1 00:00:00,030 --> 00:00:04,440 Okay we begin again I II III John for Beginners, this is lesson number 2 00:00:04,440 --> 00:00:08,820 two in that series. Title of this lesson: Walking in the Light. We'll be covering 3 00:00:08,820 --> 00:00:16,619 I John 1:1-2:29. Well last week we began the 4 00:00:16,619 --> 00:00:20,310 study of I John by reviewing the character and the history of John 5 00:00:20,310 --> 00:00:25,710 himself, John the Apostle, and the circumstances in which he wrote this 6 00:00:25,710 --> 00:00:31,650 series of epistles. I'm not going to review the information about John but 7 00:00:31,650 --> 00:00:35,910 I do want to briefly look at the reasons for writing the letter because it's very 8 00:00:35,910 --> 00:00:40,050 important we understand that before we actually get into the text. When we 9 00:00:40,050 --> 00:00:45,690 understand the reason for the writing it will help us understand the nature of 10 00:00:45,690 --> 00:00:51,120 the debate going on. Now in the first century the main non-Jewish group to 11 00:00:51,120 --> 00:00:56,039 enter the church were the Greeks, they brought with them many of their former 12 00:00:56,039 --> 00:01:02,160 ideas and philosophies which they tried to merge with Christian thought. One of 13 00:01:02,160 --> 00:01:08,610 those ideas was the notion that in order to be saved a person needed certain 14 00:01:08,610 --> 00:01:16,009 special knowledge which would transform them from a physical context to a purely 15 00:01:16,009 --> 00:01:22,890 spiritual context. Usually the secret instructions involved 16 00:01:22,890 --> 00:01:29,700 restrictions about certain foods and other types of ascetic practices. Now 17 00:01:29,700 --> 00:01:34,560 this idea was called Gnosticism and it was causing several problems in the 18 00:01:34,560 --> 00:01:40,380 church at the time. First of all they were trying to change the teachings 19 00:01:40,380 --> 00:01:46,740 concerning the character of Christ in order to fit their philosophy. They had 20 00:01:46,740 --> 00:01:52,920 an idea about how the soul was saved, how the soul was freed, and they wanted to 21 00:01:52,920 --> 00:01:58,409 merge that idea with the idea of the gospel and it wasn't quite fitting well 22 00:01:58,409 --> 00:02:03,930 so they were kind of forcing the two ideas to merge together. Now since the 23 00:02:03,930 --> 00:02:11,580 Apostles taught that Jesus was fully God and fully man simultaneously the Gnostic 24 00:02:11,580 --> 00:02:16,500 teachers had trouble reconciling the idea that a divine being could dwell 25 00:02:16,500 --> 00:02:23,240 in the form of a man, because they believed that spirit was purely good and 26 00:02:23,240 --> 00:02:29,970 flesh was purely evil and in order to have salvation the spirit had 27 00:02:29,970 --> 00:02:34,410 to escape the flesh and so along comes Christianity and says well here's a 28 00:02:34,410 --> 00:02:40,800 divine being spirit dwells in a fleshly body, so they were having trouble 29 00:02:40,800 --> 00:02:46,020 reconciling those ideas with their previous thinking. They taught that you 30 00:02:46,020 --> 00:02:51,840 were one or the other but you couldn't be both and certainly not both at the 31 00:02:51,840 --> 00:02:57,720 same time as the Apostles claimed Jesus was. And so their solution was to claim 32 00:02:57,720 --> 00:03:03,960 that Jesus was only a spirit who appeared to be a man, it wasn't really 33 00:03:03,960 --> 00:03:09,330 flesh, He was pure spirit that's okay that accounted for His purity, His 34 00:03:09,330 --> 00:03:13,110 sinlessness, His power, He was pure spirit but He only appeared as a 35 00:03:13,110 --> 00:03:17,730 man, He wasn't really a man, there was really no flesh there. Of course this 36 00:03:17,730 --> 00:03:22,530 violated the Apostles teaching and reduced the Christ to the status of a 37 00:03:22,530 --> 00:03:28,590 ghost or an apparition, not the Divine Son of God coming as a man to die, you 38 00:03:28,590 --> 00:03:34,470 have to be in flesh to die for sin, and raised from the dead again you have to 39 00:03:34,470 --> 00:03:39,750 be in flesh to be raised from the dead in order to conquer death for all of 40 00:03:39,750 --> 00:03:46,560 mankind. Their teaching was meant to control the minds and the lives of 41 00:03:46,560 --> 00:03:50,580 others not to free others with the gospel of Christ. And I want to tell you 42 00:03:50,580 --> 00:03:56,490 some just an observation here, the gospel is always about freedom not 43 00:03:56,490 --> 00:04:01,080 about restriction, it's about freedom certainly not freedom to sin willingly 44 00:04:01,080 --> 00:04:07,200 but it's about freedom in life; Christ came to set us free from the Law 45 00:04:07,200 --> 00:04:13,730 and from the ravages of sin and not restrict us further than we already are 46 00:04:13,730 --> 00:04:20,459 restricted in many ways. Also this doctrine also undermined the effect of 47 00:04:20,459 --> 00:04:25,290 correct doctrine by causing Christians to doubt their salvation by Christ and 48 00:04:25,290 --> 00:04:29,740 doubt there own eventual resurrection. So imagine the 49 00:04:29,740 --> 00:04:33,190 questions, now this is what you're being bombarded with this 50 00:04:33,190 --> 00:04:39,370 Gnostic idea: if Christ was a ghost then who died for my sins? I mean the entire 51 00:04:39,370 --> 00:04:45,300 Old Testament premise of a vicarious sacrifice, animal sacrifice in 52 00:04:45,300 --> 00:04:51,100 preparation for the Lamb of God the human sacrifice of Jesus all of that 53 00:04:51,100 --> 00:04:57,760 goes out the window, so who died for my sins, a ghost? Or are my sins dealt with 54 00:04:57,760 --> 00:05:03,250 