New Testament Survey: James thru
Jude
CCEA
School of Discipleship
October
27, 2024
Introduction
If you were in person for the class, you’d be given a chance to share what
you’ve picked up from the homework this week – our reading assignment in
Halley’s Bible Handbook.
IDEA: Does anyone have their Bible verse for the final
memorized? I’ll give two of you a chance
to take your final early if you’d be willing to stand up, share your verse, and
tell us why you chose it.
We have finished all of Paul’s epistles
We now enter into the “General” epistles, also
called the “catholic” epistles, the letters written by various other authors,
and addressed to the church in general.
The word “catholic” comes from the Greek (καθολικός)
meaning “about the whole,” that is “universal,” “world-wide,” “all
inclusive.”
The Roman Catholic church has adopted this word as if they are the “whole”
church. Which they are not.
James
Book Background
The book of James is possibly one of the earliest
things written in the New Testament.
It’s thought to have been written around AD 40-50
It was addressed to the Jewish Christians who were scattered around the
world (1:1)
It was written by James, the half-brother of Jesus.
He was a half-brother because though they both had Mary for a mother, they
had different fathers.
James’ father was Joseph, while Jesus’ father was God.
The epistle is a legacy of the wisdom that James had learned over the
years.
His teachings are going to be very practical and will draw much from Jesus’
Sermon on the Mount, as well as the book of Proverbs.
This book is sometimes referred to as the “Proverbs of the New Testament”.
Author Background
The New Testament tells us quite a bit about James (it will be in my
notes…)
During Jesus’ ministry on earth, his brothers didn’t believe in Jesus.
(Mark 3:20–21 NKJV)
—20 Then the multitude came together again, so that they could not so
much as eat bread. 21 But when His own people heard
about this, they went out to lay hold of Him, for they said, “He is out
of His mind.”
They even thought Jesus was crazy.
The people of Nazareth knew who James was.
When Jesus went to Nazareth to teach in the synagogue …
(Mark 6:3 NKJV) Is this not
the carpenter, the Son of Mary, and brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon?
And are not His sisters here with us?” So they were
offended at Him.
His brothers did not believe during Jesus’ ministry.
(John 7:4-5 NKJV) 4 For no one does anything in secret while
he himself seeks to be known openly. If You do these things, show Yourself to
the world.” 5 For even His brothers did not
believe in Him.
Yet James was among those who saw Jesus after His resurrection.
(1 Corinthians 15:7
NKJV) After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles.
James was among those who were meeting in the upper room after Jesus
ascended into heaven.
(Acts 1:14 NKJV) These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication,
with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.
He would have been there on Pentecost when the Holy Spirit fell.
James was considered one of the leaders of the church in Jerusalem. When
Peter was released from prison, he told the prayer meeting
(Acts 12:16–17
NKJV) …he said, “Go, tell these things to James and to the brethren.” And
he departed and went to another place.
James was one of those that Paul consulted with very early after having
come to believe in Jesus.
(Galatians 1:18–19
NKJV) —18 Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter, and remained with him fifteen days. 19 But I saw none of the other apostles except James, the Lord’s
brother.
At the first church council in Jerusalem, it was James that summarized what
had been said and who gave the decree of what the church thought was correct
concerning the Gentiles being saved.
(Acts 15:13 NKJV) —13 And after they had become silent, James answered, saying…
On Paul’s last journey through Jerusalem, James was still there, and Paul
checked in with him.
(Acts 21:18–19
NKJV) —18 On the following day Paul went in with us to James, and all
the elders were present. 19 When he had greeted them, he told in
detail those things which God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry.
In early church writings, he is known as “James the Just” because of his
piety and reverence for the law.
Ancient church historian Eusebius mentions James’ prayer life:
was frequently found upon his
knees begging forgiveness for the people, so that his knees became hard like
those of a camel, in consequence of his constantly bending them in his worship
of God, and asking forgiveness for the people[1]
Some called him “old camel knees”
Several ancient writers recorded James’ death.
There are at least three historical accounts (Eusebius, Hegesippus,
Josephus).
It seems that he had been preaching to the Jewish leaders.
The high priest Ananus took him to the pinnacle
of the temple, and when he refused to recant his belief in Jesus, he was tossed
down.
He didn’t die from the fall. Some
began to throw stones at him until a man came up with a club and killed him.
This all happened shortly before the last Jewish revolt.
His death took place somewhere around AD 66.
The city of Jerusalem was wiped out in AD 70.
