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1st John. So this is a small book but it's deep and it's definitely packed and anybody that's probably read through 1st John, especially the first time you've ever read through it, you're probably scratching your head at some of the stuff that's in there, some verses where you're kind of just maybe wondering what in the world does that mean? What is that talking about? I've actually been wanting to go through this book for a while just because ever since I memorized this book, it was one of those books where when I was memorizing it I was just like, I need to figure out what that means. I need to figure out what this is talking about. And so it was just one of those books where I really wanted to understand it, really wanted to understand what it was talking about. And so the first chapter here, what I want to get across first of all is that when it comes to doctrines in the Bible, we really need to study to be able to give an answer. And especially the day we live in, because we're living in perilous times, the Bible says that now the spirit speaketh expressly that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of the devil. So we see that today with a lot of different doctrines. When we think of dispensationalism, we think of this modalism, oneness garbage. We think of a lot of things that are being pushed out there, and specifically pushed by people that are supposedly claiming to be saved. We can obviously look at the Church of Christ, look at the Catholics, look at all this stuff and we can think, okay, well they're not saved so it makes sense that they'd have some weird doctrines. But when you have doctrines that basically people are saying, well you're saved by grace and then they throw out all this other garbage. We need to be able to give an answer. And Proverbs 15 verse 28 it says, The heart of the righteous studieth to answer, but the mouth of the wicked pourth out evil things. And so the heart of the righteous studieth the answer, and this makes sense when you think of 2 Timothy 2.15, which it says, Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed rightly dividing the word of truth. And so we need to be approved unto God, we need to study to answer, and study to show ourselves approved unto God. And this is a book where you need to study. And here's the key to understanding 1 John, the book of John. And if you want to know a portion, now obviously the whole book has pieces in it, but really from John chapter 13 to chapter 17 is this discourse that really is almost like, you almost look at 1 John as being the abridged version of that. Because obviously chapter 13 through 17 is a lot more than the short five chapters in 1 John. And so if you want to know where a lot of this information, especially when we get into chapter 2, 3, 4, and 5, a lot of that stuff you're going to find a lot of information in those chapters in John chapter 13 through 17, and it's really going to help you understand this book because you may look at a passage and be like, what in the world are they even talking about? And then you see where that same phrase is used in John and you're like, oh, it makes perfect sense. And so first what you have to realize, and you know we talked about how John is the only book that was written, the Gospel of John, so that you might believe and have life through him. Well 1 John definitely has the verse that we use out solely all the time, these things that are written unto you that believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life. But truthfully there's a lot of different reasons why 1 John is written. And so we're going to get to that just even in this chapter there's different reasons and who he's talking to. And so the key about 1 John is that he's talking to save people. He's talking to believers. In chapter 2 it says, you know, you have an unction from the Holy One and you know all things. I am not written unto you because you know not the truth but because you know it and that no lies are the truth. And what you keep finding out is he's not writing to people that don't believe. So what you've got to realize is that he's talking to believers and he's talking about something they need to be doing. And so it's not a call, you know, like this is a book to the unsaved. I would say John is more so a book to the unsaved. The Gospel of John. If there was a book in the Bible that I would say for an unsaved person to read after you've given them the Gospel it would be the book of John. Because that book is more so geared toward people believing on him and getting saved. Whereas 1 John is more so to us that are believers and there's a different reason for it. Now going and starting there in verse 1, notice what it says. It says, that which was from the beginning which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon and our hands have handled of the word of life. For the life was manifest and we have seen it and bear witness and show unto you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested unto us. That which we have seen and heard declare unto you that ye also may have fellowship with us and truly our fellowship was with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. In these three verses there's actually three different things that Jesus is called here. He's called the word of life. He's called eternal life. And he's also called the Son. And so all this stuff goes back to the beginning though. And so what we see here first of all is that, notice the thing that's being brought up really. What's the big thing that's being mentioned here? We have heard, we have seen with our eyes, we have looked upon and our hands have handled. Basically he's making a point that Jesus, we've seen him. We've heard him and we've handled him. Go to Luke chapter 24 and when you deal with these modalists out there they keep wanting to say that Jesus is the Father. All we're going to see is that the Father no man has seen. No man has seen the Father. And so how does this make sense if we're talking about God here? And I'm going to prove to you because when we go to John chapter 1 it's almost like reading John 1 at the very beginning. And so we'll see that the similarities in how this is worded because it's called the word of life and it was that which was from the beginning. And the beginning was the word and the word was God and the word was God. That's the exact same thing that we show unto you, that eternal life which was manifested, which was with the Father and was manifested unto us. Sound familiar? All this stuff is exactly, if you go to John chapter 1, it's just expounding that same truth that's being said in John 1-1 and 1-2, 1-3. Now Luke chapter 24, I know you know this, but when there's people out there that want to say that no one has seen Jesus it's almost like you're just like, I don't know what to say to you. He was seen by 500 brethren at once. Now what's interesting is they'll say, well that was the man Christ Jesus. This said that they handled the word of life. And even the modalists will say, well in the beginning was the word. It says they saw the word of life, they handled the word of life, they saw