This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. 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, purifies us from all sin.

God created us to be together. That means that we share the victories as well as the defeats. We spend so much time crafting a "beautiful" image online that we forget that what really builds community is a complete picture. The same goes for our health and well being. No one can help us if we keep our struggles to ourselves.

No one believes the facade anyway so you might as well ditch it and start being real.

Push on my friends.

Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.  > You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them.  We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood. - 4:1-6Which System does it appeal to?  God’s System or the world Do those who are acknowledged mature agree?  Test it.
Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. - 4:7-9Does it point people towards Christ and his Love? This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. - 4:10-12Does it recognize his sacrifice on the cross? We know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God.  And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. - 4:13-16Does it recognize the Gospel?  God came as a man, Lived a Sinless life so that we sinners would have eternal fellowship with the Father. In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. We love because he first loved us.  If anyone says, “I love God,” yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother. - 4:17-21Notice what it says here about Fear.  How can we experience this life without fear?  That leads us into Chapter 5. Chapter 5
Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well. This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God. - 5:1-5We Win.  Revelation! This is the one who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ. He did not come by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. For there are three that testify: the Spirit, the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement. We accept man’s testimony, but God’s testimony is greater because it is the testimony of God, which he has given about his Son.  Anyone who believes in the Son of God has this testimony in his heart. Anyone who does not believe God has made him out to be a liar, because he has not believed the testimony God has given about his Son. And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. 5:6-12Spirit = Holy Spirit Water = Baptism
Blood = Cross
I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him. - 5:13-15Your Salvation ensures your access to God. Saved by Grace and we Walk By Faith
If anyone sees his brother commit a sin that does not lead to death, he should pray and God will give him life. I refer to those whose sin does not lead to death. There is a sin that leads to death. I am not saying that he should pray about that. All wrongdoing is sin, and there is sin that does not lead to death. We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the one who was born of God keeps him safe, and the evil one cannot harm him. - 5:16-18You are no longer bound to sin.  You have strength to overcome in Christ Jesus You have the Holy Spirits prompting to convict and push you to repentance
Who God Calls He Protects
We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one. We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true—even in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. - 5:19-20You are Different and that is OK. What you have is worth a strange look?
Don’t you want to share it?
Dear children, keep yourselves from idols. - 5:21I hope that this has spoken to you the same way that it did to me.  Let me know in the comment section what God has shared as you have read? 

This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases him.  And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. Those who obey his commands live in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us. - 1 John 3:19-24Talking a good game may get you past people for a time. Your ACTIONs will eventually reveal you.
Believe in the Son and love one another...
Those who follow the Son, follow the Father as the Son does
Those who DO the will of the Son, do the will of the Father.
Those who know the Son, know the Father
For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. - 1 John 3:23-26What are you sharing with those you disciple?

Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. He who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work. No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God. This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother. - 1 John 3:7-10*The fruit of the seed that planted in us.  The Holy Spirit convicts us and drives us to repentance.*  ** Are you driven to your knees when you sin?  Do you even care?  Do Not be lead astray like those who indulge...Jesus destroyed the yoke of sin over us.  The kosmos/world system that we talked about last week is powerless over the life of the believer.  We just have to focus on God.When we do fall, repent, and refocusThis is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another. Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother’s were righteous. Do not be surprised, my brothers, if the world hates you. We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. Anyone who does not love remains in death. - 1 John 3:11-14Do you love your Brother/Sister? Are you jealous of him/her?How you treat the family shows where your heart is? Is it all about you?  Are you Conceited or a Martyr? Don’t be surprised if the world hates you.  That is how it should be.  They hated Him, so why would you be any different?

