I. EXORDIUM:
Is JESUS living in me?
Yes. 1 John 3:24
1 John 3:24 (Amplified Bible)
All who keep His commandments [who obey His orders and follow His plan, live and continue to live, to stay and] abide in Him, and He in them. [They let Christ be a home to them and they are the home of Christ.] And by this we know and understand and have the proof that He [really] lives and makes His home in us: by the [Holy] Spirit Whom He has given us.
II. AUDIENCE PROFILE:
Believers/unbelievers
III. OBJECTIVES:
To show that GOD already defeated the enemy and have made us greater than conquerors because the LORD JESUS CHRIST lives within us.
IV. TEXT:
1 John 4:4 (Amplified Bible)
Little children, you are of God [you belong to Him] and have [already] defeated and overcome them [the agents of the antichrist], because He Who lives in you is greater (mightier) than he who is in the world.
V. THESIS:
Praise, worship, glorify, adore, bless, honor, acknowledge and thank You very much LORD JESUS for I belong to You, You have already defeated and overcame the enemy because You live in me and You are Greater than he who is in this world.
VI. TITLE:
JESUS that lives in me is greater than the enemy
VII. EXPLICATION: [Source: Thompson Chain - Bible Book Outlines]
A. Author: Apostle John, known as the Apostle of Love
B. Audience: To the christians, the Church of CHRIST
C. Date written: uncertain. Probably written from Ephesus near the end of the first century
D. Purposes:
1. To add to their joy - 1 John 1:4
2. To guard them against sin - 1 John 2:1
3. To warn them against false teachers - 1 John 2:26
4. To strengthen their faith in CHRIST and assure them of eternal life - 1 John 5:13
E. Main Theme: God is Life, Light, and Righteous Love. His character calls for holy living and brotherly love on the part of believers.
F. Keywords: Fellowship, know, love. Knowing, with certainty
VIII. MAIN BODY:
1 John 4:4 (Amplified Bible)
Little children, you are of God [you belong to Him] and have [already] defeated and overcome them [the agents of the antichrist], because He Who lives in you is greater (mightier) than he who is in the world.
1 John 4:4 (New King James Version)
You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.
A. We have overcame the enemy that is in this world.
"Little children, you are of God [you belong to Him] and have [already] defeated and overcome them [the agents of the antichrist],"
1 John 4:6 (Amplified Bible)
We are [children] of God. Whoever is learning to know God [progressively to perceive, recognize, and understand God by observation and experience, and to get an ever-clearer knowledge of Him] listens to us; and he who is not of God does not listen or pay attention to us. By this we know (recognize) the Spirit of Truth and the spirit of error.
Whoever listens to us, that's the test if they have the Spirit of Truth and the spirit of error. There are people when I preach the WORD just laughed themselves to death, but in my mind, at least they're happy to go to hell. But there are people that cry when they hear me preach, in my mind I'm thinking that anyways even if they cry here, they will be comforted by GOD in heaven.
1 John 4:16 (Amplified Bible)
And we know (understand, recognize, are conscious of, by observation and by experience) and believe (adhere to and put faith in and rely on) the love God cherishes for us. God is love, and he who dwells and continues in love dwells and continues in God, and God dwells and continues in him.
We dwell in GOD and GOD dwells in us. We continue in GOD and GOD continues His Love, Power and Presence in us.
1 John 3:9-10 (Amplified Bible)
No one born (begotten) of God [deliberately, knowingly, and habitually] practices sin, for God’s nature abides in him [His principle of life, the divine sperm, remains permanently within him]; and he cannot practice sinning because he is born (begotten) of God.
By this it is made clear who take their nature from God and are His children and who take their nature from the devil and are his children: no one who does not practice righteousness [who does not conform to God’s will in purpose, thought, and action] is of God; neither is anyone who does not love his brother (his fellow believer in Christ).
The divine sperm of GOD dwells in us, the very Presence, the WORD OF GOD - the LORD JESUS CHRIST dwells in us. We took our nature from GOD and not the nature of the enemy, the sinful nature, but GODly nature, that practices righteousness in us.
1 John 5:19 (Amplified Bible)
We know [positively] that we are of God, and the whole world [around us] is under the power of the evil one.