Outline
The way the letter is laid out –
Chapter one is filled with short little statements that are sort of a hint
of the themes that will be discussed a bit longer in chapters 2-5.
James 1 – Trials and Temptations
There are quite a few subjects dealt with in the first chapter, but two of
the key ones involve trials and then later temptations–
(James 1:2–4 NKJV)
—2 My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various
trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. 4 But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be
perfect and complete, lacking nothing.
The Greek word translated “fall into” (vs.2) is literally falling into
something where you are surrounded on all sides (peripipto)
It’s like the time that Han, Luke, and Leia fell into the trash compactor,
and then it starts to close in on them…
(in class only) Play “Trash Compactor” video
When our faith is tested like this, it produces “patience”.
The word for “patience” is hupomone,
which means “to remain under”. It’s the
characteristic of a person who will not bail on their faith, but who will
continue clinging to Jesus even when things are hardest.
But it doesn’t stop there. Patience
produces something, and that’s us becoming “perfect” (teleios),
or “mature”, or “grown up”.
Lesson
Growing Up
I don’t know if you remember this from the 1960s (I know some of you
weren’t even born yet)
That was a fun
song when we were kids, but when you see forty-year-old men who have never
grown up, it’s pretty sad.
James gives us a formula for our maturity as believers:
Trials + Endurance = Maturity
I believe it’s been said that an
addict will stay emotionally frozen at the age they started their addiction
until they learn to deal with their addiction.
I’ve seen
fifty-year-old men throwing temper tantrums like a child because they didn’t
get their way.
Why is this
so? I wonder if it isn’t related to the
idea that an addict “self-medicates” or indulges their addiction rather than
feel whatever pain or difficulty they are going through.
Are you going through a
difficult time right now?
James would challenge you to
look at your perspective about it.
This is a
chance to grow a little more if you will “remain under” a little longer and
endure.
James 2 – Partiality & Dead Faith
The first part of the chapter deals with the sin of playing favorites with
people at church – like reserving the best seats at church for those who have
the most money.
(James 2:9 NKJV) but if you
show partiality, you commit sin, and are convicted by
the law as transgressors.
In high school we had the “cool kids” and then the rest of us. Do you treat those who aren’t “cool”
different than you do the “cool kids”?
The biggest controversy in the book of James is how he handles the issue of
faith versus works.
Are we saved by faith as Paul would say (Eph. 2:8-9)?
(Ephesians 2:8–9
NKJV) —8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of
yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of
works, lest anyone should boast.
Or are we saved by doing good works, as James is
reported to say?
(James 2:24 NKJV) You see then
that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only.
Martin Luther did not like the book of James
and he called it a “pile of straw”.
Part of the controversy revolves around the word “justified”.
The Greek word is dikaioo, and translated
“justify, vindicate, or prove to be right”
While Paul uses this word to talk about how people are
“justified” before God by grace through faith, I believe that James is talking
on a more earthly level.
James is talking about how our works show others that our
faith is right.
Even Paul himself is clear with
how important good works are. After saying we are saved by faith, in his
very next sentence Paul writes,
(Ephesians
2:10 NKJV) For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works,
which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
The issue isn’t “Faith or Works”, the issue is “Faith that Works”.
If your faith is genuine, then your life will produce good
works.
James 3 – The Tongue
James gives a warning about the tongue, the words that come out of our
mouths, and how they can cause such destruction –
(James 3:6 NKJV) And the
tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our
members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on
fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell.
James 4 – Humility
We get ourselves into lots of trouble when we operate in pride. Instead we ought to
cultivate humility.
(James 4:10 NKJV) Humble
yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.
James 5 – Riches, Patience, Prayer
Several topics covered here, but one of my favorite passages is –
Key Verse Alert!!
(James 5:16 NKJV) Confess your
trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed.
The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails
much.
Some of us have reacted to the practice of the “confessional” in the Roman
Catholic church in a way so that we tell people that they only need to confess
their sins to God.
And there is truth in that statement. John wrote,
(1
John 1:9 NKJV) If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to
forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
When we admit to God that we’ve done wrong, He will indeed
forgive us.
Yet there is also value from time to time in learning to confess our sins
to others.
This isn’t just about forgiveness, it’s about healing.
Sometimes it’s because we’ve sinned against someone. Relationships need forgiveness.
Sometimes it’s because we have become caught in an
addictive sin. We have trouble stopping
some particular behavior – whether it’s alcohol,
drugs, pornography, or anything that we can’t break free from.
One of the principles learned in the Alcoholics Anonymous
twelve-step program is the help that comes from admitting to another person
that you have a problem.
