1 John – Passing the Tests: Part 3 • 05.05.24
Passing the Tests III
1 John 4:1-5:5
God’s direction for eternal life
- Exercise discernment in your faith
- Respond appropriately to God’s initiatory love
- Savor the fruit of your faith
Good morning church family! Welcome guests + introduce self + series.
Dismiss 4th + 5th graders
Ushers + Bibles (1 John 4; Page 1213)
How has your past week gone? Were you intentional to slow down and marvel at the extravagant love of God? Did you seek to imitate Jesus by loving in deed and in truth?
I hope that you were able to put your faith into practice as you responded to the love of God in your life. May we be a people who joyfully obey and embrace the call to authentic faith!
Our passage for today has some incredible promises to study together. My eager anticipation is that you will walk out of here this morning invigorated to worship the Lord this week. That you will be amazed anew at God’s extravagant love for you and respond in kind to Him and others. John continues to present us with clear truth that we can walk in as we follow Christ. He continues to provide instruction on how to live in a manner worthy of the Gospel so that we might have great assurance of our salvation when Christ returns or calls us home. I urge you this morning to make sure you are listening to the Word and also considering how you will apply it to your lives. As we’ve heard multiple weeks in a row – we are to be hearers AND doers of the Word.
Let’s turn our attention to our study of God’s Word for today in chapters 4 and 5. Once again we kept the sermon title and goal from last week, as John is yet again presenting truths about assurance in Christ. We’re talking about Passing the Tests and we’re listening again for…
God’s direction for eternal life
1 John 4:1–6 (ESV)
Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already. 4 Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. 5 They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them. 6 We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error.
John continues to use terms of endearment for those whom he loves. He cares about these churches! And as we’ve repeatedly heard through this series, he wants to protect them from the false teaching of the deceivers. Those who had gone from their midst and were denying that Jesus is the Son of God who took on flesh. In this particular section of his letter, he is encouraging them and us to…
- Exercise discernment in your faith
Discernment means to have good judgment. Exercise good judgment in your faith. John is encouraging these Christians to not simply accept any and all sources of counsel or teaching. He had just affirmed to them in the verses prior that they have the indwelling Holy Spirit, but now he is warning them that not everyone else does. He gives them the plain reason for his warning – “for many false prophets have gone out into the world.”
There are many who were once in their midst who have revealed by their teaching that they are false prophets who are led by the spirit of the antichrist. John wants these believers to learn to test the spirits – meaning evaluate what these people are teaching so you can discern what spirit is behind it. Is this teaching/teacher led by the Holy Spirit? Do they confess and abide by the truth about Jesus? If so, then believe them. If not, then reject and rebuke them!
I’ve heard it said that “Christianity is a thinking man’s religion”. This is a helpful rebuke to those who claim it requires you to check your mind at the door. Truthfully, John is showing that you must, in fact, keep your wits about you and use your God-given intelligence and wisdom to examine and evaluate what is true and what is not. However, we are not relying on ourselves or our own intelligence as the standard of our discernment! Where do we turn as our objective standard of truth by which to evaluate all truth claims? The Word of God. We have revelation from the Creator by which to evaluate all other claims.
This is why our church leaders, from the pastors and ministry leaders to small group leaders, are repeatedly encouraging you to be people of the Word. You MUST know what God says if you’re going to exercise discernment in your faith. If you do not know the Word, then you will be susceptible to being led astray by false teachers who seem nice and sound good. The world is filled with such liars.
We live in a day and age that hates exclusive truth claims but loves the concept of spirituality. As our Witness on Wednesday crew could attest, when you knock on doors in our community and inquire about their faith background – more and more people are not identifying as atheists but as spiritual people. Transcendentalists, Universalists, Buddhists, Hindus, New Age, Witches, you name it and we’re hearing it in our community! In just the past week I heard that the Mormon church is building a temple in our area! More and more people are embracing spirits of the antichrist. They believe lies and are being led astray to eternal hell. Do you love your neighbors enough to not only test the spirits for your own sake but also for theirs? Will you speak up and share the truth about Jesus Christ?
