Epistles of John

The last time I have in my notes a line drawn right around 1 John 4, verse 6. Is that what everyone remembers? Right there. Tell you what, why don't we start this handout going around. This will come in to play next, or when we get to chapter 5. There is a passage there that was added later in 1 John 5, verses 7 and 8 that at least sounds like the Bible teaches the Trinity. Can you pass that back that way? I'm wired, so I can't move far. But now that I've passed around the handout, I've lost everybody. But we'll get to that a little bit later. That's just for your information. Is it a copy? It's a Greek copy. If one of them said that, he was going to put it in there. He was responsible for the rest of the Bible. Yeah, that handout mentions the Erasmus in, I forget, what, 1400s? No, it was earlier than that. But anyhow, he was instrumental in getting that started.

Okay, in chapter 4, we looked at the first few verses that had to do with a warning against false prophets, and he concluded verse 6 with a contrast between the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. We have seen throughout John's writings that he is a man who thinks in black and white. There's no middle ground, no gray areas. It's right or it's wrong. It's God or it's Satan. It's truth or it's error.

And so, as he wrote there at the end of verse 6, by this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. So, we're ready to jump right into verse 7. And as we get to verse 7, we have him coming back to his theme of love. He defines love. He emphasizes that God is love, and he begins teaching us how to love one another.

He stresses consistently you cannot separate love of God from love of man. He said that early in the book that if you say you love God, you keep his commandments. And if you say you love God, you're going to love the other people God has created, and certainly those he's called to the body of Christ. So in verse 7, Beloved, let us love one another. For love is of God.

So in this book, he repeatedly uses the Greek words agape or agapeo. I believe that I read in William Barclay's commentary that he uses that word 48 times, just in this small epistle. 48 times. Now you can go back to the middle chapters of John that night when he gave the foot washing, and then he spoke to them in chapters 13, 14 through 17, and it's 30 sometimes there that he uses the word love, loves, loved. And so John rightfully is called and known as the apostle of love, but love originates from God.

And everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. So again, John writes, we've talked about this before. I think John suggested that, well, maybe John's just looking on at the end result. We realize, and he says that in the opening chapter, that when we sin, we go to God and confess our sin and He will forgive.

So because we're given God's Spirit, because we're begotten at this point, we also realize reality is we're going to fall down. We're going to make mistakes. So verse 8, He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.

So there is, again, a very clear statement about love, that love is, excuse me here, let me get these wires tangled up here. So here He states that God is love, and that is the point at which we aim. You could make a note of Romans 13 verses 8 through 10, and that's where He says that the law is the, well, the Old King James says the end of the law is love. And that word telos means it's the target, it's the point we aim for. The law defines love, and we aim for that.

And as we stay within the guidelines of the law, then we hopefully will find the love of God that He wants us to find and to live and to be. Verse 9 in this, the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world that we might live through Him.

So the Father and the Son both made the ultimate sacrifice. And so they demonstrated their love because of that sacrifice. Love is all about giving to others. Love is all about, it's away from self, and it is toward others and the needs of other people. Verse 10, He says, And this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. So let's see, He had mentioned that in Chapter 2, Verse 2, that He came as a propitiation to cover those sins, to pay for those sins.

So God sent Christ. You might make note of Romans 5, Verse 8. Romans 5, Verse 8. Paul essentially said that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. And so again, it started, it originated with God and with Christ. Jesus said, Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

So that's the only logical conclusion. God set the example, God modeled that, and now He expects us to get up and go and do likewise, to respond in similar manner. Verse 12, No one has been God at any time. Now, who is He talking about here?

Has to be the Father. Throughout this book, He refers to God, and then He refers to either His Son or to Jesus Christ. So God from the Hebrew, excuse me, the Greek theos is referenced to the Father. No one has seen the Father. Now back in John's Gospel, He mentioned, nor has anyone heard His voice. They haven't seen His form or heard His voice. So when Jesus was baptized and as it were the dove descended, it had to have been an angel that actually spoke the Word, just as My beloved Son, whom I am well pleased. What about when Moses was with the man? Yes. The Word, as John begins his Gospel, in the beginning was God, or the Word, the Word is with God, Word was God. The Word or the Logos, the spokesman, He is the One who was the God of the Old Testament. We have so many Scriptures. You know, it was Christ when He walked the earth, He said, Before Abraham, I am. You know, Paul's epistle there, 1 Corinthians 10, those early verses, he talked about how Christ was that rock that followed them.

