AF-S59-022705 1 John B
Alêtheia Christian Fellowship (Sermon 59, 02-27-05)
a Announcements,
Last week we talked began our indepth study of 1 John and covered the first four verses. I hope you had a chance to read at least this first chapter for yourselves.
The Apostle John and the Apostle Paul are my favorite guys. If I could meet anyone in history outside of Jesus Himself I would be hard pressed to decide which of these two guys it would be. Paul was without question the greater evangelist and theologian, but John knew Jesus better than any other man and while he didn’t have Paul’s education, access and ability, he was no slouch. John moved to Ephesus with with the Apostles Philip and Andrew, Mary the mother of Jesus and Mary Magdelene just prior to the decimation of Jerusalem in 70 A.D.
Peter, the Jewish apostle of authority, and Paul, the Gentile apostle of freedom, had done their work on earth before the destruction of Jerusalem, but there remained a most important additional work to be done, a work of union and consolidation. This was reserved for the apostle of love, the bosom-friend of Jesus, who had become his most perfect reflection so far as any human being can reflect the ideal of divine-human purity and holiness. John was not a missionary or a man of action, like Peter and Paul. He did little, so far as we know, for the outward spread of Christianity, but all the more for the inner life and growth of Christianity where it was already established.
John was a son of Zebedee and Salome, and a brother of the elder James, who became the protomartyr of the apostles. He may have been about ten years younger than Jesus, and as, according to the unanimous testimony of antiquity, he lived till the reign of Trajan, i.e., till after 98, he must have attained an age of over ninety years. He was a fisherman by trade, probably of Bethsaida in Galilee (like Peter, Andrew, and Philip). His parents seem to have been in comfortable circumstances. His father kept hired servants; his mother belonged to the noble band of women who followed Jesus and supported him with their means, who purchased spices to embalm him, who were the last at the cross and the first at the open tomb. John himself was acquainted with the high priest, and owned a house in Jerusalem or Galilee, into which he received the mother of our Lord. He was a cousin of Jesus, according to the flesh, from his mother, a sister of Mary. This relationship, together with the enthusiasm of youth and the fervor of his emotional nature, formed the basis of his intimacy with the Lord.
He was not only one of the Twelve, but the chosen of the chosen Three. Peter stood out more prominently before the public as the friend of the Messiah; John was known in the private circle as the friend of Jesus. Peter always looked at the official character of Christ, and asked what he and the other apostles should do; John gazed steadily at the person of Jesus, and was intent to learn what the Master said. They differed as the busy Martha, anxious to serve, and the pensive Mary, contented to learn. John alone, with Peter and his brother James, witnessed the scene of the transfiguration and of Gethsemane—the highest exaltation and the deepest humiliation in the earthly life of our Lord. He leaned on his breast at the last Supper and treasured those wonderful farewell discourses in his heart for future use. He followed him to the court of Caiaphas.
He alone of all the disciples was present at the crucifixion, and was intrusted by the departing Savior with the care of his mother. As John was the last at the cross, so he was also, next to Mary Magdalene, the first of the disciples who, outrunning even Peter, looked into the open tomb on the resurrection morning; and he first recognized the risen Lord when he appeared to the disciples on the shore of the lake of Galilee.
His intimacy with Mary must also have aided him in gaining an interior view of the mind and heart of his Lord. He appears throughout as the beloved disciple, in closest intimacy and in fullest sympathy with the Lord.
Ephesus, the capital of proconsular Asia, was a center of Grecian culture, commerce, and religion; famous of old for the songs of Homer, Anacreon, and Mimnermus, the philosophy of Thales, Anaximenes, and Anaximander, the worship and wonderful temple of Diana. There Paul had labored three years (54-57) and established an influential church, a beacon-light in the surrounding darkness of heathenism. From there he could best commune with the numerous churches he had planted in the provinces. There he experienced peculiar joys and trials, and foresaw great dangers of heresies that should spring up from within. All the forces of orthodox and heretical Christianity were collected there. Jerusalem was approaching its downfall; Rome was not yet a second Jerusalem. Ephesus, by the labors of Paul and of John, became the chief theatre of church history in the second half of the first and during the greater part of the second century. Polycarp, the patriarchal martyr, and Irenaeus, the leading theologian in the conflict with Gnosticism, best represent the spirit of John and bear testimony to his influence. He alone could complete the work of Paul and Peter, and give the church that compact unity which she needed for her self-preservation against persecution from without and heresy and corruption from within.
