Please turn in your Bibles this morning to I John as we look at why John wrote this letter, a kind of introduction to this letter for us. John wrote this letter probably from Ephesus in around 85 to 90 A.D., prior to his banishment on the island of Patmos for his faith. Thus, John was writing to second and third generation Christians who maybe saw Christianity as a habit, a tradition and thus, their passion for their faith was nominal or half-hearted. Think about that in your own life, how you get use to something and you can lose that wonder, that passion for it. That is what was happening to some of these believers besides false doctrine trying to confuse them.
Now, before we look at the four reasons why John wrote this letter, let me share with you this story from G. Campbell Morgan. He wrote:
There is a tale told of that great English actor Macready. An eminent preacher once said to him: “I wish you would explain to me something.” “Well, what is it? I don’t know that I can explain anything to a preacher.” “What is the reason for the difference between you and me? You are appearing before crowds night after night with fiction, and the crowds come wherever you go. I am preaching the essential and unchangeable truth, and I am not getting any crowd at all.”
Macready’s answer was this: “This is quite simple. I can tell you the difference between us. I present my fiction as thought it were the truth; you present your truth as though it were fiction.”
- G. Campbell Morgan, Preaching, p. 36
That too often is the attitude of some pastors, some teachers, some Christians, there is no passion for what they believe and thus, as they share, it almost sounds like they don’t believe it! It seems like it is fiction to those listening to them. Obviously that should not be since we have the Word of God, which is truth, which is living and powerful and able to transform lives!
John does have a passion for what he believes and he wants to make sure others don’t see Christianity as fiction, as a myth or fable but as the truth. Thus, as he opens up his letter he tells us, “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life — the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us — that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.” I John 1:1-3.
You see, John is speaking of Jesus, the eternal God, and how he heard Jesus speak, he saw Jesus with his own eyes, he gazed steadfastly at Jesus and the things He did, and he touched Jesus because Jesus was real, not a ghost or spirit that hovered over the ground like the Gnostics believed.
Peter also had a passion for what he believed and a passion for God’s Word. Thus, Peter tells us in II Peter 1:16-21, “For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty. For He received from God the Father honor and glory when such a voice came to Him from the Excellent Glory: ‘This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.’ And we heard this voice which came from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain. And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts; knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.”
Again, Peter wants us to understand that he did not follow fables or myths but he saw the Lord in glory on the Mount of Transfiguration and as sure as that was, he tells us that God’s Word is even more sure than what he saw with his own eyes. You see, we have the truth of God’s Word and that will never fail us.
Do you see the passion they had for God and His Word! Now here John wants these second and third generation Christians not to be swept away with the false doctrine or to be complacent in their faith, but to have a passion for God and His Word once again. Thus, he gives to us four reasons why he wrote this letter and they are as follows:
1. THAT YOUR JOY MAY BE FULL – I JOHN 1:4
2. THAT YOU MAY NOT SIN – I JOHN 2:1
3. THAT YOU MAY NOT BE DECEIVED – I JOHN 2:26
4. THAT YOU MAY BELIEVE – I JOHN 5:13
And so with the remainder of our time this morning we are going to look at these four important points that John is making. You see, he is writing to them with the hope they would read and apply these truths to their lives and their passion for the Lord would return. So let’s dig into these points and see what the lessons we can glean from them as the Lord speaks to our hearts.
1. THAT YOUR JOY MAY BE FULL – I JOHN
1:4
John is writing to these Christians with a desire to see them full of joy, which tells me that probably was not the case for them. But what is joy? The dictionary describes joy as, “a feeling of happiness that comes from success, good fortune, or a sense of well-being. a source of happiness.”
Using that as a definition of joy would mean that when things are not going well, when things are tough, when you face persecution, when you are not having success, you will not be filled with joy. In fact, when those things come across your path you will be down, depressed, frustrated, angry, and obviously there is a lack of joy there!
Thus, people try all kinds of things to regain that joy in their lives. I will give you a few examples to show you how people have sought joy but in the end it escaped their grasps because they were looking for joy in all the wrong places. You see, true joy is not found in:
Well, if true joy is not found in unbelief or doing your own thing. If true joy is not found in pleasure or satisfying your flesh. If true joy is not found in money or being the one that has the most toys. If true joy is not found in the position or the fame that you have, all that you have acquired with all the attention and accolades that go with it. If true joy is not found in military glory or strength, power, then where is it found?