and looked upon the word of life and eternal life and the Son. And so I believe this verse completely annihilates that idea that while Jesus, you know, no man could really see him, it was the man Christ Jesus. How about the fact that it was the word of God that's been since the beginning, they handled, they saw because the word was made flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory, the glory is of the only begotten, of the Father full of grace and truth. And so at the very beginning here, I just wanted to pound that in there and Luke chapter 24, because I really want to show you, you're all probably, I know you're on my side and I know that I'm not dealing with modalist, oneness heretics, but I really want you to be able to just put these people in the ground. Okay? And this is what this book is about to me. You know, when I'm preaching you this book, it's a way to put these people in the ground. I have no patience for this modalist garbage, I have no patience for this oneness garbage, and I have no sympathy for anybody that's trying to purport this stupid doctrine. And so I'm going to embarrass them. My mission is to embarrass these modalist, oneness heretics. So in Luke chapter 24 and verse 36, notice what it says. So this sounds very familiar with what 1 John 1 says. It says in verse 36, and as they thus spake, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them and said unto them, peace be unto you. But they were terrified and affrighted, and suppose that they had seen a spirit, and he said unto them, why are you troubled, and why do thoughts arise in your hearts? Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself, handle me and see, for a spirit hath not flesh and bones as ye see me have. So handle me and see. So you see how that makes sense when they say that which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon and our hands have handled of the word of life. Because they literally handled it. He said, handle me and see. And so they handled them, they saw them, and they heard them. What's interesting about this is they want to say that Jesus is the Father. We'll go to John chapter 5. I didn't have this in my notes, but it was one of those things where as I was kind of looking over my sermon, it just made sense to bring this up. Because it's talking about you've heard them and you've seen them. That's something that's being brought up over and over again, right? You've heard me, you've seen me, you've handled me. Well in John 5 and verse 37, this is John 5 verse 37, it says, And the Father himself which hath sent me hath borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape. How do they answer that? When 1 John is saying that with the Son of God, the word of life, in the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God, that they handled them, they heard them, and they saw them, but yet Jesus said, you have neither seen my Father, you have neither heard his voice nor seen his shape. And so, you know what they're saying, you've never heard his voice speak now, you've heard the words of the Father, why? Because Jesus has spoken all the words of the Father and everything that he spoke, he did, he said, right? But that'd be like if I was relaying a message from like my dad, and then I said, you never heard his voice, do you see what that means? You've heard everything he said, but you didn't hear his voice. And you haven't seen his shape. You've seen, you look at me and you say, well, you're the expressed image of this person, so if you've seen me, you've seen the Father, but you've never literally seen his shape. You've only seen me, which looks just like him, right? And so, that is what it's talking about, and it baffles me, because 1 John chapter 1 completely annihilates that. It'll say, well, it was just the flesh. How about they saw Jesus' face and his glory and his coming kingdom when he was on the Mount of Transfiguration? And guess what, they were still alive, so therefore, his face must not have been the face of the Father, because any man that would see the face of the Father would not live. And so, this whole book isn't going to be about me destroying modalism, because there's other things in this book that we need to talk about and understand. But what you're going to see with 1 John is that there's an explicit expounding of the Trinity, and no marvel considering the fact that 1 John 5.7 is the best Trinity verse in the whole Bible. And so, obviously, it's kind of wrapping it up as far as we're talking about the Father, Son, and the Spirit throughout this whole book. And just the different offices that they have, what's going on with that. And so, go to John chapter 1. So, when I think of 1 John 1.1, I think of John chapter 1 and verse 1. So, as you're going to John 1.1, I'll just read 1 John 1.1 again. That which was from the beginning, so remember beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon in our hands and handle of the Word of Life. For life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness and show unto you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested unto us. Now, see if this sounds familiar. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him. Without Him was not anything made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not. He is the Word of Life. He is the eternal life. Now, this is going to be important. Underline eternal life under 1 John 1.2. Because it says, they're bearing witness and showing unto you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested unto us. So, who's the eternal life? Jesus. And so, Jesus is called eternal life. It's going to be important when we get to a troubling passage later on in the book. And so, this book will really kind of define itself honestly when we're looking at it. But John, the book of John will really help you understand it too. Back in 1 John chapter 1, in verse 3 we already read this. It says, this is really, if you think about, okay, what is the first thing that they're saying, why I'm writing this? Is verse 3 there. That which we have seen and heard declare unto you, why? That ye also may have fellowship with us, and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. So, why are they declaring this unto them? So that they have fellowship one with another. And we think of, this is the apostle John, and he's saying, we're writing this unto you. And it sounds like it's not just him because he says we, you know, he keeps using the word we, you know. And so, but he's saying, we're writing this unto you that you'll have fellowship with us. So, what's the first key that we're seeing here? Why is he writing this book to them? To have fellowship with them. And so, that we'd have fellowship with the brother and that the brother would have fellowship with God, the Father and the Son. And so, that's one big reason why it's written. Now, the next verse in verse 4, it's another reason why it's written. And these things write we unto you, why? That your joy may be full. So, two reasons, we see right off the bat, why is this book written? So that why have fellowship one with another and that our joy may be full. Now, go to John chapter 15. Again, John 13 