Irenaeus bears testimony to his character as “the Son of Thunder” when he relates, as from the lips of Polycarp, that, on meeting in a public bath at Ephesus the Gnostic heretic Cerinthus, who denied the incarnation of our Lord, John refused to remain under the same roof, lest it might fall down.
Jerome pictures him as the disciple of love, who in his extreme old age was carried to the meeting-place on the arms of his disciples, and repeated again and again the exhortation, “Little children, love one another,” adding: “This is the Lord’s command, and if this alone be done, it is enough.” This, of all the traditions of John, is the most credible and the most useful.
1 John 1:1-10 ~ That Which existed from the beginning, Which we have heard, Which we have seen with our own eyes, Which we beheld and we fumbled for and touched with our own hands, concerning the Word of Life and the Life was manifested, and we have seen and we bear witness and we proclaim to you all the Life, the Eternal, which existed together with the Father and was manifested to us, that Which we have seen and we have heard, we proclaim to you all, in order that you all may have fellowship with us, and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ, and these things we write in order that our joy may be made complete. 5And this is the message which we have heard from Him and we announce to you all, that God is Light and in Him there is no darkness at all. 6If we should say that we have fellowship with Him and we walk in the darkness, we lie and we are not doing the Truth. 7If, however, we were to walk in the Light
as He is in the Light, fellowship we have with one another, and the Blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. 8If we should say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the Truth is not in us. 9If we should confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all un-righteousness. 10If we should say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and the His Word is not in us.
1 John 1:5
This then is the message which we have heard of (the message is the whole of His incrnation so it is the message of or about, but from is better) him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.
This is the message he has given us to announce to you: God is light and there is no darkness in him at all.
kai< e]stin au[th hJ ajggeli>a h{n
And this is the message which
ajkhko>amen ajp j aujtou~ kai<
we have heard from Him and
ajnagge>llomen uJmi~n, o[ti oJ
we announce to you all, that the
qeo<v fw~v ejstin kai< skoti>a ejn
God Light is and darkness in
aujtw~| oujk e]stin oujdemi>a.
in Him not is, none.
ajggeli>a, angel and Good News, Message as a content, really Jesus Himself. Not something mankind discovered, but a Message given by God. The Message is from the incarnation of Jesus, the totality of His Truth and so it is fine to say the message we heard of him, but from is better. ajkhko>amen perfect, there is a reason that we heard from ajpo>, God. And ajnagge>llomen, an is the destination and the ap in verse 2, was the source of the announcement, there is a reason that we announce to you and that reason is in the proleptic o[ti, “namely, that….” You must know that God is fw~v, Light itself, the qualitative Predicate Nominative, Like The Word and God are the same essence and the Word is God, God is more than the Word alone. Jesus said I Am the Light, but He was more than Light and of course, God as a whole is also. John 8 “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.”
John 1:4&5 Contained within the Message was the power to bestow life, and it is this power to create and sustain life that is the light that illuminates the central Truth for all mankind. (That God alone is responsible for not only the origination, but also the continuation of life). And so, this light of Truth was presented to the darkness of man=s ignorance and self-centeredness, and although these twin elements of darkness did not welcome or even comprehend the light they could not destroy it either.
