1 John Summary – Concluding Lesson

1 John Summary – Concluding Lesson

You know, we need both the detailed view and we need the bird’s eye view, if we can say it that way, of God’s word and God’s truth. And so this morning we want to look back in 1 John 1. Let’s remind ourselves again what the apostle said in the opening verses of this little epistle we’ve been studying. First John, chapter one. That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled of the Word of life. For the life was manifested and we have seen it. And bear witness and show unto you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested unto us that which we have seen and heard, declare we unto you that ye also may have fellowship with us. And truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. These things write we unto you that your joy may be full.

Our Heavenly Father, in these moments together we pray for your blessing and pray for a clear understanding of what your words, what you have given to us through the Apostle John. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.

John has been called the apostle of love. And we certainly see a lot about love in this little epistle, don’t we? We see God’s love to us. We see our love in response to God for his love to us, because we love him, because he first loved us. And then we also see that if we love God, we say we love God, we ought also to love the brethren. All of this is possible. We could say, none of this would have been possible if it was not first that God had showed. If it was not true that God first showed his love to us, how did he manifest that love to us? Well, he sent his Son. He sent his Son. We read in these opening verses. Here he is called the Word of Life. This Word of life came. And John says, as apostles, we heard him, we saw him with our eyes, we looked upon him, we handled. And we believe that he was more than simply Jesus of Nazareth, but that he is indeed the Word of Life. He’s the Son of God. He is God’s love demonstrated to us in human form. And John says, I’m writing to you that you may also have fellowship with him, and that your joy may be full that you may know you have fellowship with him, that you may know, have confidence that you may have the witness of the Spirit, bearing witness with your Spirit as you obey the revealed will of God, as you trust in the Son of God revealed from heaven.

John is writing. It’s very Important that he writes, as we’re getting later on in that first century that now we’ve got to. He has to reiterate what is a true Christian? How do we know what. What are the nuts and bolts? What are the basics of the Christian faith? Because there are many false teachers that have come in and are confusing. There were certainly Gnostic teachings that were influencing, that were having an effect upon that were winds of doctrine were blowing that were not the historical received faith. And so it was important that John Wright remind and reiterate what are the fundamentals of the understanding for us as Christians so that we can have that confidence. We know that we’re born of God. We know that Jesus Christ has come and that he’s not merely a man, that he’s indeed the God man revealed in flesh the Word of life.

Well, John writes about this. We said that this book is primarily for believers. Whereas the Gospel of John was written with the unbeliever in mind. Right. One of the first books of the Bible we send people to when they’re considering the need of their soul is John. The Gospel According to John, Romans. It certainly has a lot of information in there and truth for us as believers. But it gives the understanding of what sin is and why we need to be saved and, and what justification is. And then of course we see that we need to be filled with the Holy Spirit. We need to walk a consecrated walk as Christians and all of that as well. But we see that John and Romans will give us that understanding of what it means to be born again. But also now John is writing to those who are born of God, that they may know that they are born of God, that they may know they have eternal life, that they may know the joy of the Lord in their lives. And so chapter one, we immediately read here that he introduces them to this word of life. And in fact the word word Logos. In the Greek it simply means the full expression of a thought. It’s Jesus. The word made flesh is the full expression of who God is. If you’ve seen him, you’ve seen the Father. The words that Jesus spoke were God’s words. He came to John, told us over in his Gospel to declare the Father to exegete is the Word there. It’s is kind of like me reading a verse to you and then me breaking down and giving you the full understanding of that verse. What does that verse mean? Jesus explains he declared the Father to us. He is the expressed image of the invisible God he is. In him dwells the fullness of the Godhead bodily he is. We use that term spitting image. It’s the same idea we’re thinking about when we say the spitting image. He’s the express image of the Father come in flesh and dwelled or tabernacled among us. We beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. Not filled with grace and truth, but full of grace and truth. Mary was filled with with grace. But Jesus is full of grace. He is worthy of worship. We’ve said before in this study, I believe that if Jesus was not all that he claimed to be, then he’s either God coming flesh or he’s the greatest liar that ever lived. And we know that the latter is not true because we can’t say he’s just a good man. No, absolutely not. John rules that out thoroughly with this book. We cannot take the middle ground and come to some kind of compromise and say he’s just a good man. No, absolutely not. He is God coming flesh. He’s the Word of life. He is eternal life himself. And by this word John will tell us in his gospel, the Gospel according to John, he will tell us it was by the Word that everything that is made was made in him was life. And so we see that God is the source of life and Jesus is life manifested. Jesus Christ the God man. Is his life manifested? That we who believe on him might not any longer abide under the shadow of death. But we might. Upon us a great light has shined. And now we may also know we have this life and light. So remember Satan, he’s the prince of darkness and death. Jesus is the Lord of lights and life. We sing about it at Christmas. Light and life to all he brings Risen with healing in his wings Mild he lays his glory by born that man no more may die.

