How Our Joy Can Be Full — Zac Poonen

The First Letter of John and Its Relevance for the Last Days

I want to turn to the first letter of John. There are many reasons why this letter is perhaps more important than many of the other letters in the New Testament. You know, all the parts of the New Testament are not of equal importance, they are all the word of God, but some parts of the New Testament are historical, they just describe what happened.

But there are other parts like the teaching of Jesus, very, very important, and the Epistles. I would say those are the most important sections of Scripture. The teachings of Jesus in the Gospels, and in Revelation chapter 2 and 3 and other places, and all the Epistles.

But among the Epistles, one John has got a special place of importance because it was written by John at the age of 95, after he had observed various types of Christians, various types of churches, the ups and downs of many believers, the ups and downs of many churches, he saw the condition of the churches in the book of Revelation, and he is writing just four or five pages with a great burden inspired by the Holy Spirit.

And I believe that it has a special relevance for the time in which we live, because I don't know whether you know, today in Christendom there is a lot of confusion concerning many, many things, and it's good to go to listen to the words of an apostle who has walked with God for 65 years.

So when you read this book, imagine that a 95-year-old man who has walked with God for 65 years, planted churches, done miracles, and in fellowship with God, the only living apostle left, all the others are killed, is speaking.

You know, we give more weight to words spoken by more godly people, the same words as spoken by some young person. It may be true, but we don't give as much weight to it. So I have always looked at this letter of John as something that has a very deep message, particularly when seeking to teach God's Word as to what I should emphasize in the last days.

What John Does Not Emphasize

It's amazing to see the number of things John doesn't even mention in his letter, in 1 John, which are some of the most popular subjects for preaching today. John spoke in tongues for 65 years, but he doesn't mention it in his letter.

He healed the sick and raised the dead, but he doesn't mention anything about healing in his letter. He doesn't mention a word about material prosperity, which a lot of preachers today say is the mark of God's blessing.

Many other things about political situations, and the Roman Empire was a very wicked and cruel empire. The emperor was a godless man, Christians were being persecuted, but he doesn't talk anything about discussing government or politics or what we should do to stand up for our rights.

The foolish, stupid things that many Christians today, who are not filled with the Holy Spirit, talk about. There were a lot of problems in the world in John's time. There was slavery, for example. There were many slaves in those days.

And he's not talking about them, he's not talking about how to help all the poor people in the world. There were more poor people then than today. It's very easy for Christians to be taken up with many good things, and the good can be the enemy of the best.

I want to say to all of you in Jesus' name, if you want to preserve yourself till the day Jesus comes, without going astray, read the first letter of John and see what he majors on. He, first of all, speaks about life.

He says, we have heard when John won, and we have seen with our eyes, and we have touched this word of life. He's writing to people who have never seen Jesus Christ, and he says, I saw him. And what I touched was that eternal life, verse 2, which was with the Father.

When I touched Christ, I saw his life. What I saw was that eternal life which was with the Father. And that's what we proclaim to you. He is not talking about doctrine. He's not talking about physical healing and material prosperity.

He's talking about a life which was with the Father from the beginning. He says, that is our message. He speaks about eternal life. When you go to the end of his letter, you see what he says towards almost the last verse in chapter 5.

He says in verse 20, we know the Son of God has come, has given us understanding. Chapter 5, 20, that we may know him who is true, that is God. And we are in him who is true, and in his Son Jesus Christ.

This is the true God and eternal life. Little children, guard yourselves from idols, from anything other than this true God and eternal life. When you begin to worship something else, when you worship material prosperity, when you worship physical healing, when you worship anything other than this true God and eternal life, it is idolatry.

Little children, guard yourselves from idols. And in the beginning he says, the purpose of our proclaiming this, verse 3, is so that we can have fellowship, that you believers can have fellowship with us, and our fellowship is with the Father.

The purpose of proclaiming this life is that we can have a two-way fellowship, fellowship in the vertical direction, with God, fellowship between us as believers. If you are pursuing life, eternal life, and not other idols, one of the results will be that your fellowship with God will become deeper, and your fellowship with other believers will also become deeper.

So the two subjects that John speaks about are life and fellowship, because that's what existed from eternity. Way back in eternity, before there was a world and before there was a universe, before there were angels, before there were demons and sin and Adam and Eve, long before that, when only God existed, what was there?

