1st John – Part 9 Lawson and Aaron Perdue

  Praise God, friends, I’m so glad that you’ve tuned in. We’re gonna talk about today that you don’t have to have this mountaintop and valley relationship with God. If you’ve got a mountaintop and valley relationship with God, and you’re up on the mountain one day, and down in the valley the other day, the problem is you are not focused on who you are in Christ, and what God says about you. So when you understand that, it’ll change how you relate to God. Friends, it’s great to have you with us today. We are sharing today from 1 John 5. And John is amazing, he’s writing this in about 90 AD. He’s been walking with Jesus for over 50 years. So lessons that we learn as we walk with God. And you know, we’re gonna talk in the first part of the broadcast about who we are. Praise God, you know, when you believe on Jesus, it changes who we are.

 

  Yeah, and as believers, we shouldn’t have an identity crisis. A lot of people go through various identity crises throughout their life, but as believers, we should know who we are in Christ Jesus. We should know that we’re loved. We should know that greater is he who is in us than he who is in the world. We shouldn’t just be going from, you know, victimhood to victimhood. We should be victors.

 

  Amen.

 

  And more than conquers through him who loved us.

 

  Amen, going from faith to faith, from grace to grace, and from glory to glory, by the Spirit of the Lord. And you know, that’s the gospel, and what you’re talking about, knowing that we are loved, knowing that we’re world overcomers, all of this comes from our relationship with God. And you know, really John’s talking about, he begins in 1 John 1, him who was from the beginning, we’ve seen him with our eyes, we’ve gazed upon him, our hands have handled him, the Word of life. He’s talking about our relationship with Jesus. And he said, “Jesus changed us.” You know, when you get to know Jesus, he’ll change you. And he says, “What we’re doing is sharing that eternal life that we receive from him.” When you get a relationship with Jesus, it changes who you are, and you can’t help but share that with other people.

 

  And people who are really firm in their relationship with God, they know that God loves them, and that’s just really their foundation, when that’s your foundation, you’re not gonna live this rollercoaster up and down kind of life.

 

  Right.

 

  Too many believers is just, you know, mountain and valley, mountain and valley. They sing songs about mountain and valleys, mountains and valleys. But man, when you know that God loves you, you’re gonna have a consistent, just experience with God.

 

  That’s the truth.

 

  ‘Cause God’s love for you is consistent. It’s not he loves you one day, he doesn’t the next day.

 

  Right, the challenge with that, it’s more like Old Testament living, because people would focus on their performance or their sin, rather than focus on their relationship with God. So when they were doing good, they would be up, and then when they did bad, they’d go down. And it doesn’t lead to health and strength when you focus on our performance. But when you focus on the grace of Jesus, and who he is, and specifically who he is in you, it changes how you live your life. Praise God, and that’s what he’s really talking about. He said in 1 John 4:4, “Greater is he who is in you than he that’s in this world.” He says in 1 John 3, “Behold what manner of love the Father bestowed upon us, that we should be called the children of God.” And you know what, when you get a revelation of God, know you’re a child of God, know the greater one indwells you, it changes how you live your life. And so he continues that theme here in 1 John 5:1, he says, “Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves him that begot, everyone who loves the Father, loves the Son.” If you believe that Jesus is the Christ, you are born of God.

 

  That means you’re a new creation in Christ Jesus. That means inside of you, you have a new DNA, you have a new spiritual DNA, the same Spirit that was in Jesus, the same Spirit that raised him from the dead now dwells in you. So you have a brand-new nature. There is something in you that is completely different, and it shines through you.

 

  Amen, Paul calls it, “Christ in you, the hope of glory,” in Colossians 1:27. Then he says in Colossians 2:10, “We are complete in him who is the head of all principality and authority.” When you begin to understand that Jesus is living on the inside of you, then you can move into this truth that you know you are complete in Christ. And you are not this victim, you’re not this weak, sick, poor, defeated person, but you are more than a conqueror through him that loved you. Amen, that is the gospel truth. Now, as he goes on, he says some things. He says in verse 2, he says, “By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep his commands, for this is the love of God that we keep his commandments, and his commandments are not grievous.” You know, the fact is most people, when they read 1 John, read it with spiritual dyslexia. And what they do is they think, “Well, you know what? If I’m gonna love God, I gotta keep the commandments.” In other words, keeping the commandments will make you love God. But that is not what this is saying.

