Hi, this is the Hymn We Proclaim podcast. As a child of God, do you sometimes still live in fear or shame about things about your past? According to John Fawnville, when a child of God is being crippled by shame and guilt, it's not life, it's hell on earth. Christians sometimes say they dread the day when Christ returns because of their past failures. The series we're currently in explores why children of God do not have to worry about that day.
In contrast, the followers of Satan on that day will have much to face. Let's look at the next episode called Children of God and Children of the Devil. Here's part 6. Go ahead and take your Bibles and turn to the book of 1 John, chapter 3. It's a season of looking forward to the coming of Christ.
In his second coming, when he comes to judge the living and the dead. and to make all things new.
So it's appropriate that this passage that we're looking at in 1 John is set within the context of Christ suffering. Second coming. Just like the Old Testament saints who look forward in hope to Christ's first coming, we New Testament saints look forward to Christ in his second coming. 1 John 3, verses 2 to 3, John exhorts his little children. He exhorts us, he says, look forward in hope.
to Christ appearing. Look forward in hope. To Christ's appearing. That's the whole context of this whole passage from chapter 2, verse 28, to chapter 3, verse 10. It's set within this context, he says, of Christ's second coming.
And John says this looking forward in hope has this purifying effect upon God's children. It empowers God's children, he says, to do what is right.
Now, this phrase, doing what is right, practicing righteousness, is John's entire point of this paragraph. He's seeking to encourage his little children, to encourage us to do what is right. He writes to them to motivate them to do what is right. He says, look at chapter 2, verse 18. He says in chapter 2 verse 18, he says, the last hour.
Why? Because these antichrists He says, have appeared. These anti-Christs have come up within their congregations. And he says, because of the appearance of these antichrists within the fellowship of their churches, these antichrists, chapter 2, verse 26, chapter 3, verse 7, we'll see today. These antichrists, they're seeking to deceive God's children.
and take them away from Christ. And so John concludes this, is that their presence in rebellious actions have led John to conclude it's the last hour, chapter 2 verse 18, children, it is the last hour.
So, what is John talking about? What is this last hour?
Well, the last hour is the final stage of God's dealings with the world. We have to understand this about God's timetable and redemptive history. There's nothing left that needs to be done at this point except for Christ to return. That's all that's left. And John says that it's the last hour, it's the last stage of God's dealings with this world.
Jesus in his first coming inaugurated the last hour, the last days by his death, his burial, and his resurrection. And his second coming, when he comes again, he'll bring to consummation. The consummation of history on this last day, in these last days. But until Christ returns, this is what the Bible calls this period between the first and second coming of Christ. It calls it the last hour, the last days.
Why is this important? Here's why. Because John teaches us In 1 John, at this final stage of history in which we find ourselves here today. It has a chief characteristic, which is rebellion. This chief characteristic of this last hour, this final stage before Christ returns, John says, will be characterized by hostility, by this rebellion.
toward Christ and toward his people. Jesus taught this exact point. Throughout the Gospel of Matthew, let me just give you one example. Matthew chapter 24, verses 10 through 12, Jesus tells his disciples that prior to his second coming, he says this present age will be characterized by apostasy, false teaching in the church. He says, false teachers will seek to lead people astray from the truth.
And he says there is increasing rebellion. Listen to what Jesus says. He says at that time, just prior to his second coming, at that time, he says, many will fall away.
Now, I don't know when Christ is going to return. Nobody knows when Christ will return. It could happen today. But prior to his return, Jesus says this, that he says many. Do you hear that?
Many will fall away. This is exactly what we've been seeing happen after COVID. Many people Many people have been just walking away from the church. Jesus says, this is exactly what we are to expect. He says, at that time, many will fall away and will betray one another and hate.
one another. I don't know about you, but you can feel and sense and see evidence of this increasing hostility in our culture now. He says, verse 11: many false prophets will arise, and he says, We'll mislead many. Why? Because lawlessness, rebellion, the exact term that John uses throughout 1 John.
He says, is increased. Prior to Jesus' coming, this rebellion, this lawlessness will increase. Against Christ and his church, against Christ and his people. And he says, most people's love will become. Cold.
