Book of 1 John - Ch. 2, Vs. 1-5 (08/04/2002) | NOTE: Original tape was recorded at very low volume

1 John 2:1-2 and the Need for Holiness

Today I'm going to start with 1 John, the second chapter. I know David took the first two verses, but I want to read the first two verses. 1 John 2 .1. My little children, these things write I unto you, that you sin not.

And if any man sins, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous. First of all, he does not say that you cannot sin. John's writing to us that we may not sin. God wants us to walk in a manner that is well-pleasing to him.

He wants us to walk in obedience to his word. I'm reminded occasionally when a speaker at a college was speaking and he was touching on this subject. He finally became very dramatic and he said, Is there anybody here who has ever seen a perfect man?

Then at the back of the auditorium a little man stood. You could tell he was very empty. The speaker asked him, Have you seen a perfect man? The little fellow stood to his feet and said, Well, I've never seen him, but I've heard about him.

Who is he? He was my wife's first husband. Today you and I may be able to say I don't think I've done anything real bad. How about doing good? Therefore to him that knoweth to do good and good but not to him is a sin, James says.

There are sins of commission and sins of omission. Every sincere child of God wants to have his fellowship with him. And yet he knows within himself that he has fallen far short of that kind of life, the kind that he should live.

Christ as the Propitiation and the Holy Spirit’s Conviction

There's sin in his life. And sin, be it ever so small, breaks the communion. Verse 2. And he is the propitiation for ours, and not ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. Notice that John does not say that if anyone repents, he has an affidavit.

Or if anyone confesses his sins, he has an affidavit. Neither does he say that if anyone goes through the ceremony to get rid of his sins, he has an affidavit. What he does say is that if any man sins, before we even repent of that cruel and brutal word we said, the very moment we had the thought, the idea, the very first imbue of the idea, Jesus was there at the throne.

Then because of the faithful advocacy of Christ, the Holy Spirit brings conviction to us. And we confess our sins to the Father. As we have said before, to confess means that we get on God's side and look back at the sins of his people.

The sincere child of God wants to please the Father. He walks along with that in mind. Dr. Henry Ironside, which some of you have read, had an illustration or an incident in his family that illustrated this.

He had trouble one evening with one of his boys. The boy upstairs told him not to come down to supper. The boy did not admit anything at all. Finally the boy called Dr. Ironside to come upstairs and ask if he could go down to supper.

The boy said, well, it all depends on you. The boy said, well, if you think I have done something wrong, I'm sorry. Later the boy called him upstairs again. This time he changed his story a little bit.

He said, well, since you and Mother both think I have done something wrong, I guess I have. Come down to supper. Once again his father told him that wasn't true. Dr. Ironside went back downstairs and later on he heard the boy almost weeping.

Assurance, Obedience, and the Difference Between Knowing and Claiming

He said, Dad, please forgive me. I know I have done wrong. Please forgive me. And hereby we do know that we know him if we keep his commandments. First of all, let me point out the fact that this has nothing to do with security.

God is talking about assurance, about God's children who are in a family. When we have assurance that we're in God's family, he's telling us that assurance comes by keeping his commandments. If we keep his commandments, it does not refer to the Ten Commandments.

He didn't ask us to keep the Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments were given for the nation. From these commandments, every civilized nation has faced its laws. The Ten Commandments are for the other states.

Now God has something for his own family. Their commandments for his children. Do not feel that we are free to do as we please. If he doesn't do as he pleases, then there's a price to pay. And hereby we do know that we know him.

Remember that day without this picture. John Hanson at Boston. That day and time. They claimed to have a supermodel. Apostle John saying that the important thing is to know Jesus Christ and have the assurance that we know him.

We cannot know that we are children of God if we are disobedient to him. Obedience to Christ is essential and is the very basis of ours. You cannot have that assurance. Or you can bluff the world. But you cannot have that deep, down-in-your-heart assurance unless you keep it.

For he that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. In the previous verse, John has said that we know that we know him. This is the positive side. There are a great many people who say that they are children of God.

