JUDE

Epistle of jude ....CONTEND FOR THE FAITH

Only one chapter, yet containing an astonishing sweep of history from Genesis to Revelation.  This short epistle makes use of biblical and extra- biblical literature to produce at one and the same time a document of severe warning, and one of certain assurance that it is indispensable for the church today.  Details are culled from the Apocrypha, the book of Enoch, the Assumption of Moses, and others, and from the sacred writings, to highlight the reality of apostasy, which has  taken place in heaven and amongst the ancient people of God and in the pagan world, from the  beginning of time till the present day and into the future.  This evil has now in Jude’s day invaded the church.  Peter predicted it would come (2nd Peter 2 v1), Jude says it has already come.  It is remarkable that he changes his purpose for writing, indicating the urgency to address this threat to the life of the church.
Jude was the brother of James, therefore the half brother of the Lord Jesus.  Like his older brother he was not saved till after the resurrection( John 7v5 with Acts 1 v13-14).  His insight into spiritual history, no doubt came from half a lifetime observing and hearing the Lord.  He set out to write of “the common salvation”, but such was the danger he warned of roving apostates, corrupting the church.  Sometimes the servants of the Lord have to change the message to suit prevailing conditions.
Luke recorded the Acts of the apostles at the outset of the apostolic church, the epistle of Jude has been called “the acts of the apostates” at the end of the apostolic era.  It is amazing how quickly the truth can be perverted ;  the church was only 40 years old and already many had turned away.  It has also been called “the vestibule of the Revelation”, being strategically placed in position, as well as in content, close to the final book in scripture.  The epistle points to the coming of the Lord with all His saints, and ends with their presentation before the Father in eternal bliss, a fitting introduction indeed to that glorious book.  The dangers are great but the outcome is sure!  The details are vast, so vast it would be impossible to unlock this in a short space and it is regrettable that this letter has been neglected by teachers and authors alike.  There are however trends that can open it up for expanded study, and we can indicate some here.
Firstly we must understand apostasy, for it can be the silent killer amongst us, if we do not detect it readily, for they are attacking churches and they may be in one of ours.  In the dictionaries the word is defined as “a defection from the truth”.  The Greek word apostasia is used only twice;  Acts 21 v21 “forsake” and 2nd Thessalonians 2 v3 “a falling away”.  This assumes people who have had some perception of Divine things, but have now abandoned the faith.  The problem is that many can appear to be real while departing in heart from the Lord.  What will culminate in a global apostasy has it’s seed in false doctrines by false prophets right now. There are other scriptures which point to it as follows;
• 2nd Peter 2 v1           “There were false prophets among the people even as there shall be false teachers among you who privily shall bring in damnable heresies,,,”.
• 1st Timothy 4 v1        “Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of demons..”
• 2nd Timothy 4 vv3-4  “..the time will come when they will no longer endure sound doctrine but they shall heap to themselves teachers having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables”.
• Jude v4                      “For there are certain men crept in unawares...ungodly men turning the grace of God into lasciviousness and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ”.

The existence of a “chiastic” structure in the letter enhances the Divine design of the contents and pinpoints the reality of apostasy with it’s ultimate judgment as the principal message.
1) Verses 1-2   A Divinely appointed perfect beginning.
2) Verse 3          A call to contend for the faith.
3) Verse 4            Apostates immoral works.
4) Verses 5-7         Apostates in history.
5) Verses 8-10         Apostates blasphemy.
6) Verse 11                Apostates  rebellion and final judgment(Woe!).
7) Verses 12-13        Apostates hypocrisy.
8) Verses 14-15a     Apostates in prophecy.
9) Verses 15b-19    Apostates slanderous words.
10) Verses 20-23    A building up in the most holy faith.
11) Verses 24-25  A Divinely assured perfect ending.

From the above we can clearly see the beautiful message of Jude, that evil men inspired by demons may do their worst, but they will not thwart the glorious purpose of God to bring His people through no matter what.  Saints of God be warned, saints of God take courage, saints of God trust in Him and He will bring you through.
The letter is sprinkled with features of God’s provisions for His people in the darkest of days.
 God loves His people                                      verses 3, 17, 20, 21.
 God will protect His people                             verses 1, 24.
 God is well able to deal with apostates           verses 5-7(groups), v11(individuals).
 God predicted their coming                             verse 14(Enoch), v17(the apostles).

Jude arranges his material in triads of truth, similar to John with whom he may have been contemporary.
• 3 stages of conversion.....sanctified/preserved/called
• 3 provisions from God......mercy/love/peace
• 3 groups of apostates.......angels/Israel/Sodom and Gomorrah
• 3 individual apostates.......Cain/Balaam/Korah
• 3 apostate features...........defile the flesh/despise dominions/slander dignities
• 3 oppositions to evil..........Michael/Enoch/Apostles
• 3 exhortations....................praying/keeping/looking

These are vast bible-wide studies, and for now we summarise the verses as follows:
Verses 1-2            Pre-conversion activity (sanctified-set apart; preserved-hedged up, under military guard; called-effectually called, Divinely summoned).  Post-conversion supplies (mercy-compassion, relief from misery;  peace-freedom from turmoil, harmony;  love-Divine love, love unbounded, without end.)  All these multiplied in abundance.

Verse 3                “Contend for the faith that was once(for all) delivered to the saints”.  Jude is obviously thinking of the post-apostolic era when most of the apostles have gone and so he refers to the faith “once for all” delivered, it is not to be changed in any way.  It is under attack, and must be defended, and error must be opposed.  This is “the common salvation” to which he refers in this verse.  This is spiritual warfare, that must be engaged.  Many today just want an easy time, peaceful acceptance of all views, tolerance so as not “to rock the boat”, but when the boat is heading for the rocks(which figure is actually in the letter), it is time to alter course.  Earnestly contend is the Greek word epiagonizomai which means to struggle intensely, there can be no compromise, no surrender of any part of the precious truth.

Verse 4            “Certain men crept in unawares...”    Nothing transparent about these, they “crept in”, came in by subterfuge, hence the need for vigilance of those coming in.  Jesus called them deceivers, false prophets.  At the time of writing the church is approximately 40 years old and in danger of apostatising.   Israel was only 40 years out of Egypt when they apostatised.  Enoch was only the 7th generation from Adam and he predicted these!  They creep in, Peter says “...who privily shall bring in damnable heresies...”.  They don’t announce their intentions, they befriend the saints, they include truth in their error for their teaching to be plausible, then spread the poison.  Jude draws attention to their condemnation (all who apostatise are condemned of old, they were “written beforehand”.  We don’t know who they are but God knows;  next he reveals their character, (Greek asebes destitute of reverential fear toward God, impious.  This word is repeated 5 times in verse 15, they are ungodly in their thinking, in their actions, in their attitude, in their words, in their desires;  he pinpoints their conduct “turning the grace of God into lasciviousness...”, that is suggesting that the superlative grace of God gives licence to go on sinning, indeed sinning the more enhances His grace!! Behind this heresy was the persuasion that the spirit is perfect, it matters not about the body;  behind every evil practice there is an evil doctrine and Jude marks their creed which simply is denial of the Lordship of Christ, saying that no longer does God make demands on us, He is gracious, He allows us liberty.  It goes without saying just how appealing this might be, but it is damnable heresy.

Verses 5-7      Three reminders of old testament apostasy.  The threat is nothing new, it is just history repeating itself.
Israel      “The Lord having saved the people out of the land of Egypt afterward destroyed them that believed not”.   The narrative is found in Numbers 14 verses 1-45; Psalm 95 verses 10-11;  Out of the millions who left Egypt only two entered the land, Joshua and Caleb.  The remainder were unbelievers as witnessed by their actions and attitudes.
Angels   Apostasy first reared it’s ugly head in the hallowed courts of heaven.  “They kept not their first estate but left their own habitation”.  In plain language they left heaven for earth to seek co-habitation with females, either by possessing men or by themselves taking visible human form.  This could be referring to Genesis 6 “the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair and they took them wives of all that they chose”.  The result was angel-human hybrids which were monstrosities, and possibly was the main reason for the global flood.  Note the play on words, “they kept not”, God has “reserved them in everlasting chains...”.
Sodom and Gomorrah      The cities of the plain who turned away from the knowledge of God to practice deviant sex “giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh”;  in plain language homosexuality, and such that it was being practised by all.  Strange flesh is the practice of illicit sex.  In the case of angels, it was angels with humans;  in Sodom it was men with men and women with women expressly forbidden by God.  4000 years on those who perished at Sodom are “...set forth for an example suffering the vengeance of eternal fire”.

Verses 8-10    “Likewise also these dreamers defile the flesh(just as the three examples above) and (they go even further than their old testament counterparts), in addition to the illicit use of the flesh, they despise dominions (any form of authority), and they “speak evil of dignities”, they slander those in high positions, in essence they blaspheme(reducing to commonality those who have been exalted above them).  In other words the modern apostates are progressing in evil when everything and everyone is being reduced to a basic level.  In contrast even the archangel Michael will not slander Satan but commit him to the only one who is above him, that is the Lord.

Verse 11      The fulcrum of the whole letter, individual apostates who knew the truth of God, rejected it and turned aside after other gods of their own making.  Cain, rejection of God’s way to seek his own way, which was the way of self satisfaction (Genesis chapter 4).  Balaam, it was the error of compromise, and covetousness, he knew the truth but manipulated it for personal gain(Numbers 22-25) .  Korah, it was rebellion against Divine authority, refusal to accept God’s man and confronted him to his own destruction and that of his family and supporters (Numbers 16).  F.F. Bruce comments that the early church tormentors of the Gnostic persuasion modelled themselves on these three old time apostates(Bruce “Answers to questions” p134), which is possibly why Jude cited them.
“Woe unto them...” the final and eternal ruin of a human being who, knowing God turns away to his own way, in defiance of the living God.