We bring that sin we’ve been doing in the dark out into
the light.
Sin has trouble flourishing in the dark.
You do need to be careful who you confess your sin to.
Illustration
There’s a story about three pastors who decided to go
fishing on a lake together. When they
get to the middle of the lake, one of the pastors says, “I feel a need to
confess something to you my brothers. I’ve been struggling with lust
and I need you to pray for me.” Then another speaks up, “I too need your
prayer. I’ve been struggling with being
tempted to steal from the offering. Will
you pray for me?” Then the third pastor grabs the oars of the boat and starts
rowing furiously toward the shore. The other
pastors ask him, “What are you doing?”
He replies, “My sin is gossip and I can’t wait
to get back and tell someone all about you two!”
The truth is, some things aren’t
meant to be handled by yourself and God.
There are some things in life, whether it’s a particular sin, or a
physical ailment, that needs the prayers of other
godly people.
1Peter
Background
Themes
Two of the main themes that Peter teaches throughout the letter are
suffering and submission.
Where
Peter writes this letter from a place he calls “Babylon” (1Peter
5:13).
(1 Peter 5:13 NKJV)
She
who is in Babylon, elect together with you, greets you; and so does Mark my son.
Though the ancient city of Babylon was still in existence (barely), there
is no evidence from church history or tradition that Peter ever went there.
There is however great evidence that Peter ended
up in the city of Rome. Some have suggested Peter is writing in “code” to
protect the believers in Rome, and so he refers to Rome as “Babylon”.
John will write in the Revelation of “Babylon the Great” and describe it in
a way that seems like he too is describing Rome (Rev. 17).
It would seem most likely that Peter is writing from Rome.
Note: Mark was with Peter at this time. We think this is the period when Mark
composed his gospel – which was really the story of Jesus from Peter’s
perspective.
When
The church in Rome had been founded before either Paul or Peter ever
arrived.
AD 57 Paul writes his letter to the Romans, and the church is already in
existence.
AD 62 Paul arrives in Rome, under house arrest. He is later released.
AD 62 Peter arrives in Rome after Paul is released
AD 64 Peter writes his first letter around the time that Nero begins his
persecution of Christians.
AD 64 Peter will write this letter from Rome
It was in this year that most of Rome burned, except for Nero’s
palaces. Nero turned on the Christians
as a scapegoat for the fire. Nero
rebuilds and expands his palace after the fire.
Nero was known to take Christians, tie them to poles, cover them with tar,
and light them on fire.
He also had them killed in the arena for sport.
Peter is addressing the letter to those in Asia Minor, and some have
suggested that Peter may have been warning his readers that persecution might
be heading their way.
AD 64 Paul is rearrested and then killed by Nero.
AD 67 Peter is martyred.
AD 68 Nero commits suicide and this first Roman persecution ends.
Destination
Peter tells us he’s writing to believers in Asia Minor (1:1).
(1 Peter 1:1 NKJV) Peter, an
apostle of Jesus Christ, To the pilgrims of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia,
Asia, and Bithynia,
The churches in this area were made up of both Jew and Gentile believers.
Authorship
It was written by Peter.
Yes this is that
Peter. He was one of the “inner three”
of Jesus’ disciples, counted as one of the primary leaders in the early church.
He was born with the name “Simon”, but it was Jesus who nicknamed him
“Peter”, or, “Cephas” (Aramaic) – both of which mean
“Rock”.
We might have called him “Rocky”.
Outline
From Henry Halley:
1Peter 1 – The Christian’s Glorious Inheritance
We have been given an incorruptible inheritance that is reserved for us in
heaven (vs.4)
We can rejoice in our trials because they refine our faith
(1 Peter 1:6–7
NKJV) —6 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need
be, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 that the
genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that
perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory
at the revelation of Jesus Christ,
We are to live holy lives (anyone remember this from Leviticus?)
(1 Peter 1:15–16
NKJV) —15 but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your
conduct, 16 because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.”
1Peter 2-3 – The Christian’s Earthly Pilgrimage
We are a chosen people who need to live lives that honor God.
We are to learn submission:
To the government
At work
At home
Submission for the first century Christian was done in the context of
suffering. Believers were experiencing
the worldwide persecution brought on by Caesar Nero.
Key Verse Alert!
