John again and again refers to “truth” 1:6,8, 2:4.8,20,21, 3:18 ,19, 4:6, 5:6 and warns against error and those who bring it. Here he identifies the spirit behind the person bringing the error.

First, he warns them not to believe everything they hear or, more particularly, not to believe every spirit who speaks. This goes beyond the outward speaker to the spirit of them. Test them, he says, see if they are from God, for not every person comes from God.

Second, he teaches how to discern the spirit of someone speaking: see if they believe Jesus came in the flesh. That is the crux of these people coming and teaching strange things. Do they believe that Jesus, the Son of God from heaven came and lived on earth, died for us and rose again. That is all implied in this. Anyone who denies Jesus is God's Son is against him, that is obvious, and whatever else and however plausible such people seem, they are antichrist.

Now we may think that this is all very obvious, but when we consider some of the multi-faith activities in the West in these days, we realise that this is very practical. However “nice” other people may be, any religion that denies that Jesus is THE Son of God who came from heaven, lived died and rose again from the dead on the earth, is antichrist, is in fact against God!

D. Application:

1. The test of any person or spirit is whether they believe in Jesus.

2. Any one who denies Jesus is antichrist.

Chapter: 1 John 4

Passage: 1 John 4:4-6

A. Find Out:

1. What does John say about his readers? v.4a

2. How can he make that claim? v.4b

3. How do others speak? v.5

4. Who is it that responds to John? v.6a

5. What does that show? v.6b

B. Think:

1. What does John say our position is in respect of antichrists?

2. How do people's responses to us reveal things about them?

3. How does John make this a “black and white” issue?

C. Comment:

In the apostle John's mind the position of Christian and non-Christian is crystal clear, it is pure black and white, chalk and cheese, no similarity! If only church leaders today would have John's clarity of proclamation the world would recognise their need more clearly and more would turn to Christ!

To his Christian readers he says, you are from God, you have overcome the lies and untruths of these “antichrists” and have held to the truth, and you do that with the help of the Spirit who is in you who is so much greater than the enemy spirit in the world. It IS a “them versus us” situation and we have won through to the place of truth. They have been defeated by the lies of the enemy and are in bondage to him. This isn't being unkind to non-Christians, it is merely stating the truth of how things are as declared by God.

The way people respond to each other, John continues, is also important. World people agree with world people and, as he's said before, they will disagree with us. That merely shows their state before God. As we speak, anyone who listens and responds to us shows that they are people seeking after God. That, says John, is how you know the spirit behind each person. It is that clear!

D. Application:

1. As a Christian you ARE radically different from non-Christians. Don't be

ashamed of acknowledging that truth.

2. People reveal their hearts by their response to the Gospel truths.

Chapter: 1 John 4

Passage: 1 John 4:7-10

A. Find Out:

1. What does John exhort them to do and why? v.7a

2. Who is it who really loves? v.7b

3. What about the person who doesn't love, and why? v.8

4. How did God show His love? v.9

5. What is real love? v.10

B. Think:

1. Real love must be practically expressed. How did God do this?

2. What does our expressing love reveal?

3. Why is it that love is so important in the Christian life?

C. Comment:

It seems as if John repeats himself again and again, saying the same thing but in different ways. He keeps saying that IF we know God THEN we will show a particular kind of life. In 1:6 he talked about the necessity of walking in the light. In 2:4 he talked about being obedient. In 2:9 he talked about not hating. In 3:6 & 9 he spoke about being free from sin . Now he speaks yet again about love in the same way; if we know God then we WILL love others. Why? Because God is love and if God by His Spirit lives within us, then He will express Himself in love to others.

Look, says John, love is expressive. When God, who is love, encountered us He had to express His love. He did that by sending His Son Jesus to die for our sins. Love isn't a nice feeling (although it can sometimes include that), it is an act. God acted in time and space history to express His love by sending Jesus to die on the Cross. THAT is love, the selfless giving to those who don't deserve it.

This is really a foundation stone in the Christian life, we love because He first loved us. He showed us what real love us and then says love each other in the same way. It's almost as if He gives us an example and then says you do the same. See also Jn 13:15 and Jn 15:12-17 which shows us why John was now teaching as he was.

D. Application:

1. God is love, so if we know Him we WILL love.

2. No excuses! Do we really love each other?

Chapter: 1 John 4

Passage: 1 John 4:11-15

A. Find Out:

1. What does John say we ought to do and why? v.11

2. What does loving one another show? v.12

3. How do we know intimacy with God? v.13

4. To what was John testifying? v.14

5. What does anyone testifying that Jesus is God's Son show? v.15

B. Think:

1. What has Jesus done for us historically? (see earlier verses)

2. What resource has God now given us?

3. How should those things affect us in the way we behave?

C. Comment:

John has just said that true love can be seen in the way Jesus died on our behalf. Extending that John now says that because He has so loved us we ought to love one another. Why?

The first reason (not given here but implied) is that if we are children of God we will want to please our heavenly Father and do what He does. He clearly loves other people and therefore we should love them as well.

