1John 5:18-21
1 JOHN • Sermon • Submitted
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Do you realize that we started our study of 1 John on August 25th? We have been in here for about 5 1/2 months! That sounds crazy to me…I mean…its only 5 chapters. In my Bible thats only 4 1/2 pages.
But hopefully we have all learned somethings in here. Hopefully you have come to KNOW somethings through our study
One thing we KNOW is that we started preaching through 1 John on August 25th and we are finishing it up today.
We KNOW:
A quick recap on somethings we have come to KNOW through 1 John:
LIke
One thing we have come to know is that I can
If we say we have fellowship with God but walk in darkness…we know we are lying.
we have come to know that
If you claim to be without sin…you’re lying.
We KNOW that whoever hates his brother is still in the darkness
We KNOW that Jesus Christ is the ONLY Savior for the world and apart from him or anything added to him there is no salvation
We know that True Believers listen to the apostolic writings
We know that we, who have put our faith in Christ, HAVE ETERNAL life.
We know God hears our prayers.
And we KNOW i can sometimes preach for 50 minutes.
This morning we are going to look at few more things we should know so open your Bibles and lets read our text this morning:
We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but he who was born of God protects him, and the evil one does not touch him.
We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.
And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. Little children, keep yourselves from idols.
Prayer:
English Standard Version Chapter 5
18 We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning
We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but he who was born of God protects him, and the evil one does not touch him.
What in the world does that mean?
We KNOW that EVERYONE who has been BORN OF GOD DOES NOT keep on sinning!
We KNOW this right? Don’t you KNOW this?
Let me remind you of something else we KNOW...
that if you say you have no sin you’re a liar and the TRUTH is not in you.
we learned that in 1:8
This is not saying that Christians, true believers in Jesus Christ are perfect. It is not teaching perfectionism.
Here is what we KNOW…that a TRUE believer in Jesus Christ is CHANGED! A TRUE BELIEVER in Jesus Christ doesn’t look the same once he is REGENERATED.
NO TRUE BELIEVER goes on sinning the way he did before he came to Christ Jesus! WE KNOW THIS!
You KNOW HOW we KNOW this?
Because the seed of God abides in the TRUE BELIEVER (LOOK at )
you know how else we know this?
because we KNOW the good Shepherd protects his sheep…that is what Shepherds do. LOOK AT the second part of verse 18.
English Standard Version Chapter 5
but he who was born of God protects him, and the evil one does not touch him
Thank you Jesus! How much confidence would you really have if it all depended on you?
The Christian is kept from continuing in sin not by his own efforts and his own power but the Christian is kept from sinning because “he who was born of God protects him, and the evil one does not touch him.”
When the good news of Christ sinks down deep in your soul it takes root and the Spirit of God begins to produce fruit in the Believers life. The seed that God planted in you begins to grow and it starts shaping you into the image of Christ. It is HIM who conforms you and it is you who abides in Him because He abides in you. And we are abiding in Him, resting in Him it is Christ Jesus who protects you and “the evil one does not touch him.”
“And the evil one does not touch him”
Literally meaning that Satan cannot “fasten himself” on him/her.
Can we be attacked? Yes
Can we get knocked down? Of Course
But can the evil one “fasten himself” to us? ABSOLUTELY NOT!
Are you ready for some good news Christian? Turn to
My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.”
Take courage Christian! KNOW THAT the evil one cannot touch you…cannot “fasten himself” to you because Christ protects you…you are HIS!
Look up here at this verse in Chapter 4
1 John 4:
Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.
WE KNOW this is TRUE…live in it! Drink it up!
What else do we know?
We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.
There are two things we KNOW here:
We are from God
and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.
Remember, the evil one doesn’t touch the Christian…why? Because Christ protects us.
But here we see that the whole world, those who are not of God, they lie in the power of the evil one.
they are in his grip
they are under his control
One commentary I was reading pointed out that they are not pictured as struggling to get out of his grasp, they are quietly lying there as if they are unconsciously asleep, in the embrace of Satan.
Man…that is a scary thing for the world isn’t it?
That might be one of you sitting in here this morning. That might be you lying quietly in the grasp of Satan.
But if that is you…I have good news....
English Standard Version Chapter 2
we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 2 He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world
I pray that if that is you this morning that the Holy Spirit of the Living God opens your heart…and awakens you from your slumber in the grips of the evil one and you put your faith in Christ Jesus right now.
I say that I pray that the Holy Spirit awakens you because that is what it will take because let me tell you what else we, Christians, know...
Look at verse 20:
And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.
English Standard Version Chapter 5
20 And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding
See, if you are in that slumber in the arms of the evil one, I pray that HE, God Almighty gives you understanding, so that you may know him.
Because WE KNOW that He, Jesus Christ, has come to Earth in space and time. God took on flesh and dwelt among us.
We know that HE came by water and the blood don’t we
We know that if humanity could ever be made right with God Almighty it would take God himself to make things right with him. There was nothing we could do.
Remember the reason Christ had to come? Because it was man who sinned against God and there is nothing man can do to make things right in that relationship. There is nothing we could do to pay God back. Only God can pay God back. And since it was man who sinned against God, God by his great grace and mercy became man to live a perfect sacrificial life for us and to be the propitiation for our sins. And that is why salvation is only in Christ Alone…because the only person that could pay God back is God.
So we know that he came…and we know if it wasn’t for him giving us understanding we would never know him. It took God to awaken us from our slumber and come to a knowledge of Christ…what great grace.
Turn to
It took Christ to open their minds to understand the Scriptures concerning him…Don’t think you can come to understand and know him through your own intellect…If it took Christ to open up the minds of the apostles who walked with him believe the word of God…it is HE who gave us understanding SO THAT WE MAY KNOW HIM.
“SO THAT WE MAY KNOW HIM WHO IS TRUE”…this is an experientially knowing. This is not simply an intellectually knowing of some facts. It is true that the Believer knows facts about Christ…but he also knows him in a way that he has experienced him.
It is a deep knowing.
Look at the second part of verse 20:
We know him…and we are in him who is true, in HIs Son Jesus Christ. We are in God, in Christ Jesus. We are IN HIM…we are experiencing His life. Remember that he is shaping us and molding us into the image of Christ. We are being sanctified daily more and more into his image.
And John ends this epistle with verse 21
Little children, keep yourselves from idols.
We see the love John has for this church he is writing to… “Little Children”.
Keep yourselves from idols.
When we think of idols we think of things that are carved, something we worship in place of the One True God.
But the context of this whole epistle is the false teachers and their false teachings about God, about who Christ is, about why He died. They were teaching heretical things and some were troubled by it. Some believed the false teachers and left....
But they left because they were never truly one of them (2:19).
But this was the reason for the letter and this is why he ends it with this.
Because it matters what you believe.
If God is THIS but you worship something that is like “this” it is not God that you worship. It is an idol you call ‘god’.
this is why it is so important for me, for you, for all professing Christians to take the study of God’s word serious. The study of Theology needs to be taken seriously. The study of Doctrine needs to be taken seriously.
And the only way you can keep yourselves from idols is to know the One True God.
Remember, the Secret Service doesn’t study all the counterfeits out there. They just study the real dollar bill all day every day so when a false one comes along, they see it a mile away. Because they KNOW.
So brothers and sisters, I pray you KNOW that you have been born of God. Believe the word.
If you dont know if you have been born of God I would love to talk to you. We have quite a few guys and girls here who would love to talk to you about that. I pray God opens your heart to what he has done.