5-5-24 Sermon "Overcoming the World" - 17 Minutes

1 John 5:1–6

This morning I'll be reading "1 John" chapter 5 verses 1 through 6. And I'll be reading from the Holman Christian Standard Bible. 1 John 5:1-6 This morning we look at these verses that are from John the disciple and they were written during a time when the church was beginning to be taught some things that didn't line up with the words that Jesus had taught. And John is trying to set the record straight. John 5:1–6 (HCSB) — 1 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Messiah has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father also loves the one born of Him. 2 This is how we know that we love God’s children when we love God and obey His commands. 3 For this is what love for God is: to keep His commands. Now His commands are not a burden, 4 because whatever has been born of God conquers the world. This is the victory that has conquered the world: our faith. 5 And who is the one who conquers the world but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? 6 Jesus Christ—He is the One who came by water and blood, not by water only, but by water and by blood. And the Spirit is the One who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. The word of God for the people of God,,, thanks be to God! God bless the reading and the hearing of your word this morning. Let us pray: Dear Lord,,, as we begin this morning,,, with everyone here today and all that are listening and watching by video,,, we ask that you open our ears to hear and our hearts and minds to receive the message that you have for us today,,, In Jesus' name I pray,,, Amen. ___________________________________ Last Sunday we looked at John 15:1-8,,, and we learned that in those verses,,, Jesus compares Himself to a vine.

And we,,, as Christians should stay attached to Him,,, because,,, just as a branch must stay connected to the vine,,, or it will die,,, we must stay connected to Jesus,,, or we will die,,, or we run the risk of dying if we don't reconnect ourselves to Him.

Of course we stay connected to Him by our Bible reading,,, prayer,,, worship service together,,, etc.,,, all of those things that we need to do,,, to keep us close to the Lord!

It's also important that we stay connected to one another as a congregation,,, spending that time in worship,,, prayer,,, Bible study,,, and fellowship.

Because that bond can help keep each one of us on the right path,,, if we are paying attention to one another the way that we should.

We also learned that we can go through a pruning process,,, and that could be what some of our trials can be.

And as a result of that,,, we must be sure that we trust God and be alert to that happening,,, not letting anything discourage us,,, as we continue our walk with Him.

But no matter what,,, we need to stay connected to Jesus,,, so that we can produce the fruit that we need,,, so that others,,, can see "Jesus" in us!

This morning we will look at these verses in 1 John,,, and see how they help us in our walk with God this week.

___________________________________ Verse 1 said: 1 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Messiah has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father also loves the one born of Him.

If you look at verse 20 in chapter 4,,, you will see that anyone claiming to love God without a corresponding love for his brother is a liar.

This is strong language; but John is certain that someone could only love God with divinely given love (v. 16),,, "in other words,,, this is possible only with the help of the Holy Spirit",,, and it says the mark of this love is compassion.

“The claim to the love of God without action” involves “falseness of character.”

John implies in verse 20 that there are visible qualities in a believing man that are godlike.

He asks,,, If a person cannot love his brother,,, how can he love God?

God identified Himself with man in Jesus; so,,, any hatred for a man for whom Christ died,,, is hatred for God.

The teaching of the Gnostic's,,, that John is warning them about,,, claim of love for God,,, that denies fellowship with the followers of Christ,,, is absolutely false.

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The Christian has been spiritually reborn; God is his Father.

This new man is bound to love God who has created him anew.

But this birth is also into a family.

Jesus says in Mark 3:35: 35 Whoever does the will of God is My brother and sister and mother.”

So,,, since the child of God loves his heavenly Father,,, he must also love those who have been born again.

It is the same love that goes out into all directions,,, is closely interlocked,,, and can never be divided,,, nothing can come between our love for each other,,, and love of God,,, and God's love for us!

Going back to verse 1 that I read above,,, the new spiritual birth of the Christian is associated with believing that Jesus is the Son of God (5:1).

By saying this,,, John is still thinking about the Gnostics who have been changing the words of the disciples and denying that Jesus is the Son of God.

By their denial of Jesus they forfeit the life of love.

It's impossible for them to have any love for God apart from their being born of him.

With the new birth comes the command to love

1 John 4:21 (HCSB) — 21 And we have this command from Him: The one who loves God must also love his brother.

And love is something that is natural for the believer:

Romans 8:15 (HCSB) — 15 For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father!”

"The personal encounter with Christ results in love for Him,,, and for all those who are a part of the family of God."