The second reason, given here by John, is that God dwells within us by His Holy Spirit, and as he expresses Himself through us, and we allow Him to, then His love to other people will be expressed through us and we will love one another.

By implication, the other side of this particular coin is that if we are not loving one another we must question a) whether we are children of God, and b) whether we are allowing God to express Himself as He wants to through us. Both possibilities are not good!

Look, says John, if you have acknowledged Jesus as the Son of God then His Spirit does live in you and if He lives in you then (by implication) we have no excuse not to show God's love one to another. This is a critical point and it reveals whether or not we are grieving the Holy Spirit by not allowing Him to express himself through us.

D. Application:

1. Like Father, like child?

2. Is the Spirit free to love others through me?

Chapter: 1 John 4

Passage: 1 John 4:16-21

A. Find Out:

1. Upon what do we rely? v.16a

2. When will we have confidence and why? v.17

3. What does perfect love do and why? v.18

4. Why do we love? v.19

5. What is the person who hates his brother, and why? v.20

6. What command has been given? v.21

B. Think:

1. What essential characteristic of God is being spoken about?

2. How should that affect how we feel?

3. How should that affect how we act?

C. Comment:

John has been saying these same things again and again. At the end of this chapter it is really all summed up.

First, the character of God: He is love. Everything about God is love, everything He thinks, says or does is an expression of love. Any contact we have from God is a contact with perfect and pure love. We can't emphasise this enough, for so many Christians query this truth when it comes to a personal crisis or misunderstanding God's word. Everything, but everything about God is love!

Second, the effect that should have upon our thinking. It should bring us total confidence, that the all-powerful, all-knowing God only expresses Himself in total love towards us. That means that we can have total confidence for our future on earth, because everything He plans for us is an expression of His love for us. It also means that we can have total confidence about the last judgement day, because on that day we know that the perfect of work of love, the death of Jesus, will mean we simply receive further expressions of His total love.

Third, the effect that should have on our behaviour one to another. Everything he has done towards us is perfect love and when that truth really touches us, we WILL love one another.

D. Application:

1. EVERYTHING about God is love.

2. That should dynamically change our thinking & behaviour. Has it?

Chapter: 1 John 5

Passage: 1 John 5:1-5

A. Find Out:

1. Who is born of God ? v.1a

2. Who loves God's child? v.1b

3. How do we know we love the children of God? v.2

4. What is love for God? v.3

5. What does everyone born of God do and how? v.4

6. Who overcomes the world? v.5

B. Think:

1. How do we show our love for God?

2. How do we overcome?

3. How much do you think these things require an act of will?

C. Comment:

John has already spoken much about loving others ( 1:10 , 3:11 ,14,16-18, 4:7-12,19-21), about obedience (2:3-6, 3:10 ,22-24) and overcoming the enemy ( 2:13 ,14,18-27, 3:7,8, 4:1-5). Now he pulls all these threads together. It is a logical flow of thinking.

If you truly believe (trust in completely) Jesus, it shows you are born of God (Jn 1:12,13) and if you love the Father you will love the Son and His children as well, because we're all part of the family. We love God's children by loving Him and doing what He has said. That's the sure sign of loving God, that we DO what He has said, and those things aren't hard. As we do that we overcome the ways of the world that would seek to conform us to its godless way of thinking, and that in itself is an act of faith; in fact the only person who overcomes the world way of thinking and living is the person who believes in Jesus.

All of this truth is wrapped up in a bundle and you can't take bits away. We believed and so God made us His children. When He put His own Holy Spirit within us we had a new source of energy and direction and we found ourselves loving others in a new way. We also found God's word taught us how to love, and as we obeyed what we read, so we loved even more, and thus overcame the old life.

D. Application:

1. Love is expressed in obedience to God.

2. Love is expressed practically one to another.

Chapter: 1 John 5

Passage: 1 John 5:6-12

A. Find Out:

1. How did Jesus come? v.6a

2. Who testifies and why? v.6b

3. Yet what three testify? v.7,8

4. What testimony is greater than man's? v.9

5. What does the one who believes in Jesus have? v.10-12

B. Think:

1. Who or what have testified to Jesus as God's Son?

2. What do believers receive?

3. What is the stated position of non-believers?

C. Comment:

These are not easy verses because, as so often, John does not spell out his meaning for us. John has spoken a number of times about believing in Jesus ( 3:23 , 4:2,15, 5:1,5) and now he speaks again about the testimony to Jesus.

First there is reference to water and blood. The opening of Jesus' ministry was indicated at his baptism (water) and the completion of it at his death (blood). At his baptism the Father's voice testified to His Son (see Mt 3:17 ). After his death he was raised from the dead, again the Father indicating His approval of His Son (see Acts 17:31). When the Holy Spirit came upon Peter on the day of Pentecost, he declared Jesus to be the risen Lord (see Acts 2). Again and again the Spirit inspired the believers to declare this truth. This is God Himself speaking through His servants, not just their wishful thinking! In John's Gospel he uses the word ‘testify' twelve times. In this letter he uses it three times. It is the word about a ‘witness' who tells what he knows.