There were no doctrines, there was no baptism, there was no tongues, there was no healing, there was no prosperity, there were no material things. But there was something else, eternal life, that existed then, and fellowship between Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, that existed.

And when we look into the future in heaven, all these other things that we have temporarily on this earth will also disappear, but eternal life and fellowship will continue for all eternity. And in this short period between eternity past and eternity future, God is gathering together a people who have understanding of this, and who come into that thing which existed in eternity.

See, eternal life, we can say, is like a long line that began in eternity past, eternity future, and here we are down on this earth, and God says, you can come into that line and be a part of that, instead of living down here, occupied with all types of problems and trying to get on in this world.

Full Joy Through Eternal Life

And then, verse four, we are writing to you these things, so that our joy may be made full, and your joy will be full too. Jesus often spoke about our joy being full. That is a mark of people who have come into this experience of eternal life.

I'll tell you this, because I'm absolutely convinced about it. The only people on earth who can rejoice in the Lord twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, like the Bible says, are those who pursue this eternal life with the Father.

Don't think all these people whom you watch preaching on television have got joy twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. They look very joyful when they are on the platform, but if you look at their private life, many of them lose their temper, they get upset, they are depressed, even though they have got money and millions and talk about prosperity and houses and lands and cars, etc.

John didn't have all that, but he had something else that would last for all eternity, joy that was full. And to me, that is the test. In the Old Testament, they had righteousness without joy. No, they had no joy in the Old Testament.

They had righteousness. You look up a word like righteousness, and it's found plenty of it in the Old Testament. Israel pursued righteousness, it says in Romans. But what did they get? They got a legalistic righteousness.

And the mark of people who are legalistic is this. They can't rejoice all the time, because they are disturbed when somebody else doesn't fit in with their understanding of righteousness. It doesn't matter what it is.

Some people want to keep the Sabbath, and some people have other rules about various things. The Pharisees had rules about washing their hands, and today Christians have many, many rules which they try to impose on others.

You see one mark of all these people, you see them very often, the long faces and gloomy, because there is no joy in legalistic righteousness. And if your joy is not full, ask yourself whether you're a legalist, or whether you're not pursuing eternal life, but something else.

The Lord wants our joy to be full. The kingdom of God is what Jesus brought. Until then, throughout the Old Testament, they had a kingdom of earth. Everything that God promised Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and their children was earthly.

Please remember this, everything from Genesis chapter 12, when God chose Abraham, right up to the end of Malachi, was earthly. He never promised them anything in heaven. Many earthly blessings, long life, many children, lot of prosperity, your enemies will be defeated you'll always be on top, you'll never be in debt, you'll have plenty of money, so many things, but heavenly things, zero.

And here was an earth that lived like that, here was a nation of Israel that lived like that for 1500 years. Their whole mind was occupied with earthly things, oh God's gonna bless me, and if sickness and drought came, you know God hadn't blessed them.

They were defeated by their enemies, or they were killed, God hadn't blessed them. If they could be thrown into a lion's den and the lions wouldn't touch them, God would bless them. If they were thrown into the fire and the fire wouldn't touch them, God would bless them.

And then came the last prophet, the forerunner of Jesus Christ. He said, tell us in Israel, listen, turn around now. Turn around from what? They've been occupied not only with sin, but with earthly things.

When John the Baptist said, repent, repent means turn about. It's not just sin, repentance is not just turning from sin, that itself is a great thing, but Israel that is occupied with earthly blessings, turn around now because the kingdom of heaven is coming.

That was the message of the new covenant, the beginning. Turn around from this kingdom of earth, those who want to turn around, those who want to be occupied with the kingdom of earth, stick there. You know what is the message I would preach to today's Christians?

Turn around from facing the kingdom of earth, because the kingdom of heaven is near. It's already come, but most Christians haven't experienced it, because their mind is set on earthly things. It's right to use earthly things, it's wrong to have our mind set on earthly things.

It's a question of where my mind is set. I may have to work with earthly things, I have to work in a job, look after my family, go to the store, buy so many things, etc., etc., etc., but it's a question of where my mind is set.

That's the test. And John the Baptist is the forerunner to prepare people for the first coming of Christ, and he said, if you want to be prepared, turn from being occupied with earthly things to heavenly things, because the kingdom of heaven is near.

