John and the Truth of God

How to know His love is perfected in us!

Fred R. Coulter—May 1, 2021

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Greetings, everyone! Welcome to Sabbath services!

We're just two weeks away from Day 49 and we'll be talking about that next week. There have been quite a few things happening in the world and also in the Church. The things happening in the Church I will cover at a later date after Pentecost. I have to make sure what the situation is and how it's being handled.

In the meantime we need to focus in on how we always need to be keeping the Truth and walking in God's way. That's going to see us through these difficult times.

Get out your handy-dandy concordance—whether smart phone, iPad, notebook, computer or book—and look up truth and true and see how many times that's used in the Bible.

Here is how we're supposed to be living; Psalm 25:1: "To You, O LORD, do I lift up my soul. O my God, I trust in You…" (vs 1-2).

What you are reading here is the things necessary for real conversion!

"…do not let me be ashamed, let not my enemies triumph over me…. [we have to keep up our guard against our enemies, as well] …Yea, let none… [he's praying for us without even knowing it] …who wait on You be ashamed; let them be ashamed who deal treacherously without cause. Show me Your ways, O LORD; teach me Your paths. Lead me in Your Truth and teach me, for You are the God of my salvation; on You do I wait all the day long" (vs 2-5).

Take those five verses and go back and analyze them. We always need to have the Truth of God, whatever it is. Remember what happened when we read what Herman Hoeh said—in the message Unfinished Business:

If we read it Divine—change the word from God to Divine—then we can have a Trinity.

That's not how God works!

• trusting in God
• "…let me not be ashamed…"
• trusting in Him
• "…Show me Your ways, O LORD…
• "…teach me Your paths….
• "Lead me in Your Truth…"
• "…for You are the God of my salvation…"
• "…on You do I wait all the day long"

Think about that! What verse does this remind you of?

John 6:45: "It is written in the prophets, 'And they shall all be taught by God.'…."

Think about that, because we have the Word of God, which is:

• what He has spoken
• what He has inspired
• what He has written down

Think about today with all the digital Bibles that there are in the world, at a time when the world is leaving God more than ever before. Guess what's out there more than ever before? The Word of God! That's an amazing thing!

Psalm 26:1: "Judge me, O LORD, for I have walked in my integrity…."

That integrity is God's! If God teaches you what you should do—right from wrong, good from evil—then you integrity has come from God. If you're not looking to God, then you have your own integrity. The biggest case of that was Job.

"…I have trusted also in the LORD without wavering" (v 1).

How do we look at that? If there's something that that comes along in the Word of God that we don't understand, we file it away in the back of our mind and keep studying and learning, and God will lead you to the answer!

He may not lead you to it right away. There are some things that I've prayed about for years and I didn't understand for years, then all of a sudden I understood it!

Verse 2: "Examine me, O LORD, and prove me; try my reins and my heart."

God does this all the time. His Spirit is in us, the Spirit of Christ is in us, and He examines us. Part of what God does, in all that we just read in this verse, is help clean up the mind, because all evil comes our from within! Isn't that what Jesus said?

Verse 3: "For Your loving kindness is before my eyes; and I have walked in Your Truth."

Keep that in mind! It doesn't matter what anybody else does, it matters what you do in relationship to God. That's what's so important and great!

Now, I'm going to talk to myself and all elders. One thing that every elder and minister needs to do is:

• study
• understand the Word of God
• never be satisfied with what you know

All those church leaders out there who say that 'if we go beyond what Herbert Armstrong taught, we're sinning' That is a lie!

If we don't go beyond what Herbert Armstrong taught, to grow in grace and knowledge…'

• How can we grow in grace and knowledge if we only go with what Herbert Armstrong understood?
• Did he understand everything he needed to know?
• Did he learn it all himself?
• Where did he get it from?

I can tell you from research and proof that there was a book put out by the Church of God Seventh Day: Doctrines of the Church of God Seventh Day. Every doctrine in every booklet that Armstrong had came from them. Some people are going to get upset! Well:

• Did you check it out?
• Did you prove it or not?

