Ill:
• Mrs Fisher the primary school teacher was at home recovering from surgery;
• She heard the letter box bang on the door,
• Then her husband entered the room bringing in the post,
• One of the letters was a get well card from her class which 2nd year class which read;
• “Dear Mrs Fisher, your class wishes you a speedy recovery by a vote of 15-14”.
The object of John’s letter:
• Letters are usually written for a reason;
• And that is true for 1 John.
• John was a fisherman who one day heard Jesus say; ‘follow me’.
• He left his nets and followed Jesus.
• This letter was penned about sixty years after he first heard Jesus say ‘follow me’.
• Written in Ephesus around about A.D. 100.
Notice:
(1).
• The letter contains no opening and no closing greetings.
• But the experts confidently assure us that it was John the apostle who wrote it.
• You can invest in a Bible commentary and read for yourself why!
• The early Church leaders are recorded as saying John wrote this letter.
• i.e. Papias who was Bishop of Hierapolis (near Laodecia) around a.d.125,
• i.e. Irenaeus Bishop of Lyons and Vienne in Southern France around a.d.185
(2).
• The letter has no destination;
• We have no clues as to where it was sent.
• But it was written to Churches John knew well;
• He refers to them again and again – in fact 9 times as ‘My dear Children’,
• He refers to them 6 times as ‘Dear friends’ (AV: ‘Beloved’)
• And the writer often uses the person pronoun ‘I’;
• There is a close relationship here, a bond.
(3).
• All though this letter was written to counteract certain false teachings;
• Primarily to Christians around about Asia Minor.
• It was a general letter written to groups of Christians everywhere.
(4).
• As you read through 1 John,
• It would do us all good to read the whole letter every week during our studies (10 mins max)
• If you do that you will notice that;
• John does not lay out his thoughts in a linear, point by point fashion.
• e.g. the way the Apostle Paul does in his letters and teaching.
Ill:
• John orchestrates his subjects
• e.g. ‘Love & hate, life & death, light & darkness, truth & error’ like themes in a symphony.
• He begins with a simple proposition then adds a contrasting idea.
• Then he waves in new themes;
• And new contrasts that crescendo and fall in waves.
• Wherever you open his letter you will find some variation of his basic message;
• When you believe the right things about God;
• You will demonstrate that by right living.
(1). Why did he write the letter?
• Answer: If you scan the letter;
• John gives us four reasons why he wrote this first letter.
REASON 1: HE WANTS THE CHRISTIAN’S TO BE SATISFIED:
• Chapter 1 verse 4:
• “We write this to make our joy complete.”
Quote: Warren Wiersbe:
“Fellowship is Christ’s answer to the loneliness of life.
Joy is his answer to the emptiness, the hollowness of life”.
• Although John only once uses the word ‘Joy’ in this letter;
• Joy weaves itself through the entire letter.
Quote:
• The communist revolutionary Karl Marx wrote:
• “The first requisite for the people’s happiness is the abolition of religion”.
• The apostle John tells us in verse 3 the very opposite is true:
• The first requisite for the people’s happiness is fellowship.
• And he tells us who that fellowship needs to be with;
• “Our fellowship is with God the Father and his Son Jesus Christ”.
• Fellowship with God is not only the privilege of a Christian;
• But it is also the Christian’s source of constant joy!
REASON 2: HE WANTS THE CHRISTIAN’S TO BE SINLESS:
• Chapter 2 verse 1:
• “I write this to you so that you will not sin”.
• Again and again in these early chapters John mentions sin.
• He draws our attention to it because it is sin that breaks that relationship with God;
• And sin which robs us of our joy and fellowship.
Ill:
• A party of school children were being showed around a hospital;
• And the nurse who was giving them a tour round asked if anyone had any questions;
• One child asked,
• "How come the people who work here are always washing their hands ?"
• The nurse gave the answer;
• "They are ’always washing their hands’ for two reasons.
• First they love health; and second, they hate germs".
