Sunday
Evening Bible Study
April 1, 2001
Introduction
Author: John the apostle.
This is one of the “General Epistles” because it was sent to the church in
general, not to a specific church or person.
Date and Place of Writing: Strong
tradition says that John spent his old age in Ephesus. Lack of personal
references in this letter indicates that it was written in sermonic style to
Christians all over Asia Minor (much like Ephesians). It was probably written
after the gospel, and before the persecution under Domitian in A.D. 95, which
places its writing in the late 80s or early 90s, a good 25 years after the end
of Acts. Revelation would have been written later than the epistles.
Purpose of the letter: John gives us four reasons for writing this
letter:
(1 John 1:3 KJV) That which
we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship
with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus
Christ.
John wants his readers to have “fellowship” with him.
(1 John 1:4 KJV) And these
things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.
John wants his readers to have “joy”
(1 John 2:1 KJV) My little
children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not.
John wants his readers to have victory over sin.
(1 John 5:13 KJV) These
things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that
ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of
the Son of God.
John wants his readers to have assurance of their salvation.
Gnosticism: The heresy of
Gnosticism had begun to infiltrate the church in John’s day. It taught things
like:
·
All matter is evil, only spirit things can be good.
·
Knowledge is best of all, better than virtue (John uses
the word “know” in some 31 verses), in fact the word “knowledge” (gnosis) is the root word in “Gnostic”.
You will see John put their kind of “knowledge” to the test to see if it is a
true “knowledge”
One of the words that you will find over and over is the word “know”. John
is continually challenging what people claim to “know”.
·
Only a select few can understand the “true” meaning of
Scriptures and explain them to others. Don’t try to read your Bible without
their special help.
·
God couldn’t have created the world by himself, since
there’s evil in the world, and God isn’t evil, so He created one being a little
less nice, who created another being a little lesser nice … eventually one of
them created the world.
·
Jesus couldn’t be both human and divine since spirit
and flesh can’t mix. Some thought He was just a divine ghost, some thought He
was a man “wearing” a spirit being He picked up at His baptism.
·
There can be no resurrection of the flesh.
·
Since flesh is evil and can’t go to heaven, there were
two types of Gnostics – one type tried to avoid everything fleshly (asceticism)
and who claimed not to ever sin, the other type said, “who cares?” and lived a
wild anything-goes lifestyle (licentiousness).
:1-7 The way to true fellowship
:1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have
seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of
the Word of life;
looked upon – theaomai –
to behold, look upon, view attentively, contemplate (often used of public
shows); to view, take a view of; to learn by looking, to see with the eyes, to
perceive
handled – pselaphao – to
handle, touch and feel
Jesus is the One who has always existed from the beginning.
(John 1:1 KJV) In the
beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
(Micah 5:2 KJV) But thou,
Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out
of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose
goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.
John heard, saw, gazed upon this One. He had touched Jesus.
:2 (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and
show unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested
unto us;)
manifested – phaneroo – to
make manifest or visible or known what has been hidden or unknown, to manifest,
whether by words, or deeds, or in any other way
show unto – apaggello – to
bring tidings (from a person or a thing), bring word, report; to proclaim, to
make known openly, declare
:3 That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may
have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with
his Son Jesus Christ.
declare – apaggello – to
bring tidings (from a person or a thing), bring word, report; to proclaim, to
make known openly, declare
fellowship – koinonia –
fellowship, association, community, communion, joint participation, intercourse
Lesson
The main goal is fellowship
This seems to be John’s main goal in his letter to the church, that we’d
have the correct kind of fellowship.
Fellowship is having something in common with someone else.
Some people have “soccer fellowship” because they take their kids to the
same soccer team.
Some people have “work fellowship” because they all work at the same place,
all hate the same boss, and all complain about the same things.
Some people have “bar fellowship” because they all hang out at the same
bar, for various reasons.
Some people have “church fellowship” because they all happen to go to the
same church, sometimes for different reasons, but they’re still at the same
church.
John is saying that he wants to make sure that our basis for “having
something in common” is the right one, that we are together for the right
reasons.
