SERMON OUTLINE:
(1). Why did he write the letter?
• He wants Christian’s to be satisfied:
• Chapter 1 verse 4:
• He wants Christian’s to be sinless:
• Chapter 2 verse 1:
• He wants Christian’s to be safe:
• Chapter 2 verse 26:
• He wants Christian’s to be secure:
• Chapter 5 verse 13:
(2). What to look out for in the letter?
• Theme 1: Love:
• Theme 2: Light:
• Theme 3: Life
SERMON BODY:
Ill:
• Joke: How many Christians does it take to change a light bulb?
• (it’s always good to laugh at ourselves!)
• How many Pentecostals does it take to change a light bulb?
• Answer: Ten.
• Explanation: One to change the bulb & nine to pray against the spirit of darkness.
• How many Reformed Christians does it take to change a light bulb?
• Answer: None.
• Explanation: The lights will go off & on at predestined times.
• How many Catholics does it take to change a light bulb?
• Answer: None.
• Explanation: Candles only
• How many Baptists does it take to change a light bulb?
• Answer: At least 15.
• Explanation: One to change the bulb and three committees to approve the change.
• How many Anglicans does it take to change a light bulb?
• Answer: Four.
• Explanation: One to call the electrician, one to make the drinks;
• And two to talk about how much better the old one was!
• How many Amish does it take to change a light bulb?
• Answer: What’s a light bulb?
• How many Amish does it take to change a light bulb?
• Answer: What’s a light bulb?
• How many United Reformed Church members does it take to change a light bulb?
• Answer: None.
• Explanation: How dare you be so intolerant!
• So what if the light bulb HAS chosen an alternative light style?
• How many Brethren does it take to change a light bulb?
• Answer: What do you mean change!
• TRANSITION: We are called (as Christians) to be light in a world of darkness;
• Not as some believers seem to think;
• Moaners, grumblers and complainers about the darkness!
IF we are to make a difference and impact our communities, our nation, our world:
• We need to heed the advice found in this first letter of John.
• In this letter the apostle John will tell us that:
• How you live means more than what you say!
• He will teach us that hypocrisy and hide-and-seek games with worldliness;
• Hurts you and those around you.
• He will teach us that many of the feelings people ‘fall into’ –
• Sentimentality, emotionalism, and lust – are not love!
• He will teach us that real faith must be based on time tested truth!
• He will teach us how each of us can be the person God wants us to be.
• I hope you are excited about studying this First letter of John;
• Because it ‘scratches where we itch’.
• As we seek to apply its truths with the enabling of the Holy Spirit.
• We can be people who walk in the light!
General observations:
• John was a fisherman who one day heard Jesus say; ‘follow me’.
• He left his nets and followed Jesus.
• This letter was penned about sixty years after he first heard Jesus say ‘follow me’.
• And it was written in Ephesus, Turkey around about A.D. 100.
Notice:
(1).
• The letter contains no opening and no closing greetings.
• But the experts confidently assure us that it was John the apostle who wrote it.
• You can invest in a Bible commentary and read for yourself the reasons why!
• The early Church leaders are recorded as saying John wrote this letter.
• i.e. Papias who was Bishop of Hierapolis (near Laodecia) around a.d.125,
• i.e. Irenaeus Bishop of Lyons and Vienne in Southern France around a.d.185
(2).
• The letter has no destination;
• We have no clues as to where it was sent.
• But it was written to Churches John knew well;
• He refers to them again and again – in fact 9 times as ‘My dear Children’,
• He refers to them 6 times as ‘Dear friends’ (K.J.B.: ‘Beloved’)
• And the writer often uses the person pronoun ‘I’;
• There is a close relationship here, a bond.
(3).
• All though this letter was written to counteract certain false teachings;
• Primarily to Christians around about Asia Minor.
• If you ‘Google’ Asia Minor, you discover Asia Minor;
• Was the area between the Black Sea, Aegean Sea, and the Mediterranean Sea
• But scholars agree;
• That this was a general letter written to groups of Christians everywhere.
(4).