We'll talk a little bit more later on, because there's one minister of a Church of God who says, 'If you go beyond what Herbert Armstrong taught, you are sinning!' NO! That's why I started where I did:

• we trust in God
• we walk in His way
• we ask Him to teach us
• we walk in His paths

Now, for all ministers:

1-Timothy 3:14: "These things I am writing to you, hoping to come to you shortly; but if I should delay, you have these things in writing, so that you may know how one is obligated to conduct oneself in the house of God… [notice how he defines it]: …which is the Church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the Truth" (vs 14-15).

We always have to stick with the Truth! That's why I have various cowbells. I ring them for speculation. I have got a lot of cowbells that people have sent me through the years. Someone asked me why I have cowbells. I have them because if I'm asking a question and it's not clear in the Bible and it's something I'm thinking about, I want everyone to know that that is not a teaching from the Bible. With further study, it could be!

1-Timothy 4:6: "If you are teaching these things to the brethren… [all doctrine, and doctrine is important] …you will be a good servant of Jesus Christ being nourished by the words of the faith…"

Remember what we covered for Passover. Jesus said, 'I'm the Bread that came down from heaven; if anyone eats of this Bread,' symbolic of the Word of God, because He spoke it, brought it and taught it. So, you're nourished by studying!

"…and of the good doctrines that you have closely followed" (v 6). Sticking to what is in the Word of God!

Verse 14: "Do not neglect the spiritual gift that is in you… [God's Spirit to teach] …which was given to you by prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the elderhood. Meditate on these things; give yourself wholly to them so that your growth in the faith may be apparent to all" (vs 14-16).

Notice how we are to live our lives and what we are to do:

Verse 16: "Be diligent with yourself…"

Who is going to make any minister do any thing? God doesn't want to come down and force them to do it! He wants them to do it because they love God and wants to teach the brethren! That we all grow in grace and knowledge. We all, as elders, never should be satisfied with what we have as the whole Truth. I can guarantee you that Herbert Armstrong did not! He had a lot of it, that's true!

On of the fruits of the Holy Spirit is self-control (temperance KJV).

• Who is going to make a minister study? He is!
• Who is going to make a minister prepare for every sermon? He is!
• Who is going to inspire him if he puts forth the effort and the work? God is!

That's how it works!

"…and with the doctrines…" (v 16)—plural! We're going to cover a little doctrine in just a bit that is fitting for this day.

"…continue in them…." (v 16).

IF you're to grow in grace and knowledge and continue to grow in grace and knowledge, THEN God is going to be teaching you more things out of His Word. The Word of God is layered and layered. And you'll be able to understand things.

"…For in doing this, you will save both yourself and those who hear you" (v 16).

Epistle of First John

The Epistle of 1-John is a lot like it is today. Everything is upside down, people are coming and going in the Churches, some for good reason, some for the wrong reasons. We're going to do a little survey today of 1-John to see how it is that we are to understand doctrine, and what doctrine that we are to really learn and know.

I'll just say this right here: nowhere, nowhere in the whole of the Bible does it ever talk about the Holy Spirit as a person! NEVER!

You will find with John the Father and the Son, the Father and the Son, the Father and the Son! That's important.We are going to learn something very important when we get to 1-John 3.

1-John 1:1: "That which was from the beginning, that which we have heard, that which we have seen with our own eyes…"

Imagine what it was to see Jesus after His resurrection! You know that John was there when Thomas showed up the second time, because Thomas said, 'I won't believe it unless I see the marks in His hands and in His side.'

So, Jesus came, Thomas was there, and the Lord said, 'Thomas!' and Thomas said, 'My Lord, My God!' So, they saw Jesus!

"…that which we observed for ourselves…" (v 1)—everything He did! They were with Him almost day and night for three years!

"…and our own hands handled… [after He was resurrected] …concerning the Word of Life; (and the life was manifested, and we have seen, and are bearing witness, and are reporting to you the eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested to us)" (vs 1-2).