John’s stated goal is that our reason for fellowship is the common
relationship we all share with God.
Why are you here?
John’s going to be challenging a lot of our ideas about what we think it
means to have fellowship with God.
:4 And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.
may be full – pleroo – to
make full, to fill up, i.e. to fill to the full; to render full, i.e. to
complete; to fill to the top: so that nothing shall be wanting to full measure,
fill to the brim
:5 This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto
you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
the message – epaggelia –
announcement; promise
declare unto – anaggello –
to announce, make known; to report, bring back tidings, rehearse
light – phos – light;
metaph. God is light because light has the extremely delicate, subtle, pure,
brilliant quality; of truth and its knowledge, together with the spiritual
purity associated with it
A picture of goodness, holiness, freedom from sin.
darkness – skotia –
darkness; the darkness due to want of light; metaph. used of ignorance of
divine things, and its associated wickedness, and the resultant misery in hell
A picture of sin.
at all – oudeis – no one,
nothing
God is totally pure and holy, there isn’t even a hint of sin with Him.
(1 Tim
6:15b -16 NNAS) … He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings
and Lord of lords, {16} who alone
possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen
or can see…
God dwells in unapproachable light because we as humans, in our current
sinful bodies, can’t even get close to Him.
Lesson:
You can trust Him.
For me, one of the most significant applications of this verse has to do
with people who have been abused by their fathers.
What I have found is that people who have been abused by their fathers tend
to have this reluctance to trust God.
God the Father is NOTHING like
your earthly father.
There is NOTHING impure or filthy about the love that God the Father has
towards you.
There is no darkness in Him at all.
:6 If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we
lie, and do not the truth:
we say – epo – to speak,
say. Aorist subjunctive – “if we should say …”
fellowship – koinonia –
fellowship, association, community, communion, joint participation, intercourse
The Gnostic Heresy:
Some of the Gnostics felt that since a person’s physical body was evil, and
that there was nothing that could be done about it, that you might as well just
party hearty, because there’s nothing that can be done.
And John is saying that you can’t claim to have known God, or claim to have
a relationship with God, if there is a continuing pattern of unrepentant sin.
Lesson
Talk is cheap
You’re going to find John using this phrase or a form of it quite a few
times, “If we say …”
The Gnostics, as well as many people, are good at saying certain things,
but what people “say” isn’t always the truth:
(1 John 1:6 KJV) If we say
that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not
the truth:
(1 John 1:8 KJV) If we say
that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
(1 John 1:10 KJV) If we say
that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
(1 John 2:4 KJV) He that saith,
I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not
in him.
(1 John 2:6 KJV) He that saith
he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.
(1 John 2:9 KJV) He that saith
he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now.
(1 John 4:20 KJV) If a man say,
I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his
brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?
Don’t believe everything you hear people say. It’s not what you “say” as
much as what you “do” that counts.
Jesus said,
(Mat
7:21 KJV) Not every one that saith
unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father
which is in heaven.
:7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship
one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all
sin.
Note: John doesn’t say, “But if
we should say that we walk in the light”, but simply “if we walk in the
light”.
It’s not so much a matter of what you say about yourself, it’s how you
really are!
cleanses – katharizo – to
make clean, cleanse; to pronounce clean in a levitical sense
There is a “cause” and “effect” thing going on here.
The “cause” is “walking in the light”. If we walk in the light, where God
is (because God is light and in Him is no darkness), then two things happen:
1)
We have fellowship with one another.
That’s because we’re all in the same place, where God is, in the light. The
thing that draws us together is our being in the same place, in the light.
2)
We experience cleansing.
This is because of the things we’ll see when we get to verse 9. God will be
showing us our sin, and we’ll agree with Him and confess our sin, bringing
cleansing.
Lesson
He can cleanse you
We’re used to seeing those laundry detergent commercials on TV where they
talk about those “really hard stains”.
Jesus can cleanse you from your really difficult stains.
