We'll be reading from chapter 2 and verses 1 through 14 in the little epistle of 1 John. Join with me, if you would, at this time. Ready? My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. and he is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. 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. But whosoever keepeth his word, in him barely is the love of God perfected. Hereby know we that we are in him. He that saith he abideth in him, ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked. Brethren, I write no new commandment unto you, but an old commandment which ye had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which ye have heard from the beginning. Again, a new commandment I write unto you. Which thing is true in him and in you? Because the darkness is past and the true light now shineth. He that saith that he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now. He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him. But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness. and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes. I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his namesake. I write unto you, fathers, because you have known him that is from the beginning. I write unto you, young men, because you have overcome the wicked one. I write unto you, little children, because you have known the Father. I have written unto you fathers, because you have known him that is from the beginning. I have written unto you young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one." May God bless the reading of his word to his honor this day. You may be seated. We come to the third in a series of messages in the short little epistle of 1 John. As we embark upon this section of Scripture here in chapter 2, we must keep before our thinking what has preceded it, and that is that John is doing what we might call hand-to-hand combat with the pre-Gnostic teachers who have left the Church and have set up a rival church. These individuals have rejected the apostolic gospel and they have returned to the world of Grecian philosophy. They believed that God had given them new light or knowledge which superseded and replaced that of the apostles. And they were saying that one had to embrace this new knowledge in order to have a true fellowship with God. This knowledge consisted, among other things, of believing that all physical matter was evil, while that which was spiritual was good. And thus God could not have incarnated himself in a human body, since a human body is material. And this led, then, to a denial of both the deity and the humanity of Jesus Christ. And they also had a very low view of the seriousness of sin by believing that one's moral conduct in their body did not affect their spiritual fellowship with God. So they were free to do whatever they wanted in their physical body as long then as their spirit was in a right relationship with God. Now, John denounced such false teachings. by reaffirming the true deity and true humanity of Jesus in chapter 1, verses 1 through 4, which we looked at last week. Then he went on in chapter 1, verses 5 through 10, to establish that fellowship with God requires confession of one's sinfulness in repentance and availing ourselves of Christ's cleansing blood. Having given a review of what we have covered in the first two messages, let's then set out to go through this in a verse-by-verse fashion today that is before us in chapter 2. First of all, keep your Bibles open there in verses 1 and 2, John gives God's solution for sin. In verse 1, John lists two reasons that he is writing to his flock. who are very dear to him. First, he is writing them to exhort them not to commit a single act of sin. The verb here in the Greek text is what is known as the eros tense, meaning individual acts of sin, and not that of the habitual lifestyle of the false teachers. A Christian may be a true Christian and commit individual acts of sin, but as we have seen, they cannot live in a habitual, ongoing life of sin. So this is what John is meaning here. He is exhorting us not to commit a single act of sin. While it is wrong to claim that we have no sin or that we have not sinned, as the false teachers claimed in the first chapter, John did not wish to give his readers the idea that sin was to be regarded as a natural occurrence in the Christian life lived here in the body. Instead, the main goal or the ideal of the Christian life is not sin. Our Lord Jesus Christ is our model for that. But secondly now, John is writing to comfort and reassure that when a believer does sin, God has provided a way for believers to respond to it. In the words, if any man sin, again the verb in the Aorist tense, meaning occasional sinning, it reveals that John did believe that specific acts of sin are possible in a believer's life. Whenever the sinless ideal is not met, The solution is found in Jesus Christ who is presented to us now in three different aspects or roles. Look at your passage. The first is that of an advocate. This is a word that describes a defense attorney. It literally means one who speaks in our defense. Aren't you glad that when a believer sins, Christ pleads his case to the Father who serves as the judge in this case? It's good to have someone who knows the judge. In his second role, our Lord Jesus Christ is set forth as the righteous one. Jesus can take care. of our case of sinning in a just and a righteous manner." Now, what does our sinless or righteous representative plead on our behalf? Does he say, O Father, they're innocent, they haven't committed any sin? Is that what he pleads? No. He does not even plea for mercy on behalf of the believer's sinning. A court may show mercy in the human realm and yet