That's quite a statement! Can any man say today that he's an apostle? No! Why? Because you never saw Jesus! No man can say that! Those were the 12 apostles, plus Paul and Barnabas.

Here's the important thing and notice what John keeps his mind on right at the first, which is what we need to do in everything that we do:

Verse 3: "That which we have seen and have heard we are reporting to you in order that you also may have fellowship with us; for the fellowship… [that's what it is in the Greek] …—indeed, our fellowship—is with the Father and with His own Son Jesus Christ."

I've got a video/DVD: True Fellowship with God {truthofGod.org. You watch that! That will help you really focus in on what God wants, especially if you're having difficulties and you're down and struggling and you don't know what to do. True Fellowship with God is what God has called us to. Fellowship with Him through the power of His Holy Spirit!

We want to understand v 6 because in 1-John 3 there's one verse that looks like it says you can't sin. But that's not what it means. We're going to look at what John says concerning sin, and I want you to understand that he is including himself! John was pretty old at this time.

Sidebar:

• How did Paul present himself? Read Rom. 7!
• Did he have a lot to overcome? Yes!
• Did he have difficulties? Yes!

So, we will, too!

Verse 6: "If we proclaim that we have fellowship with Him, but we are walking in the darkness, we are lying to ourselves, and we are not practicing the Truth." We're going to see a little later that that's important!

Verse 7: "However, if we walk in the Light… [sound like Psa. 25] …as He is in the Light, then we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, His own Son, cleanses us from all sin." So, John is including himself!

Never get discouraged if you're fighting and battling to overcome sin. You will!

Verse 8: "If we say that we do not have sin, we are deceiving ourselves, and the Truth is not in us."

Sidebar: I remember I got a phone call from a man who said, 'I don't sin anymore.' Really? 'Oh yeah, I don't sin anymore.' What day do you go to church on? 'I go to church on Sunday.' You're sinning!

"…the Truth is not in us."

Verse 9: "If we confess our own sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His Word is not in us" (vs 9-10).

Here's what John is doing; he's showing them how not to sin.

1-John 2:15: "Do not love the world, nor the things that are in the world…."

Do we have a lot of things in the world today? Think about that! Just walk around your house and look at all the stuff you have to help you: lights, water and all that sort of thing.

"…If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him" (v 15). That's a clear statement!

We have to love the Father! What did Jesus come to do? He came to reveal the Father! Not to the wise and intelligent!

Sidebar on wise and intelligent: Rom. 1 says that when they proclaim themselves to be wise, they become fools! Guess what the scientists are working on now? Those who don't believe in God, those who believe in evolution! What are the working on now? Human-like robots, that they can preprogram to have discussions with you!

These are what they're going to send to the moon and to Mars. They require no food, no water, but it's going to be an interesting thing when they do.

They even have them so that you don't need a husband or wife. Always perversion comes in with everything that human beings do.

"…the love of the Father is not in him"

Verse 16: "Because everything that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pretentious pride of physical life—is not from the Father, but is from the world." It's all going to pass away!

Verse 17: "And the world and its lust is passing away, but the one who does the will of God abides forever."

• What did Jesus say when He came? I came not to do My own will, but the will of Him Who sent Me!

Same application for us!

• What is the will of God every Sabbath when we come together?
• to learn more of God
• to learn how to live
• to learn more on faith
• to learn more on understanding the Word of God

Here's the problem that they were facing then, similar to what we're doing today:

Verse 18: "Little children, it is the last time…"

Someone will say, 'How could John say that this is the last time 1800 years ago? 1900 years ago?' It was the last time of the Apostolic Age, which is prophetic of the end-time last time!

"…and just as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have risen up, by which we know that it is the last time" (v 18). The beginning of the apostasy that was happening:

• changing the doctrine
• bringing in philosophy

What happened to them? They had good control with the churches that they had, so these people couldn't stay at this time. Later on we will see in 3-John what happened. They even kicked John out!

Verse 19: "They went out from among us, but they were not of us because if they were of us, they would have remained with us; nevertheless, they left that they might be exposed to show that they all were not of us."