through 17. If you read through 1 John, read through John 13 through 17, and what you're going to see is key words and things that are brought up throughout the book of John that are very similar to 1 John and it'll give you a lot more light. So, it's saying, you know, we write these things unto you that your joy may be full, that you'll have fellowship with us. Notice what that means, what Jesus meant by that when he, because he says that same phrase, that your joy might be full. And that he spoke these things unto you that your joy might be full. John 15 and verse 8, and all this is going to, you know, and again, we're going to be going back to John 15 when we're talking about abiding in the vine, because that's something that's going to be brought up a lot in 1 John. But again, we're talking about already saved people. We're not talking about getting saved here. We're talking about being saved. We're already saved and we're talking about something that you're doing on top of that. And verse 8, notice what it says. So, John 15 verse 8. Herein is my Father glorified that you bear much fruit, so shall you be saved. Is that what it says? No, so shall you be, or so, I'm sorry, so shall you be my disciples. As the Father had to love me, so have I loved you, continue in my love. If you keep my commandments, you shall abide in my love, even as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. These things have I spoken unto you that your joy might remain in you and that your joy might be full. Remember, what did David say, you know, restoring to me the joy of thy salvation. And so you can be saved and not have the joy of his salvation, and you can have not the joy of being his disciple and following him. But notice you see here, what, that to be my disciples, if you keep my commandments. There's a lot of things when it comes to being the disciple of Christ where you're supposed to pick up your cross daily and follow him. So if you want to know what 1 John's about, it's about that your joy might be full by being his disciple. And what we'll see after that is specifically walking in the light or walking in the Spirit. And so that's where people get hung up on this because they look at 1 John and they're automatically thinking eternal salvation, eternal salvation, eternal salvation. You know, hereby we do know that we know him if we keep his commandments. Well, therefore we got to keep his commandments to be saved. No, wrong. We're talking about walking in the light, walking in the Spirit. 1 John chapter 1 verse 5, and this is a very short chapter, and so I'm trying to give you an overview of the book a little bit and kind of talking about what we're dealing with here. In 1 John chapter 1 and verse 5 it says, this then is the message which we have heard of him and declare unto you that God is light and in him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another and the blood of Jesus Christ his son cleanses us from all sin. And so, you know, nuts and bolts, what's this talking about? The fact that if you're not keeping his commandments, don't say you're walking in the Spirit. That's really what this book is about. It doesn't mean that you're not saved, but when someone says, you know, I know God. Oh, I know God. Or yeah, I'm a good Christian. I'm doing all this stuff. I'm walking by faith. Are you? Are you keeping his commandments? Do you love the brethren? Because if you don't, you're a liar. This book is sharply rebuking people that are saying, you know, it's kind of like James 2, where it says, you know, when it's talking about faith without works is dead. Show me thy faith without thy works, and I'll show you my faith by my works, you know. And this is where the keeping the commandments come in that people are going to know that you're Jesus' disciples if you keep his commandments and if you love the brethren. If you want to know what the big overarching theme of 1 John is, loving the brethren, and if you don't love the brethren, then you don't love God. And that's what people are, oh, I love God, but I hate so and so. I hate Pastor Anderson. I hate, you know, this pastor. I hate this brethren. No, we're never to hate the brethren. And if you do hate the brethren, then don't say that you love God. And so that's what this overarching theme of the book is, is the old man versus new man. You know, the fact is that what we're going to see in this book here at the very beginning is talking about how if we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. Then we're going to find another passage where it says if, you know, who starts born and God does not commit sin, for his seed will remain within him and he cannot sin. How is those, both those statements true? Because one's talking about the inner man and one's talking about the outer man. And that's what we're talking about is the fact that when it's talking about Christ abiding in you or God abiding in you, it's talking about whether you're walking in the Spirit or not, whether you're, you're walking in the flesh or walking in the Spirit. We talked about this a lot in Romans chapter eight, but this book is all about that. This book is stating, hey, you're a child of God now, but are you walking as a child of God? Are you walking in the new man? Because you could walk all day in the old man and Christ has nothing to do with that. Because if you're walking in the flesh, Christ isn't abiding in you. And I'm trying to give you an overview of it because obviously we're going to get a little more detail when we get into those chapters, especially chapter three about abiding in Christ. And so, but go to John chapter 12, John chapter 12, because God is light and we're supposed to, it says that if you're walking in darkness, that basically if you say that we have fellowship with him and you're walking in darkness, you're lying, right? Does that make sense? Because if God's light and you're walking in darkness, just think of it, just out of the blue, you're just reading this. If you're walking in darkness, God is light. How are you telling me that you have fellowship with him if you're walking in darkness? Because it all comes down to the fact that if you're not keeping his commandments, don't tell me you're having fellowship with God. And that's what you have in a lot of churches where you have a lot of people say, well, I got some great mountain moving faith, me and God, we're close. I have a good relationship with God. Do you keep his commandments? Do you go soul winning? Do you do all the things that you're supposed to be doing? Are you reading your Bible? Are you going to church? Because if you're not, then you're lying and you're not having fellowship with him. And obviously this fellowship has nothing to do with us being saved eternally. This is talking about us walking with God, the fellowship. You know, relationships never mentioned in the Bible, but fellowship is. And so there is a fellowship aspect. And you think about this, we use this all the time at soul winning where we talk about, well, you must be born again to be saved, right? And I use this example. So if I were to, if my daughter were to just disobey everything I tell her to do, is she still