___________________________________ Verses 2 and 3 are easy to understand,,, as you see when you read them.

___________________________________ Verse 2 said: 2 This is how we know that we love God’s children when we love God and obey His commands.

In this verse,,, John simply reverses the order and states that we know that we love the children of God,,, when we love God.

___________________________________ Verse 3 said: 3 For this is what love for God is: to keep His commands. Now His commands are not a burden,

This verse is really self explanatory.

When we love God,,, we will obey God,,, and through the help of the Holy Spirit,,, which is the only way that we can "obey" consistently,,, and when we use His help correctly,,, it isn't a burden.

___________________________________ Verses 4 and 5 said: 4 because whatever has been born of God conquers the world. This is the victory that has conquered the world: our faith. 5 And who is the one who conquers the world but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

We conquer because we have faith,,, and we have faith because we know that Jesus is the Son of God,,, and we know “that” because,,, first,,, we have God’s word telling us it’s so,,, because of the testimony of many different people,,, because of written articles in history,,, and through the Holy Spirit.

The “world”,,, is that which is apart from God,,, opposes God,,, and does everything that it can,,, to lead a person away from God.

The "world",,, is society,,, that is organized and functioning,,, independent of God.”

We can see that in the way that the media and leaders of many countries,,, even our own country,,, try to keep us away from God.

And it’s in this world where we have to live for the time,,, and just looking at the way that things are progressing you would think that the “world” is winning,,, but we know the rest of the story,,, and that God will overcome any thing that the “world” can do!

And it's through our faith in Christ,,, we overcome,,, the “world”!

___________________________________ Verse 6 said: 6 Jesus Christ—He is the One who came by water and blood, not by water only, but by water and by blood. And the Spirit is the One who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth.

In this verse,,, the reference to water and blood,,, is apparently another way of challenging the words of the Gnostics of that day and time.

Since they taught that the Spirit of God came upon Jesus during His baptism,,, but then,,, left before He died on the cross,,, John is saying that without the connection between the water and the blood,,, or death on the cross as the Son of God,,, we would have just an ordinary man dying on the cross.

My Wesleyan Commentary says that this is why that John makes sure that we catch the connection by saying,,, not by water only, but by water and by blood.

This way we have the connection between God the Father,,, Jesus,,, and the Holy Spirit at Jesus’ baptism,,, and then we have the blood from Jesus that was shed for us as an atonement for our sins when He died upon the cross.

John is saying that we have the water and the blood,,, that way we can see that Jesus “was” the sacrifice for our sins.

Then we have the Spirit is the One who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth.

Jesus declared Himself to be “the Truth” in John 14:6 when He told us “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me."

So we have the Holy Spirit that testifies to us that Jesus was the Son of God and died on the cross for our sins.

And we have this personal testimony available to each of us today.

___________________________________ There are 3 things that I feel like need mentioning this morning after everything that we have heard from the United Methodist Church conference.

1st - Prayer is needed for all of the churches in the UMC,,, those that were persuaded to wait and see what changes are made,,, and,,, those that will remain regardless of what changes were made!

2nd - They will need love!

The verses that we just looked at this morning testify to this need for all of our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Because of God's love for us,,, we must love others,,, even those that we don't agree with.

That doesn't mean that we agree with their decisions,,, but we should be ready to show them their mistakes in a loving way,,, if given the opportunity.

3rd - We need that same love and prayer for each other as we continue to navigate through the media coverage of these events,,, in the days ahead.

We are thankful that we have moved forward,,, but I continue to see some that respond online in a way that isn't very helpful.

Not any of us,,, but many that have left,,, and are still hurting,,, possibly,,, speak in a way that is not fruitful,,, and we don't need to be dragged into anything like that.

I mentioned those things so that we can put the past behind us,,, and concentrate on our future,,, even as we still remember to do these things going forward!

___________________________________ We must remember these verses so that we can stay focused on loving those around us!

While at the same time,,, remembering that the Holy Spirit will guide us to obey the commands of Jesus,,, and not just those that we decide to pick and choose!

Because it's when we focus on our love for others,,, and continue in obedience to God,,, that we are truly showing that we love God!

And it's that type of obedience,,, that allows us,,, to,,, "Overcome the World"!

And we have the strength to live that way,,, because of God's love,,, for us!

And the Holy Spirit testifies to that truth,,, each and every day,,, as we continue our battle,,, in "Overcoming the World"!

___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ Hymn: 337 - Oakdale Hymn: 337 - Seminary Benediction -----------------------------------------------------------