We saw the same thing! Look at what has happened to the Church from the time—what time should we look at? I don't know, because there was a lot of trouble up to the time that Herbert Armstrong died! Look at all the trouble:

• some left because they wanted the doctrines of this world
• some left because they wanted the Truth of the Word of God
• some left because they couldn't stand the lies coming from the top down
• other politicians stayed so they could fill in the gap and be important

This is what happens over and over again!

Where did we start? With Truth! That will always prevail over everything else. If you know the Truth of the Word of God, and search out the Truth of the Word of God in anything you need to know, you will understand what is right. That's what John is talking about here in:

Verse 20: "But you have the anointing from the Holy One… [the Holy Spirit of God] …and you have knowledge of all things pertaining to salvation."

You don't know all things of everything in the world. What is that we know? The things of salvation:

• repentance
• baptism
• Sabbath
• Holy Days
• clean and unclean meats
• the Truth of God
• the veracity of the Old and New Testaments

Verse 21: "I did not write to you because you do not know the Truth, but because you know it… [that's what it has to be for us] …and you understand that not one lie comes from the Truth."

That means you have to use the whole Truth and nothing but the Truth. But if you give half Truth, that half Truth is still true, but it's not complete. IF it's merged together with a falsehood THEN you have a lie, because it's not the whole Truth!!

Just like this minister I heard on the radio concerning the Sabbath. He says that the question comes up, should we keep the Sabbath? 'Well, the way I read the Bible is that you keep one day in seven Holy.'

Everybody who doesn't want to keep the Sabbath says, 'Yeah! That's right!' The one who wants the Truth and knows the Sabbath, says, 'No! You're lying because you have brought a half-truth and connected it with a lie. Try that when you're cooking sometime. Put in absolutely the wrong ingredient, even though you started out with the right ingredient, what happens to it? You've got to throw it out!

Verse 22: "Who is the liar if it is not the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ?…."

How do you deny that Jesus is the Christ? They never did find the body and the disciples stole it away, so how could it be Jesus? The Jews believe it to this day!

"…He is the antichrist…" (v 22).

How many people out there have practices that they think are Christian, but are against God, and really come from the antichrist?

What does that make you if you do that?
Any Sunday-keepers out there?

Go read Rome's Challenge to the Protestants by Cardinal Gibbon and he will tell you that Sunday is a Catholic institution, and all you stupid Protestants need to repent and come back to the Catholic Church or keep the Sabbath. He was actually a little stronger than that! {find booklet at truthofGod.org}

"…He is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son" (v 22). Think about that!

When Jesus first began teaching in the Sermon on the Mount, and He was teaching about prayer, He said, 'Here's how you are to pray: Our Father Who is in heaven…' So, He was revealing from the beginning the Father!Later in John 16 He told the disciples, 'Pray directly to the Father in My name and He will answer.'

What did Herman Hoeh do in that sermon Unfinished Business? He denied the Son, by saying that the Word was not God, but the Word was Divine!

Verse 23—this applies to the Jews: "Anyone who denies the Son does not have the Father either."

Unto this days, the Jews have that! 'We have God, we are the chosen people, but we reject Jesus Christ.' NO, it doesn't work that way!

What did Jesus say in His last prayer? I and the Father are one! He prayed for us 'that they may be all one with Us; Father, You in Me, and I in them that they may be one as We are.'

The Bible is not a book that you can go and pick and choose what satisfies you, and you end up judging the Bible, but it is the Bible and the Word of God that judges everybody.

Verse 24: "Therefore, let what you have heard from the beginning dwell in you… [the Truth of the Word of God, Jesus Christ and God the Father] …if what you have heard from the beginning is dwelling [living] in you, then you will be dwelling in the Son and in the Father." Tie in John 14:23!

We—God the Father and Jesus Christ—will make Our abode with him! You will be dwelling in the Son and in the Father, that is spiritually speaking because you have the Spirit of God!