 

  Or keeping the commandments will make God love you.

 

  Yeah, it doesn’t. What this is saying is because, you know, you understand how much God loves you, and you get a revelation of that, it causes you to keep the commands. In other words, the fruit of your relationship with God is that you keep his Word. It’s not the root of your relationship with God. So he goes on and says this in verse 4, “For whosoever is born of God overcomes the world, And this is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith.” So number one, we’re born of God. Number two, we’re world overcomers. You know, we read in 1 John 4:4 that greater is he that’s in us than he that’s in the world. Paul says in Philippians 4:10, he says, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” He says in Philippians 2:10, “It is God who works in you, both to will and to do his good pleasure.” We’ve gotta begin to understand that we’re victors and not victims. And so he says, “Whosoever is born of God, overcomes the world.” We were made world overcomers the moment that we believed on Jesus. And we’re not trying to become a world overcomer. See, most people think that the goal of Christianity is overcoming sin and overcoming Satan. That is not the goal of Christianity. The goal of Christianity is a relationship with God through Christ. See, we could not overcome sin, we could not overcome Satan. We were completely defeated, that’s why God sent Jesus and did for us what we could never do. So the moment that you believe on Jesus, in your spirit, you are made a world overcomer. Praise God.

 

  That’s awesome. So we should have a mindset of an overcomer, a mindset of being victorious.

 

  Amen.

 

  And not just a mindset of defeat, despair, discouragement, we shouldn’t be stuck there. We should always have hope, and always know that we are victorious, even when facing challenges.

 

  Amen.

 

  And this world is not a perfect place. Everyone’s gonna face challenges. But the way you face it, you’re not facing it coming at it from a defeated standpoint, but you’re coming at it from I already have the victory.

 

  Amen, I am not a sinner trying to get righteous. I’m not a sick person trying to get healed. I’m not a anxious, worried person trying to get peace. I’m not a poor person trying to get wealth. The fact is, I am the righteousness of God in Christ. The devil may be trying to get me in sin. The fact is, I am blessed by the Most High God, the possessor of heaven and Earth. I am prosperous. The devil may be trying to keep me in poverty, or get me in poverty. I am the healed of the Lord. By the stripes of Jesus, I have already been healed, that’s what 1 Peter 2:24 says. So I’m the healed. The devil may be trying to get me sick, or keep me in sickness, but when you understand who you are in the Spirit, you begin to live in a different way. And so I’m not defeated trying to get victory. I am victorious. “Whosoever is born of God overcomes this world, and this is the victory that overcomes world, even our faith.” He says in verse 5, “Who is he that overcomes the world? He who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.” You were made a world overcomer the moment that you believed on Jesus. And he begins to tell us in verse 6 through verse 10, who Jesus is. So Aaron, go ahead and read 1 John 5:6-10.

 

  It says, “This is he who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ, not only by water, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who bears witness because the Spirit is truth. For there are three that bear witness in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit, and these three are one. And there are three that bear witness on Earth, the Spirit, the water, and the blood, and these three agree as one. If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater, for this is the witness of God, which he has testified of his Son.”

 