1:8- 2:2 True knowledge acknowledges sin
:8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is
not in us.
deceive – planao – to
cause to stray, to lead astray, lead aside from the right way; to go astray,
wander, roam about; metaph. to lead away from the truth, to lead into error, to
deceive; to be led into error
There will be some people who take the idea of “walking in the light” too
far, and come to the conclusion that a Christian can no longer sin. There are
churches that teach that a person can attain to “sinless perfection”.
The problem is that they are lying to themselves.
Lesson:
Don’t ignore your problems.
You only tend to deceive yourself and prolong the problems.
Illustration
For some people, the pain of self-realization is just too much to bear.
British painter and engraver William Hogarth was once commissioned to paint the
portrait of an exceptionally ugly nobleman. As was his custom, he depicted the
subject with the utmost frankness and realism. When the nobleman saw the
portrait, he refused to pay for it, and a bitter discussion ensued. Eventually
Hogarth, needing the money, sent a letter to his client, saying that a certain
showman who specialized in exhibiting freaks and monstrosities was interested
in the portrait. Unless Hogarth received payment within three days, he would
embellish the picture with a tail and other appendages and sell it to the showman
for exhibition. The nobleman paid up, then burned the portrait.
:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins,
and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
confess – homologeo –
to say the same thing as another, i.e. to agree with, assent; to concede; to
confess, i.e. to admit or declare one’s self guilty of what one is accused of;
to declare openly, speak out freely
For some who have a Catholic background, the idea of “confession” brings up
certain memories, some of which are not correct. “Confession” isn’t just
admitting you’ve sinned, it’s “agreeing with God”.
I admit I’ve sinned because when my action is against God’s ways, God says
I’ve sinned.
I need to agree with God in having Jesus Christ pay for my sins.
I also need to agree with God that my actions need to change.
faithful – pistos –
trusty, faithful; that can be relied on
You can count on Him to do this.
just – dikaios –
righteous, observing divine laws
God is righteous, He is correct in forgiving us when we confess our sins.
How can God be correct in forgiving us when we simply confess our sins?
He has already paid the price of our sins. He’s already paid back the debt.
Jesus died on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins.
to forgive – aphiemi –
to send away; to bid going away or depart; to let go, give up a debt, forgive,
to remit; to give up, keep no longer
When we confess, God lets go of the
debt that we owe him.
cleanse – katharizo – to
make clean, cleanse; to pronounce clean in a levitical sense
He not only lets go of the debt, but He cleans up the mess as well. He
cleanses us from the very guilt of our sin.
(Heb 9:13-14 NIV) The blood
of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are
ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. {14} How
much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit
offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts
that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!
unrighteousness – adikia –
injustice, of a judge; unrighteousness of heart and life; a deed violating law
and justice, act of unrighteousness
:10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is
not in us.
sinned – hamartano – to be
without a share in; to miss the mark; to err, be mistaken; to miss or wander
from the path of uprightness and honor, to do or go wrong; to wander from the
law of God, violate God’s law, sin. The verb is a perfect tense, the action
happening in the past with the results continuing on into the future.
We make God a liar because He has already told us in His Word that all of
us are sinners:
(Psa
14:3 KJV) They are all gone aside, they are all
together become filthy: there is none
that doeth good, no, not one.
1John 2
:1 My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not.
little children – teknion (diminutive
of teknon) – a little child; in the NT used as a term of kindly address
by teachers to their disciples
ye sin – hamartano
– to be without a share in; to miss the mark; to err, be mistaken; to miss
or wander from the path of uprightness and honour, to do or go wrong; to wander
from the law of God, violate God’s law, sin. Aorist active subjunctive – “that
ye should not sin”. It’s not that John has this idea that everyone reading
this letter will automatically, absolutely never sin. It’s his hope and desire
that people reading this letter should not sin.
You can get the idea from 1John 1:9, that all we have to do is say a quick
prayer of “confession” and we can just go right along with our old life of sin.
Wrong! God’s desire is that we move away from sin.