So, He was that One who entered faith. So, if you look at Christ, though, throughout the Old Testament years, who would have seen Him? A lot of people. He had Adam and Eve, of course, walking with Him in the garden. Enoch walked with God. Joshua went over to Him, saw Him standing over there. You had, of course, as you mentioned, Moses. He came to that tent of Abraham. And then thousands and thousands of people during Christ's earthly ministry. So thousands have seen Jesus as He manifested when He was here on the earth.

I mean, manifested as the God of the Old Testament, or when He lived here as flesh and blood. But no one has seen the Father at any time. This is if we love one another. God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us. So again, love originates from God, and as we do to each other, we do to God. We do to Christ. The parable there, when they're late in Matthew 25, when He separates the nations to the right and left hand, those on the right hand, He welcomes to the kingdom.

And it was because they had visited, they had provided food, water, clothing, and He said, inasmuch you do this to one of these, at least, my brethren, you do it unto Me. So He asked us to get up and go and do likewise. And this then perfects or completes or develops that love of God within us. One act of kindness at a time. Verse 13, by this we know that we abide in Him and He in us because He has given us of His Spirit.

So a couple of scriptures in Romans will be Romans 8 verse 9. It talks there about if we have the Spirit, we are Christ. Romans 8 verse 14 says, as many as are led by the Holy Spirit, they are the sons of God. So let's see, He's given us of His Spirit. Alright, verse 14, and we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world. Now, John uses the word we. We have seen. And you think about the timing of this.

Whether it's the 80s or the 90s, AD, probably all the other apostles, the disciples are gone. John's own brother, James, just a dozen years or so ago, he lived. Peter, James, and John, those were the three who went to the Transfiguration and Christ gave them additional opportunities that the others didn't have. But Peter's been gone for probably 20 years by this time as well. But John is the last one and he continually says, I was there.

I saw him. We've seen him and I'm giving you a witness that the Father sent him. He's the Savior of the world. He gave his life for us. Now, as we go through this, we cannot help but be reminded that John was battling the Gnostic belief at that time. I know that is a tough term to grasp, but the Gnostics, the Greek gnosis, meaning knowledge, they felt they had a higher knowledge. They were puffed up, feeling superior. They thought that Jesus did not literally come in the flesh. Part of Gnosticism was the docetists. Docet in the Greek just means themes. He seemed to be here as a human being.

But John continues to just nail down the fact that he was a human being. He was flesh and blood. He literally had his life's blood pour out. That is something that John continued to testify about. Verse 15, whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him and he in God. Well, again, you had those who just gave lip service to it. They said, well, he just manifested to appear to have been here. But it literally did come. Now verse 16, and we have known and believed the love that God has for us, God is love and he who abides in love abides in God and God in him.

So God is the author, the originator of this way of thinking first of the needs of others. And when a person is living the way of love, it is a demonstration that God's in their life. God is leading them. It is not something that we naturally do. We naturally are very self-centered and we focus on the needs of number one. Verse 17, love has been perfected among us in this, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment because as he is, so are we in this world.

So, and part of what he's saying here is that the very presence of the Spirit of God that we have as God's people. We look, we recognize there are fruits being born, there are changes taking place, there are things I understand that didn't come from me. The manifestation of God working in our life, living in our life. This as he says, that we may have boldness. We don't have to look forward to a day of judgment with trepidation and fear.

We anticipate that. Well, as Peter, Peter's second epistle, he said something about we look too anheasin the day of the coming of Christ. And so we are given a confidence in God's judgment because we see evidence that, like, let's see, what is it? Galatians 2, verse 20, Paul said, I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, but not I. It's Christ living his life in and through me. So as we see that happening in our own undeserving lives, it gives us confidence. God's begun a good work.

And as Paul wrote to those that Philippi, when he's begun a good work, he's going to complete it. Verse 18, there is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. When we walk within the realm of the commandments that God has given to us, we have a freedom from fear. I mean, you look at the matter in which Stephen was killed and stoned to death. And just what a remarkable example that man set for us.

And the people just went berserk. We have the examples of Daniel's three friends being thrown into the fiery furnace. We have Paul a number of times. His life was on the line. And he says, I stand here in all clear conscience before God and man to this day. I've got it in my Bible here, Psalm 34.4.

