Sermon Tone Analysis

I. Children of God (v3:1-4)

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. 2 Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.

3 And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.4

Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness.

a. V1 Because of God’s love

i.

We are His Children

ii.

The world does not know us

1.

They are of their father the devil

2. Did not now Jesus

-Rejected Jesus as the Messiah

iii.

We are not yet what we will be

1.

When we see Him we will be like Him

a. Seeing Him as He is

2. We will purify ourselves when we Hope in him

a. Jesus is pure

b. -Paul writes about cleansing ourselves before the Lord’s Supper

c. Living is sin is not living in purity

i. Practice living in sin-is to live in lawlessness

1.

There are professing Christians that routinely live in lawlessness claiming that they are above the law because they are Christian that the laws of this world do not apply.

—there are laws that we must disobey-Acts 5 We must obey God rather than men.

2. Sin is lawlessness, lawlessness is sin

It is putting myself above the law

3.

Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these.

I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

4. Righteousness reveals righteousness

5. Lawlessness reveals lawlessness

6. Lawlessness is sin

7. Practicing sin without conviction from the Holy Spirit is an indicator that we are not born of God

8. Children of God do not practice sinning

a. Practicing sin is of the devil-the devil has been sinning since the beginning

iv.

Jesus has overcome the devil at the cross,

1.

To destroy the works of the devil

2. We imitate our parents as children

a. Amy Grant “Father’s eyes”

‘b.

Philips, Craig and Dean: “I want to be just like you”

Lord, I want to be just like You

'Cause he wants to be just like me

I want to be a holy example

For his innocent eyes to see

Help me be a living Bible, Lord

That my little boy can read

I want to be just like You

'Cause he wants to be like me

C. are we living as a child of God, or a child of the devil

b.

Since our heavenly Father has no sin, if we are imitating our Father, how can we make it a practice to sin.

c.

The indwelling Holy Spirit is inconsistent with sin

d.

Someone who claims to be a Christian but keeps up their sinful ways, is living contrary to the indwelling nature of God, and our Father’s nature.

e.

If we do not practice righteousness, or we don’t love our brother, we demonstrate that we are not of God.

i. Love of brothers is a transition to the next point

II.

Love One another v5-18

5 You know that he appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin.

6 No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him.

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.

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.

a. John refers back to his gospel A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.

i. Reflects back to where Cain kills his brother.

Why:

1. Cain’s actions were evil

2. Abel’s were righteous – brought a sacrifice as God had directed.

3. Consequently the world will hate you when you walk in righteousness v13

a.

We tend to hate what is different or we don’t understand

i. Example: of different Operating systems

b.

V14-15 John is contrasting love and hate—

i. Loving our brothers is evidence of having passed from life to death

ii.

Hating our brother is evidence equivalent to murderer and murders have no place in heaven

1.

In the sermon on the Mount, Jesus equates Hate with murder

4. The greatest example is love is set forth in v16

a. Jesus laid down His life for us

i.

Even while we were still his enemies, He made the greatest sacrifice in our place.

On the cross, it should have been me….and