• As you read through 1 John,
• It would do us all good to read the whole letter every week during our studies;
• You can read in about 10 mins.
• So make yourself a cuppa of tea or coffee, find a comfy seat;
• And read this short letter through each day this week.
• If you do that you will notice that;
• John does not lay out his thoughts in a linear, point by point fashion.
• e.g. the way the Apostle Paul does in his letters and teaching.
Ill:
• John orchestrates his subjects
• e.g. ‘Love & hate, life & death, light & darkness, truth & error’
• He orchestrates these subjects like themes in a symphony.
• He begins with a simple proposition then adds a contrasting idea.
• Then he waves in new themes;
• And new contrasts that crescendo and fall in waves.
• Wherever you open his letter you will find some variation of his basic message;
• Which is:
• ‘When you believe the right things about God;
• You will demonstrate that by right living.’
(1). Why did he write the letter?
• Every letter is written for a reason;
• And if you scan this letter you will soon discover;
• That John has four main reasons why he put pen to paper with this first letter.
Reason #1: He wants the Christian’s to be satisfied:
• Chapter 1 verse 4:
• “WE WRITE this to make our joy complete.”
• Note: the apostle John only once uses the word ‘Joy’ once in this letter;
• But as you will discover;
• Joy weaves itself through the entire letter.
Ill:
• The communist revolutionary Karl Marx wrote:
• “The first requisite for the people’s happiness is the abolition of religion”.
• TRANSITION:
• The apostle John tells us in verse 3 the very opposite is true:
• The first requisite for the people’s happiness is fellowship.
• But more than that - he tells us who that fellowship needs to be with;
• “Our fellowship is with God the Father and his Son Jesus Christ”.
• Fellowship with God is not only the privilege of a Christian;
• But it is also the Christian’s source of constant joy!
• When you and I break that fellowship;
• We lose our joy!
Reason #2: He wants the Christian’s to be Sinless:
• Chapter 2 verse 1:
• “I WRITE THIS to you so that you will not sin”.
• Again and again in these early chapters John mentions sin.
• He draws our attention to it because it is sin that breaks that relationship with God;
• And sin which robs us of our joy and fellowship.
Ill:
• A party of school children were being showed around a hospital;
• And the nurse who was giving them a tour round asked if anyone had any questions;
• One child asked,
• "How come the people who work here are always washing their hands ?"
• The nurse gave the answer;
• "They are 'always washing their hands' for two reasons.
• First they love health; and second, they hate germs".
The apostle John wants every Christian to love God and hate sin.
• Sin is more than just wrong actions, outward disobedience,
• It is a wrong attitude an inner rebellion or desire.
• Sin is disobedience to what God has said (in the Bible),
• Sin is living independent of God (very 1st commandment “Put God first”)
Note:
• The apostle John is not saying we must be perfect and never sin;
• Because he openly talks about why we fail and what to do when we fail.
• i.e. chapter 1 verse 8 to chapter 2 verse 2.
“If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.
My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father – Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. 2 He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.”
• The point is as we develop our fellowship with;
• “God the Father and his Son Jesus Christ”.
• We will become more ‘Godlike’ and choose to walk in the light rather than in the dark.
Reason #3: He wants the Christian’s to be Safe:
• Chapter 2 verse 26:
• “I AM WRITING these things to you about those who are trying to lead you astray”.
• In the early Church there was a big problem;
• There was a lack of recognised approved teachers for the Church to draw upon;
• Only the apostle John from the 12 disciples was still living.
• The other disciples had all been martyred for the faith.
• So John was the only ‘one of the twelve’ disciples alive;
• And he was living in Ephesus, Turkey;
• And so his influence in the Church was geographically limited.
• Also there was at this time no complete New Testament to draw upon.
• ill: So you could not turn to chapter so and so and check somebody’s teaching out.
• This meant that the early Church was vulnerable to false teachers and false doctrines.
Christians were ideal for false teachers to infiltrate for two reasons:
• Unlike unbelievers, who need winning over;
• Who are often spiritually cold or dead.