The epistle, or letter, of 1st John is written to all of us in general and specifically to the church at Ephesus.  John is writing this as he nears the end of his life.  The Ephesian church is not that different from our own American church.  John speaks about the Ephesians in Revelation chapter 2 verse where he writes that “… You have forgotten your first love.”There are 4 issues that are impacting the church at Ephesus.1. An Easy Familiarity with Christ – The believers that John is writing to are the older children and younger Grandchildren of the believers that Paul met in Acts 19.  He spent 2 years with them and God lit a fire there.  The issue is that over time the intensity of the fire was being maintained.  This lead to a rejection of the High Standard…2. The High Standards that Christianity Sets – The church was called to be set apart.  They were called to be different.  They would be hated for that difference.  The church had begun to reject this.  They didn't “really” want to be different.  They wanted to be liked.  The church was not in danger of be persecution.  It was in danger of being changed.3. Seductions/Threats from the Inside – This came and fulfilled the warning that Paul left to the Ephesians in Acts 20:29-30, “I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them.”  The thought was to improve it. Give it intellectual respectability. Make it sound like popular philosophy.4. Gnosticism – This came out of popular culture of Rome at the time.  The Gnostic elevated the spirit over the body.  In fact they despised it.  The spirit was planted in this dirty soil.  The Gnostic hoped to overcome the evil in the body.  Stoics, Freedom through denial/willpower and the Epicureans, Freedom ultimately through Indulgence.This is the backdrop on which this letter is painted. Over the last 8 days I have been sharing my notes from when I was studying through this book. Consider these quick hits.

If you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone who does what is right has been born of him. > How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure. - 1 John 2:29 - 3:3

* Should be NOT Will be.  It is what we are not what we are becoming! * We are different because He was different. * All will be revealed when He returns.  We will be like Him.  We will not be Him but we will be like Him * We strive to be hagios/holy because we believe in Him.  It is not an oppressive weight.  It is a privilege.> **Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness. But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin. No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him. - 1 John 3:4-6

* The Law was never meant to save.  It was there to reveal men’s sins.   * Sin shows how much we need Him.  He takes away the sins of the world.   * If we find ourselves stuck in continuous sin we should examine ourselves.

The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever. - 1 John 2:17*Boom> *Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour.  They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us. But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth. - 1 John 2:18-20**There are 2 ways to look at the word prefix anti as it relates to the word antichrist.  The common understanding of how we use anti is to talk about something that is against something else.  In this case an antichrist is someone or thing that is against Christ.  Another way to use anti is in something that imitates something but is not of the same nature.  A False Christ.  I don’t have time to get into this but if you go to Revelation 15 you will see two types of antichrists.  The first is the dragon which Satan raises up out of the sea .  Clearly that is Against Christ.  The second is the beast that looks like the lamb.  I hope that we will do a walk through Revelation soon.

John ends this passage with a reminder that we have an anointing called the Holy Spirit that allows us to know the truth.  

Did you know that the word Anointing here comes from the Greek word Charisma which means to smear on?  Smear On?  Gives you a new perspective when someone is said to have plenty of Charisma.> *_I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it and because no lie comes from the truth. Who is the liar? It is the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a man is the antichrist–he denies the Father and the Son.  No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also. - 1 John 2:21-23_This is a shot at those who had begun to allow the idea of some secret knowledge steal away the sufficiency of Christ.  This was a reminder to those who were flirting with Gnosticism that that was leads to destruction.  That there is no way to access the Father except through the acceptance of the Son.> *See that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father. And this is what he promised us–even eternal life. I am writing these things to you about those who are trying to lead you astray. As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit–just as it has taught you, remain in him. And now, dear children, continue in him, so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming. - 1 John 2:24-28*Don’t forget your first love.  John is reminding us about what we have known from the beginning.  Remember back in the first chapter we talked about how he is referring to the incarnation of Christ, His Life, His Death and Resurrection.  Remember the Gospel.  The Holy Spirit will confirm these things for you.  Continue to examine yourself and your walk in light of you growing exposure to the light of God.  Walk with Him and continue to deepen your relationship with Him.*
I hope that you are being blessed by my notes from 1 John. See You Next Week. Enjoy the Free Friday Videos.