be unjust. A human court cannot be both just and merciful. Jesus does not say to the Father in his intercession, Jim Gables has sinned, but Lord, just turn your cheek and show mercy. God can't do that. There has to be a satisfaction rendered for my sin. And Jesus is a righteous advocate. He can forgive in a just way. Instead, it is a plea which rests on his own righteousness. and seeks forgiveness from the judge on the basis not of my sinless life, but on his sinless life. The third role of Christ is that of his atoning sacrifice or his propitiation. He has satisfied the wrath of God against the guilty party. This act of propitiation renders God favorable toward the sinner. The sin is thus canceled out by the action that is involved. And thus Jesus is both the advocate and the atoning sacrifice, or the source of mercy. Remember propitiation, that big word is that. It is that which is merciful. Publican went up to the temple and what did he pray? God be what? That's the same word that is translated here. It's the same word that's referring to the mercy seat in the Old Testament tabernacle where the blood was shed. God said, when the blood was shed there on the mercy seat, when I see the blood, I will pass over. So it is the shedding of Christ's blood that renders God merciful. toward the guilty sinner. So Jesus is our defense attorney. He is a righteous advocate in that he can present his own righteousness in place of our unrighteousness. Jesus has borne the penalty for all kinds of which the members of Adam's race are capable of committing. Not only can he pardon the sins of believers, but he, through his infinite value of his atonement, can pardon the sins of any member of Adam's race who will confess his sins in repentance and ask to be forgiven on the basis of Christ's death. There is no shortage of power in the blood of Christ. Paul described himself as the chief of sinners. Even the chief of sinners can be forgiven through the blood of Christ. So while there is an infinite sufficiency in Christ's death to forgive all kinds of sins committed by mankind, the saving efficacy of that death is designed in the purpose of God and limited to believers only. Jesus paid the sin debt only for those who ultimately believe. Those who die in unbelief must pay the price for their own sin debt. And thus John could say in John chapter 3 and verse 36, He that believes on the Son has everlasting life, and he that believes not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him." Christ has died for believers only. Unbelievers must bear the wrath of God for their own sin. So while there is enough light in Jesus to lighten every man who comes into the world, John 1.9, the light is efficacious only for those who come to the light. There is not a shortage in the knowledge that is in Jesus Christ, but that knowledge is limited to only those who come to that light. So likewise, by virtue of his infinite sacrifice Jesus has the ability to pardon the sins of Adam's race now, but he has decreed to only pardon the sins of those who repent and believe. So let whosoever is willing to confess their need of Christ come to Christ and embrace the pardon of a faithful God to enact a just and righteous pardon. This, my friends, is God's solution for man's sinning. True Christians believe this gospel. C. S. Lewis, a writer of the past, makes this observation. Christianity tells people to repent and promises them forgiveness. It therefore has nothing, as far as I know, to say to people who do not know that they need any forgiveness. It is after you have realized that there is a real moral law and power behind that law and that you've broken that law and put yourself wrong with the power, it is after all of this and not a moment sooner that Christianity begins to talk. When you're sick, you will listen to the doctor." And I think that's well said. The gospel is for what? Sinners only. Jesus said, I didn't come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. And those who do not see their need of Christ and forgiveness of sin, the gospel has nothing to say to them. It is for those who confess their need alone. But to those who willingly confess that, the gospel is good news. It's filled with good news. Let's move now to verses 3 through 8. True Christians not only believe the gospel, but true Christians also obey God's commands. We read hereby, we do know that we know him if we keep his commandments. Now, in verses 3 through 6, John presents a moral test to identify a true Christian. He has already presented the doctrinal test. Now he moves to the moral test. Its focus is upon a person's behavior. It is a test of obedience to the commandments of God. The test is simple. The distinctive characteristic of a true child of God is that he obeys God's commands. This is a ground for assurance that we know that we know him. That's what John states. John's opponents who have left the congregation have claimed a monopoly on religious knowledge, which John denied with this bold assertion in verse 3, we know him. They were saying, we know him. John says, no, we know him. And we know him because we find an affinity in our heart to seek to obey the commandments of God. You don't. You say you don't have to obey the commandments of God. We know that we know him because we seek to be obedient to his teachings, his commandments. The concept of the knowledge of God appears here in the letter for the first time. Up until now, John has described the Christian's relationship to God in terms of fellowship with him. He now expresses this relationship in terms of the knowledge of God. Fellowship and knowledge are synonyms. They refer to the same thing, a relationship with God. The knowledge of God entails an intimate