3. Intro to 1 John
WRITER: John the Apostle
DATE: A.D. 90-100
John wrote 3 books in the Bible
Gospel of John
Epistles of John
Revelation
4. PURPOSE for John’s Writings :
For the Gospel of John
John 20:31
But these are written that you
may believe that Jesus is the
Christ, the Son of God,
and that by believing you may
have life in his name.
5. PURPOSE for John’s Writings :
For the Revelations of John
Revelation 1:19
Write the things which thou hast seen,
and the things which are,
and the things which shall be hereafter.
6. 1:3 We proclaim ... so that you also may
have fellowship with us ... and with
God.
1:4 We write this to make our joy
complete.
2:1 I write ... so that you will not sin
5:13 I write.... so that you may know that
you have eternal life.
Purpose for 1 John
7. “Family Epistle”
1 John
The sanctum sanctorum (Latin "Holy o Holies”)
of the New Testament
‘It takes the child of God across the threshold
into fellowship with our Heavenly Father’
• Know - 33
• Love - 35
• Children - 15
• Life - 14
• Father - 13
• Light - 6
8. 1 John
General Outline of 1 John
God is LIGHT 1:1- 2:2
God is LOVE 2:3- 4:21
God is LIFE 5:1-21
9. 1 John 2:12-14
v12 I write to you, dear children,
because your sins have been
forgiven on account of his name.
v13 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.
10. Cont 1 John 2:12-14
I write to you, dear children,
because you have known the Father.
14 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.
11. 1 John 2:12-14
In your bible :
Q: What difference do you notice about
1 John 2:12-14 compared to the rest of
the letter ?
A: It is a different form of ‘writing’ ....
• PROSE where God is sharing his MIND
• POETRY where God is sharing his
HEART eg 1 John 2:12-14
12. I write to you, 1 John 2:12-14
dear children*, because your sins have been forgiven
on account of his name.
fathers, because you have known him who is
from the beginning.
young men, because you have overcome the evil
one.
dear children*, because you have known the Father.
fathers, because you have known him who is
from the beginning.
young men, because you are strong, and the
word of God lives in you, and you
have overcome the evil one.
13. 1 John 2:12-14
Possible explanations:
• Poetic style ?
• Repetition for emphasis ?
• Order ?
14. Three Groups of People
NIV NLT
SPIRITUAL
Fathers Mature in the
faith
Young Men Young in the
faith
Dear Children God’s Children
15. Little Children 1 John 2:12 & 13b
I write to you, dear
children,
because your sins have
been forgiven on
account of his name.
because you have
known the Father.
16. Little Children : The “Forgiven” Generation
Our Christian Life :
BEGINS with Forgiveness
Only ground for SALVATION.
God alone can forgive.
• He pardons all our sins
• He accepts us as righteous in His
sight
BUT WHY MUST GOD
FORGIVE US ?
17. Little Children : The “Forgiven” Generation
GOD Forgives....
• Not because we are so good
• Not because we deserve it
• But all because of the Lord Jesus Christ
and what He did on Calvary
“your sins have been forgiven on
account of his name”
18. Little Children : The “Forgiven” Generation
v13: “I have written to you, children,
because you know the Father.”
Message Bible : “And a second reminder,
dear children: You know the Father from
personal experience.”
As you know the forgiveness of your sins
you also come to KNOW &
experience your heavenly
Father.
19. Little Children : The “Forgiven” Generation
Receiving FORGIVENESS is just the 1st step
• Only possible because of JESUS ...
and His finished work on the Cross
Acts 4:12 Salvation is found in no one else,
for there is no other name under heaven
given to men by which we must be saved.
• Goal is to KNOW the Father
20. Young Men 1 John 2:13,14
I write to you, young men,
because you have overcome
the evil one.
because you are strong,
and the word of God lives in
you, and you have overcome
the evil one.
21. Young Men : The “OVERCOMING” Generation
• “young men” in the faith have been able
to ‘overcome’, be ‘victorious’,
‘prevailed’....
• Have experienced a release from ...
– the power of sin
– the bondage of satan
22. John Piper summarizes :
Satan only have Two Main Weapons to use :
i. ACCUSATION.
–accuses us with the sin that we have
already done
ii. TEMPTATION.