by the cross or by my own efforts to learn and apply this secret knowledge is 55 00:05:03,250 --> 00:05:07,420 that how I'm saved? I used to think according to the Apostles that I was 56 00:05:07,420 --> 00:05:13,060 saved because I believed, Jesus did this for me, but if this is true then I've got 57 00:05:13,060 --> 00:05:16,240 to do something, I've got to learn the secret knowledge, I've got to apply the 58 00:05:16,240 --> 00:05:23,910 secret knowledge. Thirdly if Christ was an apparition is there any bodily 59 00:05:23,910 --> 00:05:29,500 physical resurrection for Him or for me? Because if He's not physical 60 00:05:29,500 --> 00:05:34,960 like I am and demonstrates to me a physical resurrection how do I know what 61 00:05:34,960 --> 00:05:38,950 assurance do I have that I will have my own physical resurrection? I mean if He's 62 00:05:38,950 --> 00:05:44,860 just a ghost, I'm not a ghost I'm a real flesh-and-blood person and the 63 00:05:44,860 --> 00:05:49,660 promise that I understood was that my flesh and blood would resurrect in a 64 00:05:49,660 --> 00:05:57,130 different format but it still be me. Okay and then fourthly if He was a ghost is 65 00:05:57,130 --> 00:06:04,030 that what I will become also will I become a ghost is that what I will be? So 66 00:06:04,030 --> 00:06:08,590 to counter this dangerous teaching and bolster the sinking faith of the ones 67 00:06:08,590 --> 00:06:15,670 affected by it John writes a letter that has two main objectives: first of all to 68 00:06:15,670 --> 00:06:21,400 establish the true identity and character of Jesus. The Apostles had 69 00:06:21,400 --> 00:06:25,330 already done this with the gospel message but it seems that he needed to 70 00:06:25,330 --> 00:06:32,320 you know reestablish this idea with them. And secondly to restore confidence in 71 00:06:32,320 --> 00:06:39,100 the disciples that they could be sure of their salvation. The Gnostic 72 00:06:39,100 --> 00:06:42,700 teachers created doubt and fear and so John is writing to 73 00:06:42,700 --> 00:06:48,640 re-instill in them confidence concerning the surety of their salvation. So today 74 00:06:48,640 --> 00:06:54,070 we're going to review I John 1:1 all the way to 2:29 where John 75 00:06:54,070 --> 00:06:58,450 describes the Jesus that he knew personally and one of the three ways 76 00:06:58,450 --> 00:07:04,780 that they could be certain not just for sure certain of their salvation. So we 77 00:07:04,780 --> 00:07:10,120 begin with the historical Jesus, John chapter 1 beginning in verse 1 he says, 78 00:07:10,120 --> 00:07:14,590 "What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, 79 00:07:14,590 --> 00:07:19,390 what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life- 80 00:07:19,390 --> 00:07:25,120 and the life was manifested, and we have seen and testify and proclaim to you the 81 00:07:25,120 --> 00:07:31,540 eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us- what we have 82 00:07:31,540 --> 00:07:36,760 seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with 83 00:07:36,760 --> 00:07:42,670 us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ. 84 00:07:42,670 --> 00:07:50,080 These things we write, so that our joy may be made complete." So John was an 85 00:07:50,080 --> 00:07:55,900 Apostle and the criteria for being an Apostle if we remember was that you had 86 00:07:55,900 --> 00:08:01,630 to be an eyewitness of Jesus' life from His baptism at the hands of John the 87 00:08:01,630 --> 00:08:06,580 Baptist all the way through to His death, burial and resurrection. You had to 88 00:08:06,580 --> 00:08:13,390 be a witness of that in order to qualify to be one of the 12 Apostles. This 89 00:08:13,390 --> 00:08:18,100 means that when he writes this particular letter he writes as a person 90 00:08:18,100 --> 00:08:23,140 who has seen personally the life and the death and the resurrection and yes even 91 00:08:23,140 --> 00:08:30,400 the ascension of Jesus, he writes about what he has witnessed not conjecture not 92 00:08:30,400 --> 00:08:36,150 opinion not hearsay not what he heard somebody say but what he actually saw. 93 00:08:36,150 --> 00:08:43,479 Remember these Gnostic teachers never met Jesus, they never had any contact 94 00:08:43,479 --> 00:08:49,180 with Him, so John begins by establishing the idea that he as an Apostle, he has 95 00:08:49,180 --> 00:08:53,350 had contact with Jesus and between the lines here he's saying who you 96 00:08:53,350 --> 00:08:58,140 believe the one that actually lived with Jesus for three years or 97 00:08:58,140 --> 00:09:03,340 these teachers who are simply bringing a philosophy based on their own 98 00:09:03,340 --> 00:09:09,790 thinking never having met or interacted with Jesus Himself? So in the end his 99 00:09:09,790 --> 00:09:15,360 readers must choose to believe what he teaches based on what he's seen or the 100 00:09:15,360 --> 00:09:22,780 Gnostic teachers secret wisdom based on their philosophies. Now he doesn't refer 101 00:09:22,780 --> 00:09:29,290 to Jesus by His given name but by titles that He has and qualities of His nature 102 00:09:29,290 --> 00:09:34,150 and position that he has used before in his gospel record. In other words in 103 00:09:34,150 --> 00:09:39,360 these first four verses he uses a lot of terms that he used in his gospel in the 104 00:09:39,360 --> 00:09:46,420 the prologue of his the Gospel of John; for example in verse one he says, what 105 00:09:46,420 --> 00:09:52,870 was from the beginning. Well you know in in John chapter 1 verse 1 he talks about 106 00:09:52,870 --> 00:09:58,980 Jesus was there at the beginning the Word was with God all right. He 107 00:09:58,980 --> 00:10:06,250 refers to Jesus in verse 1 as the word of life again another statement 108 00:10:06,250 --> 00:10:13,660 taken from John chapter 1. In verse 2 of this epistle he calls Jesus the life in 109 00:10:13,660 --> 00:10:18,850 verse 2 he calls him the eternal life, another place in verse 2 he says he is 110 00:10:18,850 --> 00:10:23,860 with the Father, another place in verse 2 he says he was manifested to us. All of 111 00:10:23,860 --> 00:10:30,670 these terms here are terms that he used previously to describe Jesus in his 112 00:10:30,670 --> 00:10:36,310 gospel. Now in verse 3 he finally gives the name of the person he has referred 113 00:10:36,310 --> 00:10:43,120 to in six other ways in the previous verses. These titles are given and used 114 00:10:43,120 --> 00:10:51,670 to establish the divine nature of Jesus Christ. So first of all He was at the 115 00:10:51,670 --> 00:10:58,990 source of creation in the beginning and time and that's what begins okay that's 116 00:10:58,990 --> 00:11:05,170 that's what begins time, time begins with creation. He embodies the 117 00:11:05,170 --> 00:11:11,020 life-giving word. God spoke the creation into 118 00:11:11,020 --> 00:11:17,770 existence and John is saying Jesus is the embodiment of that word of that 119 00:11:17,770 --> 00:11:24,400 creative power, if that creative power were formed as a human it would be Jesus 120 00:11:24,400 --> 00:11:30,010 that's the point he's making here. He says that Jesus gives life in the sense 121 00:11:30,010 --> 00:11:36,910 that He is the life-giving spirit in human form that we might recognize. He 122 00:11:36,910 --> 00:11:42,730 also says that He is eternal there's no beginning or end if you were 123 00:11:42,730 --> 00:11:46,360 there at the beginning of creation it means you were there before creation 124 00:11:46,360 --> 00:11:52,420 well the beginning of creation is the beginning of time so if you were there 125 00:11:52,420 --> 00:11:59,020 before the creation what you're saying is you're before time your eternal. He 126 00:11:59,020 --> 00:12:04,090 says that Jesus is with God, He has been made manifest meaning He's been revealed 127 00:12:04,090 --> 00:12:08,640 meaning that the true nature He possesses has been made known through 128 00:12:08,640 --> 00:12:14,260 divine revelation, we could never guess it we could never see it 129 00:12:14,260 --> 00:12:21,940 we could never intuit it. The only way we know about Jesus is that He has been 130 00:12:21,940 --> 00:12:28,600 divinely revealed to us through God. All of these terms can only be applied to a 131 00:12:28,600 --> 00:12:34,390 spiritual being thus establishing Jesus as a fully divine spirit. Do you understand 132 00:12:34,390 --> 00:12:39,640 the point that he's making? He's using all these titles and he's using all 133 00:12:39,640 --> 00:12:44,770 these descriptions of Jesus' presence and eternity and power and abilities and 134 00:12:44,770 --> 00:12:49,690 so on and so forth to convey the idea that only a divine being could be 135 00:12:49,690 --> 00:12:56,380 referred to in this way and that's how he's saying it to his readers: this Jesus 136 00:12:56,380 --> 00:13:06,340 He's divine He's God He is a fully divine spirit. Now John also mentions that he 137 00:13:06,340 --> 00:13:14,080 knew or experienced Jesus in another way in a very physical way as well, he heard 138 00:13:14,080 --> 00:13:19,960 Jesus speak, he mentions in verse 1, he saw Jesus with his eyes 139 00:13:19,960 --> 00:13:24,880 again he mentions in verse 1, he touched Him with his hands. I mean this 140 00:13:24,880 --> 00:13:31,840 would not be possible if Jesus was a ghost if He was just an apparition; if He 141 00:13:31,840 --> 00:13:36,360 was an apparition you couldn't touch and feel the warmth of His flesh, 142 00:13:36,360 --> 00:13:42,730 you couldn't hear the tenor of His of his voice and see Him move 143 00:13:42,730 --> 00:13:47,740 about. Let's face it, I don't want to you know make it too simplistic here but you 144 00:13:47,740 --> 00:13:51,820 live with somebody for three years walking up and down the dusty roads 145 00:13:51,820 --> 00:13:57,640 between Galilee and Jerusalem and you eat with someone what 146 00:13:57,640 --> 00:14:02,830 do you think they did, they slept in houses they slept outside they slept in inns. You 147 00:14:02,830 --> 00:14:07,210 see them eating food you see them going to the restroom you 148 00:14:07,210 --> 00:14:12,790 you watch them you know sit and and wipe their brow from from fatigue 149 00:14:12,790 --> 00:14:16,900 when he stopped in the village and asked for a drink because he 150 00:14:16,900 --> 00:14:21,220 was tired and thirsty. I mean you have that physical interaction with an 151 00:14:21,220 --> 00:14:24,640 individual you're pretty convinced after three years that you haven't seen a 152 00:14:24,640 --> 00:14:30,060 ghost this is a real person. So my point is John here is arguing that Jesus is A) 153 00:14:30,060 --> 00:14:34,840 divine because He has all these you know titles and powers and the revelation 154 00:14:34,840 --> 00:14:39,220 that God has given and B) He's fully human because he's had an experience he 155 00:14:39,220 --> 00:14:42,570 seen Him and touched Him and heard Him all right. 