Good point. Psalm 34.4. Yeah, Psalm 34.4. Because looking to God, God delivered him from all his fears. So I would bet that's the Psalm of David because David was in peril. Does it say there? Psalm of David. Okay. David's life was on the line. Who knows how many? Dozens, hundreds maybe of times. But there was a peace, a peace that got him through. But you know, when we walk the other way, whenever we ignore the law of God, whenever we sin, then we feel guilt. And rightfully so. I mean, we've got some thinking in this society is, oh, you know, you'll stunt a child if you make them feel guilty.

Well, it's just the natural. Whenever we are convicted of the fact that we did something, we said something that was very hurtful to someone else. It should convict us. And it should then, the guilt then inspires us to ask God's forgiveness and to ask the strength then not to make the same mistake and hurt someone again.

Remember what you said, be kind to your conscience. Don't fear it. Don't fear it. You know, you can burn out a whole area of character. But when there is this ongoing walking the path of sin, there's understandably a fear. I mean, think of when Christ walked the earth, how many times there'd be a demon possessing a person and the demon or demons would cry out, what do we have to do with you?

The you son of David, are you here to torment us out of our time? They recognize there is a time of punishment. It is something they fear. They are tormented because of that. And of course, that's what John is describing, the opposite of that, that as we love, we are freed from fears and we have actually a boldness. We anticipate the time of our ultimate judgment. So to the degree that we love, we're freed from fear.

Fear focuses inward on what might happen to self. And so much of our fear is self-consciousness. And once in a while, there'll be surveys and one of the greatest fears of human beings is public speaking. And I think, well, I'll use myself. I'm one of my own best bad examples. But when I started giving sermon at the end church, I was too young, probably, 25, somewhere around there. No, I was 23, the first one I gave, too young. But for 12 years, when I had a speaking assignment, I died a slow death on the inside. My stomach was knotted up. I could be physically ill until I could get through it and then it's over until the next one came along.

Same way, didn't it, Sam? Same time. Second verse, same as the first. 12 years down the line, I realized one time in prayer and I asked God to forgive me. I said, this is just X amount of vanity. I am just worried about self because I've studied God's Word. I've asked His guidance. I've done what I can do to prepare. And from that point on, it's like God lifted off a heavy burden. Just go up there and let Him do His job through you and in spite of you. But yes, consistently, public speaking for the average person is one of the greatest fears.

And I think it gets back down to just vanity. Just we're fearful. I'll do something wrong. I'll say something wrong. Man, I've said so many things wrong in front of a microphone that I'm beyond that now.

So many times gone back the next week. And well, last time I said, that's not such it didn't come out right. Or, you know, forgive me. So anyhow, where were we? Fear. That was, yeah, verse, verse, we're through verse 18. 19, we love Him because He first loved us. I can't think we commented on that earlier. Verse 20, if someone says, I love God and hates His brother, He is a liar.

All right, that's pretty strong talk. That's pretty plain speaking. And he said similar things earlier. But if you, you can say that, well, I love the Lord all I want, and you go out and treat other people like trash. John says you're a liar. There's just no way around it. For He who does not love His brother, whom He has seen, how can He love God whom He has not seen? And I think that ties back up to verse 12. It seemed a little bit out of context up in verse 12, where John just said, no man has seen God at any time.

But you know, he did something very similar in his gospel of John in the first chapter. But he's kind of tying it together. We believe God. You remember there when He manifested to the group after the resurrection, and Thomas was there and Thomas had doubted, and because he was able to actually feel and inspect, then he believed.

And Jesus said, well, bless there those that don't see and yet believe. And I think that's what He's saying here. We have the Word of God that teaches us so much about God, we haven't laid eyes on Him. We've no human being has ever seen the Father. And of course, when Christ walked the earth, He said, if you've seen me, you've seen the Father.

I and the Father are one. But we don't, there's nobody on this earth we can go to who has seen Jesus Christ. So the two are wrapped there together, and if we say we love God, then we're going to be demonstrating that by the way we treat our fellow man. If we say we love God, and yet our actions are we hate our brother, then there's a disconnect. The two do not go together. Alright, verse 21, in this commandment, we have from Him that He who loves God must love His brother also. So there He kind of wraps it up, and we can't separate the first commandments, the first four that teaches how to love God from the last six that focus on how to love fellow man.

