There is something that we should all take note of in the Book of First John. Fellowship, sharing our lives in Christ, doesn’t continue for nothing. Once we have accepted Christ, we must continue to be obedient so that we can continue our fellowship in Him. Our reward for obedience is continued fellowship even throughout the rest of eternity. This may sound simple enough but even our veteran Christians can attest to the fact that this is no simple task; especially when we desire the opposite of what we are supposed to be doing. Think of the struggle you have with your children, or had with your children, about bed-times, putting up their toys, and doing what you have said in general. It can be a very arduous and stressing task to get your children to obey at times. I wonder where they get some of it from. I will admit children have their own rebellious spirit but you as parents have significant power over how they grow up.
You wouldn’t want to do it like one lady did. One author discusses the issue of obedience in the home and one frustrated mother. “Every conscientious parent recognizes how difficult it is to exercise his God-given authority over his children. The delicate balance of being tough yet tender is not easy to maintain. Many parents intensify a rebellious spirit by being dictatorial and harsh. Others yield when their authority is tested. When a strong-willed child resists, the pressure to give in for the sake of peace and harmony can become overpowering. I am reminded of the mother who wanted to have the last word but couldn’t handle the hassle that resulted whenever she said no to her young son. After an especially trying day, she finally flung up her hands and shouted, "All right, Billy, do whatever you want! Now let me see you disobey THAT!" - Our Daily Bread.
I know it can be very frustrating when you are dealing with your children and they refuse to listen. Trust me, I was one of those children who was extremely independent and wanted to do everything myself. Yet, you are the ones who are setting the example for your children and grandchildren. The Bibles speaks hundreds of times about obedience. We must be obedient to the government (Romans 13) which includes speed limits, seat belts, honesty on tax papers, etc. You name it we need to be obedient to God’s commands and set the example. In our marriages, husbands and wives are teams but if you are asked to do something and refuse because it takes you away from the television what do you think your children are going to do? Obedience plays a big role in our families, in our jobs, in our everyday lives. We want our children to obey and yet we ourselves sometimes don’t set the example. The next section in the book of 1 John that we will cover has to do with being obedient to continue our fellowship with God. “By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments.” Obedience is the litmus test to show that we are walking with God. We will only cover four commands we are to be continually obedient to today; 1)We must keep God’s Word in our minds and hearts, 2) We must live and act as Christ did, 3) We must learn to love our Christian family, and 4) We must not go back to living like we used to. We must be obedient to Christ to have fellowship with Him. Let’s look at the scope of these four commands that we should obey.
Keep the Word in your Heart (4-5)
“The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected.”
John spends the entirety of this small letter speaking to a group of Christians who should already know the truth. They have made a commitment to Christ and they have been baptized in His name. John now warns them that anyone who claims to know Christ and yet disobeys God’s rules is a liar and they have nothing to do with the truth. These men and women have little or nothing to do with God because they refuse to obey the commands God has set down and now live out a false life, a pseudo-Christian lifestyle where they act and seem like Christians but have no intention of obeying God. However, on the other side of the scales a true Christian will keep God’s word and the love of God will find completion in Him. This means that the Christian will keep or in other words follow strictly the Word of God. If any Christian devotes themselves to keeping the scriptures they will come closer and closer to living just like Jesus Christ. Christ was the perfect reflection of God and as a person devotes themselves to God’s word, they will learn to live and act just like Christ.
This first command isn’t as difficult as it may sound. Although long term, it can be very rewarding, it takes some dedication and strength to perform. Psalm 119:11 says, “Your Word I have treasured in my heart, that I may not sin against You.” The first and foremost command we must obey to continue our relationship with Christ is reading His Word; not just reading it like you would a magazine but really spending time meditating on what it actually says. We meditate on God’s word by reading it and taking time to think about its meaning and relevance to our lives. You might meditate on John 3:16 by thinking carefully about the important words in the verse. “God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son so that whoever believes in Him will not perish but will have eternal life.” God the Father loved the world. He must have loved us greatly to send His Son to die for us. Would I send my own child to die for someone else? Do you see how you can reflect on the simple pieces of the verse? This gives you a much greater understanding and attachment to God’s Holy Word. To keep our relationship with Christ and other Christians, we must study, meditate upon, and read the Scriptures God gave us. Try this, start with just 10 minutes a day of reading the Bible. Start in the gospel of John, fourth book in the New Testament, and read 10 minutes a day. If you don’t understand, call me and I’ll be glad to help you or write me an email. If we get enough people wanting to do it we can start a small group and start meeting.
Walk in His Ways (6)
“The one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.”
The first command we must follow says that we must learn God’s Word and the second follows along the same lines; we must learn to live and act as Christ did. The person who calls themselves a Christian, says he abides in Him, ought… The person “must” walk in the same way Christ does. The idea of walking in the Bible refers to a pattern of living. They walked or lived a certain path in their lives. John lets these Christians know that to continue having a relationship with Christ, they must learn to live just as Christ lived. Christ set the example of exactly how humans should live. Christ had all the emotions and faculties that we do. He was tempted in many of the same ways. Scandalous women walked by in skimpy clothing and Christ had to resist thinking improper thoughts. Jesus could have used His fame and abilities to become rich among the people. He could have desired money more than God. He struggled just as every human being struggled and yet chose to serve God and follow God’s commands over everything else.