  Amen, so what he’s talking about here is Jesus Christ is God manifest in the flesh. And he’s talking about what bears witness of him. He says, “The water and the blood.” The water of his baptism, right, the blood of his death, when Jesus died on the cross. See, Jesus didn’t take the nature of angels, this is what Hebrews 2 says, “But Jesus became the seed of Abraham, that through death he might destroy him who had the power of death.” And so he says this, “This is he, Jesus, who came by water and by blood, even Jesus, not by water only, but by water and blood. The water of his baptism, and the blood of his death, and the Spirit who bears witness, because the Spirit is truth.” When Jesus was baptized, God spoke from heaven. The Holy Spirit came in the form of a dove, and sat on him, right? And Jesus was being baptized, so the Spirit was bearing witness. He says, “There are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost. These three are one, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.” The Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost are equal. They are eternal, they are all God, praise God. And they’re all involved in creation. He goes on and says this, “There are three who bear witness in the Earth, in the life of Jesus the Spirit.” After Jesus was baptized, the Spirit of the Lord was upon him, and he opened the Scripture, said, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor.” So the Spirit of God bore witnessed to the Word that he preached. “The water and the blood,” again, the water of his baptism, and the blood of his death. “These three agree in one.” In verse 9 he says, “If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is great.” If somebody comes and tells you about Jesus, and you believe it, that’s good. But it’s better when God makes it a revelation to you. And for you really to be born again, God has to take these truths of the Scripture and make them a personal revelation. You know, somebody preaches it, but we gotta hear it and believe it, and get revelation that comes from God. He says, “This is the witness of God, he testified of his Son. He who believes on the Son of God has this witness in himself. He who believes not the Son of God, God made him a liar, because he believes not the record that God gave of his Son.” We are believers. So fourth thing that it talks about, we are, number one, we’re born of God, number two, we’re world overcomers, and the third thing is we are believers. Now, we’re gonna come back in the last part of the broadcast and talk more about all these different things that we have in Christ, and how we’re victorious through that.

 

  Amen, and you are victorious. You’re not a victim, you’re a victor. You are more than a conqueror through Jesus Christ who loves you, so stay tuned. During this break, if you need prayer, go ahead and give us a call. We have trained prayer ministers ready to receive your call and minister to you today. So stay tuned, we’ll be right back after this short break. God loves you, see you again soon.

 

  Friends, we’ve been sharing from my Bible school class, “1 John: Our Relationship With God,” and these truths have revolutionized my life. We are making the teachings of this available live from church, and you can receive them, downloadable free in audio form, and my syllabus, free online, blessings.

 

  Look what God has done for you, you know, I mean, aren’t you so glad God restores all of us?

 

  Yes, amen.

 

  And even to above and beyond, God brings it, when he does it, when he restores something, it’s even more than you could have imagined. And I love that, again, when God did something for us, it affects others, and then other people even see it, and testify to the goodness of God.

 

  Friends, I’m so glad that you stayed with us. We’ve been sharing from 1 John 5, and in the first half of the broadcast we really talked about who we are. And in this last half of the broadcast, in the end of 1 John 5, we’re gonna talk about what we have. And if you know who you are as a believer, and what you have, it is an antidote against the devil.

 

  And we need those antidotes. You know, there is a devil, there is an enemy. There is a spirit of antichrist in the world today that tries to deceive people, that tries to even deceive believers. And you need to know the truth. You need to know what the Word of God says. You need to know what antidote you do have against that spirit of air, that Antichrist spirit that’s in the world today. We really have to be firm in the truth of God’s Word, and firm in the truth of who Jesus is, that he’s the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through him. We have to be firm today more than ever.

 

  You know, John had been walking with Jesus for over 50 years. And the spirit of Antichrist was there, they had all these attacks, but yet he stood firm in his faith, in his relationship with God through Christ. And it’s because, again, he understood who he was, and he understood what he had. He says right here in 1 John 5:13, and we’re gonna go back and go over the things that we said real briefly, but he says, “These things I’ve written to you who believe on the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and believe on the name of the Son of God.” If you know what you have, you’re gonna continue to believe on Jesus. We talked about this in a broadcast earlier, but this is a tactic of the world. They try to tell you what you don’t have, and sell you something. It’s really a tactic of the devil too, as far as a believer. He tries to get you convinced that you don’t have something, because if you don’t have it, then he can try to sell you some other thing.

 

  But you need to know what you do have in Christ. Now you have more than enough. God never gives his grace, really, in lack, in small portions. It’s always more than enough. When you study God’s grace-

 

  Amen.

 

  And how he pours it out, it’s always more than enough.

 

  Yeah, you know, Aaron, 2 Peter 1:3 says, “His divine power has given to us all things pertaining to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him, or through our relationship with Jesus, who called us to glory and virtue.” Now, as we were in the first part of 1 John 5, the first 10 verses, we found out that we’re born of God, we’re world overcomers, and we found out that we’re believers. And you know what, when you know that, it changes everything. But then he goes in these last verses of 1 John 5, and it talks about what we have. And so he says this in verse 11, “This is the record that God has given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life, and he who has not the Son of God does not have life.” If you have Jesus, you have life. You have the nature of God. This is talking about the Zoe, the character, the very nature of God in you. And if you don’t know Jesus, you don’t have life.