We can't separate the first great commandment that Jesus gave from the second great commandment. The two are woven in the same fabric. We can't separate them. They come as a package. Alright, that's chapter four. Any comments or questions or any other observations on that chapter?

Good. I'm glad we've answered all questions. Chapter five. Chapter five, He comes back, He continues to come back to the theme of love. He's going to define love. He's going to tie that in with keeping God's commandments. He's going to talk about overcoming by faith. He's going to end by stressing that we've got to steer clear of idolatry. Chapter five, verse one. Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves Him, who also loves Him, who has begotten of Him.

When you start talking about a family, we have the opportunity of learning about God through family today. We realize many times the family unit breaks down, and there is an all-out attack of Satan on the institutional family and marriage and all of that. The ideal is that through this, a man, a woman, and children, we have the sense of being able to speak God through that and relating to God. Now, when Denise and I went to Big Sandy to her dear friend from college who died to the funeral, we stayed with a man, his wife.

He was one of my best friends in college. Staying with them and talking and catching up, it's been 40 years since we graduated there together. A long, long time. I used to be old people who had been out of college for 40 years. Now us young ones are there. I was reminding Arlen of the time, I don't know how many years after we had graduated, and this couple had had a child first.

We were a few years behind them having our first. But I met his son, and I told his son, I said, Jake, I hate to tell you this, but back in college days, I used to have to just whoop up on your dad once in a while. And his son said, well, that couldn't have been very hard to do. And I thought, that is exactly the words, the voice, and everything of his father. They were so much alike.

I just hit it off. A lot of us have friends, and then they have children, they have extended family, and when you meet one of them, you know, well, hey, if you're so-and-so's sister, then you're all right with me. You know, if you're so-and-so's parent, then you're okay in my books. And as he gets here, he's talking about, well, what do we just read? Whoever believes in Jesus, the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves him, who begot, also loves him who is begotten of him.

So if you know Christ, if you love Christ, you love the Father. And as we said a while ago, Jesus said, I and the Father are one. By this, we know that we love the children of God. So then, as the family of God expands, then it is a matter that we have so many brothers and sisters in the body of Christ, God has called us to love them, when we love God and keep his commandments.

So this is how we know we love the others in the family, and this is how we know we love God by keeping his commandments. By keeping his commandments. Now, verse 3, for this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments, and his commandments are not burdensome. So obedience to the commandments is proof of love for God.

And as he said, God's commandments are not this heavy-weighty burden that we have to carry around. I think there's something wrong with someone who's used the law of God that Paul said is holy and right and good. When someone sees that as being a heavy burden to bear, there's something wrong.

And again, we all know people who have walked that path and think that way, and just the problem is the test commandment. It's Sabbath day. God can't stand that Sabbath day that God set aside as a sign forever. Verse 4, and whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is a victory that has overcome the world, our faith. So here he's kind of weaving in the idea of our faith, our belief in God.

But when God works in our life, he also provides the strength that we need to follow through and succeed. The law is not a burden. It is an opportunity to demonstrate or to perfect our own love. We then overcome by faith. Faith is a defense against the corruption of the world around us. Faith enables us to stand against the attacks of the world.

The world tried repeatedly to destroy Christ, and they resoundingly failed many, many times. But we overcome by that faith. Verse 5, Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? Now, some of these verses, there are those who love to proof text and just pull out a little excerpt here, a little excerpt there, and say, you see, all we need to do is believe. We've got to take the Bible as a whole. Take it as a whole. And John just talked about keeping the commandments of God, believing in God, believing in Christ, believing in His sacrifice.

That's a big slice of the pie. But we also have to believe that God is. We have to be convicted of our own error and resolve to change and to ask God's forgiveness. Verse 6, This is he who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ, not only by water, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who bears witness, because the Spirit is truth. All right, now we are tiptoeing real close to one of the more challenging couple of verses in this Bible from a certain point of view. But he said here, verse 6 is in the original Greek, not a problem. Christ came by water and by blood.

Water, of course, refers to His baptism. The blood would refer to the sacrifice of His life. The life's in the blood. And again, the Gnostics of John's day denied that He came literally as a flesh and blood human being. Now, this handout, as we get to verses 7 and 8, we have challenges, especially in the King James and in the New King James. I am frankly disappointed that the New King James with that revision, you know, that updated version, I am very disappointed they did not correct this. Now, the New International Version, which has a fair translation, I'm not overall a fan of it, but the New International Version gets it right. If you go back to the Revised Standard Version, which came out many decades ago, they didn't even include these words that were added later.