John wants every Christian to love God and hate sin.
• Sin is more than just wrong actions, outward disobedience,
• It is a wrong attitude an inner rebellion or desire.
• Sin is disobedience to what God has said (Bible),
• Sin is living independent of God (very 1st commandment “Put God first”)
REASON 3: HE WANTS THE CHRISTIAN’S TO BE SAFE:
• Chapter 2 verse 26:
• “I am writing these things to you about those who are trying to lead you astray”.
• In the early Church there was a big problem;
• There was a lack of recognised approved Bible teachers for the Church to draw upon;
• Only the apostle John from the 12 disciples still living.
• And he was living in Ephesus and so his influence was geographically limited.
• Also there was at this time no complete New Testament to draw upon.
• ill: So you could not turn to chapter so and so and check somebody’s teaching out.
• This meant that the early Church was vulnerable to false teachers and doctrines.
Christians were ideal for false teachers to infiltrate for two reasons:
• Unlike unbelievers, professing Christians & church goers are half-way there,
• They believe in God, want to understand the things of God in a deeper way.
• So false teachers often find receptive individuals with a willingness to learn.
Ill:
• When our children were small;
• We could give them plastic money to play with and pretend it was real.
• We could give them toy mobile phones to play with and pretend it was real.
• But that only worked for a short while;
• As they grew up they could see the imitation for what it was – false.
• The toy money & phone promised so much;
• But could not deliver on its promises because they were fakes!
• The best way to detect what is false and an imitation:
• Is to compare it with the real thing - Jesus Christ is the real thing.
• He is ‘The Truth’ so we must keep close to him.
REASON 4: HE WANTS THE CHRISTIAN’S TO BE SECURE:
• Chapter 5 verse 13:
• “I write these things to you who believe…so that you may know that you have eternal life”
• The word ‘Know’ (Gk: ‘oida’) is used over forty times in this letter;
• In fact the Greek meaning is very strong in emphasis; ‘to know absolutely’.
• The whole book of 1 John centres around the fact we have life in the Son of God;
• And that whoever has the Son has life!
Ill:
• My foot has life because it is part of my body,
• It has no life apart from my body.
• But joined with my body,
• It has the life of the body.
• John reminds his readers that:
• Jesus Christ produces eternal life in us; and he also sustains this life for us.
• Because our ‘eternal life’ is sourced in Jesus Christ and is a gift of God:
• We cannot lose it; for it does not depend on us but on Him.
So John has four key reasons for writing this letter:
• Chapter 1 verse 4: He wants Christian’s top be satisfied:
• That our joy may be complete.
• Chapter 2 verse 1: He wants Christian’s top be sinless:
• That we will not live sinful lives.
• Chapter 2 verse 26: He wants Christian’s top be safe:
• To warn us against false teachers.
• Chapter 5 verse 13: He wants Christian’s top be secure:
• To give us assurance in Christ.
(2). What to look out for in the letter?
• Three key words keep cropping up in this letter;
• They are ‘Love, Light & Life’.
(1). LOVE:
• You might be surprised to know that John is the only person in the Bible;
• Who makes the statement that ‘God is love’.
• Through out the Bible we are told that ‘God loves us’.
• But that is different to saying ‘God is love’.
• This is a revolutionary statement that is unique to the God of the Christian!
Ill:
• To say, ‘God is love’ means that God is more than one person.
• You cannot be love by yourself.
• We know that God is three persons – Father, Son and Holy Spirit;
• And therefore we can say, ‘God is love’.
• Before the world came into being there was the Father, Son and Holy Spirit;
• Who all loved each other.
• Now because God is love – that characteristic has to be the hallmark of his people;
• Love is not an optional extra for the Christian;
• It is the glue, the cement that binds everything and everyone together.
(2). LIGHT:
• Chapter 1 verse 5b:
• “God is light; in him there is no darkness at all”.
• That means God in his very nature is light.