:2 And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ
the righteous:
any man sin – hamartano
– to be without a share in; to miss the mark; to err, be mistaken; to miss
or wander from the path of uprightness and honour, to do or go wrong; to wander
from the law of God, violate God’s law, sin. Aorist active subjunctive – same
form as ye sin, here it is, “if any man should sin”. It’s not
that John wants people to sin, but in the case that a person should
(subjunctive) sin …
an advocate – parakletos –
summoned, called to one’s side, esp. called to one’s aid; one who pleads
another’s cause before a judge, a pleader, counsel for defense, legal
assistant, an advocate; one who pleads another’s cause with one, an
intercessor; in the widest sense, a helper, succourer, aider, assistant
the righteous – dikaios –
righteous, observing divine laws
John is painting the picture of a courtroom, this courtroom being in heaven.
God the Father is the judge, Satan is the prosecuting attorney (“who accuses
the brethren day and night – Rev. 12:10), and Jesus is our defense attorney who
stands up and pleads our case before the judge in our defense.
:2 And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also
for the sins of the whole world.
propitiation – hilasmos
– an appeasing, propitiating; the means of appeasing, a propitiation
related to – hilasterion
– relating to an appeasing or expiating, having placating or expiating
force, expiatory; a means of appeasing or expiating, a propitiation; used of
the cover of the ark of the covenant in the Holy of Holies, which was sprinkled
with the blood of the expiatory victim on the annual day of atonement (this
rite signifying that the life of the people, the loss of which they had merited
by their sins, was offered to God in the blood as the life of the victim, and
that God by this ceremony was appeased and their sins expiated); hence the lid
of expiation, the propitiatory
A “propitiatory” was a place where
wrath was satisfied, where the price was paid. The mercy seat on the Ark of the
Covenant was a “propitiatory”, where blood was sprinkled, and the sins of the
people were taken care of. Jesus’ death on the cross was what paid the price of
God’s righteous wrath for our sins.
He is our “defense attorney” who has actually paid for our crimes Himself.
:3-11 Knowing is obeying
:3 And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.
we do know – ginosko – to
learn to know, come to know, get a knowledge of perceive, feel. Present active
indicative
we know – same as above, but perfect active indicative
The tenses of the verbs “know” are different – you could translate this,
“by this we can know right now that we have known and continue to know
him …”
we keep – tereo – to
attend to carefully, take care of; to guard; to observe. Present active
subjunctive, “if we should keep”
:4 He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar,
and the truth is not in him.
I know – perfect tense – “I have known and continue to know”
keepeth – present participle, continuous action.
“The one who is saying “I have known and continue to know Him”, and who
is not currently keeping His commandments, he is a liar and the truth is not in
that one.”
:5 But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected:
hereby know we that we are in him.
keepeth – present active subjunctive – “whoso should keep”
is … perfected – teleioo
– to make perfect, complete; to carry through completely, to accomplish,
finish, bring to an end; to bring to the end (goal) proposed; perfect passive
indicative
It’s not God’s love for me, but my love for God that is brought to its
perfect result when I am walking in obedience to His Word.
Jesus said,
(John 14:15 KJV) If ye love
me, keep my commandments.
:6 He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as
he walked.
abideth – meno – to
remain, abide
ought – opheilo – to owe
You can’t say that you are remaining in Christ if you aren’t living like He
did.
:7 Brethren, I write no new commandment unto you, but an old commandment
which ye had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which ye have
heard from the beginning.
John is talking about the command to love others.
We don’t have to guess at this, John tells us this a little later on –
(1
John 3:11 KJV) For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that
we should love one another.
In a sense, there’s nothing “new” about God commanding us to love –
(Deu
6:5 KJV) And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with
all thy soul, and with all thy might.
(Lev
19:18 KJV) Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of
thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD.
:8 Again, a new commandment I write unto you, which thing is true in him
and in you: because the darkness is past, and the true light now shineth.
is past – parago – pass
by; to depart, go away; metaph. disappear
Even though the command to love is
nothing new, when Jesus came along, He gave it the real meaning it was intended
to have, which was “new” to the world.