“If you love me, you will obey what I command. - John 14:15**Do You Get To, or Have You Got To?> Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. - 1 John 2:15There are somethings in this world that I love.  I love the sound of wind blowing through the trees in my backyard when I have one of those quiet moments.  Which are rare with a wife and 2 little girls.  I love a vanilla snowball with marshmallow.  I do not think that these things are what John is writing about in this verse but it could be.  

The greek word in this passage is Kosmos.  It means world system.  This is what John is talking about. The system that would say that you can be pleasing to God apart from Christ.  He is talking about a system that says to live beyond yourself as long as it is not for Christ.  To give as long as it is not for Him.  This world’s system belongs to Satan and we have to decide if we are going to be obedient/love to one kosmos or the other.> *May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. - Galatians 6:14> If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning. - 2 Peter 2:20> I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life actually brought death. For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, deceived me, and through the commandment put me to death. - Romans 7:10-11> For everything in the world–the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does–comes not from the Father but from the world. - 1 John 2:16Notice that this system uses the same formula to capture us.  This is how Eve was tempted in the Garden:> *When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. - Genesis 3:5*Satan comes back at Jesus the same way:> *The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” - Matthew 4:3> “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written: “ ‘He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”  - Matthew 4:6> Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.” - Matthew 4:8-9*Adam chose one and Jesus chose another.  Which will you choose?*

We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. The man who says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But if anyone obeys his word, God's love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did. - 1 John 2:3-6We say things like It is not about religion but a relationship.  The question is who is our relationship with?  There is a Gospel song that is titled the Shepherd’s Song.  In the song it says, “My Sheep Hear My Voice and Come Running To Me.”  It goes on to ask, “If you say that I am your shepherd, why aren't you following me?”  That question is right here in this passage.  

This is not to say that we need to apply some sort of litmus test but how do you know if you are in a relationship with someone?  You want to please them.  Would you say you were loving your spouse if everything they asked you to do you turned and did the opposite?  Isn't the same true with your relationship with God?

Get To or Got To?

Dear friends, I am not writing you a new command but an old one, which you have had since the beginning. This old command is the message you have heard. - 1 John 2:7*There is nothing new about this:> * “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” - John 13:34-35> “If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love... My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.” - John 15:10; 12*Yet it is new as you are growing in your relationship with Christ and have been regenerated> *Yet I am writing you a new command; its truth is seen in him and you, because the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining. - 1 John 2:8*Living life as God’s Child is not as linear as we try to make.  It is not a formula?  It is not as simple as we try to make it even though it is simple.  As we allow more of God’s Light to flow through us then God’s Love can be seen.> *Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness. - 1 John 2:9*It is impossible for you to walk in God’s Light and hate your brother.  If you walk in the light it will chase away the darkness.  Let it search your heart.  Don’t turn from it and return to the darkness or accept part of light but get burned by the part you cannot accept.> *Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and there is nothing in him to make him stumble.  But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness; he does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded him. - 1 John 2:10-11*What happens when you apply this John test to your life?   I am not talking about disliking the habits of another brother.  There maybe personality clashes that occur between family.  I am talking about open hostility and a desire to undermine what they are doing.  Or maybe you covet what another brother has?  How about wanting their life?  Or Ministry?  Or Family?> *I write to you, dear children, because your sins have been forgiven on account of his name. - 1 John 2:12*Here John is talking to all believers and reminding them that there assurance comes on account of Christ. This is the basis on which we Rest.> *I write to you, fathers, because you have known him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I write to you, dear children, because you have known the Father. - 1 John 2:13Here John is talking to 3 different types of believers.  

The first are the fathers.  These are the mature believers.  These are the old saints.  I am not talking about age here but age does often bring a certain perspective that is often discounted by the younger.  I remember reading the 23 Psalm as a child, in fact it was the firs piece of scripture that I learned.  As a 9 year old it doesn't have the same impact as it does now at 34.  I suspect that it will have an even greater impact at 54.