• Professing Christians & church goers are half-way there,
• They believe in God, they want to understand the things of God in a deeper way.
• So false teachers often find receptive individuals with a willingness to learn.
Ill:
• When our children were small;
• We could give them plastic money to play with and pretend it was real.
• We could give them toy mobile phones to play with and pretend it was real.
• But that only worked for a short while;
• As they grew up they could see the imitation for what it was – false.
• The toy money & phone promised so much;
• But could not deliver on its promises because they were fakes!
• The best way to detect what is false and an imitation:
• Is to compare it with the real thing - Jesus Christ is the real thing.
• He is ‘The Truth’ so we must keep close to him.
Reason #4: He wants the Christian’s to be Secure:
• Chapter 5 verse 13:
• “I WRITE THESE things to you who believe…so that you may know that you have eternal life”
• The word ‘Know’ (Gk: ‘oida’) is used over forty times in this letter;
• In fact the Greek meaning is very strong in emphasis; ‘to know absolutely’.
• The whole book of 1 John centres around the fact we have life in the Son of God;
• And that whoever has the Son has life!
Ill:
• My foot has life because it is part of my body,
• It has no life apart from my body.
• But joined with my body, it has the life of the body.
• TRANSITION: John reminds his readers that:
• Jesus Christ produces eternal life in us; and he also sustains this life for us.
• Because our ‘eternal life’ is sourced in Jesus Christ and is a gift of God:
• We cannot lose it; for it does not depend on us but on Him.
Ill:
• A man once came to the eighteenth century American evangelist D. L. Moody;
• He said; “Mr Moody, I am worried and afraid because I do not feel saved”.
• Moody asked him a question; “Was Noah safe in the ark?”
• The man replied, “he certainly was,”.
• Moody then said: “Well, what made him safe, his feeling or the ark?”
• The man did not say anything – he got the point!
• TRANSITION: Our ‘eternal life’ is sourced in Jesus Christ and this is a gift of God:
• We cannot lose it; for it does not depend on us but on Him.
So John has four key reasons for writing this letter:
• Chapter 1 verse 4: He wants Christian’s to be satisfied:
• That our joy may be complete.
• Chapter 2 verse 1: He wants Christian’s top be sinless:
• That we will not live sinful lives.
• Chapter 2 verse 26: He wants Christian’s top be safe:
• To warn us against false teachers.
• Chapter 5 verse 13: He wants Christian’s top be secure:
• To give us assurance in Christ.
(2). What to look out for in the letter?
• Three key words keep cropping up in this letter;
• They are ‘Love, Light & Life’.
THEME 1: Love:
• You might be surprised to know that John is the only person in the Bible;
• Who makes the statement that ‘God is love’.
• Throughout the Bible we are told that ‘God loves us’.
• But that is different to saying ‘God is love’.
• This is a revolutionary statement that is unique to the God of the Christian!
Ill:
• To say, ‘God is love’ means that God is more than one person.
• You cannot be love by yourself.
• Love is sourced, rooted, in relationships.
• We know that God is three persons – Father, Son and Holy Spirit;
• And therefore we can say, ‘God is love’.
• Before the world came into being there was the Father, Son and Holy Spirit;
• Who all loved each other.
• Now because God is love – that characteristic has to be the hallmark of his people;
• Love is not an optional extra for the Christian;
• It is the glue, the cement that binds everything and everyone together.
THEME 2: Light:
• Chapter 1 verse 5b:
• “God is light; in him there is no darkness at all”.
• That means God in his very nature is light.
• In this letter for example chapter 1 verses 5,6,&7;
• Notice how John compares two very different things – light & darkness.
• He compares sin to darkness;
• And in contrast he compares God to light.
• Obviously he pointing out to his readers that the two cannot exist together;
• Light always destroys darkness.
Ill:
• At church a little girl had listened to a lesson "Let Your Light Shine."
• The only part she remembered of the talk was that Bible verse,
• She didn’t understand what it meant so she asked her mother;
• Who explained, "It means being good, obedient, and cheerful."