(Mat
5:43-44 KJV) Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy
neighbour, and hate thine enemy. {44} But
I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them
that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
(John
13:34-35 KJV) A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I
have loved you, that ye also love one another. {35} By this shall all men know
that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.
:9 He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness
even until now.
hateth – miseo – to hate,
pursue with hatred, detest; to be hated, detested
:10 He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none
occasion of stumbling in him.
occasion of stumbling – skandalon
– the movable stick or trigger of a trap, a trap stick; a trap, snare; any
impediment placed in the way and causing one to stumble or fall, (a stumbling
block, occasion of stumbling) i.e. a rock which is a cause of stumbling; any
person or thing by which one is (entrapped) drawn into error or sin
Lesson
Love doesn’t stumble others
If I care about other people, then I will act in such a way that doesn’t
hurt their walk with the Lord. There are some things that are neither right nor
wrong, yet they can cause another person to trip up in their relationship with
Jesus.
(Rom
14:13-15 NASB) Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather
determine this-- not to put an obstacle or a stumbling block in a brother's
way. {14} I know and am convinced in
the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself; but to him who thinks anything
to be unclean, to him it is unclean. {15}
For if because of food your brother is hurt, you are no longer walking
according to love. Do not destroy with your food him for whom Christ died.
Illustration
The Cowboy
A cowboy rode into town and stopped at the saloon for a drink.
Unfortunately, the locals always had a habit of picking on newcomers. When he
finished, he found his horse had been stolen. He comes back into the bar,
handily flips his gun into the air, catches it above his head without even looking
and fires a shot into the ceiling. “Who stole my horse?” he yelled with
surprising forcefulness. No one answered. “I’m gonna have another beer and if
my horse ain’t back outside by the time I’m finished, I’m gonna do what I dun
back in Texas and I don’t want to have to do what I dun back in Texas!” Some of
the locals shifted restlessly. He had another beer, walked outside, and his
horse was back! He saddled up and started to ride out of town. The bartender
wandered out of the bar and asked, “Say partner, what happened in Texas?” The
cowboy turned back and said, “I had to walk home!”
:11 But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness,
and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes.
blinded – tuphloo – to
blind, make blind; in the NT metaph. to blunt the mental discernment, darken
the mind. Aorist tense
The one who hates his brother isn’t just “in” darkness, but he’s wandering
around in the darkness and isn’t even aware that he doesn’t know where he is going.
Lesson
Hatred blinds you
You won’t even realize that you are blinded.
:12-17 Growing Up
:12 I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you
for his name's sake.
little children – teknion (diminutive
of teknon) – a little child; in the NT used as a term of kindly address
by teachers to their disciples
are forgiven – aphiemi –
to send away; to bid going away or depart; to let go, give up a debt, forgive,
to remit; to give up, keep no longer. Perfect passive indicative
John is giving us various stages of development for Christians.
Children are the “young ones”
Illustration
Lesson
It starts with forgiveness.
One of the very first steps a person takes as a newborn baby in Christ is
that of entering into God’s forgiveness.
This is where it all starts. Every person at every stage must come through
this point.
Because it’s a “perfect” tense in Greek, this is also not where it ends,
but forgiveness is something that we start with and continue with.
:13 I write unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the
beginning. I write unto you, young men, because ye have overcome the wicked
one. I write unto you, little children, because ye have known the Father.
fathers – pater –
generator or male ancestor; metaph. the originator and transmitter of anything;
one who has infused his own spirit into others, who actuates and governs their
minds; one who stands in a father’s place and looks after another in a paternal
way; a title of honour; teachers, as those to whom pupils trace back the
knowledge and training they have received
These are the old guys
Illustration
You Know Your Getting Old When...
(these really aren’t all that funny)
You quit trying to hold in your stomach, no matter who walks into the room.
You enjoy watching the news.
The phone rings and you hope it's not for you.
The only reason you're still awake at 4 a.m. is indigestion.
You start singing along with the elevator music.
You really do want a new washing machine for your birthday.
You consider coffee one of the most important things in life.
8 a.m. is your idea of "sleeping in".