my daughter? Yeah. That relationship hasn't changed, right? The relationship of father and daughter, but the fellowship has changed. And so that's what this book is dealing with is the fellowship between children and their father, their heavenly father. And so it's not saying, you know, that you're not children, okay? It's just saying that you're either walking in fellowship with him or you're not. And if you're not keeping his commandments and you hate the brethren and all this other stuff, then you're not walking in fellowship with him. And so in John chapter 12, it talks about the fact that I'm walking in the light, but it also talks about believing in the light. And we talked about this a lot dealing with the old man, new man, is that there's a difference between believing in Christ and walking in Christ. And what unsaved people are constantly trying to do is they're trying to mix those two things together and say that they're one and the same, or that they take, you know, that they couple each other and they have to be together in order to go to heaven. And so John chapter 12 verse 35, it says, Then Jesus said unto them, Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness come upon you. For he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth. While ye have the light, believe in the light that ye may be the children of light. These things spake Jesus and departed and did hide himself from them. So notice, to be the children of light, what do you have to do? Believe in the light. But if you want to have fellowship with God, you need to walk in the light. Now this is something that's brought up over and over and over again. Go to Galatians chapter, or go to Colossians first, I guess, to be in order. No, Galatians I was right. Galatians chapter five is something that's brought up over and over again. You believe, but then you also after that are supposed to walk in it. And so is it no marvel that we're talking about walking in the light? If you walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another in the blood of Jesus Christ, his son cleanses us from all sin. And I'm going to get into that, what that's talking about, about his blood cleansing us from all sin, because we're talking about the flesh, we're talking about being right with God physically in this life. Because our souls are taken care of. Our souls, I mean our sins, in our soul, there's no guile. There's no sin. It's as far as the east is from the west, but until this body dies or it's changed, when Christ comes back, it has sin and we have to deal with that sin. And so, Galatians chapter five and verse twenty-five, notice what it says. And this chapter was all about the fact that you walk in the spirit, you shall not fulfill the lust thereof, but if you walk in the flesh, here's the works of the flesh. And it's given that dichotomy, so to speak, of walking in the spirit compared to walking in the flesh. And it kind of ends with this, it says in verse twenty-five, if we live in the spirit, let us also walk in the spirit. Do you see that there's a distinction between the two? Living in the spirit is believing on the Lord Jesus Christ. We live through him. I'm going to misquote it now, but I was thinking about it. In Galatians chapter two, it says this, bear with me, my mind's all over the place. But in Galatians two, it says I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not frustrate the grace of God, for if righteousness come by law, then Christ is dead in vain. We live by faith in the son of God. We live, you know, you're all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. And it says while the light, it says in John chapter 12, while ye have the light, believe in the light that ye may be the children of light. And so that's what that's talking about. Galatians chapter two and verse six, Galatians chapter two verse six, similar. So it talks about, you know, if you live in the spirit, let us also walk in the spirit. You can think about the light if you believe in the light, then also walk in the light. Notice Galatians chapter two verse six, as ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him. Rooted and built up in him, established in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving. Notice how this is just a theme throughout the Bible. If you believed on Christ, walk in him. And it's just giving it in different ways, right? Talking about believing in the light, walk in the light. Living in the spirit, walk in the spirit. Receive Christ, walk in him. And so the walking is the process. That's the thing that we're supposed to be doing. That's the fellowship. That's something that has to do with keeping his commandments and doing those things which are pleasing in his sight. And so don't stumble at that when you go through first John and just, you know, you see this stuff by keeping the commandments and you're like, man, what does that, how does that make sense with salvation by faith alone? It makes sense because it's not talking about salvation by faith alone. It's talking about the fellowship that you have with the Father and with the Son and with the brethren. And the big key is that if you're not having good fellowship with the brethren, then you're not going to have good fellowship with the Father and the Son. He's making a good point about that is that if you don't love your brother whom you have seen, how can you love God whom you have not seen? And he's rebuking them for that usually through here. And so John chapter one, go back to John chapter one, the Gospel of John. We saw in first John that it says God is light. And I believe this is talking about God the Father in John chapter one, or first John chapter one, I'm sorry. But in John chapter one we see that Jesus is the light. And he also says, we'll see later on that he's the light of the world. You know why this makes sense? Because Jesus is God, the Father is God, and the Holy Ghost is God. So the Father is light, Jesus is light, and the Holy Spirit is light. And so they're all light, but I just wanted to show you that, that it says that Jesus is the light. But in first John chapter one verse six, and this is talking about John the Baptist obviously, it says in verse six, there was a man sent from God whose name was John. The same came for a witness to bear witness of the light that all men through him might believe. Now who is he bearing witness of? Jesus. That was his whole ministry was to bring in Jesus. And notice it says he was not that light. Talking about John, John was not that light, but was sent to bear witness of that light. That was the true light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. Notice down in verse 14, and the word was made flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory, the glory is ever the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. John bare witness of him and cried saying this was he of whom I spake, he that cometh after me is before me for he was before me. And of his fullness and of all, I'm sorry, and of his fullness have all we received and grace for grace. For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. Notice this, no man hath seen God at any time, the only