Transcribed by Beluga AI.
Let’s turn to 1 John 4. I’ll read from verse 16 to 18, and then we’ll pray.
1 John 4:16: So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.
By this is love perfected with us so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is, so also are we in this world. There is no fear in love.
But perfect love casts out fear, for fear has to do with punishment. And whoever fears has not been perfected in love.
16 So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. 17 By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. (1 John 4:16-18, ESV)
Okay, let’s pray. Lord, we want to be perfected in your love. We want to be confident in your love. So that on the day of Christ Jesus, when we see you face to face, we will stand with our heads held high, not shrinking back in fear.
We thank you that you’re a God who is not ready to pounce on us. you’re not angry with us. There is no fear when we approach you, your Abba.
Father, we’re your children. Thank you, Lord. We pray that you would minister to us as we discover who you are a little bit more. Thank you, Lord. In Jesus’ Name we pray, Amen.
We’re going to talk today about confidence with God. Confidence before God. Are you confident before God? Are you confident before God? Do you feel condemned? Do you feel guilty? Do you feel like you’re not worthy? Do you feel like you’re not good enough? Or do you feel confident before God?
We covered 2 Peter, 2 Timothy. We looked at these letters because they were the last letters written by Apostle Peter and Apostle Timothy. They were written around AD 64, 67, 68.
And I thought, okay, why don’t we just finish it up? Why don’t we look at the last? One of the other prominent apostles, Apostle John. What did he write? He wrote the Gospel of John around AD 80. That’s why it’s different from the other three Gospels. This one came afterward, and he had the other three Gospels to look at.
Apostle Paul, I mean, Apostle John wrote the Gospel of John from A.D. 80 to year 90. And then he wrote First, Second, and 3 John somewhere between 90 to 95 A.D. And then, of course, the book of Revelation, 94 to 96.
Revelation, let’s just take that off the table. That’s not like John’s last letter. This is a revelation of Jesus Christ. But what did he write as his final words? We want to look at First, Second, and 3 John.
So 2 John 1:1, the audience is an elect lady and her children. That’s verse one. And so there’s some debate. Is this a sister leader in the church, or is this a metaphor for the church? In any case, he’s writing to this audience and this church.
And he says in verse five, and now I ask you, dear lady, not as though I were writing you a new commandment, but the one we have had from the beginning, that we love one another.
And this is love, that we walk according to his commandments. This is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, so that you should walk in it.
5 And now I ask you, dear lady— not as though I were writing you a new commandment, but the one we have had from the beginning— that we love one another. 6 And this is love, that we walk according to his commandments; this is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, so that you should walk in it. (2 John 1:5-6, ESV)
And so here we see three major things. One is, he says, love one another. Another way to say that, which we’ll see in 1 John, is walk in love. Then you see, walk according to his commandments. And we’ll look at 1 John. Another way to say that is walk in the light.
And number three, he says, watch out for deceivers, for many have gone out into the world. 2 John 1:7-8. Many deceivers have gone out into the world. Therefore, watch yourselves.
7 For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist. 8 Watch yourselves, so that you may not lose what we have worked for, but may win a full reward. (2 John 1:7-8, ESV)
Then he unpacks a little bit more. Verse 9. Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God. Whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son.
9 Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God. Whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. (2 John 1:9, ESV)
So these deceivers, they did not abide in the teaching of Christ, but swerved away from it, strayed away from it, took something away from the teaching of Christ, added something to the teaching of Christ. That’s why they are a false teacher, a deceiver.
But the true apostle, the true teacher, like John, is saying, I am one of them. I abide in the teaching of Christ. Meaning he’s very familiar with Christ’s teaching.
And if you if you’re going to study any part of Scripture this year, I encourage you study Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John especially.
Pay attention to the red letters, the authoritative words of Jesus, the teaching of Christ. And John says, I stay in this lane. I don’t depart from this. This is the true teacher. And I am giving through the Holy Spirit’s inspiration. I am unpacking a little bit more, but it’s not new. It’s what you’ve heard at the beginning. It’s just explaining a bit more. But it’s nothing new.
And so false teachers, they will take something, and it’s brand new. you’ve never heard it before. It never existed. 10 years ago, 50 years ago, 100 years ago, 500 years ago. It’s a new revelation, but it’s so different from the original.