I gave the illustration to our children this week about a seed. Remember where Jesus and we mentioned this not too long ago. But Jesus said, except the grain of wheat or corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it cannot bring forth fruit. We look at this time of year, we’re putting seed in the ground and we’re seeing life coming forth from death. And through Jesus death came life. That he died for us, that we might live through him and his resurrection power. But there is no darkness. John will tell us in verse number five in God at all. There’s absolutely no darkness in him. Light and life. When you think of the Word, we think of light and life. When we think of Satan, we think of Darkness and death, right? We used to live under that bondage of darkness and fear and death. But now in Christ, new creatures, old things, have passed away. We’ve passed from darkness to light. We’ve passed from death to. To life. And this book is going to help us to nail that down. We can only have fellowship with the God of light through the Logos, the Word he sent, right? We can only have fellowship with God through the Word. We cannot know and enjoy this fellowship with God. If verse six, we hear the truth and say we believe it, but we don’t live it or walk in it. That light, right? Light and truth are synonymous in this book. Sin and darkness. Sin and darkness over here, light and truth over here. And so if we walk in the truth, we walk in the light, we have fellowship. But if we say we walk in the light, but we actually walk in darkness, then we don’t have fellowship, right? If we say verse eight, we have no sin, what does it tell us? There, look at verse eight. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. Verse 10. If we say that we have not sinned, if we say that we have no sin, if we say that we have not sinned, then it says we make him a liar. We contradict his clearly revealed truth. We contradict light. We contradict the truth of God and make Him a liar. And His Word is not in us. We’re going to see in this book there’s a contrast. The dividing line between light and darkness has to do with the Word of the world, right? We were in the world and we were of the world. But now if we believe in Christ and we believe in the Word, the living Word and the revealed Word, we’re no longer of the world. We’re not part of that world anymore. In fact, we’re overcomers if we’re born of God and we believe that Word.

Now remember, if we say that we have no sin or we have not sinned, we make God a liar. But this book doesn’t go so far as to say that if we are a believer, that we will not sin. In fact, it says the opposite. It doesn’t say that we should keep on practicing sin, but it also doesn’t say we’re without sin. If we sin, we’re to confess that sin as believers, right? We’re to confess it to God and get it under that blood. He’s already shed the blood, but let’s confess it and get it out in the open. Let’s not try to harbor and hide and cover up sin. That’s not the life of the believer. The life of the believer is to confess it, get it out, get it open before God and acknowledge it with clarity so we can have fellowship with God. But we must have it on his terms, right? We must be truthful. We must not be hypocritical. And then we will have full assurance of joy. We will have this joy that John says. I hope that you’ll know this. I’m writing unto you so that you will experience this joy that comes through the life that I’m laying out for you. Chapter two begins with this truth. Sinning. Living in sin is not a mark of a true believer. Living a life of sin is not the mark of a true believer. Verse 1 calls us not to practice sin. My little children, these things write I unto you that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous.

