1 John 3
1 John • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Announcements
Announcements
1 // Grow group
Grow group is November 6th! Going through James chapter 4! Boys meet at Dario on University at 6:30, girls meet at Dario in King at 6!
2 // Friendsgiving:
Something that we have been wanting to do for years is finally happening. On November 15th, REVO Students will be having a friendsgiving event across all three of our locations at 6:30PM. We will all sit around the ultra-mega-large thanksgiving table, eat our favorite thanksgiving desserts, write what we are thankful for, and even play a football game, and have a discussion on gratitude! This would be such a fun night for you to invite your friends too, be sure to put it on your calendar!
3 // No Students Thanksgiving Week
We do this every year, so it shouldn’t surprise you, but we will not be meeting on Wednesday, November 22nd because of the Thanksgiving Holiday! We will miss each of you so much, but we hope that you have a great time celebrating with friends and family.
4 // YouTube Channel Launching:
We are finally getting out of the stone age! We are launching a REVO Students Youtube channel on November 22nd, the night that we are not meeting. This channel is going to provide you with content that will give you some laughs, promote upcoming events, and most importantly give you resources to help you grow deeper towards Jesus! What to do in the meantime?! Follow our youtube channel by scanning this QR code, or by clicking on the link in our Instagram Bio! Be sure to subscribe and hit the bell so you will be notified when we drop our first video on November 22nd!!
Intro
Intro
We are continuing in our series on 1 John
This week we have made it to chapter 3, the midway point of the chapter
As with most things, the midway point is where things start to turn
The first chapter is a introduction of book, and a reminder that as Christians we should be walking in the light, that we should be confessing sins and seeking Jesus
Chapter 2 then builds on the thought of confessing our sin
Pointing out that we should not love the world, for everything in it is sinful and against God
Then we hit chapter 3
Adoption as sons
Adoption as sons
1 See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.
John starts out chapter 3 by telling us to see what kind of love the Father has for us
The word see can also be translated as behold
It holds the idea that we should stop what we are doing and consider the love that God has for us
The fact that God loves us despite our sin
A perfect and Holy God who has done nothing wrong, and never will, loves a sinful human that will never do anything right
God loves the sinner, not because He is drawn to him by his lovableness, but because, in spite of man’s unloveliness, God sets His mind and will on seeking man’s highest good. This is what is amazing about God’s love.
Burdick
John tells us to see, literally to stop and consider the love of God, and then he tells us that he has given it to us
Other translations say that God lavished his love for us, quite literally gave it to us permanently
The love God has for you cannot be taken away, can never leave you, and is always with you
What is the love God has for us?
He tells us: We are called children of God
God because He loves us, makes us His children
He brings us into His family
We are now a part of the family of God
I’ve heard so many people say that we are all “children of God” but listen to me, that is not true
Not everyone is a child of God
“Every person is a creation of God, but not every person is a child of God.”
God may have created every person, but not every person is adopted into His family, and receives the benefits of the family
I recently got an obsession for olden day England
The idea of Monarchs, Lords, peasants. It all has fascinated me
In that time period the family you were born in was significant
If you were part of a family that was rich, with power and authority, you had opportunities that others did not
You could go to school, own land, live life however you wanted to
However, if you were born to a working class family, there was no way you could make it to the royalty
You could never be at the right parties, the right social gatherings
You couldn’t own land, or if you did it wasn’t much, and wasn’t worth it
You family back then ment everything to you
And the reputation of your family ment everything
People would marry, not for love, but for social status
To keep their family powerful and respectful
The only way to move from a peasant to royalty was if you married into the family
If you were adopted out of your family and into the family of the rich and powerful
This is exactly what John is saying God has done for us
In our fallen sinful state we are the peasants, with no hope of having anything significant
Yet John said because God loved us, with a love that we can never fully understand, he choose to adopt us out of our current situation
He choose to bring us into His family
By bringing us into His family that means there are rights and privileges that we receive
Roles of God’s children
Roles of God’s children
Being a child of God also means we have responsibilities that John proceeds to lay out in the rest of the chapter
Don’t be deceived
Don’t be deceived
7 Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. 8 Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. 9 No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God. 10 By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.
Don’t be deceived
As children of God John tells us that we are not to be deceived
We are meant to know the different between a believer, and someone that is trying to pull as away from God
He tells us that those who are children of God practice righteousness - they practice the things of God
Those who are not of God practice sinning
A very simple test to see if someone is a believer is to ask the question -
How are you/they living?
If someones actions always go against God, or are sinful and wrong, that shows you what they truly believe
Vice versa if someones always seeking Jesus, doing the things of God, and showing love it shows us what they believe
As children of God we are meant to know who is for God and who is not for God and then flee from those that are constantly sinful
We are to continually flee from sin
As children of God we must not be deceived
Don’t be filled with hatred
Don’t be filled with hatred
11 For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. 12 We should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother’s righteous. 13 Do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you. 14 We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death. 15 Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.
16 By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. 17 But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? 18 Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.
The second thing we must do as children of God
Don’t be filled by hatred
As children of God love must be something that marks our life
People must be able to look at us and see that we have love, and show love
Just like Jesus showed us love, we should be showing other people love
If you are truly a child of God love for others should be something that is constantly being produced
Just like a apple tree produces apples, we should be producing love because are from God, and God is love
John uses the story of Cain and Abel to show us why hatred is such a bad thing
Hatred leads to destruction, whereas love builds up
So as children of God our life must be marked by love and not hatred
Don’t let feelings rule
Don’t let feelings rule
19 By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him; 20 for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything. 21 Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God; 22 and whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him. 23 And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. 24 Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God, and God in him. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us.
The last thing John teaches us as children of God is
Don’t let feelings rule
Our feelings and emotions will try to pull us away from God
The way you feel about something can cause actually pull you away from God
Your emotions and feelings are not a bad thing, God gave us emotions and feelings
But your emotions and feelings about a topic or idea can actually pull you away from God
As children of God we must not be ruled by our emotions or feelings
Our emotions and feelings can keep us captive and keep us away from God
Instead we must find our security in Jesus alone
John tells us that the commandment is that we believe in Jesus alone, and show love to others
He does not say we should trust all of our feelings, but instead says when our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart
When our emotions feel like they are pulling us away from God we must remember that God is greater
Conclusion
Conclusion
John in the middle of the book has us stop and remember the love God has for us
That He has adopted us as children of God
He has made us His own and is giving us a new life
But with that life comes responsibility
We are not to be deceived
We are to love and not hate
And we cannot let our feelings rule our lives