But John says, okay, I’m writing this in the year 90. Jesus has been crucified for almost 60 years, but the message has not changed. I abide in Christ’s teaching.
And to prove this point, I’m going to read some verses throughout. 1 John, 2 John, 3 John. And I will give verses from John 8 just as an example. And it’s straight out of Jesus’ own mouth. 2 John 1:10-11.
If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your home or give him any greeting. For whoever greets him takes part in his wicked works.
10 If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house or give him any greeting, 11 for whoever greets him takes part in his wicked works. (2 John 1:10-11, ESV)
John is an apostle of love. And when you hear words like this, it doesn’t sound loving. I can’t let this person into my house. He’s dangerous. This seems to be the opposite of love. And it’s just something we need to wrestle with. Like, why does he say this? He’s an apostle of love.
And then, like, you show up at the door, and you hear about what he’s, what kind of teaching he has, and you say, oh, you can’t come in. It sounds very unloving.
And this church in particular, or this sister leader, if it’s a person or if it’s a church, whether it’s either way, it’s the same message. This person church was good at showing hospitality. That’s why he’s writing this.
They would welcome preachers, teachers, and missionaries who were just wandering through their city and needed a place to stay, the same way that Jesus sent out the 72. They went from door to door, and there were homes that were prepared by the Lord, and they received them into their homes.
These are itinerant preachers and missionaries. This elect lady church is good at showing hospitality. John is saying, watch yourself. There are certain people you should not be letting into your house.
Because he says if you let them into your house, you greet them, you’re actually participating in their wicked works. It sounds unloving, but actually John is so loving that this is a love with discernment. You can’t just tolerate everybody. Everyone’s not the same.
He’s saying, you gotta love with discernment certain people who are teaching a message that strays from the teaching of Christ that John and the other apostles are abiding. With these people, you cannot participate in their evil works. You cannot bless them with a meal and a place to stay. Don’t let them into your house. That’s what he’s saying. This is the apostle of love.
3 John 1:1. We have the opposing example. It sounds contradictory in a sense, but in 3 John, John is writing to his good friend Gaius. And some brothers that John sent to Gaius and to his church were received by them in the past.
And he says in verse five, beloved, it is a faithful thing you do in all your efforts for these brothers, strangers as they are, who testify to your love before the Church. You will do well to send them on their journey in a manner worthy of God, for they have gone out for the sake of the name, accepting nothing from the Gentiles. Therefore, we ought to support people like these that we may be fellow workers for the truth.
5 Beloved, it is a faithful thing you do in all your efforts for these brothers, strangers as they are, 6 who testified to your love before the church. You will do well to send them on their journey in a manner worthy of God. 7 For they have gone out for the sake of the name, accepting nothing from the Gentiles. 8 Therefore we ought to support people like these, that we may be fellow workers for the truth. (3 John 1:5-8, ESV)
So what John is saying here is, these brothers whom you accepted into your house and you bless through a meal and through shelter, I vouch for them, and you did a good thing by letting them into your house.
It’s almost the opposite of what he said in 2 John. Now he’s saying, these people you should let into your house, I can vouch for them.
3 John 1:9. I have written something to the Church, but Diotrephes, who likes to put himself first, does not acknowledge our authority.
So if I come, I will bring up what he is doing, talking wicked nonsense against us. And not content with that, he refuses to welcome the brothers and also stops those who want to and puts them out of the church.
9 I have written something to the church, but Diotrephes, who likes to put himself first, does not acknowledge our authority. 10 So if I come, I will bring up what he is doing, talking wicked nonsense against us. And not content with that, he refuses to welcome the brothers, and also stops those who want to and puts them out of the church. (3 John 1:9-10, ESV)
So in Gaius’ church, there’s a brother named Diotrephes. Diotrephes doesn’t like the brothers that are sent by John, and he slanders them. Instead of the church members who receive the brothers sent by John, Diotrephes hears about them, and he loves to be first.
That’s a bad description for a Christian leader. You love to be first, you love to be in the front, you love to receive glory, you love the limelight, you love the spotlight. That’s not a good description for a church leader.
But Diotrephes, who loves to be first, he kicks out people who should be embraced because these people welcome the brothers and missionaries that John vouches for. Do you see the complexity of this situation?
