1 John chapter number 2, we've been studying through this first epistle of John, and the last time we were looking at it here in the first two verses at the advocacy of our Lord Jesus. And the fact that he is that go-between between us and the Father, that very thing that Job was desiring for in Job chapter 9, he said, there was just a dazement. that can touch God and touch me, that go-between there. And this is what's described for us here in these first two verses of chapter 2, is indeed that advocacy of our Lord Jesus. Not only being that go-between between us and God, but even there in verse number 2 being described for us as our sacrifice. that which propitiated for us salvation, forgiveness of sin, to make us right before the throne of God. And so that's what we find in these first two verses. Today our text is verse number 3, down through verse number 6, when John here gives us the assurance of fellowship with God. And this is what he's saying already in chapter 1. He said that was one of the reasons he was writing this to us, is that we would know that we have that fellowship with God. that we would be with Him, that we would be accepted in His presence, that we would be made right before Him and walk with Him and be in Him. That assurance of that very fellowship that he's talking about in chapter 1, this is what he's telling us about here in these verses. John says there in verse 6 of chapter 1, He says, if we say we have fellowship with Him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not the truth. Here, as John stated here, we can know that we have fellowship with the Father through the Lord Jesus Christ. And John teaches here in fact that there can be no fellowship with God apart from obedience to God's command. That fellowship with God expresses itself in us by a heartful surrender to His will in our lives. Notice our text, verse 3, "...hereby we do know that we know Him. If we keep His commandments, He that saith, I know Him, and keepeth not His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in Him. But whoso keepeth His word in Him, verily, is the love of God perfected, Hereby know we that we are in him. He that said he abideth in him, ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked. Let's go to the Lord in a word of prayer before we continue on in our study today. Our Father in heaven, we thank you again for this day. We thank you, Father, for your great grace. Father, we thank you for this and other time that we can gather together with your saints in your house. We pray that you would help us today as we look to your Word to give us understanding of these things, that you'd give us assurance, Father, in you, to have that fellowship with you. Father, there are those that are lost that are hearing, listening today, hearing these very words that John writes, and we desire to see your grace poured out. Father, make known unto them this very hour that Christ Jesus is their Lord. Make known unto them this very hour, Father, that they have that fellowship with you by that marvelous grace of Christ Jesus our Lord, by that sacrifice that was given for us. Father, we desire that that reality would be a part of their lives. Father, we I ask you to help us as we look to your word, as we desire, Father, this day to worship you in spirit and in truth. Father, make us aware today of your presence. We need you. We need your spirit, Father. But we know and realize we can do nothing without you. And so we desire that your presence with us as we gather together. And we know, Father, that you are present. That is your promise to us. But I pray that you might make us aware and we'd be keenly aware of your presence this day as we look to your Word, as we desire to worship you, as we seek your face. Father, help us to worship you in spirit and in truth today. Forgive us of our sins. Forgive us where we fail You so often, Father, even those very sins from today. And make us rise before You this hour as we look to Your Word, as we study these things, Father, that we would know that we would know without a doubt that fellowship that we have with You in Christ Jesus our Lord. Go with us now as we study, as we look to Your Word. Again, help us that we would worship You today in spirit and in truth. For we ask these things in Jesus' name and for His sake. Amen. Now John here teaches in this passage that loving obedience to the divine will of God is not optional for a child of God. That's just the way we are to do. It's not something we can say, well, you know, I don't want to live for Him today. No. As a child of God, that is what we are to do. We are to serve Him. We are to obey Him. He has saved us by His grace. He has made us His own as children of God. We belong to Him. In fact, He has saved us to be His servant. The Greek word is doulos, which means slave. He has purchased us to Himself. We are owned by Him. We have no option but to serve and obey our God if indeed we belong to Him. We don't have a right to do any other thing but that which He has commanded. And this is what John is reminding us of here. The proof that we are in Christ is that obedience to His will, to His laws that He has given us, to His commandments, as John says there in verse number 3. Hereby we do know that we know Him. So that means knowledge of the Bible, orthodox beliefs, formal acts of worship, all of those things are nothing if they are not backed up by a sincere spirit of obedience in the heart of the child of God. In other words, if we're not obeying, if we're not desiring to obey, if we're not living for Him in this life, it doesn't matter what we act when we come to the house of God. It doesn't matter how pretty our songs may be. It doesn't matter how wondrous the prayers may sound. It doesn't matter how great we listen to what is preached or how we've even studied. If we are not desiring in our very hearts, if we are not living for our God, if we are not obeying the very things He has given us, then those things mean nothing. 