156 00:14:42,570 --> 00:14:48,460 So according to John, Jesus is no vision he was able to interact with Him just 157 00:14:48,460 --> 00:14:52,720 like any other human being, as a matter of fact what Jesus has received from God 158 00:14:52,720 --> 00:14:59,830 as only a divine spirit could receive, He has given to John as only one person 159 00:14:59,830 --> 00:15:05,290 could give to another and John is passing it along to them in his gospel 160 00:15:05,290 --> 00:15:10,780 and now in this particular letter. Of course what he's passing along is the 161 00:15:10,780 --> 00:15:15,400 good news surrounding the death, burial and resurrection of Christ and the offer 162 00:15:15,400 --> 00:15:20,560 of eternal life to every person who believes, those are the terms of the 163 00:15:20,560 --> 00:15:27,280 gospel, those who believe are the ones who are saved not those who learn about 164 00:15:27,280 --> 00:15:33,590 the secret knowledge. So the eternal life or this eternal life is seen or discribed 165 00:15:33,590 --> 00:15:39,290 as a fellowship that all believers have together they have it with the Apostles 166 00:15:39,290 --> 00:15:44,900 they have it with Jesus and ultimately they will have it with God and so when 167 00:15:44,900 --> 00:15:48,980 you talk about eternal life you're talking about a status you're talking 168 00:15:48,980 --> 00:15:53,000 about a dimension you're talking about an experience not just time it's not 169 00:15:53,000 --> 00:15:57,380 just eternal like you know forever and ever but it's a it's a context 170 00:15:57,380 --> 00:16:02,540 it's an experience and John is saying that eternal life is the experience of a 171 00:16:02,540 --> 00:16:07,790 conscious life with not only the Apostles and the saints but also the 172 00:16:07,790 --> 00:16:12,380 Apostles and the saints and Jesus and the Father as well at one point. That 173 00:16:12,380 --> 00:16:17,900 will be the context and the experience of our eternal life the fact that we are 174 00:16:17,900 --> 00:16:24,080 associating and in fellowship with in real time in reality in 175 00:16:24,080 --> 00:16:29,210 consciousness we will have that experience this is the promise and the 176 00:16:29,210 --> 00:16:33,740 reward of the gospel. And so John concludes by telling them that the 177 00:16:33,740 --> 00:16:37,910 purpose of his letter is to encourage them to remain faithful 178 00:16:37,910 --> 00:16:42,500 so that John and the others might rejoice in their faith because there's 179 00:16:42,500 --> 00:16:47,570 no joy for them if they fall away. What joy is there if they fall 180 00:16:47,570 --> 00:16:50,810 away? There's no joy. Now the next section 181 00:16:50,810 --> 00:16:55,720 gives the readers a first way that they can be certain of their salvation. 182 00:16:55,720 --> 00:16:59,870 Remember they're struggling with the idea that Jesus may only be an 183 00:16:59,870 --> 00:17:04,910 apparition and John has shared his first-hand contact with the Lord with 184 00:17:04,910 --> 00:17:11,240 them, they also have begun to doubt if any real change has 185 00:17:11,240 --> 00:17:15,650 taken place if they truly have been saved, am I really saved? How 186 00:17:15,650 --> 00:17:18,770 should I feel about that how do I know that I'm saved 187 00:17:18,770 --> 00:17:23,270 what are the markers, how can I be sure? So 188 00:17:23,270 --> 00:17:27,050 they want some kind of evidence that will confirm that they are truly 189 00:17:27,050 --> 00:17:33,110 spiritual and truly eternal in nature and thus saved. John responds by saying 190 00:17:33,110 --> 00:17:37,640 that one way they can be certain of the transformation in themselves is to note 191 00:17:37,640 --> 00:17:43,520 the difference in their present lifestyle compared to their past. Again 192 00:17:43,520 --> 00:17:50,990 John uses a figure of speech to they this idea; for the Jews as well as 193 00:17:50,990 --> 00:17:57,910 the Gentiles the term light represented what was true and good and pure and 194 00:17:57,910 --> 00:18:05,049 spiritual in nature and so walking in the light meant that one's life 195 00:18:05,049 --> 00:18:10,700 reflected these characteristics: purity, goodness, truth, so on and so for 196 00:18:10,700 --> 00:18:19,070 spirituality. It was another term for a saved person. You have to understand that, 197 00:18:19,070 --> 00:18:24,470 so light represented what was best good true pure spiritual walking in the light 198 00:18:24,470 --> 00:18:29,990 meant that you were walking in that nature with those 199 00:18:29,990 --> 00:18:35,510 qualities of your life and if you were walking in the light it meant the same 200 00:18:35,510 --> 00:18:41,990 thing as you are saved, a saved person has this experience, a person walking in the 201 00:18:41,990 --> 00:18:47,750 light has this experience, you see the parallel there. So walking in the light 202 00:18:47,750 --> 00:18:52,610 meant that one's life reflected these characteristics it was another term as I 203 00:18:52,610 --> 00:18:56,900 say for being saved. So in chapters 1 and 2, John names four 204 00:18:56,900 --> 00:19:02,240 areas where one's conduct determined if they were truly in fellowship with other 205 00:19:02,240 --> 00:19:08,240 Christians, with John as an Apostle, with Jesus and the Father. Remember the whole 206 00:19:08,240 --> 00:19:15,320 idea the whole promise is we will have fellowship together eternally; the saints, 207 00:19:15,320 --> 00:19:20,510 the Apostles, Jesus, the Father. Okay and he says if you're walking in the light 208 00:19:20,510 --> 00:19:27,410 it's a guarantee that you are now and will continue to have fellowship with 209 00:19:27,410 --> 00:19:33,590 these. So he says examine your conduct and if it matches this you have 210 00:19:33,590 --> 00:19:38,660 a guarantee that you are a saved person, an eternal spirit, that you are walking 211 00:19:38,660 --> 00:19:42,620 in the light. Now we don't have time to read and analyze every single verse but 212 00:19:42,620 --> 00:19:47,840 in essence there are four areas that he talks about here, the first area of 