1 2015, Reverend Steve Carlson Tabernacle Baptist Church West National Avenue West Allis, Wisconsin

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1 I. Introduction The Word of Life May 10, John 1:1-4 I don t need to tell you that God s Church is in a war and, as part of His Church, we are in that same war in Ephesians 6:12 Paul wrote, For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. There are attacks from the outside. Christians around the world are being persecuted and killed, even beheaded, just for being Christians. In the United States, the Cross is being removed from city emblems and from public display, the Bible and any conversation about Jesus Christ and Christianity has been banned from most schools and many jobs. Military chaplains are not allowed to pray in the name of Jesus Christ. The government is trying to force churches and individual Christians to support, sometimes monetarily, activities that are not Christian, e.g. abortion and homosexual marriage. There are attacks from inside the church as well. Paul warned about this in Acts turn to Acts 20: From within the church, people proclaim that as loving people we need to be welcoming and affirming to all people, regardless of life style. Others want to make parts of the Bible an allegory or just a story something that doesn t apply to us today. Others get so involved in minutia that they forget the prime directive the Great Commission. It has gotten so bad that according to a survey by the Barna group, 46% of those who called themselves born again Christians felt that all world religions essentially prayed to the same God. This survey was done in 1991 and in 20 years things haven t gotten any better. I could go on, but I think you get the point: for almost 2000 years, the devil has been trying to get rid of Christianity by squashing it from the outside or diluting it and poisoning it from the inside. Towards the end of the 1 st Century, things weren t any different. The cult of emperor worship was widespread. There was a plethora of false gods including Athena, Zeus, Bacchus, Apollo, and Artemis, whose temple in Ephesus was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient world. The pressure from false religions and false teachers was taking its toll on the churches of Asia Minor - Turkey. Only 2 of the 7 churches addressed in Revelation 2-3 were commended by the Lord (Smyrna and Philadelphia); the other 5 were rebuked for worldliness and tolerating false doctrine (Ephesus, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, and Laodicea). The Epistle or Letter of 1 st John was written in response 1

2 to those attacks. In the next several weeks we are going to study this book, but before we begin, we need to look at some background. II. Background A. Author First, there is the author. Unlike most New Testament letters, 1 st John doesn t tell us who the author is. So other data needs to be used. First, early church leaders like Irenaeus (AD ), Clement of Alexandria (AD ), Tertullian (AD ), and Origen (AD ) all indicate that the Apostle John was the author. Secondly, the style of 1 st John and the Gospel of John are similar; similar phrases and expressions are used; e.g. turn to John 1:1-4, 14. With these and other factors, it seems reasonable to conclude that the author is the son of Zebedee and the brother of James namely, the Apostle John. B. Place and Date Then there is the place and date. For a variety of reasons, including the leaders we already mentioned, tradition indicates that 1 st John was written towards the end of the 1 st Century from Ephesus where John had gone after he was released from his exile on the Isle of Patmos. Since there is no reason for doubting this, we will say the place is Ephesus; the date AD C. Recipients John identifies the recipients as believers turn to 1 John 3:1; 5:13. Since no one in particular is addressed, this letter was probably passed from church to church especially to those churches in Turkey/Asia Minor. D. Purpose John gave two purposes for writing this letter. 1. First: To deal with false teachings. Turn to 1 John 2:26. Although there were several false teachings at the time, the most prevalent one was something called Gnosticism (from the Greek word gnosis = knowledge). Gnosticism was a conglomeration of various pagan, Jewish, and Christian thoughts. (If you remember your ancient history, the Stoics and the Epicureans were Gnostics.) Gnostics viewed themselves as the spiritual elite, who alone had true spiritual knowledge. They looked down on the unenlightened ones who didn t have this knowledge. They were arrogant, unholy, and loveless. Gnosticism taught that matter is evil and spirit is good. Salvation is escape from the body and was achieved through special knowledge; i.e. Gnosticism. This led to teachings that doubted Christ s humanity. Some said that Jesus Christ only seemed to have a body He was really ethereal. Others said that the divine Christ joined the man Jesus at baptism and left him before he died. Both of these thoughts were heretical since if Jesus wasn t truly man as well as truly God when He suffered and died, He could not have been an acceptable substitutionary sacrifice for sin. 2