Now my answer may sound very simplistic, but if it is true, why does it have to be complicated? You see, it doesn’t! Thus, true joy comes as our lives are focused on the Lord, as they are filled with Jesus! For the Christian this joy is not based on external circumstances because our joy would then be in a constant state of flux depending on what we are going through. But for us as Christians, our joy is an internal reality and is based in Christ and His faithfulness to us. And thus, it never changes unless we take our eyes off of Him and place them on the external things that are happening around us and to us!
Not only does John want our joy to be full, but so does Jesus. Let me show you what I mean. In John 15:11 Jesus said, “These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.” What did Jesus just speak of because He now is telling us that if we do them our joy will be full? He was speaking of abiding in Him, being attached to the true vine because He is the giver and sustainer of life and that is where we will bear fruit in our lives. It is as David said in Psalm 16:11, “You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” Thus, Jesus says as we abide in Him, are attached to Him there will be fruit in our lives and in that relationship our joy will be full!
In John 16:24 Jesus tells us, “Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.” Jesus is saying that our joy will be full if we are focused on Him, if we fellowship with Him and we bring our needs, our concerns to Him in prayer. You see, as we fellowship with the Lord, as we see the Lord answer our prayers, there is great joy!
Also, in John 17:13 Jesus said, “But now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves.” In other words, as we take the Gospel message to the lost and they receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior it not only brings Him great joy, but His joy is then manifested in our lives! You see, there is joy as we allow the joy of the Lord to flow through our lives and touch the lives of others!
Now, to put this into perspective, think of joy like this:
Folks, I am sorry to say that far too often Christians seem like they don’t care that the joy of the Lord is missing in their lives. They have no passion to regain it. And thus, they go through life down, depressed, angry, and they need to realize that joy can return as you spend time with the Lord. It is as Spurgeon said, “The Christians joy wants looking to. If any of you have lost the joy of the Lord. I pray you do not think it a small loss.”
As I close out this section, this first reason John wrote this letter, that your joy may be full, listen to this true story. We are told:
As a third-century man was anticipating death, he penned these last words to a friend: “It’s a bad world, an incredibly bad world. But I have discovered in the midst of it a quiet and holy people who have learned a great secret. They have found a joy which is a thousand times better than any pleasure of our sinful life. They are despised and persecuted, but they care not. They are masters of their souls. They have overcome the world. These people are the Christians – and I am one of them.”
- Moody Bible Institute’s, Today in the Word, June, 1988, p. 18
Thus, true Christian joy is not based on external things, but internal, the Lord and that is then manifested outwardly, in the things we do and say! Joy is Jesus, others and then yourself and as one person put it, “Joy is the flag flown high from the castle of your heart when the King is in residence there!” If your joy is lacking, maybe you need to place Jesus back on the throne of your life. May your joy be full!
2. THAT YOU MAY NOT SIN – I JOHN 2:1
Yes, we are saved by Grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone, the work has been completed for our salvation. The problem comes with the attitude of some Christians who sin and their excuse is, “I’m saved by grace not by works!” or “The Devil made me do it!” or “I am a work in progress!” and the list can go on-and-on. We have great excuses for our sin instead of dealing with it.
Do you really believe that is what God desires for your life? Of course not. John wants them to know these things that they may not sin! That tells me we have a choice to make in this matter. A good example of this is seen with David’s sin with Bathsheba. Instead of going to war with his men, David stayed home. He was bored, he had too much time on his hands and he took a walk on the roof of his house in the evening and as he looked out, “Hey, a naked woman! I can handle this.” Or so he thought. “Hey, she is really good looking, a really, really good looking naked woman! I can’t handle this!” And before long he had sexual relations with this married woman, she became pregnant and to hide his sin he had her husband killed in battle, one of David’s mighty men!
Maybe he had a disease or a moral failure or a propensity towards sexual sin. Maybe it was his parent’s fault. No, David sinned before God and his mistake was, when he saw Bathsheba naked, bathing, he should have fled for his life but instead he fed the flesh and the passion consumed his life! That is how sin works, you just don’t dabble in sin, but as you open the door to it, it will push its way into your life and consume you. Thus, you must flee sin!
Remember the story of Joseph, sold into slavery by his jealous brothers and brought down to Egypt. He ends up being a slave in the house of Potiphar and God blesses Joseph so much that he is in charge of everything. Things were looking up and then trouble. Potiphar’s wife tries to seduce this young man, this teenager and Joseph had some choices to make here. No one was home, who would know, she wanted him and she’s the boss and she is good looking and the list of justifying sin can go on-and-on. That is the flesh but Joseph did not give into the flesh. He was led by the Spirit and he ran away!