And so there's this, there's this. Throughout Paul's letters, I don't have time to show you, but throughout Paul's letters, particularly in like 2 Thessalonians, Paul talks about this spirit of rebellion that comes up within the church. Prior to Christ's coming, and Paul warns believers, he says, fight against and don't give into this spirit of rebellion. toward Christ and towards his people, towards his church. The satanic rebellion, the spirit of rebellion that Jesus speaks of is exactly what John is speaking of in 1 John.
And so, because of this rebellion by some former church members, that John says has left the church and come back to deceive John's children. He said because of this rebellion John's Readers were now questioning their status as the children of God. They were asking this question: well, are we the children of God? They say they're the children of God. But we say we're the children of God, but they've seen God, they know God.
But they say you haven't seen God. You don't know God like we have seen him like we know him So there was this confusion brought about by this spirit of rebellion. And so John writes to assure his readers of their status as the children of God and to assure them, as I've shown you week after week, he contrasts three characteristics of the children of God: chapter 2, verse 28 to chapter 3, verse 3. With two characteristics, the children of the devil, chapter 3, verses 4 through 10. And to have this contrast set before them, John's children in the faith can look at this contrast and they can say, well, that's not characteristic of my life.
And so they can say, we can have assurance. Last week And we looked at this first characteristic of the children of the devil, chapter 3, verses 4 to 6. And this is what John says. He says, the children of the devil are characterized by satanic rebellion. Look at chapter three, verses four through six, just very quickly to review.
This is what John says. He says, everyone who practices sin, he's talking about the sin of rebellion. Everyone who practices rebellion practices lawlessness, rebellion. He says, sin is lawlessness, it's rebellion. And he tells his little children, he says, You know that he appeared in order to take away sins, to take away this rebellion.
And then there's no sin, there's no rebellion in Christ. Verse 6: No one who abides in him sins. No one who abides in Christ commits rebellion against Christ. He says, No one who sins, no one who commits rebellion has seen him or knows Christ. And we saw that John is not teaching sinless perfection.
He's not teaching that believers sin occasionally, but not habitually. Because as we saw last week from the book of 1 John, John says the chief characteristic of Christians is this, what? They sin continually, all the time, in thought, word, and deed, which is why they confess their sins constantly. If you're confessing sin constantly, you're sinning constantly. You see, the false teachers are saying they didn't sin anymore, that they were perfect.
And John says that's not the characteristic of a child of God. A characteristic of a child of God is what we do each week in this church. We drop to our knees and confess our sin and cry out, Lord, have mercy, right? That's what a Christian does. And what is John teaching?
He's teaching that this specific sin of the secessionists, this satanic rebellion against Christ. who has come in the flesh to save you from your sins. These former church members, chapter 2, verse 19, who John says, they have left us. They went out from us because they're not of us. He says, they deny that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of God.
Chapter 2, verses 22 and 23, that He has come in the flesh. Chapter 4, verses 2 to 3. Chapter 5, verse 6, they deny that Jesus' death for their sins was vicarious. What does that mean? in place of They denied that Jesus was the Christ come in the flesh who died for them.
in place in there and who has Render to God A satisfaction on the cross, which changed his wrath into grace for us. They denied that. And so, this is what John is talking about in verses 4 to 6: this rebellion, this rejection of Christ, this specific sin. John says that those who are born of God cannot and do not commit this sin. Verse 8, John says that this sin of rebellion that he talks about in verse 4, he calls it in verse 8 the rebellion of the devil.
This brings us to the second characteristic this week of the children of the devil. Verses 7 through 10, the children of the devil are characterized by a satanic desire to deceive. The children of the devil are characterized by this satanic desire to deceive. Look at verse 7 with me. He says, little children, make sure no one deceives you.
Why? Because what is the devil? He's the chief deceiver. And he says, these are the children of the devil. They're just like their father, the devil.
They want to deceive you. They want to lead you astray from Christ, from the truth. They want to hurt you. Little children, make sure no one deceives you. The one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as he is righteous.
Verse 8, the one who practices sin is of the devil. Why? For the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose to destroy the works of the devil. Look at verse 9.
