John's Pastoral Care
Notes
Transcript
Handout
His Concern for their Holiness (1a)
His Concern for their Holiness (1a)
that you might not sin
His Concern for their Assurance (1b-2)
His Concern for their Assurance (1b-2)
Jesus is our advocate (1b)
Jesus is our advocate (1b)
Jesus is our propitiation (2)
Jesus is our propitiation (2)
The Old Testament sacrificial system
Expiation: refers to the cleansing of sin and removal of sin’s guilt.
In the sacrificial system of Israel, blood was collected from an animal’s severed arteries and then manipulated in a variety of ways.
Blood was smeared, sprinkled, tossed, and poured out.
For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement by the life.
This underlies the idea of substitution: the shed blood of a blameless substitute represented life for life, soul for soul.
Blood’s importance was underscored most prominently by the sin offering. Through the shedding and manipulation of the sin offering’s blood, God taught Israel of their need for cleansing from sin and for the removal of sin’s defilement and guilt, making divine forgiveness possible (see Lev. 4:20, 26, 31, 35).
On the one hand, the blood signified death: displaying the blood before God demonstrated that a life, albeit the life of an unblemished animal substitute, had endured death, the wages of sin. On the other hand, blood represented the life of flesh: by the principle that life conquers death, blood was used ritually to wipe away, as it were, the defilement of sin and death.
Propitiation: refers to the assuaging of God’s wrath and gaining of His favor
The flood account in Gen. 6-9.
God was grieved over humanity’s corruption (6:6)
God determined to destroy all of humanity except for Noah and his family
The waters came, everyone not on the Arc was destroyed, the waters receded.
Upon exiting the Arc, Noah built an alter
Then Noah built an altar to the Lord and took some of every clean animal and some of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar. And when the Lord smelled the pleasing aroma, the Lord said in his heart, “I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth. Neither will I ever again strike down every living creature as I have done.
It wasn’t until after the sacrifices were made that God’s anger was assuaged. The sacrifices were pleasing to God (pleasing aroma), but also satisfied His demand seen in His declaration to never strike down every living creature as He had done n the flood.
The Arc of the Covenant
“You shall make a mercy seat of pure gold. Two cubits and a half shall be its length, and a cubit and a half its breadth. And you shall make two cherubim of gold; of hammered work shall you make them, on the two ends of the mercy seat. Make one cherub on the one end, and one cherub on the other end. Of one piece with the mercy seat shall you make the cherubim on its two ends. The cherubim shall spread out their wings above, overshadowing the mercy seat with their wings, their faces one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubim be. And you shall put the mercy seat on the top of the ark, and in the ark you shall put the testimony that I shall give you. There I will meet with you, and from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim that are on the ark of the testimony, I will speak with you about all that I will give you in commandment for the people of Israel.
When the Old Testament was translated into Latin, this word was translated as propitiatorium, which means "the place of propitiation." The standard English translation is "the mercy seat".
The lid was the place where the wrath of God was propitiated… where it was assuaged and His favor was gained.
there was only one day a year when sacrificial blood was offered on the kapporet to propitiate the wrath of almighty God.
Jesus our superior sacrifice
Jesus alone can cleanse the soul and conscience, He alone can turn away the wrath of God, since He is our propitiation.
Through His sacrifice, he assuaged the wrath of God and merited God’s favor for His people.
For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.
For the whole world
The word kosmos occurs 23 times in 1 John.
natural world
locative: where people go and/or live
describes attitudes that oppose God
In John’s gospel, John the Baptist is quoted by saying that Jesus is the lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. (1:29)
We know John cannot mean that the sins of all people are automatically forgiven and inherit eternal life.
1 John 5:11–13 (ESV)
And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.
I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.
We might attempt to explain what John means here (it’s easier to explain what he doesn’t mean) by saying that Jesus’ sacrifice was sufficient to deal with the sins of the whole world, but that His sacrifice does not become effective until people believe in Him. This seems to be what John teaches in the third chapter of his gospel in verse 16.
Our Assurance in our Striving
Our Assurance in our Striving
God uses His Word to strengthen His people against sin.
All people, including Christians, still sin.
Our comfort when we sin is in the advocacy and propitiation of Jesus.
Our resolve to continue in the fight against sin is fueled by the advocacy and propitiation of Jesus.
Jesus is our desire (3-6)
Jesus is our desire (3-6)
What it means to know God (3)
Knowing God: knowing God personal for oneself (being in fellowship with Him 1:4, walking in His light 1:7)
How we know we know God (3-6)
Obedience (3) - see 3:23
And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us.