213 00:19:47,840 --> 00:19:54,500 walking in the light is personal behavior, chapter 1 beginning in verse 5 214 00:19:54,500 --> 00:19:59,960 so let's read that, he says, "This is the message we have heard from Him and announce 215 00:19:59,960 --> 00:20:05,030 to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. If we say 216 00:20:05,030 --> 00:20:09,050 that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness we lie and do not 217 00:20:09,050 --> 00:20:14,150 practice the truth, but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we 218 00:20:14,150 --> 00:20:18,020 have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from 219 00:20:18,020 --> 00:20:21,470 all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we are 220 00:20:21,470 --> 00:20:26,570 deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is 221 00:20:26,570 --> 00:20:30,410 faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all 222 00:20:30,410 --> 00:20:35,570 unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His 223 00:20:35,570 --> 00:20:40,640 word is not in us. My little children, I'm writing these things to you so that you 224 00:20:40,640 --> 00:20:45,800 may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ 225 00:20:45,800 --> 00:20:51,290 the righteous; and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for 226 00:20:51,290 --> 00:20:56,390 ours only, but also for those of the whole world. By this we know that we have 227 00:20:56,390 --> 00:21:00,440 come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. The one who says, 'I have 228 00:21:00,440 --> 00:21:04,910 come to know Him,' and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is 229 00:21:04,910 --> 00:21:09,680 not in him; but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been 230 00:21:09,680 --> 00:21:14,360 perfected. By this we know that we are in Him: the one who says he abides in Him 231 00:21:14,360 --> 00:21:21,800 ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked." So personal behavior 232 00:21:21,800 --> 00:21:26,540 walking in the light one testimony of it one witness that a person is walking in 233 00:21:26,540 --> 00:21:31,250 the light you examine your personal behavior. A person who is walking in the 234 00:21:31,250 --> 00:21:36,020 light and thus a saved person is a person who recognizes certain things about 235 00:21:36,020 --> 00:21:43,160 their personal behavior and here they are, first that they are sinners. How do 236 00:21:43,160 --> 00:21:46,370 you know you're walking in the light? By your personal behavior, what personal 237 00:21:46,370 --> 00:21:51,320 behavior? Well first of all I recognize that I am a sinner, I don't hide or 238 00:21:51,320 --> 00:21:57,550 pretend that I'm not a sinner. Secondly, the people who are walking in the light 239 00:21:57,550 --> 00:22:02,870 don't pretend that they are good but secretly practice sin in other words 240 00:22:02,870 --> 00:22:07,490 they're not hypocrites. Thirdly, they confess their sins and they seek 241 00:22:07,490 --> 00:22:13,550 forgiveness on a regular basis. Fourthly, he says they understand that without the 242 00:22:13,550 --> 00:22:16,880 blood of Christ they cannot be cleansed and walk in the 243 00:22:16,880 --> 00:22:23,900 light. I mean you know you're walking in the light when you recognize that you 244 00:22:23,900 --> 00:22:31,070 are a sinner, that you make an honest effort to abide by God's Word but you 245 00:22:31,070 --> 00:22:36,919 depend completely on Jesus' blood to keep you clean and worthy and saved. 246 00:22:36,919 --> 00:22:44,270 That's what walking in the light is, for starters anyways. You know walking in the 247 00:22:44,270 --> 00:22:49,760 light is not living a sinless life, people make that mistake all the time 248 00:22:49,760 --> 00:22:53,059 when they read, are you walking in the light? Meaning are you 249 00:22:53,059 --> 00:23:00,289 living a sinless life? Only Jesus lived a sinless life. No, walking in the 250 00:23:00,289 --> 00:23:06,080 light is recognizing and acknowledging that you are a sinner. The light 251 00:23:06,080 --> 00:23:14,480 meaning I see the light, I understand who I am, and who I am is: I am a sinner and I 252 00:23:14,480 --> 00:23:20,960 rely on Jesus' sacrifice to keep me pure as I attempt to obey Him as best I 253 00:23:20,960 --> 00:23:24,320 can. That's why he says if you say you don't 254 00:23:24,320 --> 00:23:31,850 have a sin you're delusional, if you claim you have no sin but you know you 255 00:23:31,850 --> 00:23:35,419 do but you just want to acknowledge it then you're a liar, so you're either 256 00:23:35,419 --> 00:23:40,419 delusional or you're a liar but the one who's walking in the light he says 257 00:23:40,419 --> 00:23:49,309 recognizes oh yes I am a sinner but but every day I depend on Jesus' blood to 258 00:23:49,309 --> 00:23:56,090 make me right to keep me in the light and I make an honest effort to obey His 259 00:23:56,090 --> 00:24:02,120 commands. Secondly, second way we know we're walking in the light by examining 260 00:24:02,120 --> 00:24:09,260 our social relationships. Let's read verse 7 he says, "Beloved, I'm not writing 261 00:24:09,260 --> 00:24:12,980 a new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the 262 00:24:12,980 --> 00:24:17,659 beginning; the old commandment is the word which you've heard. On the other 263 00:24:17,659 --> 00:24:22,340 hand, I am writing a new commandment to you, which is true in Him and in you, 264 00:24:22,340 --> 00:24:27,200 because the darkness is passing away and the true Light is already shining. The 265 00:24:27,200 --> 00:24:30,080 one who says is in the Light and yet hates his 266 00:24:30,080 --> 00:24:35,000 brother is in the darkness until now. The one who loves his brother abides in the 267 00:24:35,000 --> 00:24:40,010 Light and there is no cause for stumbling in him. But the one who hates 268 00:24:40,010 --> 00:24:44,570 his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where 269 00:24:44,570 --> 00:24:48,679 he is going because the darkness has blinded his eyes. I am writing to you, 270 00:24:48,679 --> 00:24:53,840 little children, because your sins have been forgiven you for His name's sake. I 271 00:24:53,840 --> 00:24:57,530 am writing to you, fathers, because you know Him who has been from the beginning. 