Perhaps you’re here and you do not believe in Jesus. This letter from John invites you to re-evaluate your position. You have been hearing eyewitness testimony to the reality of who Jesus is and what he has done. As we will continue to hear today, incredible love has been demonstrated by God towards us and that is available to you through faith in Jesus.
For those who are in Christ, you have incredible assurance. Because the Spirit of God dwells in you, you can have confidence that you are from God. Your identity and salvation are secure in Him. And you have overcome those who teach falsehood and walk by the spirit of the antichrist. I love the way John speaks of this in verse 4, “For he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.” This is such a hope-giving statement. Christian, you do not have to fear deceivers and demons because you have the Spirit of God, and, by his power and protection, you will conquer their lies.
John also leaves no room for Christians to ally with the world. You are either of Christ or of the world/antichrist. There is no middle ground. He draws the lines very clearly in verses 5-6. To whom do you belong? The answer is revealed by the way you speak and act. Those who are of the world speak from the world and the world listens to them. This is tangibly different than those who are in Christ. Those who are in Christ listen to the truth as delivered once for all to the saints. This truth is taught by eyewitnesses like John and protected and upheld throughout history by the true church, those who follow Christ.
Unfortunately, as we look around us in our day, there are many examples of those who claim to be of Christ yet deny him by their worldly speaking and example. Just this week the United Methodist Church has held its general assembly and embraced a completely godless and unbiblical ideology. They are whole-heartedly embracing the world’s views on LGBTQ+ issues rather than standing for the truth of God’s Word. Yet they claim 10 million members worldwide. Understanding that not all of these people likely agree with the larger denomination, that is still an astonishing number of people who are failing to exercise discernment in their faith. This is just the latest example of people who claim Christ yet deny Him by their words and deeds. My point is not to invite us to look down upon them, but rather to pray for them, to rebuke them, and to evaluate our own practice to make sure we are walking in the truth! May we be men and women of the Word who are able to discern the truth from a lie. It is very likely that you know or interact with people who claim Christ yet deny him by their lifestyle – will you speak up, in love, to help them hear/see the truth? We want as many as possible to pass the doctrine test and have the hope of eternal life.
Let’s keep reading to see where John goes next.
1 John 4:7–21 (ESV)
7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.
13 By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. 14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 16 So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. 17 By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. 19 We love because he first loved us. 20 If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. 21 And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.
Even after reading this passage many times over the past week, I still have to slow down and go back through it to follow all of John’s arguments and points. He speaks frequently about love, both ours and God’s. In this section of his letter, John reminds his audience of some incredible truths about God’s love that ought to drive their own love.
For example, in verses 7-12 John reminds us that love is from God. Meaning it finds its origin in our Creator. He is the source of love. In fact, John says that God is love. This is one of his attributes or characteristics that drive him, just as righteousness, grace, and wrath, among many other attributes are true of him. But love is the quality that is in focus here and John tells us that God’s love has been revealed in the most magnificent of ways! Verse 9 – “That He sent his only Son into the world, that we might live through him.”
God the Father sent God the Son to take on flesh and dwell among us. As we’ve heard John testify, he was an eyewitness of the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. This is not new information at this point in the letter, however, please do not overlook the reason that the Father sent the Son – “that we/you might live through him.” The perfectly Holy God knew that our sin had earned us death/condemnation. The entire human race stood condemned without hope of life. But God had a plan to give life through His Son.
John continues in verse 10, “In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” We did not love God first. Our love is not primary here, God’s love is. And God first loved us by sending Jesus Christ to be the propitiation for our sins. That’s what I like to call a million $ word. It’s a big word that you don’t hear a lot and it is very important in our faith.
Propitiation – the removal and satisfaction of God’s wrath
When Jesus Christ went to the cross in the place of his people, he not only drank the cup of God’s wrath dry, he also satisfied God’s wrath perfectly creating peace between God and his people. That cup will never have a drop of wrath again! As Paul says in Romans 8:1, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” If your faith is in Christ, there is no wrath left for you. God looks at you and sees the perfect righteousness of his Son. Because of this, you now have peace with God and the hope of heaven!
