1 John 4:21-24 Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God 22 and receive from him anything we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases him. 23 And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. 24 Those who obey his commands live in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.
 
DO we often stop to reflect on the wonderful truth that you live in him and he lives in us? The Holy God of heaven and earth has come in the third person of the Trinity to dwell in us. How can you know this is true for your life? You will know you live in the Spirit, and he dwells in you when you believe in Jesus and obey his commands.
   One sign of your belief and obedience is a heart that does not condemn you. Yes, a Christian’s heart must be aware of sin. But you must not be overwhelmed with guilt. Believing in Jesus, you will pursue God’s righteousness. And when you fall short of doing good, you will confess your sin. Then with the Spirit’s assurance that Jesus has redeemed you, you will let it go. A conscience overcome with guilt is a mind that does not trust in the effectiveness of Jesus’ death and resurrection. When the Spirit lives in you, you will reject Satan’s accusations and know you dwell in the shadow of God’s protective wings.
   When you live in the Spirit, and the Spirit lives in you, you will pray to know and receive God’s will. What is his will? The Bible tells us God’s will is to bear fruit for the kingdom, to make disciples, to love God and to love others. God’s will is to devote your life to revealing his holiness to a lost, broken and imprisoned world. God’s will is trusting his promises to focus your life toward heaven. God’s will is that you live in the power of Jesus’ resurrection now and forever.
   If you pray for those things, he will faithfully answer your prayers to guide you into that kind of life. He will not give you everything you desire regarding material goods or even keep you from trials. That certainly doesn’t keep you from praying for yourself and others regarding life’s challenges and life’s blessings. God will answer your prayers, “Yes.” “No.” or “Wait on me. Trust me.” within his will for your life.
   Because you live in the Spirit, and he lives in you, you continually gain a greater understanding of God’s commands and his effective will to guide your life. A growing knowledge of God leads to a greater communion with him in prayer. You love him. You desire to please him. You praise him for his goodness. You thank him for eternal grace over your life. You live in joy because you know nothing can separate you from the love of God. These things and more you know when you know you live in the Spirit, and he lives in you.   

 

1 John 3:18-20 Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. 19 This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence 20 whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.
 
DO you want to know truth? Isn’t that mankind’s dilemma? The truth was Pilate’s question as Jesus stood before him. “What is truth?” Pilate asked. With this he went out again to the Jews and said, “I find no basis for a charge against him.” (John 18:38) Pilate wanted to release Jesus, but the raging crowd urged him to crucify Jesus. Pilate was caught between his authority and the public outcry. Was the truth the right response to free an innocent man? Or was the truth a convenient escape to please the raging crowd? Then Pilate decided. He did what most people do when we wonder: “What is true? What do I do?” Pilate focused on himself.
   You could say that Pilate was mankind’s representative, standing before his Creator. He was desperate to defend himself against the Truth, who stood before him. He was even willing to kill the Truth to protect himself. That’s what we do, don’t we? In our sin nature, our desire is to say: “I belong to My Truth.” Tragically, the world-view of “My Truth” causes us to miss the Truth, who has mercifully revealed himself to us. How, then, do we know we belong to the truth? it’s having a faith that sets our hearts at rest in his presence.
   The truth is that all is centered on Jesus. Your heart rests in the knowledge of God’s forgiveness, holiness and mercy. Many Bible verses describe people’s fearful hearts when God’s holiness appears before them. But God, who is rich in mercy, revealed himself to cleanse and comfort our hearts through Jesus Christ.            
   When you know Jesus, you know you belong to the truth. You understand God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. You can trust God’s love because he came to you before you knew him, so you would have life in him. Think about that. God loves you more than  your heart can know. He is willing and able to fulfill his promise that if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. The truth is we don’t have to carry our sins. Our Lord took them to the cross. He has made the way to forgive your sins and free you from its burden.  
   When you know this,  the truth is our hearts do not condemn us if we have confidence before God. The world wants to condemn your sin. And you probably want to condemn your sin, too. Maybe you think it right to say, “I am a sinner.” But now In Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ. (Ephesians 2:13) Your heart, is no longer a sinful heart but a redeemed heart when your desire is to please God.
   How wonderful to know, “if you hold to my teaching and you are my disciples, then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:31b-32) 

1 John 3:16-17 This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. 17 If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?
 
