fellowship with God.” That means that you need to restore your fellowship with God. It does not necessarily mean that you are not a Christian. It is possible for Christians to have their fellowship with God broken. They are still saved, but they aren’t where they ought to be.

John will talk to us about both. Sometimes he is talking about things that break our fellowship with God. Other times he is talking to us about things that mean we don’t have eternal life at all. It’s important to recognize the difference. Usually there are key words we can identify to help us know what’s what.

And there is one more purpose to his writing that is personal and touching: he writes so that the joy of the apostles might be full. They have more joy the more people come to know God, and the more believers have a right relationship with Him.

Link: Verses 5-10 give us our first test of fellowship and our first test of eternal life.

Verses 5-10

Notice the talk of these verses is about fellowship, not about whether someone has eternal life or not.

How do I know that these verses are talking about fellowship with God and not about whether we have eternal life or not?

Here is how I know: the verses teach that when we sin our fellowship with God is broken. If that means we aren’t saved, then that means anybody who sins is not saved. Later in verse 10 we read that if we say we have not sinned, then we are liars. Effectively, that would mean that anyone who sins is not saved. And anyone who says they don’t sin is also not saved because they have lied. And so nobody is saved.

In short, if these verses are about salvation, then nobody at all is saved because everybody has sinned from time to time so we all can have our fellowship with God broken. That can’t be right. None of the Bible makes sense anymore if that’s what is meant here.

Instead, these verses are teaching us about how a believer maintains fellowship, or a right relationship with God. Fellowship with God is maintained by walking in the light. Fellowship with God is broken by walking in darkness. And fellowship with God is restored by confessing your sins to God.

Fellowship with God is maintained by walking in the light – When you are walking in sin, you are not walking with Him. X2

Fellowship with God is broken by walking in darkness – When you walk in the light, you are walking aright. X2

Fellowship with God is restored by confessing your sins to God – When you have walked in sin, you must confess it to Him. X2

(That last one doesn’t technically rhyme, but close enough!)

Practically speaking, this means that the healthy Christian life is one in which we try to live our lives according to God’s commandments. We seek to walk in the light. When we fail to do so, we should confess the sin to God. And we know that God is a faithful God and He is a just God. And since He is a faithful and just God who has promised to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness, He will do so.

A lot of the time we evaluate our relationship with God based upon our feelings. But let me tell you, our feelings are not faithful. Very consistently, I do not feel as happy during winter months as I do during summer months. Does that mean that God is less pleased with me during the winter than He is during the summer? Certainly not! And around spring time and fall, I usually catch at least one cold. I have one right now! Does that mean that God especially doesn’t like me during the spring and fall? Certainly not!

On the flipside, during the summer time I am usually in a good mood. Does my being in a good mood mean that God is pleased with me? No, it doesn’t.

And similarly, oftentimes, when I have sinned and then confess it to God, I might not feel immediately clean or feel right. The problem is not that God isn’t faithful. It is that my feelings are not faithful. God is faithful and just. When you confess your sins to God, you can rest in His forgiveness and healing power and trust in your restored relationship and go forward walking in the light. Trust God and His Word, not your feelings, and you’ll notice that your feelings will tend to set themselves on the right path when you do so.

Now, I want to draw particular attention to verse 10, because of the seriousness of it and because while the majority of these verses don’t have to do with whether we are saved or not, verse 10 very definitely can have implications as to whether someone is a Christian or not.

Any individual who claims not to have sinned is doing worse than lying; they are calling God a liar. That is because many times and in many places God has declared in one way or another that all have sinned. To say otherwise is to say that God’s word isn’t true. And that means that you therefore don’t have God’s word in you.

If someone claims to not be a sinner, then there is a very good chance that person is not saved. The Gospel is that Jesus bore the penalty for our sins and through faith in Him we are freed from our sins and given eternal life. If you don’t believe you have sinned, then you don’t believe the Gospel. How can you trust in Jesus to save you, if you don’t believe you are in danger because of your sins in the first place? What does “I have faith in Jesus as my Savior” even mean if you haven’t sinned?

The belief that you have not sinned is a very dangerous one. It’s an insult to God and indicates a denial of the truth of his words. A denial even of the words that are necessary to be believed to be saved.

So if you are here today and you consider yourself a Christian, but you do not believe that you have sinned, then I would ask: are you sure? Because the Gospel is that Jesus saves people from sin. John would say that you have made God a liar and His word is not in you. I would take that very seriously.

Link: Now, while it is accusing God of being a liar to say that I have never sinned, when someone is a believer it is possible for them not to sin in the present. That’s one of the other reasons that John is writing to these believers. He wants them to not sin.

Verses 2:1-2

The difference between verse 1:10 and 2:1 is that “have not sinned” is perfect tense, meaning it is a claim to have no sin in one’s past. It’s a claim to have never sinned. 2:1 “not sin” is present tense, meaning not currently sinning. You’ve sinned before, you just aren’t sinning now.

In other words, everyone has sin in their past, to say otherwise is to call God a liar. But for the believer, it is possible to not be sinning in the present. And that is the holy and pure life that God is calling us to. That is God’s best for you – for you as a believer to not walk in sin, but instead to actively and continually walk in the light.

But if we do sin, we are assured that we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. Who is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.

Before we conclude, there’s a side point I want to mention here. It’s one I don’t want to ignore because of its importance to a frequent and great debate amongst some Bible teachers through the ages. Some preachers teach that Jesus only died for the sins of believers. 1 John 2:2 very clearly teaches differently. He died not for our sins only, but for the sins of the whole world.

The difference is that believers have faith in that propitiation and so they are saved. Unbelievers do not have faith in that propitiation, and so they are not saved. The payment for sins is there for everybody, but it’s only applied to the account of those who by faith receive it.

Application:

Fellowship with God is maintained by walking in the light – When you are walking in sin,

you are not walking with Him.

Fellowship with God is broken by walking in darkness – When you walk in the light,

you are walking aright.

Fellowship with God is restored by confessing your sins to God – When you have walked in sin,

you must confess it to Him.

If you don’t believe that you have sinned, you need to evaluate if you are truly in the faith or not.