272 00:24:57,530 --> 00:25:02,480 I'm writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I have 273 00:25:02,480 --> 00:25:06,320 written to you, children, because you know the Father. I have written to you, 274 00:25:06,320 --> 00:25:10,549 fathers, because you know Him who has been from the beginning. I have written 275 00:25:10,549 --> 00:25:15,080 to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and 276 00:25:15,080 --> 00:25:20,929 you have overcome the evil one." So a person who's walking in the light and 277 00:25:20,929 --> 00:25:26,470 thus secure in their salvation is a person who loves their brother and 278 00:25:26,470 --> 00:25:33,230 sister. There's a hierarchy of importance in Jesus' teachings. They're 279 00:25:33,230 --> 00:25:38,210 all divine, all of His teachings are worthy of respect and obedience but some 280 00:25:38,380 --> 00:25:43,370 are weightier than others. Jesus said this Himself, switch over for 281 00:25:43,370 --> 00:25:48,100 a moment to Matthew 23, what did he say he says, "Woe to you, scribes and 282 00:25:48,110 --> 00:25:52,960 Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected 283 00:25:52,970 --> 00:25:57,950 the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but 284 00:25:57,950 --> 00:26:03,200 these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others." So 285 00:26:03,200 --> 00:26:08,030 the Lord placed an attitude towards others especially those in the body as a 286 00:26:08,030 --> 00:26:12,890 primary importance and issues surrounding church structure and worship 287 00:26:12,890 --> 00:26:17,780 style and so on and so forth after that. For example, one who worships correctly 288 00:26:17,780 --> 00:26:22,880 one who has proper understanding of doctrinal matters but fails to genuinely 289 00:26:22,880 --> 00:26:26,450 love his brother fails to walk in the light and will have 290 00:26:26,450 --> 00:26:31,730 to bear the consequences. If you're going to make a mistake better it 291 00:26:31,730 --> 00:26:37,520 be in church matters and issues of true meaning of difficult 292 00:26:37,520 --> 00:26:41,840 passages; who is the man of lawlessness, 293 00:26:41,840 --> 00:26:45,560 in I and II Thessalonians Paul talks about the man of lawlessness yet a 294 00:26:45,560 --> 00:26:49,730 lot of debate about who the man of lawlessness person it's that it's a 295 00:26:49,730 --> 00:26:53,660 movement it's an idea who's the man of lawlessness? Better we don't get that 296 00:26:53,660 --> 00:26:59,060 right, we make an error there, an honest error about what we think about that 297 00:26:59,060 --> 00:27:04,220 then not loving our brother and sister properly that's what he's saying. 298 00:27:04,220 --> 00:27:09,020 Some things are difficult to understand some things are difficult to apply but 299 00:27:09,020 --> 00:27:13,280 it's very easy to understand that we ought to love one another and Jesus is 300 00:27:13,280 --> 00:27:22,400 saying this is more important. He mentions here you notice he goes back 301 00:27:22,400 --> 00:27:26,150 the young the old the children he mentions the young and the old because 302 00:27:26,150 --> 00:27:33,560 all are responsible for these things. The younger may not be mature in the 303 00:27:33,560 --> 00:27:39,500 understanding of the more complicated doctrines but they are responsible to 304 00:27:39,500 --> 00:27:46,160 love one another; teenagers may not understand in the youth group 305 00:27:46,160 --> 00:27:49,550 they may not have done a deep study yet in the book of Revelation to find out 306 00:27:49,550 --> 00:27:53,780 what it means and who it refers to but they're old enough to understand that 307 00:27:53,780 --> 00:27:57,410 they should love one another that's the point he's saying everybody children old 308 00:27:57,410 --> 00:28:03,800 men young men everyone. Young and old leaders and followers all are 309 00:28:03,800 --> 00:28:09,440 responsible and capable by God's Spirit to love one another and failing to do so 310 00:28:09,440 --> 00:28:15,890 is a reflection of darkness not light; love is the surest sign of divine light 311 00:28:15,890 --> 00:28:27,290 in our lives. So you want to be sure of your salvation examine your love examine 312 00:28:27,290 --> 00:28:31,040 the kind of love you have for your brothers and sisters and that'll give 313 00:28:31,040 --> 00:28:36,620 you an answer. The third way walking in the light examine your separation from 314 00:28:36,620 --> 00:28:43,160 the world. Verse 15 he says, "Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If 315 00:28:43,160 --> 00:28:47,060 anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him." I have to repeat 316 00:28:47,060 --> 00:28:54,440 that, "If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that 317 00:28:54,440 --> 00:28:58,100 is in the world, the lust of the flesh the lust of the eyes 318 00:28:58,100 --> 00:29:03,830 and the boastful pride of life," the lust of the flesh is the stuff that I want my 319 00:29:03,830 --> 00:29:09,220 flesh wants to be gratified, the lust of the eyes is the accumulation of things 320 00:29:09,220 --> 00:29:14,240 new things shiny things bigger things more things than others, and the boastful 321 00:29:14,240 --> 00:29:20,700 pride of life: look at what I have done look at what I have accomplished. John 322 00:29:20,840 --> 00:29:26,860 says, "these things are not from the Father, these things are from the world. 