The people take the survey just in that locality. There are certainly quite a number of people that say they know. One thing to say that they are a child of God and not another. To have a new nature that cries out to the Father for fellowship and wants to obey him.

All of these church members who have no love for the word of God and are disobedient to Christ are really good. I do not believe they have had an experience of regeneration. John is making it very clear that we know him because we keep his commandments.

Let me repeat that John is not talking about the king's commandments that were given to the nation Israel, but the Old Testament. John is talking about the commandments that Christ gave to the church.

Loving Christ by Keeping His Word, Not Merely His Commandments

If a child of God does not have true love for his commandments, he would be the very gall of criminals. Lord Jesus, when he was here, in the flesh, said of the Father, I do always those things that please him.

In John 8, 29, I can't say that, but I can say that I want to please. I have dedicated my life to that. Although I sometimes stumble and fall, I want to please. It is true that he that believeth not on the Son, but believeth on the Son hath everlasting life.

It confirms his faith when his heart knows that he wants to. The natural man never did want to do God's will. But he did that at the time that he was natural. This is a strong statement that John makes.

He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar. And the truth is not in him. John will tell us that the Holy Spirit is the one who prompted him to say it. The truth is not in the man who claims to be a child of God, but does not keep his commandments.

But whosoever keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected. Nearby know we that we are in him. Now, I feel there is a big difference between the word of God and the fact that commandments are the word of God.

As far as the word of God is not all commandments. It is more than that. I hope you will see to this. There are commandments in the word of God, but the word of God is not only commandments. The word is the expression of the will of God.

The will of God is to have his people in which he wills. In John 14, 15, the Lord made statements. If you love me, keep my commandments. In John 14, 23, he said, if a man loves me, he will keep my will.

There is a difference. The distinction here, let me illustrate this. Suppose the home of a young boy, his home, in the country, is part of the park. One day when the boy is home, the boy's father says, son, I'll melt the cow when I come in from the field this day, but when you get home from school, I want you to put it on the back porch and tell your mother so she can make a fire in the cook's hole in the fireplace.

When the boy comes home, he weighs the stuff, and he chops wood. He spends about an hour and a half chopping wood. He stacks it on the back porch. Then one morning at the breakfast table, his father says, I don't feel well today.

I feel so bad that I don't think I can go out and work in a field. But he goes out anyway. Now when the boy comes home from school, the only commandment for him is to chop wood. He knows that his father is sick and doesn't feel well.

So he's not only chopped the wood, but he melts the cow also. He chops the wood because there's a commandment to do it. But he melts the cow because he loves his father. In just this way, a child of God not only wants to obey the commandments, but God, that he also wants to please the Father in everything.

He gives the impression to many folks that they want to live as much life as they want to live, and still be a Christian, but never give an answer to the one person who asks me, is it all right for me as a Christian to do that?

He's asking the wrong question. The right question is, what can I do to please the Father in whatever I still do as a Christian? There are many Christians in our day who feel that they need to be broad-minded.

They're against Christianity, but they use fear and want in the field of being broad-minded. And of course they feel that I'm very narrow-minded. Well, it's not a question of being right or wrong. The question is, does it please my heavenly Father?

I want to do the thing that will please Him. I enjoy fear, horror, and fellowship. I enjoy my own life. All that you see is on the basis of love. If you love me, keep my commandments. If a man loves me, he will keep my word.

If you love me, you will do more than keep the commandments. I'm not built to break the commandments. Heaven and earth is the only descent of commission. It does not descend upon me. What's the difference?

James puts it like this. To him that knoweth to do good and doeth it not, to him it is a sin. There are many things I know I should do. The Bible makes no distinction between the brevity of sins and commission.

None of the things I know I should do. Verse 5 is very important. Let me repeat it. I know but lose let it keepeth His words. In Him there is the love of God perfected. Then realize and practice thereby.

By this we know that we are in His. The love of God is perfected in you. Amen. Say it with me. Bill, would you just listen please?