No one who is born of God practices sin because his seed abides in him, and he cannot sin because he is born of God. Verse 10: By this, the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious. It's clear, it's plain, it's out there to see clearly. He says, anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love. His brother.
So John teaches us this second characteristic of the children of the devil. They're characterized by this satanic desire to deceive. In verses seven through ten, John is continuing his teaching on this rebellious sin. And he teaches in this passage that there are two ways that the secessionists, those who had left the church and come back into the church, there are two ways that they sought to deceive John's little children. First, they seek to deceive them by claiming to know God while rejecting Christ come in the flesh.
They're trying to deceive them to believe the wrong things about God. Chapter 2, verses 22 and 23, as I just mentioned, they claim to know God. Yet, through this claim to know God, they rejected Christ. come in human flesh who have revealed God This is what John does. He mourns his children.
Little children, do not be deceived. This is what he's saying. There's no knowledge of God apart from Christ come in the flesh. He's teaching them from the very beginning of this letter, chapter 1, verses 1 to 4. We're going to come back to that in a moment.
Because the whole. letter of 1 John rests on those first four verses of this letter. John is teaching his little children. He says, Don't be deceived. There's no knowledge, there's no saving knowledge of God apart from Christ come in human flesh.
He's telling them the incarnate Christ has made God known. Jesus is God's word to us. This is what John teaches in chapter one of his gospel. Listen to this. In chapter one, he says: in the beginning was the word.
And he says, and the word was with God. The word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him. And apart from him, nothing came into being that has come into being.
Verse 14, the word became flesh. God became flesh. God took on humanity. He says, the word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we saw his glory. Glory is of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.
Verse 18, no one has seen God. The secessionists said in this exact passage that we're looking at, they have seen God. They said we have seen God And John says, No one has seen God. At any time. He says the only begotten God who is in the heart of the Father, He has explained him.
And so John says, to know God. We have to know Christ. And John teaches that we come to know Christ through the preaching of the gospel, which is based upon the witness account of the apostles. Look at chapter 1, verses 1 through 4. This is what your faith rests upon today.
This is the apostolic eyewitness account of the apostles who encountered God in human flesh. What was from the beginning? That is from the moment of his birth. His incarnation, what was from the beginning, what we have heard. what we have seen with our eyes.
What we have looked at best like you put it under a microscope and study it very carefully. And what we have touched with our hands physically. Look at this, concerning the word of life. This is the apostolic eyewitness account that John gives. Of the gospel.
John says the gospel is what you can hear, what you can see, what you can touch. He's a person, he's God in human flesh. He is. He calls it the word of life. And he says, and this life was manifested, and we have seen and testified and proclaimed to you the eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us.
Verse 3: What we have seen and heard, we proclaim to you, that you too may have fellowship with us, and our fellowship indeed is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. Christ. These false teachers, these anti-Christ calls and these secessionists, they said, we've seen God, we know God. But yet they deny Jesus come in the flesh to reveal this. God that people have not seen.
And John says, no, don't listen to that. You cannot know God in a saving way apart from Christ because it's the preaching of the gospel that we're brought to faith in Jesus Christ by the Holy Spirit. 1 John 2, verse 27, he says that the Holy Spirit. teaches us About this incarnate Christ. God in human flesh.
And so John is teaching little children. Don't be deceived. Don't listen to those who tell you they've seen God, they know God, yet reject. Christ rebels against Christ. Why?
Because the preaching of the gospel, Christ. conquers our rebellious hearts. That we can receive and rest in him, receive and rest in Christ as our Savior.
So, this is the first way that these secessionists attempted to deceive John's little children. They claimed to know God apart from and rejecting rebellion against Christ, come in the flesh. Here's a second. The second attempt to deceive John's little children, they sought to mislead them by thinking there's no connection between knowing God. and doing what is right.
There's no connection. John's first warning against being deceived was related to these secessionist false beliefs. But here in chapter 3, verses 7 through 10, his warning is against is... related to their sinful living. These secessionists, these antichrists, were teaching John's little children that knowing God in one's conduct had no relationship.
And the secessionists were not just heretical, denying Christ's true identity, also sinful, destructive of righteous living, destructive of doing what is right. Look at verses 7 and 8. John says, The one who practices righteousness is righteous just as he is righteous. Verse 8, but one who practices sin, that's rebellion. The one who practices rebellion is the devil.