You don't remember when you got that mole...or the one next to it.
You point out what buildings used to be where.
him that is from the beginning – this is basically the same
phrase with which John started the letter with:
(1 John 1:1 KJV) That which
was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes,
which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life;
We saw that it was a reference to Jesus:
(John 1:1 KJV) In the
beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
This is probably an odd idea, but I wondered if John wasn’t even referring
to the idea that these older men may have even been people who had seen and
known Jesus like he had. I found one commentary that agreed –
Adam Clarke: “By fathers it is very likely that the apostle means persons
who had embraced Christianity on its first promulgation in Judea and in the
Lesser Asia, some of them had probably seen Christ in the flesh;”
ye have known – ginosko
– to learn to know, come to know, get a knowledge of perceive, feel.
Keep in mind the context – to “know” Him is proven by a person obeying Him:
(1 John 2:3-5 KJV) And
hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. {4} He that
saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth
is not in him. {5} But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God
perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.
The verb here is a perfect active indicative – they have in the past known
Him and continue to know Him.
The “fathers” are those who have walked in obedience with the Lord from the
time they came to know Him until the present.
young men – neaniskos – a
young man, youth; used of a young attendant or servant
overcome – nikao – to
conquer; to carry off the victory, come off victorious; of Christians, that
hold fast their faith even unto death against the power of their foes, and
temptations and persecutions. Perfect active indicative
the wicked one – poneros –
full of labours, annoyances, hardships; bad, of a bad nature or condition; in
an ethical sense: evil wicked, bad
little children – paidion –
a young child, a little boy, a little girl. Different word than the one used in
verse 12 (teknion)
have known – ginosko – to
learn to know, come to know, get a knowledge of perceive, feel; to become
acquainted with, to know. Perfect active indicative.
Lesson
Maturity comes from continued
obedience.
John has already told us:
(1 John 2:3 KJV) And hereby
we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.
We really know that we have come to truly know Him because
of our obedience.
Now John has told us that both children and fathers have “known” Him. In
both cases, John uses the “perfect” tense, meaning that in the past they came
to know God, and they have continued to know Him.
With the “fathers”, their knowing God hasn’t stopped. Their obedience of
God hasn’t stopped. It’s all just kept on going.
When we get to the point where we begin to walk in obedience, we haven’t
arrived. We are where we need to be. But it is also where we need to stay, to
keep walking in obedience.
:14 I have written unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is
from the beginning. I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong,
and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one.
have written – John changes from using the present tense in verse 13
(“I write”) to the aorist (“I have written”)
have known – perfect active indicative
young men – neaniskos – a
young man, youth; used of a young attendant or servant
strong – ischuros –
strong, mighty; strong either in body or in mind; of one who has strength of
soul to sustain the attacks of Satan, strong and therefore exhibiting many
excellences
abideth – meno – to
remain, abide
Lesson
Maturity comes from sustained
victory
The “young men” are the teenagers in the faith.
The word “overcome” is also a perfect tense, meaning that they have not
only had a victory or two, but they have stayed in the place of victory.
Lesson
Strength comes from the Word
John has told us how the “young men”
have overcome the wicked one –
They are strong because God’s Word
abides in them.
:15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any
man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
love – agapao – of persons
- to welcome, to entertain, to be fond of, to love dearly; of things – to be
well pleased, to be contented at or with a thing
world – kosmos – an apt
and harmonious arrangement or constitution, order, government; the world, the
universe; the ungodly multitude; the whole mass of men alienated from God, and
therefore hostile to the cause of Christ; the whole circle of earthly goods,
endowments riches, advantages, pleasures, etc, which although hollow and frail
and fleeting, stir desire, seduce from God and are obstacles to the cause of Christ
We are to have love as Christians, but there’s a limit to how far we ought
to go in loving. There are some things we are not to love, and at the top of
the list is this thing called “the world”.
The “world” is that invisible system around us, energized by Satan, which
is hostile to God and is constantly trying to tempt us away from God.