So, John was really setting the record straight when there was trouble and difficulties in the Church.

(break)

Advertisement: We have in-depth studies:

• Epistle of James
• Epistles of Peter
• Epistles of John & Jude

A little background on those: After it we got done, and it took two years to do it, we went through the whole Gospel of John verse-by-verse. We have those available, as well. That was really the last time that I used the King James Version, and that explains some of the spellings to help you understand. Plus we have a book: The Seven General Epistles.

You need to realize that we have so much study material, and I can say this—not bragging and trying to put someone down—over the years God has led us to do the things that we have done and have recorded it, we have transcripts, CDs and books for it

We have more than ever was taught at Ambassador College. Ambassador College served its purpose while it was with God. When they left God, and I'll tell you how that happened, when I was there I started going in 1961 and graduated in 1964.

In every one of the dormitories they had prayer booths and they were little booths you could go into and shut the door, had a light and fan, and you could pray. At that time, that's what all the students were doing. They would pray and some would study right in the prayer booth on their knees.

Well, years later I came back and visited the dorm and it was all full of junk, every single one of the prayer booths. Would you say that they were seeking God? Or were they just walking through? Why did it fall apart? That's part of the answer! Not all the answer, but just part of it.

So, when I got done with the verse-by-verse of the Gospel of John, we had seven brethren, and I asked them what they would like to do. 'Oh, we like to study like that.' So, I said how about this—because Dr. Dorothy was still alive at that time and kept encouraging me to translate, translate, translate!

So, I said, how about if we start out with James and I do a study translation. I had a small column with wide margins on the page and that's when I was translating in earnest. Started with James, then went through 1st, 2nd Peter, 1st, 2nd & 3rd John, and Jude. About that time we were running out of A Harmony of the Gospels so we had to do Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. That took a number of years.

Actually, I was translating from 1991 thru 1998, when I finished the New Testament. So, if you want them material for the General Epistles, we have it, just ask for it.

*****

1-John 2:25: "And this is the promise…" remember that every promise of God is sure!

• the promise of blessing
• the promise of correction
• the promise of punishment
• the promise of death

They're all there, because the Word of God is true!

"…that He has promised us: eternal life…. [that's what's at stake, eternal life!] …These things I have written to you concerning those who are leading you astray…. [right there in the congregation] …But you yourselves have dwelling in you the anointing that you received from Him; and you do not have need of anyone to indoctrinate you… [with other doctrines] …for the same anointing instructs you in all spiritual things…" (vs 25-27).

In other words, the Holy Spirit of God will lead you in all things, IF you are seeking it. IF you're not seeking it and you're seeking your own will to add to what you already know, that's how you get off the track.

"…and is true… [the Spirit of the Truth] …and is not a lie; and if you do exactly as it has taught you, you will be dwelling in Him. And now, little children, dwell in Him, so that when He is manifested…" (vs 27-28).

They didn't know when He was coming. Remember what happened with Peter? Jesus asked Peter three times, 'Do you love me, Peter? Feed My lambs… feed My sheep… shepherd My lambs…"

Peter wasn't satisfied with that, because he looked at John and said, 'Lord, what's going to happen to him?' Jesus said, 'What is it to you if he remains until I come?'

It's written there that the whole church… and he had to clarify it. Jesus didn't say that John wouldn't die before He returned. But John did see the return of Jesus Christ in the book of Revelation. So, you know how rumors go around the Church? As long as John is alive… when he dies, Jesus is coming!

How many rumors went around that you believed that were not true. When John did die, the apostasy took off like flame!

"…we may have boldness, and not be put to shame before Him at His coming. If you know that He is righteous, you also know that everyone who practices…" (vs 28-29).

The KJV says 'doeth,' which is a participle. That means continuously doing, practicing!

"…everyone who practices righteousness has been begotten by Him" (v 29).

We find in 1-John 3 something that God always does. He will inspire it and put something right in the middle of it so that we keep our eyes on the goal.

He said that the promise of eternal life in 1-John 2:25; now he brings it all together to show what the final result of all of this is going to be.