Verses 12-13       Jude now uncovers the hypocrisy of these teachers, they are not what they seem to be.  He characterises in graphic terms their features which the readers would readily recognise.
 “Spots in your feasts of love..” they are dangerous.        Actually hidden reefs or sunken rocks, the image of the church as a vessel in danger of sinking.  These are operating in the context of love feasts when all are disposed to sharing love with everyone, the last thing on their mind being disaster.  “..feeding themselves without fear”.  Posturing as those who are feeding the flock, but they are feeding their own ego’s; they are without fear, they have no conscience.  This is hard to believe yet we remember Judas who went unnoticed and was trusted by the disciples.
 “Clouds without water.. they are disappointing.   Promising good things to come but it never happens.
 “Trees without fruit...” they are dead.    Again empty promises, look like the real thing but fake.  “Twice dead plucked up by the roots”, this appears to be the Divine view of them.  The only evidence of life is fruit and these people have none.
 “Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame”   they are disgusting.  Angry people, restless, unstable, producing all the filth that is in them and spreading it around wherever they go (Isaiah 57 v20).
 “Wandering stars to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever”  they are detached from their proper orbit, purporting to shed light but all they are is darkness and headed for eternal darkness.  Note the repetition of the word “reserved”, v6 and v13;  this in contrast to the saints who are “preserved”, v1 and v24.

Verses 14-15a “Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these....”.   Evidence upon evidence, proof upon proof, the earth was barely “out of it’s nappies” to use colloquialism, than these kind of people were proliferating.  Now we are nearing the end, how bad must it be?  Men made in the image of God yet 5 times over Enoch describes them as “ungodly”, choosing to live without reverence to God.  Enoch began to walk with God upon Divine revelation that He would destroy the world.  He also saw beyond his own era way into the future “Behold the Lord cometh with ten thousands (myriads) of His saints to execute judgment upon all and to convict all that are ungodly of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed...”. 10,000 is the highest number in Hebrew culture and can mean an unlimited number.  Yet again God’s judgment on all who turn away from Him.  This pattern of apostasy has existed almost since the dawn of creation, is with us now as a present danger, and will be there until the end, until the Lord Himself puts down all rebellion.

Verses 15b-19   In this section he focuses on the slander of their words.  These people care not whether an accusation is true, as long as it fulfils their end.  Previously he has exposed their deeds, now their words and describes them again in graphic fashion such that we need be in no doubt as to their standing.
 Blasphemers(v15)       “hard (speeches) which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him”.
 Murmurers(v16)        Dissatisfied with their lot, whether of recognition or of position.
 Complainers(16)       Disagreeable to what others are doing.
 Arrogant(16)             Loud, bumptious, “speaking great swelling words”.
 Flatterers(16)            Favouring some for the sake of personal advantage.
The apostles warned about these beforehand (verses 17-19), mockers whose lives would proclaim what they are.  Jude identifies them in three ways;  they are separators, that is they create factions, they foment divisions;  secondly they are sensual, feeding on worldly senses;  and thirdly they are devoid of Spirit, that is the Spirit of God is not in them.   Such behaviour even when it is manifest in true believers is evidence of the old independent Adamic nature and of the influence of demonic spirits.  Next we are warned not to class everyone as apostate who demonstrate these features, but to avoid those who are.

Verses 20-23     This section is introduced by the conjunction but”; we are not to become fixated on these and rather pay attention to ourselves “..building ourselves up in our most holy faith..” that is the faith that is to be untarnished with error, either doctrinal or practical.  There are three ways in which he suggests we may do this, firstly for ourselves;
 Praying in the Holy Spirit      Apostates are devoid of the Spirit(verse 19), but true believers not only have Him but He is their prayer partner(Romans 8 vv26-27).  This means not just saying prayers but really praying, alongside the one who reveals God to us.
 Keep yourselves in the love of God      This again involves partnership with the Spirit who floods our hearts with the love of God(Romans 5 v5).  Overcome the problems by immersing yourself in the incomparable love of God, against which all else seems trivial.
 Looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life        Look to the future of the consummation of your faith in the enjoyment of eternal life.
Secondly in relation to others who, even if they have fallen foul of the apostates delusions, have compassion, and discernment;  not all are lost because for a time they may have succumbed.  Make a difference between the apostate and the backslider, and in fear attempt to bring them back, even if their character has been tarnished, and avoid being contaminated in contact with them.

Verses 24-25          The final victory, we have been exhorted to keep ourselves, now we learn that God makes it His business to keep us.  He closes with one of the finest doxologies in scripture;   “Now unto Him...” ascribed to Him three roles present and future;
 Preservation              “He is able to keep us from(without) falling...”.    Not only to the end but all the way through, could be rendered “without ever falling”, in the context from the wiles of the false teachers.
 Presentation              “..to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy”.      We shall one day be presented without a fault in the presence of majestic glory.  Those who came short of His glory, now accepted in the august presence of sinless perfection and manifold goodness.  All this with exceeding joy, all regrets and ill-feelings gone forever.
 Power                         “..to the only God our Saviour be glory and majesty and dominion(might) and power(authority both now and ever Amen”.   The same glory and majesty and might and authority which sustains the present universe, will be in force forever in the new order, by the power of God.
On the balance of scripture no one can lose their salvation and this letter upholds this truth.  The importance of Jude is that it warns that true believers can be drawn astray by those who were never saved, operating amongst them.  The fundamental position is this; “The foundation of God standeth sure , having this seal, ”The Lord knoweth them that are His and let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity” (2nd Timothy 2 v19).   Overemphasis on initial conversion without stressing the need for progression and vigilance can lead to careless living.

2nd and 3rd JOHN

John’s 2nd and 3rd epistles overview and commentary

These two personal letters demonstrate John’s heart for the things of God.  In his gospel he writes to the world; in his 1st epistle he writes to the family of God, identifying different levels of growth, and now he writes to two individuals concerning their needs.  It is a unique gift to be able to unfold spiritual truth in all three spheres.  Through His servant John, God speaks to the world, the people of God and to individuals.  It is indeed worthy of note that in his gospel, he records that the Lord dealt with all three groups and very interesting indeed how He handled individuals.  In His word God is speaking to all three groups and He tailors the broad principles to individual circumstances.

In the 2nd epistle he writes to a widow woman and her children.  There is no evidence the “elect lady” is a church or any of the other suggestions made. From the last verse of the letter it would seem that her sister has passed away and so the situation is fraught with a sense of loss, and vulnerability is a factor, especially with the army of itinerant preachers all seeking material help.
In the 3rd epistle he writes to a beloved brother who was experiencing difficulty within the church.
In the 2nd epistle he warns against receiving false teachers, in the 3rd epistle he condemns the non reception of true teachers.  The letters balance out, true discrimination is required.
In the one the problem was from without, visiting itinerant preachers, in the other, it came from within, a resident  overlord.  In the one they were denying the doctrine of the Christ, in the other one man was denying the practice of the doctrine of the Christ, there being only one preeminent One among God’s people.  Interesting that John saw no difference in these two errors, classifying both as not of God.  It is one thing to say we believe in the Lordship of Christ, it is another to practise it.  Doctrine and practice for John were essential partners in Christianity.  In the one the apostates invaded the home, in the other it was the church.  No place on earth is safe from the influx of error.  In the one the woman was to take action, in the other it was the apostle John who would take action.  He introduces himself in both as “the elder”, not using apostolic authority, but preferring to be seen as the venerable John whose age and experience will carry great weight with the individuals addressed. 
2nd john.....a letter of consolation
John announces almost immediately his main topic with the reference to “the truth” no less than 5 times in the first 4 verses.  What are we to understand by “the truth”?, as it is this theme he carries all the way through in both letters.  It is such an important word, but if not careful we can miss the sharp import if we think of it  as vague and general.  Truth is reality as opposed to fantasy, and fact as opposed to fiction.  It is integrity as opposed to falsehood, it is transparency as opposed to dubiety.  Objectively God is the truth; Jesus in John 14 v6 “I am the truth”;  The Spirit is truth (1st John 5 v6; John 16 v13; 14 v17; 15 v26);  God’s word is truth (John 17 v17), all else is false.  Subjectively truth is the opposite of lies, we reject the lies of the devil, doctrinally;  we do not indulge in lies practically. Any deviation from the truth of God cannot be tolerated, and he sets it in this letter as “abiding in the doctrine of the Christ”(verse9).  Deviation from that in any way is transgression.  He develops different aspects of the truth through the letter, as he seeks to protect this vulnerable lady in difficult emotional and spiritual circumstances.
 Verses 1-3             Knowing the truth
 Verses 4-6             Walking in the truth
 Verses 7-11           Abiding in the truth
 Verses 12-13         Enjoying the truth

