WEBVTT 00:00:00.120 --> 00:00:01.630 We're going to start a new series this summer. 00:00:02.080 --> 00:00:07.150 If you haven't noticed already, in the seat in front of you is a small journal on the book of 1 John. 00:00:07.420 --> 00:00:09.540 If you like to journal, you can grab one of these. 00:00:09.640 --> 00:00:12.150 If this doesn't interest you, don't feel obligated to do this. 00:00:12.820 --> 00:00:17.200 And I would just make a special request, please don't hoard all of them, just take one, all right? 00:00:17.280 --> 00:00:19.530 Because we have to share some with the next service as well. 00:00:19.940 --> 00:00:24.360 But 1 John for us is a book that we're going to dive into this summer. 00:00:24.640 --> 00:00:27.300 And I want us just to devour what the book is about. 00:00:27.880 --> 00:00:34.360 And the reason I want to do this is it is vital for our lives to root ourselves in the word of God. 00:00:34.460 --> 00:00:39.000 And the reason I say that is because the word of God is what transforms our life. 00:00:39.100 --> 00:00:40.580 It's where the truth of God is proclaimed. 00:00:41.440 --> 00:00:42.860 Truth believed transforms, right? 00:00:43.140 --> 00:00:46.300 And God wrote his word for us for a reason. 00:00:46.580 --> 00:00:49.780 And one of those reasons, I should say, one is just to know God, right? 00:00:49.820 --> 00:00:50.620 The truth of who he is. 00:00:50.880 --> 00:00:57.980 But the other reason is because sometimes people are just crazy and we say crazy things, and the way that you know if something's true or not true, as it relates to 00:00:57.980 --> 00:00:59.260 God, is really in his word. 00:00:59.280 --> 00:01:06.360 If someone says something contrary to his word and God's word is inspired of him and is true and it doesn't match with what God's word says, then you can look at 00:01:06.360 --> 00:01:10.920 that and be like, "Look, this says this, you say that, you are crazy and not this." It gives us a foundation. 00:01:11.020 --> 00:01:18.100 In fact, in Acts 17 it says this, "That the Bereans were more noble from those in Thessalonica because they received the word with readiness of mind and then 00:01:18.100 --> 00:01:25.120 they searched the scriptures daily to determine if whether or not it was true." So God's word becomes the basis for finding out if what I say today is half 00:01:25.120 --> 00:01:27.160 crazy or if it's accurate, right? 00:01:27.160 --> 00:01:29.140 And so, God's word becomes vital for us. 00:01:29.240 --> 00:01:30.860 It's how we get to know God. 00:01:30.920 --> 00:01:36.100 In fact, in Psalm 119, the Psalmist says this, Psalm 119 is all about the beauty of God's word. 00:01:36.520 --> 00:01:43.670 But in verse 11 he says this, "I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you." So, you see on this, it's the contrary, 00:01:44.000 --> 00:01:45.600 like I don't want to live this way. 00:01:46.040 --> 00:01:52.040 I don't want to sin against you, so your word in my heart, in verse 15, "I meditate on your precepts and consider your ways. 00:01:52.380 --> 00:01:59.560 I delight in your decrees, I will not neglect your word." I mean, he sees it as the foundation for our understanding what it means 00:01:59.560 --> 00:02:03.300 to pursue God and follow him with his life. 00:02:03.340 --> 00:02:10.479 And so, this summer we're going to look through one of those books as it relates to God revealing his word to us, and that is 00:02:10.479 --> 00:02:12.040 in the book of 1 John. 00:02:12.100 --> 00:02:17.960 1 John is a very practical book for living in light of the Lord in our lives. 00:02:18.480 --> 00:02:23.180 The book, 1 John, gets its name 1 John because it's the first epistle that John wrote. 00:02:23.540 --> 00:02:25.280 And epistle is the way of saying a letter. 00:02:25.360 --> 00:02:27.920 There are a few different literary styles in the Bible. 00:02:27.920 --> 00:02:33.160 When you pick up the New Testament, your New Testament is clumped together based on literary genre styles. 00:02:33.180 --> 00:02:37.400 Like the first four books in your New Testament, they're not the first four books written. 00:02:37.440 --> 00:02:44.660 Like if I give you a chronological list of likely how most of the books are laid out, there's a little bit of debate over the timeline 00:02:44.660 --> 00:02:48.090 on how the New Testament came together, but we knew it was formed by the end of the first century. 