“WE know what love is.” This is our second “We know.” of the four lessons around this short, powerful statement of faith.
   One thing we know is that John 3:16 is the most memorized and spoken verse in Scripture. Do you see that 1 John 3:16 is very much like it? They both speak of God’s love and Jesus’ sacrificial death. Then John goes one step farther here. We ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. That is a huge love response! Is this something you are prepared to do? Do we have a choice?
   We must be prepared because we don’t have a choice if we are Jesus’ disciples. Let’s look to Jesus’ life to know what this love looks like .
   Our Lord’s greatest expression of his love is, of course, the cross. But before the cross John’s gospel reveals something most remarkable: John 13:1 It was just before the Passover Feast. Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love. What is the full extent of Jesus’ love?
   John 13-18 and the other gospels record the Last Supper. There Jesus revealed the full extent of his love when he: 1) Washed the disciples’ feet. 2) Declared, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.” 3) Began the New Covenant: “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.” 4) Submitted to Judas’ betrayal. 5) Prophesied Peter’s denial. 6) Confirmed he was going away, so he could send the Spirit to empower the apostles’ work. 7) Promised his disciples (all of us) he will come back to take us to be where he is.
   Jesus showed this love because Jesus completely obeyed the Father. John 14:10 Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work.
   Jesus shows us true love living in the Father’s will. Love is slave-like submission and servant humility to the Father’s will. Love is sacrificial death for the Lord’s purpose. Love is God’s incarnation to become known to his own world that did not know him. Because God so loved the world, we must love his world, even when it hurts. We know what love is because Jesus lay down his life for us.  
 

1 John 3:13-15 Do not be surprised, my brothers, if the world hates you. 14 We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. Anyone who does not love remains in death. 15 Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life in him.
 
THIS is the first of four lessons that focus on John’s affirmation, “We know”, a statement he writes 18 times in this letter. Here’s the first: We know we have passed from death to life.
   How do we know this? To pass to life, we need to first know we were born dead in transgression (Ephesians 2:5b) When we know our sins, we know we need a new life. Jesus told the Pharisee Nicodemus the Holy Spirit will cause this new birth: “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. (John 3:5-6)
   You know the Spirit has birthed you into new life when you confess with your mouth “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. (Romans 10:9)
   If the world hates you, you will know this confession is real. When you faithfully follow Jesus’ teachings, you will know separation from those who reject your Lord. Friends and family will generally distance themselves from you. They will be opposed to the ways you speak of Jesus and reject worldly activities. And we know there are many in the culture who express a great hatred toward the church. Christian-owned businesses are sued for rejecting service to ungodly purposes. Throughout the world, Christians are hated by family, neighbors and governments. They are persecuted in all forms of abuse, even to the death.
   A third way we know that we have passed from death to life, is because we love our brothers. John always returns to love as the fundamental truth of our salvation. There is no option because Jesus said there is no option. “By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:35) John draws a sharp line of judgment upon the unloving. Anyone who does not love remains in death. We cannot pass to life if we live ruled by unforgiveness, jealousy, anger, pride or covetousness. The evidence of your confession is judged by the way you live.
   You know you have passed from death to life when 1) you realize you are born dead in your sin 2) you confess your sins 3) you confess Jesus’ resurrection 4) the world hates you and 5) you love one another.
   Is this your life?  
 

1 John 3:12 Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother’s were righteous.
 
JOHN challenges the church, “Do  not be like Cain.” Cain was angry with God for rejecting his offering. That caused him to become jealous and angry toward Abel, whom he murdered. Did John expect people in the church to commit murder?
   John was preaching against a murderous heart – one of accusations, condemnation and hatred. Remember Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount that anger was a form of murder: Matthew 5:21 “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ 22a But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment.”  John urged the church to keep anger and the pride that causes it far from their hearts.
   Although our anger does not literally murder another, it will destroy the opportunity for a loving fruitful relationship. Unredeemed anger will fracture our relationships with family and friends. Those relationships cannot be repaired when anger remains.
   Anger will also infect a family for generations if it is not stopped. Cain could have stopped his anger immediately if he had responded to God’s offer of another sacrifice. Genesis 4:6 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? 7 If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.”  It would have been very easy for Cain to do what was right. But Cain allowed the crouching sin to stand up and enter his heart. Anger became his master.
   And then it became worse. This legacy of murder then corrupted the generations of Cain’s line. Ultimately it came to the point the Lord was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain. (Genesis 6:6) God’s response was to judge the world with the Great Flood.  
   Teaching as Jesus taught, John reminded the church of anger’s power to destroy and love’s power to heal. Cain needed to first love the Lord, so he would obey God’s commands to simply renew his offering to God. How easily he could have lived in peace with his brother.
   The psalmist warns and encourages: Love the Lord, all his saints! The Lord preserves the faithful, but the proud he pays back in full. (Psalms 31:23) There is no room for pride and anger in the kingdom of God.
   Love God. Love one another.  These are the two greatest commands for good reason. Such love leads to a life of peace now and will be a solid foundation to influence your generations to come. This is the Bible’s message. 