begotten Son which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him. Now I'm going to go into actually the famed oneness passage of first Timothy chapter six. And so we're going to get into that with no man has seen God at any time. Obviously talking about the Father here, right? Anybody that's reading this would know that when it says God there, it's talking about God the Father because it says the only begotten Son which is in the bosom of the what? The Father hath declared him. So he's clarifying that saying that the Son has declared God because he's declared his Father. And so, but Jesus was made, the word was made flesh and we saw that at the very beginning of first John, the word of life, the eternal life. In John chapter eight, I want you to see that Jesus calls himself the light of the world. But another interesting fact is that he calls us the light of the world. Why? Because we have God inside of us, right? And so we're the light of the world if we walk as children of light. That's the key and when you'll see this is that it talks about this manifestation of the sons of God or the, you know, this is how the children of God are manifesting, the children of the devil. The reason that's the case is that if you're his disciple and you're loving the brethren and you're doing all this stuff, you're going to manifest the fact that you're a child of God. That doesn't prove, you know, it doesn't mean that if you don't manifest yourself, you know, you don't be his disciple. That doesn't mean that you're not a child of God. Does that make sense? It just means that that's how it's manifested out. Because it talks about the fact that they'll know that you're my disciples if you have love one toward another. That's what Jesus said. And so it's a way for people to see, hey, these people love each other. That's a proof or a knowledge of saying, hey, you know, they're his disciples. And so, but in John chapter 8 and verse 12 it says, Then spake Jesus again unto them saying, I am the light of the world. He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness but shall have the light of life. Notice that he that followeth me. And what is the disciple? Someone that follows Christ and obeys his commandments and all that. So we're talking about not walking in darkness, but what? Walking in the light. And notice in verse 13 says, Then the Pharisees therefore said unto him, Thou barest record of thyself, thy record is not true. Jesus answered and said unto them, Though I bear record of myself, yet my record is true. For I know whence I came and whither I go, but ye cannot tell whence I come and whither I go. Ye judge after the flesh, I judge no man. And yet if I judge, my judgment is true. For I am not alone, but I and the Father that sent me. Now this is where I just can't understand how modals see it around this garbage. You know, like their garbage of teaching that the Father and Jesus are the same person. How in the world do they get around this? Notice in verse 17. It is also written in your law that the testimony of what? Two men is true. Two men. Now he's going to expound on this. The testimony of two men is true. I am one that bare witness of myself and the Father that sent me bare witness of me. What does that mean? There's two. So there's at least two in the Godhead. Now we know that it's not just the Father and the Son, but the Holy Ghost is there too. And obviously we get in later that the Holy Ghost is bearing witness of everything that Jesus said. And so at the mouth of two or three witnesses let every word be established. Do you think that that's a coincidence? That he's saying the Father bareth witness of me and I bare witness of myself? And guess what? The Holy Ghost does too. And so I don't understand how people get around that. And so go to 1 Timothy chapter 6. 1 Timothy chapter 6. So with this in mind with 1 John where it says God is light and in him is no darkness at all. And think about that when we're looking at this passage in 1 Timothy chapter 6. Because it talks about, you know, in 1 John, if we say that we have fellowship with them and walk in darkness when we lie and do not the truth, but if we walk in the light as he is in the light, who? Jesus. And remember Jesus, the only begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father had declared him. Okay? So who is not seen? Who can't be seen? The Father. It has to be. Because if 1 John 1 through 3 would not make sense. How do you reconcile that? And you can't just tell me, well, we got some holes in our theories. No, you got a false doctrine is what you got. Because you got a bunch of holes that you need to cover up. It's worse than the holes that are in the potholes in Morgantown. And that's saying something, okay? Because there's so many holes in their stupid theory and 1 John 1 alone should be enough to just put this to bed. And it's interesting because 1 John 1 is talking about, you know, the fact that we've handled and we saw him and all this and now we're talking about God is light and that's what's brought up in 1 Timothy chapter 6. Now 1 Timothy chapter 6, and other people have different ways of interpreting this, but here's the thing. As long as you don't come out saying that no man has seen Jesus at any time, then I'm okay with you, okay? But this is the way I look at this passage, okay? Now verse 13. So 1 Timothy chapter 6 verse 13. I give thee charge in the sight of God who quickeneth all things and before Christ Jesus who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession. So first of all, from verse 13 down to verse 16, we see it's all one sentence. And we already see two persons that are mentioned here. Now, they're nouns, okay? So a noun is what? A person, place, or thing. So God is mentioned in Christ Jesus. Now, you say well isn't Jesus God? Yes, of course, but a lot of times in the Bible it says that God even our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. And so a lot of times instead of saying Father or something like that, it'll just say God. Now sometimes it can say God and it does mean Jesus, but it'd be pretty redundant if it didn't mean the Father here and then the Lord Jesus Christ. So that's what you usually see. It just doesn't say in the sight of God even our Father. Like normally it does. And so I believe that's talking about God the Father. And then it talks about Christ Jesus who's the Son. Notice verse 14. That thou keep his commandment without spot, unrebucable, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ. Which, now which is a pronoun, and which in his times he shall show who, and that's also a pronoun, is the blessed and only potentate, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, who, also a pronoun, only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto, whom no man has seen nor can see, to whom be honor and power everlasting. Amen. Now the way I look at this, because what's interesting about this passage, if you understand English grammar a little bit here, when you use the word who and whom and you ever do those tests you're like which one is it? I don't know which one it is. When do you use who or whom? Who is used when you're talking about the