Sincerity (4)
whoever claims, whosever says
I have know Him but is not keeping His commandments
No apparent concern for obeying God - no concern for loving Jesus or loving God’s people
characterized by a concern for obeying vs by no concern for obedience.
Love (5a)
lit: whoever keeps His word, truly in this one the love of God is perfected
the love of God is referring to the Christian’s love for God. A similar statement is in
For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.
bottom line: John is saying that the love for God completes its work when we obey His command to love one another
In other words, obeying God displays our love for God and our obedience is displayed by loving one another.
Union (5b-6)
verse 5 sets up the question: how do we know we are in Him?
abides: more than keeping the commands of God. It speaks to the intimacy of the relationship between God and His people.
Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
walk as Jesus walked: whoever claims to live in Jesus must live like He lived.
Jesus is our assurance
Jesus is our assurance
Those who possess Jesus as their advocate and the propitiation of their sins through His death and resurrection are transformed so that their assurance of knowing God is experienced and strengthened through their delight to obey His commands, using the record of Jesus’ living as a patter for their own.
The Old/New Commandment (7-11)
The Old/New Commandment (7-11)
It’s not new (7)
It’s not new (7)
an old commandment that you had from the beginning
the beginning is the time when the readers first heard the gospel message by which they were made children of God
That John is referring to the gospel message is made clear when he describes it as the word that you have heard.
This commandment was to believe in God’s Son, Jesus Christ (1 John 3:23)
But it is new (8)
But it is new (8)
The words of Jesus
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.
John refers to this commandment as new because this is how Jesus referred to it.
John’s point is that he is not imposing some novel obligation on his readers, but only recalling them to what they have known from the very beginning of their Christian walk.
The command to believe in Jesus and to love one another finds its true expression (authentic expression) in Jesus Christ and in Christians.
The reason this command finds its true expression in Jesus and Christians is because the darkness is passing away and the true light is shinning. The darkness here is the realm in which sinful behavior dominates. Later in this chapter, this realm is referred to as the world (v. 17). The true Light here refers to Jesus Christ. John references this truth in his gospel:
In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
A grammatical point (8)
A grammatical point (8)
the darkness is passing away is passive. In v. 17, the world is passing away along with its desires is also a passive action.
the true light is already shining is active, and the fact that the true light is shining is said to be the reason the darkness is passing away.
Both the passive and active verbs are appear in the present tense which suggests that both the passing away of the darkness and the shinning of the true light are continuous events. The passing of the darkness and the shinning of the true light are happening at the same time, and these simultaneous actions provide the context in which the new/old command is finding its true expression in the readers.
Obey the command (9-11)
Obey the command (9-11)
The false teachers were claiming to be in the light, but expressed hatred for believers. John urges his readers to not follow suit.
Hatred of our brothers and sisters in Christ is incompatible with a love for Jesus. A hatred for the church displays an existence in darkness.
As we walk in the light through loving the church, there will be nothing in us that will cause us or anyone else to stumble.
Hating the church is to walk in darkness and this happens because darkness blinds us to the light.
Stability & Victory (12-14)
Stability & Victory (12-14)
Little children is a reference to all of John’s audience. It speaks to his affection for them and his position of authority over them. John is encouraging his children that their sins have been forgiven.
Fathers are meant to be a reference to people who are relatively advanced in age and they are described as knowing him who is from the beginning. The identity of the one who was from the beginning is best understood as Jesus (see 1 John 1:1,2)
Young men is meant to be a reference to people who are of lesser years. Because God abides in His people they are able to overcome the evil one (Satan).
The word of God that abides in them is best understood to be a reference to the massage that was proclaimed to them and embodied in Jesus Christ. BY continuing to abide in the Word, strength is provided to over come the evil one.
The futility of loving the world (15-17)
The futility of loving the world (15-17)
The command to not love the world is one that commands against seeking fulfillment from the world.
World refers to attitudes and values that are opposed to God.
Things in the world refers to the elements that make up the world
Verses 16 unfolds what it means to love the world, but the conditional phrase at the end of v. 15 makes clear that to love the world is to be obsessed with the world and to not be concerned with seeking to do the will of God. The love of the world and a love for the Father are mutually exclusive.
The main point of verse 16 is to explain why the love of the world is incompatible with love for God.
The desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes and pride of life are all antithetical to God.
Desires of the flesh is a general category
Desires of the eyes are sinful cravings that are activated by what people see
Pride of life refers to possessions. Life can mean property or possessions. This same word is used in 1 John 3:17 this way, and it therefore seems to be what John intends to convey here.