Knowing the truth(1-3)                   We live in a world of lies, dominated by the father of lies, to be associated with a community of people who know the truth and practice truthfulness is just a wonderful experience.  He addresses the lady as “elect” and is a reminder of the privileged position of every child of God.  To be elect of God is the highest honour that can be bestowed on any human being.  It is spoken of by the Lord Jesus and every major writer of the new testament.  It is a glorious fact, an honour from heaven that out of the many billions of human beings those with faith in Christ have been chosen by God for eternal blessing, and this fact alone should be the greatest incentive to godly living while here in this world.  With high privilege comes also responsibility.
It would seem the children of the elect lady are also the Lord’s as the word “whom” is plural and could be rendered “all whom I love in the truth”.  Note the sensitivity of John, for in writing to this dear sister in the Lord, he drops the customary “beloved”, which he used in 1st John 3 v2; 3 v21; 4 v1; 4 v7; 4 v11 and also in 3rd John v1; v2; v5 and v11.  No doubt this is to avoid any appearance of over affection which may be misconstrued.  His love for her and her children was a spiritual one in the common faith and this is shared by all...”..not I only but also all they that have known the truth”.  This love in the truth for all saints is “..for the truth’s sake..”, that is the propagation of the truth will be enhanced by our evident love for one another.  The way in which this is possible is by the truth, the pure unadulterated truth of God abiding in us and remaining with us forever.
Notice in verse 3 how he combines truth and love, the never- to- be- separated elements of the faith, in the context of a reiteration of the truth, with the consequent spiritual provisions from God the Father and God the Son, “Grace be with you and mercy and peace from God the Father. and from the Lord Jesus Christ the Son of the Father”.  Grace from the Father, grace from the Son;  mercy from the Father, mercy from the Son;  peace from the Father, peace from the Son.  The Lord Jesus Christ is the Son of the Father, this is the truth, and we hold it in love, and we hold no other thought.
Walking in truth (4-6)                   To walk in the truth is to obey it, to allow it to control every part of our life.  We can study the truth, debate it, develop it, even preach it but it is more difficult to practise it.  In Galatians chapter 2 there are two key expressions;  verse 5 “that the truth of the gospel may continue with you”, and verse 14 “..they walked not uprightly according to the truth of the gospel”.  The only way to continue in the truth is to walk according to it’s precepts.   We may understand it, we may preach it acceptably, but it is to walk in it, to order our lives in line with it, that brings great joy to the Lord, and to the apostles and to our teachers and to our elders, and, ultimately to ourselves.  John uses the theme of joy which is characteristic of his writings, “I rejoiced greatly....”.  The world views Christianity as being “killjoy”, the very opposite is the truth.  Real joy comes from walking in His ways;  this will involve keeping His commandments as He well knows what is best for us.  The word commandments is used 5 times in this section.  Commandments focus the truth on specific areas of life.  The commandments are from the Father, the one who in love gave up all He had and went the whole way to save us, how would we not respond accordingly?  God’s commandments to us are the expression of His heart, and thus we obey for the good of all. 
Now he appeals to the lady to fulfil the greatest commandment, to love one another.  This was not a new commandment in terms of time but it was new in terms of extent as had been displayed in Jesus Christ.  The definition of love is an attitude to others displayed in harmony with His perfect Being, the cycle of which is truth then obedience and love.
Abiding in the truth (7-11)                 Knowing the truth, walking in the truth, now abiding in the truth, living with it in our hearts, carrying it with us wherever we are.  The truth will be put to the test;  there is an army of preachers peddling error.  Some of them are the worst kind, those who have given intellectual assent to it, but did not abide in it and, indeed, have overthrown it.  These are dangerous to the family of God and they are not to be tolerated, or harboured or received, not even to be given the normal courtesy of hospitality for which Christianity is famous.  The standard is “The doctrine of the Christ...” , no less;  failure to abide in this renders the person apostate so far as God is concerned.  We must be informed that most of the mainline churches today fall down on this as well as a host of so-called evangelicals and all non-Christian religious organisations.  Believers today must beware of any who bring the contrary doctrine, and the test is their attitude to Christ.  He pulls the rug from under modern Unitarianism and Christadelphianism with his clear statement that the doctrine of the Christ involves both the Father and the Son.  The word “transgress” used in this connection is interesting, in that it suggests more going beyond the doctrine, adding to it, proposing a more “progressive” doctrine.  This would apply to the error at Colosse where it was suggested the doctrine of Christ was only part of the picture, adding human philosophy, Jewish legalism, eastern mysticism, and Greek stoicism.  Far from enhancing the doctrine these demeaned the person and work of Christ.  All additions to the revealed truth, including claims of extra-biblical revelation, are not of God and are to be refused.  There exists today multiple deviations and we must be vigilant.  We don’t need to know all the “transgressions” of the doctrine we just need to know the truth and the One who is the truth and live in it and reject all the lies that will some day be swept away into oblivion.
Enjoy the truth (12-13).                     Jesus said when challenged in His day “the truth shall set you free”.  What He meant was freedom from the shackles of evil, whether moral or doctrinal;  freedom from sin and Satan and self.  Freedom to serve the Lord without fear and to love His people without favour.  The end of this pathway scripture says is fullness of joy....Psalm 16 v11;  It is called “the path of life”;  it is living “in the presence of the Lord”;  it leads to “fullness of joy” and “pleasures for evermore”.  He only wants to make us happy, He only wants to heal us, and then exalt us.  We can start right now by enjoying the fellowship of His people.  We can write, we can sing, we can visit, we can engage one-to one.  We can greet one another, we can revel in the wonders of our election.  All of this is in the heart of the aged apostle as he bids farewell.

3rd john......a letter of commendation
There are three names in this letter which dominate the matters raised, and divide the letter.
Gaius  the beloved brother(1-6)      a spiritual son of John, prone to ill health, who was pleasing to John and to others as a beloved and faithful brother.
Diotrephes the dictator(7-10)      an overbearing leader who was troubling the church.
Demetrius the model teacher(11-12)       an itinerant preacher of good report by all and faithful to the truth.
The battle for the truth takes place in the world (1st epistle); in the  home (2nd epistle); and in the church (3rd epistle).  Satan and his hordes are busy in all three spheres and we are to be aware of it.  The battle is for hearts and minds and nowhere is free from the conflict.  The local church will always be a prime target;  in church life we must expect to encounter many different people and face difficult problems.  We are to follow the good and avoid the bad.
Gaius (1-6)    A good brother to be trusted               Not only was Gaius beloved in the truth, he was beloved in the very real, very visible, practice of it.
• Verse 2   Gaius was possessed of great personal piety;  he was in good spiritual health even if his physical health was an issue and John prayed that his bodily health would match that of his spiritual prosperity.  It is possible that with him “the outward man was perishing, while the inner man was being renewed day by day”. 
• Verses 3-4     He bore a good testimony before his brethren.  Those who knew him best reported that the truth was in him and his manner of life gave evidence to that.  John had several reports from visiting brethren of His walk according to the truth of God.  The truth was in him and it was the driving force of his outward demeanour.  This brought great pleasure to John who revelled in the knowledge that another of his spiritual children was walking in truth.
• Verses 5-8   He engaged himself in good practical ministry and John encouraged him to continue even in the face of opposition. “Beloved thou doest faithfully whatsoever thou doest to the brethren and to strangers...”.  Perhaps the faithful work Gaius did was to use his home for the purpose of hospitality. Both to the local brethren and the visiting strangers.  This was no easy task as it was done in the context of an overbearing man in the church refusing all and sundry.  The lesson of Gaius is that it is possible to swim against an evil tide even in the church and to do good in the face of evil.  He is encouraged to “bring forward on their journey after a godly sort” (better “worthy of God”).  The hospitality of Abraham in Genesis 18 is an illustration of how we should help those on a mission for God, a story which is referred to in Hebrews 13 v2.  Those who have made sacrifice for God are worthy of help and in helping them, bringing them on their journey we are serving the Lord.  Note the link between the human servant and the One who commissioned them, “..for His name’s sake they went forth taking nothing of the Gentiles...”.
Their only means of visible support is the church since they are not funded by the world.  In receiving them we become “fellow helpers to the truth”.  The practice of the early church was to go without the material support of the outside world.  This is in line with Abram’s refusal of support from the King of Sodom, even when he had the right to claim it (Genesis 14).  Some practices today in this respect are dubious, since “Gentile money” usually comes with conditions.   There is an interesting observation by the Lord in Matthew 10 verses 40-41 in this connection, we are all part of the great mission to the world;  “He that receiveth you receiveth me, and he that receiveth me receiveth Him that sent me.  He that receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward, and he that receiveth a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man’s reward.”  The issue of reception is huge and is not to be taken lightly.  Discernment of the Lord’s people and His servants and the prospering of the work is at stake, as is our personal reward.  Are we helping or hindering the truth?  The day will declare it.
Diotrephes(7-10)  The dictator to be avoided          There is only one who is preeminent in the church and that is the Lord Himself.  This is clear from Colossians chapter 1, where the pre-eminence of God’s Son holds sway in every sphere including the church and therefore in every local church.  When Hs servants are not recognised, nor does His word have the final say in matters of practice, His supreme position is challenged and indeed usurped.  Leaders and teachers and elders are not preeminent.  They may be prominent, they may even be eminent, but “in all things He has the pre-eminence”.  The church has been blighted by dictatorial men who sought, (and do seek) to lord it over God’s flock.  Their word, not the word of the Lord becomes law and people are hurt in the process and the propagation of the truth is hindered.  The danger of “one man ministry” is obvious in this respect when men who are mere servants become lords, a position not befitting any of us.  Those churches which refuse one man ministry in principle oftentimes accept it in practice, to the detriment of God’s work.  Such a man was Diotrephes, an overbearing man who sought to impose his will on the company.  In the typical style of the autocrat he would brook no challenge to his ungodly decisions, and received none of God’s visiting servants.  John details his behaviour and this is a warning today for such men still exist in the church, and there are always those willing to follow them.  Like the Pharisees before him he “...loved to have the pre-eminence among them.”; (Matthew 23 verses 5-7)
• He would not receive the apostle
• He lied about the apostle
• He refused to receive the visiting brethren
• He opposed them that would receive them
• He cast those of different view out of the church
“..prating against us with malicious words...”  ungodly in his deeds and poisonous in his words, berating the apostles and the servants of God. John has no hesitation in describing this as evil, and not in any way to be followed, but to be avoided.  There are obviously varying degrees of this kind of behaviour, and discernment must be made, but this tendency must be rejected and opposed.  It may come from an inflated view of superior gift, or of family connections, or of social status, or even of seniority of age or attendance.  They forget that “God set the members every one of them in the body as it has pleased Him....” (1ST Corinthians 12 v18), and any behaviour that disregards this is rebellion.  Respect for elders and seniority of age and gift is enjoined in us all but those in receipt of such honour are not to be lording it in God’s house.  John said he would deal with him when he came “If I come I will remember his deeds...”.  A study of the usage of the word “remember” in scripture reveals it means more than a mental recollection, it means he will take action commensurate with the evil.  He did not ask the members to confront the man nor did he ask the visiting Demetrius to challenge the dictator, he would deal with it as the apostle of Christ.  In the absence of apostles today, the Lord Himself deals with it in His own way (1st Corinthians 3 v17 “If any defile the temple of God, him shall God defile...”.  It is a serious matter to usurp the position in the church that alone belongs to Christ.
Demetrius (11-12) The model teacher who should be followed                “Beloved follow not that which is evil, but that which is good”.    Evil and good are not defined by profession but by piety Godward.  Good is living godly, evil is living ungodly.  It is ungodly to reject the commissioned apostle of Christ, it is ungodly to falsely accuse them, it is ungodly to hinder the work of God, it is ungodly to impose upon God’s people, it is ungodly to cast out of the church without the authority of God’s word.  This is a thoroughly ungodly man, do not follow his ways. Rather follow a godly man like Demetrius who comes to you on my recommendation.  Says John, he has a good report of all ( that is within the Christian community), including myself and all with me and you know our record is true!   More than that he is witnessed by the very truth he teaches being the living embodiment of the truth.  Follow the man who teaches and lives the truth. 
Greetings and farewell (13-14)                   He closes with his intention to come to them, meanwhile exchanges greetings between two groups of believers, whom he describes as “friends”.  This is a really  close term of endearment as we remember the scripture which says that the relationship of friends can be closer than even that of family;  Proverbs 18 v24 “A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly, and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother”.  This wisdom from the book of wisdom makes this parting from John all the more lucid as he considered all in the church as his friends and they with him.  Was he thinking of that most privileged relationship spoken by the Lord to his disciples in John 15 v14?  “Ye are my friends if ye do whatsoever I have commanded you!” This goes beyond even “brethren”.