acquaintance with him. And the sign of possessing this saving knowledge of God is obedience to his commands. When the prophet Hosea in the Old Testament complained that there was no knowledge of God in the land, he immediately went on to describe the setting in these words. He said there is swearing, lying, killing, stealing and committing adultery. Hosea 4.1. So he was looking out and seeing these things taking place in the land, and he said, there is no knowledge of God in the land. To know God, then, thus involves knowledge of his character, his requirements, and obedience to those requirements. When John says, we know him, he now uses in his Greek language the perfect tense. Now follow me, which describes a verb with past experience having continuing present results. It's an ongoing thing, not like the eros tense, one-time acts. This describes then a believer who has come to know God in the past and still is retaining this saving relationship because of his initial encounter with God. Someone who is truly born of God in the past will have that encounter ongoing in their life, and it will continue on until the day of perfection in Christ Jesus. So such a relationship can be tested. by looking for consistent obedience to God's commandments. John now issues a warning to any who claim to know God and yet do not seek to live a life of consistent obedience to God. Those who were saying they knew him were the false teachers who claim to have fellowship with God back in chapter 1 and verse 6. Look at that. If we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not the truth. The expression in the second chapter, he that saith, is the first of three statements in which John will emphasize the importance of joining one's profession of faith with one's Christian practice. The other two are found in verses 6 and 9. Look at those texts. He that saith, verse 6. He that saith, verse 9. These three statements are related to the expression, if we say which John has used back in chapter 1, verses 6, 8 and 10. The apostates now who have left the Church have failed the test of moral obedience, are deceived and deceiving others, and thus are not true Christians. In contrast, those who keep God's Word give evidence that their love for God is matured and complete. And this gives assurance of being in God, verse 5. To be in God is to display his moral character. There's a family resemblance. God doesn't beget children that are habitual sinners. There's a family likeness. The character of God is not something about which we are left to speculate. God incarnate lived on this earth. The character of the invisible God had been manifested in the conduct of the visible Christ. Jesus' earthly life can be summarized in the words found in Acts chapter 10 and verse 38. Let me quote them to you. Who went about doing good." The expression that John uses, abides in him, is a reference to Jesus' teaching probably on himself being the vine and the believers being the branches, who must continually abide in him. John chapter 15. So a believer's behavior should resemble that of Christ. If he is in the vine, then Christ's behavior will manifest itself in that of the branches. In 1 John chapter 5 and verse 3, turn over there for a moment. Here we read, For this is the love of God that we keep his commandments. Now here, love is being defined, and it's not in our purpose today to go into the definition of love. That will come in the following messages. But here, if we, or this is the love of God, obedience to his commandments. So the test of our religious experience is whether it produces a reflection of the life of Jesus in our daily lives. If it does not, then our profession is false and we fail the test like that of the false teachers. Now we come to verses 7 through 11, and in this section John introduces the social test. Remember, he is going to be using three tests throughout his books to determine what a true Christian is, the doctrinal test, the moral test, and the social test. Now he comes to the social test of true apostolic Christianity, namely that of the love of God, which he has referred to back in verse 5, and love for our brother in verse 10. In contrast to the new teaching which the Gnostic teachers had introduced into the Church, John asserts that his teaching was not new, but was the original commandment which had been given by Christ at the beginning of the Christian era." It's important to understand the usage of the word new and understand it here. It means new in kind or novel. New in kind or novel. What is John then saying? He was saying that his teaching was not a new, novel commandment, but he was but repeating the ethical standards of conduct which believers had known ever since their introduction to Christianity. While John does not state what the old commandment was, it would be known by all of his readers as being the commandment of Jesus that we love one another. 