All of the elements that make up the world are not from the Father. John says this to make the point that the love of the world and love for the Father cannot exist together and therefore serves as a sober warning to believers to guard against becoming infatuated with the world.
Another reason Christians should not love the world is that the the world and its desires pass away. (17)
John makes clear the the passing of the world along with its desires is a current, unfolding reality.
All that is against God and dishonors Him is doomed.
doing the will of the Father is the opposite of loving the world. It means believing in the Son and loving fellow believers.
Let it abide so that you will abide
Let it abide so that you will abide
In order to let the message of the gospel abide (remain) in us so that we will abide (remain) in the God we must recognize that
We are in the last hour (18)
We are in the last hour (18)
What does John mean by “last hour”?
But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel:
“ ‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares,
that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh,
and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
and your young men shall see visions,
and your old men shall dream dreams;
1 Corinthians 10:11 (ESV)
Now these things happened to them as an example, but they [the OT events] were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come.
But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty.
Hebrews 1:1–2 (ESV)
Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.
Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure in the last days.
He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you
knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires.
They said to you, “In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions.”
These texts seem to refer to the period of time that began with the first coming of Jesus and ending with His final coming.
John and the the authors referenced above believed they lived in the last hour because what he sees corresponds with predictions concerning the last hour.
The antichrist is coming and many antichrists are now here
The antichrist is coming and many antichrists are now here
Biblical References
Biblical References
John’s observation that the antichrist is coming and many antichrists are now here is part of his argument that we are now living in the last hour.
as you have heard indicates that this teaching on the last hour, and specifically regarding the antichrist was familiar to his audience
The term antichrist is found only in the Johannine letters. In addition to v. 18
Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son.
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.
For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist.
It should be noted that Jesus taught regarding false christs
For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect.
see also Mark 13:22
There does not appear to be any difference intended in the identity of the people John mentions as antichrists and who Jesus names as false christs. It is likely therefore, that John’s audience was familiar with this subject when they were first instructed in the faith.
The Antichrist (18)
The Antichrist (18)
The concept of a powerful end-time figure opposed to God would have been familiar to John’s audience
Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction,
And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, with ten horns and seven heads, with ten diadems on its horns and blasphemous names on its heads. And the beast that I saw was like a leopard; its feet were like a bear’s, and its mouth was like a lion’s mouth. And to it the dragon gave his power and his throne and great authority. One of its heads seemed to have a mortal wound, but its mortal wound was healed, and the whole earth marveled as they followed the beast. And they worshiped the dragon, for he had given his authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?”
And the beast was given a mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words, and it was allowed to exercise authority for forty-two months. It opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God, blaspheming his name and his dwelling, that is, those who dwell in heaven.
There seems to be a distinction made between the antichrist figure who will appear near the very end, and the lesser antichrist figures whose influence is already being felt.
The aim of both the antichrist figure and the antichrists is the same which is to deceive people.
The antichrists (18-19)
The antichrists (18-19)
The attacks of the antichrists come from both without and within the church (1 John 2:19 talks about these attacks coming from within).
It appears that the antichrists presently are experienced as human entities, but behind them is another force, that is, the Antichrist who will make war against God’s people.
The antichrists had once been part of the christian community, but their departure showed that they were never true members of the community.
we must also recognize that
God protects & guides His people (20-24)
God protects & guides His people (20-24)
Anointing enables us to know the truth (20,27)
Anointing enables us to know the truth (20,27)
Since the anointing (that which enables us to know the truth) is provided to us by the Holy Spirit, it should be thought of as a gift from God.
The anointing that the Holy Sprit provides is probably a reference to the coming of the Holy Spirit into our lives at salvation
By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit.
So those who have the Holy Spirit, that is, those who are born again have been given knowledge of the truth, and without the Holy Spirit we would not know the truth.
The Holy Spirit uses the Word of God to provide His people knowledge of the truth (24-27)
The Holy Spirit uses the Word of God to provide His people knowledge of the truth (24-27)
Most likely the false teachers (antichrists) were claiming to have revelations from God in their claim that God did not actually come in the flesh.
Verse 24 makes clear that what they heard from the beginning, that is, the preaching and teaching of the apostles. Twice in this verse, John asserts that what his audience heard is the truth that must remain (abide) in them which will result in them abiding in the Father and in the Son. What they heard was the word of God.
So the anointing that the Holy Spirit provides people so they can know the truth comes by means of the truth proclaimed in the teaching and preaching of God’s word.