1 Samuel chapter 15. 1 Samuel chapter 15. This particular passage, I won't get into all of the passages, but God gave Saul specific instructions. And Saul disobeyed and came back with an excuse. And his excuse was, well, I didn't obey because I thought of a better way. God told him to go down and destroy everything, and He brings back the best. The best oxen, the best sheep, the gold, the even citizens, people of the city. He brought those things back with Him. The things He thought would be best. And when He was confronted by Samuel, when Samuel came to Him and withstood Him to the face and said, What? What have you done? Why have you disobeyed? Well, I did obey. I did everything that God told me to do. And he said, then what is this lowing of the oxen and the bleeding of the sheep then? Well, I saved those, the best, so that I could make a sacrifice to God, so I could worship Him in the victory that He gave me. And Samuel's answer here, 1 Samuel 15 verse number 22, Samuel's answer to him, hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offering and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fast of rams." In other words, if you're not obeying, your worship don't mean anything. Your worship don't mean anything if you're not obedient. And this is what he tells Saul right here. Our obedience is better, is better than the sacrifice. Obeying the voice of the Lord is better. To obey is better than sacrifice. And to hearken to the fight of Rams. We must be an obedient people as the children of God. Now such an understanding of assurance here in our text that John is speaking of is not for the benefit of others, but it is for our benefit. It's for your benefit. To have this assurance that we have fellowship with God, to have this assurance, we must keep His commandments. And such obedience is expressed in three different ways. By keeping His commandments, by keeping God's Word and commandments, and then walking as Jesus walked. Those are the three things He words for us in this passage, in this text. The first thing is keep His commandments. He says that to us there in verse 3 and verse 4. And hereby we do know that we know Him if we keep His commandments. He that saith, I know Him, and keepeth not His commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in Him. So again, number one, we can know God. Number two, we can know that we know Him. And number three, This assurance comes through obedience. First of all, let me point out that verse 3 here has nothing to do with the security of the believer. Once we are saved, we are always saved. We are never separated from God. Once we have received that salvation in Him, there is nothing that can separate us from that. That's clearly Romans chapter 8, clearly John chapter 10, many other passages of Scripture declare that reality to us. There is nothing that can take from us our salvation. He's not talking here about the security of the believer. John is talking about assurance. He's talking about assurance, or in reality, he's talking about proof that we are in Christ. Talking about proof that we are in Christ. That's going to be seen, he tells us. That proof that we belong to the Lord Jesus Christ is going to be seen in us by our obedience. That work of Christ in us, the work of His grace in us, will prove itself in us that it will show forth these works of righteousness. It'll prove itself in its showing forth that we are obedient to the Word of God. It's going to produce something in us. When His grace comes in, it's going to produce something. So He's not talking about security. He's talking about the assurance to prove that we are in Him. Now the commandments that he speaks of here in verse number three does not refer to necessarily legal aspects of the law. It's not the ten commandments necessarily that he's talking about in this sense, but rather his commandments that he has given himself to us. The commandment of love. That sums up all of those Old Testament commandments, by the way. Matthew chapter 22. Matthew chapter number 22. It tells us down in verse 37, down through verse number 39, when he is asked here by these lawyers, what is the great commandment in the law? And he's asked, what is the great commandment in the law? Matthew 22, verse number 37, Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. The second is like unto it, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. It's all summed up in this reality, to love God with all of ourselves and to love our neighbor as ourselves. And what John tells us, as