2 John, verse 5. Now, in these verses that we are looking at here, John introduces the concept of an old-new commandment. Everybody understand that? This has the potential to introduce confusion. What in the world is he talking about? an old new commandment. I don't write, I don't give you any new commandment, he says. Then he turns right around and says a new commandment I give you. How in the world do we work through that one? The one command is at the same time both old and new. The command is to love one another. It is old in one sense, it is new in another sense. How so, Pastor? It is old in that it had been taught in the law of Moses. Leviticus 19, 18 and Deuteronomy 6, 5. This is not some New Testament revelation. The command to love one another was taught throughout the Old Testament. Jesus himself summarized the entirety of the teachings found in the Law and the Prophets as being love to God and love for what? One's own neighbor, Matthew chapter 22. So in one sense, the commandment is not new. Men already knew what God expected out of them in this sense of love. But in another sense, the love commandment was new. It became new when Jesus revealed it afresh in the upper room. In John 13, verse 34, turn over there with me, here he called it a new commandment. John 13, verse 34. He says, a new commandment I give unto you that you love one another. And it was new because of his fulfillment of it. He was giving it a depth of meaning which it had not possessed before. He went on to say, as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this shall all men know that you are my disciples. if you have love one toward another." Now, Jesus had just washed the feet of his disciples. Now, who is Jesus? He's God, the eternal creator of all beings in the universe. He humbled himself and dwelt in a human body. lived with sinful people, though he was sinless, and yet he condescended enough to wash the feet of sinful people. There he was showing that true love is self-giving of oneself to another, as opposed to self-receiving from others. And that's the distinction that has been lost and our culture in the definition of love. Hollywood says love is, I see something out there and I love it for what it will do for me. I fall in love with it. That won't stand the test of biblical love. God so loved that he gave. Not that he saw something that he wanted to receive, but he gave. It is the greater humbling himself to serve the lower. It is God humbling himself to become a man and serving the lower creature, even sinful man. The songwriter catches it. Amazing love, how can it be that thou, my God, should die for me? And that's something that only Christians know about. Whenever this love is manifested in Christians, men will know that they are living the life of Jesus in them. This new commandment inaugurates the new age of the gospel. Jesus, the true light to show men how to love, is now shining in his people. The old age of darkness and selfishness is now passing away and the new age of love for others is now shining more and more unto the perfect age to come, verse 8 of the 2nd chapter. Let's move now to verses 9 through 11. True Christians not only believe the gospel, they not only obey the commandments, but they love their Verses 9-11. He that says that he is in the light hates his brothers in darkness even until now. And he that loves his brother abides in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him. But he that hates his brother is in darkness and walks in darkness and knows not whether he goes, because that darkness has blinded his eyes. Again, keep before us. In verses 9 through 11, John now condemns the false teachers for their lack of love for the brotherhood of believers. They have went out. They have left the church and have said, we can't get along with these apostolic people. We're going to start our own church. They had no love for John. the apostles and John's followers. John describes this departure from apostolic Christianity as manifesting hatred or unconcern for their brothers and was causing confusion and a stumbling block to others. In spite of the great light which these teachers believed that they had been shown to them by God John says they are still in darkness and ignorance. They had betrayed the cause of Christ and like it was said of Judas in his betrayal, listen, he then having received the sop, went immediately out and it was night. Darkness in the soul. cannot love the true Jesus and his disciples. It's impossible. Namely, those who embrace apostolic doctrine and practice self-giving love. I hope you caught that. When it states later in the chapter In verse 19, they went out from us. That's the same verb that's used to describe Judas and his apostasy. He went out and it was night. John says these have went out from us and they're in darkness. Those who profess Christianity but do not want to consider themselves biblical Christians are yet in darkness. And they will not have any desire to associate with and fellowship with biblical Christianity. That's why we have so many churches that are liberal and do not want to be held accountable to the teachings of scripture. those people in that category will not seek out a congregation of Bible-believing Christians. They just can't coexist. We'll see more about that in following messages. Now, how does John understand hate? He says that he that hateth his Or how in the world did these who have left the Church hate? It's important that we understand not only the definition of love, but also the definition of hatred. Is John going to give us an abstract theory, or is he going to define hatred in concrete acts? John would answer that love is what one does. And when we get over into the heart of the book and he begins to expound upon the doctrine of love, he will then demonstrate that love is not just an emotional warm feeling, but it is doing right toward others. Doing right toward others. Then what is hatred? It's the failure to do what God says is right toward others. Ignoring it. Hate, listen, is the absence of the deeds of love. Just as darkness is the absence of light, hatred is the absence of love. Love has deeds. of action, of doing right toward others. Hatred bypasses one's duty toward others. To walk in the light, then, is to love one's brother. And this love will express itself in concrete actions, not abstract theory. And when these actions are absent, hate is present. We are too prone to think of hate as some type of a spirit of anger. But, my hearers, one can hate and not have a spirit of anger. It's just not