subject and whom is when you're talking about a direct object. Okay, so who's the subject? God and Christ Jesus, if you're going to use those two personal pronouns at the beginning. And when you use a, or personal nouns, I'm sorry, a pronoun is basically taking the place of the noun that was used before. So God and Christ Jesus would be like the antecedent. An antecedent is the noun that a pronoun is taking the place of. Does that make sense? So if I said Holly is going to the store to pick up some more plates for church and she's also going to go pick up this. And while she did that she picked up something for, do you see how I'm using she instead? I don't say Holly went to the store to pick up plates and then Holly went to this and then Holly went to this, then Holly to this, right? I'm replacing Holly with she, but if I didn't put Holly there to begin with you wouldn't know who the she was. If I said she went to the store to go pick up plates you'd be like who, who, right? There's a lot of she's. It's not like there's only one woman that comes to church here, right? And so, do you see what I'm saying there is that the fact is when you have a pronoun you're looking for an antecedent. And so we have an antecedent. We have Christ Jesus, but we also have God the Father. Now what I believe is that the which, who, who is talking about, if you're underlining those pronouns, I believe that's talking about Jesus. And so when it says which in his times he shall show who is the blessed and only potentate the King of kings and Lord of lords, I believe that's talking about Jesus. Verse 16, who only hath immortality, I think that's also talking about Jesus. Now what's interesting, it says that he's dwelling, now he who only hath immortality is dwelling in what? A direct object. He's dwelling in an object, the light. That's the key. He's dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto. Notice this, which is used there, who or whom? So what's the whom referring to a direct object and not the subject? See what I'm saying? And so that shows you that the direct object which is the light is being referred to when it says whom no man has seen nor can see to whom be honor and power everlasting, amen. That's what I believe it's saying. Now if you have a different interpretation, if you're seeing that differently with your grammar, but in the end you have two different people that you can put in there and at that point you have to figure out which one it would be. And I believe that the subject is talking about Jesus but then it switches into in the light which is the direct object would be the Father, okay? And so the light is the noun that the pronoun of which, whom, whom is referring to. Now that makes perfect sense because Jesus said, I dwell in my Father and He dwells in me. And it says no man has seen God at any time, the only begotten Son which is in the bosom of the Father, He had declared Him. So it makes perfect sense that Jesus will be dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto. There's no contradiction and when this came out as being the turning point in the modalism and oneness, I'm thinking to myself, what in the world are you talking about? It doesn't say who only hath immortality the light which no man can approach unto. Is that what it says? No, it says dwelling in the light. No contradiction, that's something that's being said over and over and over again in John saying that Jesus is dwelling in the Father. And so we're dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto. See, we're, Jesus is the only one that is going, in the Holy Ghost obviously, that is in the bosom of the Father that can declare Him because no man can approach unto Him. That's how John chapter 1 makes sense. No one else can approach unto Him. No man can see Him, only Jesus can. And Jesus came down and basically manifested the Father unto us in the fact that He told us, He showed us what He looked like because He's the expressed image and He also said everything the Father said and that's why it makes sense that no man has seen His shape or heard His voice. And so I don't understand how people can look at this passage, 1 Timothy. I mean, if you're like, and I'm not saying that you believe in it, but if you can look at that and say, well, I can see where they're coming from for this, please tell me. Okay, I'm not going to come down your throat. I just really don't understand how they get that. I'm really, sometimes I'm just like, I just want to see where they're coming from. But this isn't a passage where I'm, it's not like Isaiah 9, 6 where I'm like, man, I can understand at least where they're coming from. I can at least understand where, you know, they have a hiccup there. This I don't. I don't see it. And so, but 1 John chapter 1 where it says, God is light and in Him is no darkness at all, makes sense. You know, and the fact that He, Jesus, is walking, He's in the light and we're going to try to be, emulate Jesus and walk in Jesus. So, but 1 John chapter 1 and verse 8, so as we're moving on there. 1 John chapter 1 verse 8. So this is where you really have to understand what, what is this talking about at the beginning here? Because if there was a so-called contradiction in 1 John, this would be it. Where it says in verse 8, if we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. He's saying that in present tense. But then in chapter 3, it says, if whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin, and is for a seeker to remain within him, he cannot sin because he is born of God. So which one is it? That's where you really have to understand the difference between the old man and the new man. And the fact that our old man is sinful and it obeys the law of sin, but our new man obeys the law of God. And you have to choose every single day which one you're going to walk in. And that's, that's just simply what it means. So that's why I say, this is why there's a false doctrine out there saying when you get saved you'll never sin again. Well this says you're a liar, okay? The truth's not in you. If you say, and you obviously in the last verse there, it says that, that if we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar and his word is not in us. So then you have the people that say they've never sinned before, obviously. So it's covering all bases. I've never sinned before, I don't sin now. And both those would be a lie. And so, but how do you reconcile the fact that it says that if you're born of God he doth not commit sin? Because his seed remaineth in him and he cannot sin because he is born of God. Why? Because your soul is perfect. Your body's not. So when you understand that, that truth right there, you're understanding why it's talking about if you're sinning you're not abiding in him. It doesn't mean you're not saved. It just means that you're not walking in the new man. And so, it'll help you understand, okay? And we're going to get to those troubling passages, so to speak. But what does it mean, you know, in verse nine there, this is a very famous verse. And people have used this for how you get saved and I don't agree with that. I believe obviously what has been talked about through