Let’s look at some verses and let’s read them together as we come to them. Okay? Chapter two. We’re in chapter two, one John two. I want us to read these together. Verse 12. Let’s read it out loud together. I write unto you little children because your sins are forgiven you for his name’s sake. So our sins are forgiven. We are not. If we’re a believer, we’re not any longer under the guilt of the burden of sin. Our sins are forgiven. Let’s look in chapter three, verse four, and read that together. Chapter three, First John, chapter three, verse number four. Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law. For sin is the transgression of the law. Okay, so what is this telling us? Sin is the transgression of the law. Okay, but Jesus, in verse 5, ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins, and in him is no sin. So we’re not to practice sin. Why? Because Jesus has taken away our sins. Jesus has died for our sins. And sin is the transgression of his law. It grieves his heart for us to continue in sin. That’s why he died, to save us from our sins. Let’s read verse six together. Chapter three, verse six. Let’s read it together. Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not. Whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him. So the one who is in Christ does not, once again practice sin, doesn’t practice sin. The one who practices sin, verse 8 will tell us, is of the devil. What does it say? Just look at it with Me, it says, he that committeth sin is of the devil. The one that practices sin is of the devil. For the devil, he’s good at sinning, isn’t he? He sinneth from the beginning. That’s his life. For this purpose, the Son of God was manifested. That he might destroy the works of the devil. We’re reminded in verse nine again. Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin. For his seed remaineth in him. And he cannot sin because he is born of God. Look over in chapter five, verse 18. Let’s read that one together. Chapter five, verse number 18. Let’s say it together. We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not. But he that is begotten of God keepeth himself. And that wicked one toucheth him not. And so we see that because of God’s keeping in our lives. And evidence that we believe on him is that we keep, we are keeping ourselves. Not that the strength comes from us. But it comes from the work of God in us who believe that we are kept even from the wicked one. He’s on a tether. He’s on a leash. He cannot harm us. He can influence our thinking and we can be affected by Him. But we don’t have to live even under his spell, so to speak. The wicked one toucheth us not.

Now, those who are of Satan do practice sin. But those who are of God don’t. And we see that the righteous keeps himself and Satan doesn’t touch him. But those who don’t know God do practice sin, don’t they? And those who, if you look in chapter three, look back over in chapter three, verse 24, where it tells us, there it says, and he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us by the Spirit which He hath given us. So those who know God not only don’t practice sin, but they keep his commandments. And they have the witness of the Spirit. That gives them confidence that they are of God. As we keep God’s commandments by his strength, by his grace, then we have that confidence. We have that witness of the Spirit in our lives. That is witnessing to our Spirit that we are indeed born of God. Because this is something we could not do in our own strength. The keeping of God’s commandments, as has been made very clear, is more than an external thing. It has to do with the heart. I must not regard iniquity in my heart. Lest the Lord not hear me. When I pray to him, David said, let the words of my mouth, the meditation of my heart acceptable in thy sight. Jesus heightens the understanding of what it means to transgress the law beyond simply outward infractions. And even though we have this truth in the Old Testament, he really drives it home. He makes it clear that not only must we not commit the outward transgression, but we must not even commit the transgression in our heart. We must not sin against the Lord in our hearts. Jesus came to save us from the sins of even our hearts, right? Not just the outward infractions stepping over the bounds in the eyes of men, but no in the eyes of the Lord.

Now we were the children of disobedience. The Scripture tells us. Paul says that in Ephesians. But now we’re children of the light, aren’t we? And if we are children of the day or children of the light, we’re to walk in the light, as John tells us here. We’re to walk not in darkness anymore, to walk in the light as he is in the light. We have fellowship, one with another. And the blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanses us from all sin. We’re not the children of disobedience. One of the evidences of that is seen back in chapter two, verse nine. Chapter two, verse nine. It says there that the Christian loves his brother. He that saith he’s in the light. He is in the light, and hateth his brother is in darkness even until now. But he that loveth, it says in verse 10, his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him. The Christian abides in the light and doesn’t stumble because he loves his brother. Verse 11 says that tells us the one who hates his brother actually walks in darkness. Darkness means sin and disobedience, right? Verse 11 says, but he that hateth his brother is in darkness and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes. Loving the brethren is an indicator that we’ve been born again. Look in chapter three, verse 14, chapter three, verse 14. Let’s read that together. In verse 14 of chapter three, it says, we know that we have passed from death unto life because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death. So we know that we’ve passed from death to life. Why? Because we love the brethren. And the one who doesn’t love the brethren abides in death. In fact, back in chapter two, verse 10, as we just saw. The one that loves his brother abides in the light. But it says, there is none occasion of stumbling in him. None occasion of stumbling in him.