                           

1st JOHN 5

1st john 5................the victory of faith

John reaches a crescendo in his apostolic assertion of Jesus Christ as the only Saviour.  This chapter is so concise, so compelling, so clear, that no one other than the unregenerate can ignore.  He focuses on the Christian faith, so powerful it can take on the world and bring it to nothing.  So the focus is on a faith that can overcome the doctrines of men and resist the power of demons.  He will finish the letter by an appeal for the people of God to keep themselves from idols, suggesting that all belief systems which are not focused and founded on the person and work of Jesus Christ, are to be classed as idolatry.  Refusal of this incontrovertible witness of truth will be disastrous for those who dissent.
Verses 1-5        Conquering faith
Verses 6-12      Confirmed faith
Verses 13-21    Confident faith
These simple divisions will help us understand the importance of the faith which is  common to all true believers, and arm us and energise us, to overcome the world which opposes the truth
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Verses 1-5  Faith conquers the world.          Personal faith can achieve great things but what is in view here is corporate faith, he says “our faith”, and so what is emphasised is not so much the distinctive faith of the individual but the object on which that faith rests.  The section begins and ends with the same phrase;  verse 1 “Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ...”, verse 5 “...he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God”.  He is viewing the common belief that Jesus is the Christ(the Messiah), and that He is the Son of God, and these two solid foundations are powerful enough to overcome the world in opposition to God.  It is not the power of our personal faith, but the power of the One in whom that faith is placed.  This is the twofold burden of John in his writings;  in John chapter 20 v31, he summarises his gospel like this “These things are written that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God...”, the same two titles of Jesus.  It is belief in Jesus as Messiah and as Son of God that brings saving faith and that is the faith that conquers the world.  Messiah is the one who will fulfil a Divine commission, the Son of God is the one who will rule the world.  All the predictions concerning Messiah will be fulfilled in Him, all the privileges of the only begotten Son will be enjoyed in association with Him.  He is the rock on which our faith rests, and no power on earth can overcome.
Here we have a concise summary of the Christian faith;
 Believing        There are doctrinal implications.  The doctrine of the person of Jesus Christ (verses 1&5).  A number of things to observe here.  “Believeth” is in the present tense, so faith is ongoing.  “Born of God”, in strict biblical terms takes place before believing(the structure is “having been born of God”).  This makes God the primary mover in conversion.  In John chapter 3 Jesus taught new birth prior to believing;  regeneration comes before faith, no one can respond to God until first the regenerating work of the Spirit of God.  Faith is not a mere intellectual assent to a creed but obedience to a person whom God has ratified.
 Loving       There are social implications.      “Every one that loveth Him that begat, loveth him also that is begotten of Him”.   This is a most powerful logical statement.  This says firstly that to believe in Him is to love Him.  This also says salvation is initiated by God in every believer, that we are part of a very large family, and what we are they are, what we have they have, they are individually our kinsfolk and we are to love them as we love the Lord.  Love to Him must issue in love to them if there is any reality about our faith.  They are born of God, they are the children of God as we are and we must love them.
 Keeping     There are moral implications “This is the love of God that we keep His commandments”.   Although the law has been fully met in Christ, we are responsible to keep “the righteousness of the law” as our standard of living.  Jesus fulfilled every commandment of His Father in His mission to save us and we are expected to search out and keep the commandments of God.  The word “commandment “ (entole) is described as “an authoritative prescription”, something for our good but with Divine authority behind it.  We are to keep them (as with a military guard) His commandments, they are to be our charge, our watchword.  “His commandments are not grievous”. (not burdensome, not hard to keep).  This is because we have the Divine power within.  It is not difficult to do things for one who loves us, and who abides in us.
 Overcoming     There are also polemical issues, faith in Christ, faith in the Son of God brings us into conflict with the world who have their philosophies, creeds, opinions contrary to the truth of God.  Note the linking preposition “For” taking us back to verse 3.  His commandments are not grievous because we have within a new nature and “whatsoever is born of God overcomes the world”.  This is the Divine power within, he distinguishes now the new nature, the new power. from the person. The world is indeed a vast system in opposition to God and we do not have it in ourselves to combat it, but the faith, belief in Jesus as the Son of God, is the overcoming power.  Faith in Him in all that He is, and all that He is within us. conquers the world.

Verses 6-12  Faith confirmed by the Spirit of truth and God the Father.        These verses are all about the confirmation of faith in the person and work of Jesus Christ; a) verses 6-8 confirmation by the witness of the Spirit.
 Having stated that faith in the Son of God is the world-conquering power, he now identifies Him in terms of historical record.  “This is He that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ, not by water only but by water and blood and it is the Spirit that beareth witness because the Spirit is truth”.  This is He....the one known historically as Jesus Christ.  He is the Son of God, the object of all saving faith, and the Spirit of God, who is truth, identifies Him and no other. 
It is mostly accepted that the reference to water and blood was aimed at the heresy of Cerinthus, whom John opposed in the church at Ephesus.  The heresy was that Jesus was just an ordinary human being, who at his baptism became Christ by Divine anointing, but who lost that status and consequent power when he was crucified, God abandoning him to the fate of crucifixion, and so he died as a man and has no claim to be Saviour.  The reference to water is the baptism of Christ by John the Baptist, and the reference to blood is the crucifixion;  taken together the beginning and ending of Jesus’ public work.  John’s correction of this heresy was that the Son of God who was baptized by water in Jordan, was the same Son of God who shed His blood at Calvary....”..not by water only but by water and blood”.       The witness of the Spirit of truth is that He is Son of God at His baptism (Luke 3 verses 21-22; John 1 verses 33-34), and He is the Son of God at His death, as confirmed by a host of scriptures.  Therefore He is indeed the Saviour upon whom we can rely.
Verse 7 is omitted by most manuscripts as being superfluous since there is no need for witness in heaven.  However (verse 8) there is need for witness on earth and the witness is threefold, the Spirit the water and the blood.  There are three descriptions by John of His coming in the letters;   “He came in flesh” (4 verses 2/3; 2nd John v7), that is the INCARNATION;  “He came by water (5 v6) that is the INAUGURATION into public service by Divine anointing; “He came by blood”, that is His work of PROPITIATION for human sins, and all three aspects of His coming are the testimony of the Spirit.
b) verses 9-12 confirmation by the word of God the Father.  He compares the witness of men with the witness of God, and simply says that the witness of God is greater....”This is the witness of God which He has testified of His Son”.  The Spirit testifies and the Father testifies and the record is indisputable.  The words used for “testimony” and “witness” and “record” are legal terms and that determined by the Supreme court of heaven; this testimony is inviolable and dependable to all who will accept it.  Those who refuse it make God to be a liar.  This testimony goes beyond the words and is a Divine power to transmit eternal life to those who believe.  Eternal life is more than simply defined in terms of time but also in quality of life which will never end.  This life is in His Son, no other!  The issues are huge, the choice facing everyone has eternal consequences.  Rejection of the Son of God is terminal and eternal, “He that hath the Son hath life, he that hath not the Son hath not life”.  The Son of God in His person and His work is the only way of salvation.  Eternal life or eternal death, with all that these mean, that is the testimony of God and He will have the final say
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Verses 13-21  Faith assures the believer and instils confidence and constancy          
a) Verses 13-17             Confidence
At the end of his gospel John wrote “...these are written that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God, and that believing ye might have life through His name”.  Now at the end of his epistle he writes “These things have I written unto you that believe in the name of the Son of God that ye may know that ye have eternal life”.  He adds “and that ye might believe”, and he means possessed of the full assurance of your belief you will really believe, no more room for any shadow of doubt. The gospel was written to produce faith, the epistle to produce assurance of faith.  It is an important aspect of continuing belief; as the believer is surrounded by many contrary influences.  They have lived to see some depart from their company (Chapter 2 v19); They are aware of many teaching contrary doctrines (chapter 4 v1); they are constantly harassed by Satanic powers(chapter 2 v13-14); and they have experienced personal failure(chapter 2 v1,3 v20-21).  All these are forces which can discourage God’s people, can blunt the keen edge of truth within them, and cause lack of confidence, leading to apologetic testimony and half hearted living.  The epistle is promoting the certainty of these wonderful Divine things and anything which dilutes that is a great hindrance to the child of God.  Assurance brings confidence and this is a theme which John sprinkles throughout the letter(chapter 2 v28;  chapter 3 verses 19-20; chapter 5 v14. This word confidence(parrhesia) is public boldness, outspokenness, frankness, bluntness, certainty beyond doubt.  The world at large in general resists this kind of attitude, describing it as bigoted, intolerant and even arrogant.  The Roman Catholic church in particular denounces this as arrogance and delusion.  One of their spokesmen said this doctrine of assurance is “the prime error of the heretics”, they reject it for they like to keep their followers in suspense by tying them to their weekly rituals to be sure of heaven, and adherence to their programmes as the only assurance of future blessing.  This is antichrist teaching and the word of the living God and that of the risen Saviour and the testimony of the Spirit is all we need to know with certainty whom we have believed.
This assurance facilitates our prayer life for we make petition to one who loves us who gave Himself for us, who is disposed to hear us favourably, who delights to hear and answer our prayers.  Experience develops our prayer life such that we learn more and more to pray “according to the will of God”.  The confidence of assurance of His work for us and in us gives us the certainty that our prayers are meaningful to Him.  He says “..whatsoever we ask, we have...!  What a tremendous privilege and blessing is this that we can petition Almighty God and He hears us and He gives us all that is in accordance with His will.
Very much part of our prayers should be concern for our brethren, a token of our love to them, spending time before Him bringing their names and circumstances before Him.  Particularly will we pray for those who have fallen into sin, some have lapsed into sin, others have begun to habitually sin and risk being removed in death by Divine discipline.  This fact of the life of faith is often forgotten but scripture makes clear that God will remove His people from this earth rather than allow them to perpetuate serious sin (1st Corinthians 11 verses 30-31; Acts 5 v5; Revelation 2 verses 22-23).  We are not to pry into these things we are to pray, we cannot be judges of other people’s sins but there are sins which God will not tolerate among His people “There is a sin unto death”, and he means physical death the ultimate sanction.  “All unrighteousness is sin and there is a sin not unto death”.  God has made provision for the sins of His people, but all sin is serious in His sight.  Sometimes we forget that God cannot condemn the world for sin and condone it amongst His people.  Our role is to pray for our brethren whatever their situation and personal assurance gives us confidence in that.
Verses 18-21        Constancy
We are all vascillating creatures, one day up the next down, three weeks up two weeks down;  we are moulded by circumstances and events so how do we maintain that constancy as we journey through this demon infected world on the way to glory.  One thing we don’t do is give up, go into “waiting mode”, or hide from reality.  The answer is clear in the verses. Three times he says “we know”.  He points us in the direction of what we already know, Divine illumination that has been given to us, that is hidden from the world, and is the exclusive possession of those who are “born of God”.  The section begins and ends with “keeping ourselves”.  There are plenty of scriptures which focus on Divine preservation (such as 1st Peter 1 v5; John 17 verses1-12; John 10 verses 27-29), but here he is thinking of self-preservation, the responsibility we all have to “keep ourselves”, to maintain loyalty to the awesome truth of God we have received.  The epistle of Jude gives both aspects in the same context (verse 24 “Unto Him which is able to keep you from falling....”, and verse 21 “Keep yourselves in the love of God”;  another example of many where Divine sovereignty, and human responsibility work in harmony.  There is no doubt the Lord will keep His side, and we must be exercised to keep ours.  The certainty is threefold,    moral spiritual and doctrinal.
 Verse 18  Moral certainty.          We know that we have been detached from the old nature      “We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not....”.  Born of God, new life within, a new nature from God Himself, means that we no longer are dominated by the power of sin.  There is a dichotomy within, a new power to offset the old sinful nature, an inner conflict which deters the sin within.  We are not sinless but we can now combat it and overcome it.  This allows us to keep ourselves and the wicked one cannot touch us, because the life within is from God.
 Verse 19   Spiritual certainty         We know that we have been delivered from Satan’s domain     “We know we are of God and that the whole world lieth in wickedness(the wicked one)”.  We are no longer in the realm of Satan who controls the thinking and the practice of everyone else in the world who is not of God!  “Lieth” is the Geek word keimai which literally means to lie outstretched, to be fixed in a permanent situation and carries the idea of total control and subjection.  Two usages are in Matthew 5 v14 of “a city set on a hill” and Luke 2 v12 “a babe lying in a manger”.  The whole world system including the unbelieving people in it are under the total domination of powers of wickedness.  This is taught by Paul in Ephesians 3 verse 2 “...the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now works in the children of disobedience”.  We have been delivered from that, our lives need no longer be controlled by Satan, we are of God, we have been “translated into the kingdom of the Son of His love”.
 Verse 20   Doctrinal certainty     We know that we have discernment of the truth by the successful mission of the Son of God           He came on a mission, proved Himself to be the Son of God;  presented the truth of God in word and deed.  He is the truth and eternal life, and now we have full understanding.  We know Him that is true, but it is more than intellectual knowledge...”we are in Him that is true”, we are vitally and indivisibly in union with Him and therefore the power rests upon us.  “He is the true God....He is eternal life”.