we'll get on to in our study there, over in 1 John chapter 4, is John tells us if we're not doing the second one, then we're not doing the first one either. We can't say we're doing the first one and disobey the second. And so they work together. But love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, soul, and mind, to love thy neighbor as thyself. They come out in us in these other ways, in these other commandments that are given to us in the Scripture. For instance, in Galatians chapter number 6. Galatians chapter number 6 and verse number 2. Galatians 6 and verse number 2. Paul writing to these several churches in Galatia, he tells them to bear one another's burdens. Here in verse number 6, or in chapter number 6 rather, verse 2, he says, bear ye one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ. Bear ye one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ. 1 Thessalonians chapter number 4. 1 Thessalonians chapter number 4. He says in verse 1, Furthermore, then we beseech you, brethren, and exhort you by the Lord Jesus, that as ye have received of us, how ye ought to walk and to please God, so ye would abound more and more, for ye know what commandments we gave you by the Lord Jesus. 2 John 5. 2 John 5. Now that's either chapter 5 or verse 5. You decide on how you want to put that, but it's 2 John 5. 2 John 5. John writes here, and now And now I beseech thee, lady, not as though I wrote a new commandment unto thee, but that which we had from the beginning, that we love one another." That we love one another. Listen, the Ten Commandments, we read there in the Decalogue, we've got those ten. Those first four are pertaining to our relationship with God. The last six are pertaining with our relationship with one another. That's exactly how it's divided for us here in Matthew 22. To love the Lord thy God with all our heart, soul, and mind. And then in Mark and Luke, he adds the word strength even in there to that particular passage. In order to do that, that is the fulfillment of the first four. In our relationship to God in the Decalogue, that's the fulfillment there. In loving the Lord thy God with all our heart, soul, and mind. The second is to love thy neighbor as thyself. That's those last six. of how we relate to one another. If indeed that's what we're striving for here. And so this is what Christ has commanded us. That's where our focus should be is in that love for our God and our love for one another. Jesus says in John chapter 13, He reiterates that point to them as He is gathered with His disciples here the night of His arrest as He is beginning to teach them these things of what's shortly going to come to pass and how they are going to face those particular things. He tells them there in verse number 34 and verse number 35, a new commandment, I give unto you that ye love one another as I have loved you and that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are My disciples if ye have loved one to another. That's the proof. That's the proof that we are His. It's the proof to the world and by what John is telling us in our text, it's the proof to us that we belong to Him. That we are desirous to be obedient to, that is our lifestyle. To be obedient to our Lord. To be found faithful to Him. So, the child of God does not do as He pleases. He does as Christ pleases. That is the desire of His heart. The life of the child of God should shine forth with that nectar of obedience to be faithful, to show forth Christ to those around them. You cannot have this assurance of fellowship that John is talking about here in chapter 1 and in chapter 2. You cannot have this assurance of that fellowship with God unless you keep His command. That's what's going to prove it out in you, in other words. It's going to prove itself out in your walk with Christ. It's going to prove itself out in you obeying what the Scripture tells you to do. The word know here in verse number three, hereby we do know that we know Him if we keep His commandments. The first no there, we do know, is the present tense verb that denotes a progressive knowledge gained by experience. And so that's a knowledge that grows in us, you see. That's a knowledge that keeps reiterating itself over and over and over to us as we grow in our Lord. We do know. And the second know, the second know translates the same word in a different tense. Same word, but it just translates it in a different tense. And so the full thought here is we have come to know and do now know. We have come to know, we've grown in that understanding, we've grown in that knowledge, and now I know for sure. That's what John said. Now I know I have that fellowship with God. Now I know that I belong to Him. Now I know, I have that assurance, you see. I have come to know and do now know. Verse 4 is the negative of this. It's the opposite side of verse 3. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar. And the truth is not in him. There are a great many folks today that claim to know Jesus. But there's no lifestyle of obedience in them. There's no desire of obedience for him and for his commandments in them. And therefore, based upon that example, John calls them liars. That's tough words. That's tough words. But John says, look, if there's no desire in you, if there's no walk of obedience in your life, then you can't say you belong to God. If you don't have the heart for that, you can't say that you belong to Him. And sadly, in our day and in the society we live in, Such a problem permeates throughout Christianity and even in the Lord's churches. John chapter 8. Listen to what the Lord says here in verse number 29. John chapter 8 and verse number 29. And He that sent me is with me. The Father hath not left me alone, for I do always those things that please Him." I do always those things that please Him. Can you say that today? I can't. I can't say that. I'll answer for you. You can't say that either. But it is my desire to. It is my heart to. I want to be faithful. I want to please my God. I want to do what He wants me to do. I want for me to be able to hear one day, well done, thou good and faithful servant. That's my heart. That's what I want to hear. And I recognize I still battle this flesh. I still come short. I still sin against Him every single day. I recognize that. But in my sin, I hate it. I hate that sin. I don't want sin in me. I don't want to fail my God. I want to be obedient to His name. I want to be faithful to Him. I can't say I always obey because I don't. But I want to. I want to. Because I don't want anything. to hinder between me and my God that fellowship that my Lord has purchased for me. Verse 5, John says, but whoso keepeth his word, But whoso keepeth his word in him, verily, is the love of God perfected. Hereby know we that we are in him." Now here in verse 5 we come to a little different context. Here he speaks of the Word before he speaks of the commandments. Notice again, he says, but whoso keepeth his word in him verily is the love of God perfected. Hereby know that we are in him. Now, the word word and the word commandments can be used synonymously. However, in this text, we We should draw attention here to this difference of what the word means here. Now remember, John is speaking of fellowship with God. And back here in John 14 and verse number 15, John 14 and verse number 15, and then down in verse number 23, differentiates here for us between the Word and the commandments. And I think John is picking up on that very same thing here in our text. John 14 verse number 15. If you love me, if you love me, keep my commandments. If you love me, keep my commandments. And he says in verse 23, Jesus answered and said unto him, if a man love me, he will keep my words. If He loves me, He will keep my words. And my Father will love Him, and He will come unto Him, and we, rather, will come unto Him and make our abode with Him." Here, Jesus making a difference between these two words, commandment and word. What is the difference? The commandments are those directives that the Lord has given. Those thou shalts, or from the Old Testament perspective, those thou shalt nots. But His Word is the expression and revelation of God and His will. And so what that means is that that takes some interpretation on our part to seek out what is that will of God in me. What is it that He's describing for us? And quite frankly, much of it is given to us in the Scripture. Much of it is told to us, especially by our Lord in His teaching. Paul focuses a great deal on this. That it comes more not to the Word itself, the outward writing of it itself, but comes rather into the very heart of the matter. and how we are to obey Him. Because the Jews, they had the mindset in the Lord's day that as long as they kept it outwardly, as long as they did the things that were commanded in the law outwardly, then they were successful. They had obeyed the law. And what Jesus declared to them, no, they missed the harder matter. They might be performing it outwardly, He said, but inwardly they're still dead. Inwardly, there's still sin. And he said, if we do so in our hearts, if we sin against God, if we break His commandments in our hearts, then we've already broken His law, you see. It's not a matter of simply doing it outward, but it comes back to the matter of the heart, who we are within us, you see. Who we are, not just what comes out of us. But John's taking this very reality, this very thing here, over in 1 John here as he's declaring to us who we are in Christ is going to come out of us. If we are in Christ, that's going to be seen in our actions. That's going to be seen in our actions. Because He has changed us from our parts, ours, you see. And so we're going to fulfill His Word and His commandments. Fulfill His Word and His commandments. There are many today that want simply a list of do's and don'ts. They might use that list to give up as little as possible, to squeak by, and still be considered by others as faithful. But we are called here to follow His Word and His commandments because we love Him, because we want to please Him, not because we have to. See, Jesus changed that whole perspective for us in His death for us on the cross. The Old Testament law is given there, the Mosaic system is given because we have to. But its purpose was not to save us. His purpose was not to set us free. His purpose was not to make us holy before God. It was the command to do, you have to, and if you do not, you will not please God. That's His purpose. It's to show us