323 00:29:26,940 --> 00:29:32,620 The world" he says "is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the 324 00:29:32,630 --> 00:29:37,880 will of God lives forever." oh wait a minute lives forever, walks in the light, 325 00:29:37,880 --> 00:29:43,039 is safe, has the fellowship with the Apostles and Jesus and the Father, all 326 00:29:43,039 --> 00:29:49,730 the same thing, who are those people? The people who do not love the world. This is 327 00:29:49,730 --> 00:29:54,440 a response to that secret knowledge business that was going on that said 328 00:29:54,440 --> 00:30:00,080 that entry into a pure spiritual world was achieved by leaving our bodies and 329 00:30:00,080 --> 00:30:05,620 the way to do this was by giving up certain foods or legitimate sexual 330 00:30:05,620 --> 00:30:11,659 activity within marriage and other ascetic practices and John says that the 331 00:30:11,659 --> 00:30:15,559 proof that one is walking in the light is that a person separates themselves 332 00:30:15,559 --> 00:30:23,720 from the world not from their own bodies that comes at death. He urges them to 333 00:30:23,720 --> 00:30:29,450 give up worldliness in other words excessive love and preoccupation with 334 00:30:29,450 --> 00:30:35,600 physical things things that simply gratify the senses give those things up 335 00:30:35,600 --> 00:30:40,669 by recognizing that this world and all that is in it is temporary and will 336 00:30:40,669 --> 00:30:45,740 ultimately be destroyed. You can have things if you understand that those 337 00:30:45,740 --> 00:30:50,779 things are not what gives you joy happiness peace of mind and certainly 338 00:30:50,779 --> 00:30:55,399 assurance of your salvation. You can have a trillion dollars cash in your bank 339 00:30:55,399 --> 00:31:02,929 account and it will not contribute a single moment of peace insofar as 340 00:31:02,929 --> 00:31:06,590 knowing that you are saved and guaranteed heaven. 341 00:31:06,590 --> 00:31:09,049 Ten trillion dollars how about fifty trillion dollar 342 00:31:09,049 --> 00:31:15,259 no not at all. You know that you're walking in the light, saved, fellowship 343 00:31:15,259 --> 00:31:22,580 right, when your final goal your primary goal is going to heaven and not 344 00:31:22,580 --> 00:31:28,970 necessarily making yourself comfortable here. And then one more way the fourth 345 00:31:28,970 --> 00:31:35,570 way to examine if we are walking in the light and that is if we have adherence 346 00:31:35,570 --> 00:31:40,759 to the truth. He says, "Children, it is the last hour; and 347 00:31:40,759 --> 00:31:45,529 just as you heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have 348 00:31:45,529 --> 00:31:50,330 appeared from this we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but 349 00:31:50,330 --> 00:31:54,139 they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained 350 00:31:54,139 --> 00:31:59,980 with us; but they went out, so that it would be shown that they are not of us. 351 00:31:59,980 --> 00:32:05,179 But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you all know. I have not written 352 00:32:05,179 --> 00:32:09,289 to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it, and because 353 00:32:09,289 --> 00:32:14,779 no lie is of the truth. Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the 354 00:32:14,779 --> 00:32:19,700 Christ? This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son. 355 00:32:19,700 --> 00:32:24,019 Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father; the one who confesses the Son has 356 00:32:24,019 --> 00:32:29,330 the Father also. As for you, let that abide in you which you heard from the 357 00:32:29,330 --> 00:32:32,690 beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, 358 00:32:32,690 --> 00:32:38,389 you also will abide in the Son and in the Father. This is the promise which He 359 00:32:38,389 --> 00:32:43,309 Himself made to us: eternal life. These things I have written to you concerning 360 00:32:43,309 --> 00:32:48,289 those who are trying to deceive you. As for you, the anointing which you receive 361 00:32:48,289 --> 00:32:53,029 from Him abides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you; but as His 362 00:32:53,029 --> 00:32:58,519 anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as 363 00:32:58,519 --> 00:33:04,879 it has taught you, you abide in Him. Now, little children, abide in Him, so that 364 00:33:04,879 --> 00:33:09,379 when He appears, we may have confidence and not shrink away from Him in shame at 365 00:33:09,379 --> 00:33:14,090 His coming. If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone also 366 00:33:14,090 --> 00:33:20,080 who practices righteousness is born of Him." So walking in the light is 367 00:33:20,080 --> 00:33:25,190 demonstrated by teaching the truth and John states that the truth of God is 368 00:33:25,190 --> 00:33:33,440 the fact that A) Jesus is the Christ, the Savior and B) Jesus the Divine Son of 369 00:33:33,440 --> 00:33:39,500 God came in the flesh that's the basis of truth for the gospel for Christianity. 