What a rainy and wet morning! Yikes! It is pouring so hard here! So much rain this year! Wonder what winter will be like?!
Some great discussion from yesterday's chapter. Sin is hard to think about and hard to discuss. I know I never sin (right?!) Like I said to a few, I think God is looking for two things in us: (first) belief in Christ and that Christ died for us and (second) a continual improvement in our behaviors. I think if we work on those two, God still considers us God's children. Also, I think we can come to the conclusion that the commands John was talking about are the last two Jesus left us with: Love God....and love neighbor. Like we all said- the first is easy to do, the second- not so much!
Today's chapter has some great words on "testing spirits" and the fact that God is love. We will read some familiar words (especially if you listened to the message from t his past Sunday!)
We begin with a harsh warning from John, "Not every spiritual experience you have is from God!" (v 1). The early church was strong and vibrant; the early church had a fervor for God; the early church was on fire- yet there were false prophets in the world trying to misguide the people and pull them away from God. There were many charismatic "prophets" that were attempting to lead people astray. Sometimes it is easy to get caught up in the excitement of something new, different, exciting! John reminds us to test our experiences against Scripture and through the body of Christ (i.e. the church). True teaching and true prophecy will be true to Christ and will present a true Jesus. To deny the trueness of Jesus is the teachings of the Antichrist. The spirit of the antichrist is present in John's world (and probably ours) and we will know it when we hear it and interact with it.
As children of God though (v 4), we are protected from the antichrist- although we need to be warned about it! The indwelling of the Holy Spirit is greater than the antichrist and that Spirit will overpower the evil-- if we rely on the Spirit and call on it! We will know the evil spirits as they are focused on earthly, worldly things in contrast to the Holy Spirit- focused on God's kingdom. Where are we focused?
John then moves to the perfection of God and God's love in us (vv 7- 21). We are to love because God loved us; we don't love to earn God's love, we give God's love to people around us. If we truly believe God and trust God, then we are to manifest that through our love for others. Relationships are like a triangle: two people at the base and God at the apex. As the two people draw closer to God, they also draw closer to each other.
God "illustrated" God's love for us at Jesus' crucifixion (vv 9-10). John continues with, the least we could do is love others (v 11)! We can fully appreciate the love God has for us in our love for others. The more we love others, the more perfect God's love becomes. We have no idea what God looks like, but we know that love is the expression of God. John restates this many times...God is love and our love for others is how we express that love. Near the end of the chapter (v 20), John says that we cannot say we love God and hate someone. Those two statements are mutually exclusive. If we have hate in our hearts (think about our current world) then how can we love God? The commandment from Jesus was love others as I have loved you (v 21). No hate.
Lots to think about with these words! Good time to break for the weekend and do some soul searching! Have a great weekend!
Shalom+
Pastor Paul
I am so curious as to why and to whom John wrote this message! It is very repetitious. Whomever John was telling this to, he wanted to make sure he "drove home" the message.
ReplyDeleteWe all have stated that we hope we will recognize the antichrist, and right in the beginning of this chapter John says - every "spirit" that says Jesus Christ came in the flesh is the "spirit" of God and all those that say that Jesus Christ did NOT come in the flesh from God is the antichrist. So we all should be able to recognize the antichrist. Although, for some reason, I thought there was going to only be one near the end, but John clearly says there are some in his world and time and I feel there are many in ours as well.
Pastor, you stated that even in John's day when the church was "on fire", there were false prophets - or antichrists as John calls them. But I am thinking that there would have to be many just BECAUSE the church was "on fire" and growing and becoming strong. It seems today that all false prophets do not have to work so hard. Sadly, our society seems to be doing the work for them.
John's message in 1 John does seem to be very focused on one topic - but it's a message that we should be reading over and over again!
IT is unknown who the recipient(s) is/are. It is likely to an individual, but it is really a mystery. Usually people write who they are sending the letter to...no indication here! But, yah, sin is a big thing!
DeleteKey word...we SHOULD be able to know! Hmmm...we will see!
Right- there were many false prophets at the beginning, an di am sure they had to work hard. And you are right- today there are still many- but like you say- they don't have to work that hard to draw people away! What can we, the church, do to stop that?
Thanks Donna.
Reading this chapter brings to mind many thing about the antichrist . There have been many false prophets since John wrote this letter. My understanding was there was to be one antichrist near the end Will we as children of God be able to recognize him? The world has changed so and many things are now seeming to be acceptable the many years ago would not have been acceptable. Is the antichrist a person or perhaps a movement or the like that slowly comes over the world? Just wondering after reading this and thinking about the world as it is today.
ReplyDeleteThe rest of this chapter john speaks of god being Love and we are to love one another so if God is love and we are to love one another as God loves us it is a circle going back to God being Love. That's my understanding of this anyhow. Sometimes it is hard to love one another.
I think there will be one "super" antichrist at the end...these are the smaller, lesser ones?? Hopefully we, as children of God, will be able to recognize them! Has the world changed people or have people changed the world?
DeleteI like the God is love parts! And I agree- it is hard to love all people. I definitely need to work on that!
THanks Clara
The end of this chapter is very hard for me. Vs. 20-"If anyone says, "I love God", yet hates his brother, he is a liar." It seems like it's very black and white. You either love everyone or you don't love God. I don't actually know anyone who loves- or even likes- everyone.
ReplyDeleteWe hear this so much in the New Testament. There have been time that I have wondered if I should quite because I'm never going to live up to most of this stuff.
What exactly does it mean to love one another? Does it mean to do nice things for others? or just to wish them well, maybe pray for them? or just not to dislike them? I assume that if you should do nice things for people but you just do it to score point, that's not good either.
It's a tough concept for me.
You ask a really hard question and comment on something I am not too sure of either. To be honest- I don't love all people, but I think (generally) I am a good person and would call myself a Christian. That's not how John thinks!
DeleteI think the idea of love is to not hate. Hate is such a guttural feeling that hurts both people- the one hating and the one being hated. John does take a tough stance on this, but this is John's letter- not Jesus'!
I think the idea of love is to not intentionally hurt others, to try and help the best we can (without expectation of payback), to not hate, to do good for others...just my ideas
And don't ever give up!
Thanks Cathy!
What does it mean to Love your Neighbor? Can you dislike your neighbor and still love him? I believe that you can disagree with your neighbor and still love him., but it is hard to love someone whom you dislike.
ReplyDeleteIt is exceedingly difficult to love everybody. No matter what one does, there will still be people with whom you not only disagree, but there are people you will clash with – personality clashes. I do not know how you can love one with whom you clash and, therefore, dislike. According to John, then, you do not love this person and, thus, cannot love God and will be sucked up by the antichrist. I, therefore, believe that the teachings in John’s epistle are unattainable. Even in Jerusalem of Jesus’s day, there were bound to be clashes. Today, the world is so complex and there are so many people, that there are bound to be clashes.
You can definitely disagree and still love! Loving neighbor means to do no harm and try to do good (in my thoughts). Don't hate, but try to at least like.
ReplyDeleteLike I said to Cathy- this is John's letter- not Jesus'!
I think if we don't hate, that is good to begin with! I agree there are people I disagree with, but I can probably never "love" them. It is hard, but don't hate, don't cause harm, try to do good...these are what I look at.
Thanks Jack