00:02:48.660 --> 00:02:56.020 A few of these books, you might see some people put it chronologically in a different place, but the first books in the New Testament, 00:02:56.180 --> 00:02:58.300 Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, were not the first books of the Bible written. 00:02:58.780 --> 00:03:00.760 Those are the Gospels, that's why they're together like that. 00:03:01.300 --> 00:03:06.570 The next book is Acts, it's a history book of how the church grew from Jerusalem to Rome. 00:03:07.080 --> 00:03:08.640 And then you have the epistles, right? 00:03:09.340 --> 00:03:13.460 The epistles are letters, that's what we're going to look at today, the epistle of 1 John. 00:03:13.760 --> 00:03:16.100 And then at the end you have the crazy book of Revelation, right? 00:03:16.460 --> 00:03:17.620 An apocalyptic book. 00:03:17.640 --> 00:03:18.820 Who knows what's happening? 00:03:18.820 --> 00:03:21.820 Everyone just prepare, right? 00:03:21.980 --> 00:03:26.200 Look forward to Jesus, it's a worship book of Jesus and his victory, is really what it is. 00:03:26.480 --> 00:03:28.880 But it's an apocalyptic literary genre. 00:03:29.540 --> 00:03:34.020 The books that we're going to talk about, or one of the books that we're going to talk about this summer is 1 John. 00:03:34.020 --> 00:03:38.260 And John was one of the apostles or disciples of Jesus. 00:03:38.840 --> 00:03:42.360 He wrote the last five books of the New Testament. 00:03:42.380 --> 00:03:48.210 You have the Gospel of John, first, second, and third epistles of John, and then the book of Revelation. 00:03:49.320 --> 00:03:54.300 John was most likely the youngest of Jesus' disciples. 00:03:54.840 --> 00:04:02.280 This is why when you see these writings, I mean, Jesus is crucified people say between 30 to 33, or 29 AD to 33 AD. 00:04:02.480 --> 00:04:06.660 And so, here's John in 90s AD writing his epistles. 00:04:06.660 --> 00:04:11.200 He is the last living disciple, he is the only disciple not martyred for his faith. 00:04:11.560 --> 00:04:14.340 And he's writing this letter to us at the end of his life. 00:04:14.940 --> 00:04:22.060 I mean, this guy is somewhere between 90 and 100 years old writing to us this desire that he has, this desire the 00:04:22.060 --> 00:04:25.360 Lord has for us to pursue God with our lives. 00:04:25.560 --> 00:04:28.500 And so, John's writing these last letters. 00:04:28.500 --> 00:04:35.580 And when you study the literature of John, there are some new religious movements around John's time, we'll talk a little bit more about 00:04:35.580 --> 00:04:36.160 next week. 00:04:36.520 --> 00:04:40.880 But John tends to write his letters from a broad audience, for the entire world. 00:04:40.900 --> 00:04:47.600 When you study these writings, you'll see a lot of them tailored to Roman society, Jewish society. 00:04:47.940 --> 00:04:55.280 John's trying to keep the whole scope in mind, of this whole conglomeration of the Roman Empire and what he desires for 00:04:55.280 --> 00:05:00.220 them to know in light of who Jesus is, being inspired by the Lord. 00:05:01.040 --> 00:05:03.380 So, John's writing this book for us. 00:05:03.380 --> 00:05:10.620 When you study the New Testament, you might even be looking at this list thinking, "Okay, I see the writings of the first century, but why do we not have 00:05:10.620 --> 00:05:11.700 any more books of the Bible? 00:05:11.700 --> 00:05:18.880 Why are the Christian community after the first century end writings of the scripture?" And I'm not going to dive into this real big, 00:05:18.880 --> 00:05:20.120 I want to give you just a few verses. 00:05:20.280 --> 00:05:22.600 In fact, if you want to take your journal, write some of these down to look at later. 00:05:23.220 --> 00:05:30.660 I'll tell you the reason that the New Testament is concluding with the end of John is because the New Testament is written under apostolic authority. 00:05:31.640 --> 00:05:33.340 And after John there are no apostles. 00:05:34.260 --> 00:05:40.960 And so the reason why that we would say this is as a church community, the New Testament ends is because there's no apostolic authority continuing. 