(1 Peter 2:21 NKJV)
For
to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an
example, that you should follow His steps:
When we’re struggling, we need to see what Jesus did.
example – ὑπογραμμός hupogrammos (“under” + “writing”) – an example of
writing given to beginners as an aid in learning to draw them
This is like your first grader’s writing homework. The teacher hands out a page with letters at
the top of the page and your child learns to write the letters by copying
what’s written at the top.
follow – epakoloutheo – to follow (close) upon; to tread in
one’s footsteps
This verb is in the “subjunctive” mood, meaning the mood
of “possibility”.
Jesus didn’t leave us an example so that we definitely WILL follow His steps.
It’s up to us. It’s
possible, but it’s our choice to make.
Peter tell us what Jesus’ footsteps in suffering
looked like:
(1 Peter 2:22–23
NKJV) —22 “Who committed no sin, Nor was deceit
found in His mouth”; 23 who, when He was reviled, did not
revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself
to Him who judges righteously;
QUIZ ALERT!!
Lesson
Follow the Leader
We usually think of “Follow the Leader” as a children’s game.
When our boys were young, we’d play “follow the leader” at the beach and
you had to walk in the leader’s footprints.
For believers, “Follow the Leader” isn’t a game. It’s a way of life.
Jesus has suffered.
He has left huge footprints for us.
We are to follow after Him.
This verse impacted a writer named Charles Sheldon about a hundred years
ago, and he wrote a fictional book entitled, “In His Steps”. In the book he took a small town full of
people who were challenged by one of the pastors to ask themselves the question
“What would Jesus do?” every time they faced a decision.
People’s lives where changed when they began to
look for the footprints of Jesus, to follow His example.
This is where those letters “WWJD” come from.
But this verse is not just about making decisions, it’s about learning what
to do when we suffer.
Do we suffer in the same manner that Jesus did?
Illustration
In His Mother’s Steps
Davida Dalton writes:
It was a busy day in our Costa Mesa, California home. But then, with 10
children and one on the way, every day was a bit hectic. On this particular day, however, I was having trouble doing even
routine chores-all because of one little boy.
Len, who was three at the time, was on my heels no matter where I went.
Whenever I stopped to do something and turned back
around, I would trip over him. Several times, I patiently suggested fun
activities to keep him occupied. “Wouldn’t you like to play on the swing set?”
I asked again.
But he simply smiled an innocent smile and said, “Oh, that’s all right,
Mommy. I’d rather be in here with you.” Then he continued to bounce happily along behind me.
After stepping on his toes for the fifth time, I began to lose my patience
and insisted that he go outside and play with the other children. When I asked
him why he was acting this way, he looked up at me with sweet green eves and
said, “Well, Mommy, in preschool my teacher told me to walk in Jesus’
footsteps. But I can’t see him, so I’m walking in yours.”
1Peter 4-5 – The Painful Trial
We will have suffering in this life
(1 Peter 4:12–13
NKJV) —12 Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which
is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; 13 but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings,
that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy.
Sometimes suffering comes as directed by Satan.
(1 Peter 5:8–9
NKJV) — 8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about
like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. 9 Resist him,
steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same
sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world.
2Peter
Background
2Peter was written shortly after his first letter, just prior to his death
in Rome at the hands of Emperor Nero.
We’d put the date of this letter around AD 67.
Peter knowing that his time on earth is short (1:14) has a message he wants
us to hear.
Tradition tells us that Peter was crucified upside down because he didn’t
think he was worthy to be crucified in the same manner
as his Lord.
One of the key words throughout this letter (speudo)
is the word translated “diligent”, “careful”, or “hastening”.
(2 Peter 1:5 NKJV) But also for
this very reason, giving all diligence, add to
your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge,
(2 Peter
1:10 NKJV) Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent
to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things
you will never stumble;
(2 Peter
1:15 NKJV) Moreover I will be careful to ensure that
you always have a reminder of these things after my decease.
(2 Peter
3:12 NKJV) looking for and hastening the coming of
the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire,
and the elements will melt with fervent heat?
(2 Peter
3:14 NKJV) Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these
things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless;
Outline
2Peter 1 – The Sure Gospel
Peter is concerned that his readers are sure of their salvation.
The message that he and the other apostles have preached was based on their
own eyewitness accounts.
(2 Peter
1:16 NKJV) For we did not follow cunningly devised fables
when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty.
Their message was also based on the Scriptures:
(2 Peter 1:20–21
NKJV) —20 knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private
interpretation, 21 for prophecy never came by the will
of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.
2Peter 2 – Coming Apostacy
Peter warns that there will be false prophets rising up. These men will live immoral lives and turn
people away from following Jesus.