 

  And knowing God, having a relationship with God is life.

 

  Yes, that’s the goal of the gospel. Paul tells us in Philippians 3:10, “That I may know him,” right, “and be conformed to his death.” If you know him, it’s gonna change your life. The writer of Hebrews says the same thing. He said, “You’re not gonna need somebody to teach you, but you’re gonna know him from the least to the greatest.” All through the Scripture, the goal, really, is to know God through Jesus. Jesus said in John 17:3, “This is eternal life, that they may know thee, the only true God, and Jesus, whom thou sent.” So we go on down, not only do we have eternal life, which is the Zoe, the character, the nature, the very life of God himself, the very essence of God in us. He says in verse 13 and verse 14, he says, “These things have I written to you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may believe on the name of the Son of God.” Again, if you know what you have, you’re gonna continue to believe. He says in verse 14, “And this is the confidence that we have in him, if we ask anything according to his will, we know that he hears us. And if we know that he hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petition that we desired of him.” So we have eternal life, and we have confidence. If you really know God, you’re gonna have confidence.

 

  And really, it’s gonna affect your prayer life as well. You know, when people pray, it really reveals their relationship with God, how much they trust God. If people are praying, just begging and pleading, and not really coming to God as a son or as a daughter, it kind of shows that they don’t really know God as well as they might profess to do so. But when you pray, and you’re coming at it from a relational standpoint, you’re just gonna commune with God, and you’re gonna know that whatever you have need of, he’s gonna be there and take care of it for you.

 

  Right, he already knows what we need before we come to him, and you know what? He knows what’s best. I know, Aaron, when you were in college, you went to this one church, and you heard this certain individual preaching, and he was just, you know, talking about really it’s the fear of God will keep you outta sin, but the love of God won’t. And you came back, and you actually were upset that afternoon, and asked me if I ever heard about this guy. And you said, “Dad, that’s wrong, because I know how much you love me, and because of that I respect you, and I want to do what you want me to do.” And I said, “Aaron, that’s exactly right.” That’s what the Scripture teaches. That’s what 1 John 5:3 is teaching when it says, “This is the love of God, that we keep his commandments.” Because we have a relationship with God, we keep his Word, and we want to do it. I don’t want to do anything that violates my personal relationship with God. People that say that the love of God won’t keep you outta sin, don’t understand the love of God. They don’t have a revelation of the grace of God.

 

  Well, it’s a cop out, really. You know, I know someone who had a bad marriage, and their husband was unfaithful, but always told this person, “I love you, I love you, I love you,” but it was a lie.

 

  Right.

 

  If you really love someone, you’re not gonna treat ’em like a piece of trash, you know?

 

  Right.

 

  And if you really love God, and understand that he loves you, it’s gonna affect how you live.

 

  We know that God loves us because of Jesus. You know, Romans 8:31 says, “If God be for us, who can be against us?” Then he shows us in verse 32 how we know that God is for us, “He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all.” When did Jesus go to the cross? He went to cross when we were making all the wrong choices, and doing all the wrong things. “How shall he, the Father, not with him, the Son, freely give us all things?” And Paul goes on and says, “For I’m persuaded that neither life nor death, nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor angels, nor any of these things can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ.” So when you know who you are, that you are born of God, that you are a world overcomer, that you, you know, have eternal life, that you’re a believer, and when you know what you have, number one, you have eternal life. Number two, we have confidence. He says in verse 14 again, “This is the confidence we have in him, if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us, and if we know that he hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we already have the petitions that we desired of him.” We’re not trying to get God to do something. God’s already moved, God’s already done it. God’s already finished the work at the cross. Jesus already paid for our forgiveness, paid for our healing, paid for our peace, paid for our provision. The promises of God are all paid for. “All the promises of God in Christ are yes and amen, to the glory of God by us.” Now, he talks about, because we have eternal life, because we have confidence, he says in verse 16, Aaron, I want you to read verse 16 through verse 19.