But John doesn't stop there. He again speaks about the effects of believing. When you believe you know in your heart that these things are true. When you believe you receive the Spirit of Jesus into you and He witnesses to these things and He is eternal life. With Him we have an eternal destiny.

D. Application:

1. The testimony to Jesus is loud and clear! We can believe it!

2. By the Spirit within we know we have life eternal.

Chapter: 1 John 5

Passage: 1 John 5:13-15

A. Find Out:

1. Why does John say he writes? v.13

2. What confidence do we have? v.14

3. And so what is the consequence of that? v.15

4. Read Jn 15:7 What is the key to asking there?

5. Read Jn 15:16 What is the key to asking there?

B. Think:

1. What is the first confidence John wants us to have here?

2. What is the second confidence he wants us to have?

3. What is the key to that second one?

C. Comment:

Just a few verses but so important! First of all John has just been writing that God has given us eternal life (v.11,12). Now he says, I want you to be quite sure that you HAVE got eternal life if you have put your trust in Jesus. It's not a matter of what you feel, or of how much you do, it's simply a matter of fact that Jesus has died for your sins and when you believe that and put your trust completely in him, then you can be assured that you have been forgiven and your future with God is guaranteed.

Next he speaks about the fruit of this relationship with God. We can be confident now in approaching God, even though we don't see Him. If we come to Him in prayer and ask according to His revealed will, then He WILL hear us and He WILL answer us.

This passage is incredible! Whenever we call on God in line with His will, He ALWAYS will hear us and because it is in line with His will, He WILL give what we ask. Does it sound too easy? Well the only difficult bit is that we pray according to His will. How do we do that? John tells us elsewhere - remain in Him, or live close to Him, let His word fill us so we learn what His will is, be fruitful as His child, do His will wherever you discern it and then you can ask confidently!

D. Application:

1. I need to check it out, am I doing God's will in every area of my life, am I

given over completely to Him? I can ask confidently.

2. Do I feed on His word to learn His will? I can ask confidently.

Chapter: 1 John 5

Passage: 1 John 5:16-21

A. Find Out:

1. What should we do for who, and with what effect? v.16a

2. What limitation did John put on that? v.16b

3. How did he define sin? v.17

4. Who doesn't sin and why? v.18

5. Who are we and where are we? v.19

6. What has Jesus done and what is our position as a result? v.20

B. Think:

1. Summarise what this passage teaches about sin.

2. Summarise what it says about Satan.

3. Summarise what it says about our position.

C. Comment:

Amazing verses! John has just written about prayer and so continues by instructing us to pray for Christians who commit a sin. They need forgiveness and restoring to communion with the Father and thus to the full life flow that comes with that relationship (Remember non-Christians need prayer for salvation, not individual sins!).

The sin that leads to death must be apostasy, the full turning away from Christ. Heb 6:4-6 indicates the possibility, but the key words are “fall away” which doesn't mean to commit the occasional sin, but to wilfully turn away from Christ and maintain a life of sin.

Yet again John says the Christian does not continue to sin, but now he adds that it is Jesus who guards and keeps the Christian from Satan so that he or she doesn't have to sin. We live in a world where Satan is the ruler over all the unredeemed, but Jesus has brought us into salvation and part of that salvation is living “in Him”, within his protection. This is an amazing promise that we are given here at the end of this first letter. Satan cannot harm you or lead you astray IF you remain close to Jesus in your outlook as you remain in him in your decreed position. It is the fact of your position combined with the act of your will.

D. Application:

1. In Christ I am in a place of total security.

2. To remain in Christ is also an act of will on my part.

RECAP: "Discernment, Love & Testimony" - 1 John 4 & 5

SUMMARY :

In this third group of 9 studies we have seen John teaching on:

- discerning the spirit of a person

- loving one another

  - because love is natural for a Christian

  - because God is love and has loved us

  - so fear is cast out and so hate is overcome

  - as an expression of our obedience

- the testimony to Jesus that ensures we can believe

- the confidence that we have eternal life

- praying for those who fall into sin

- the confidence we have in knowing Jesus

COMMENT :

We say “Everything that glitters is not God”. John says “test the spirits” for not everyone who comes as a Christian comes with right preaching! John instructs us to think carefully about what comes.

The world says “Love yourself”. John says “love one another” for it is a natural expression of your relationship with God.

The world says “believe anything”. John says believe the Son of God because the testimony to him is sure. Evidence is important

LESSONS?

1. Don't accept everything without question. Test the spirits.

2. We are to love one another as God has loved us

3. Love is the natural response of our relationship with God

4. Love drives out fear and hatred

5. The testimony to Jesus is clear. We can believe him

6. Eternal life is the promised inheritance of every believer

7. We are to pray for believers who fall, to restore them.

PRAY :

Thank the Lord for His love that has come to us. Ask to know it more and more that you may give it more and more.

PART 4 : "The Second & Third Letters"

See the following Introduction