Now, the New Revised Standard doesn't add the words, but they've got a marginal note pointing out these words. So if we look at this handout, the person asked for an explanation of 1 John 5, verse 7, then it says the words, okay, if you look at in your Bible at verse 7, for there are three that bear record.

All right, stop right there.

Those words are fine.

Those words are in Greek manuscripts.

But now we're going to look at words and we're going to talk about that. These were clearly added later and they were added in an attempt to make or to add credence to the Trinity doctrine that was appearing hundreds of years down the line. So, second paragraph, the words, quote, in heaven, the Father, the Word and the Holy Spirit, and these three are one and there are three that bear witness on earth.

Okay, so if you look back to your Bible, verse 8, and there are three that bear witness in earth.

In earth, okay.

Now, that is the passage that was added later.

But in the Greek manuscripts, they pick up with the words there in verse 8, the Spirit and the water and the blood and these three agree in one.

It's essentially speaking of three testimonies to the messiahship of Jesus Christ.

It is not teaching Father, Son, Holy Spirit or some type of a Godhead.

Now, back to the handout.

Here, it puts it together.

If we look at it, paragraph 3, without these words, verses 7 and 8, read, for there are three that bear witness the spirit, the water and the blood and these three agree as one.

And then, of course, it mentions here, verses 5 and 6, speak of Jesus as the promised messiah.

Leaving out the added wording of the correct text continues that thought, whereas the added words break the train of thought.

The spirit refers to God's power, which showed that Jesus was the Christ or messiah.

The water refers to baptism, by which we symbolically join in Christ's burial.

The blood refers to the fact that Christ died to provide a sacrifice for the sins of mankind. All testify to the fact that Jesus is the Christ or messiah.

Now, it goes on the bottom of that page. It's got some quotations from our book, Who is God? And actually, I think that this form letter is probably old enough that it came out before Scott Ashley's booklet on the Trinity came out, what, about four years ago, somewhere around there. And so he's got a section in there along that line. Now, let me pull out William Barclay's commentary. This is Barclay on the letters of John and Jude.

Barclay has got a 17-volume New Testament set. So in page 124, and 120, so he... These are Barclay's comments on this added section. And I think it's good for us all to realize that our greatest manuscript extent to this day came from around the third century AD.

Now, not one great manuscript had these words in them.

It was another hundreds of years later when we got to Latin manuscripts.

And so that tells us somebody added it in.

So William Barclay, in the authorized version, which is another way of saying the King James version, there is a verse which we have left out. Now, Barclay, Scottie's pastor, I mean, he's deceased many years ago, he would love to find a way to take these words and show us that they really are in the Bible.

But he can't, and he's at least honest enough to say that.

So he refers to these words that we have left out, and then he quotes those words that we just read.

He says, the Revised Standard Version omits this verse and does not even mention it in the margin.

Then he adds that the New Revised Standard Version does not include them, but adds a marginal note about the question.

He says it is quite certain that it does it this added phrase does not belong to the original text.

The facts are as follows.

First, it does not occur in any Greek manuscript earlier than the 14th century.

Well, 1400 years is a lot of time for some hanky-panky to go on.

The great manuscript belonged to the third and fourth centuries, and these words occur in none of them. None of the great early church fathers knew of these words.

Jerome's original version of the Vulgate, and that was in Latin, the Latin Vulgate, it completed in the early fifth century, does not include these words.

All right, let me skip on down here.

How did it get into the text then? Originally, it must have been an explanation or comment in the margin added by a scribe. Since it then seemed to offer good scriptural evidence for the doctrine of the Trinity, through time it came to be accepted by theologians as part of the text, especially in those early days of scholarship before the great manuscripts were even discovered.

But how did it last and how did it come to be in the King James? The first Greek testament to be published was out of the Dutch scholar Erasmus in 1516. Erasmus was a great scholar, and knowing that this verse was not in the original text, he did not include it in his first edition.