So two major themes in 1 John 1 are, God is light, therefore walk in the light. Number two, God is love, therefore walk in love. And we need them both. And so the question I want to wrestle with today is what happens if you only have one.
Suppose you are a person who only focuses on walking in the light, and you don’t really think about love. What happens in that case? Or you really don’t care about walking in the light, but you only care about walking in love. What happens if you only focus on one of the two and you don’t have both?
1 John 1:5. God is light, therefore walk in the light. This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light and in him is no darkness at all.
If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.
5 This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.(1 John 1:5-7, ESV)
God is light. In him is no darkness at all. And if we say we are walking with Jesus, we have fellowship with Jesus, we, we know Jesus. The demonstration, the evidence of that is that we, too, walk the way Jesus walked in the light. There’s no darkness in us.
And Jesus says of himself in John 8:12, I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.
12 Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12, ESV)
See, Apostle John abides in the teaching of Jesus Christ. What he said is not new. It’s not a new revelation. It’s more details added to the original revelation. Jesus, his teaching is authoritative. And any words that come out of an apostle, a true teacher should, should. You should be able to trace it back to Jesus’s own teaching.
Here he’s talking about walking in the light. It’s. There’s a difference between occasionally sinning, as we all do, occasionally stumbling, we all do. You don’t wake up in the morning saying, I’m going to sin today. You don’t wake up that way as a believer. But we all stumble into sin.
We all trip on the sidewalk as we’re walking down the road. It’s not our intention, but we trip, we fall, we stumble. That’s different than somebody who walks in darkness, who walks in sin, who walks as a pattern of life. Another way to say it is practicing sin.
1 John 2:3 and 5 speaks of keeping his commandments or keeping his word. Or walking in the same way that Jesus walked. How did Jesus walk? He walked in the light. He walked in freedom.
3And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. 4 Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, 5 but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: 6 whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked. (1 John 2:3-5, ESV)
You know the truth, and the truth will set you free. John 8. He walked in freedom. He walked in the light.
32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:32, ESV)
That’s why there’s so much power. That’s why there’s so much authority behind Jesus’ actions and his words, because he walked in the light. The encouragement for all of us is that we can walk in the same way in which Jesus walked.
So if you say that you’re a follower of Jesus, you walk with Jesus. Jesus walked in the light; we also must walk in the light. Not perfectly, but more and more the patterns of sin are broken. It’s not.
You don’t wake up expecting to sin. No, you expect not to sin. Today it’s possible. Did you know that it’s actually impossible to walk with Jesus and sin? You only sin because in that moment you’re not walking with him.
When you stop fellowshipping with him, when you’re not abiding with him, if you depart from him, then you’re vulnerable to sin. But if you’re walking with Jesus, walking in the light, it is possible that we will sin less and less and less. That’s the truth of God’s word. 1 John 2:29. Everyone who practices righteousness has been born of sin, born of him.
29 If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him. (1 John 2:29, ESV)
So it is a practice. It is a walking, it’s a pattern. The way you live, it’s just righteous. Everyone can say it. It’s just righteous. How you are in private, how you are in public, there’s an integrity, there’s a consistency, there’s power behind a life of integrity.
That you are not a hypocrite. You don’t have skeletons in your closet. You are what you present and what you believe with your mouth. You actually live it out. There’s power in that kind of a life. And we can practice righteousness. It’s a way of life.
1 John 3:4 and 10 mentions the practice of sinning, which is the opposite of righteousness, and describes sinning as lawlessness, like God has laws. But if you’re lawless, you think, well, that doesn’t apply to me. I can live however I want. Doesn’t God forgive me because we’re all sinners? Don’t you hear that all the time?
These people who justify sinning are lawless because there are certain laws, but they’ve thrown them off. They’re living lawlessly because I’m under grace. God will forgive me.
I can live however I want. That’s not what the gospel is. He unpacks it a little bit more. He says, no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him.
6 No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. (1 John 3:6, ESV)
So, if we’ve been Christian for 10, 20, 30, 40 years and we keep on sinning, as a pattern, as a lifestyle, we have to begin to ask the question, do I know him? Do I know him? Because if I knew him, I wouldn’t be like this.
We’re not saying perfection, but the pattern of your life, which trajectory is it? Is it toward righteousness or toward unrighteousness? And he says, whoever practices righteousness is righteous.