The apostles preached that. Paul preached Ephesians 1 .3, Blessed be God our Father, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, which is different from every earthly blessing, every material blessing in the earthly places in Moses.

So you have a contrast. Every material blessing, physical blessing in earthly places in Moses, or every spiritual blessing in heavenly places in Christ. And the message of John the Baptist was, turn from this to that.

And I believe this, that a person who is really turned and set his mind on the things that are above, one proof of it will be, because it's very easy to deceive ourselves, one proof of it will be, our joy will be full.

And Romans 14 and verse 17, where it speaks about this new kingdom. Romans 14 and verse 17, it says, the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking. And we could add a lot of things to eating and drinking.

It's not clothes. It's not fun. It's not entertainment. Does it mean we shouldn't have fun and entertainment? Sure. Is he saying that we shouldn't eat and drink? Is he saying that we shouldn't dress decently?

Is he saying we shouldn't take care of our appearance? No. But he says that's not the main thing in God's kingdom. If your mind is set on eating and drinking, and what shall we wear, and what shall we eat, and what shall we drink, and what shall we do, and here, and that, and the other, and the other, and the other, and where shall I invest my money, and where shall I do this, and where shall I do that?

You can do all these things, but when your mind is set on these things, I'll tell you, without knowing anything about your life, I can tell you, you do not rejoice always. How do I know that? It is impossible.

You'll rejoice some of the time, but you're gloomy, depressed, angry many times, and we are trying to overcome these things. You hear messages about overcoming anger, and overcoming anxiety, and overcoming depression, overcoming discontentment.

You say, I'd like to have that life. I'll tell you how you can have that life. Turn from being occupied with earthly things, and set your mind on heavenly things. But many people, they want to be occupied with the earthly things, and have joy, and peace, and freedom from fear and anxiety.

It is impossible. If you want freedom, you have to give up something. You heard that story of that little girl whose hand was caught in a flower vase, and she couldn't pull it out. And so, mummy came along and said, she said, my hand is stuck.

The little girl said, mummy said, come on, straighten your fingers, and you can pull it out. She said, I can't straighten my fingers, because I'm holding a coin there. I don't want to leave that. How will you be released then?

You'll be stuck to the vase for the rest of your life. That's how it is. If there's something you hold on to, and you say, I want freedom from depression, gloom. I want freedom from anger and anxiety.

Straighten your hands. Release it. The thing you're holding on to, it'll come out very easily. I read a book once, the title of which was The Happiest People on Earth. Now, I don't think the book described exactly how we could be the happiest people on earth, but I certainly believe one thing, that a true disciple of Jesus Christ, who's repented of being occupied with earthly things like Israel, set his mind on the things that are above, that is life, eternal life, and fellowship, will be such a person, will be the happiest person on earth.

I believe that, with all my heart. I've experienced a little bit of it. We want to build churches where people can testify that they've experienced something of it. That's the whole purpose of preaching and teaching in our churches.

The message of John the Baptist, repent, turn around, for the kingdom of heaven, today we don't say it's at hand, is here. The kingdom of heaven is here. The kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but what is it?

It says here, it's righteousness. Well, that's Old Testament. No, but here's more. Righteousness with peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit brings a righteousness which makes us full of joy and frees us from anxiety and fear.

That's peace. Peace is a freedom from anxiety and from fear. We are to be totally free from anxiety and fear. Isn't that a good life to live? A life of complete freedom from anxiety and fear about the future, concerning what's going to happen to me, whom will I get married to, what job can I get, what about a house to live in, what about my children, etc.

So many fears and anxieties which everybody in the world has, but we can be free from that. We can have a concern for our children, but not anxiety about our children. We have to be completely free. Do you know, my brothers and sisters, if you call yourself a Christian, you're supposed to be totally free from fear, as much as you're supposed to be totally free from sin.

Jesus said, do not be anxious even about tomorrow, leave alone next year and the year after. Do we take those commands seriously? Maybe you do. You say, I want to live that life. I want to be free from anxiety.

I want to be free from fear. And the other thing mentioned here is joy. Joy means total freedom from depression, bad moods, gloom, discouragement, self-condemnation, everything. People say, I want that life.