1 John 3:9-11 No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God. 10 This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother. 11 This is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another.
 
FIVE times in 1 & 2 John, the apostle wrote, “Love one another.” Tradition says that in John’s old age he was carried to the church where he still taught, “Love one another.” The congregation, it is said, grew tired of hearing this. But John insisted he continue this essential teaching because that is what Jesus taught. John records Jesus said it three times in two sentences: John 13:34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
   In that passage, Jesus is with his disciples in the Upper Room. He had just washed their feet. This humble, serving act was a vivid demonstration of Jesus’ love for them. The Lord of heaven had submitted himself to serve his disciples as a slave. In the washing of their feet, Jesus revealed that love should be a full devotion to others. And, of course, Jesus would go on to an even greater revelation of love for one another as he submitted to the cross.
   John had also witnessed Jesus love each of them after his resurrection. The Lord loved them out of their doubts and confusion to clearly reveal his majesty and holiness. The apostle also saw, “Love one another.” In action when Jesus loved Peter back into the ministry.
   John knew how essential and life-changing love is. A true, committed, active love for one another transforms families, neighborhoods and the church. To love one another is a visible sign God’s seed remains in a Christian, so he will not continue to sin. To love one another opens the way to repentance and forgiveness because one has been born of God.
   Do we need to continually hear this? Apparently we do. The Spirit has inspired John to write this faith essential. It is too easy to not love one another if we take our mind from what Jesus has done for us. When we decide how to respond to others in the church when we disagree or are offended, our first response is to remember, “Love one another.” This will go far to
help us remember God’s seed remains in us. Love is the essential ingredient to a faithful purposeful Christian life and to the church.  

1 John 3:7-8 Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. He who does what is right is righteous, just as Jesus is righteous. 8 He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.
 
JOHN continues to teach the church with grace and truth. We must keep teaching basic truth. Children require repeated instruction to live in proper order in their parents’ rule. Children of God must continually receive appropriate instruction to live in God’s righteous rule. John urges the dear children to remain steadfast doing right. A righteous life is with Jesus. A life of deliberate sin is a life with the devil.
   Christians must know there is an active opponent to our faith. We may minimize the devil’s existence with jokes and cartoons. He likes it when we casually consider him. His aim is to strike a fatal blow to Jesus’ church. We know that once we belong to God, the devil can’t take us away from God. But the Evil One can minimize our faith and righteous works for the Lord. Churches die when God’s children become casual or confused about what is right in God’s sight.
   John’s reference to he who does what is sinful is of the devil is those who had chosen to live under the devil’s temptations. This was Cain’s choice in Genesis 4. This was Israel’s choice expressed in Judges 21:25 In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit. The history of God’s people is a history of a few who were righteous and many who strayed.
   That’s the reason the Son of God appeared. Jesus’ salvation is twofold. He saves his own unto heaven. He destroys the devil’s work into Hell. This is the great work of God and a sure reason for our hope.
   John knows Jesus is the Victor. He heard Jesus proclaim, “On this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.” (Matthew 16:18) John and the disciples received Jesus promise of eternal life: In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. (John 14:2) Soon after that John watched his Lord dying and heard him declare “It is finished.” (John 19:31). At that moment, Satan’s doom was sure. The Lord of life rose to life to assure his disciples – and the world – that he would forever reign. John watched Jesus ascend, and he heard the angels’ promise, “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.” (Acts 1:11)
   John was first an unrighteous man who became righteous to follow Jesus. He became an apostle, a witness of Jesus’s truth. Listen to him and live a righteous life, prepared for the day Jesus conquers the devil. John was certain, and we must be, also. 
 

1 John 3:2-3 Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. 3 Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure.
 