Jesus laid down his life for us. We ought to lay down our lives for the brethren, right? We know that this love for the brethren is more than just in word, but it is in deed as well. It must be shown not only in our speech, but in our actions. Chapter 3, verse 16. What does it say there? Chapter 3, verse 16 tells us that hereby perceive we the love of God because he laid down his life for us and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoso hath this world’s good and seeth his brother have need and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue, but in deed and in truth. Well, even if our brother’s sinning, we read that we’re supposed to pray for him. We’re supposed to show our love for the brother by praying for him, right? Chapter 5, verse 16. If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he, God, shall give him life for them that sin, not unto death. So if we love our brother, it may be that on certain occasions we have this world’s good and we see a need in the brother’s life, we go and help him with that need. It may be that we see a sin in the brother’s life and we pray for him with that sin, right? And so we need to not just say, but put into action in our lives, act upon what we say. When we say that we love the brethren, right? We notice Also in chapter three, verse 17, this love needs to go beyond word. For there in chapter three, verse 17, we just notice this is the world’s goods. We give that to the brethren. But Also in chapter three, verse 16, it’s always reminded. We’re always reminded that we do this because of what God’s first done for us. Chapter 3, verse 16 says that he laid down his life for us and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. Chapter 4, verse 11 says, Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. And verse 12 says, no man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us and his love is perfected in us. And so, in a way, like John said, we’ve seen him, handled him, hurt him, touched him, all that. And we declare Unto you well, both by our words and our actions, we’re declaring to the world that we have, that we are in Christ and that we know Him. And we are bearing witness to him by our very lives, not only by our words, but by our actions. And by this Jesus said, shall all men know that you are My disciples. They’ll know by the love you have, one to another. They’ll see the witness. Not only will they hear your words, but they’ll see the evidence. They’ll see the Witness in your lives, in your midst. And we love him clearly. Chapter four, verse 19. Because he first loved us. He demonstrated that love by laying down his life for us. And if we say that we love God, but don’t love Our brother, chapter four, verse 20, we lie. Chapter four, verse 20 says, if a man say, I love God and hateth his brother, he’s a liar. For he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? And so it’s very clear. There is a very clear theme about the love of God unfolding in this book. This is a commandment. The commandment is this, that he who Loveth God. Chapter 4, verse 21. Love His Brother also. That’s the conclusion we’ve got to come to in all of this. He that loveth God. He who loveth God, love his brother also. And then in chapter five, verses two and three, by this we know that we love the children of God. When we love God and keep his commandments. And. And it says, for this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not grievous.

It’s all based on the revelation of God’s light and life in Jesus Christ. The Word. While we are to love our brother, the book makes it very clear to us we’re not to love the world. We must. This is a. You know, the believer doesn’t practice sin. The believer loves the brethren. The believer does not love the world or the things that are in this world system. Love not the world. Chapter 2, verse 15. Neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lusts of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away of the lust thereof. But he that doeth the will of God abideth forever. Verse five told us in chapter two, verse five told us that whoso keepeth his word in him. Verily is the love of God perfected. Hereby know we that we are in Him. So the love of the Father is not in the one who loves the world. Right. The love of the Father is not in the one who loves the world. That’s what we were just told in chapter two, verse 15, right? I’m sorry, verse 16. But 15:15. The love of the Father is not in him. If you love the world, the world system. The love of the Father is not in him, but God’s love. The Father’s love is perfected in the one who loves the Word. The one who loves the Word. Because the Word reveals that God first loved us in that individual. The love of God is perfected. It’s brought to maturity in the life of the one who believes the record, who loves that Word that has been revealed.