Verse 21   “Little children keep yourselves from idols. Amen.”
The elder brother of the church, in age as well as experience leaves his closing impassioned appeal.   In light of such revelation, and the certainty of the issues involved, he is saying that everything else including the false doctrines and the ungodly influences and the sins of the flesh are all idolatry, which demean and pervert and contradict the truth of God and we must guard against them with the mentality of an army in the midst of war.  We are to have no agreement or practice with them, we are to oppose them as that which displaces God, the God who has given us new life.  Idolatry is simply the observance of and devotion to anything or anyone that displaces the true and only God in our hearts.

1st JOHN 4

1st john 4.......creed and conduct
The charge has been laid against Christianity that it’s followers put their trust in the unseen, unknowable and unproven, a kind of “blind faith”.  Nothing could be further from the truth as this epistle reveals that the Christian faith is based upon historical, incontrovertible facts and are the testimony of eyewitnesses called apostles whose words to all who believe are conclusive and life-changing and authoritative.  The central theme is Christ the Son of God who was sent into the world (verses 9, 10, 14),  and who came in flesh (verses 2, 3)  about whose claims there can be no doubt, and faith in whom results in eternal life.  This chapter then reveals the very heart of Christianity, exposes the doubters and fraudsters, and clarifies the true meaning of new life,  expounding Christianity from both a doctrinal and a moral point of view.  The verses can be  summarised as follows:
 Verses 1-6    The creed of the Christian as defined by the Spirit of truth.
 Verses 7-21  The conduct of the Christian as defined by the God of love.

In the scope of this chapter, John goes to the origin of things spiritual,  if we know the origin we can determine the character.  Throughout the chapter he traces all things back to their source:  4 v1 “whether they are of God”;  4 v2 “Every spirit that confesses Jesus Christ come in the flesh is of God”;  4 v3 “every spirit that confesses not Jesus Christ come in flesh is not of God”;  4 v4 “Ye are of God, little children”;  4 v5 “They are of the world...”;  4 v6 “We are of God...”;  4 v7 “Love is of God...”.   All things spiritual can be traced back to two sources either God or to the Satan- controlled world.
Verses 1-6       Christian creed as defined by the Spirit of truth

  We are asked to put all things to the test.  The word “try” (Greek dokimazo) is very strong and means to really put something to the test.  The same word is used in 1st Corinthians 3 v13 for trying all service by fire at the judgment seat;  and in 1st Thessalonians 2 v14 “...God which trieth the hearts.” There can be no more stringent trial than is indicated in these two verses, we have really to put to the test all spiritual communication, not all are speaking for God.  The strange world of unseen spirits, nevertheless real, are constantly propagating error, mainly through the false prophets who claim to have further Divine revelation beyond what is written.  “Many false prophets have gone out into the world”.....How can we know what is true and what is false? And the answer comes in verse 2 “Hereby know ye the Spirit of God”....here is the acid test.  Before we proceed it must be said we must not view all teaching with an attitude of suspicion and thus cast shadows on sincere, if somewhat immature, teachings. The word “try” can have a positive as well as a negative application as per 1st Thessalonians 5 verses 19-21 “Quench not the Spirit, despise not prophesyings, Prove (dokimazo) all things hold fast that which is good”.  In testing all things we are to discard the bad and hold to the good.  In 1st Corinthians 14 v29 the body of saints are encouraged to judge (discriminate) the words of the speaking prophets.

The answer to all false teaching is the Spirit of God through His written word, the principal revelation of which is the person of Jesus Christ.  John Newton wrote “What think ye of Christ is the test, to try both your state and your scheme.  You cannot be right in the rest, unless you think rightly of Him”.  Any religion, any so-called prophet, any so-called preacher, which is wrong about the person of Christ is wrong in everything else!  False teaching by it’s very nature must contain an element of truth to be plausible, but if it fails on this it is worthless and categorically not of God.  Denial of the Holy Spirit inspired revelation of Christ renders any spirit invalid for God, in plain language “not of God”, worthless, of no account, false, of the world (inspired by satanic hosts-chapter 5 v19), and dangerous to all who will hear it.  Nor is mechanical lip service to Jesus Christ of any value for John uses the word “confesses” which means to “speak the same thing”.  That is, concerning the person of Christ as to His true humanity or His undiminished Deity, if we are not speaking the same about Him as the Holy Spirit does in the written word, we are not of God.  Near enough will not be good enough, since these twin doctrines of the dual personality of Christ are clearly stated in scripture.   Both were also being denied in John’s day and are being denied today.  Nothing but the Spirit revealed truth of Christ is of God, the contrary is the figment of man’s imagination inspired by the demon world.  We must understand this phrase “Jesus Christ come in flesh” for there is more in it than meets the eye.
• Jesus                   The man, the real man who was here and lived in Israel
• Christ                  The Messiah, the anointed of God on a mission to do the will of God
• Come in flesh    The incarnation; assumes His pre-existence;  only He came, only He was sent into the world; assumes a permanent change for He is still flesh and will be flesh forever (John 1 v14 “The Word became flesh-or the Word flesh became”, the invisible became visible, the intangible became tangible, God became man!! (Luke 24 v39; Revelation 20 v11-12).
 All of the above is implicit in the phrase “come in flesh”.  This involves His death burial resurrection ascension coming again and future kingdom all as revealed by the Spirit concerning Jesus Christ.  Speaking the same thing (confessing who He really is in all His person and offices and works) is the only thing that is true.  All are explicit in o/t prophecy and n/t doctrine;  all are implicit in types and shadows;  all are exhibit in the gospels.  It is impossible for mankind to be saved if one or all of these are lacking, so the perpetrators of alternative doctrines are of the antichrist, and the spirit of it is already in the world.
  He now in verses 4-6 considers three groups who are defined by this measure;
a)  “Ye are of God little children because ye have overcome them....”.   The evidence is there, these little ones have been confronted with error, and they resisted it by the power of God within.  The power of demon spirits who dictate and occupy the thinking of this world is great, but we have a greater power within.
b) “They are of the world therefore speak they of the world and the world hears them...”  Their origin is the world, their oratory is of the world and their followers are of the world.  Countless millions are being deluded by the “counsel of the ungodly”.
c) “We are of God; he that knoweth God heareth us and he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error”.  The “we”, here, refers to the apostles (see chapter 1 verses 1-5).  The test of reality is in the words of the apostles (the new testament) and they define truth and error, and are those who accurately transmitted to the world the truth of God in Jesus Christ.  The importance of apostolic teaching cannot be overstated.

Verses 7-21     Christian conduct as defined by the God of love. 
   