• In this letter for example chapter 1 verses 5,6,&7;
• Notice how John compares two very different things – light & darkness.
• He compares sin to darkness;
• And in contrast he compares God to light.
• Obviously he pointing out to his readers that the two cannot exist together;
• Light always destroys darkness.
• Quote:
• “All the darkness in the world cannot extinguish the smallest candle flame”.
• John will instruct his readers that ‘God is light’;
• Therefore as his children we need to ‘walk in the light’.
(3). LIFE:
John will use this word again and again;
• He uses it three times in the prologue of the letter (verses 1-5):
• Verse 1: “…concerning the Word of life”
• Verse 2: “The life appeared…”
• Verse 2b: “…and we proclaim to you eternal life…”
Every Christian is given ‘eternal life’ as a gift from God;
• The moment they put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ.
• Eternal life does not start the moment the Christian dies,
• Eternal life starts the very moment we believe/are converted!
• Remember eternal life in the Bible is always twofold - quantity and quality.
• Quantity of years (forever with the Lord);
• Quality of life (life lived in fellowship with God).
Notice:
• We have eternal life;
• Because of his ‘life’, that is of course Jesus Christ!
John tells us three things in verses 1-4 concerning that ‘Word of Life’.
• He was from the beginning
• He was seen and touched
• He was sent for a purpose
(1). HE WAS FROM THE BEGINNING (VS 1)
“That which was from the beginning”
Ill:
• When friends went to get their baby son checked in a hospital,
• The doctor told them, "You have a cute baby."
• Our friends said, "I bet you say that to all new parents."
• "No," he replied, "just to those whose babies really are good-looking."
• "So what do you say to the others?" they asked.
• The doctor replied, "I say he looks just like you!"
• Everyone one here had a beginning;
• We were good looking babies or looked just like our parents!
• But says the apostle John, there is one baby who never had a beginning.
• He had a time of conception like all of us;
• But don’t think for one moment that was his beginning!
• The "beginning" referred to in verse 1,
• Literally means, “Before there was anything else” – “From everlasting to everlasting."
• Jesus Christ was and is and shall be!
• He alone is the only One who was and is and forever shall be!
(2). HE WAS SEEN AND TOUCHED
“That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life”
• John writes from personal experience;
• And tells us four things in verse 1 about his encounter with Jesus Christ.
• “He heard him”
• “He saw him”
• “He looked on him”
• “He touched him”
Ill:
You might say what’s the difference between ‘seeing’ and ‘looking’:
• ‘Seeing’ refers to physical sight.
• The Greek word translated as ‘Looking’ or ‘Gazing’ means to ponder at something or someone;
• Until that something or someone has been grasped, understood.
• John the apostle grasped hold of the real identity of Jesus;
• He was God in human form!
Quote:
Christ by highest heav’n adored
Christ the everlasting Lord!
Late in time behold Him come
Offspring of a Virgin’s womb
Veiled in flesh the Godhead see
Hail the incarnate Deity
Pleased as man with man to dwell
Jesus, our Emmanuel
Hark! The herald angels sing
"Glory to the newborn King!"
(3). HE WAS SENT FOR A PURPOSE
“We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. 4 We write this to make our joy complete”.
Ill:
• A small boy, the child of missionaries,
• Had been away at boarding school for about one year.
• One Christmas time, the principal was visiting the boy in his room,
• Trying to cheer him up he asked, “What would you like to have most for Christmas?”
• The boy looked for a long time at the framed picture of his father on his desk;
• And remembered that he was far away in another country.
• The boy said quietly,
• “I would like for my father to step out of that picture frame!”
• Christ, through His incarnation, “stepped out” into this world.
• He entered our world with a purpose – to save men and women!
• Jesus himself could say his mission was:
• "To seek and to save the lost."
Ill:
• In the bread and wine before us (on the communion table);
• We are reminded of how the incarnation was in itself not enough;
• It would take the sacrificial death of Christ.
• “When God made him who had no sin, to be sin for us!”