7 Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. (1 John 3:7, ESV)
We know that Jesus is righteous. No one is righteous. Right? We say that theologically, but Jesus is righteous. And just like Jesus, we walk like Jesus walked. We practice righteousness, therefore we are righteous, meaning we’re pleasing in God’s sight.
And then he says, whoever practices sinning as a pattern of life is of the devil. Jesus said the same exact thing. John 8:34. Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin.
34 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. (John 8:34, ESV)
Jesus came to break the chains of slavery, of bondage, to set us free. We’re no longer a slave of sin. So stop saying, I am a sinner and only thing I do is sin and sin and sin. No, that’s not true. We were once a sinner and all we could do was sin because we were a slave.
But now we have a new master. We’ve been set free. Now we’re a child of God. And so now we have a choice. Will we sin or not sin? We actually have a choice.
A lot of it is our choice. Before, you didn’t have a choice. You were a slave, and you had only one master. Now we have a new master. We have a choice.
John 8:44 compares the capital F, Father of truth, and the children who stand in the truth versus the lowercase father, father of lies, of the devil and his offspring.
44 You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. (John 8:44, ESV)
1 John 5:3. We know the commandments of God, but he says they are not burdensome. If you’re religious and you try through your effort to be holy and follow like 600 plus laws in the Bible, that is burdensome.
3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. (1 John 5:3, ESV)
But if you’re following Jesus, you love him and you want to please your Heavenly Father, and you want to live and abide in the light because they are in the light. They are the light.
It’s not burdensome. You just want to be close. It’s not a burdensome thing to say, I have to stop sinning. I want to practice righteousness. I want to be pleasing, I want to be close.
It’s not a burdensome thing to walk in the light. It’s way better than walking in darkness. God is light, God is love. Therefore, let’s walk in love first.
1 John 4:7. Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God. And whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.
7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. (1 John 4:7-8, ESV)
If you know God and you’ve been born of him, your life is characterized by light and love. So are you growing in love? Love for your spouse, is that growing?
Love for your child, children, is that growing? Love for your parents, is that growing? Love for church members, is that growing? Love for the lost, is that growing? These are signs that we know God, because God is love.
And it’s not a new message. 1 John 3:11. For this is the message you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.
11 For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. (1 John 3:11, ESV)
It’s not new. It’s so basic, it’s nothing new. But John is saying, it’s so important. I want to remind you, we need to love one another.
1 John 2:18 Children, it is the last hour. And as you have heard that Antichrist is coming, so now many Antichrists have come. Therefore we know it is the last hour.
They went out from us, but they were not of us. For if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out that it might become plain that they all are not of us.
18 Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour. 19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us. (1 John 2:18-19, ESV)
1 John 4:5 They are from the world, therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them.
We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us. Whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and a spirit of error.
5 They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them. 6 We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error. (1 John 4:5-6, ESV)
Satan’s main weapon in this life is deception. That’s his main weapon. And so how is he expanding his side? By sending out deceivers? False teachers, and they are many. Anybody whose teaching cannot be connected back to the teaching of Christ is a false teacher. That’s John’s definition. You just stay with the teaching of Christ.
Anything that you heard from this person, is it foreign, is it strange, is it new? Or can I locate it in the Gospels, in the teaching of Christ? That’s how we know who’s a true teacher and who’s a false teacher.
Isn’t it interesting, John saying, I have my side, the apostles are with me, and all the brothers I vouch for, they are with me. You should welcome them into your home. You can bless them, and that’s a good thing that you do. If they’re not with me, they’re against me.
Cult leaders can say the same thing. All my cult followers, they listen to me. Anybody who departed from me, they’re not. They’re not true people because they are apart from us. They left us. This is what cult people say.
Cult leaders say, like, you have to leave. You cannot leave us, because if you leave us, you’re leaving the faith. John is saying, if you leave our side, you are departing from the true gospel, and salvation is no longer guaranteed.
So how do we determine whose side should we be on? Who should we listen to? Who. Who should we give our ear to? How do we distinguish a true teacher and a deceiver? Does God leave it up to us? Is it just on us to figure that out? Or does God give us help?
1 John 2:20. But you have been anointed by the Holy One and you all have knowledge.
20 But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all have knowledge. (1 John 2:20, ESV)
And then verse 26, I write these things to you about those who are trying to deceive you.