00:05:41.520 --> 00:05:48.640 And let me just give you a basis, if you don't believe that, cool, but let me just give you some theological reasons rooted in scripture that you can go look up later to 00:05:48.680 --> 00:05:51.280 determine what I'm saying is crazy or not crazy, all right? 00:05:51.720 --> 00:05:58.940 If you turn to Acts 1, what you find in Acts 1 starting in verse 15 down to the end of the chapter, which is verse 26, you'll see in this chapter 00:05:58.960 --> 00:06:04.320 that the apostles are talking about replacing Judas, who has just hung himself, right? 00:06:04.600 --> 00:06:10.430 They talk about the need for 12 apostles, that God had prophetically said that there were to be 12 apostles when the church is established. 00:06:10.920 --> 00:06:18.530 And so based on that prophetic statement that they root in verses 15 to 26, you'll see that they go back and refer to this verse, they pick another apostle. 00:06:18.540 --> 00:06:24.360 Well, when they pick this apostle, they give the qualifications for what it takes to be an apostle, which is an impossibility. 00:06:24.880 --> 00:06:27.860 So, check out Acts 1:15-26. 00:06:27.860 --> 00:06:31.330 It's an impossibility today, but they lay out the foundation for being an apostle. 00:06:31.900 --> 00:06:38.980 At the same time, even the Apostle Paul in Ephesians 2:20 tells us that the foundation of which we believe is rooted in the 00:06:38.980 --> 00:06:40.560 prophets and apostles. 00:06:41.240 --> 00:06:43.670 When you lay a foundation for a home, how many times do you lay the foundation? 00:06:44.940 --> 00:06:45.500 Once, right? 00:06:46.740 --> 00:06:53.860 You get to Acts 15, Acts 15, Paul refers to himself in verse eight and nine as the last and least of the apostles. 00:06:54.880 --> 00:07:01.980 And then when you study the rest of the New Testament, the rest of the New Testament, when it talks about leadership in the church, it never at any point in any 00:07:01.980 --> 00:07:06.240 of the New Testament epistles does it ever tell us how to qualify or appoint apostles. 00:07:07.540 --> 00:07:12.460 Because the understanding through the New Testament is that this was an office established by Jesus that wasn't to continue. 00:07:12.480 --> 00:07:16.700 Now I'll tell you this, there is a difference between capital A apostle and lowercase A apostle. 00:07:17.620 --> 00:07:20.100 The generic term just simply means one sent forth. 00:07:21.220 --> 00:07:23.980 We would use that term today in relationship to a missionary. 00:07:24.640 --> 00:07:27.200 You send them forth for a purpose, to proclaim the kingdom. 00:07:27.200 --> 00:07:30.640 Like the apostles went into parts of the world where there was no Gospel. 00:07:31.700 --> 00:07:36.200 The office of apostle, when you study them in the New Testament, they don't live lives of luxury. 00:07:36.220 --> 00:07:39.000 In fact, Paul even chastised people for calling themselves super apostles. 00:07:39.140 --> 00:07:39.920 He said "Why would you want this? 00:07:40.940 --> 00:07:41.900 Why would you even want that title? 00:07:42.600 --> 00:07:44.520 We're the most pitied of all people on earth. 00:07:44.560 --> 00:07:47.120 We've been persecuted, we don't know if we're going to have anything to eat. 00:07:47.140 --> 00:07:52.240 I've been shipwrecked, I've been beat, we don't have anything to eat." This is not a life of luxury. 00:07:52.260 --> 00:07:56.300 They go into the uttermost parts of the earth and they lay their lives down for the Lord. 00:07:56.340 --> 00:08:00.380 In fact, that's why we're talking about John, who's the only apostle that's living at this point. 00:08:01.040 --> 00:08:03.580 I mean, John saw his brother, James, martyred for the faith. 00:08:04.000 --> 00:08:08.140 The first of the apostles or the disciples martyred was John's brother. 00:08:08.140 --> 00:08:13.860 When you think about someone that's really paid the cost, John has seen all of his friends go. 00:08:16.240 --> 00:08:21.100 In the New Testament, the New Testament never talks about appointing further apostles. 00:08:21.100 --> 00:08:22.680 It only talks about, when it talks about church leadership, appointing elders. 00:08:23.980 --> 00:08:29.960 1 Peter 5 uses that same term of elders for the idea of shepherds or pastors or bishops. 00:08:30.060 --> 00:08:33.200 All those interchangeably used in 1 Peter 5. 