I cried at night for these lost souls, I tried hard to reach out to them, pray that they will accept the WORD OF GOD, that GOD will open their eyes and ears to listen and understand GOD's WORDS, but to no avail, they only laughed at me and what I have to say, they prefer to believe a lie, they are under the enemy's power. Who can deliver them? Only the LORD JESUS CHRIST by belief and faith in GOD's WORDS but they won't believe the WORD OF GOD, the Only One that can save them.
1 John 2:13 (Amplified Bible)
I am writing to you, fathers, because you have come to know (recognize, be aware of, and understand) Him Who [has existed] from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have been victorious over the wicked [one]. I write to you, boys (lads), because you have come to know (recognize and be aware) of the Father.
Romans 8:37 (Amplified Bible)
Yet amid all these things we are more than conquerors and gain a surpassing victory through Him Who loved us.
Two conquerors, One is the LORD JESUS CHRIST that dwells within us, and the other one is us.
Ephesians 6:10 (Amplified Bible)
In conclusion, be strong in the Lord [be empowered through your union with Him]; draw your strength from Him [that strength which His boundless might provides].
We are all useless, nothing and can do nothing if we're not united with the LORD JESUS CHRIST. It is where we draw our strength that is our union with the LORD JESUS CHRIST, there's no other Source of Power, the Outlet of Power is the LORD JESUS CHRIST who dwells within us, making us powerful like Him.
Ephesians 6:13 (Amplified Bible)
Therefore put on God’s complete armor, that you may be able to resist and stand your ground on the evil day [of danger], and, having done all [the crisis demands], to stand [firmly in your place].
GOD's Complete Armor is the LORD JESUS CHRIST who dwells in us, the realization and the consciousness of the LORD JESUS CHRIST being the Complete Armor that covers and protects us from the enemy, is the only thing that we can contribute, and we are made conscious of His Presence by the intake of the WORD and the out take of Prayer. Prayer and the WORD goes hand in hand.
Revelation 12:11 (Amplified Bible)
And they have overcome (conquered) him by means of the blood of the Lamb and by the utterance of their testimony, for they did not love and cling to life even when faced with death [holding their lives cheap till they had to die for their witnessing].
B. The LORD JESUS CHRIST is Greater than he that it is in the world
"because He Who lives in you is greater (mightier) than he who is in the world"
John 14:17-23 (Amplified Bible)
The Spirit of Truth, Whom the world cannot receive (welcome, take to its heart), because it does not see Him or know and recognize Him. But you know and recognize Him, for He lives with you [constantly] and will be in you.
I will not leave you as orphans [comfortless, desolate, bereaved, forlorn, helpless]; I will come [back] to you.
Just a little while now, and the world will not see Me any more, but you will see Me; because I live, you will live also.
At that time [when that day comes] you will know [for yourselves] that I am in My Father, and you [are] in Me, and I [am] in you.
The person who has My commands and keeps them is the one who [really] loves Me; and whoever [really] loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I [too] will love him and will show (reveal, manifest) Myself to him. [I will let Myself be clearly seen by him and make Myself real to him.]
Judas, not Iscariot, asked Him, Lord, how is it that You will reveal Yourself [make Yourself real] to us and not to the world?
Jesus answered, If a person [really] loves Me, he will keep My word [obey My teaching]; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home (abode, special dwelling place) with him.
1 John 4:13 (Amplified Bible)
By this we come to know (perceive, recognize, and understand) that we abide (live and remain) in Him and He in us: because He has given (imparted) to us of His [Holy] Spirit.
1 John 4:16 (Amplified Bible)
And we know (understand, recognize, are conscious of, by observation and by experience) and believe (adhere to and put faith in and rely on) the love God cherishes for us. God is love, and he who dwells and continues in love dwells and continues in God, and God dwells and continues in him.
1 John 3:24 (Amplified Bible)
All who keep His commandments [who obey His orders and follow His plan, live and continue to live, to stay and] abide in Him, and He in them. [They let Christ be a home to them and they are the home of Christ.] And by this we know and understand and have the proof that He [really] lives and makes His home in us: by the [Holy] Spirit Whom He has given us.
The obvious is of course, a creature cannot be greater than the Creator. The enemy is one of the uncountable creations of GOD that rebelled and are now being punished for his rebellion against the Creator.
IX. CONCLUSION:
Praise, worship, glorify, adore, bless, honor, acknowledge and thank You very much LORD JESUS for I belong to You, You have already defeated and overcame the enemy because You live in me and You are Greater than he who is in this world.