370 00:33:39,500 --> 00:33:44,030 This is the essence of truth it's the dividing line between false 371 00:33:44,030 --> 00:33:49,280 teachers and their teachings and true teachers and their teachings. And he 372 00:33:49,280 --> 00:33:54,170 warns them against the many false teachers he calls them antichrists who 373 00:33:54,170 --> 00:33:57,980 will teach something other than this. We see this in the movies, the 374 00:33:57,980 --> 00:34:01,430 antichrist somebody with their head twisting and huge horns and stuff like that. 375 00:34:01,430 --> 00:34:06,230 He's merely referring, not that they weren't dangerous, but he's 376 00:34:06,230 --> 00:34:11,390 referring to false teachers here who didn't have horns and look like 377 00:34:11,390 --> 00:34:16,150 Devils just ordinary men and women I guess who were teaching what was false. 378 00:34:16,150 --> 00:34:21,800 This is a reference to the, especially in this epistle, to the Gnostic teachers and 379 00:34:21,800 --> 00:34:28,610 their doctrines among others. Going out from us means they left the teaching of 380 00:34:28,610 --> 00:34:32,210 the Apostles, it doesn't mean that they were members and they left and they 381 00:34:32,210 --> 00:34:39,020 taught a different idea, it means there there is this teaching and whoever does 382 00:34:39,020 --> 00:34:43,520 not hold to the teaching of the Apostles goes out from them and begins teaching 383 00:34:43,520 --> 00:34:48,440 something different. The anointing that he talks about is the reception and the 384 00:34:48,440 --> 00:34:53,090 maintenance of the Holy Spirit who proclaims and maintains the pure gospel 385 00:34:53,090 --> 00:34:58,010 message in us and through us. We've received the gift of the Holy Spirit to 386 00:34:58,010 --> 00:35:03,440 indwell us to power us of course to live a Christian life Romans chapter 8 and to 387 00:35:03,440 --> 00:35:07,700 resurrect us from the dead through that power but also to power us in the work 388 00:35:07,700 --> 00:35:13,010 of proclaiming the gospel and doing it accurately. in the end John says to them 389 00:35:13,010 --> 00:35:17,240 that they have received the truth through the inspired word of the 390 00:35:17,240 --> 00:35:22,400 Apostles and he calls this the anointed or the anointing. You've been anointed 391 00:35:22,400 --> 00:35:26,180 with the truth not when you canmjump up and down and 392 00:35:26,180 --> 00:35:29,450 think you can speak in tongues, you've you've received the anointing of the 393 00:35:29,450 --> 00:35:33,860 Spirit when you have received the truth of the gospel and you've accepted it as 394 00:35:33,860 --> 00:35:38,040 true for yourself and respond to it, there's the anointing right there. 395 00:35:38,040 --> 00:35:43,650 So they're walking in the light so long as they continue to hold fast to these 396 00:35:43,650 --> 00:35:48,660 words and not abandon them for other teachings, especially the teachings of 397 00:35:48,660 --> 00:35:56,820 these Gnostic teachers. So John gives them four ways to assure themselves that 398 00:35:56,820 --> 00:36:01,710 they are walking in the light, that they are saved, that they are in fellowship 399 00:36:01,710 --> 00:36:07,050 the Saints the Apostles Jesus God the Father. He gives them for ways to remind 400 00:36:07,050 --> 00:36:12,390 themselves to reassure themselves that they're in that union. First their good 401 00:36:12,390 --> 00:36:18,840 conduct assures them, secondly their love of others assures them, 402 00:36:18,840 --> 00:36:27,440 thirdly their focus on heaven assures them, and their hold on the gospel also 403 00:36:27,440 --> 00:36:32,910 assures them. And so he finishes by telling them that if they assure 404 00:36:32,910 --> 00:36:38,280 themselves in these ways they will be confident and happy when Jesus returns 405 00:36:38,280 --> 00:36:45,000 not afraid and of course not afraid and ashamed of their conduct. So if they know 406 00:36:45,000 --> 00:36:51,060 Jesus they know how to act and acting in the way he could have 407 00:36:51,060 --> 00:36:55,800 them act and these are the four ways and if they do that in other words 408 00:36:55,800 --> 00:36:59,610 if you're not sure examine the four ways of conduct examine the four 409 00:36:59,610 --> 00:37:04,230 things that reassure you and work on these. If your conduct is not good enough 410 00:37:04,230 --> 00:37:10,020 well you know step it up, if you're not loving others the way you know you ought 411 00:37:10,020 --> 00:37:16,860 to then step it up, if you're too worldly minded and you realize that the world's 412 00:37:16,860 --> 00:37:21,750 got too much of a hold on you will step it up change your focus, and if you've 413 00:37:21,750 --> 00:37:27,570 doubted the gospel double down study more reassure yourself. So they're not just 414 00:37:27,570 --> 00:37:32,820 staid things that are just they're their ways to improve the sense 415 00:37:32,820 --> 00:37:38,910 of confidence that you have. All right next week we're going to talk about the 416 00:37:38,910 --> 00:37:43,290 second way to be certain of our salvation. Right here this week we talked 417 00:37:43,290 --> 00:37:47,730 about or John talks about walking in the light and the various ways that we know 418 00:37:47,730 --> 00:37:52,410 that we're walking in the light. Next time we're going to look at another 419 00:37:52,410 --> 00:37:58,860 way to be sure of our at our salvation that John talks about and I'll give you 420 00:37:58,860 --> 00:38:05,400 another reading assignment: I John 2:28 follow-up to 3:24. As you 421 00:38:05,400 --> 00:38:08,790 notice I do read them but we kind of go through it quickly. So if you're familiar 422 00:38:08,790 --> 00:38:11,910 with the passage it'll help out. Ok that's our lesson for today, thank you 423 00:38:11,910 --> 00:38:15,050 very much for your attention.