doing right toward others. Do you remember the parable of the Good Samaritan? The religious people saw the man in the ditch, and what did they do? Nothing. That is biblical hatred. They didn't kill the guy. They didn't go over there and put him out of his misery. They just refused to get involved in helping him with his need. That's hatred. These have gone out and left the church. They're saying we don't have any responsibility to these apostolic Christians. They're so dumb. They're so unenlightened. They haven't gotten these new dreams and visions from God the way we have received them. And they will not listen to us when we say this is what God says. They just want to go by what John and those apostles said. We can't have anything to do with these anymore. So they left the New Testament Christians in the ditch. Said we don't want anything to do with them. Hate is the failure to deny oneself. It's the unwillingness to lay down one's life for a brother. John 15, 13. Hate considers its own interest first. 1 Corinthians 13, 5. Hate disregards the suffering and the afflicted, Luke 10, verses 30 through 37, the Good Samaritan. Hate despises the little ones, Matthew 18, 10. Remember that setting? The children getting around Jesus. Oh, get them away, get them away. They're troublesome. We've got important things to talk about here. That's a manifestation of hatred. It just doesn't have any time to help stop and pick up a little one and put it on your knee and find out what's going on in that little one's life. Too busy. More important things to do. Hatred withholds the cup of cold water from the thirsty, Matthew 25, verse 42. Hate makes no effort to welcome the stranger, clothe the naked, or help the sick, Matthew 25, verse 43. It is important that in this context here that we also identify the term brother. Jesus certainly taught, and John taught elsewhere, that we are even to love our enemies in a sense which we haven't time to enlarge upon. But the brother here in this context is not all men. It's the brotherhood of believers, those who hold to apostolic Christianity, those who belong to the community of faith. That's the brotherhood. It is not that John lacks concern for those outside the faith in this letter, but he has the community of believers in view. And as you stop and think about it, if a believer cannot love his own fellow believers, it is doubtful whether he can love his unbelieving neighbor. Moving lastly to verses 12-14, John now moves to assuring the faithful. I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name's sake. I write unto you, fathers, because you have known him that is from the beginning. I write unto you, young men, because you have overcome the wicked one. I write unto you, little children, because you have known the Father. I have written unto you, fathers, because you have known him that is from the beginning. I have written unto you, young men, because you are strong and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the wicked one." This is not an easy passage to deal with, either. After giving a strong warning to the apostates who have left the John, as will be his pattern throughout the entire letter, now turns to his readers and gives them a three-fold assurance of being in the Orthodox faith. So it's important to keep in mind that while John is identifying the counterfeit Christians, he is at the same time giving assurance to his readers that make up the true Christian community. Now why am I belaboring that point? Because in modern day commentaries and much of modern day preaching, the majority of modern day preaching for that matter, in the form of a deeper Christian life concept, that you've got two different levels of Christians and that here's a subpar level that John is trying to make them move up to a super level of Christians. That's not what John is dealing with. John is dealing with an apostate group of unbelievers who have left and he is condemning them and then he is reassuring those who have remained true to the faith. If we don't grasp that, much misinterpretation of this little letter will come forth and has come forth. The false teachers were claiming that the ordinary believers did not really know God because they hadn't received the special revelation of him through direct mystical revelation. I would caution all of you, my hearers, just to be aware of individuals that you will come across in your Christian experience which are always talking about God talking directly to them through visions and revelations. You better test the spirits, as we will be exhorted to later on. over here in the letter. These individuals were claiming that God talked directly to them and that he was giving them insights about himself that he had not given to the apostles, and that these poor, ordinary Christians were just too unenlightened for them to have any relationship with. So John is condemning that spirit while at the same time he is reassuring his readers, you are right. And if you want to find assurance, the doctrine of assurance for your own soul's sake out of 1 John, that distinction must be held. Otherwise, you will start reading 1 John and come up with all kinds of doubts and fears whether or not you are a true Christian. In verses 12-14, John addresses three sets of readers, dear children or little children, fathers and young men. I say this is not easy. The commentaries are pretty well divided on the meaning of this. Some Bible teachers believe that this is to be a division based on physical, chronological age. Little children, young men, teenagers and fathers the older people. This is referring to the physical age of John's readers. Other Bible teachers think it is a division based on spiritual maturity, the spiritual