(2 Peter 2:1 NKJV) But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there
will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive
heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves
swift destruction.
2Peter 3 – The Lord’s Coming
Peter will address the issue of “Why hasn’t Jesus come back yet?” There will be people saying that everything
has been the same since the beginning of creation. Yet these people ignore the fact that the
world was destroyed in Noah’s flood.
Jesus hasn’t come back yet because God is being patient.
(2 Peter 3:9 NKJV) The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count
slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing
that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.
1John
Background
This letter was written by the apostle John, the same guy who wrote the
gospel of John and the book of Revelation.
It’s hard to put an exact date on John’s letters, other than being towards
the end of his life.
The early church fathers wrote that John wrote these while he was living in
Ephesus.
One possible scenario of the historical order of John’s writings would go
like this:
John lived in Jerusalem until it’s destruction
(taking care of Mary)
In his later years, John made his way to Asia (modern Turkey), where he
became the pastor of the church in Ephesus, the church that Paul had started
some twenty years earlier. This was when
John wrote his gospel of John.
After being arrested and exiled to the island of Patmos, John received the
Revelation.
After his exile, John was allowed to return to Ephesus where he lived out his last years, and where he writes the three letters
(1,2,3 John)
AS to themes in 1John…
Real Issues
I see John’s letter addressing two areas of concern.
The Real Jesus
John was concerned that the church was beginning to slip into various
heresies, and he will correct some of their bad theology.
The heresy of Gnosticism taught that everything spiritual was good and
everything material was bad.
Some of these teachers even taught that Jesus was just a
ghost floating around the land of Israel, that He couldn’t have had a physical,
fleshly body, that He only “appeared” to have a real body.
Another heresy was pushed by a guy named Cerinthus, who lived in John’s day.
Cerinthus taught that Jesus was just a normal guy, born
from Joseph and Mary’s marriage, and that the “Christ” spirit came on Him at
His baptism, but left just before the crucifixion.
John is going to correct some of the bad teachings about Jesus.
The Real Christian
There were some pretty goofy ideas going around as to what a real Christian
looked like.
Some people thought that real Christians no longer commit sin.
Others taught that it didn’t matter if you sinned, that God didn’t care if
you did evil things.
Some made excuses as to why they could love God and hate people.
John is going to correct the bad teachings of what it means to be a
Christian.
Lesson
Getting real
A lot of us have our own notions of what a perfect world looks like, our
“Perfect Fantasy World”.
Don’t misunderstand me – I’m not saying it’s wrong to have fun, play games,
or dream silly dreams.
The problem comes when more and more of our world
becomes based on fantasy and not on reality.
Some people live their whole lives under a delusion.
They have wrong ideas about what God is like.
Some people think that God is so angry with them that they
are going straight to hell and there’s no chance of that changing.
Some people think that God is nothing but warm and fuzzy
and that He only exists to make people feel warm and fuzzy.
What if some of your ideas about God are wrong?
What if God isn’t what you’ve made Him out to be at
all? What if He’s very different from
what you think?
Would you be willing to listen to the truth?
Some people have carefully constructed ideas about who they are as people.
They have their reasons and excuses carefully laid out as
to why they behave like they do.
They might claim that they are genetically predisposed to
be angry all the time, or to be drunk all the time.
They might think that because of the painful things
they’ve experienced in life, that they will forever be
marred and incapable of doing certain things right.
But what if the stories you tell yourself, or the
conclusions you draw about yourself aren’t completely true?
Would you be open to learning about the truth?
1John also has a place in Calvary Chapel history.
For those of you in our Old Testament Survey class, we talked about how
Pastor Chuck was impacted by the statement in Henry Halley’s Bible Handbook
about encouraging your church to read their bibles, all the bible, and in
learning to teach book by book, chapter by chapter, verse by verse through the
entire Bible.
Before he stumbled onto this statement by Halley, Pastor Chuck stumbled
onto a commentary on the book of 1John, and that started something big…
This is Chuck speaking at Harvest Christian Fellowship in 2009.
Video: Chuck
on Exposition
Excerpt from 6:40 – 17:30
The rest as they say is history.
John gives us three stated purposes in writing the letter:
1) Joy
(1 John 1:4 NKJV) And these things we write to you that your joy may be full.
2) Stopping sin
(1 John 2:1 NKJV) My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may
not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ
the righteous.
3) Security
(1 John 5:13 NKJV) These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the
Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you
may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.
Outline
We will use Henry Halley’s Outline:
1John 1:1-4 – Incarnation
John reminds his readers that he was an eyewitness to Jesus as the Word of
Life, and that the apostles had indeed heard, seen, and even touched Him with
their own hands.