THERE is more to come. Being a child of God today means you are 1) under God’s protection from sin’s destruction 2) you are living on the pathway to heaven 3) you have access to the throne of grace 4) you have security in your eternal life 5) you can rightly call God “Father”, the Son “brother” and the Spirit “Helper” 7) Jesus has prepared a place for you in heaven.
   These are a few of God’s wonderful, life-transforming blessings on your life. He has called you into an eternal privilege that is far beyond your understanding. Yet, you know your mortal life has many challenges. That’s why it’s essential to know that what we will be has not yet been made known. God’s perfection awaits you.
   We don’t know details of our future life with Jesus. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. To be like Jesus is to be in his glorified existence. John saw this in the Transfiguration on the Mount (Mark 9). Paul also wrote in 2 Corinthians 3:18 And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.  
   How will we reflect the Lord’s glory? 1) Our resurrected bodies will include both body and soul (1 Corinthians 15). 2) Our resurrected body will be changed into bodies as Jesus’ glorified body: Philippians 3:21 who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body. And 3) Our resurrected body will not be limited as they are now. We will not get sick, be weak or die. Luke 20:36 “And they can no longer die; for they are like the angels. They are God’s children, since they are children of the resurrection.”
   Confessing Jesus, “My Lord and my God!”  (John 20:28) you are a child of God. You are a child of the resurrection! As you live in expectation of a glorious future, John urges us to purify ourselves in the same manner as Jesus is pure. In other words, purposefully point your life to the Lord’s perfection. But we cannot purify ourselves apart from Jesus’ teachings and the Spirit’s power. John’s point is to have an attitude that directs you from the world and into Jesus’ holiness. John 15:5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”  
   John says this is our hope. This is an assurance you are in a process toward heaven. You do not have a hope that says, “Maybe it will happen.” But this is a hope that confirms, “When it happens.”
   Dwell in the richness of your inheritance. Rejoice in the plan God has for your mortal body to become a glorious reflection of the Lord Jesus Christ.    

1 John 2:26-29 I am writing these things to you about those who are trying to lead you astray. 27 As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit – just as it has taught you, remain in him. 28 And now, dear children, continue in him, so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming. 29 If you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone who does what is right has been born of him.  
 
ONE of Jesus’ last teachings to his disciples was to implore them to continue to follow him: “Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.” (John 15:4) Our Lord knew his most beloved followers would have a faith crisis as he was crucified and buried. All their hope in Jesus as Son of God and Messiah would seem to disappear.
   John and the other disciples did remain in Jesus through the revelation of his resurrection and ascension. The church began and grew against significant opposition from false teachers and harsh persecution.  
   John is an apostle who has for 50 years had a very personal relationship with Jesus. He knew that because he remained in Jesus, Jesus remained in him as he promised. John had witnessed very tragic events against the church, including the martyrdom of his brother James and Rome’s brutal persecutions against people he loved. John, too, had suffered much. What should one do amid such adversity?
   Remain in Jesus. His anointing to call you to faith remains on you in all circumstances. The Spirit has given you the knowledge of God, so you know he forgives sins and saves you unto heaven. This truth hasn’t left you if hard things have come to you. Jesus has anointed you with his righteousness, love and salvation. “Continue in him,” John urges. Trust that Jesus has come to save you. Be prepared for the day when he appears (so) we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming.
   In summary, to remain in Jesus is the key to a righteous life. You have been taught, and you know everyone who does what is right has been born of him. To do right is to remain in faith, believing in God’s sovereign power and authority to redeem your sins. To do right is to remain in love with God, so you will know his love for you. To do right is to follow Jesus through the valleys and into the glorious light of eternal life. To do right is to love the Lord God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself. (Mark 12:30-31) Where else would you want to be?
 

1 John 2:18-19 Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour. 19 They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.
 
WHEN we are within the last hour of a significant event in our lives such as a marriage, a baptism or a graduation, we make final preparations for the moment it occurs. John’s use of last hour is an urgent plea for the church to be prepared for the moment Jesus returns. None of us want to be locked out of the bridegroom’s reception: Matthew 25:10-13 “But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut. 11 Later the others also came. ‘Sir! Sir!’ they said. ‘Open the door for us!’ 12 But he replied, ‘I tell you the truth, I don’t know you.’ 13 Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.”  
   Jesus used day and hour to urge us into earnest devotion to his truth. One way to be prepared for Jesus is to know who is not Jesus. John first refers to the antichrist. This is one prophesied in 2 Thessalonians 2:9 The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders.
   This man has not appeared, but there are many from the first century to today who have been anti – opposed to – Jesus as the Christ. Jesus warned of those antichrists: Mark 13:6 “Many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am he,’ and will deceive many.”
   John defines these false teachers. First, they deny Jesus is Messiah: 1 John 2:22 Who is the liar? It is the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a man is the antichrist – he denies the Father and the Son.
   The antichrist also denies Jesus is the Son of God: 1 John 2:23 No one who denies the Son has the Father. And the antichrist denies Jesus came in the flesh: 2 John 7 Many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist. 
   Do not be as those who went out from  us. They have rejected the truth and are not ready for the hour Jesus comes.
   Know Jesus. He has come in the flesh to reveal the Father. He is Savior, risen from the dead, ascended to heaven. He awaits the Father’s command to return at any hour. If you knew Jesus would come one hour from now, would you be eager and ready to meet him?