We know that Christ perfectly loved every single human being. He did not label them as “cheater” or “jerk.” He could have easily fallen into the temptations we do. He could have but He didn’t and that is why he is our perfect example. He managed to deny himself all the temptations we fall for and walk the straight and narrow. Now that we have chosen to accept Christ, we must also walk as Christ walked; live as Christ lived. He loved everyone, even through their sins against Him. He helped the poor and uplifted the hurt and depressed. He gave His life in God’s service so that He might save anyone who would accept His gift of eternal life. There might be a principle we can learn from this. I know you have professional ministers like Gary and me but according to this verse all Christians are to live just like Christ did. This means that all Christians are to give their lives to Christ and let Him use them to reach others. A Christian must be totally dedicated to Jesus Christ and to serving Him with every ounce of their life. Oooohhh! Wow, that is some requirement. The second command we are to follow is that we are to live just as Christ lived.
Love your Christian Family (7-11)
“Beloved, I am not writing a new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning; the old commandment is the word which you have heard. On the other hand, I am writing a new commandment to you, which is true in Him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true Light is already shining. The one who says he is in the Light and yet hates his brother is in the darkness until now. The one who loves his brother abides in the Light and there is no cause for stumbling in him.
First He commands that we learn His word and then He commands that we live like he did. Those are some hefty requirements to have fellowship with Christ. Yet, John is not done in this second chapter of his letter. John gets a little more specific this time by mentioning something that some people may not want to talk about. To explain the new and old commandment verses, the old commandment means the Old Testament rules and laws and the new commandment means the New Testament after Christ. The Old covenant with God before Christ had already told them that they should love one another but now that Christ has come and died for them John wants to make sure they understand that this command comes from Christ. Christ is the light and since he has come, he has been ridding the world of evil and darkness. Someone who hates their brother in Christ lives in the darkness and not in the light. If the light is Christ, then a Christian would want to live in the light. A Christian can live in the light if they love their brothers and sisters in Christ.
We must learn to love each other even if we do not like each other. Ok, yeah, you are not always going to see eye to eye with everyone around you. I don’t see eye to eye with most of you but that’s because I am 6’1” and most of you aren’t. Seriously enough, when I went to interview with the Elders about this position and becoming your minister, I only asked one question. I only had one question that meant enough to actually ask that afternoon. “Can you agree on a decision and support it even if you weren’t for it?” I basically asked them if they could keep harmony and balance by honoring the group’s decision. That doesn’t mean they totally agreed with it but that they would support the group regardless. They are all intelligent and wise men whom I trust implicitly now, but I would not have come here unless I believed they could have harmony. That doesn’t mean we always agree about what to do but it does mean that we must band together in the love of Christ. You don’t have to always like the way people act but you can love them all the same. You love your children even when they are disobedient don’t you? You can learn to love your brother and sister in Christ.
Do not fall back into the world (15-17)
“Do not love the world nor the things of the world. If anyone loves the world the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.”
The last commandment John gives concerns the world we live in and the temptations we face. We must keep His commandments in our hearts and walk in His ways, including loving our brothers in Christ. Now John gives one final command in the second chapter of his letter; do not go back to the way you were before Christ. Do not go back to loving the things of the world. These Christians must have had many temptations as even we do today. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” When they had become Christians, their lives had changed from the old sinful way of life into the new and improved Godly way of life. Their souls were picked up out of the mud-pit known as sin and washed off. If anyone loves the sins and evils of the world, the Father is not in him. The world says that you want what you cannot have, need what you don’t need, and deserve stuff you really do not want in the first place.
If you desire more of the world and less of God, you may need to check your spirituality. Which is more important to you, the emotional well-being of your wife or your television show? The mental well-being of your husband or your own need to express yourself? We place great value on things that don’t really matter. We place great value on things we want and stuff even above the well-being of our family. Have you ever placed your own desires over that of your families? Have you forced your way regardless of others feelings and needs? You only have one wife like the one you have now. You only have one husband like the one you have now. That person is a special, specific person worth more than all the money and stuff the world has to offer. God says to love, honor, and respect that spouse. Your new life should free you from the junk of the world so that you can. How can you say you are a Christian and not put your precious family first? I have so many comments and emotions I have grabbed from each of you on my heart as I say this. I know EXACTLY what it takes to deny your beloved family of their needs. It is called selfishness. You say, “I deserve this. I deserve a break. I deserve television time. I deserve what I want.” Why are you looking at yourself rather than Christ anyway? Christ is the center; NOT YOU! Stop acting and living as everyone else in the world does and start focusing your life on Christ. The last command we have is that we should not return to the way we were.
There is only one last piece of the chapter that needs to be emphasized. If we continue to abide, live with, Christ we will be rewarded because He promised us one thing; we will live eternally in Heaven with Christ. “This is the promise which He Himself made to us: eternal life.” If we obey Christ now, we will have a relationship with Him throughout eternity. We will have joy and peace for all of eternity with our heavenly Father. Christ promised that if we obey we will have eternal life. We must obey His commands; 1) learning His word, 2) living like Christ did, 3) loving even when we don’t like each other, and 4) Living like the new creatures we are and not falling back into the old way we used to live. If we obey Him, we will receive eternal life. What will you do? The first step in obeying Him is accepting Him as your God. You have sinned, failed morally, and denied God with your life. You must confess your sinfulness and must believe that Christ came to remove that sin. You must confess that Christ came and died for you. You must repent of the sins you committed. This means you must leave those sins behind and hate them. Turn away from your sins and turn towards the holiness of Christ. Finally you must be obedient in baptism. Baptism spiritually removes your sins and brings your spirit back to new life. You will be a totally new person. We must be obedient to have fellowship. Will you get your life in line with God’s commands? Will you be obedient? Will you truly love your spouse? Will you truly respect your spouse? What will you do today?