1John 1:5-10 God is Light
Because God is light, anyone claiming to know God and yet not walking a
righteous life must be lying.
There are a couple of gems in this passage, and this one is one of my
favorites –
(1 John 1:7 NKJV) But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have
fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us
from all sin.
If we are truly walking with Jesus in His light, we will find that we are
not alone. We have fellowship with other
believers.
We will also find that the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin.
Walking in the light exposes our sin.
When our sin is exposed, we confess our sin (1John 1:9),
and then we will find His cleansing and forgiveness.
1John 2:1-17 Walking in the Light
Those who claim to know Jesus will be living lives in obedience to what
Jesus has asked us to do.
If we hate a brother or sister, it’s proof that we need to change because
we are supposed to love one another.
Though we are to love one another, we are NOT supposed to love the world.
(1 John 2:16 NKJV) For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust
of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world.
1John 2:18-29 Antichrist
There are in fact many “antichrists” in the world that want to lead us
astray.
But we have someone who helps us and teaches us how to live:
(1 John 2:27 NKJV) But the
anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need
that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all
things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will
abide in Him.
The “anointing” is the Holy Spirit
1John 3:1-12 Righteousness
Those who are born of God should also be careful to live like Jesus in
purity.
(1 John 3:6 NASB
2020) No one who remains in Him sins continually; no one who sins continually
has seen Him or knows Him.
There will be several verses that can give you the wrong impression. They can make you think that a Christian
should never ever sin.
Yet John has already told us that if we say we haven’t sinned, then we are
liars (1Jn. 1:10)
(1 John 1:10 NKJV) If we say that we have not sinned,
we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.
John has also already told us that when we sin, we
have a solution.
(1
John 1:9 NKJV) If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to
forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
When we confess our sin, we will find forgiveness.
But those born of God will not live in continual
unrepentant sin.
1John 3:13-24 Love
We’ve already talked about how John’s emphasis in his later ministry was on
“love”.
He has a very strong emphasis on it in this letter.
(1 John 3:16 NKJV) By this we
know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our
lives for the brethren.
If you ever doubt that Jesus loves you, all you need to do is look to the
cross. It’s the proof of His love for
you.
As His love impacts you, it ought to spill over your life and onto those
around you.
1John 4:1-6 False Prophets
Just as Paul and Peter have done, John warns against those who would lead
Christians astray.
(1 John 4:1 NKJV) Beloved, do
not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the
world.
1John 4:7-21 Love
Again, John reminds us to love one another…
(1 John 4:7–8 NKJV)
—7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone
who loves is born of God and knows God. 8 He who does
not love does not know God, for God is love.
1John 5 – Assurance of Eternal Life
There are a couple of wonderful nuggets in chapter 5.
One has to do with assurance.
God doesn’t want us questioning whether or not we
have eternal life. He wants us to KNOW.
(1 John 5:11–13
NKJV) —11 And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and
this life is in His Son. 12 He who has the Son has life; he who
does not have the Son of God does not have life. 13 These things
I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know
that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the
name of the Son of God.
The other nugget has to do with prayer.
(1 John 5:14–15
NKJV) —14 Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask
anything according to His will, He hears us. 15 And if we
know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that
we have asked of Him.
Learning to pray well is about learning to pray for the things that God
wants – His will.
Sometimes His “will” is pretty obvious,
it’s something we see in God’s Word like,
(1 Thessalonians 4:3 NKJV) For this is the will of God, your
sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality;
One of the aspects of this verse we might overlook has to do with grammar,
specifically verb tense.
The word for “ask” is in the “present” tense.
That speaks of an ongoing type of action, something done over and over again.
Lesson
Persistent prayer
Some people have taught that prayers of “faith” are only asked one time.
That’s silliness. There is nothing
“faithless” about asking again and again.
Look at how Jesus taught on prayer:
(Luke 11:5–8 NKJV)
—5 And He said
to them, “Which of you shall have a friend, and go to him at midnight and say
to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves; 6 for a friend of mine has come to me on his journey, and I have
nothing to set before him’; 7 and he will answer from within and say, ‘Do not trouble me; the
door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give to
you’? 8 I say to
you, though he will not rise and give to him because he is his friend, yet
because of his persistence he will rise and give him as many as he needs.
The word “persistence” can also be translated as
“shameless persistence” (NLT)
Jesus’ point is not that God is like a lazy friend who
won’t get up to answer the door. The
point is that God answers prayers that are persistent. God answers the prayers of the person who
keeps knocking, knocking, knocking.