The second are the the young men.  There are believers that have learned to stand in the face of the enemy’s attacks.  They have learned to rely on Christ.

The third, The Little Children, are described using the Greek word paidia.  This word means immature little folk.  These are believers who have come to know Christ but have not grown yet.

I write to you, fathers, because you have known him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God lives in you, and you have overcome the evil one. - 1 John 2:14John begins to further clarify the distinction between the “fathers” and the “young men”

The father known Him.  How  do you know Him?  By spending time with Him?  How do we spend Time With Him?  Prayer, Study, Walking As He Did

The young men are strong and God’s Word Lives in Them and they have overcome the evil one.

Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. - Ephesians 6:17

**The epistle, or letter, of 1st John is written to all of us in general and specifically to the church at Ephesus.  John is writing this as he nears the end of his life.  The Ephesian church is not that different from our own American church.  John speaks about the Ephesians in Revelation chapter 2 verse where he writes that “… You have forgotten your first love.”

There are 4 issues that are impacting the church at Ephesus.

1. An Easy Familiarity with Christ – The believers that John is writing to are the older children and younger Grandchildren of the believers that Paul met in Acts 19.  He spent 2 years with them and God lit a fire there.  The issue is that over time the intensity of the fire was being maintained.  This lead to a rejection of the High Standard…

2. The High Standards that Christianity Sets – The church was called to be set apart.  They were called to be different.  They would be hated for that difference.  The church had begun to reject this.  They didn’t “really” want to be different.  They wanted to be liked.  The church was not in danger of be persecution.  It was in danger of being changed.

3. Seductions/Threats from the Inside – This came and fulfilled the warning that Paul left to the Ephesians in Acts 20:29-30, “I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them.”  

The thought was to improve it. Give it intellectual respectability. Make it sound like popular philosophy.

4. Gnosticism – This came out of popular culture of Rome at the time.  The Gnostic elevated the spirit over the body.  In fact they despised it.  The spirit was planted in this dirty soil.  The Gnostic hoped to overcome the evil in the body.  Stoics, Freedom through denial/willpower and the Epicureans, Freedom ultimately through Indulgence.

This is the backdrop on which this letter is painted.**

My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense–Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. *He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world. - 1 John 2:1-2*We are given eternal fellowship with God because the Advocacy of Christ.  There is no one who has made it.  I mentioned in the last message that there is no one who can approach God on his own.  We have to accept the sufficiency of Christs sacrifice.   None of us has made.  And none of us can make it on this side of Glory.   

There are two greek words that are at work in this passage.

teknia - Little Born Ones.  A Term of endearment.  Great Affection.  

Parakletos - Comforter.  Advocate, Helper

Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down. - Rev 12:10

So How Do We Know Him?**

“If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.”- 1 John 1:8

* The Best Man is a Man at Best * There is none that are worthy.  All have sinned.  All have fallen. * * *This was in direct contrast to the Gnostics who felt that sin could be overcome. * Whether Stoic or Epicurean there is no way to beat this except…> *“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.“ *- 1 John 1:9-10

* If you have done it all on your own.  Jesus would not have needed to die. * * *His promises would not have been true. * He Died for our sins but if we still have to do it on our own than he told the biggest lie ever. * But the truth is that you Can Overcome and it is Only…* By The Finished Work Of Jesus Christ*

My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin.  But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense–Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.  He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.” **- 1 John 2:2Jesus came and died so that you would have life.

Jesus came to Earth, died on the Cross, and Rose Again so that you**

* Would never be Lost. * Would never be Alone. * Would have Eternal Fellowship With God * Would have Life.This concludes this weeks look at 1 John 1:1 - 2:2. We will pick it up again next week. Come back tomorrow and enjoy some Free Friday Videos.