26 I write these things to you about those who are trying to deceive you. 27 But the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no lie—just as it has taught you, abide in him. (1 John 2:26-27, ESV)
But the anointing that you receive from him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you. So we don’t have to struggle with ourselves to determine, can I listen to this guy? Is this person safe? Is there something wrong with this teacher? Are they teaching something that’s different? We don’t have to figure this out by ourselves.
We have the Holy Spirit. We have the anointing. Because we have the anointing. Truth and error. Right away the Spirit in us can testify this person. I resonate, it’s true.
I can locate it in the teaching of Christ. This is what I’m hearing is right, or this sounds like error. I never heard this teaching before. Jesus never said anything like this. It must be an error. Let me close my ear to this teacher. Let me shut off YouTube. Let me shut the door from this Jehovah Witness.
1 John 4:1. Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the Spirits to see whether they are from God.
1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. (1 John 4:1, ESV)
Even what I preach. Take some notes, take it to your prayer closet, open up your Bible and say what Ray said. Is it from the Lord? Is it in line with the teaching of Christ? Does the Spirit affirm this? Yes, what you heard is true. Or if not, then don’t listen to me.
1 John 3:16. By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.
But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk, but in deed and in truth.
16 By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. 17 But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? 18 Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth. (1 John 3:16-18, ESV)
And then 1 John 5:16. If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask, and God will give him life. To those who commit sins that do not lead to death, there is sin that leads to death. I do not say that one should pray for that.
16 If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask, and God will give him life—to those who commit sins that do not lead to death. There is sin that leads to death; I do not say that one should pray for that. (1 John 5:16, ESV)
We’re going to be starting small groups in early February. I’ll send out an email. It’s a closed group. It’s for members only. And that’s just to preserve confidentiality. To become a member of our church is rather simple.
You share your testimony of how you met the Lord publicly. We all affirm you know Jesus, and you get baptized by immersion. And as long as those two requirements are met, you’re welcome to join the small group.
In the small group, I want these verses that I just read from 1 John 3:16-18 and 1 John 5:16 to be ones that we keep in mind for the small group. And this is in the context of love.
Let’s stretch the circle of people that we love. Like, we understand Scripture, that there’s a lot of disqualified teachers in the church because their marriages are falling apart and their children are unruly and they’re unbelieving and they don’t even go to church.
These people actually should not be leaders in God’s church. There’s plenty of Scripture to back that up.
At the same time, do we ever feel as a father or as a husband that we’re ever quite good enough to lead God’s church? Like, if you wait to feel like, okay, I think I’m ready now because I think my marriage is strong enough. I think, think I’m a good enough parent. Will we ever step into leadership in God’s church?
Or will just the years and the decade just pass us by, and then we’ll get to the end of our lives, and God will say, who did you love in your life? And we’ll say, just my family. Wasn’t that enough? Wasn’t that good enough?
I want us to start stretching the circle of people we love. How do we love? We love in word and in deed, not just talk. And also in the truth.
When we meet on a Sunday, we tend to just stay at a surface level, and we just kind of bless each other. We can do that week after week for years, and we’re just kind of at the surface of loving each other.
We’re kind to each other, we accept each other. There’s a safety, which is great, but to share in terms of word and in truth, and indeed, that takes a deeper level of knowing somebody. You wouldn’t feel safe with a room full of strangers saying, I’m really struggling with this.
I really, I really need this. We might feel embarrassed to even say that. But in a small group, it’s a safe place that we can say, actually, I’m struggling. I need something, I need this.
That’s the purpose of a small group, that we can start loving in more concrete ways. You know, there’s churches like Friendship Baptist Church in Pasadena, where 20 families lost their homes and another 20 families were displaced, and they can’t step foot into their home because of smoke damage or whatever.
And so that church is now struggling with, okay, 40 families have been displaced. How can we love them in word and in deed and in truth? Much more than God bless you brother, good luck.
No, but are we going to like take them into our home? Are we going to bless them financially? Like, aren’t we all the same family? Like they’re now wrestling in a very concrete way and I want us to do that now as a church.
Like we, we want to get our hands a little more dirty and say, let’s help this person concretely. And sometimes it’s, it’s in truth and sometimes it’s not easy to talk about this.