–tempts us to do the sin we haven’t yet
done.
the ways of the evil one
23. i. ACCUSATION
Ref Revelation 12:10
And I heard a loud voice in heaven,
saying, “Now the salvation and the
power and the kingdom of our God
and the authority of his Christ have
come, for the accuser of our brothers
has been thrown down,
who accuses them day and night
before our God.
the ways of the evil one
24. the ways of the evil one
i. ACCUSATION
• All of us have sinned
• Satan accuses us for all the sins we have
committed
• Causes guilt / doubt /fear to arise
How then do we counter this ?
By coming to Jesus using 1 Jn 1:9
Confession – Forgiveness
- Cleansing
26. the ways of the evil one
ii. TEMPTATION
• Eg immoral behaviours
• consider also :
• Sickness eg cancer • financial hardship,
• unbearable pain, • marriage tensions,
• loss of loved ones, • political strife,
• natural disasters,
• threatening crime,
• mob violence etc
27. the ways of the evil one
ii. TEMPTATION
Gk ‘peirasmos’
• Also used for ‘testing’
The reasons :
• all temptation will test our faith, and
• all testing of our faith is a
temptation to forsake our faith
28. the ways of the evil one
ii. TEMPTATION thru LIES
Satan tempts / tests in only one way: He lies.
Ref John 8:44-45
You belong to your father, the devil, and you
want to carry out your father's desire. He
was a murderer from the beginning, not
holding to the truth, for there is no truth in
him.
When he lies, he speaks his native
language, for he is a liar and
the father of lies.
29. the ways of the evil one
ii. TEMPTATION thru LIES
Satan has only TWO MAIN LIES.
• In every TEST, his lie is:
GOD is BAD
•in every TEMPTATION his lie is:
SIN is BETTER
30. Tempted : “conveys the idea of
appealing to the worst part of
man, with the wish that he may
yield and do the wrong”
Tested : “ appeal to the better
Alexander
MacLaren
part of man, with the desire
that he should stand”
Temptation says, `Do this pleasant thing; do
not be hindered by the fact that it is wrong.'
Testing says, `Do this right and noble thing;
do not be hindered by the fact that it is
painful.’
31. the ways of the evil one
Temptation Vs Testing
• Temptation is to make you fall
Testing is to build you up,
make you stronger.
• God tempts no one (Ref James 1:13)
God however do ‘test’ people
33. Young Men : The “Overcoming” Generation
“overcome the evil one”
How is this possible ?
v 14 “because you are ‘strong’...”
Q: Can physical strength defeat satan ?
A: NO, definitely not
34. Young Men : The “Overcoming” Generation
It is possible by :
i. The WORD Within
TLB v14b “... and to you young men
who are strong with God's Word in your
hearts, and have won your struggle
against Satan”
35. Young Men : The “Overcoming” Generation
i. The WORD Within
Importance of
• Reading the Bible
• Meditating & doing daily devotion
• Memorizing scripture
Eg the temptations of Jesus (Luke 4)
36. Young Men : The “Overcoming” Generation
ii. The CHRIST Within
Ref : 1 John 4:4
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.
37. Young Men : The “Overcoming” Generation
iii. The FAITH Within
Ref : 1 John 5:4
This is the victory that has
overcome the world,
even our faith.
38. Young Men : The “Overcoming” Generation
Young men,
Continue to be ‘Overcomers’
Always have the WORD, CHRIST &
FAITH within you ....
You can and will Stand, Prevailing
against the Accusations &
Temptations of the evil one.
39. Fathers : 1 John 2:13, 14
I write to you, fathers,
because you have known him
who is from the beginning.
because you have known him
who is from the beginning.
40. Fathers : the ‘KNOWING’ Generation
“to know”
used 33 times in 1 John
• To be aware,
• To understand,
• To perceive,
• To sure of,
• Sense of Intimacy...
41. Fathers : the ‘Knowing’ Generation
Know who ? :
“Him who is from the beginning”
Refers to Jesus
John 1:1-2 In the beginning was the Word, and
the Word was with God, and the Word was
God. He was with God in the beginning.
John 1:14 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.
42. Fathers : the ‘Knowing’ Generation
• HALLMARK of spiritual maturity :
KNOWING CHRIST
Not “knowing about Christ”
• GOAL for every believer :
CHRISTLIKENESS
43. ‘Addicted to bottle feeds’
May 22, 2012
What is wrong with this
picture ?