God's Man

“This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. “ *- 1 John 1:5Light is something both simple and complex. Scientifically it is expressed as a wave and a particle.
Artistically it can be expressed as a variety of colors or sounds.
Physically it provides illumination and warmth.> *“If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. “- 1 John 1:6God’s light does not allow for darkness.
It obliterates it.  It removes it.
So as we walk in fellowship with Him we walk in His light.
Are we walking in sin that we think is hidden?> “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, purifies us from all sin.” **- 1 John 1:7God’s light illuminates it all.
And if we walk with him and allow His light to wash over us we can be cleansed.

How Do We Do This…**

“I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.” *- 1 John 5:13In The Beginning...> *“That which was from the beginning, which we have heard which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched this we proclaim concerning the Word of life.“ **- 1 John 1:1John was in a unique position.  While those Gnostics who proclaimed a kind of superknowledge, a hidden truth, John was able to say that he KNEW the truth.  

It is interesting that John uses the phrase, “That which was from the beginning…”  There are 2 other times that we see this type of phrase and both of them are there for the same reason> *Genesis 1:1 -  ”In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”  *Foundational.  If you don’t accept you need not go any further…> *John 1:1-3; 14 – “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made… *The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. ”

John wanted to make sure that everyone knows why he speaks with the authority that he does and he completely obliterates the Gnostics argument.> *“The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it  and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us.“ *- 1 John 1:2The Gnostics believed that their were 2 components to Jesus.  There was Jesus the man, lower case “m”, and then their was the Christ, capital “c”.  Jesus the man was not divine.  

When he was baptized by John then the Christ descended upon him.  When Jesus died, the Christ left him.  

This even went as far where in one of the “Gnostic” gospels the Jesus’ words on the cross are recorded as being, “My Power, my power, why have you forsaken me”.> *“We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us.   And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. We write this to make our joy complete. “ *- 1 John 1:3-4John Establishes Here that we can have True Fellowship with God and Each Other.

What is Fellowship?  Koino-nia.  This is a sharing together of something common.

Fellowship is good but you have to make sure that you are truly fellowshipping.  When we meet is it just to hang out?  While there is nothing wrong with that we also need to Share that which is common between us.  CHRIST.

So How Do We Do This…**

The Ephesian church is not that different from our own American church.  John speaks about the Ephesians in Revelation chapter 2 verse where he writes that “… You have forgotten your first love.”

There are 4 issues that are impacting the church at Ephesus.

An Easy Familiarity with Christ – The believers that John is writing to are the older children and younger Grandchildren of the believers that Paul met in Acts 19.  

He spent 2 years with them and God lit a fire there.  The issue is that over time the intensity of the fire was being maintained.  This lead to a rejection of the High Standard…

The High Standards that Christianity Sets – The church was called to be set apart.  They were called to be different.  They would be hated for that difference.  

The church had begun to reject this.  

They didn’t “really” want to be different.  They wanted to be liked.  The church was not in danger of be persecution.  It was in danger of being changed.

Seductions/Threats from the Inside – This came and fulfilled the warning that Paul left to the Ephesians in Acts 20:29-30,
**

“I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them.”  ** The thought was to improve it. Give it intellectual respectability. Make it sound like popular philosophy.

Gnosticism – This came out of popular culture of Rome at the time.  The Gnostic elevated the spirit over the body.  In fact they despised it.  The spirit was planted in this dirty soil.  

The Gnostics hoped to overcome the evil in the body.  Stoics, Freedom through denial/willpower and the Epicureans, Freedom ultimately through Indulgence.

This is the backdrop on which this letter is painted.
> *“This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. “*- 1 John 5:14 In Order to return the church to its first love we have to return to a desire for Fellowship with not just each other, but with God.  1 John 5:14 reminds us that this is possible.  Not only is it possible, Through Christ Jesus, to approach God; He Hears Us.

And How Do We Do This?  How are we able to connect with God? **