Chapter two, verse 19. Told us they went out from us. Who believe they went out from us, but they were not of us. Well, if we’re not of the Word, then we’re of the world. It’s one or the other, right? They were not of us. Well, how do we know they were not of us? For if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us. But they went out that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us. The Word would be the dividing line among the hearts of men. Want it? And isn’t it? Those appeared to be of the brethren, but they were actually of the world. They were actually of the world. They were tares among wheat. But chapter two, verse 20, tells us that we have an unction. We have an anointing that will enable us to discern the difference between those that are of the and those that are of the world. We have an unction. We have an anointing. The Holy Spirit and his work in our lives. And John says that those who are not of the world. I’m sorry, that are not of the Word, but are of the world will deny that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. They will deny the Christ that is revealed clearly in Scripture. They will have some other version of Christ than what the Bible clearly says that Christ is. Certainly the Gnostics had their version. But there’s many other perversions of who Jesus Christ is. But he is none other than the Son of God, come to destroy the works of the devil, come to take away our sins. He is none other than Jesus Christ, the Son of God, come to give us light and life and fullness of joy. As we turn from our sin to the Savior and we walk in the light and we confess everything is true that he says is true. We confess it is true. Instead of making Him a liar, we confess that, yes, we have sinned and we have sinned and we’ve come short of the glory of God, but thank God that He so loved us that He. He laid down his life for us and that we are that to keep his commandments is not grievous to us because of the great love that he’s revealed to us and shown us in Christ. It’s not a burden for us. It’s not grievous for us to serve him because he’s given us everything. He’s laid down his life for us.

Well, we have an anointing that will help us to see the difference between those that are of the Word and those that are of the world. And having this anointing, we’re not to believe. Every spirit, John says in chapter four, verse one, every spirit. Well, he says, try the spirits, try them, test them, examine them, whether they be of God or the God of this world. Try them, have exercise, discernment. How are you going to do that? How are you going to prove? How are you going to try? How are you going to test? You’ve got to know the word. You’ve got to try by the standard of God’s Word, with the enabling of His Spirit. Because many false prophets are going out into the world. I spoke with one this past week. He told me I needed to be born again. He told me that he was God’s prophet, sent for these last times, that we needed to stop meeting together in churches and that we needed to come and follow Him, David the Beloved, and that we needed to. He asked me, how long has it been since you’ve seen the power of God in healing people and all of these things? And he was telling me all this stuff and I found it frankly quite interesting that his own wife didn’t respect him. And she kept saying, honey, leave the man alone, come back by. And she was saying stuff. I said, well, perhaps you need to get your own house in order before you start telling me that I need to abandon my church and follow you. He’s a false prophet. He’s a false prophet. But there are many such. I mean, that one was pretty obvious, but there’s some that are more cunning, I guess we can say, than he is. And yet he thought very highly of himself. I heard. I me my quite a bit in that or not a conversation. But A diatribe that he was sharing with me.

Chapter three and chapter three, verse one. The world doesn’t know or understand the believer because it doesn’t know our Savior. It doesn’t know Jesus Christ. The world denies that Jesus Christ is the Son of God because they don’t know Him. They don’t know who he is, and we should not marvel. Chapter 3, verse 13 says, if the world hates us, marvel not, my brethren, if the world hates you, it should not be a surprising thing to you. If the world doesn’t listen to you and agree with you, because they do not know the One the Father sent. We must be careful not to be deceived. Chapter three, verse seven. But whosoever is of God will keep his word and will not continue in sin. Don’t be deceived by those who say they’re of God, but they’re living in direct contradiction to what God has revealed in His Word. Don’t be intimidated. Don’t be sidetracked by that. Because that’s what these early Christians were beginning to face. The Gnostics were outright denying many of the Scriptures. And yet they were earnest and they were motivated, but they were false. False teachers and false prophets. He whosoever is of God will keep his word and will not continue in sin and not practice sin. We are in this world, but we’re not of this world. And this is why the world will hate the believer. Right? Look in John 15:19 together. Look over in the gospel according to John 15:19. It says there in John 15:19, if ye were of the world, the world would love his own. But because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you because I’ve chosen you out of this world.