Like if somebody is not self-controlled in their tongue and in their emotions and it’s spilling out all over the place in their home and they’re sharing about and they’re venting about it, okay, that’s fine that they share and vent. But also as a small group, you want to give some truth to that situation. Say there’s a better way to do this.
Let’s try to help this person to tame their tongue and to give their bad emotions to Jesus, and receive Jesus’s peace, his righteousness, and his nature so that it can be different now.
And so we can do this all in a small group. One of the best ways we can love one another is as we hear about the prayer request, the struggles, and the concerns about a fellow small group member. One of the most loving things you can do for that person is to pray for them specifically about what you heard.
You pray for them specifically. Like we can pray generally, Jesus, meet all of us. That’s a general prayer, it’s a good prayer. But Lord Jesus, this person needs you in this area, in their tongue, in their finances, in their emotions, and you pray for them specifically in that.
That’s such a loving thing to do in a small group that you can hear about it, pray for them in a small group, pray for them throughout the week. You know exactly how to pray for them. I need prayer. That’s why I want a small group.
I want a more than a Sunday. Like Sundays, I think you get a flavor of what I’m going through. I’m pretty much an open book. So if you listen carefully to my sermons, you know what I struggle with the week before. The Lord is addressing me, and he’s helping me.
But in a small group, there’s times I say, I really need prayer this week. And in a small group, I will share that, say, I need some help here. We need both walking in the light and walking in love.
What happens if we only focus on one side? I think if you focus only on one side, it leads to condemnation. It leads to condemnation. Always feeling guilty, never good enough.
If you only focus on being in the light and ignoring being a person who walks in love, or you only focus on walking in love, but you ignore walking the light, either scenario. I think at the end you’re going to feel condemned.
Let me explain what I mean. There are internal attacks. 1 John 3:19. By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him. For whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart and he knows everything.
19 By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him; 20 for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything. (1 John 3:19-20, ESV)
If you focus only on walking in the light, there’s always going to be a nagging question. Because Jesus is in the light and God is love. He walks in both parallel tracks. you’re always going to wonder, how come I’m not more loving? I thought I should be more loving. I’m striving to not sin.
I’m striving to be righteous and holy and set apart and have a new practice, a new pattern of righteousness. But there’s going to be this nagging question: how come it doesn’t come out? Why doesn’t it spill out beyond my spouse, beyond my kids? How come I’m not shiny? How come I’m not more loving? There’s going to be this nagging question which leads to a sense of condemnation.
On the flip side, if you only focus on love and on Sunday, you’re very extroverted. you’re always putting on a happy face. you’re always trying to serve.
But when you get home, there are some skeletons in the closet. There are some struggles, some addictions. It’s just you. It’s not the. you’re not whole yet. you’re walking in love. That’s great. Are you walking in the light?
There’s going to be a sense of condemnation, like, am I a phony? Is this all an act? How come I’m only one-sided? Why is it not expressing in terms of walking the light? I thought I should have overcome these issues by now. There’s going to be a condemnation that comes in. And again, it’s a difference.
When you occasionally stumble, as we all do, there’s going to be a heart that will rise up in condemnation. But God is greater than that kind of heart that condemns you because you occasionally stumble.
But if it’s your pattern of life that you sin and sin and sin, you’re going to be condemned. your heart will condemn you, and it’ll be a right condemnation. And you got to ask yourself, do I know Jesus because he walks in the light? How can I fellowship with him and walk in darkness?
There’s an internal condemnation. But if it’s occasionally stumbling, like, occasionally like you, you want to love, but occasionally you mess up in loving.
But your goal is, I want to be more loving. I want to love as many people as I can in this world. I want as many people to be saved in my lifetime through whatever I can do to contribute to the salvation of others, as long as that’s your intention.
But occasionally, like you, you have trouble loving your spouse, occasionally you have trouble loving your kids. There’s a condemnation that rises up.
But God knows your heart. God is greater than that, and He covers that over. But if your intention is not to love others and it’s just, I just want to love a very few people in this world, then I don’t know if you’re covered in the same way.
So there’s an internal condemnation from our own heart. God says, if it’s occasional, I cover you, I’m greater than your heart. 1 John 4:4.