00:08:33.260 --> 00:08:38.799 So, that's why when we talk about the New Testament from a Christian's perspective, when we say why are there not any other books? 00:08:38.820 --> 00:08:40.520 Letters continued to be written after this. 00:08:41.360 --> 00:08:46.460 In fact, one of my goals this week are to read the seven letter of Ignatius, he was disciple of the disciples. 00:08:47.580 --> 00:08:54.660 Ignatius wrote seven letters, you can read in church history where the leaders of the church continued to write letters to churches, but they would acknowledge in these letters, these aren't scripture like 00:08:54.660 --> 00:08:57.260 you receive scripture from the disciples or the apostles. 00:08:59.040 --> 00:09:06.340 The New Testament was written under the authority of the apostolic succession, from Jesus to the ones that he appointed. 00:09:08.580 --> 00:09:12.700 And so, when you look at the book of John, you have these five books in conclusion here. 00:09:13.120 --> 00:09:20.120 And here's what I want to do this morning, I'm going to look at the beginning of 1 John towards the end, but really what I want to do is 00:09:20.120 --> 00:09:27.480 lay the foundation for who John is to get a perspective of the idea of the kind of individual that's writing this letter 00:09:27.480 --> 00:09:28.880 to us. 00:09:28.920 --> 00:09:34.750 One of the reasons I want us to have an understanding of exactly who John is because of the way scripture references him. 00:09:35.980 --> 00:09:40.460 Interesting title that John has that's different from all the disciples that followed Jesus. 00:09:41.820 --> 00:09:49.100 And this is mentioned about John in John 13:23, John 19:26, John 20:2, a few other passages 00:09:49.260 --> 00:09:51.420 in the book of John, but look how it references John here. 00:09:52.640 --> 00:09:55.510 The disciple who Jesus loved. 00:09:59.420 --> 00:10:05.300 John references himself in these scriptures as really a best friend of Jesus. 00:10:08.480 --> 00:10:09.120 You ever thought about that? 00:10:11.780 --> 00:10:12.890 Jesus had a best friend. 00:10:15.380 --> 00:10:18.200 You can only have so many close friends in life, right? 00:10:18.200 --> 00:10:22.000 I mean, you have all kinds of friends, Facebook gives you more friends than you really know that you even have. 00:10:24.160 --> 00:10:27.220 But really in life you only have a few best friends that know you intimately. 00:10:29.180 --> 00:10:36.760 And I want to see the kind of person that their best friend is Jesus, and Jesus references him this way. 00:10:38.400 --> 00:10:40.800 What drew in the heart of God? 00:10:42.400 --> 00:10:44.940 What kind of person is Jesus' best friend? 00:10:46.740 --> 00:10:47.580 Can I be like that? 00:10:50.040 --> 00:10:57.030 In Mark 1, gives you the introduction to really when John was called by Jesus. 00:10:57.180 --> 00:10:59.280 I love the Gospel of Mark. 00:10:59.280 --> 00:11:04.020 Mark 1:15, Jesus shows up and he pronounces the Gospel of his kingdom. 00:11:05.440 --> 00:11:10.280 And then right after that, verse 16, it tells us in Mark that Jesus goes around and starts to call his followers. 00:11:11.620 --> 00:11:15.920 The first ones that he comes to is Simon, or you would know him better as Peter, and Andrew. 00:11:16.240 --> 00:11:23.280 It says in verse 16, "As Jesus was going along by the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon Peter and Andrew, the brother of Simon, casting a 00:11:23.300 --> 00:11:26.700 net in the sea, for they were fishermen." So he calls them. 00:11:27.060 --> 00:11:34.060 And then when you get to verse 19, the next two disciples that are stated here, it says, "Going a little further, he saw James, the son of Zebedee, and John, 00:11:34.080 --> 00:11:37.960 his brother," who writes 1 John, "who are also in the boat mending their nets. 00:11:38.820 --> 00:11:45.980 Immediately he called them and they left their father, Zebedee, in the boat with the hired servants and went away to follow him." 00:11:46.020 --> 00:11:47.500 I love this description. 00:11:47.760 --> 00:11:50.180 In Mark, you see this often, but it's a book of action. 00:11:50.180 --> 00:11:50.880 Mark's a book of action. 00:11:51.300 --> 00:11:55.000 But when John is called by Jesus, it tells us he didn't delay in the decision. 