Most jump to the conclusion that light is synonymous with God’s Holiness. While the perfection, holiness and truth of God is intertwined with the light analogy here it has more to do with God’s revelation of His holiness and His illuminating our un-holiness. Light is above all else Truth. Jesus also said He was the Truth, the Way and the Life no one can approach the Father except through Jesus, because He is also the Light which enables us to get to the Life part. The word light is used, just as we sometimes do in English, as a metaphor meaning to illuminate ones thinking. Where the Logos is presented as the enabler of all life physical, spiritual and metaphysical John is saying it is the Truth of that fact that elucidates. We find that one of the elements of central Truth is that God alone through the agency of the Logos creates and maintains life in all it=s connotations and it is this very fact that is able to awaken human beings. As we run around in life caught up in all manner of foolish pursuits we are incapable of relating to God correctly. It is only when we understand that everything flows moment by moment from God and that therefore everything we have or will have, down to our very existence, is owed to God that we can see the reality of our relationship to Him. Once we begin to understand our relative position in the whole scheme of things we can begin to see how indescribably awesome God is. We then get a hint of how ridiculous it is to question God in regards to anything. So this knowledge that Almighty God is actively providing everything down to our very breath is the first component of Truth. When we become truly aware of God it immediately becomes apparent that we humans are incapable of giving God anything He needs. To put it bluntly, God is fully actualized and therefore by definition doesn=t require anything from us. Conversely, we need God for everything. Once we comprehend who God is, then we are able to grasp the next element of central Truth which is the fact that only God can set the rules, only He can say what is good, right or just and He alone is able to provide a means of communicating Truth.
skoti>a, opposite of Light or Truth so, it is un-Truth, it is anti-Christ, lies and deception, i.e. Satan. oujk oujdemi>a, Greek double negative.
1 John 1:6
If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:
If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth;
So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual (implied, but not part of the text) darkness. We are not living in the truth.
jEa<n ei]pwmen o[ti koinwni>an
If we should say that fellowship
e]comen met j aujtou~ kai< ejn tw~|
we have with Him and in the
sko>tei peripatw~men, yeudo>meqa
darkness we walk, we lie
kai< ouj poiou~men th<n ajlh>qeian.
and we are not doing the Truth.
jEa<n, is eji plus a]n, double conditional followed by subjunctive verbs 5 times in five verses, if this then that. ei]pwmen, subjunctive koinwni>an, All things in common, what do sinful humans have to do in common with God’s holy perfection? So, Light is His revelation of His perfect Holiness as well as the illumination of our minds for Salvation and, here, especially for the illumination of our closets. We must be transparent! e]comen, actively possess. peripatw~men, walk as a disciple, who you are. yeudo>meqa, Pseudo in Greek is a Lie! ouj same as oujk before, not comes first to stress the negative quality. poiou~men actively do, so how you are and by obvious extension how you act. ajlh>qeian our church. To the Semetic mind you do what you are.
1 John 1:7
But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ (true, but wrong) his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.
But if we are living in the light of God’s presence, just as Christ (Probably implied, certainly true, but inappropriate) is, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from every sin.
eja<n de< ejn tw~| fwti< peripatw~men
If, however, in the Light we were to walk
wJv aujto>v ejstin ejn tw~| fwti>,
as He is in the Light,
koinwni>an e]comen met j ajllh>lwn
fellowship we have with one another
kai< to< ai=ma jIhsou~ tou~ uiJou~
and the Blood of Jesus the Son
aujtou~ kaqari>zei hJma~v ajpo<
of Him cleanses us from
pa>shv aJmarti>av.
all sin.
eja<n de, if,if, but. ajllh>lwn, with each other, not God, because fellowship with each other proves our right relationship with God and therefore we will be forgiven. Forgive others, be reconciled and then God will forgive you. ai=ma, Old Covenant, make no mistake a sacrifice was required and you and I don’t have enough capital or stock to pay. We cannot get from here to there on human initiative.
jIhsou, The historical man was literally born of a virgin and dwelt among us, but because He was God, He was perfect and His obedience is far more than sufficient payment., kaqari>zei, active verb meaning to cleanse so not just hiding something but washing it away, not just forgiving, but truly forgeting. It never happened, that’s the message of, “turning the other cheek.” A completely new opportunity to slap me again because I’ve dismissed the previous slaps. pa>shv, genitive singular all as in the whole of sin not a collection of individual events. aJmarti>av, genitive singular the whole of sin or the sinful nature, all that is in opposition to God.
