Show me in the book of 1 John
2. 1 John 2. We're going to be in
1 John 2. verses 7 through 11 we're going
to read, but we're going to start with reading verse 1 of chapter
2 and review just a little bit of what we touched on last time.
It says, My little children, these things write I unto you
that you 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 whoso keepeth his word in
him verily is the love of God perfected. Hereby we know that
we are in him. And he that saith he abideth
him ought himself also to walk even as he walked. And just a
thought on this. In chapter five of 1 John, turn
on just a little bit in a way of a thought from those first
few verses. Chapter five and starting with
verse 10. It says, he that believeth on
the Son of God hath the witness in himself. He that believeth
not God hath made him a liar. Liar, because he believeth not
the record that God gave of his son. And this is the record. that God hath given to us eternal
life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath
life, and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. These
things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the
Son of God, that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and
that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God. As it says
it's written, these things are written and that we know that
this is the record that he has given us eternal life in his
son and no other means or no other way that we have seen that
man tends by nature to believe he can do something to cover
his self, to provide a righteousness and we know that there's no other
righteousness that is provided for God's people other than himself. And then verses 20 and 21, it
says, of the same chapter five of 1 John. And we know that the
Son of God has come and hath given us an understanding that
we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true,
even in his Son, Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal
life. Little children, keep yourselves
from idols. Amen. And here that it says here,
we know that the son of God has come and have given us an understanding
that we may know him that is true. And we know him that is
true because he has given us that understanding. And as he
asked Peter, who he who men thought he was, and then he asked Peter
who he said he were, and he said, you're the son of the living
God. And he said, flesh and blood
didn't reveal that to you, but my father, which art in heaven,
the spirit revealed that to him and to us. And that's the way,
the only way we have an understanding or a knowledge or a knowing of
who the Lord is is that life that he gives, his causing that
belief to be there. We can read the words of it and
that's a good thing and we can know the English language of
something and not understand it. I can read a book that I
have a book from One of my dad's brothers, he's a math professor
at Wichita State University. He's passed away since, but he
wrote a book for his doctorate thesis called Finite Mathematics.
Well, I can read the words of that. It didn't take me long
to get lost in what he's talking about. It's the same way with
the scriptures. People can read the words of
them, but without God revealing those things to us, We pray that
he reveals those things to us, and that's the way that spiritual
things are given to God's people, by faith that we believe these
things, and that he instills that and puts that in us, and
he says, We are in him that is true, even
in his son, Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal
life. And that's gonna, we're gonna
touch on that a little bit later in today's lessons. And then
in the book of Romans, just one thought before we move on to
where we're gonna be today, primarily, in Romans chapter eight. Romans chapter eight and Verse
16, and this is, actually I'd like to, back at verse 14,
Romans 8, 14. And following it says, for as
many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of
God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to
fear, but you have received the spirit of adoption, whereby we
cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness
with our spirit that we are the children of God. He bears witness with his own
that we are children of God. Some other person can't do that
for you. Some other person can't give you assurance of where you
stand. They can ask and we can tell them what to do. what we
think and what we believe, but they can't give us assurance.