It’s almost as if sometimes the answer to your prayer is tied to the
answer to the question, “How bad do you want it?”
Illustration
Smart parents don’t buy Christmas presents for their kids
based on a single request made in August. Smart parents will see if the child
is still asking for it in September, October, November, and December. That’s when they know that the child would
really really appreciate that particular
gift.
Are you willing to commit to drawing near to God and
praying for this thing every day for a year?
Or is it possible that it’s not that big of a deal to you and a single
little mention to God is all you are invested in?
Sometimes I find that as I pray for the same thing every day, I begin to
evaluate my own motives in the request.
Sometimes I find that I’m not asking for the right
reasons.
There are some things that simply require a lot of prayer.
George Mueller lived in the 19th century, and though he was
famous among some for his incredible work among orphans, to others he was known
as a great man of prayer.
George had two friends that he prayed for regularly. He prayed that one day they would receive
Christ. He prayed for them for over
fifty years. Just before George Mueller
died, one of the friends finally became a Christian. The other one became a Christian shortly
after Mueller died.
What if that one thing you’ve been thinking about was a
“fifty year” prayer project?
I don’t know about you, but I don’t have the best of memories. I will be sitting in my office at home, think
of something I need to do upstairs, and by the time I’ve made it upstairs, I’ve
forgotten what I was going to do.
The reality of trying to pray for the same things every day comes with a
problem built in – I forget things.
I have learned that for the things that are most important to me, I put
them on a list.
I’ve learned not to put too many things on the list, or
else I feel like I’ll never get through the list.
Yet I’ve found that the more practice I get at praying, I
can pray a little bit longer than I used to pray 10 years ago.
Do you have some things that ought to be prayed for every day? Perhaps you ought to consider starting a
short little list to remind yourself.
2John
Background
This letter was written to “the chosen lady and her children” (vs.1).
It may be a specific individual, or it could be a reference to the church
in Ephesus.
Outline
2John – Truth or Lies
John is happy when he hears …
(2 John 4 NKJV) I rejoiced greatly that I have found some of your children
walking in truth, as we received a commandment from the Father.
And yet just as there is “truth” out there, there are also lies.
(2 John 7 NKJV) For many deceivers have gone out into the world who do not
confess Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an
antichrist.
John gives this encouragement:
(2 John 8 NKJV) Look to yourselves, that we do not lose those things
we worked for, but that we may receive a full
reward.
Lesson
Backsliding
You can “lose” the things that you’ve worked for.
You can get “off track”.
You can stop abiding in the doctrine of Christ.
John may be hinting that it’s possible to lose your salvation, though I
think he might be talking about losing your rewards, or even just where you’ve
arrived in a life of following Jesus.
I think about the recovering alcoholic who backslides and gets addicted to
alcohol once again. They’ve lost so
much.
Illustration
I need to talk for a minute about how cows become steaks.
Scientists have found that when cows experience high stress levels prior to
death at the slaughterhouse, hormones are released that lower meat
quality. So a
scientist named Temple Grandin did a lot of research to find ways to gently
kill cows.
His research found that cows don’t like “novelty”. The key is to keep everything in their lives
feeling and looking as normal and natural as possible.
Workers aren’t supposed to yell at the cows or use cattle prods. If you keep the cows contented and
comfortable, they will go wherever they’re led. They devised a system of chutes
where the cows walk down a smoothly curving path, like they’re going home. As they mosey along, they don’t even notice
when their hooves are no longer touching the ground as a conveyor belt gently
lifts them upward to the place where a blunt instrument shoots them between the
eyes.
Satan wants to do the same to us, lulling us to follow him
down paths that lead to destruction.
Wilbur Chapman once wrote,
“It’s not the ship in the water but the water in the ship that sinks it. So it’s not the Christian in the world but the world in the
Christian that constitutes the danger.”
The solution is to “look to yourselves” (vs. 8)
We need to stay on guard.
3John
Background
John addresses this last letter to someone named “Gaius”.
We don’t know a lot about him, other than he’s “beloved” (vs.1)
Outline
3John - Hospitality
John is encouraged with how the church was doing.
(3 John 4 NKJV) I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.
Yet not everyone in the church was doing well.
Much of this letter is centered on the practice of the early church
receiving strangers into their homes.
This was often done for traveling teachers who would visit the churches to
build them up.
John is concerned about a leader in the church named Diotrephes, who did
not have much hospitality. John describes Diotrephes as one “who loves to be
first among them”.
