“Faith Is The Victory”

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. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

Introduction

Christians are in a battle for there soul

We are fighting against the world (sin)

We all struggle with things in the world (the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life) - 1 John 2:15-17

You may think it is to hard or difficult and we just can’t win the battle against sin

We can win, if we have faith

Let’s consider “Faith Is the Victory” for a few moments

1. What Does Faith Require?

Faith requires a love for one another (1 John 5:1-2a)

John has talked continually about loving one another in 1 John (1 John 3:11, 23; 4:7, 11-12, 20-21)

We need to love one another as the father loved us - John 13:34; 15:12

If we are going to love the father, we need to love the children also - 1 John 5:1

How do we know we love one another?

When we love God

If someone says “I love God” and hates his brother he is a liar - 1 John 4:20

How can one love God whom he has not seen and hate his brother whom he has not seen? - 1 John 4:20

He who loves God must love his brother also - 1 John 4:21

When we keep his commandments

· Faith requires keeping his commandments (1 John 5:2b-3)

We must keep all his commandments

If we love God, we will keep his commandments - John 14:15

The Lords commandments are not burdensome - 1 John 5:3

Those who don’t know the truth may think the Lords commands are to hard to keep

However, those who put their faith and trust in the Lord can keep his commandments

The Lord said, “My yoke is easy, my burden is light.” - Matthew 11:30

2. Where Should My Faith Be?

· Our faith should not be in....

What my parents say

Children should obey their parents - Eph. 6:1-3

Parents have the responsibility to instruct their children - Eph. 6:4

We shouldn’t just follow what they say without testing it by God’s word

What is popular

We shouldn’t go with the crowd

The majority is often wrong - Matthew 7:13-14

What is most popular isn’t the standard

What the preacher says

We should listen to the preacher

The preacher is to preach the word - 2 Tim. 4:2

We should test what is taught by the word of God - Acts 17:11

Our faith shouldn’t be in the preacher

What my feelings are

It is not in a man to direct his own steps - Jer. 10:23

The way that seems right to man leads to death - Prov. 14:12

Our faith should be in the Lord - Heb. 11:6

Our faith should be based on the word of God - Rom. 10:17; 2 Tim. 3:16-17

1 John 5:5

3. When Is Faith The Victory?

Faith is the victory in overcoming the world

We will face challenges, temptation and persecutions in life

The Lord has overcome the world - John 16:33

If we serve the Lord, we can overcome as well

We can conquer, we can prevail, and we can get the victory

What can we overcome?

We can overcome sin

Unless we overcome sin, we will not have God’s help to overcome the problems before us! - Isa. 59:1-2; 1 Peter 3:12

We are all guilty of sin - Rom 3:23

The price of sin (death and seperation form God) - Rom. 6:23; Isa. 59:1-2

How can faith in the Lord help us overcome sin?

It provides the forgiveness of sins - Acts 10:43

The forgiveness of sins is possible because of Christ death on the cross - Eph. 1:7

The forgiveness of sins is given to those whose faith moves them to repent and be baptized - Acts 2:38

The forgiveness of sins is also given to those who have already obeyed the gospel - Acts 8:22; 1 John 1:9

We can overcome being discontent

Jesus tells us what is truly important in life

It isn’t in the abundance in the thing’s we posses - Luke 12:13-15

It is being rich toward God - Luke 12:16-21

We can learn a lot about contentment from the Apostle Paul

Paul said, “for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content.” - Phil. 4:11-13

Paul certainly made the best out of his imprisonment - Phil. 1:12-14

How does faith in the Lord help me overcome being discontent?

The Lord provides us with contentment with his promise to be with us – Heb. 13:5-6

If we have faith, we can realize how much we are already blessed with

"Contentment is not the fulfillment of what you want, but the realization of how much you already have. “

God can provide us all that we need – Phil. 4:19; 2 Tim. 4:18

We can overcome persecution and mistreatment

We will face persecution and mistreatment as Christians

2 Tim. 3:12

The world will hate us – John 15:19

The persecutions and suffering we face will be momentary – Rom. 8:18;2 Cor. 4:17-18

Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake – Matthew 5:10-12

When we are suffering as Christians we need to rejoice “Count it all joy” – James 1:1-2; 1 Pet. 4:12-19

Conclusion:

If we have faith in the Lord, we can overcome the world

“Faith Is the Victory”