level of a small child, the spiritual level of a young person, and the spiritual level of an older person in the Lord. A third group to which I belong finds these interpretations inconsistent. For example, in the passage John starts out by writing unto who? Verse 12, little children. Who then would you expect him to go to in his second address? Young men, but he doesn't. He goes to the fathers and then to the young men. If he is speaking on chronological age or even spiritual maturity, why does he jump from the immature to the mature and then back to the intermediate stage? I don't think that that is what his purpose is. Elsewhere in the letter, chapter 2, verse 1, note John refers to all of his readers as See that? Verse 28 of the same chapter, he calls them little children. Chapter 3 and verse 7, he calls them little children. Verse 18 of the third chapter, my little children. Chapter 5 and verse 21, little children. So here, throughout the entire letter, he's calling all of his readers little children. So I don't believe that he is trying to make a three-fold distinction between three different categories of spiritual levels of maturity or of physiological development. Or what then is he doing? I think it's more reasonable to believe that each of these terms refers to all of John's readers in different dimensions of their life. They were all dear children, they were all fathers, they were all young men. And then he's going to take the characteristic of each one of these categories and say, this is what a faithful Christian consists of. Sometimes in the Bible, when a Bible writer or author contrasts ages such as young and He does so as a figure of speech to denote young and old and everybody in between. The prophet Joel does this in the Old Testament which is quoted by Luke in Acts chapter 2 and verse 28 where Joel speaks of old men doing what? Dreaming dreams and young men doing what? seeing visions. That under the age of the Messiah that there would be old men who would dream dreams and young men see visions. Now then, does that mean that all of the old men would have dreams and all of the young men would see visions? It doesn't say that, does it? This is but a poetic way of saying that dreams and visions will be experienced by the young, the old, and everybody in between. And Peter quotes that in Acts chapter 2. If this principle of interpretation is applied to verses 12 through 14, which we are in, then whatever is said of each age category is intended to be true for all believers. If so, watch your passage then and see if this does not come across with some wisdom. John then is asserting that his readers, like little children in their immaturity, have all experienced the forgiveness of sins for Jesus' sake, and have known an intimate relationship with the Father. Look at his descriptions in verse 12. Your sins are forgiven you for his name's sake. Then down in the latter part of verse 13, "'I have written unto you, little children, because you have known the Father.'" Now, obviously, young men and fathers know the Father. But here is but a way of saying that John's readers, even like little infants, have placed their faith in Christ and have experienced the forgiveness of sins, a childlike faith. that you do not have to know a whole lot to become a true Christian. You don't have to be a theologian. Even a child can place their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, have their sins forgiven, and come to know God. That's true of all Christians. Then, like fathers in their maturity, They have all truly experienced fellowship with Christ who is the eternal God. Look at the statement. I write unto you, fathers, because you have known him that is from the beginning. Speaking of Christ as God. In verse 14, I write unto you, fathers, because you have known him that is from the beginning. The repetition of the same thing. And finally, like young men, in their strength, who have engaged in spiritual warfare and have overcome the evil one and grown stronger because the word of God was living in them. Now, I ask you as my hearers, is that not true of you? Have you not had your sins forgiven, even in a childlike manner? Have you not come to see who Jesus Christ is? He's the one that was in the beginning with God. And have you not, through the power that exists in the Word of God, been given strength to overcome the false teachings of the world? It's true of all of us. John is but describing in different dimensions different categories which are characteristic of all true Christians. So in summary, John has now shown how the false teachers who were deceived and attempting to deceive others had failed the three tests of orthodox, apostolic Christianity. They had failed the doctrinal test of correct belief, they had failed the moral test of behavior, and they had failed the social test of love. They were not to be received as Christians or brothers in the faith, and this is seen in chapter 2 and verses 1 through 11. But far from questioning the salvation of his readers, or expressing dissatisfaction with their spiritual growth, or merely trying to raise doubts in their minds whether they are Christians or not, John is seeking to reassure all of his readers that their salvation that they have is in the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. They have all experienced the forgiveness of sin. They all have the knowledge of God. They all have victory in the spiritual battle. Thanks be unto God. which giveth us the victory through what? Our Lord Jesus Christ. Lay hold on the gospel, don't let go of it, buy the truth, sell it not, and by abiding in that, it will be in the grounds of your assurance that God has done something truly in you. Let's close in prayer.