Daniel, taken captive to Babylon, a wicked, immoral nation and Daniel was a teenager at this time. And this is what he said in Daniel 1:8, “ . . . Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself . . .” You see, what is the passion of your heart, to satisfy the flesh where temptation is all around us, or to walk in the Spirit?
In Hebrews 12:1-4 Paul tells us, “Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin.”
Have you resisted to the point of bloodshed striving against sin? “Well, no but I have this disease you know and God will forgive me!” No, don’t make the excuse, fight against sin and as you do the Lord will enable you to succeed! The issue is not forgiveness, but fellowship and sin will hinder our relationship with God. But, if you refuse to strive against sin, if you refuse to let it go, give it to Jesus, then you will battle and battle and make excuses why you are not victorious! I like the way Tim Manzer put it. He wrote:
I have never been a great hunter. I try from time to time but never with any success. I do have lots of venison in my freezer. I call it mercy venison. Other hunters give it to me because they know, I did not get my own deer. My father-in-law despite lung cancer and other health issues shot two deer last season. I’m 46 and have never got my picture taken with dead meat. My son shot a deer at age 14 on his first day of hunting. However, I did shoot a dog. This statement always gets me into trouble. There is a big social no-no around dog killing. So let me tell you what happened.
I was hunting up in Michigan’s U.P. around Rice Lake with some other hunters. I was in a remote location assigned to me by the leader of our hunting camp. It was at the back of a little clearing looking over a wetland. I had been up early and ate a great hunting camp breakfast, so I fell asleep. I must have looked like something that had died in the woods. I was awoken by two wild dogs, which were deciding which part to eat first. When I moved they began to growl. I thought a very dumb thought, “I’m dead, and these dogs are going to eat me!” They continued to circle me and growl. Then I remembered I have a shotgun. I picked up my old 16-gage shotgun and shot one of the dogs in the head. It dropped dead and the other dog escaped into the woods.
Not very long after my successful dog hunt, some of the other hunters showed up to help me track my deer. They asked, “What did you get?” They expected me to say, “A spike horn buck,” but I said to their amazement, “A Dog!” Sometimes in life, we must kill what endangers us. That is very true when it comes to our soul, we must kill the sin that destroys our walk with God.
- Tim Manzer, SoulRehab
David, in Psalm 119:9-11 tells us, “How can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to Your word. With my whole heart I have sought You; Oh, let me not wander from Your commandments! Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You.” You see, God’s Word tells us what is sin and what isn’t sin and it helps us not to sin as the Holy Spirit guides us. The question is, will we listen?
Now, will we sin? Yes, I am sorry to say we will but with our will, with our attitude about sin agreeing with how God feels about it, we don’t have to! In Galatians 5:16-18 Paul tells us, “I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.” Who is guiding your life? May it be the Spirit of God as we are lead by Him and we strive against sin! John wrote these things so that you may not sin, sin may not consume your life!
3. THAT YOU MAY NOT BE DECEIVED –
I JOHN 2:26
There have always been those who will try to deceive, trick, bring into the church destructive heresies as they draw attention to themselves instead of the Lord. And for years the church has been able to stand against these false doctrines that are blowing into the church, but that is no longer the case!
Why is that? Why are so many Christians being deceived by these false teachers with their doctrines of demons? Because they don’t know the Word of God. For some, that is hard to swallow because in the church they attend they are not being taught the Word of God. Listen to what we are told in John 8:31-32, “Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, ‘If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.’” You see, the truth of God’s Word will set us free from the lies of the enemy, and the key is abiding in Christ, being obedient to what He has said and not the words of man!
Here’s the thing. Once you know the truth, these lies are so obvious, like this story illustrates for us. We are told:
F. E. Smith was a capable lawyer with a quick wit who served as the British attorney general from 1915 until 1919. On one occasion he cross-examined a young man claiming damages for an arm injury caused by the negligence of a bus driver. “Will you please show us how high you can lift your arm now?” asked Smith. The young man gingerly raised his arm to shoulder level, his face distorted with pain.
“Thank you,” said Smith. “And now, could you show us how high you could lift it before the accident?” The young man eagerly shot his arm up above his head.
He lost the case.