But you can't have that life unless you seek the kingdom of God, which is the kingdom of heaven. If you're seeking a kingdom of earth and we want those things, it is impossible. So that's why John speaks about, he says, I don't want to talk about all these other things.

I want to speak about eternal life and fellowship, that your joy may be full. So I want to say to every one of you, you could have been a believer just one or two years, you can be filled with the Holy Spirit.

And if you're really filled with the Holy Spirit, you know that song we sing, heaven came down and glory filled my soul. It's one of the best ways to say what the Holy Spirit does. He brings the spirit of heaven down to our heart.

What I can't understand today is, a lot of preachers who say they are filled with the Holy Spirit, but their whole mind is occupied with earthly things. Then heaven hasn't come down. No, heaven is still there.

Heaven is not in their hearts. You look into their hearts, they are thinking of how to become healthy and wealthy and not even wise, just healthy and wealthy. This is the deception that's going on today.

Deception, Anointing, and Readiness for Christ's Return

And so John in his letter speaks about this deception. See, he says, why am I writing this? I am writing this, chapter 2 verse 26. You ask John, John, why are you writing this? These things I have written to you concerning those who are trying to deceive you.

See how John is concerned about deception? Sixty-five years after walking with the Lord and looking at the state of Christians in his day, he says, I am writing to you about people who are trying to deceive you.

That's why I have written this letter. To protect you from deception. You have an anointing, the Holy Spirit within you. You don't need anybody to tell you when you listen to someone that that is not the truth.

It's wonderful. I believe that even a new believer, if he is filled with the Holy Spirit, can listen to a preacher and say, hey, that doesn't sound like the Spirit of Christ. The Holy Spirit, he doesn't need to have some read books or even have come to our church.

The Holy Spirit will tell him. But what happens is this new believer, when he goes to a church and he hears all that teaching on earthly things, which everybody else is excited about, and he feels in his heart, hey, this is not what Jesus and the apostles speak about.

And he continues to go to that church. After some time, he'll be brainwashed. He'll believe that that is the way and that perhaps he was wrong. And that is how thousands and thousands and hundreds of thousands of people are being deceived today.

So, he says, this anointing will teach you all things. So, little children. Verse 28 of chapter 2. Abide in him so that when he appears, there are going to be two types of people when Christ appears. Among believers, he's talking about children who are God's children.

Little children. He's not talking to the unbelievers. I want to tell you, when Jesus comes again, some of you children will shrink away from him in shame. Recognizing the things you lived for in that day.

And others will have confidence. Yes, Lord, I'm ready to meet you. I'm ready to stand at your judgment seat. That you can examine every area of my life. Expose it. So that people can see what I lived for.

And there are other people who say, oh Lord, don't expose my life. Don't let everybody around know what I lived for when I was on earth. They are the ones who shrink away from him in shame. In this congregation, there will be two types of people.

I'm not here to judge because I don't know your private life. I don't know what's going on in your mind. I don't know what you think in your heart. But I'll tell you one thing without a doubt. This verse teaches very clearly.

There will be two types of people. If Christ were to come right now, some would say, great Lord, I'm ready. Not just for heaven. But to stand before you. And for you to expose my whole life. So that you can show people what I lived for.

My sins have been forgiven. That's blotted out. What did I live for after that? And there are others who say, great Lord, I'm glad to be in heaven. But please don't ever display what I lived for on earth.

Don't put that video tape on the screen for all believers to see. Because I fooled everybody on earth that I was very spiritual. People didn't know how I lived at home. They only saw how I behaved in the church meetings on Sundays.

Little children, abide in him. This is John the Apostle speaking. 95 year old man. Forget for a moment who is standing here. Think of John the Apostle standing here. White haired, 95 year old man saying, little children, abide in Christ.

He is coming. Have confidence when he comes. Don't be among those who will shrink away in shame. Because they did not live for the things he lived for. He also speaks about the Antichrist in verse 18.

That's the spirit of deception. See, what is the Antichrist? You know what anti means. Anti means against or opposite. If people do something which is the opposite of what Christ did. We could say that is the Antichrist.

Now there could be a big measure of it or a small measure of it. That's different. But anything that is opposite to the spirit of Christ. That's how I see the Antichrist. In chapter 2 verse 18 he is speaking about saying, children, it is the last hour.