(3 John 10 NKJV) Therefore, if I come, I will call to mind his deeds which he does,
prating against us with malicious words. And not content with that, he himself
does not receive the brethren, and forbids those who wish to, putting them
out of the church.
John wants the church to not act like Diotrephes.
(3 John 11 NKJV) Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. He who does
good is of God, but he who does evil has not seen God.
People like Diotrephes are nothing new. Back in the 1930’s, A.T. Robertson
(a Baptist) wrote,
Some forty years ago I wrote an article on Diotrephes for a
denominational paper. The editor told me that twenty-five deacons stopped the
paper to show their resentment against being personally attacked in the paper.
They thought it was all about them. That’s pride.
It’s not about you.
Jude
Background
Jude, like James, was a younger, half-brother of Jesus.
In Greek, his name is Ioudas (Ἰούδας), or “Judas”. We call him Jude to tell him apart from that
other fellow.
It’s possible that when he was
young and his mother Mary wanted him to come in for supper she yelled … “Hey
Jude!”
Illustration
I found a lost story about one of Jesus’ brothers …
The younger brother of Jesus asked his kindergarten teacher for help in
putting his boots on, and she could see why.
With her pulling and him pushing, the boots still didn’t want to go on.
When the second boot was on, she had worked up a sweat. She almost whimpered
when the little boy said, “Teacher, they’re on the wrong feet.” She looked and,
sure enough, they were. It wasn’t any easier pulling the boots off than it was
putting them on. She managed to keep her cool as together they worked to get
the boots back on-this time on the right feet. He then announced, “These aren’t
my boots.” She bit her tongue rather than get right in his face and scream,
“Why didn’t you say so?” like she wanted to. Once again, she struggled to help
him pull the ill-fitting boots off. He then said, “They’re my older brother’s
boots. My Mom made me wear them.” She didn’t know if she should laugh or cry.
She mustered up the grace to wrestle the boots on his feet again. She said,
“Now, where are your mittens?” He said, “I stuffed them in the toes of my
boots...”
We would date the writing of Jude around AD 67.
There is quite a lot of overlap of material between this letter and 2Peter.
Outline
Jude – Warning of False Teachers
Jude will give several Old Testament examples of those who led God’s people
astray, whether it be fallen angels, Cain, Balaam, or Korah.
We need to be on guard against such false teachers.
So what do we do?
Key Verse Alert!!
(Jude 20–21 NKJV) —20 But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith,
praying in the Holy Spirit, 21 keep yourselves in the love of God,
looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.
The grammar here is very interesting.
There are four different verbs that Jude uses. Three of them are “participles” (verbs ending
in “-ing”, building, praying, looking), and they all
flow into the one verb that is an imperative, a command.
The focus is for us to keep ourselves in the love of God,
and we do that by building, praying, and looking.
Lesson
Safe in God’s love
You don’t have to earn God’s love, you already
have it.
(John 3:16 NKJV) For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that
whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
If anything is keeping you from God’s love, it’s that you
don’t believe in His Son.
Once you believe in Jesus, there is nothing that can separate you from
God’s love.
(Ro 8:38–39 NKJV) 38 For I am
persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor
powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other
created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in
Christ Jesus our Lord.
Our part is to simply recognize God’s love, and
stay put. Jesus said,
(Jn 15:9 NKJV) “As the
Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love.
Illustration:
The Amazon River is the largest river in the world. The mouth is 90 miles across. There is enough water to exceed the combined
flow of the Yangtze, Mississippi and Nile Rivers. So much water comes from the Amazon (this
picture is taken from about 780 miles up) that they can detect its currents 200
miles out in the Atlantic Ocean. One
irony of ancient navigation is that sailors in ancient times died for lack of
fresh water... caught in the windless waters of the South Atlantic. They were adrift, helpless, dying of thirst.
Sometimes other ships from South America who knew the area would come alongside
and call out, “What is your problem?”
And they would exclaim, “Can you spare us some water? Our sailors are dying of thirst!” And from the other ship would come the cry,
“Just lower your buckets. You are in the
mouth of the mighty Amazon River.”
My friends, you are already in the love of God. Just lower your buckets and drink.
Quiz
When we are suffering, we should (fill in the blank)
Follow the ________
Homework
Assignment: Read in HBH the introductory material to Revelation. The introductory material is the page or two before Halley starts talking about each
chapter of that book.
Prepare for final – What verse have you been memorizing from the New
Testament? Why is it significant to you?