- Today in the Word, July 1995, p. 27
Folks, we should not be deceived, we have the Word of God and it will expose these lies! David said in Psalm 119:103-104, “How sweet are Your words to my taste, Sweeter than honey to my mouth! Through Your precepts I get understanding; Therefore I hate every false way.” Do you see what David is saying here? He is saying that God’s Word is truth, it gives to him understanding and thus, when false things arise, they are exposed for what they are and David hates it. He does not tolerate false doctrine, embrace it, ignore it but he hates it because it leads people away from the truths of God! Our protection against false teachers, false doctrine, deceivers, is the Word of God!
4. THAT YOU MAY BELIEVE – I JOHN 5:13
First of all John wants people to come to the saving grace that is found in Jesus Christ. Listen to why John wrote his Gospel, he tells us in John 20:30-31, “And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.” He wants people to be saved, to experience that abundant life that is only found in Jesus. But many reject this truth of Jesus being the only way to the Father. They believe all roads lead to God but they are wrong. Listen to how Charles Spurgeon put it. He wrote:
Some think it hard that there should be nothing for them but ruin if they will not believe in Jesus Christ; but if you will think for a minute you will see that it is just and reasonable. I suppose there is no way for a man to keep his strength up except by eating. If you were to say, “I will not eat again, I despise such animalism,” you might go to Madeira, or travel in all lands (supposing you lived long enough!), but you would most certainly find that no climate and no exercise would avail to keep you alive if you refused food. Would you then complain, “It is a hard thing that I should die because I do not believe in eating?”
It is not an unjust thing that if you are so foolish as not to eat, you must die. It is precisely so with believing. “Believe, and thou are saved.” If thou wilt not believe, it is no hard thing that thou shouldst be lost. It would be strange indeed if it were not to be the case.
- Charles Spurgeon, 1834-1892, Around the Wicket Gate, Ch. 10
You see there is only one way to the Father, to heaven and that is through Jesus Christ. It is not open for debate, it is just a fact that you can accept or reject but there are consequences to both. If you accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior you will be saved, if not, you will be cast into the Lake of Fire for eternity apart from Christ where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth!
But I also think John’s main point here is to those who believe and yet they lack the confidence of eternal life, the security of their salvation. How many Christians feel like failures, that God doesn’t love them, they were saved yesterday but today is another story and you are not sure anymore? If you feel that way and you have asked Jesus to be your Lord and Savior, then those statements are lies of the Devil, don’t listen to them. God loves you and you are saved and no one can take that away from you because Jesus and the Father have you in their hands!
Jesus said in John 5:24, “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.” You see, you are saved, you will not be judged but you have already entered into that abundant life, that eternal life with Jesus! Folks, Jesus is not going to lose or misplace any of us. We are secure in Him, our salvation is a done deal not because of my faithfulness or your faithfulness but because of His faithfulness! It is not because of my efforts, it is not because of your efforts, but it is because of His finished work! Thus, may you not only believe in Jesus, but may you also know that your salvation is secure in Him!
How do I know this to be true? Because God’s Word tells me it is true and God’s Word is truth! Remember what we read earlier this morning in John 1:1-3, “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life — the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us — that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.”
You see, they were eyewitnesses of the Lord, and thus, we can trust their accounts of what transpired. It is as one writer put it, “I am so glad my knowledge of eternal life is not built upon the speculations of the philosophers or even theologians but on the unimpeachable testimony of those who heard, saw, gazed at, and handled Him in whom it was incarnate. It is not merely a lovely dream, but solid fact, carefully observed and an accurately recorded fact.” Folks, we have security in our salvation!
And so John is writing these things so that your JOY MAY BE FULL and that is accomplished as we focus on Jesus. John is writing these things so that you MAY NOT SIN and that is accomplished as we are led by the Spirit striving against sin. John is writing these things so that YOU MAY NOT BE DECEIVED by the false teachers with their doctrines of demons and that is accomplished as we are in the Word of God applying it to our lives. And John wrote these things so that YOU MAY BELIEVE, you may not only be saved but believe in the eternal security of your soul and that is the heart of the Father! So notice what we have here, Jesus brings us joy, the Spirit keeps us from sinning, the Word of God keeps us from the lies of the Devil and we are secure in Christ, it is the heart of the Father!
As I close this morning, please understand that the lessons are there, you heard them, you can read them for yourself. The main issue is, you need to also apply them to your life so that we “ . . . grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen.” II Peter 3:18.