Why? Because the devil has sinned and rebelled from the beginning. John says the secessionist, he's antichrist. Peace. Listen, this is a g powerful description.
He says that they live like the devil. We've heard this phrase before, living like the devil. John says that's exactly what they're doing. They're living like the devil. They claim to know God, but they live like the devil.
And they're trying to deceive God, John's little children, by saying there's no relationship between knowing God and your sinful and your conduct. They have no relationship. And John says, these secessionists, by their rebellious beliefs and their rebellious lifestyle, reveal who their true father is. The devil. John says they're children of the devil because they've practiced rebellion against Christ.
They hate God's people. They seek to deceive God's people. They seek that they leave, abandon the church. And John says they are children of the devil. Why?
Because they're under the control of the devil. They practice rebellion just like the devil, who rebelled, he says, from the very beginning. But in contrast, John's little children, they weren't rebelling. They were trusting God, Jesus, who has come in the flesh for their salvation. They express their paternity, they express who their father is.
John says in chapter 2, verses 29 through chapter 3, verse 1: they're born of God and loved by God the Father. And John exhorts his little children. He says, He says, don't be deceived by these false teachers, these antichrists, who claim that rebellion against Christ, rejection of Christ, doesn't matter. John says in verse 8, rebellion matters. Why?
Because he says, the Son of God appeared to destroy the works of the devil. What does he mean by that? What are the works in the devil? Rebellion. Thus the works that Jesus appeared to destroy.
Look at verse 9. John assures his little children that the works of the devil have been destroyed. No one who was born of God Practice this sin, practice his rebellion. Because his scene... Abides in him, and he cannot sin.
He cannot rebel because he's born of God. What is the seed? When is the seed that abides in God's children? John teaches about in the letters the Holy Spirit. He teaches that those who have trusted in Christ have been born of the Spirit.
They have the Spirit of God dwelling in them. And John says, God's seed, the Holy Spirit, abides in them, and he doesn't lead believers to practice rebellion, to reject Christ, and to separate knowing God from how they live their life. He says the Holy Spirit empowers believers to do what is right. They practice righteousness. What is practicing righteousness in this context?
What is knowing right in this context?
Well, you have to go back to chapter 1, verse 7. And he tells you in chapter 1, verse 7, he says, to practice righteousness, he says, is to listen, he says, walk in the light. Walking in the light. What is it to walk in the light? Walking in the light is simply this: it is to be open and to receive God's revelation of Himself to us in Christ.
Bernie has In contrast, they walk in the darkness. What is walking in the darkness? It's refusing to receive God's revelation of himself in Christ. John teaches throughout this letter that the indwelling work of the Holy Spirit, the seed of God, testifies of Christ and causes the children of God to receive and rest in Christ as he's revealed to us by the apostolic eyewitness account. That's why you have to go back to chapter 1, verses 1 through 4.
The whole letter rests upon chapter 1, verses 1 through 4. Second. Practicing righteousness and doing what is right means to be obedient to his commandments. God's children keep God's commandments. What are his commandments?
Look at chapter 3. Look at verse 23. John tells you what he's talking about. Chapter 3, verse 23. This is his commandment.
Listen, first that we believe In the name of his Son, Jesus Christ. That we walk in light, that we don't reject God's revelation of Himself in Christ in the human flesh. Second. Look what he says, verse 23: that we love one another just as he commanded us. What were the secessionists doing?
They weren't loving John's little children. They were seeking to deceive them. Deception isn't love. is hate. And John will talk about this in the second half of this letter.
in great detail. What were they doing? How were they hating the children of God? They were leaving them. They were deserting the fellowship of the churches.
They were coming back in, seeking to deceive and lead them astray. And John says, the Holy Spirit doesn't lead us to abandon. The church The Holy Spirit doesn't lead us to reject God in human flesh, Christ come in the flesh. The Holy Spirit doesn't lead us to deceive and lead believers astray in what they believe and how they live. That's not the work of the Spirit.