S’ban: Farah Sauffiah
Rahmat is a 14-year-old
‘healthy’ teenager who is
addicted to bottle-feeds –
15 bottles a day to be
exact. A Form 2 student in
SM Tuanku Ampuan
Durah, she is unaffected
by public opinion of her
strange addiction.
44. In fact, though by this
time you ought to be
teachers, you need
someone to teach you the
elementary truths of
God's word all over again.
You need milk, not solid
food! Anyone who lives on
milk, being still an infant,
is not acquainted with the
teaching about
righteousness.
But solid food is for the
mature, who by constant
use have trained
themselves to distinguish
good from evil.
45. So What !
There is a need to grow-up
There is a need to go on to “maturity”
Consider 1 Cor 13:11
When I was a child, I talked like a
child, I thought like a child, I
reasoned like a child.
When I became a man, I put
childish ways behind me.
46. So What !
Our lives must have : an aim
: a purpose
: a goal
John’s sole Aim, Purpose & Goal was
to Know Christ - fully
47. So What !
Can that also become our goal in life ?
To KNOW CHRIST
if we truly Know God,
we would also want
To MAKE Him KNOWN
God alone have the answer to life.
not only on this earth
but for all eternity.
48. Father’s Day
Today as we celebrate Father’s Day
My Challenge to ‘Fathers’ in our midst
To adopt as our life’s ambition & purpose –
To Know Christ
and to Make Him Known
beginning with our own family
members
and rippling out ...
49. Quote :
A Father's spiritual temperature will
determine the children's emotional
state, security and stability.
Christian Business Men’s Research :
Father an “active Christian”
75% chance ...
If the Mother alone is ...
reduced to 15% chance ...
51. In order to reach the stage of being a “spiritual
fathers” you must have :
i. Known the forgiveness of sin thru Christ
along
ii. Overcome the evil one’s accusations &
temptations -
with the Word, Christ & Faith within...
iii. Enjoy an intimate & living
relationship with Christ
Fathers : the ‘Knowing’ Generation
53. For what you are about to see, any
association, reference or linkage to
people dead or alive is purely
coincidental and accidental.
Choice of photos depicted were
submitted by one (or more) of your
family members of their own volition
and not under any threat or duress.
Disclaimer
54. Disclaimer
Some photos were sent without infor
on ‘age’ so I had to ‘guess’. Right or
wrong – not sure.
Accompanying song track :
“FATHER'S LOVE”
(by Gary Valenciano)
Valenciano)
Do sit back, enjoy the presentation
and learn about “My Daddy & I”.
59. Age 7: My Dad is my Hero, reading me
great adventure stories every night ...
60. Age 8: My Dad is so much fun
He takes me everywhere ...
61. Age 9: My Dad is so clever...
he can even do my homework ...
62. Age 11: My Dad is cool ... but not very
good with computer games...
63. Age 13: I think my dad may not be
so smart after all...
64. Age 14: I now know my dad is not so
smart after all – he’s no longer able to
do my homework ...
65. Age 15 & 16 : I ‘think’ my dad may be
pretty “old fashioned” in his thinking...
66. Age 17 & 18 : I know my dad is “old
fashioned”. He’s always saying “When I
was your age ....” for the zillionth time.
67. Age 19 & 20 : My Dad is becoming ‘over-
bearing’ ... always asking & even
intruding into my space – doesn’t he trust
me?
68. Age 21+ : Dad I am pass 21...
I can decide for myself ... trust me.
69. Age 25+ : My dad seems to be objecting to
everything I do .... ‘Sigh’
70. Age 30+ : My Dad does know about
things, but then he should, because he’s
been around so long...
71. Age 35+ : Maybe I should ask Dad what he
thinks. After all, he’s had a lot of
experience.
72. Age 40+ : I’m not doing a single thing until
I talk to Dad... He knows quite a lot...
73. Age 45+ : I wonder how Dad will handle it.
He is so wise.....
74. Age 50+ : I am puzzled, how did my dad
manage to raise all of us up ?
.
75. Age 55+ : It's so difficult to control my
own children - how much my dad must
have suffered to bring us up ...
76. Age 60+ : I’d give anything if Dad were
here now so I could talk this over with
him. Too bad I didn’t appreciate how
smart he was. I could have learned a lot
from him. MY DAD IS THE BEST
77. Just wondering why it
take so long for us to
learn that -
Blessed Father’s Day