Instead of being overcome by the world, the Christian overcomes the world, overcomes the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eye, that God’s enabling overcomes the pride of life, the means by which God used to control our hearts and lives, and still does. Those who are the children of disobedience, and he manipulates by those means those who are living in sin. But chapter 5, verse 4 says, Whatsoever is born of God. Chapter 5:1 John 5:4 says, for whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world. And this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God? We overcome the world very simply because we believe the Word. Believe the word. Not only do we say we believe the Word, but we. We trust in that Word and obey that word. Chapter 5, verses 11 and 12 says, this is the record that God hath given to us eternal life. And this life is in His Son. He that hath a Son hath life. And he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. Well, we overcome the world because we have the Son. And we have the Son because we believe the Word, the Word. We believe the record God has given us of His Son. And in him is life. And that life is the light of men. And we overcome by faith in the Word as we pray, as we pray the Word of God, as we pray what God has revealed to us in his word. Chapter 5, verse 14 says, this is the confidence that we have in him, that if we ask anything according to his will, his revealed will that we hold in our hands, we hear with our ears. If we ask anything according to his revealed will. What does it say? What’s the promise here? It says, he heareth us. And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desire of Him. I don’t know if you’ve watched. I guess everyone’s watched the movie Sheffy, but when he was praying once, someone said, when you pray, it sounds almost as if you’re talking directly to God. He said, well, in so many words, I do. To whom do you pray? I pray to God. When I pray, I speak with Him. Sometimes we get so used to the formalities of we’ve prayed so many times. Are we really communicating with God based upon what he’s revealed to us? Are we just talking with Him? Are we really praying to Him? Are we just going through the motions? Are we praying? This is the confidence that we have if we ask anything according to his will. Lord, you know you’ve told me in your Word, Lord, You’ve revealed this to us. You’ve said this in your Word. And I’m pleading with you based on your promises. And I remember what your Word commands us. And I’m asking you to help me with this, Lord, if you command it, you’ll also give the grace to fulfill that and obey that command. So help me in this, Lord. I need your grace. I need your patience. I need your wisdom.

And then we believe the witness what God’s Word says when he tells us that Jesus came and why he came. And he has come. He has come as chapter four, verse nine tells us. Chapter four, verse nine says this and this was manifested the love of God toward us because that God sent His only begotten Son into the world that we might live through Him. God sent his Son. We believe that he sent His Son, that we might live through Him. We believe that he sent His Son in the flesh. Chapter four, verse two. We believe that he sent His Son and he appeared by water and blood, public baptism and the death on the cross that the scriptures tell us. He died, he gave witness. And even those present at his death said, surely this was the Son of God. He came. Chapter three, verse five says, to take away our sin and in him is no sin. Chapter 3, verse 8. He came to destroy the works of the devil. We believe that Jesus came according to the will of the Father to do what this book tells us he came to do. And now we are to live through Him. And as we live through him, as we walk in the light, as he’s in the light, we have fellowship, we have joy, we have assurance, we have confidence, we have a blessed life. The Lord came not only that we might have life, but we might have it more abundantly as John revealed in his gospel, I believe. But he came that we might not be hateful and hating one another any longer, but that we might love the brethren. That we might not live in sin and live according to the lust of the flesh, lust of the eye, pride of life, but that we might live through Jesus Christ. I close with the words of the first verse of that hymn. We don’t have it in our hymnal, but it’s called My song Is Love Unknown. My Savior’s love to me Love to the loveless shown that they might lovely be. Oh who am I that for my sake my Lord should take frail flesh and die? That’s the spirit of this epistle. That God would send his only begotten Son, that we might live through Him. We might not live for this world. In the world we’re not living for the world. Don’t be surprised if the world hates you. Love the brethren anyway. Pray according to God’s will. Live according to God’s will and experience the fullness of joy that comes through knowing Him.

Let’s pray, Father. What great and precious promises we have been given. Oh Lord, help us not to live below our privileges today. Help us to take hold of all the promised blessings. We pray that you would guide us in this time, intervening between the morning worship hour for Sunday school and the morning worship hour. And bless in that time of worship as well. This morning we pray in Jesus name Amen.