And so at the end of chapter 3, verse 7, John says, The one who practices righteousness keeps his commandments. is righteous just as he is righteous. That's quite a statement, isn't it? John says, And one who practices righteousness. Is righteous just as Christ is righteous.
Back in chapter 2, verse 1, he calls Jesus Christ. He says, Jesus is Jesus Christ the righteous. He's the one without sin. In this context, be as righteous as Christ is to what? What?
It's to be without rebellion. In chapter 3, verse 5, John says, Jesus appeared to take away our sins, he appeared to take away our rebellion. And he says, and in Christ there's no sin, there's no rebellion. Why? Because in Christ there was perfect obedience.
He gave himself obediently to death, even death upon a cross for our salvation. In chapter 3, verse 8 and 9, John says, Jesus appeared to destroy the works of the devil, to destroy the devil's rebellion, which he says has been from the very beginning. And so he says, and this result of Christ's saving work is that those who are born of God don't rebel. But they practice righteousness just like Jesus, who was righteous, who is not rebellious but obedient. Look at chapter 3, verse 10 as he sums up this whole argument.
He brings this whole paragraph to a conclusion and restates the characteristics by which the children of God can be distinguished from the children of the devil. He says, by this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious. It's clear. It's plain. It's evident.
You can see it. He says those anyone, those who do not practice righteousness. Says, isn't not of God. They're not born of God. They don't have the Holy Spirit.
They don't have the seed of God. They've not been born of the Spirit. And he says, who does not love his brother? And so John says, doing what is right, and not doing what is right. These are the identifying marks of the children of God and the children of the devil.
And John is assuring his readers And he's assuring us. That we are the children of God because he says the children of God can't commit the sin. Which is what? Rebellion, rejection of Christ come in the flesh. They don't commit this.
They cannot commit this. Because the Holy Spirit abides in them. It's impossible for the children of God to commit rebellion because God's seed, the Holy Spirit, remains in them and they cannot do this. That's not a characteristic of a child of God. And he says, as the children of God do what is right because they're righteous, as Jesus is righteous.
There are two lessons for us that John gives us that's important to help us with our assurance. Look at chapter 3, verse 1. In this paragraph, chapter three, verses one through ten, there are two imperatives that bracket. That served for us is a reminder that structure John's argument and that that serve as a reminder for our assurance. Here's the first imperative, chapter 3, verse 1.
John tells us to see. He says three, see. Look at this. He says, See how great a love the Father has bestowed upon us that we should be called children of God, and such we are. That's his first imperative.
He calls us to see. Do you know what your greatest need is here today? Mine too. It is to see Christ. Christ.
It is to see Christ. Why? Because Christ reveals to us the Father's great love. For us. Christ reveals God to us.
Christ reveals the Father's great Love for us. And this is what John is saying. He's saying, see this. See how great love the Father has bestowed upon us that we should be called children of God and such we are. We have to see this.
We have to know this. We have to be assured of this. Why? Because seeing that is what motivates us to obey. The gospel is what encourages us to do what is right, to practice righteousness, to obey, to keep His commandments.
How great love the Father has for us. Through the incarnation of his Son, applied by the teaching power of the Holy Spirit. That's John's argument to us today. And so, what I pray for you, and what we pray each week as we come to this time of teaching, is this simple prayer. Lord Father, Heavenly Father, give us eyes to what?
Yeah. Give us eyes to see. There's nothing worse than being spiritually blinded. to Christ. Because if you don't see Christ, you don't see the great love that the Father has.
has for you. Why? Because you cannot know God the Father apart from God the incarnate Son come in human flesh. You have to see this. That's the first imperative, and that's what John teaches.
The second, here's the second imperative. The structures this paragraph, verse 7. John exhorts his little children, do not be deceived. That's it. Do not be deceived.
What is the work of the devil? It's to deceive us into two things. It is to believe what is wrong. And second, to live wrong. Go back to the temptation account in Eden.
What did the devil seek to do to Adam and Eve? He sought to deceive them concerning what God said. Did God say to you, Adam? Right. deceiving what God's word said.
And having deceived them to lead them to rebel against God. And that is exactly what took place. And this is what John is teaching us. We have to guard against this tendency to be deceived. We are so easily deceived because, why?