Your jaw should be on the floor right now. HOW GREAT IS THE LOVE OF THE FATHER!? HOW GREAT IS THE LOVE OF THE SON?! The perfect, sinless Son of God willingly died for a sinful man like me! Like you! We have never seen or heard of so great a love as this!
Love finds its origin and definition in God and His Son’s work! Love is not merely a feeling, it is actional and intentional. God the Father acted by sending his Son into the world that we might live through him. Jesus Christ acted by coming down, taking on flesh, and going to the cross in our place. He laid down his life and bore the wrath of God on our behalf so that we might be saved! This is absolutely amazing, and I can’t even convey the depth of it in my own words and emotions today. But I hope you are at least getting a glimpse of the awe you ought to have in these truths we are hearing and rejoicing in this morning!
It is quite clear why John is so adamant that anyone who knows God will love others, for love is from God and once you’ve truly experienced God’s love it changes you! You cannot know this incredible, redeeming love and remain the same. You will respond, which brings us to our second takeaway this morning…
- Respond appropriately to God’s initiatory love
As John points out, the appropriate response for Christians is to love one another. Our love for one another reveals that we are God’s children and know God. A lack of love for one another reveals that we do not know God nor are we his children. Recall this was one of the tests that John held out to help these people see the truth about the deceivers in their day.
God’s love drives our love. If you know God, you should love like God. Even though God is unseen, if we love like God loves us, then we become the visible representation of God’s love. He abides in us and we in Him. When it says that God’s love is perfected in us, it means that our love for God grows into maturity/completion, and it produces wonderful fruit!
In verses 17-18, one of these fruits is revealed – there is no fear of judgment, only confidence that we are his children! The more you abide in God’s love and the more it changes your life, the greater confidence you have in what is to come when Christ returns. Though your standing before God is by no merit of your own, your assurance grows as you love others. You know that you are God’s child, and you know that you will not face him for judgment of heaven/hell. You have the certainty of heaven!
All of this is possible through faith in Jesus Christ. In verses 14-15, John once again testified that Jesus came to be the Savior of the world and that whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. This is the way of salvation to eternal life! Believe in Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins and salvation of your soul! Allow the extravagant love of God to transform your life.
As John points out, it makes no sense for someone to claim to love God yet hate Christians. The person who lives this way is a liar! If you cannot love those whom you see and interact with on earth, you certainly cannot love the unseen God who rules over you. The deceivers of their day revealed their lack of love for God by the way they treated the church. Their loveless lives condemned them.
If your faith is in Christ, then you must love your brother/sister in the faith. And that should not be a burden but a blessing! It is an opportunity to share what you have first received from God. You are simply imitating what you have experienced from the Father and the Son. I love you sacrificially because that is what God did for me!
I really believe this is a challenge for the many people who claim Christ but say they have no need for the church. How can you claim Christ yet reject the people Christ died for?! How is that loving your brother? God did not save you so you can live alone and only care for yourself! He saved you into his people, his community, the church! And he has called you to use your gifts and abilities to help mature the body until the return of Christ.
If you are attending this church and call yourself a Christian, I want to lovingly challenge you to commit to the church. Commit by making it a priority to worship together corporately, week after week, not coming only when it is convenient for you. Commit by getting into a small group where you can build relationships and practice the one-anothers that we are commanded to do. Commit by formally joining the church as a member, which clarifies at least two important things:
- That you are asking the pastor team to shepherd your soul and stand before Jesus one day to give an account for you
- That you are committing to this local church to pursue the Lord together with your fellow members
We live in a culture that hates commitment, especially to God and the church. Don’t be like our culture. If we’re going to love one another as the Father and Son have loved us, then we must be deeply committed to God and one another in the local church.
Let’s finish up by reading the last section for today.
1 John 5:1–5 (ESV)
Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him. 2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. 3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. 4 For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. 5 Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
In this section, John ties together the tests he has laid out in the letter. You have the doctrine test, what you believe about Christ, the love test, how you view and treat fellow Christians, and the moral test, how you respond to Christ’s commands. They all work together and support one another. Right belief leads to right practice. (Orthodoxy leads to orthopraxy). This is how a Christian lives out their faith and it is beautiful!