that we are sinners. that we cannot do what God has commanded us to do. And Paul tells us its purpose then in Galatians chapter 3 and verse number 27 was to point us to Christ, to carry us to Christ. That's its very purpose. Because the law is given, thou shalt not. We cannot do that very thing that He's given. We are not able to perform that. We are not able to keep His law. Somebody's got to keep it for me. And so the purpose of the Old Testament law is to drive us to Christ. That's its purpose. Jesus came, died in our stead, and He changed the whole paradigm. He changed the whole perspective of the law. That it's not about thou shalt not now, but now it's about loving our God. Now it's about doing because we love Him. It's not about thou shalt not now, it's about do, because I love my Lord. Look what He's done for me. Look how He's redeemed me unto Himself. And so now it becomes about our doing for Him. About our doing for Him, to be found faithful. Not because we have to, but because we love Him. Because we love Him. Now, He goes on to tell us here in this text, verse 5. Whoso keepeth His Word, in Him barely is love of God perfected. Beloved God perfected, hereby know that we are in Him." Now this, this hath been perfected, this word does not speak of us being flawless. Does not speak of being flawless or all that is, that should be, but rather it means to bring a thing to its proper end. to bring a thing to its proper end or to bring to fruition, to be brought closer into the relationship that God desires for His children. And so this perfection that he's speaking of is that reality of drawing us closer and closer to our Lord. that we would be faithful to Him and that faithfulness would grow in us as we draw closer and closer to our Lord. What is your attitude towards sin today? Does your sin break your fellowship with the Father? Does your sin cause you to cry out to Him for forgiveness and restoration? What is your attitude toward your sin? Is it something that you hate? Or is it something you're holding on to? Is it a darkness? that plagues your soul? Or is it something that you love? That you're trying to hang on to? What is your attitude toward your sin? Lastly, the assurance of that fellowship comes with walking as Jesus walked. This is the climax of verses 3 through 5 here in verse number 6. Verse 3, he speaks of knowing God. We know Him by the gospel of Christ. He's made known that to us. Verse 5, he speaks of being in Him. Being in We are in Him by the gospel of Christ, what He has accomplished for us, and the salvation He has given to us. In verse 6 here, He speaks of abiding in Him. Abiding, walking in Him. And we are able to abide in Him by the gospel of Christ, by what He has done for us. So we are able to walk as Him only by the gospel of Christ. It's only by what He has done in us. Only by what He has done in us. This is speaking of the consistent character of the child of God. The consistent character of the child of God that keeps His word In Commandments, verse 6, he says, He that saith, he abideth in him, ought himself also so to walk, even as he walks. That walk's not going to be perfect. We've already addressed that. We're going to come short. We're going to fail him. We're going to find ourselves crawling at times instead of walking. We're going to find ourselves wobbling instead of walking at times. There are times when we're going to be turned around totally the opposite direction from where we should be going. But there should be that steady path. There should be that steady walk. that we are growing in. Yeah, there's times we're going to get turned aside. There's times when we're going to be off the side of the road. There's times when we're going to get turned around. There's times when we're not going to be where we ought to be. But when we look back on our lives, there ought to be that progression. We ought to be able to see that walk in us. Yeah, I'm messed up right now, but I know where I was. We should be able to see our walk with our Lord in our lives. If we belong to Him, there is a walk after Him. He that saith He abideth in Him, all himself also, so to walk even as He walked. Again, this is speaking of the consistent character of the child of God that is walking after the Lord. To walk as Jesus walked is to live as Jesus lived. In love, in holiness, in service, in dependence on the Father. In dependence on the Father. Are you in Christ today? Do you have that assurance of your place in Him today? Do you have fellowship with Him? Is it proven in your life by you walking after Him, by you striving to obey and to be faithful to Him, Are you keeping His commandments? Are you following His Word? Do you love Him? Do you love Him because He first loved you? Are you in Christ Jesus today? All believe on Him. Believe on Him. Trust Christ. It is only in Him that we have life. It is only in Him that we are washed from our sin. It is only in Him that we are made the children of God. It is only in Him that we are made right before the throne of God. It is only in Him that we have righteousness. It is only in Him that we have eternal life. You must have Jesus. There's no other way. Repent and believe on Him this day. Let's all stand. Brother Jonathan, as you bring us your song.