3 2. To give assurance of salvation. With the false teachers questioning what the Christians had been taught, John s second purpose was to give assurance of salvation. We already read 1 John 5:13 which said, I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. John wrote this letter as a pastor to those under his care who were confused and concerned about their salvation nine times he called them my children. John had a heart for his Lord s sheep. John had three points he wanted to emphasize obedience, love, and truth and as most pastors, he repeats them several times in the First Epistle of John. Without wasting any time with a greeting, John gave 5 certainties about the person and the work of Christ the Word of Life. III. The Word of Life A. First, the Word of life is unchangeable. John wrote, That which was from the beginning Jesus Christ, the Word of life, and the gospel message, also, the Word of life already existed in the beginning. They have been and will remain unchangeable. Hebrews 13:8-9 says, Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings. Paul wrote about the same thing, turn to Galatians 1:6-9. The Word of Life is unchangeable. B. Second, the Word of life is real. Contrary to what the false teachers taught about material and spirit, the Word of life is real. John gave 4 proofs that the Word is real. 1. He was heard. John heard the parables, the sermons, the times of private instruction as he and the other Apostles walked with Jesus during the 3 years of His ministry. 2. He was seen. Not only had John heard the Lord; he had also seen Him. John added with our eyes to make it clear that he was referring to physically seeing Christ; not just experiencing some spiritual vision or a phantom image. Jesus Christ was a real man whom John had observed daily for 3 years. 3. He was examined. Jesus wasn t just seen, John and the disciples had watched Him intently for several years as they scrutinized Jesus supernatural power over demons, disease, nature, and death. What He did and what He said was examined with care. 4. He was touched. The apostles would have touched Jesus during their three years of walking and talking and eating with Him. John even described himself at the Last Supper in John 13:25; John wrote, Leaning back against Jesus, he (i.e. the beloved disciple) asked, Lord, who is it? In the upper room after His resurrection, Jesus had encouraged Thomas in John 20:27 to Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe. 3

4 C. Third, the Word of life is to be proclaimed. In verse 2 John wrote, The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. The life that appeared was Jesus Christ and as John 1:4 says, In him was life. Eternal life is a Person and that Person is Christ. You either have Christ or you don t have Christ. If you trust in Christ, you have eternal life. If you don t trust Christ, you don t have eternal life. John was a true and credible witness to Jesus Christ and the truth of the Gospel. John had received the Great Commission and he had to proclaim what he had seen. I suspect he would echo Paul s words from 1 Corinthians 9:16, Yet when I preach the gospel, I cannot boast, for I am compelled to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! D. Fourth, the Word of life is a fellowship. John wrote in verse 3, So that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. The word fellowship (koinonia in Greek) means to have in common. As sinners, men have nothing in common with the holy God. But God in His grace sent Jesus Christ to have something in common with men. Christ took on Himself a human body and became a man. Then He went to the cross and took on his body the sins of the world as Peter wrote in 1 Peter 2:24, He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. Because He paid the price for our sins, the way is open for God to forgive us and take us into His family. Then we have fellowship with one another and with God or as Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 13:14, May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. E. Finally, the Word of life is joyful. John wrote, We write this to make our joy complete. The joy about which John wrote is the joy that comes from understanding the reality of Christ, from the saving truth of the Gospel, and from the fellowship that each Christian has with God and fellow believers. We can t manufacture this joy; this joy is a by-product of our fellowship with God in Psalm 16:11, David put it this way: You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand. Basically John was writing, Faith in Jesus Christ gives you a joy that can never be duplicated by the world. I have experienced this joy myself, and I want to share it with you. IV. Conclusion In Ecclesiastes 1:9 Solomon wrote, What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. And that is still true today. Just like in John s day, 4

5 we are living in a time when the Word of life is not favorably looked on. Jesus Christ and the Gospel are said to be antiquated. We live in a time when society has abandoned absolutes God s absolutes, choosing instead to allow every opinion and any philosophical thought as long as it is NOT Christcentered or Bible-based. We are living in a time of relativism. As Judges 21:25 says, Everyone did as he saw fit. Even some churches question the authority of the Bible. They claim that no one can know for sure what the Bible means. To claim that the meaning of Scripture is unknowable is to accuse God of being unable to clearly reveal Himself and His truth to humanity. The fact of the matter is that those who deny the truths of the Scripture are most likely motivated by rebellion against its clear message of sin and righteousness. Jesus said in John 3:20, Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. Denying that the Bible can be understood gives false comfort to those who do not like the truth it reveals. We must guard our hearts and our minds against false teachings. This Book, the Bible, is true and unchangeable. Jesus Christ was and is God incarnate. Every Christian not just the pastor or the leaders of the church must study God s Word so that each person knows what is true and what is a lie. There aren t a variety of ways to get to heaven 1 John 5:12 says, He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. How we live is important 1 John 2:28 says, And now, dear children, continue in him, so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming. Today s challenge is found in 2 Timothy, turn to 2 Timothy 2:15. 5