here, having fellowship, walking in the light, we're not talking about how you get saved, okay? How you get eternal life, right? In verse nine it says, if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. So this is, if you look at the Old Testament, how did they get right with God? They would sacrifice a lamb or a bullock or whatever. And it says that that sacrifice was for the purifying of the flesh, it says in Hebrews chapter nine. So how do we purify the flesh now? Or do we not have to purify the flesh? That'd be the question you'd have to ask, right? Do we not have to purify the flesh anymore? I believe we still do, it's just easier now, right? You don't have to go take a bullock up to the priest and then slay it and put your sins on and all this other stuff. No, if you want to get right with God and you want to purify the flesh, what do you do? You confess your sins. To a priest? No. To, it says there's one man between, or there's one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. And so who do you confess your sins to? That's why when you see people getting saved, we talked about this with water baptism, right? And we were talking about how they believe on the Lord, they get baptized, and then they confess their sins to God. Do you see those steps and how that makes perfect sense, right? You believe on them, your soul's taken care of, you get baptized, it's the first step of obedience, and now you're confessing your sins. And that's something that we should do on a daily basis, or at least on a bi-daily basis, right? We should be constantly thinking about the fact of, is there anything between us and God that would cause us not to have fellowship with them? We need to be constantly searching our hearts. And David would talk about cleansing me from any secret faults. So sometimes I'm always like, God, if there's something I've done and I don't know it, right, or there's something I'm doing that I shouldn't be doing, but I don't realize it, forgive me of that too. And so I'm not saying that you have to have a laundry list to remember every single sin that you've committed, but I think you should probably bring up certain things that you know that you're not doing, or you shouldn't be doing, or whatever, right? And you should be bringing that up to God. It says, we come boldly unto the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. And that's the great thing about the New Testament, is that we can come boldly and to the holiest of all. We talked about that with the Holy Ghost. Now we have the Holy Ghost living inside of us, and so He's faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Go to John chapter 13. I talked about this before, but I believe this is what Jesus is teaching here with how He washed their feet. There's no coincidence that it's in John, and then 1 John I believe kind of covers this again to really give us, because He's saying, you don't know what I'm doing now, but you will later. And that's what He tells them when He's washing their feet. You say, well, we're saved. Why do we need to purify the flesh? Well, Jesus said that we'll have no part in it if we don't. It doesn't mean you're not going to heaven, but what does that mean to have no part in it? It means you don't have fellowship with Him. He's not abiding with you. Your joy is not going to be full, right? And so that's the whole key is if you're walking in the Spirit, your joy is going to be full, you're going to have fellowship with the brethren, you're going to have fellowship with God, and you're going to be fruitful. That's what this book is about. But in John chapter 13 verse 1, just to get to the context here, it says, Now before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour was come, that He should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved His own which were in the world, He loved them unto the end. And supper being ended, the devil having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray Him, Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands and that He was come from God and went to God, He riseth from supper and laid aside His garments and took a towel and girded Himself. After that He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel wherewith He was girded. Notice what it says in verse 9, Then cometh He to Simon Peter, and Peter saith unto Him, Lord, dost Thou wash my feet? Jesus answered and said unto him, What I do, Thou knowest not now, but Thou shalt know hereafter. Peter saith unto him, Thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I wash thee not, Thou hast no part with me. That's a strong statement there. So we need to take that heed of what this is talking about. Notice what Peter says in verse 9, Simon Peter saith unto him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head. So he said, you know, imagine this, Jesus is washing His feet. He's like, just wash me all. I want to have, you know, it's kind of like, I want to have all part with you. You know, like I don't want to, I want to make sure everything's taken care of. Notice what Jesus says, though, in verse 10. This is very interesting. In verse 10, it says, Jesus saith unto him, He that is washed needeth not to save, or needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every wit, and ye are clean, but not all. Now, it's not saying they're not, he's not all the way clean, because he clarifies in verse 11, for he knew who should betray him, therefore said he are not all clean. So Judas was there. So he's basically saying, all you are clean every wit, every wit. Why is that? Why is that? Why is that? Because whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin, for his seed remaineth in him, and he cannot sin because he is born of God, every wit. But, you still need to wash your feet. Why? Because you still have the flesh. And if you think about the feet that are in the world, you think about what part of your body is touching the world? Your feet. Unless you're laying on the ground in your underwear, right? So, got to bring that back up into an illustration of some weird people out there that answer the door in their underwear. But anyway, so, but your feet are touching the earth, they're touching the world, right? And so you need to wash your feet, you need to wash the flesh, you need to cleanse the flesh, to the purifying of the flesh. That's why they did sacrifices with animals, but now we just confess our sins to God. And he's faithful and just to cleanse us from all unrighteousness, and forgive us our sins to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Notice it's the forgiving of sins. Because notice what it goes into later here in verse 12. It says, so after he had washed their feet, and had taken his garments, and was set down again, he said unto them, know ye not what I have done to you? Ye call me master and lord, and ye say well, for so I am. If I then, your lord and master, have washed your feet, ye also ought to wash one another's feet. This is an interesting thing that we need to see here. So he's saying I wash your feet, therefore you need to be washing each other's feet. For I have given you an example that ye should do as I have done to