Think of that. In 95 AD. 1900 years ago, it was already the last hour. Clock had already come to 11 PM. If it was 11 PM. In AD 95, where do you think we are today? I think we are past 11 .59. We are pretty close to the end.

The seconds are ticking away. It's like a person watching when midnight is going to come. It's past 11 .59 now. Do you believe that? I believe it. Jesus said, behold I come quickly. Come Lord Jesus. It is the last hour.

And just as you heard that one main Antichrist is going to come in the last days. Yeah, that John believes. But there are many little Antichrists that have already appeared. From this we know that it is the last hour.

That is what we saw in verse 26, those who deceive you. That means they teach the opposite of what Christ taught. Anyone who is teaching the opposite of what Christ taught is the Antichrist. Now you wouldn't think of Antichrist having a Bible, would you?

Well, if he didn't have a Bible, he wouldn't be able to deceive you. If he came with some other holy book, of some other religion, he wouldn't be able to deceive you as a Christian. To deceive a Christian, the deceiver will need a Bible.

And you need to believe what you believe. You need to have a sheep's clothing. And it says here that they were with us once upon a time. That means these Antichrists were sitting in the church. Verse 19, and they went out from us after some time.

Because they didn't really belong to us. How did they go out? They went out because the Apostle John preached so strongly that these guys could not survive in that church. They came thinking that they could get some power in that church.

But John the Apostle would thunder away. Jesus called him a son of thunder and he would thunder away with his message. And little by little these fellows who didn't want to repent dropped out and went away.

Some people repented and probably became a part of that church. But the others who didn't repent went away. And he says these Antichrists sat here, but they went away. They tried to take over this church, but they couldn't.

That's why it's a great need in our day for shepherds to watch the flock. To be able to say like Paul, I watched over you that no wolf came in sight as long as I was here. So he says they went out from us because if they had been of us, they would have remained with us.

They would have accepted the message of eternal life and fellowship. But they wanted something else. Demas left Paul because he loved this present world. And he says they went out so that it can be seen that they did not belong to us.

Holiness, Love, and the Marks of True Fellowship

And he says when you look at them today, I'm talking about first century. Think of these people who sat in churches where John was preaching. Imagine, I would never want to leave a church where the Apostle John was preaching.

Why would I want to leave that? The greatest man of God living on earth, preaching in that church. Why would I want to leave that? With those powerful anointed messages, to leave that for what? People would leave because their sin is being exposed by this man.

This man does not allow them to be worldly. This man will not allow those women to dress immodestly and come to his church. They want to do that. They want to dress up like the actresses on the theater.

John says go. And the men who wanted to pursue after money and make a name for themselves, John says go, you can't survive here. And that's why they left. That was more, those earthly things were more important to them than what John preached.

Eternal life and fellowship. John spoke about loving one another. He said if you can't love your brother, you sit here and you gossip and backbite against others, you're a liar. You don't love God at all, because you don't love your brother.

Would you backbite against somebody you love? Do you backbite against your daughter or your son? No, because you love them. Why do you backbite and gossip about somebody else? Because you don't love them.

And John says, if you don't love them, you don't love God. He says that in 1 John 4, 19. You're a liar. You're not a believer. You're a liar. Imagine sitting, listening to this type of preaching. And people get offended.

And say, John, you're such a hard preacher. I like those nice preachers like Demas and all. I'd like to go and listen to him. John says go. There are hundreds of Demases. Go and listen to them. They've also planted churches.

And their churches are much bigger than mine, John says. Go and join them. But if you sit here, John would say, you're going to listen to eternal life and holiness. You've got to love one another. You've got to forgive others.

You've got to keep God's commandments. So those are the type of things people didn't want to hear. And so they went out from us. And John says there, you have an anointing, verse 20. You've got the Holy Spirit and you know.

The Call Not to Sin

What are some of the things that John preached about? I want to turn first of all to chapter 2, verse 1. You know, the whole purpose is that our joy may be full. Remember, that's a test of whether you've got the kingdom of God.

Righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. And if you've got the message that John is trying to preach, your joy will be full. And anybody here whose joy is not full, listen to what John is preaching.

Because your joy can be full. First of all, why is John writing? Chapter 2, verse 1. You know, I'm glad that he writes these little sentences. He says, my children, this is why I'm writing this letter.

