Today we're studying in 1 John. We'll be in chapter 3. But first I'd like to review a little bit about the first two chapters that we have studied. And it starts out with John telling us that he has heard, seen, looked upon, and touched with his own hands the word of life. Life was made manifest and we testify to it. And John's eager to tell of his fellowship with Jesus Christ and the Father so that we may too have joy and our life be complete. This testimony is from the first and last of the twelve apostles. The others had been martyred or had passed. John was probably in his nineties. He was an elder in Ephesus, which is in Turkey, and he wrote about this eyewitness testimony. And so there's nothing purer and more complete than eyewitness testimony. This is a perfect text. The whole book of 1 John, for that matter, gives us such solid information. If we was ever to witness to anybody using One John would be a solid evidence of Christ and his life on earth as a man and as God. He goes on to talk about walking in the life, and this is the message that we have heard from Jesus and proclaim to you. If we say we have self-fellowship with Christ and walk in darkness, we lie and we do not practice the truth. John tells us that we should not sin, but if anyone does sin, we as believers have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteousness. He is the perpetuation for our sin. He is the perfect sacrifice. John is clear that forgiveness of sin comes only to those who repent and believe in the gospel. Here the test is ethical. As Christians, we do have a changed life and keep the Lord's commandments. It becomes challenging to live out the Christian message in a world where darkness and evil seem to dominate. It's easy to lose touch with the basics of knowing that the God who is love, the love for God and the love for others which are commanded to us. In John's time, just as in our times, comes the convoluted ideas of what a Christian and what sin is. Many of our mainstream churches seem to have lost their way. I want to start out today actually in 2 John, Chapter 28, and I'll go verse by verse through my sermon today. Verse 28 says, and now little children abide in him, so that when he appears, we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming. abide in him so that maintaining one's personal relationship with Christ will prevent straying into doctrine or conduct of which one will be ashamed of at his coming. When he appears, many will lack confidence and will shrink from him because he will come in judgment. Whenever John refers to abiding, he is referring to persevering in the faith of salvation, which is evidence of being a true believer. We need to turn to John 15. I'm going to read verses 1 through 3. Jesus says, I am the true vine and my father is a vine dresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes that it may bear more fruit. The hope of Christ's return produces the effect of continual abiding in every true believer as they long for the glorious future prepared for them. Paul called it loving his appearing, loving his appearing. If we turn to 2 Timothy 4.8, we read, henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, righteous judge will award to me on that day and not only to me but to also to all who loved his period. Those who do that are the ones who will be crowned with eternal righteousness in heaven. Abiding signifies a permanent remaining in Christ and guarantees the believer's hope. Those who truly abide continue in the faith and in fellowship with the saints. If you know that He is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him. To know that he is righteous is to have one's faith in Christ, not in one's own moral uprightness. Abide in him. Maintaining one's personal relationship with Christ will prevent strain into doctrine or conduct which one will be ashamed of at his coming. The hope of Christ's return not only sustains faith, but makes righteousness a habit. Jesus told Nicodemus that he must be born again. Those truly born again as God's children have their Heavenly Father's righteous nature. As a result, they will display characteristic of God's righteousness. John looks from effect to affirm that righteous living is a proof of being born again. So now to 1 John chapter 3, we see what kind of love the Father has given to us, what we should be called, that we should be called children of God. And so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. The world does not know him. There is a built-in friction. between those who know and serve Christ and those who do not. We see this today in a lot of our schools, universities, government, and world. Verse 2. Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him because we shall see him as he is. What we will be means having glorified bodies that will never be sick or old or die and being completely without sin. No one like that has yet appeared on earth except for Christ himself. after his resurrection. We shall be like him in eternity. Christians will be morally without sin, intellectually without falsehood or error, physically without weakness or imperfections, and filled continually with the Holy Spirit. but like does not mean identical to, and believers will never be all-knowing and all-powerful as Christ is, since he is both man and God. Verse three, everyone who thus opens in him purifies himself as he, excuse me, everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure. Living in the reality of Christ's return makes a difference in a Christian's behavior. Since Christians someday will be like him, a desire should grow within the Christian to become like him now. That was Paul's passion expressed in Philippians 3 verses 12 and four. Not that I have, he says, not that I have already obtained this or that I am perfect, but I press on to make it my own because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own, but one thing I do. forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead. I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Paul uses examples of running a race. Our past sins are just like that. We cannot go back and run the race, but we can do better on the next lap. Verse four, everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness. A sin is lawlessness. Lawlessness is an activity lacking God's guidance and is in violation of his law. Sin is lawlessness. Every Christian sins, so it may seem like a trivial matter, but to disregard sin's grave implications is disastrous. Verse 5, you know that he appeared to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. Jesus appeared to take away sins, not only so that sin might be forgiven, but also that it might cease to exercise its tyrannical bondage. In him there is no sin, a reminder that God is light and his son embodies his sinlessness. Verses six and seven. No one who abides in him keeps on sinning. No one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or know him. Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous as he is righteous. No one who abides keeps on sinning. True followers of Christ do not recklessly and habitually violate what their anointing has planted within them. Those who do habitually sin have neither seen him nor know him. They are not true Christians. Verse 8, whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. We see the famous verse of John 3 16 19. For God so loved the world that he gave his only son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already because he has not believed in the name of the only son of God. Verses 9 and 10. No one of God makes a practice of sinning For God's seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God. By this it is evident who are the children of God and who are the children of the devil. Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother. Love one another, Christians cannot practice sin because it is incompatible with the ministry of the Holy Spirit who has imparted a new nature to the believer. We see in John 3 verses 5 and 8, Jesus answered, truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the spirit is spirit. Do not marvel what I said to you. You must be born again. The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit. When people become Christians, God makes them a new creature with new natures. We look at Corinthians 2, verses 5 and 17. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away. Behold, the new has come. Believers have God's characteristics because they have been born into God's family, born of God's seed. Some take this to be the word of God that brings about the new birth. Others see it as a way of speaking of the Holy Spirit in his regenerating and transforming presence within the believer. Since the Holy Spirit works through the word in regeneration, both of these ideas are likely intended here. In other words, Because the word is present in the believer's heart through the work of the spirit, the believer cannot keep on sinning. Thus, the hearts of genuine Christians, those who are truly the children of God, have been transformed that they cannot live in a pattern of continual sin Though this does not mean that Christians are ever completely free from sin in their life. By this is it evident, or as Jesus said of false prophets, you will recognize them by their fruits. Does not love his brother. This we see in Cain who killed his brother Abel. Verse 11, for this is a message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. Verse 12, we should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother's righteous. I should say there is no hate like the hate of a bad man towards a good one, not for doing him any wrong, but because he was righteous. Do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you. Christians have lived on the fringe of society since the time of Christ. from the time of the Pharisees to present day haters, present day haters of justice and law and order. Men who love sin cannot endure the sight of virtue. And if they cannot kill the good man, they will try to kill his reputation. That is exactly the spirit of Cain, who was of that wicked one and killed his brother. So that when you see a man filled with hate and envy and malice, it is because his own life is not holy. There is no exception to this rule. True holiness and love always go together. Where love is absent, holiness must be absent too. Verse 14, we know that we have passed out of death into life because we love one another. Whoever does not love abides in death. No matter he may be outwardly religious and may think that by doing certain external actions, he will save himself. There is no truth at all in this religion. For the very essence of true religion is that a man lives not unto himself, but unto God, and for the good of his fellow man. Verse 15. Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding Here we are warned of the evil spirit of hate. Hate is not compatible with God. We all have heard of people forgiving a murderer that has killed someone they love. This grace and forgiveness has to be from the Almighty God. The godly cannot live with hatred in their hearts and soul. We would otherwise never be able to be free of the dominion of Satan. Verse 16, By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and that we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. God is love. and being love he must display love, nor can he rest with merely truthful love provides that we are of the truth. Children of God of truth and so assures and tranquilize our hearts. Our hearts will be calm, confident and happy before God when we know that true love flows within them. Speaking of his love, his love must manifest itself in action. More than that, God could not test us until he made the greatest sacrifice that we could make and had given up his only begotten son to die in the place of sinners. Such sacrifice as this is the very highest form of love to believers and is following of the example of Christ who laid down his life for us. Verse 17, if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brothers in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him? Scripture tells us not to sound the trumpet when we give to the needy. When we give to the needy, do not let the left hand know what the right hand is doing. Giving should be in secret. Your father who sees in secret will reward you. Verse 18, little children, Let not love in the world or talk in deed and in truth. Love that consists only of words is utterly worthless. If it is true love, it must prove itself by kind deeds and gracious actions. Verse 19. This we shall know that we are of truth and reassure our heart before him. John consistently talks about knowing. He knows and he tells us that he knows in order that we also may know. Truthful love proves that we are of the truth. Children of God and so assures and soothes our hearts before him. Our hearts shall be calm, confident, and happy before God when we know that true love flows within. Verse 20, for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything. If we, with our narrow knowledge of right and wrong, have a fluttering of heart and an uneasiness within us, This is not a forewarning of Gabriel's trumpet call. If we have to stand before the judge of all the earth and answer for yourself to him, it's easy to deceive thy fellow man, but it's impossible to deceive God. Verse 21. Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God. Others may condemn us, but that does not matter. They may misrepresent us, that is of no concern of ours as long as we have confidence before God. Verse 22, and whatever we ask we receive from Him because we keep His commandments and do that that pleases Him. If we do not keep His commandments and do what pleases Him, how can we expect God to hear our prayers and requests? Guilt would overcome us. Verse 23, and in this is His commandment that we believe in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He has commanded us. Faith and love, faith in Christ and love to one another are here most happily joined together so that no man can tear apart. Verse 24, who keeps his commandments abides in God and God in him. And by this we know that he abides in us by the spirit whom he has given us. If he gives us the spirit of Christ himself in us, if he has given us the spirit of love that is also evidence of Christ himself is also in us. Would you please pray with me?