John encourages that their belief in the truth would be more than intellectual and should issue in real love for the family;  “Beloved, let us love one another....”.   But what does he mean by love?  There are all kinds of love in the world, mostly emotional, sentimental and often very shallow.  There is a human love common to all. since we have a portion of the image of God by creation and generation.  Love is a human characteristic given by God, but there is a love beyond this, so what is this?  Anything we have of God has been tarnished with sin, so how can we share a love that is supernatural and pure and comes from God?  The rest of the verses explore the meaning of true love, God’s love, love that is unique, we have here the doctrine of Divine love.
The origin of Divine love(7-8)               “Love is of God....”.   There exists no love but what emanates from God.  He is the essence of love, twice in this context he writes “God is love” (verses  8&16).  Love is not only what God does, love is what God is!  He is in Himself love, He cannot do other than love for that is what He is.  Knowledge of God will cause us to act the same way, for if He is essentially love, and we, as born again, have His life within us we will act in the same way.  In the letter we learn that “God is light”;  “He is faithful”;  “He is just”;  “He is righteous”; “He is pure”; “He is truth”, so when we say “He is love”, that love is displayed in harmony with all His other characteristics.  No room then for a soppy, prejudiced, unbalanced kind of love, a love always in line with His perfect Being.
The extent of Divine love(9-10)                 “In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent His only begotten Son into the world that we might live through Him.  Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins”.   What is said here is almost indescribable in human language. First of all it was God who moved toward us, because we were dead, therefore helpless to move toward Him.  The salvation of helpless man was initiated by God, He did not need us, we could offer Him nothing, He moved to us “that we might live through Him”.  This initiation, this movement toward us is described in two ways;  a) “He sent His Son into the world”, at  the incarnation, the second person of the Godhead became a man!  He sent Him from heaven to earth, one of the tiniest planets in the universe that He had created!  It was His “only begotten Son” He sent, that is the dearest object of His heart’s affection, more valuable to Him than anything or anyone else in existence;  the uncreated Son of His bosom in all eternal ages.  God’s love to the world involved giving up all that He had.  b) “He sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins".  He was sent with the express purpose of dying for as He was, in heaven, He could not die.  This death involved satisfying Divine righteousness in respect of human sin.  Sin is abhorrent to God, He will not accept it, He will eradicate it from all existence, yet in love He sent His Son, who was sinless, to take upon Him the judgment of God upon sin.  He sent His Son to remove sin by becoming sin in place of us.  The extent of this is awesome “..propitiation for our sins”, the preposition “for” is “peri” from which we get our word perimeter, meaning all-encompassing, all-inclusive, totally encircling the offending sins, every one, and taking for them individually and collectively the judgment of God upon them.  In summary the love of God can only be understood in terms of Calvary, where God sent the one whom He most loved, to deal with the thing that He most hated, and all for us!!   God’s love is therefore defined in these terms and must be understood at all times in this way, and will be henceforward referred to in this way....Love that gives all and goes to any length for the object of love.
The obligation of Divine love(11-12).            “Beloved if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another”.   This is presented in the form of a debt, “we ought”, we owe it!  We are the recipients of Divine love, we are debtors to shew it to one another.  This is mandatory for the Christian and was one of Jesus’ first commandments.  Paul uses the same language in Romans 13 v8 “Owe no man anything but to love one another, for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law”.  It was implicit in the law that love to another human being (your neighbour) was a legal requirement, now as recipients of a love beyond description we owe it to the saints to love them in this same sacrificial way.  As God has so loved us we also are to love others that is we will give up everything for them and go to any length to help them.  God is invisible but we have around us His very visible and tangible children upon whom we can bestow our love.  Love to them is the same as love to God.  God dwells with those who shower love on His people, and although it is an obligation there are compensations, the abiding presence of the Lord.  The smallest act of love to His beloved people is appreciated by Him.  The practical aspects of love to one another are outlined in 1st Corinthians 13.
The operation of Divine love(13-16)                How can this be done, how can we love other people, even God’s people in this way, give our all and go to any length?  Indeed it requires supernatural help and we have it, he simply says “He has given us of His Spirit”.  Only by the powerful inward presence of the Spirit God operating can this be done.  In these verses we have a threefold way indicated of how we can make this practical;
• Verse 13  we have the internal witness of the Spirit who constantly affirms that we are God’s children.  “We dwell in Him and He in us” by the Spirit who bears witness within us.  Paul says in Romans 8 v16 “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God”.  This is a constant and permanent activity while we are here.
• Verse 14  we have the external witness of the apostles who have interpreted the presence of Jesus in the world.  “We have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world”.  They saw Him, lived with Him, followed Him, and what they beheld was no less than the Son of God on a world-saving mission.  We have their records, the written word of the gospels and the epistles, giving us an eyewitness account of their observations.  Acquaintance with these records will furnish us with the necessary incentive to follow their example.
• Verses 15-16  we have our own personal testimony and it is amazing how public confession of our faith in Christ will enhance our love for the brethren, particularly when we experience the opposition of a hostile world.  “Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in Him and He in God”.  This enhances our concept of mutual fellowship with God and a greater understanding of His love, and a greater sharing of His love as we are in contact with one another.  As we abide in His love, He in us and we in Him, as we grow in understanding of the greatness of it, we can do no other than spread it abroad for it is the most compelling love of all.
The perfection of Divine Love(17-19)                    Clearly the vast measure of the love of God is such that we can only take it in gradually and we are to grow in it.  This is the meaning of “perfect love”, love that is maturing with time and experience.  Our understanding of the love of God must increase to maturity, as much as it can within us in this life.  He wants us to understand the depth of His love and this will have an effect for the future.  We will have “boldness in the day of judgment”, that is we will understand perfectly the meaning of propitiation, that God’s judgment against us was answered to His satisfaction at Calvary.  All people will stand before God in the day of judgment and those whose hearts are in tune with God will have no fears for “there is no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus”. Abiding in God and He in us is the ultimate assurance.  No child of God should live in fear of future judgment.  John introduced this thought first in chapter 2 v29 that we should be living such that we will not be ashamed before Him at His coming”, we will not shrink before Him in fear of reprisals at the judgment seat.  In chapter 4 v12 he says "God’s love is perfected in us", therefore we do not hate;  here in verse 17 he says God’s love is perfected with us, therefore we do not fear.  There is God’s work within us and there is our perception of it and He does not want us to fear but to trust and be calm as we wait for His coming.  He well knows the traumas of this world and He constantly said to His disciples “Fear not”.  This was His first word to John in Revelation 1 v17, when he saw the vision of the exalted glorified Christ and was overcome with fear.  Jesus first words to him were “Fear not”.  We’re all going to see Him in the glory to see and hear awesome things, and John is preparing us now for that overwhelming experience.  Perfect love casts out all fear, and the answer is in the growing maturing sense of the love of God within.
The reality of Divine love(20-21)                    God hates sham, there was nothing sham about His love for us, nor should there be about our love for Him.  Profession to love God and to hate your brother is just a monstrous lie.  John’s logic is inescapable.  “How can we love God whom we have not seen, yet we don’t love the brethren whom we have seen.  The only evidence of love to God is love to His people, it is too easy to say and not do.  God’s love was demonstrated in the strongest of terms and with us the most unlovable people in mind, so should we be toward each other.

1st JOHN 3

1st john 3........marks of true Christianity.

The first two chapters focused on the believers fellowship with God, now in chapters 3-5 it is  relationship with God which is emphasised.   The repetition of the phrase “born of God” pervades the section which properly runs from chapter 2 v29 to the end of chapter 5. Verse 10 is the key to chapter 3 “In this the children of God are manifested, and the children of the devil.  Whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God neither he that loveth not his brother”.

 Verses 1-10    Those who are born again should live righteous lives
 Verses 11-24  Those who are born of God should love the brethren

These are two indispensable marks of Christianity, it is not defined in terms of profession, but in real terms of practical living, and there is no middle ground.  We tend to think of progress in terms of ritual adherence to attendance at church meetings, or devotion to church practices.  While these are necessary commitments, the emphasis in scripture is always on the development of Christian character.
Verses 1-10    Living righteous lives
Chapter 2 v29 properly belongs to the beginning of chapter three and launches a series of tests on the reality of new life, what it means to be “born again”.  Here then is the first of these, the principle being that those who are born of God will reproduce the features of God “If ye know that He is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of God”.  We have to understand then the meaning of biblical righteousness, otherwise these words will have no impact.  The word “righteous” is taken from a root that means “straight”;  it came from the tall reeds of the Mesopotamian rivers which were used in construction, so straight they could plumb walls and gates and windows.  The idea of “straight” in spiritual terms is right in relation to God (the state of moral rectitude)..  Righteousness  is defined by the law, which we are now able to keep in our right relationship with God (Romans 8 v4 “...that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us”), but the standard is God Himself who is the perfection of all that is right and just and fair.   He is the essence and the standard of all that is right and any reproduction of that is a sign we are born of God and have His life within us.  He is righteous, everything else is wrong and unjust and evil.
There now follows a threefold “manifestation” in verses 1-10;   a manifestation in the future verse 2 “...He shall appear..”;  then there is a manifestation in the past and this is described in two ways, verse 5 “He was manifested to take away our sins...” verse 8 “..He was manifested that He might destroy the works of the devil”.  Now there is a manifestation in the present in verse 10 where “..the children of God are manifest and the children of the devil..”  Manifestation just means the whole matter is made public, no more doubt or confusion, the truth is out!  We know why He came, we know that He is coming again, we know the character of those who are His.

Verse 1       The wonder of what we are in the present
“Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us that we should be called the sons of God”.   We are asked to contemplate, to ponder, a manner of love which is unique in all known existence.  This is a love which is superior to all other loves, that God would make rebels His sons and give to them the highest status in the universe apart from the Godhead, and confer upon them blessings that are eternal.  This is the true meaning of the Greek word    “agape”. In this new relationship we are the sons of God, and as a consequence strangers to the world that knows Him not.

Verse 2     The wonder of what we will be in the future
“Beloved, now are we the sons of God and it doth not yet appear what we shall be but we know that when He shall appear we shall be like Him for we shall see Him as He is”.  We cannot comprehend what we shall be in the future, for it is beyond our ability now to take it in.  When Paul was “caught up to the third heaven” he saw and heard things that are beyond description. John expanded a little further in the book of Revelation but he had to speak in symbols many of which are hard to grasp right now.  There is a wonderful future ahead when we will be so dramatically changed, physically, aesthetically, morally and spiritually, to live in a new dimension beyond the ken of this present world.   Enough for John to say “we shall be like Him” and that says it all.