 

  It says, “If anyone sees his brother sinning a sin, which does not lead to death, he will ask, and he will give him life for those who commit sin not leading to death. There is sin leading to death. I do not say that he should pray about that. All unrighteousness is sin, and there is sin not leading to death. We know that whoever is born of God does not sin. But he who has been born of God keeps himself, and the wicked one does not touch him. We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one.”

 

  And so not only are we born of God, world overcomers, believers, we have eternal life, we have confidence, but if you look at verse 18, we have power over sin and Satan. And he says this, “We know that whoever is born of God does not sin.” Again, if you go back to 1 John 3:6 and 9, John says the same thing. And if you’re having a sin problem, it’s because you really don’t know God. It’s because you have a challenge in your relationship with God. And he’s not talking about our physical man here. He’s talking about our spiritual man. But if you understand who you are in the Spirit, and what God’s done in you, it changes how you live your life in the outside world. And so whoever is begotten of God, whoever is born of God, the problem is either people have not been born of God, or they don’t know who they are in Christ. And so he says, “Keeps himself and the wicked one touches him not.” So not only do we have eternal life and confidence, but we have power over sin, and power over Satan. You know, the devil is not who he used to be. The devil can’t make you do one thing. And when you understand who you are, and what you have in Christ, and when you understand what John’s talking about, you’re gonna live just like John. You’re gonna have a good, long-term, healthy relationship with God.

 

  And you’re gonna understand too what’s from God and what’s from the enemy. You know, there’s old cartoons where it shows like an angel on one shoulder, and a demon, the devil on the other shoulder, kinda telling you what to do. Man, the devil’s not gonna have power over you. You’re created to be victorious. You’re created to be an overcomer, and Satan has no power over you.

 

  Now the devil is under our feet. You know, you have to take a step down out of your glorified position in Christ to even get involved in the devil’s junk.

 

  Part of the gospel is that we can crush the devil.

 

  Amen.

 

  You know, Paul talks about that at the end of Romans 16, that you know, he’s under our feet, we’re crushing him now. It’s not just Jesus that crushed the devil, but we, as believers, now crush the devil. Yeah, Jesus, that’s part of the gospel, that Jesus overcame the devil. But part of the gospel is that we now have that authority.

 

  Yeah, we have authority over the devil. I’m gonna read these last three verses, verse 19 through verse 21. He said, “We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies in wickedness. And we know that the Son of God has come, and has given us an understanding that we know him,” you gotta know God, know Christ, “know him who’s true, even his Son, Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life. Little children, keep yourselves from idols.” In other words, what John is saying is, “Don’t let anything distract you from this life-giving relationship with God. Don’t let anything distract you from who you are, and what you have in Christ.” You know, I’m gonna be back in just a little bit, and I’ll be back to pray for you. But before we go off the air, I’m gonna ask Aaron if he’ll pray for you and minister to you.

 

  Dear God, I just thank you for every single person watching this broadcast right now. Lord, I just thank you that they are not just up and down, but they are victorious, they know who they are in Christ Jesus, and their life is flowing from their position, from their knowledge of how much you love them, and your love never changes. So I just thank you for consistency and steadiness in their life.

 

  And if you need prayer, give us a call today. Or if you wanna partner, we’d love to hear from you. Blessings.

 

  When you know Jesus, and experience his incredible love for you, you will know who you truly are, you’ll understand the anointing that’s in you, and you’ll realize that you’re part of God’s great family. You can come home to him today through the person of Jesus. We’d like to bless you with a digital copy of “1 John: A Relationship With God,” a $21 value, free of charge. Download your copy today at charischristiancenter.com.

 

  Friends, it’s great to have you with us today, and I wanna invite you to attend services with us at Charis Christian Center in Colorado Springs. The atmosphere is amazing. Recently in one service, I had people from 10 nations, and several states. They watch us on a regular basis online, and they said, “This is amazing.” So if you can’t come physically, come and attend online at Charis Christian Center or YouTube, blessings. Friend, I don’t wanna leave this broadcast without giving you the opportunity to pray with me and surrender your life to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Pray right now, heavenly Father, I believe that Jesus Christ is your Son. I believe that Jesus died for my sins, and you raised him from the dead, and made him Lord on the third day. And right now, I surrender my life to you, in the name of Jesus, amen.

 

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