1-John 3:1: "Behold! What glorious love the Father has given to us, that we should be called the children of God!…." Think of that! His sons and daughters!

When Christ returns and the resurrection takes place—we'll find out about that on Pentecost—that's going to be the biggest, most fantastic thing to ever happens since the creation of the world up to that time! It is going to be so great, so magnificent!

"…For this very reason, the world does not know us because it did not know Him" (v 1).

Think about this right here in Hollister is just us. What if someone went out there and said, 'You know, there's a group of people here who are studying to receive eternal life.' Really? How can that be? Who are they? 'I don't know, I don't know any of them.' But here we are, and that's what we're here for, eternal life! The world doesn't know us!

Verse 2: "Beloved, now we are the children of God…"—not yet born again!

Who was the first one to be born again? Christ! He was the Firstborn of Mary, born once. He was the Firstborn from the dead, so He was born again. That's what born again means, raised from the dead or changed from flesh to spirit.

"…and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be; but we know… [from the Scriptures and what God has told us] …that when He is manifested, we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him exactly as He is" (v 2).

What did God tell Moses when Moses said, 'Lord, show me Your glory.' God said:

You can't see Me in My glory and live, but there's a place over here by this rock and you get in there, and when I pass by, I'll cover my backside and you will see the back part of My glory.

Think about it! That's what we will be like! This is the motivation. What does this promise help us to do? Keep that right in the forefront of our mind! Keep it right there!

Verse 3: "And everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, even as He is pure."

The final purification will come at the resurrection. Notice that John 'shifts gears,' back to those who were trying to lead him astray.

Verse 4—the KJV says that 'everyone who transgresses the Law sins. For sin is the transgression of the Law.' That's correct, but not quite completely correct. Here's the correct translation:

Verse 4: "Everyone who practices sin…"—living in sin:

• you're not keeping the Sabbath
• you're not keeping the Holy Days
• you're not keeping clean or unclean foods
• you're not studying
• you're not growing
• you're not overcoming

"…practices sin…" is another way of saying lives in sin!

There are a lot of good people in the world that if you told them that 'you are really living in sin and you're life is really in a precarious position with God. 'I'm a good person.' They wouldn't understand what that is!

"…is also practicing lawlessness…"

What is lawlessness? Anything that is against the Laws of God! Lawlessness means all the practices that the Protestants have that are against the Laws of God; they're practicing sin, living in sin!

"…for sin is lawlessness" (v 4).

• What's the counterbalance to that?
• What did Jesus say? Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God!

Jesus taught this right from the beginning! There it is, that's the contrast.

The word 'practices' in the Greek is understood in the verses below it. You find that lots of times in the Bible.

Verse 5: "And you know that He appeared in order that He might take away our sins; and in Him is no sin…. [perfect sacrifice] …Everyone who dwells in Him does not practice sin…" (vs 5-6).

The KJV says 'does not sin.' What did we read in 1`-John 1? If we sin and confess, we have forgiveness! So, it can't mean you don't ever sin. The verb practicing comes down into that next verse.

"…anyone who practices sin has not seen Him, nor has known Him" (v 6).

1-John 5:16: "If anyone sees his brother sinning a sin that is not unto death…"

Who is a brother? Someone who has the Spirit of God; same with sister! And they're sinning a sin that is "…not unto death…" meaning that the sin can be repented of!

"…he shall ask… [because we're to pray for one another] …and He will give him life for those who do not sin unto death. There is a sin unto death; concerning that sin, I do not say that he should make any supplication to God. All unrighteousness is sin, and there is a sin not unto death…. (vs 16-17). That ties right back in with the 1-John 1-2!

"…We know that anyone who is begotten by God does not practice sin; for the one who has been begotten by God keeps himself by the power of God, and the wicked one does not touch him" (vs 17-18).

So, when you come 1-John 3 where it says in the KJV '…does not sin…' cannot be taken just exactly as it's translated, because the word practice is used all the way through here.