Consider what you would see/hear from a man or woman who lives this way. They believe and confess the truth about Jesus. Rather than their life being a series of contradictions as they pick and choose what they believe, they are united around the faith once for all delivered to the saints. If God says it, they obey it! They are a man or woman of the Word. And as they walk in the truth, they are actively demonstrating a love of God and fellow Christians. Their walk matches their talk. They worship the Lord passionately both in their private and public life. Sunday is not a show for them; they can be found worshiping King Jesus throughout the week. They are hungry for the Word, they delight to lead their families in family worship, they seek to know the truth so they can teach it to others as they make disciples of Christ. They carve out and protect time for the Lord – for both personal growth and investing in others – whether it is via hospitality or some other means. Their joy and hope in Christ is tangible, even in the midst of great trials and tribulations. They are humble and willing to ask for help when they are struggling. They offer the same to others. They are unashamed of the Gospel and talk about it whenever and however they can. Their life is filled with good works as they care for those in need and sacrifice for the benefit of others.
And do you know what you do not hear from them? Grumbling. Complaining. “Ah man, I have to serve again. I can’t believe I have to get up early. I can’t believe I have to stay for a second service. I don’t want to spend another evening with the church or people from the church.” Do you know why you don’t hear that? Because they love God and others and they do not view God’s commands as burdensome. When you recognize how great your salvation is and how great the love you’ve received is, then God’s commands are no longer a heavy load that we begrudgingly bear. NO, rather they are a blessed opportunity to respond to the love of God radically shown to us!
What I am speaking about today is the opportunity to…
- Savor the fruit of your faith
I intentionally chose words that would bring an image to mind in your head. Savor the fruit. Of your faith. Few things are more satisfying in summer than biting into a perfectly ripe strawberry or watermelon and having that burst of flavor hit your tastebuds. MMMM, I can’t wait!
Likewise, John has made us aware of some incredible fruit that God produces in his people. It is oh so sweet to have peace and unity with the saints. I love Psalm 133:
Psalm 133:1–3 (ESV)
A Song of Ascents. Of David.
1 Behold, how good and pleasant it is
when brothers dwell in unity!
2 It is like the precious oil on the head,
running down on the beard,
on the beard of Aaron,
running down on the collar of his robes!
3 It is like the dew of Hermon,
which falls on the mountains of Zion!
For there the Lord has commanded the blessing,
life forevermore.
David also uses evocative language. You can almost smell the oils right now. You can imagine mountains covered in a fresh, life-giving morning dew. Light sparkling and glinting off of the plants in the new day’s sun as it rises over the horizon. That’s how good and pleasant the fruit of unity and love within the body of Christ is to God and his people!
There is also the fruit of mutual abiding – God in us and we in Him! Not only do we have peace with one another, we have peace with our Creator. You can rest in the forgiveness of Christ. You do not have to fear judgment but rather hope in exaltation and glorification. You can long for eternity, where there is no more sin, sadness, suffering, or death.
As part of this abiding, we have God the Holy Spirit indwelling us. Teaching, convicting, leading us through the thick and thin of life. Enabling us to understand the Word and apply it to our lives. Rebuking us when we step out of line and bringing us to a place of confession and repentance. This is SWEET fruit of following Jesus!
John also highlights in verses 4-5 that the outcome of your faith is overcoming the world. No longer are you ruled by the passions and pleasures of the flesh. No longer are you linked arm in arm with the people and systems that rebel against and hate God. In Christ you have a faith that overcomes! You have victory in Christ. Victory over sin and the death it brings. Victory over rebellion against God. Victory over the lies of the deceivers so you can walk confidently in the truth.
Christians have no reason to be ashamed of their faith and every reason to rejoice in it! God’s love and grace have been extravagantly lavished on us and it is good and right to thank him for it and enjoy it forevermore. As the Westminster Shorter Catechism says:
What is the chief end of man?
Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him forever.
I don’t know about you, but that sounds pretty exciting to me! Lord, help me to have my eyes set on you, my heart desiring to worship you, and my life lived obediently to your commands. As the Psalmist says, “Lead me in the way everlasting!” (Ps. 139:24)
Let’s pray.
Pray