Then there’s the external attacks from people or from dark forces. Little children, you are from God and have overcome them. For he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.
4 Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. (1 John 4:4, ESV)
It reminds me of Jesus in John 8:10-11. Woman caught in adultery. All these religious men are ready to throw stones at this woman. Like, where is this man? Like he. He’s not even in the conversation, which is very odd. It’s only condemnation for this woman caught in adultery. And these religious people are ready to throw stones.
And Jesus says, if you don’t have sin in you, then whoever. Whoever. What does he say? He says, whoever is without sin, then throw the first stone. Cast a stone.
And so these older religious people, they know they have sin. They can’t be hypocritical, and they’re ready to punish this person for their sin. They’re not going to throw a stone because they too have sin. So they leave.
And Jesus says, women, where are they? Has no one condemned you? And she says, no one. And Jesus says, neither do I condemn you. Go. From now on, sin no more.
10 Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” 11 She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.” (John 8:10-11, ESV)
So there’s no condemnation. There’s no condemnation for this woman. And she committed one of the most horrific, shameful public sins imaginable, being caught in the act of adultery.
4 they said to him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. (John 8:4, ESV)
And Jesus says, you’re not condemned. I don’t condemn you. But now that you received this grace, now walk in the light. Sin no more.
What happens when both walking in the light and walking in love come together? You feel confidence for the day of judgment, that eternal life awaits you.
1 John 3:21. Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God.
21 Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God; (1 John 3:21, ESV)
And whatever we ask, we receive from him because we keep his commandments and do what pleases Him. And 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.
22 and whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him. 23 And 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. (1 John 3:22-23, ESV)
In 1 John 4:16, we’ll end with this. So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love. And whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.
By this is love perfected with us so that we may have confidence for the Day of Judgment, because as he is, so also are we in the world.
There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear, for fear has to do with punishment. But whoever fears has not been perfected in love.
16 So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. 17 By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. (1 John 4:16-18, ESV)
So if you have both, if you walk with Jesus, meaning you walk in the light and you walk in love, at the end of your life, you’re going to have confidence. Confidence on the Day of Judgment.
Confidence when you see Jesus face to face. You are not a fake. You are not a phony. You lived it out. You are a loving person.
At the same time, you are set free from the chains and the patterns of sin. You are who you say you are. You are walking the way that Jesus walked. That is supreme confidence. I am a child of God.
We’re not perfect, but we’re not thinking God. He’s gonna hit me in the back of my bottom because I messed up here and there occasionally. No, He’s not that kind of a father. There’s no fear when we approach God as our Abba Father, as long as, to the best of our ability, we walked in love, walked in the light, and walked with Jesus.
When we see God, we have confidence he’s going to accept us. He knows us. Jesus says, I know you, well done, good and faithful servant. But to those who walked in lawlessness, who walked in sin, although they did ministry, Jesus says, I never knew you in Matthew 7:23.
Okay, let’s pray.
Lord, as we studied Apostle John’s final words, we see that he abided in the teaching of Christ because everything he said we could locate in the very authoritative teaching of Christ in the Gospels.
We all are followers of Jesus. We are those who walk with Jesus. And Lord, you’re showing us a little more detail of what that looks like to walk with Jesus. We are people who walk in the light. A new pattern of righteousness. No more practicing of sinning, but sinning less and less.
Stumbling on occasion, but for the most part set free from all the chains. The truth sets us free while walking in the light, as Jesus walked in light. Thank you Jesus. You walked in love. And we too want to love more and more people.
We want to stretch our hearts to love people beyond the church walls, to love the community, to love the 8.9 billion people in the world. Why not through a handful of us that we could reach all of the world for Christ with online, Lord?
We can reach someone on the other side of this world. It’s possible, Lord, with technology, Lord, without having walking in light and walking in love. We know we’re going to struggle with condemnation. Something’s not right. But when you have both in increasing measure, there’s a great confidence. We all want to get there.
Then on our last breath, we are fully confident that you’re going to welcome us on the day of Christ Jesus or when you return. There’s going to be great confidence, not cowering in the corner, wondering are we acceptable in your sight, but confident, head raised high.
We want to live like this in this life. Thank you, Lord. Thank you for Your Body that was broken for us and Your Blood shed. We pray that you minister to us as we close out this service. In Jesus’ Name we pray, Amen.