Okay, number 1. Chapter 2, verse 1. My little children. Everybody there was like a child compared to this 95 year old John. I'm writing these things to you, first of all, so that you may not sin. Where do you hear that message today?

Do you hear a man getting up and saying, I'm preaching so that you fellows who listen to me don't sin in your life. That's not the message you hear. It's not the message you hear on television. It's not the message that you hear in many pulpits.

What you hear there is, Oh, you're so insecure. God loves you. It's true God loves you. But He loves you so much that He hates those wretched sins in your life. I can't say I love my child if I don't do anything about all the sicknesses in his body.

What would you think of a mother who's got a child with so many sicknesses? I love my child, I love my child, but I won't ever take him to a doctor. I won't ever give him any medicine. I say, you're a liar.

You don't love your child. Oh, I feed him, I clothe him. What's the use of feeding him and clothing him? He's sick. He needs treatment. That's what John is saying. Don't be fooled by all these people who say God loves you.

You're so insecure, I want to tell you that God loves you. That's psychology. You're insecure because you're living in sin. You need to turn. God has a right over your life. He purchased you. What would you think of a man who sold his house, got the money, and still refuses to move out of his house?

Would you do that? Would any of you do that? Somebody buys your house, he gives you a good payment for it, double the price on the market, and instead of being thankful, you sit there and say, I will not move out of my house.

That's what a lot of Christians are doing. The Bible says Jesus purchased us, our body, our soul, our spirit, on the cross of Calvary. Completely, with his blood. How much is that? How many millions of rupees is that blood worth?

He purchased it, and he said, I want to take possession. I want to take possession of your body, your eyes, your tongue, your hands, your money, your life, your ambitions, everything. You say, no, I'm not going to move out.

I'm going to read whatever I like, I'm going to look whatever I like, I'm going to watch internet pornography, I'm going to speak what I like, I'm going to use my money as I like, I don't want to move out, I'm owner here.

Hey, it's been purchased, man. You were bought with a price, the Bible says. Now I can understand people who are ignorant of this. I mean, I'm not talking about non-Christians, they don't even know that Jesus Christ purchased, that the sale deed was signed.

Now, if a man doesn't know that his house was bought and paid for and sale deed signed, then of course you can't blame him. But what about us who are sitting here? We say we believe that Christ purchased us.

Have you moved out? Have you handed over the body to Him? Have you handed over your mind to Him? Have you handed over your ambitions to Him? That's Christianity. Don't sin. My little children, I'm writing to you this letter to teach you not to sin.

Take sin seriously. It's worse than any sickness you got. Think if you got a blood test and tomorrow the report comes out that you have got AIDS. Would you sleep peacefully? You'd hide it from everybody, sure.

That I can understand. But would you sleep peacefully? And supposing there was a total cure for it in some place in North India. Would you travel there to get the cure? Or would you say, oh that's too far, who's going to go there?

I tell you, you'll take a flight. You'll save all your money and go there because AIDS is so terrible. Shall I tell you that sin is worse than AIDS? Shall I tell you that Jesus did not die for AIDS, He died for sin.

People can have AIDS and go to heaven. I know people like that. They got it in their unconverted days, then after that they repented and they went to heaven. They never got cured, but they went to heaven.

So AIDS cannot send anybody to hell. But sin can send people to hell, which is worse than. Little children, I'm writing to you that you may not sin. And this is John, towards the end of his life, 65 years, he's been telling people, don't sin, don't sin, don't sin.

You go to John and say, John, we've heard that for 65 years, don't you have any other message? No. Because everybody else, because all these antichrists are not preaching it. Jesus preached it. And he says, if I'm the only witness left on this earth in this first century, John says, I'll preach it till I die.

That's what I say too. I will preach till the end of my life. Even if I'm the only preacher left preaching it. My little children, don't sin. It was your sin that nailed Jesus to the cross. Not the nails, your sin.

Any... What is sin? Sin is anything that is unchrist-like in your life. If you want a definition. You say, how do I know what's unchrist-like? Read the Bible. Your conscience will tell you. Do you do to other people what you don't want other people to do to you?

That's sin. Jesus said in Matthew 7 .12, Do unto others as you want other people to do to you. Do you want other people to gossip about you? No? Then don't gossip about them. Do you want other people to cheat you?