1-John 3:6: "Everyone who dwells in Him does not practice sin; anyone who practices sin has not seen Him, nor has known Him. Little children, do not allow anyone to deceive you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, even as He is righteous. The one who practices sin is of the devil…" (vs 6-8).

If you do that, you could say like John did here. Even today there are many antichrists.

I've got four pages of all of those who declared themselves to be Christ from the 1800s forward. What prophecy does that fulfill? Matt. 24! There shall be false christs and false prophets who shall do 'great signs and wonders' that even deceive the elect.

Verse 8: "The one who practices sin is of the devil because the devil has beensinning from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God appeared that He might destroy the works of the devil." Not destroy the devil, but his works!

Verse 9—this sums up this section: "Everyone who has been begotten by God does not practice sin, because His seed of begettal is dwelling within him, and he is not able to practice sin, because he has been begotten by God."

What does the Spirit do in you when you sin? It alerts you! It will keep alerting you until you pay attention and repent!

It doesn't say that you won't sin, because we read in 1-John 5 & 1 that those sins are repentable. So, if you're practicing righteousness, since we're not perfect we're going to sin, but we have a Savior Who will forgive those sins. That's why He came, and that's why John is writing what he's saying here.

"…because His seed…"—Greek: sperma; akin to:

• human life/spiritual life
• human father/spiritual Father

"…of begettal is dwelling within him, and he is not able to practice sin, because he has been begotten by God. By this standard…" (v 9).

You have to have a standard on something. The Greek there wherever you have "…By this…" it is 'en touto'; so you have to furnish the word.

Verse 10: "By this standard are manifest the children of God and the children of the devil. Everyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, and neither is the one who does not love his brother."

Then John goes on about Cain and we're not to do it that way. We're t love each other, and here's how we are to love:

Verse 18: "My little children, we should not love in word… [just say it] …nor with our tongues; rather, we should love in deed and in Truth."

There's that word again; where did we start? With Truth, and in your actions!

Verse 19: "And in this way we know that we are of the Truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him… [if we love the brethren; love each other] …that if our hearts condemn us…" (vs 19-20). That's what happens when you sin!

The inner part of your being with God's Spirit is telling you that you have to repent. We'll go through that. I go through that, and you go through that. That's just the way it is.

"…God is greater than our hearts, and knows all things. Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, then we have confidence toward God. And whatever we may ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and practice those things that are pleasing in His sight" (vs 20-22).

Go through and pick out all the places of obeying, practicing, doing and just put them all together and see what this is really telling us. This is quite a magnificent small short epistle, but powerful!

Verse 23: "And this is His commandment: that we believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and thatwe love one another… [notice all the conditions attached to believing on His name] …exactly as He gave commandment to us. And the one who keeps His commandments… [it's not just believing His name, you must keep His commandments] …is dwelling in Him, and He in him; and by this we know that He is dwelling in us: by the Spirit, which He has given to us" (vs 23-24).

1-John 4:1: "Beloved, do not believe every spirit…"

• Have you ever had a thought come into your mind that you didn't know where it came from?
• Remember who is the 'prince of the power of the air' out there?
• How does he work? In the heart and mind of people!
• Who does he want to get to? Us!
• What do you do?

"…but test the spirits…" (v 1).

• How do you test the spirits? By the Word of God! By what is said!

Many times these spirits will come in the form of a person who is led by that spirit, or possessed by that spirit.

"…whether they are from God, because many false prophets… [comes with people] …have gone out into the world. By this test you can know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come… [past tense perfect] …in the flesh is from God" (vs 1-2).

Some spurious Greek New Testaments have it that Christ is coming in the flesh! That is not true! The Greek Byzantine is has come! It cannot be present tense and it's not a participle. It's a perfect verb—has come—a one time event.

Verse 3: "And every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not from God. And this is the spirit of antichrist, which you heard was to come, and even now it is already in the world."

What is one form of doing it? After I got done with that Unfinished Business by Herman Hoeh, I got one from a man who said that he grew up in the Church and became a Catholic and he wanted to tell me about the Trinity. They can never explain it! That's a key, right there! Spirit of antichrist!