:16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of
the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
lust – epithumia – desire,
craving, longing, desire for what is forbidden, lust
flesh – sarx – flesh (the
soft substance of the living body, which covers the bones and is permeated with
blood) of both man and beasts; the flesh, denotes mere human nature, the
earthly nature of man apart from divine influence, and therefore prone to sin
and opposed to God
eyes – ophthalmos – the
eye; metaph. the eyes of the mind, the faculty of knowing
pride – alazoneia – empty,
braggart talk; an insolent and empty assurance, which trusts in its own power
and resources and shamefully despises and violates divine laws and human
rights; an impious and empty presumption which trusts in the stability of
earthy things; from alazon – an empty
pretender, a boaster
life – bios – life; that
by which life is sustained, resources, wealth, goods
Lesson:
Inner
desires are a gateway to sin.
The “lusts of the flesh” are the things
that my inner sin nature craves for. I can find these things readily in the
“world”.
It’s these “lusts”, these “strong
desires” that can result in sinful actions –
James 1:13-15 Let no man say when he is
tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither
tempteth he any man: {14} But every
man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. {15} Then when lust hath conceived, it
bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.
One of the ways that
we are tempted is right from the inside, inside our own wicked hearts.
If we allow ourselves
to be “drawn away” (Greek “exelko”
carries the idea of luring a fish onto a hook) and give into the thought,
that’s when lust gives birth to sin.
Lesson:
The
senses can be a gateway to sin.
The “lust of the eyes” has to do with
temptation reaching us through our senses.
One example of this is Eve’s
Temptation –
Gen 3:6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good
for food, and that it was pleasant to
the eyes, and a tree to be desired
to make one wise, she took of the
fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did
eat.
Because Eve kept her
eyes on the temptation, she was led to eat the fruit.
A.T. Robertson, writing in 1932 said, “The use of the "movies" today for
gain by lustful exhibitions is a case in point.” Interesting …
Lesson
Getting more stuff
The idea behind the “pride of life” is “empty
bragging about the things that sustain your life”. We might call it
“pride in possessions”
Jesus said,
Luke 12:15 And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man's life consisteth not
in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.
For the wealthy person, the danger is beginning to think
that they’ve “arrived”, that somehow they are important because they have the
“stuff” they think makes a person.
For the poor person, I think it’s that secret idea we have
that if we only had all the “stuff” we dream about, we’d be better off.
:17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the
will of God abideth for ever.
passeth away – parago –
pass by; to depart, go away; metaph. disappear
This is the exact same word, same grammar, as what John said earlier about
darkness:
(1 John 2:8 KJV) Again, a
new commandment I write unto you, which thing is true in him and in you:
because the darkness is past, and the true light now shineth.
The world, it’s all gonna burn. So look to the things that last.
:18-29 Truth and Lies
:18 Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that
antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know
that it is the last time.
little children – paidion –
a young child, a little boy, a little girl
time – hora (“hour”) – a
certain definite time or season fixed by natural law and returning with the
revolving year; the daytime (bounded by the rising and setting of the sun), a
day; a twelfth part of the day-time, an hour, (the twelve hours of the day are
reckoned from the rising to the setting of the sun); any definite time, point
of time, moment
There is no “definite article” in the
Greek (our word “the” in English), and in Greek this means that the “last time”
is being referred to by quality, “Little children, it is by nature the last
hour”, these are “last hour” kinds of times.
antichrist – antichristos
– the adversary of the Messiah; it is a compound word with the prefix “anti” in
front of it, which can mean two different things, either “opposite” or “in
place of”.
The antichrist is both in a sense the
“opposite” of Jesus Christ, but also, and primarily, is someone who comes “in
the place of” Jesus Christ, trying to take His place in our lives.
now are there – perfect tense. There have been many
antichrists
:19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of
us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they
might be made manifest that they were not all of us.
went out from us – not in the sense of being sent out as
missionaries, but the idea of departing from the truth as well as departing
from the group.
continued – meno – to
remain, abide. Perfect tense – they would have abided and still continued to
have abided.
they might be made manifest – phaneroo
– to make manifest or visible or known what has been hidden or unknown, to
manifest, whether by words, or deeds, or in any other way
Be careful not to take this as if everyone who leaves the church is some
kind of heretic.
