1 John
• We’ve spent a lot of time this year talking about the teachings of Paul
• And that makes sense because Paul wrote most of the New Testament
• But today we are going to look and take our lesson from the book of John
• More specifically 1 John 2:15-23
So first let’s get a little background on John and what’s been happening
• This letter is written by the Apostle John ( along with 2&3 John, The Gospel, Rev)
• Was probably written about 90 AD and at this time John would have been an old man
• And we need to understand that the book of 1 John is more of a sermon than a letter
Now when Jesus was standing before Pilot, Pilot asked Jesus a great question
• He said Jn 18:38 “What is truth?”
• As I said it was a great question but the problem was that his timing was bad
• Because Jesus had just answered this question in the previous verse
• In vs 37 Jesus said. “I was born for that purpose. And I came to bring truth to the world. All who love the truth recognize that what I say is true.”
• Pilot was looking Truth in the face and he couldn’t recognize it
Now 50 years later Christians are still having trouble recognizing the truth and this is what led up to the sermon
• The biggest problem was that Some of these Christians had started adding to the truth with the intent of making it better
• Someone had come up with the idea that Jesus has just a spirit who looked human
• And a religious movement started and churches had started to split
• So the title of John’s sermon could quite possible have been “Getting back to the Basics”
• How as Christians what we are expected Believe / to Behave / we are to know that we are children of God
So with this being said lets start by looking at 2:15-17
1Jn 2:15 Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
1Jn 2:16 For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world.
1Jn 2:17 The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.
Do not love the world nor the things it offers you
• We’ve talked about this a few times in the past
• The love of stuff
• We are programed by worldly standards to want the newest / Latest / greatest things
• Cell Phones (ELAB)
• Now the cell phone companies have come up with a new way to get us, for AT&T people its called the next program.
• How it works is that allows you to get a new phone either every 12-18 months
• And then you pay each month, but considering that you are locked in to a 24 month contract your contract never ends. They have just figured out a way to keep you in that contract.
But here John is telling us that we are not to lured in
• Now what exactly is a lure?
• It is used more often than not in fishing however its used on animals and birds as well
• And the purpose is to attract whatever it is that you are trying to catch
• In the case of a fish it is usually something shiny that catches the fishes attention
• The fish is intrigued and comes to take a closer look and the next thing you know he is being served up with tarter sauce on a plate
Now doesn’t this sound like the world to us?
• And it doesn’t matter if its cell phones, cars , motorcycles, houses, clothing, shoes, the list goes on and on
• Advertisers know that by nature we want the latest shiny thing
But here John is telling us that we are not supposed to let the shiny things in this world
• To distract us from the one thing that is important
• Because what is really important is that we have the love of the Father inside of us.
And then he goes on to tell us of the consequences of our choices
• John tells us that the only things that the world can offer us is stuff
• And this stuff doesn’t come from God
• Stuff like Physical stuff / Possessions / Pride in what we do and our stuff
• It takes our focus off of what is important
And the biggest problem is that this stuff doesn’t come from God
• It comes from the world
• And because it comes from the world it doesn’t last / Its only temporary
• EXAMPLE – a new car what we pay for it and how quickly it depreciates
But in verse 17 what John is telling us is that we need to make an investment in our future
• An investment by definition as time, energy, or matter that is spent in the hope of future benefits that will come about within a specified date or time frame.
• We invest money, hoping to get more money back
• We invest time hoping that we will accomplish more
But John tells us that we should be investing in the long run and this is important because that in vs 18 we see that the end is drawing near
• 1Jn 2:18 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.
• The term "last hour" occurs only here in the NT. Along with others such as "the last days" and "the last times,"
• That there is a time coming very soon when these investments / these things that we have been anticipating a strong return
• Are going to pay out
Chicken Little
• He thought he was right however he was wrong
Here John is talking about the Antichrist
• Now notice that as we read this section that one account of this word is capitalized and the other is not
• In our culture we have been programed to think that there is only one Antichrist
• But here John is telling us that there are a whole bunch of them leading up to The Antichrist
• Think of the some of them
• Nero – Ruled from 54-68, who was said to have "fiddled while Rome burned"[6] and as an early persecutor of Christians.
• In our time Hitler just to name 2 of the course of history
And because of this we know that the time has come
• Someday The Antichrist will come
• And we are getting closer to that day
But vs 20 says we aren’t supposed to be like this Because
1Jn 2:20 the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and all of you know the truth.
1Jn 2:21 So I am writing to you not because you don’t know the truth but because you know the difference between truth and falsehood.
1Jn 2:22 And who is the great liar? The one who says that Jesus is not the Christ. Such people are antichrists, for they have denied the Father and the Son.
1Jn 2:23 Anyone who denies the Son doesn’t have the Father either. But anyone who confesses the Son has the Father also.
We know the truth and it is our responsibility to share that truth
• START CLOSING
• 1Jn 2:27 But you have received the Holy Spirit, and he lives within you, so you don’t need anyone to teach you what is true. For the Spirit teaches you all things, and what he teaches is true—it is not a lie. So continue in what he has taught you, and continue to live in Christ.