Verse 4: "You are of God, little children, and have overcome them because greater is He Who is in you than the one who is in the world."

You have the strength and power of the Spirit of God to overcome! One of the greatest thing is the Word of God to teach us today, and the Spirit of God coupled with that; also the Sabbath and Holy Days. Tie all of those together in one package and those are the basic fundamentals that keep us right with God. Then you add to it how you maintain that:

• by prayer
• by study
• by living

Verse 5: "They are of the world; because of this, they speak of the world, and the world listens to them."

How many people would listen if you go and tell them that all the troubles we are having in America are because of abortion, false religion, false Christianity, atheism, witchcraft, and all the sex perversion around. You might get some who would agree with you, but how many?

Mike Flake puts the messages on Facebook, and I had two parts to that a couple of weeks ago. What part did they take off? That part and what I said about how you can avoid getting Covid 19! So, the first half of the sermon was gone.

• What does that tell you?
• What's going to happen in the future?
• What's the prophecy in the Old Testament? Famine of the hearing of the Word!

Verse 6: "We are of God… [that's not a boast; that's backed up with facts and Truth leading up to this] …the one who knows God listens to us; the one who is not of God does not listen to us. By this means we know the Spirit of the Truth and the spirit of the deception. Beloved, we should love one another because love is from God; and everyone who loves has been begotten by God, and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God because God is love" (vs 6-8).

So, we come full back! Everything that God has in the Bible, and with His Spirit, is like a sphere. You can draw lines through a sphere an infinite number of times. They all connect together, and that's what the Word of God and the Spirit of God is. It all connects together. That's what John is telling us.

Verse 9: "In this way the love of God was manifested toward us: that God sent His only begotten Son into the world, so that we might live through Him. In this act is the love—not that we loved God; rather, that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins" (vs 9-10).

See how it comes right back and all connects together! You will find that God's Spirit will bring you back to this. If you get angry without cause—unjustly—what's going to happen? The Spirit of God is going to convict you, and then you'll repent of it!

Verse 11: "Beloved, if God so loved us… [which He did] …we also are duty-bound to love one another."

That's what we have to look forward to in everything that we do.

Verse 12: "No one has seen God at any time. Yet, if we love one another, God dwells in us, and His own love is perfected in us." How is it perfected in us? By:

• growing
• overcoming
• repentance
• staying close to God
• loving each other

Verse 13: "By this standard we know that we are dwelling in Him, and He is dwelling in us: because of His own Spirit, which He has given to us. And we have seen for ourselves and bear witness that the Father sent the Son as the Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwells in him, and he in God" (vs 13-15).

Not just a simple profession as it is today that has been perverted. You have to have the spiritual works and the commandments as well.

Verse 16: "And we have known and have believed the love that God has toward us. God is love, and the one who dwells in love is dwelling in God, and God in him."

That's what the whole thing of 1-John is all about! This helps us to see what we need to focus on when we have so many different things taking place in the world, and taking place in the Churches of God. So that we stay close to God and we don't lose our focus!

Scriptural References:

• Psalm 25:1-5
• John 6:45
• Psalm 26:1-3
• 1 Timothy 3:14-15
• 1 Timothy 4:6, 14-16
• 1 John 1:1-3, 6-10
• 1 John 2:15-29
• 1 John 3:1-6
• 1 John 5:16-18
• 1 John 3:6-10, 18-24
• 1 John 4:1-16

Scriptures referenced, not quoted:

• Romans 7
• Psalm 25
• Romans 1
• John 16; 14:23
• Matthew 24

Also referenced:

DVD: True Fellowship with God

Booklet: Rome's Challenge to the Protestants

In-Depth Studies:

• Epistle of James
• Epistles of Peter
• Epistles of John and Jude
• Gospel of John

Books:

• The Seven General Epistles by Fred R. Coulter
• A Harmony of the Gospels by Fred R. Coulter

FRC:bo
Transcribed: 5/5/21

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