There are all kinds of reasons why people leave a church. It’s usually
because of some kind of disagreement or misunderstanding, not heresy.
:20 But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things.
unction – chrisma –
anything smeared on, unguent, ointment, usually prepared by the Hebrews from
oil and aromatic herbs. Anointing was the inaugural ceremony for priests
This is talking about the Holy Spirit, which is seen symbolically
throughout the Bible as “oil” or “anointing”. One of the clearest places we see
this is when Samuel “anoints” little David to be king –
(1 Sam
16:13 KJV) Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of
his brethren: and the spirit of the LORD came upon David from that day forward…
ye know – eido – to see;
to know. perfect active indicative
Perhaps we might say, “you understand all these things because of the
anointing you have”.
:21 I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because
ye know it, and that no lie is of the truth.
“all lies out of the truth are not”
He’s not telling them this stuff because they don’t understand the truth
and so he’s trying to straighten them out.
Instead, it seems he’s trying to correct the notion that some of the people
were thinking that perhaps some of these teachers were okay despite the fact
that they were speaking a monstrous lie to the people about who Jesus was.
Lesson:
It’s not okay to have an incorrect
idea about Jesus.
We want to look at our Mormon friends and their emphasis on the family and
all, and say that perhaps what they say about Jesus isn’t all that big of a
deal.
No lie is of the truth. No lie that misguides a person concerning Jesus can
be of the truth.
:22 Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is
antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son.
he that denieth – arneomai –
to deny; to deny, abnegate, abjure; not to accept, to reject, to refuse
something offered
Lesson:
The truth is centered on who you
think Jesus is.
This is one way to cut to the chase when you are talking with a person, and
trying to find out if they really know the Lord or not.
What do you think of Jesus?
If they do not believe that Jesus is God’s anointed Savior, they don’t have
the truth.
To make it even clearer, if they do not believe that Jesus is the Son of
God, if they do not believe that Jesus is God, then they don’t have the truth.
:23 Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: (but) he that
acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also.
:24 Let that therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from the
beginning. If that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you,
ye also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father.
:25 And this is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life.
:26 These things have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you.
seduce – planao –
to cause to stray, to lead astray, lead aside from the right way; metaph. to
lead away from the truth, to lead into error, to deceive
:27 But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye
need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all
things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall
abide in him.
You do not have a “need” that any
person should teach you.
It’s not absolutely a necessity that
you should be taught by any particular person.
Lesson:
The
cults require you to learn from them.
This is the mindset that comes from a
cult and keeps you in a cult, that if you ever stop listening to their
teaching, you won’t be able to learn the truth.
The truth is, that if you stopped
listening to them, and just asked the Lord to teach you, there’s no way in the
world you’d come up with the crazy kinds of ideas they’ve come up with, except
by listening to their teaching.
Illustration
(Wiersbe) A missionary to the American
Indians was in Los Angeles with an Indian friend who was a new Christian. As
they walked down the street, they passed a man on the corner who was preaching
with a Bible in his hand. The missionary knew the man represented a cult, but
the Indian saw only the Bible. He stopped to listen to the sermon. “I hope my
friend doesn’t get confused,” the missionary thought to himself, and he began
to pray. In a few minutes the Indian turned away from the meeting and joined
his missionary friend. “What did you think of the preacher?” the missionary
asked. “All the time he was talking,” exclaimed the Indian, “something in my
heart kept saying, ‘Liar! Liar!’”
That’s the Holy Spirit talking!
:28 And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we
may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.
confidence – parrhesia –
freedom in speaking, unreservedness in speech; free and fearless confidence,
cheerful courage, boldness, assurance
ashamed – aischuno – to
disfigure; to dishonour; to suffuse with shame, make ashamed, be ashamed
:29 If ye know that he is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth
righteousness is born of him.
born – gennao – of men who
fathered children; to be born; to be begotten. perfect passive indicative