1 John Message 1

Walking His Walk Message 1

Announcements:

Easter Sunday, make sure you celebrate that Jesus is risen and thank God for the resurrection today!

We’ll have no youth in three weeks for mother’s day, just a heads up.

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Intro:

Everyone knows the SAYING …if you’re going to TALK the TALK…you’ve got to WALK the WALK

It’s very EASY to KNOW the RIGHT ANSWERS. But it is NOT always EASY to DO the RIGHT thing.

As CHRISTIANS we are SUPPOSED to KNOW the RIGHT things to say, AND also to LIVE the RIGHT way too.

1 JOHN Series title “Walking his Walk”

Background:

AUTHOR = JOHN

BELOVED DISCIPLE

AUTHOR OF “JOHN”

ONLY one NOT MARTYRED!

1 JOHN = PRACTICAL THINGS…WALK THE WALK, LIVE LIKE JESUS

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Text:

The Word of Life

1 John 1:1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— 2 the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us— 3 that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. 4 And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.

JOHN was PHYSICALLY WITH JESUS…HEARD, SEEN, LOOKED UPON, TOUCHED!

1ST HAND ACCOUNT!

JOHN’S WRITING should BRING JOY....that is one of John’s purposes in writing!

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Walking in the Light

5 This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.

LIGHT and DARKNESS is a common METAPHOR used by JOHN…it shows that GOD is completely PURE and HOLY.

NO DARKNESS = “And darkness in him, there is not none.”

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Beginning the “IF” STATEMENTS… John is saying, “IMAGINE THIS...”

6 If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.

DARKNESS = LIFE AWAY from GOD.

HABITUALLY WALK in DARKNESS CAN’T be in RIGHT RELATIONSHIP with GOD, for he is pure and he is light.

IF we are WALKING in the LIGHT, because we are all on the SAME PAGE in OBEDIENCE to GOD......we will be able to GET ALONG not only with GOD, but with OTHER CHRISTIANS. We’ll have FELLOWSHIP!

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8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

This is NOT an ENCOURAGE to us to CONTINUE in LIVES of SIN.

BUT NO ONE is PERFECT

SIN --> CONFESSION TO GOD

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Christ Our Advocate

2:1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.

MANY PEOPLE BELIEVE GRACE = LICENSE TO SIN

JOHN’S PURPOSE (WRITING) = BELIEVERS WOULD NOT SIN, DESPITE THE PROMISE OF FORGIVENESS!

JESUS is our only ADVOCATE before God!! Our GOOD WORKS can NEVER ADVOCATE for us...

2 He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.

PROPITIATION is an APPEASEMENT of WRATH!

GOD HATES SIN, JESUS PROPITIATES

JESUS’ DEATH - ALL SINS, ALL TIME, WHOLE WORLD.

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PRACTICAL:

3 And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. 4 Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, 5 but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: 6 whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.

Big Idea: Because of what Jesus did for us on the cross, we are forgiven of all our sins and this should challenge us to live above sin and walk as Jesus walked.

The LONGER we ARE CHRISTIANS, the more our LIVES should REFLECT JESUS.

Application:

When you sin, confess it to God in prayer. We all inevitably sin, but we also don’t want to abuse God’s forgiveness.

If you never have, read through John’s Gospel and see what Jesus was like. How he treated others, etc and see how God is working in your own life to live like Jesus did.

Consider the depth of God’s love for us, that he sent his only son to the cross for our sins so we could have new life in him right now and eternal life with him upon our death. That is something worth celebrating not only during Easter season, but all year long.

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Here’s a potential outline: from FSB, or it will be one chapter a week.

Faithlife Study Bible Introduction to 1 John

One way to outline the letter recognizes five broad movements. In the introduction (1:1–4), John establishes his trustworthiness by asserting that he was an eyewitness to Jesus’ earthly life. The second major section (1:5–2:17) builds on the claim of 1 John 1:5 that God is light. God’s forgiveness through Jesus is offered to those who know God (2:1–2). People who know God also strive to confess their sins and live like Jesus.

In the third major section (2:18–3:10), John speaks more explicitly about the false teachers. They denied Jesus, which means they denied the Father as well (2:23)—and those who deny the Father cannot be called His righteous children (3:1–10). The fourth section (3:11–5:12) focuses on love as the primary characteristic of God’s children. God is love—so those who know God will love others, and those who don’t know God will lack love. The sign of genuine love is obedience to God’s commandments (5:3). In the fifth major section (5:13–21), John closes the letter by affirming that eternal life will be given to those who believe in Jesus as the Son of God. They can have confidence that God will protect them and answer their prayers.

1 John 1:1–10 ESV

1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— 2 the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us— 3 that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. 4 And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete. 5 This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

1 John 2:1–6 ESV

1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 2 He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. 3 And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. 4 Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, 5 but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: 6 whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.