But by this time other theologians were using the words. So it had been printed in the Latin Vulgate of 1514. Erasmus was therefore criticized for omitting the words, and his answer was that if anyone could show him a Greek manuscript which had the words, he would print them in the next edition. Well, someone did produce a very late and very bad text in which the verse did occur in Greek, and so Erasmus added it in his 1522 edition. So, anyhow, just summarizing his comments at the end, he says, modern scholarship has established that John did not write these words. They were added as a much later commentary. They were in addition to John's words, and that is why modern translations omit it. So, anyhow, I think that's enough said on those verses 7 and 8.

So let's go on to verse 9. If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater.

For this is the witness of God which he testifies of his Son. He who believes in the Son of God has the witness in himself. He who does not believe God has made him a liar because he has not believed the testimony that God has given of his Son. All right, now, the Old Testament discusses what constituted adequate witness. It would say in the Old Testament that in the testimony of two or three witnesses, things were established. And so, what John is saying is if the testimony or the witness of human beings could establish something, how much more so if God here has given us these three proofs or these three as testimony that Jesus came as Messiah. So, a statement is made of the Spirit up above the water, the blood. These witness to the fact that Jesus came as Messiah.

Verse 11, and this is the testimony that God has given us, eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Let's read on a little further. He who has the Son has life. He who does not have the Son does not have life. These things I have written to you, to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life and that you may continue to believe on the name of the Son of God. So, when Christ walked the earth there in John 6, he said, unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood, you don't have any life in you. And God says that he is the one who inhabits eternity.

He is the one who has eternal life to give. And having Christ living within us leads to a peace of mind. It defeats the frustrations of human life.

The end of these verses is a statement that the essence of a Christian's life or this human temporary life is working toward eternal life. Life eternal.

Verse 14. Now, this is the confidence that we have in him 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 the petitions that we ask of him. So, here is another important key as far as answered prayer.

Because, you know, we talked about this the last time or the time before that, for instance, we have to believe that God exists. You know, Hebrews 11 talks about those who believe, you know, if you approach God, you have to believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of those that diligently seek him. You have to, you know, Christ taught us, whatever you ask the Father, ask in my name. But it has to be, he stresses here, it has to be within the will of God.

If it's outside the will of God, then God, you know, we should not expect God to answer that in the way that we expect. But, you know, we get to the topic of prayer. Just, it's so natural for us as humans to go to God and try to tell him what we want him to do or what we want him to give to us.

Instead of approaching God as the insignificant worms we are, we don't know how to put one, pick up one foot and put it in front of the other and just go into God saying, I don't know how to direct my steps. I need you to show me where should I go.

And we pray to understand God's will rather than to impress or enforce our will on God.

But one of the keys here is ask in, that it needs to be within his will.

All right.

Let's go on then to verses 16 and 17. We have another couple of fun verses.

If anyone sees his brother sinning his sin, which does not lead to death, he will ask and he will give him life for those who commit sin not leading to death.

And then he says, there is a sin leading to death. I do not say that he should pray about that.

All unrighteousness is sin and there is a sin not leading to death. All right, that's clear as can be, isn't it?

Well, it's not that bad. But there's two types of sin that John talks about.

One is a sin, which is breaking God's law, which is living in a lawless, unrighteous way.

But it doesn't lead to death. And I think we can understand here that that's eternal death.

But then there are sins that do lead to eternal death. So what would be a sin that is not unto death?

Habits that we have. There are even sins we commit, we don't even know we do it.

Well, I'm looking for a little bit more. A sin, man, could it be a sin under any law? I think that the word repent, I think that's the key.

Does the person repent or does the person have no desire at all to repent? And that kind of morphs into the topic of the unpardonable sin. You know, David's sin previously. Horrible things that are written about what David did. But when Nathan the prophet said, you're the man, it hit him right between the eyes. And he said, I have sinned. I mean, we're just given the little brief part of the story. But he said, I've sinned against God. And God forgave him. He read the heart. David sinned terribly, but we have so many scriptures where David's going to be king over Israel in the millennium. It was not a sin unto death because he repented. But if it is a sin unto death, the person is not repenting. Perhaps we could even understand it to mean he's not interested in repenting. Like the demons, the will is set against God. They are totally and completely the adversaries of God and God's way and God's plan. They want to see us tripped up and fail. They want God to fail.

I mean, biblically, who has committed unpardonable sin? We don't know.