• In the afternoon the girl had an argument and fight with her brother;
• The little girl excused her behaviour by saying;
• "Mum, I've blowed myself out.”
• TRANSITION: the apostle John will instruct his readers that ‘God is light’;
• Therefore as his children we need to ‘walk in the light’.
THEME 3: Life:
• Both in his gospel and in his letter;
• Life is one of the apostle John’s favourite words;
• He uses it again and again and again!
• e.g. He uses it three times in the prologue of the letter (verses 1-5):
• Verse 1: “…concerning the Word of life”
• Verse 2: “The life appeared…”
• Verse 2b: “…and we proclaim to you eternal life…”
Every Christian is given ‘eternal life’ as a gift from God;
• The moment they put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ.
• Eternal life does not start the moment the Christian dies,
• Eternal life starts the very moment we believe/are converted!
• Remember eternal life in the Bible is always twofold - quantity and quality.
• Quantity of years (forever with the Lord);
• Quality of life (life lived in fellowship with God).
Notice:
• We have eternal life;
• Because of his ‘life’, that is of course Jesus Christ!
John tells us three things in verses 1-4 concerning that ‘Word of Life’.
• He was from the beginning
• He was seen and touched
• He was sent for a purpose
(1). HE WAS FROM THE BEGINNING (VS 1)
“That which was from the beginning”
Ill:
• When friends went to get their baby son checked in a hospital,
• The doctor told them, "You have a cute baby."
• Our friends said, "I bet you say that to all new parents."
• "No," he replied, "just to those whose babies really are good-looking."
• "So what do you say to the others?" they asked.
• The doctor replied, "I say he looks just like you!"
• Everyone one here had a beginning;
• We were good looking babies or looked just like our parents!
• But says the apostle John, there is one baby who never had a beginning.
• He had a time of conception like all of us;
• But don’t think for one moment that was his beginning!
• The "beginning" referred to in verse 1,
• Literally means, “Before there was anything else” – “From everlasting to everlasting."
• Jesus Christ was and is and shall be!
• He alone is the only One who was and is and forever shall be!
(2). HE WAS SEEN AND TOUCHED
“That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life”
• John writes from personal experience;
• And tells us four things in verse 1 about his encounter with Jesus Christ.
• “He heard him”
• “He saw him”
• “He looked on him”
• “He touched him”
Ill:
You might say what’s the difference between ‘seeing’ and ‘looking’:
• ‘Seeing’ refers to physical sight.
• The Greek word translated as ‘Looking’ or ‘Gazing’ means to ponder at something or someone;
• Until that something or someone has been grasped, understood.
• John the apostle grasped hold of the real identity of Jesus;
• He was God in human form!
Quote:
Christ by highest heav'n adored
Christ the everlasting Lord!
Late in time behold Him come
Offspring of a Virgin's womb
Veiled in flesh the Godhead see
Hail the incarnate Deity
Pleased as man with man to dwell
Jesus, our Emmanuel
Hark! The herald angels sing
"Glory to the newborn King!"
(3). HE WAS SENT FOR A PURPOSE
“We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. 4 We write this to make our joy complete”.
Ill:
• A small boy, the child of missionaries,
• Had been away at boarding school for about one year.
• One Christmas time, the principal was visiting the boy in his room,
• Trying to cheer him up he asked, “What would you like to have most for Christmas?”
• The boy looked for a long time at the framed picture of his father on his desk;
• And remembered that he was far away in another country.
• The boy said quietly,
• “I would like for my father to step out of that picture frame!”
• Christ, through His incarnation, “stepped out” into this world.
• He entered our world with a purpose – to save men and women!
• Jesus himself could say his mission was:
• "To seek and to save the lost."
Ill:
• In the bread and wine before us (on the communion table);
• We are reminded of how the incarnation was in itself not enough;
• It would take the sacrificial death of Christ.
• “When God made him who had no sin, to be sin for us!”
SERMON AUDIO:
https://surf.pxwave.com/wl/?id=fjyGODmZbHuGtLYNlqZelRJMshX8J0Pd