And I think there's a lot of disservice done to people that
are in religion that are in doubt or that God is working with maybe
and are in doubt and don't know and other people will give them
assurance. When man does not have the ability to give assurance
to another man, we judge by what we see and what we know, and
we can say so-and-so is a faithful brother or sister in the Lord
by what we know, but we can't give assurance to a person on
those things. Only the Spirit of God can bear
witness with his people and give that assurance, and he gives
that assurance and is in that, and that's where That's where we stand and that's
where we must stand in that. And as a lead-in to where we're
in a little farther in chapter two of 1 John, where, let me
get the right chapter here. Where it speaks above of
in the, important verse that we looked
into there in 1 John 2, verse 1, where it said, My little children,
these things I write unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man
sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the
righteous. And that indeed is the position we find ourselves
in, and that He is at the father's right hand. He is there. He is,
as it says, an advocate, but we don't need one that argues
our position. Him being there is that ground
that we stand on. There's no argument. The father's
not, and the son aren't debating the issue of where we are and
who we belong to and what we are by his doing. Him being there,
is enough. That's who we stand in, and before
the Father, that's the assurance that we have, and that He has
done those things that are required for us for eternal life. And
then, to move along today, and to get on forward today, to kind of connect with it or
to go on from the previous lesson there, speaking about that. And
that lesson that we titled, Hereby We Know, and it talked about
some things that we know in him and where we stand. But starting
today, verse seven of chapter two of 1 John says, brethren,
I write no new commandment unto you, but an old commandment which
you had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word
which you 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 he is in the light and hateth his brother is in darkness
even till now. He that loveth his brother abideth
in the light and there is none occasion of stumbling in him. But he that, verse 11, but he
that hateth his brothers in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and
knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded
his eyes. And we're gonna, that, this is
gonna be a two-part, at least a two-part looking into the rest
of chapter two here. But verses 7-80, he said, right,
no new commandment, but an old commandment, which he had from
the beginning. The old, and we're going to look
at this, the old commandment or covenant agreement that God
made with himself in our behalf, the everlasting covenant, is
that based upon their, well, let's read that in Genesis chapter
three. Genesis chapter three in verse 15, in the area there,
it says, And read the account preceding
this about the fall and what the Lord said to them and what
the Lord said to the serpent there. But verse 15, it says,
I will put enmity between thee and the woman and between thy
seed and her seed. It shall bruise thy head and
thou shalt bruise his heel. And then to the woman, he said,
I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception. and it goes
on, read what it says there, but this is to the serpent that
enmity between the woman and between thy seed. And this is
obviously, and we know this is speaking of the Lord himself,
the Messiah that was to come. And they understood, Adam and
Eve understood more than we have record of exactly words of here,
because when she conceived Cain to start with, she said, I have
the man, And this was the hope that she had, and every believing
woman probably down through the ages did, that maybe this is
the one, and that as more light shined, through the scriptures
and on down, they had a little more realized that it was down
through time yet, but that that would be the one and the reason
of that was the seed was coming that was going to bruise the
head of the serpent. And speaking of the Lord himself
that we knew came quite a few generations down from there.
But at that time and that hope that they had was in that, the
picture they had of the skins that they were clothed with,
that God slayed those lambs and prepared that clothing for them
and put that on them. That was not of their doing or
their thinking that this would be a good way to dress. There
was a picture of the true covering that they would have to have
to stand before God. And that true covering and sacrifice
being the Messiah, the Lord himself. The old was covenant and the
old part of the eternal covenant, as it were, the old covenant
that was given was a covenant that couldn't be kept. It was,
if you do this, this is what you're to do, to obey these things.