We're sheep. And shape. Art smart. Sheep can just be led astray to the slaughter. Isaiah 53, right?
Like sheep. We're led. Why Jesus was to the slaughter, and we were led. Jesus wasn't dumb, he voluntarily gave up his life. We are.
We have to guard against this tendency to be deceived and led astray into believing the wrong things and second, believe the wrong things, live the wrong way. Think about it like this in the context as we wrap this up. In view of Christ's return, how tragic is it to go through life deceived? I'm blinded. Not seeing Christ and deceived.
How tragic that is. My uncle, I woke up this morning. My dad called me. My uncle died last night. I drove all the way to church with my parents, talking with them about my Uncle Bob.
Loved my Uncle Bob. The last time I saw Uncle Bob was when he came to my ordination service at the cathedral in Tallahassee. And he got to hear the gospel there. And I was thinking about how fast and fleeting life is. And so I was thinking, how.
Tragic is it? How tragic is it? That in view of the return of Christ, that you go through your whole life blinded, not seeing Christ. I'm not saying Uncle Bob, I'm just saying, using that as an example. It's urgent that we see this.
How tragic is it that we go through life blinded and never see Christ, never know God? and go through life deceived. Believing the wrong things and living in the wrong way, and when Christ returns, it's too late. That's the context John is writing about here. The whole context is set within the context of Christ's return.
This is the first Sunday of Advent. We are to look forward in hope. John says, This is the last hour. This is the final stage. Nothing left has to be done.
This is it in God's redemptive timetable. This is it. The only thing left is his return. And so John says in chapter 2, verse 28, that the children of God abide in Christ, receive the gospel, trust Christ. Because they do this Listen to the benefit they have confidence, and don't shrink away from Jesus in shame when he comes again.
But how tragic is it if a person is blinded to Christ, they don't see Christ? They don't know God. Through Christ who's come in the flesh. And they've spent their whole life deceived.
So that when they stay and when Christ returns, they stand before God. Connemed. When Jesus returns and they finally see the truth of who Jesus is after a lifetime of believing incorrectly about who Jesus is. and teaching others to do the same. John says, do not be deceived.
Don't be deceived. Jesus is returning to consummate his kingdom. Therefore, do not reject Jesus, who is the Christ Messiah, come in the flesh. Don't be deceived. Don't reject him.
Don't rebel against him. He says, Jesus is coming again to judge the living and the dead. Therefore, do not reject his death on the cross as a propitiation for your sins, who has satisfied God's wrath against you for your sins. Don't reject that. John says to these little children, he says to us, don't believe the lie that you can know God apart from Christ in human flesh, who has come in human flesh.
Don't believe that lie. John says, Don't believe the lie that the Holy Spirit leads you away from this apostolic eyewitness account, which they heard, they saw with their eyes, they studied under a microscope, and they touched. They touched the word of life. They touched the gospel. They saw him.
John says, Don't believe a lie. The Holy Spirit doesn't lead you from that. That apostolic eyewitness account, he grounds you in it. Let me just summarize this section for you as we finish. What is John exhorting his little children?
What is he exhorting us? This is it. He's saying, abide in him. Stay with Christ. Don't be deceived by those who claim to have seen God and know God, but reject Christ.
Do not be deceived by those who teach that knowing God and your conduct have no relationship. Don't follow those who are characterized by rebellion against Christ and his church. These people are self-deceived. They went out from us, but they're not of us. They don't walk in the light, they walk in the darkness.
They don't have the promise of eternal life.
So, do not be deceived. Remain in Christ. Abide in Christ, who was given to you by the apostles, so that when Christ appears, you can have confidence. and not shrink away from him in shame. When he comes...
Again. And that's John's exhortation to us today. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for Christ who has come in the flesh. We thank you that by your Holy Spirit.
We are trusting Christ, and I pray that each person here today. Would see Christ, where no Christ. Who has come in the flesh. and given himself On the cross, in our place for our salvation, to save us from your wrath to come. I pray each of us would have the comfort and assurance to know that we are the children of God.
So help us to see how great a love the Father you have for us. and protect us from being deceived. We ask in Jesus' name. Amen. Thanks again for listening to the Hymn We Proclaim podcast.
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