you. Verily, verily, I say unto you, the servant is not greater than his lord, neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him. If ye know these things, happy are ye, or happy are ye if ye do them. Sound familiar? Your joy will be full. And so he's saying you need to do this to each other. Now how does that make sense when we're talking about forgiving from sins? Well go to Matthew chapter 6. Matthew chapter 6. Simply this, we need to forgive each other our trespasses, one with another, if we expect God to forgive us our sins. And our trespasses is one between us and God. And this is something that's brought up a lot, but for the sake of time I'm not going to go to all the places that he mentions this. But in Matthew chapter 6 there's a very famous passage dealing with the Mount of Transfiguration. I'm not sorry, Mount of Transfiguration, the Sermon on the Mount. So Matthew chapter 6 and verse 9 it says, After this manner therefore pray ye, our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. Notice what it says in verse 12. And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. Notice what it says in verse 14. For if ye forgive men their trespasses your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if ye forgive not men their trespasses neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. Why do you think he brings this up after he washes Peter's feet and says you need to do it to each other? And happy are ye if you do what I tell you to do. Because if you're going to come to God and confess your sins to God, there are many places on this, if you have sins that are not forgiven between you and your brother, you need to go first get that straight before you go to God. Okay. And so sometimes I think people take this passage in 1 John 1 9 and they take it to be like almost I can do anything in the world as soon as I ask for forgiveness no more consequences no more problems he's going to forget. Well the Bible says that if you don't forgive men their trespasses neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. That's still true. Okay so if you want God if you want to have a good fellowship with God you need to have a good fellowship with your brethren. And that's something that's brought up a lot in 1 John where like I said it says if you love not your brother whom you have seen how can you say how can you love God whom you have not seen? And it says this is the commandment that we that he that loveth God loveth love his brother also. It says whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ the born of God and everyone that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him. So that's the key. You know you say well I love God but I hate all my brethren. You're a liar. Okay. You can't love God and hate the brethren. And so 1 John I know this is a short chapter but we're getting into it. Hopefully I don't lose you when we get into all the deep stuff. Hopefully all that makes sense. But when you get into 1 John we're talking about walking in the light having fellowship with God being a disciple and being fruitful about whether Christ is abiding in you or not. But what you're going to see is that the Spirit's always there. The Spirit's telling you whether he's abiding in you or not. And that's the that's why that sermon this morning was a prerequisite because the Spirit never is not abiding with you. The Holy Ghost is always abiding with you forever. You're sealed on the day of redemption that's why you're grieving him if you don't walk in the Spirit and you're not and you're starving the Spirit so to speak right. Imagine you're starving the Spirit and you're just walking in and walking in the flesh you're grieving that Holy Spirit that's inside of you. And that's what's going to be brought up here is you're going to see things about well you're not the love of God isn't in you. You're not abiding in Christ. You're not abiding in God. But you still have the Spirit. The Spirit's still there abiding with you and he's teaching you all things. Don't grieve him and that's what this book is really touching on a lot. It's talking about that whole aspect of walking in the flesh compared to walking in the Spirit. Walking as the Son of God. Remember we talked about this in Romans if you can remember that far back. But in Romans chapter 8 we talked about the fact that our soul and our spirit is a child of God. Our flesh isn't yet. But it will be. That's why the Holy Spirit promises the earnest and anybody knows anything about buying a house you put down earnest money right. The earnest of the Spirit meaning that our soul is already taken care of. Our soul is saved and it's sinless. But we're waiting for the purchased possession to wit the redemption of the body. And that's what we're waiting for. But until that happens we're constantly dealing with that flesh and you can choose. I'll say this. A Christian can choose to be carnal the rest of their life and still go to heaven. They can walk in the flesh the rest of their life, not come to church, not read their Bible, not do anything that they should be doing for the Lord. Have no fruit. Be choked by the cares of this world. Be offended at everything that's out there when it comes to any trials or persecutions. They're still saved. But their joy's not going to be full. They're not going to have a fellowship with the Father and with the Son. And so that's what this book is talking about. And stay tuned because we're going to get into all the different things. But there's a lot of other things that it talks about. These things that are written to you concerning them will seduce you. My little children, these things write unto you that you sin not. So you notice this book is covering different topics but it's all in the main theme of, okay, if you want to have fellowship with God, don't sin. Keep His commandments. Love the brethren. That's how you get in good fellowship with God. And this book is a great book to teach us that. It teaches us what we need to do if you want to be close to God. And we talked about that. If you want to be the friend of God, what do you need to do? Well, 1 John has a lot of good information for you there. If you want to be the friend of God, if you want to be close to God. And so 1 John chapter 1, 10 verses but a lot in there, right? So let's end with a word of prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for this evening and pray that you be with us as we have some fellowship but also as we go home, pray that you give us safe travels. And Lord, we thank you for your word. And Lord, your word is complex in some places but Lord, we just thank you that it all fits together like a puzzle. And Lord, that your Holy Spirit that you've given us can guide us into all truth and we just thank you for that. We're truly blessed to be in the time that we are to have the Bible so readily available, to have the Spirit of God inside of us that we can understand it. And Lord, that we can have fellowship with you, the God of the universe. And Lord, what a blessing. Let us not take advantage of that, that we have that. And Lord, just help us to be close to you. Lord, we love you and pray all this in Jesus Christ's name. Amen.