It was not a possibility that they could do that. The everlasting
covenant was not based upon what we can do. If it was, then we're
forever in our sin if it's something we can do. It was based on that
sacrifice, that atonement that was gonna have to be paid of
him by himself for us. And so the covenant has always
been based on God's work of salvation for his people, atonement by
his sacrifice, the blood, forgiveness of sin through the blood and
justification by his righteousness. It's always been, the eternal
covenant's always been based on that and never based on I'll
do this and you do some of this and whatever. Man has diluted
it down to where he has the system where there's things that can
be done to cover himself in. We know what Adam and Eve, I
think that's more than just a joke that's been used over the years,
but Adam and Eve with the fig leaves, that was their Indeed,
their vision of what covering they needed. It was much deeper
than just that type of covering. And God, by covering them, indeed
pointed also, pointed again to that one that would bruise a
serpent's head. While we're in 1 John, in chapter
three of 1 John, Okay, and we're going to be in Chapter
3 just a little bit. Verse 23 and 24 of 1 John chapter
3 says, and this is the commandment that we should believe on the
name of his son, Jesus Christ, and love one another as he gave
us commandment. And he that keepeth his commandment
dwelleth in him and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth
in us by the spirit which he hath given. And again, the verse
that we just read above in In Romans said that his spirit beareth
witness with our spirit that this is so. And as it says here,
we know that we abide in us by the spirit which he hath given
us. And then in 2 John, turn the page or two, in the
book of 2 John, starting with verse five, 2 John verse 5, it says, and now
I beseech thee, lady, not as though I wrote a new commandment
unto thee, but that which we had from the beginning, that
we love one another. And this is love, that we walk
after his commandments. This is the commandment, that
as ye have heard from the beginning, ye should walk in it. For many
deceivers, For many deceivers are entered
into the world and confess not that Jesus Christ has come in
the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist. Look to yourselves
that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that
we receive a full reward. Verse nine, whosoever transgresses
and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God. He that
abideth in the doctrine of Christ hath both the Father and the
Son. And we'll see how this connects
a little later in chapter two of first John. where it speaks
about the commandment, the old commandment that they had from
the beginning, and that the commandment or the testimony or the covenant
that we had from the beginning is that one that we see beginning
in Genesis we have, and many times down through the scriptures
that speak about that, about the everlasting covenant. And
we see in Isaiah and Jeremiah and Ezekiel and all the books
concerning not only him, the Lord, as he opened to those two
on the road to Emmaus, but we see also how the eternal covenant
is what the promises are all based on. And it doesn't just
allude to that. In many places, it speaks of
the everlasting covenant or the covenant from the beginning.
And that is the basis for when he said, no new commandment,
but from the beginning, what you have heard from the beginning.
And that, it brings to mind a thought that people have an idea that
in the Old Testament, the old economy, as it is called sometimes,
that that brought about a faith and deliverance in people. And
now after Christ came, it shifted gears. It did not. More light
came and we're gonna read a couple of things that the Lord himself
say, but those from Adam and Eve's day on down and Abel and
all the ones that we have record of on down and that God has delivered,
all came through the same way. All came the same way. Those
things that they performed, religious ceremonies and things, They were
not the means of salvation to his people. They were a picture
of that. We're going to see that as it
says in 1 John there, it says, the darkness is passing. That
was the darkness. That was a shadow. That was a the shadow and pictures and types
of who's going to come. And many of those types and shadows
were very clear types and shadows. They weren't all, you didn't
have to squint just right to think maybe who it's talking
about, but all those things. And the book of Hebrews throws
a lot of light on what that religious system of ceremonies and sacrifices
and all those things did were many, many pictures that still
couldn't focus and show the reality of the Lord himself. But that
was what those were for, were a foretelling of that and a type
of that. Those sacrifices were a picture
of the blood that was needed to deliver his people, not animal
blood, and we're gonna see, but only his blood. But they were
a picture of that, and that's all they were. There were many
of them that looked to that, I think, and thought that that
was their salvation, was performing those things. And there's a couple
of places where God says, I take no pleasure in those. God's pleasure
was not in those sacrifices. It was in those that he revealed
what those sacrifices were about. And those were the ones that
that was speaking to. In the book of John, Gospel of
John, and chapter 17, John chapter 17, I'm gonna start with, let me
back up just a little bit to verse 23 of chapter 17
of John. It says, I in them and thou in
me that they may be made perfect in one. and that the world may
know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them as thou hast
loved me. Father, I will that they also
whom thou hast given me be with me where I am, that they may
behold my glory which thou hast given me. For thou lovest me
before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, the
world hath not known thee, but I have known thee, and these
have known that thou hast sent me. I have declared unto them
thy name, and will declare it, that the love wherewith thou
hast loved me may be in them, and I in them. And we'll see
how that connects to the love of the brethren that speaks on
a little bit later in there in 1 John chapter two we're looking
at. But here primarily that it says, I have declared, verse 26, I
have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it, that the
love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them. And speaking of the prayer for
the church, for his people, and that what he has made known to
his people, and that where it says, Verse 23, also we're
gonna look at how this connects today to what we're doing. I
in them and thou in me that they may be made perfect in one and
that the world may know that thou hast sent me and hast loved
them as thou hast loved me. And it says that we may know that he
has sent him and that thou hast loved him and loved his people,
that the world may know that thou hast sent me. Now, the world,
in the greater sense of every person, that's not so, that's
not so. It was physically evidenced that
he came, but there was, who hath, like Isaiah said, who hath believed
our report? Not many have believed the report, the report that we
have of all the scriptures. Not many have believed that report.