Hebrews 1:2&3 ~ in these last days God has spoken to us through His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom He made the world. He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and He upholds all things by the Word of His power. When He had made purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.
So, totally gone, is every outbreak of sin from the sinful nature, if, if, if. We walk in Light by being transparent in fellowship with each other. Our fellowship in Spirit and Truth requires us to become forgiving people and this allows God to forgive us! Ignatius said, His blood is Agapê unlimited.
1 John 1:8
If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.
If we say we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and refusing to accept the truth.
eja<n ei]pwmen o[ti ajmarti>an
if we should say that sin
oujk e]comen, eJautou<v planw~men
we have not, we deceive ourselves
kai< hJ ajlh>qeia oujk e]stin ejn hJmi~n.
and the Truth is not in us.
ajmarti>an, The human sin nature, which is opposed to God and does in fact continue to manifest in Christians. Accepting that adultery is possible, is the first step to preventing it. The poison is in our blood and Grace is the medicine, but recovery is a slow process and we must continue in treatment for the rest of our lives. planw~men, we actively mislead ourselves to destruction. Initially, whether we fully realize it or not, we choose to turn away from God and after awhile we don’t even realize how far from Him we’ve wandered.
1 John 1:9
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
But if we confess our sins to him (Invalid assumption creating doctrine, this is eisegesis) , he is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from every wrong.
eja<n oJmologw~men ta<v aJmarti>av
if we should confess the sins
hJmw~n, pisto>v ejstin kai< di>kaiov
of us, faithful He is and righteous
i[na ajfh~| hJmi~n ta<v aJmarti>av kai<
in order that He may forgive us and
kaqari>sh| hJma~v ajpo< pa>shv ajdiki>av.
He may cleanse us from all un-righteousness.
oJmologw~men Homo means same and logos is word, it is to agree, in this case with God that we are sinful and we continue to be dependant. We actively affirm our sinfulness by confessing our sins now plural. aJmarti>av. pisto>v is faithful and di>kaiov is upright, just or righteous. This is God’s very nature. God is desperate to forgive us based on His character and the sacrifice made. It is His purpose and it is the result if we will accept. ajfh~| subjuctive of ajfi>hmi, reject, abandon, cancel, it no longer exists if…. The Lord’s Prayer teaches us to ask for forgiveness as an ongoing thing. Not that we need to pay or feel guilt or beg, but in order to be ever mindful of living like children of God. Transparent kaqari>sh| washed away the ajdiki>av negation of righteousness.
DO NOT DENY
DO NOT MAKE PEACE
DO NOT FEEL GUILT
SIMPLY CLING, IT IS ONLY HE THAT CAN FIX IT.
Makes no difference how much you suffer, feel guilt, pray, fast, work hard, self-loathe, it is only in confessing and trusting in the Blood of Jesus that we are made right. His Blood and His Robe. Cling.
1 John 1:10
If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.
If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar and showing that his word has no place in our hearts.
eja<n ei]pwmen o[ti oujc hJmarth>kamen,
if we should say that we have not sinned,
yeu>sthn poiou~men aujto<n kai< oJ
a liar we make Him and the
lo>gov aujtou~ oujk e]stin ejn hJmin.
Word of Him is not in us.
hJmarth>kamen, Is the perfect tense of the verb, “to sin.” The abiding results of a past activity, so we sinned and that has forever barred the door to God unless we accept the new door, which is Jesus. To deny sin is to deny the need for Jesus. yeu>sthn, a person/being who lies, i.e. the Devil, Jesus says when Satan lies he is speaking his native tongue. When we go the selfish way of Satan then our native tongue is also lies. poiou~men, present active, to make someone do something. lo>gov,
Only two possibilities: ignorance of His Word or you don’t believe God. That’s calling Him a liar. No one listening to my voice can claim ignorance. The Truth is readily available and He is knocking on your door.
There is a continous flow of forgiveness for future events, paid for in the past, if we continue in the Light, which is the same as relating to God in Spirit and in Truth.
Genuine, Biblical Christianity is in fact eternal security if we continue to actively choose Him.