Verses 3-6    The holiness we must pursue in the present
“He that hath this hope in him purifies himself even as He is pure”.  The word “pure” is “hagnos” and refers to conditions within the very inner sanctum of the presence of God where no mixture is permitted, only that which is pure and unsullied and holy.  Since our destiny is to be “like Him”, and He is the essence of purity, it is well we start here to develop features of godliness and rid ourselves of all impurities.  In the language of the hymn writer Francis Bevan “Where no shade nor stain can enter, nor the gold be dim, there in holiness unsullied I shall walk with Him.  Meet companion then for Jesus, from Him for Him made;  glory of God’s grace for ever there in me displayed”.
All our sins have been dealt with by Christ but we have to cleanse ourselves from offending ongoing sins.  We were not freed from sins to go on living in them.  The continual practice of sin transgresses the law, the standard of which is still in force.  Also it insults Jesus Christ who “was manifested to take away our sins”.    “In Him is no sin” means He did not die for His own sins but for ours, for there was no sin in Him.  For us to continue in sin is to perpetuate that which caused His grief.  “Whosoever abideth in Him sinneth not”.  We cannot claim to abide in Him and continue sinning because He and sin are incompatible.

Verses 7-10      The deception we must avoid
  We are to allow no one to deceive us in this matter, those who practice righteousness (moral rectitude in the sight of God) are right with God by grace and by practice, because God only ever acts in right ways, “..he that doeth (practices) righteousness is righteous even as He is righteous”.  Everything else is from the devil the arch deceiver, the primary sinner, the father of lies, the enemy of all mankind.  We are either the children of God or the children of the devil.  This is the conclusion of this section, and what we are will be seen in our practice, how we live proclaims what we are.  “He that commits sin is of the devil...” He is not speaking of spasmodic lapses into sin, rather living lives of sin, either excusing it, making light of it, or enjoying it and promoting it.  Lists of sins are given in many bible portions particularly in Romans 1 verses 29-32.  In Romans 1 we have the sins of heathenism, the depravity that comes from rejection of God.  In Romans 2 we have the sins of hypocrisy, the delusion that comes from a false sense of God, and all of it has it’s source in the devil.
“For this purpose was the Son of God manifested that He might destroy the works of the devil.”  Not only did He take away the offending root of sin, He removed the fruit of sin, by thwarting and frustrating the works of the devil, and ultimately He will destroy them altogether.  Everyone who is born of God does not live in sin, does not fulfil the works of the devil.  This is because “His seed remains in him and he cannot sin(cannot go on sinning), because he is born of God”.  What we have here is an impossibility;  God and sin do not dwell together, God and the devil are diametrically opposed, that is they will never be reconciled, they will be eternally separated, and it is therefore impossible for Christians who have within them the seed of Divine life to continue in sin.  This seed will only grow and dispel sin, and instil righteousness.  The children of God and the children of the devil are clearly defined by their lifestyle.

Verse 11-24       Loving the brethren           Love as a first principle (11-12)   This section is devoted to the principle of love to the brethren as an evidence of new life.  It was first stated in verse 10 that those who don’t live by this principle have no Divine life within them.  It could not be clearer than is stated in chapter 5 v1 “..every on that loveth Him that begat, loveth him also that is begotten of Him”.  This is a stringent test for not all God’s family are loveable, yet the point of Divine love is that He loves even the most unlovely.  Again he refers to “..the word from the beginning”, the first principles of Christianity.   The opposite to love is hate and this is illustrated from the first man to be born into the world.  Because of religious differences, he slew his own brother.  God’s acceptance of his younger brothers’ offering and the rejection of his own, caused him to fly into an uncontrolled rage and he unlawfully murdered his brother.  He proved himself to be “of the wicked one”, (not of God).  Being of the wicked one he manifested the works of evil by killing his brother in a fit of jealousy.

The reality of love and hate (13-15)    “Marvel not, my brethren if the world hate you...”   Just as Cain hated his brother so all the children of the devil will hate the children of God, but that hatred should never be evident among God’s people.  Love, not hate is to pervade the family of God.  It is indeed one great evidence of salvation that we love one another “We know that we have passed from death unto life because we love the brethren”.  In the eyes of God hate (the attitude) and  murder (the act) are one and the same.  The Lord established this in Matthew chapter 5 verses 21-26, when He raised the standard of law to hitherto unknown levels.  Love and hate begin in the mind and heart and we must deal with them there first.  Hating my brother, calling him unworthy names, putting him down, maintaining a hateful attitude, counting him as worthless is tantamount to murder in the eyes of the Lord.

The perception and practice of love (16-17)     This comes alone from God.  We cannot really learn it from any other source.  We perceive it by contemplating it and by putting it into hard practice.  The love of God for us “laid down His life”, gave His all;  love is not in the abstract, it is intensely practical.  The proof of our love is that we will lay down our lives for the brethren. Love is proved in action , and such action that meets the very basic need of your brethren.  This may be material or financial or spiritual, but it is the readiness to give of your resources at the point of need.
Fake love will only bring God’s condemnation and rob us of assurance(18-21)    We become the beneficiaries of our goodness as directed by the Lord but the opposite is also true.  We are to love our brethren in sincerity, “not in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth”.  Saying that we love someone, if it is not backed up by actions, is just vain talk.  Professing love in flowery speeches if it is not evident in our attitude is contrary to the truth.  This will affect our fellowship with God.  “Hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him”.  God alone knows whether our love is according to His, because He knows what is in our hearts and He detects falsehood.  “For if our hearts condemn us it is because God is greater than our heart and knows all things” (this is the best rendering of these words).  The God who knows all hearts will either condemn us for our sham love, or assure our hearts and give us that inner peace when we are in step with Him.  The result of true love to the brethren will be confidence toward God.
True love will enhance my prayer life (22-24)          This assurance in our hearts and resultant confidence in God will greatly enhance and enrich my prayer life;  “And whatsoever we ask we receive of Him, because we keep His commandments and do things which are pleasing in His sight”.  It must be by now clear, that answer to prayer is conditional for God will not regard any prayer from a sham heart.  Scriptures abound with this principle;  it was the “effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man”;  it must be to “lift up holy hands without wrath and doubting”;  “if I regard iniquity in my heart the Lord will not hear me”.  If I want to enjoy a happy prayer fellowship with the Lord, it must be from an assured heart before Him. Psalm 84 v11 “No good thing will He withhold from him that walketh uprightly”.   The imagery of the tabernacle service of old is that before engaging in prayer/worship service the Priests and Levites must cleanse themselves at the laver “Exodus 30 verses 19-21;  Numbers 8 verses 6-7).  Again “Who shall ascend into  hill of the Lord, or who shall stand in His holy place? He that hath clean hands and a pure heart.....” Psalm 24 verses 3-4. This will involve keeping His commandments, the essence of which is faith in the Son of God and love to all the brethren.  Keeping His commandments is not in our own power but in mutual fellowship with Him (“..abiding in Him and He in us,,”).  This is not mere head knowledge but experimental knowledge through the inner working of the Holy Spirit.

1st JOHN 2

1st john 2......freedom from sin

There are three divisions of thought in this important chapter;
1) Verses 1-2         Provision for sins
2) Verses 3-11       Tests of faith.
3) Verses 12-29     Stages of growth

Verses 1-2     God’s provision for sins.                   “My little children these things I write unto you that ye sin not....”
This provision is in His Son, stated in a threefold way, for the believer to avoid ongoing sin.  He is referring to individual lapses into sin, rather than habitual sin. For it is not envisaged that God’s children will live in sin.  The words “sin not” is in the aorist tense indicating an action in the past that has continuously present effects. As we shall see, God does not want us to sin at all, but in the likelihood we will, He has made full provision...it is not “when any man sin”, but “if any man sin”.  His provision is as follows:
 He is Jesus Christ the righteous                     This is His accuracy to detect failure in our lives.  He alone is righteous in all the world, He alone is the standard by which right and wrong is determined.  He alone can judge the world, an office given to Him by virtue of His perfect life and sacrifice in death.  His judgments are firstly faithful to God and secondly fair to man, He never errs in the matter of moral rectitude with God, and is the true judge of human character and behaviour.  We know therefore He is right!  We know therefore that in Him, the matter of right or wrong is according to God.
 He is our advocate with the Father                    This is His advocacy to defend frailty in our lives.  We are saved but still possess a sinful nature and when we lapse into sin, there is one who defends us before the Father.  He stands by us, speaks for us, represents us in heaven, like an earthly advocate would and He never loses a case.  He pleads His own merit as being ours, when we sin God does not cease to be our Father, but sin must be dealt with if fellowship with the God of light is to be maintained.  He deals with the offence by pleading the abiding value of His person and that of His work as we shall see next.
 He is the propitiation for our sins                       This is His adequacy to deliver us from fear.  God’s wrath against sin, having been fully satisfied, the floodgates of blessing to all are opened wide. The Greek preposition peri is used here which indicates every individual occurrence of sin, none omitted from the encompassing removal of sin in it’s every aspect.  In propitiation God has been fully satisfied, His demands have been fully met and that applies to the world as to the Church.  He and He alone is the means by which we can be free from the fear of Divine wrath, and fellowship with God is maintained.