We may believe some of the aspects of it and think we understand
some things, but the true report that the only one and the only
way that we can be right before God and stand before him is by
the true sacrifice by his son in that covenant. We're gonna
change a little bit of thought here in just a minute. Matthew chapter five, turn to
Matthew chapter five if you would, please. Book of Matthew chapter
five. And here, speaking again of the,
of the covenant and the requirements that God has for sinful men and
the position that they are in and need to be in. First of all,
I'm gonna just read a verse or two of it here in John chapter
five, verse 40. 43, it says, you have heard that
it hath been said thou shalt love thy neighbor and hate thine
enemy. But I say unto you, love your enemies, bless them that
curse you, Do good to them that hate you, and pray for them that
despitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be the children
of your Father which is in heaven. For he maketh his son to rise
on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain upon the just
and on the unjust. For if you love them which love
you, what reward do you have he? Do not even the publicans
the same? And if you salute your brethren
only, what do ye more than others? Do not even the publicans do
so? Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is
in heaven is perfect. That ends on a bit of a note
that we, if we don't understand what's being talked about, we're
put up against the wall there again, pretty right up close
there where it says, Be therefore, be perfect as your Father which
is in heaven is perfect. Only one way that can come about,
that has come about, is that one that has redeemed his own and is at the
right hand of the Father and is that advocate for his people. That's the only way we can be
perfect or be sanctified as it were in other places where it
said, we are sanctified in him. We are set apart. We are made
as perfect and seen as perfect in him, as perfect as he is. And here when it speaks about
in, it speaks about, uh, uh, uh, uh, loving that in verse
43, um, Verse 43, where it says, you've
heard that it's been said. They said that, Christ says,
you have heard it said, where it says, love the neighbor and
hate thine enemy. They put the hate thine enemy
part into it. That was part of the old father's
customs. They could, that was kind of
a way to hedge your bet somewhat, because if you were treated a
little bit wrongly, then you could rightfully hate the other
person. The scripture doesn't say that.
He says you have to love your enemy. And also, but also the
whole of chapter five, the Beatitudes is called, and several things
that it, It touches on and it takes those things that by nature
that the Pharisees at that time and religious people and in our
day take as things that are good things and we do that as we stand
in good stead with the Lord. But these things it talks about
here are things that are impossible for us to do. It says, Blessed
are the poor in spirit. We're not poor in spirit by nature.
We think we're doing pretty good. God has to cause that to be about,
has to reveal that to us. They that mourn, so they should
be comforted. I think God's people that mourn
for different reasons, but mourning here for the situation we find
ourself in by nature of what our nature is like. We do mourn
for other situations, but here I think it's speaking about spiritual
mourning in that, blessed are they that are meek. By him we
are meek, because he was the meekest, and it's one of his
attributes, and it's not a weakness. It's a humbleness and a meekness,
and by Him we have that. Blessed are they which hunger
and thirst after righteousness. By Him we can do that. We can't without it. And blessed
are the merciful. They shall obtain mercy. By His
mercy, we understand some of what that is and can be there. The blessed are the pure in heart,
for they shall see God. In Him we are pure in heart.
Paul says we're not, but in Him we are. In the flesh we're not. Blessed are the peacemakers.