How about Lazarus and the rich man? That's the example of that. He's kind of telling, you know, he said, if you could just touch my tongue with some water. What he's telling God, he's telling God, go fly a kite. I still want it like Frank Sinatra. I want to do it my own way. He should have asked for Niagara Falls to fall upon you. You know, you see what I mean? Yes, I do. I just want to love part of you. I don't want to go your way. I want to do it my way. Yes. Just have a little bit there. He had not changed one thing. He had not changed. Is that someone who really known the truth and did the truth and was blessed by God and then him turned his back on God and you go in a separate way? Yeah, I think it would have to tie in there what it says in Roman Hebrews 6 verses 4 through 6. Is that bad if he'd not known the truth? Yeah. I know it didn't do that. One who was enlightened, who had tasted of the heavenly gift, who turns from that. There's not a... you can't apply the body and blood of Christ another time for that person who has already had that. And then you're looking at the lake of fire and you're just lake of fire. But we have to leave that to God because, you know, some people say, oh, will Cain list? Well, I don't... is there any evidence Cain had God's Spirit? I don't think so.

Others will say, well, what about Judas? Well, I'm even hesitant to say Judas, even though it does say it would have been better if he was never born. But we don't know what was in his heart as he, you know, he hangs himself. And it does say, when Christ said, what you do, do so quickly, it says Satan entered into him.

So those latter steps, who's responsible? Well, I think Satan was. Yes, sir. What about last year in the Holy Spirit, not forgiving this world or the world to come? I'm sorry, say that again. Not forgiving the Holy Spirit, not forgiving this world or the world to come, but be able to Holy Spirit that way. Yeah, that's what it was. Yeah, that was mentioned here.

Anyhow, if we cover that, a sin that is not under death, the person recognizes it, stops, asks forgiveness, asks for the strength to turn around and go the right way.

The sin under death, they have no interest. They don't want to change and turn and go the way God would want them to go.

There is a setting of the will against God.

Okay, we're about needing to wrap this up.

That was through 17 verse 18.

We know that whoever is born of God does not sin. Well, again, I think as we've thought before, that's looking on down the line at the desired end result. That is actually being born again at that time you enter into the kingdom.

Yeah, a person born of spirit sins the thing of the past.

But he who has been born of God keeps himself.

marginal note, he guards himself and the wicked one does not touch him.

So we now have been those called and chosen of God, forgiven of God, given the spirit of God.

And we have to stay on our guard.

The armor of God, Paul gave that in Ephesians 6, the armor of God.

That we can withstand the wiles of the devil.

We know that we are of God and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one.

And if it was true in John's day, how much more so is it today?

I'll come back to that in just a minute. There's a little bit more in Barkley I want to close with, because as we the best the evidence narrows it down, nails it down, is that John was ended up at Ephesus.

You know, he's banished out the Patmos and then his last years are there in Ephesus.

And what a... Well, anyhow, I'll get back to that in a minute.

Verse 20, and we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding that we may know Him who is true, and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life. Then, little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.

Now, I don't think I need to read, actually. They're from Barkley, but just to summarize it, Ephesus was the center of the worship of the goddess Diana.

One of the wonders of the ancient world was the temple of Diana at Ephesus. You may remember from Acts when Paul was there, and the crowd just went berserk and great as Diana the Ephesians.

It was a city where, sadly, the temple prostitution was just part and parcel of life.

Boy, I thought it about did mean rearing teenagers in this society. Can you imagine living there, having a couple of teenage boys and trying to keep them away from that?

You had the sale of all these these omelets, all these charms. It was a city given over to idolatry. Therefore, as Paul writes to the church in Ephesus, as just one of many, many examples, he says, little children, keep yourselves from idols.

So, let's see. Barclay, I'll read one little paragraph.

Christians must never be lost in the illusions of idolatrous religion. They must never set up in their hearts an idol which will take the place of God. They must keep themselves from the infections of all false faiths, and they can do that only when they walk in Christ.

And I think that's what John is saying. The way we live will be keeping his commandments.

The way we live will be loving the fellow man, loving the brethren, and that is what keeps us safe. That is how we flee idolatry and draw close to God, and God will draw close to us. Okay, we are at time to end, but are there any last comments or observations or questions on that chapter? I've got him keeping his commandments. He says it brings joy and peace, but he just got to say it. Yeah, keeping commandments brings joy and peace. All right. It seems like to me that anyone with a bad attitude is like a flat tire. You ain't going anywhere, you think?

That's a good country way of putting it, simplifying it.