Verses 3-11     Tests of faith.           Talk is cheap, especially when it comes to spiritual things, so the Holy Spirit through John sets us three tangible, visible tests, whereby we may clarify faith.  “He that saith..” 3 times v4, v 6, v 9.   Profession is nothing, practice is everything.
 First test               verses  3-5         Obedience to the word   
 Second test          verse   6            A Christ-like walk 
 Third test              verses 7-11       Love to the brethren
These are qualities that can be developed, but they are the hallmarks of the life of faith.
Verses 3-5     Obedience to His commandments                 “Hereby we do know that we know Him...”.  It is not mere head knowledge of the word, it is knowledge of the author of the word and the only way we can gauge that is by our obedience to His commandments.  To know Him is to obey Him, to know Him is to love Him (“..in him is the love of God perfected”).  We lie if we say we love Him but keep not His commandments.  It is at this point we tend to gloss over scripture statements without pondering what they mean.  What are His commandments?...too many to tabulate but a few are as follows:  Repent/Follow me/Be reconciled to your brother/Lust not/Swear not/Don’t render evil for evil/Love your enemies/Seek first the kingdom of God/Judge not/Fear not/Learn of me/Abide in me/Love the Lord your God/Love your neighbour/This do in remembrance of me/Go make disciples/Preach the gospel/Love one another, and many more.  These are not optional extras or the marks of super Christians, these are for all of us.
Verse 6   To abide in Him will mean reproducing His qualities       “He that saith he abides in Him ought himself also so to walk even as He walked”.  That is the walk of Christ while here is the model and standard for us.  “Also so to walk...even as He walked”.  This is a step further from obedience to the word as it is living out the word in the testing conditions of life in this world. He walked here a life of perfect balance between grace and truth, grace toward men and loyalty to God, this is our model. The secret of this is the word “abide”, that is it is not of my efforts, but His life living in me and through me just as His picture of the Vine in John chapter 15.  If we say we are abiding in Him and do not manifest the features of Christ, we are deceiving ourselves.  We know we are in Him when we display His qualities, John’s logic is inescapable.
In verses 7-11   Obedience to His commandments will mean loving the brethren.                 He  comes to a core issue of Christian living, and the one in which we fall down most readily, it is the business of loving one another.  It is one thing to say we love the Lord who is perfect, it is quite another to translate that into love for His people who are imperfect.  He characterises it in terms of an old and new commandment.  In one sense the commandment to love one another is old in that it is at the very foundation of spiritual life, it is the “word of the beginning”.  It is old because Moses taught it as integral to the law (Leviticus 19 v18); there it was taught in the context of not avenging oneself or not bearing a grudge.  The standard” was “as thyself”.  Jesus reiterated this to His disciples but took it to another level....”as I have loved you” (see John 15 v9 v12, v17).  The test of love to the children of God is a fundamental one and goes to the heart of the Christian message.  However it is also a new commandment in that a new age has dawned, new standards have been demonstrated.  Not until Christ came was the true meaning of love towards people really known.
This new perspective exists because love was given a new meaning by His coming.  This “thing is true in Him and in you”.  This is His love flowing through us (John 15 v9 “continue ye in my love”).  The dispensation has changed;  in the dispensation of law they were to love one another but now in the dispensation of grace it is even greater because “the darkness is past and the true light now shineth”.  We are more responsible now by virtue of greater light.  Here then is a most solemn test of faith.  To say that we are in the light but hate our brother is contrary to the light.  Those that practice this are walking in darkness and are not in the light.  In plain language such are not saved, they do not have the life of God within as they do not walk in His light.  Love to God will mean love to His children. This message is repeated over and over in this letter.  This will mean there will be no occasion of stumbling placed in my brother’s way.  Rather will I seek his enhancement and prosperity.

Verses 12-29      Stages of spiritual growth              John now addresses the family of God at three levels of spiritual growth.  Firstly we must differentiate between the terms “dear children” (v1, v12, v28) and “little children” (v13, v18), otherwise we won’t understand the message.  “Dear children” addresses the whole family of God, “little children” the spiritual infants within the family.  He writes to “fathers, young men, and little children”.  The fathers are mature believers who have reached a high level of growth;  the young men are those with experience who are still growing; and the little children are spiritual infants, either “just born” or relatively new to the faith.  By addressing them all as “dear children” he is assuming they all have Divine life.  He has a different word for each group, and the verses are arranged around this.
To the whole family he writes in verses 12 and 28-29 and the message is threefold to all of us;  a) All of us have our sins forgiven for His name’s sake  b) All of us can endure to the end in honour until His coming by abiding in Him;  and c) All of us can live a righteous life by allowing Him to reproduce His character within us.
He now addresses the three groups of spiritual growth within the family and he has a word for each.  He speaks to the fathers in verses 13 &14;  to the young men in verses 13 &14-17;  to the little children in verses13 &18-27, giving most attention to the infants.
 To the fathers              To those who have reached maturity he says “ye have known Him that is from the beginning”.  The repetition of this in verses13&14 proclaims there can be no advance on the stage of knowing Him.  This is the height, the zenith, the essence of eternal life, that of knowing the Lord.  Not merely knowing about Him but knowing Him intimately and personally.  The Lord said in John 15 v14 “Ye are my friends if ye do what I have commanded you”.  In verse 15 He said they were no longer servants but friends.  Abraham was called the “friend of God”.  This does not infer complacency but total trust and satisfaction in the Lord.  The fathers need only to progress in the knowledge of God.
 To the young men        To those progressing towards spiritual manhood he says “..ye have overcome the wicked one”.  Three times in the letter “the wicked one” is mentioned (2 vv13-14; 3 v12; 5 v19).  The term refers to the arch rebel Satan “the lawless one” whose sole agenda is to oppose God and His people.  All maturing Christians will at some point need to overcome him.  Next he says how they have done this, “..because ye are strong and the word of God abideth in you”.  To overcome the wicked one we need strength which comes from the indwelling word of God against which Satan is no match.  The pattern is set in Ephesians 6 vv10-17...passively strengthened in the Lord and in the power of His might, and actively victorious using the sword of the Spirit which is the spoken word of God.  This was demonstrated by the Lord Himself in the temptation when three times He drew the sword of Deuteronomy to defeat Satan (Matthew 4, Luke 4).  All this of course assumes the word is dwelling within us, we cannot use what is not there.  This overcoming of the wicked one requires application of learning and practice.  The wicked one has vast powers, and long experience and many followers, so the growing Christian needs Divine help to overcome.
He turns now to an issue which is likely to tempt the growing believer, that of loving the world.  By this he means the world system in rebellion against God, this is John’s use of the term “world”.  It is one thing to resist the advances of the evil one when they are readily recognised, but the world is his playground and it carries many seducing influences.  He sounds the warning “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world...”  The world is a vast, sinful anti-God system controlled by Satan and can be very alluring to those who, although possessed of a new nature still have the old nature within.  He warns about this from three perspectives:  it is incompatible with love for the Father (“If any love the world the love of the Father is not in him....all that is in the world is not of the Father”);  the nature of the world is personal lust and public aggrandisement (“All that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life”);  the world is transient and passing and it’s pleasures only for this life whereas to do the will of God is forever.  It is so easy to become conditioned to accepting the ways of the world, and take a much less militant approach to it than we ought.  The same ploy as was used in the beginning is being perpetuated successfully still (Genesis 3 v6 “good for food”....lust of the flesh, “pleasant to the eyes”...lust of the eyes, “to be desired to make one wise”...the pride of life).  We may not love the world of evil but the things in it may attract us away from loving the Lord.  Growing Christians can be hindered by overmuch desire for the things of the world, many of which are extremely beguiling.  Excessive desire for the material, aesthetic, and status aspects of life in this world betray a less than comfortable loyalty to the Father.
 To the little children          He first refers to their conversion, their coming to know God as their Father (verse 13) and that they now live in the knowledge of sins forgiven.  This knowledge is the possession of every born again believer.  However they must progress from this and in verses 18-27 he gives instruction designed to warn and instruct and encourage those  new to the faith.  This protective ministry is arranged around two principles;  the Antichrist and the Anointing. The antichrist in the form of perverse doctrines and the Holy Spirit anointing in preserving the truth and empowering the saints.  He will intersperse his teaching around both as contrary to one another.
It is interesting he begins this section by referring to what they already know, “Little children it is the last time (hour) and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come...”.  This suggests that the practice of the apostles was to teach the very young in the faith the things of God including prophecy.  We have already seen this in connection with the young church at Thessalonika ( 2ND Thessalonians 2 v5).  Modern churches are delinquent which do not provide a similar programme of teaching and they will answer for it.  He says “The Antichrist will come” and indeed there are many such already here.  John wrote this over 1900 years ago, how much more is it true now?  We are surrounded by the spirit of antichrist and later he will define it for us.
It appears that some of their number left them.  The “us” may refer to the apostles or the fellowship of saints;  their departure was for doctrinal reasons and the nature of the separation seemed to be on the one hand Judaism which denied that Jesus was the Messiah (2 v22; 5 v1) and Diocletianism which denied that Jesus was a real man (4 vv2-3).   This twin denial of the Deity and the Humanity of Christ attacked Christianity at it’s very heart, for if either or both of these are true the world is doomed.  Thus it would appear that the term “antichrist” is to be understood as doctrinal error and is false teaching which is not of God.  This will culminate in the false prophet of Revelation chapter 13. 
In contrast to this doctrinal error “we have(verse 20) an anointing from the Holy one...).  This anointing is the Holy Spirit which Jesus gives to every believer at the point of conversion, as is explained in many parts of scripture ( Romans 8 v9; 1st Corinthians 12 v13;  John 14 v17; Acts 10 v41;  Acts 19 v41;  2nd Corinthians 1 v21; Ephesians 1v13).  With the indwelling Spirit we know all things, even if we don’t fully understand we instinctively know what is truth and what is error.  Antichrist is defined by denial of the person of Christ.  Denial of Christ as the Son of God is a lie from the very pit of hell.  “If thou be the Son of God...” said Satan in the temptation;  so also the priests of Israel and the multitude passing by the cross.  It is the most blatant lie ever told and is being propagated in major religions today.  Those who deny His Deity have nothing to do with God who declared  “This is my beloved Son, hear Him!”  All those who acknowledge Him as God’s Son have the Father also.  This applies to initial faith as to ongoing faith(verses 24-25).  We have continual (abiding) fellowship with the Father through faith in the Son.  The blessing is eternal life, the life of God, the only life worth living, life that grows in knowledge of God, and the best is yet to come(verse 25).  All this is so important to the infant believer.
And now the staggering truth to underpin the faith of the weakest  saint.  The Holy Spirit from the moment of conversion until the end will never leave us!!  He is our constant companion for life.  Jesus said this in John 14vv16-17 “I will give you another comforter that He may abide with you for ever....He dwelleth with you and shall be in you”.
The statement “ye need not that any man teach you” does not diminish the importance of human teachers, it simply recognises that such teaching is often imperfect and spasmodic, whereas the teaching of the Spirit within is perfect and constant.  He is the ultimate guide and teacher and He is with us forever.  “The same anointing (which you had from the start) teaches you all things, and is truth and is no lie, and even as it has taught you, ye shall abide in Him”.  The measure in which we allow the Spirit within us to instruct us in the things of God, will be the measure we shall enjoy the benefits of abiding in Christ.  The range of teaching of the Holy Spirit is detailed in the written word of which He is the sole author.  We can all verify inward thoughts by comparing them to what is written.  The Spirit will never prompt us in anything that conflicts with the written word.  Thus the infant believer is delivered from the errors and opinions and speculations and confusions of men who are not all speaking for God.   In this way they grow in the knowledge of God.