So by Him, peace has been made for us, and we understand that. And then it says in verse 10,
blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness sake. And he
has been that for us. In verse 11, blessed are ye when
ye men shall revile you and persecute you in your shame. say all manner
against you falsely for my sake. Not many of us stand in that
position, but he has been in that position, and he has taken
care of that also. So the Beatitudes are good things
to strive. They're not bad characteristics
to have, but we don't have them by nature, what it's speaking
about, and only in him, and only in the everlasting covenant do
those come about, have they been done for his people. Turn back to 1 John chapter 3. 1 John chapter 3. Read these first, these three
books, 1, 2, and 3 John if you get a minute or two, and they're
not very long, and there's a lot packed in. these books that I've
just enjoyed the time being in it. Chapter three, verse 11. Chapter three, 1 John 11 and
following. It says, for this is the message
that ye have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.
Not as Cain, who was of the wicked, went and slew his brother, and
wherefore slew he him, because his own works were evil, and
his brother's righteous. Marvel not, my brethren, if the
world hates you. Let's stop for just a second,
and it says here, because his own works were evil, and his
brother's righteous. Was Abel such a good guy? Probably
not. He might have been like a Jacob,
you know. We don't know of that, but we know that it was righteous
in that, He was not only doing the prescribed sacrifice that
he was instructed to do, but I believe he did that because
that's where his hope was in, was in the true sacrifice. Verse
13, it says, marvel not, my brethren, if the world hates you. We know
that we have passed from death unto life because we love the
brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.
Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer, and ye know that
no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him. Hereby perceive
we the love of God, but as he laid down his life for us, and
we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. And just stop
for just a second. Hear what it's speaking about
also here of the, we have, because the love of the brethren, And
it's speaking about not the world generally, the world as a whole,
but the love for the brethren. There's gonna be a bond there
because of the Lord and what he has put
in his people and put life in his people. There's gonna be
a common bond there. And it doesn't mean that we are
sloppy love over everybody that goes into church, but we do have
a affinity and a common thing and a love for the brethren in
that regard. Verse 17 and continuing, but
whoso hath this world's good and seeth his brother have need
and shutted up his bowels of compassion from him, How dwelleth
the love of God in him? My little children, let us not
love in word, neither in tongue, but in deed and in truth. And
hereby we know that we are of the truth and shall assure our
hearts before him. For if our heart condemneth,
God is greater than our heart and knoweth all things. Beloved,
if our heart condemneth not, then we have confidence towards
God. And whatsoever we ask, we receive
of him, because we keep his commandments and do those things that are
pleasing in his sight. And this is his commandment,
that we should believe on the name of his Son, Jesus Christ,
and love one another. And as he gave us commandment,
and as he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him,
and hereby we know that he abideth in us by the spirit which he
hath given us. And again, the witness of his
spirit. it assures us where we stand
and that we are in Him. And it's speaking about the love
of the brethren, which the chapter goes on, and we're gonna look
into that to a little bit more detail. One spot before we wrap this
up for this morning, in the book of Acts, Let's see. Acts chapter 17. Okay, Acts 17. It says, this is part, towards the end
of what Paul's preaching on Mars Hill. and at Athens and addressing
to the unknown God that they had. And down here in verse 28, it says, for in him, speaking
of Christ, We live and move and have our being, as certain also
of your own poets have said, for we are also his offspring.
For as much then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not
to think that the Godhead is likened to gold or silver or
stone, graven by art and man's device. And then, And then in the book of John,
one more time, John chapter one. And in him, it says we live and
move and have our being. And that is only realized and
only given to us by the spirit, not by our thinking on it. It says, John chapter one, Starting with verse 10, it says,
he was in the world, the Lord himself, and the world was made
by him and the world knew him not. He came unto his own and
his own received him not. But as many as received him,
to them gave he the power to become the sons of God, even
to them that believe on his name, which were born not of blood,
nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of
God. And the word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld
his glory, the glory of the only begotten of the Father, full
of grace and truth." And with that, we're gonna wrap it up
this morning, but as it says here, We beheld his glory as of the
only begotten of the Father, and that was by God's witness
to us. And that's where we'll pick up
next time, and that brings us to another close. Thank you for your attention
today, and be free.