00:11:55.400 --> 00:11:57.240 He immediately pursued Christ with his life. 00:11:57.640 --> 00:12:01.620 Now, I'll give a little back story to this, I don't think John's like blindly following here. 00:12:01.680 --> 00:12:04.460 I don't think John's just sitting here like, "Oh, man, I don't know what to do with my life. 00:12:04.480 --> 00:12:11.480 Oh, here's somebody that might give me some direction, let's go." I think John was already aware of the idea of the Messiah coming, 00:12:11.680 --> 00:12:13.180 because he was familiar with John the Baptist. 00:12:14.560 --> 00:12:18.900 John the Baptist had been teaching the pronunciation of the arrival of the Messiah who was to come. 00:12:19.100 --> 00:12:26.280 John's story into this world was miraculous, where his father goes into the temple and he has a vision before the Lord and he can't even speak until John 00:12:26.280 --> 00:12:27.300 the Baptist is born. 00:12:28.400 --> 00:12:33.880 So, Israel, God has been silent for hundreds of years, and now all of a sudden God starts talking to his people again. 00:12:33.980 --> 00:12:36.900 Over 400 years God had been silent, God starts talking to his people again. 00:12:37.220 --> 00:12:39.030 Then there where this miracle is taking place, it's in John. 00:12:39.220 --> 00:12:45.190 John starts to proclaim that the Messiah is coming and so, I think these individuals are familiar with this and looking forward to his arrival. 00:12:45.660 --> 00:12:50.980 And then in verse 15, Jesus shows up, proclaims the coming of his kingdom, and then he calls his disciples. 00:12:51.060 --> 00:12:53.100 And for them, they immediately make the decision. 00:12:53.280 --> 00:12:54.700 So there was an introduction to Jesus. 00:12:57.260 --> 00:13:04.680 But they didn't delay in the choice of pursuing after him, because when they finally see this Messiah and they realize the calling to pursue after him with their lives, they abandon 00:13:04.680 --> 00:13:08.420 the small business of which they are helping run with their father, which is fishermen. 00:13:11.120 --> 00:13:12.020 And they pursue after Christ. 00:13:14.200 --> 00:13:18.930 And as you start to learn about the life of John, you realize that John isn't perfect. 00:13:19.400 --> 00:13:23.430 Yes, he follows Jesus immediately, but he has some learning and growing to do. 00:13:23.720 --> 00:13:31.040 In fact, when it begins to reference John here, it says, "And he appointed twelve," so Jesus, at this point in his ministry, he calls individuals 00:13:31.040 --> 00:13:35.960 and he appoints a particular twelve, which we talked just a little bit ago, that become the twelve apostles. 00:13:36.680 --> 00:13:42.620 He appoints twelve, Simon to whom he gave the name Peter, and James, the son of Zebedee, and John, the brother of James. 00:13:43.060 --> 00:13:47.340 To them he gave the name Boanerges, which means the sons of thunder. 00:13:48.880 --> 00:13:55.900 If you're wondering what exactly that might mean, I mean, what it really means is if John ever becomes a political leader in this world, you don't want 00:13:55.900 --> 00:13:58.400 him in charge of pushing the nuclear bomb button, right? 00:13:58.980 --> 00:14:00.780 I mean, he gets this name for a reason. 00:14:01.640 --> 00:14:04.280 He tends to lead more with wrath than grace. 00:14:04.440 --> 00:14:06.840 If you don't agree with him, then he's going to sock you, right? 00:14:06.840 --> 00:14:09.120 I mean, these two brothers have a reputation. 00:14:10.430 --> 00:14:13.200 Maybe viewed as like the greatest tag team to ever live. 00:14:13.220 --> 00:14:16.340 I mean, before the Legion of Doom, you've got James and John, right? 00:14:17.160 --> 00:14:24.240 And so, John has this reputation in his life of being one that leads with this 00:14:24.760 --> 00:14:28.160 sort of thunderous attitude to the point that Jesus gives them that nickname. 00:14:28.880 --> 00:14:32.960 I mean, I can imagine after a while you just get tired of it to the point that you've just got to make a joke about it and laugh it off. 00:14:33.740 --> 00:14:37.280 Like, here's everybody else and John's still steaming about something that happened five minutes ago. 00:14:37.800 --> 00:14:40.540 Calm down, John, we're all moving forward here, right? 00:14:40.860 --> 00:14:42.370 That's the kind of attitude that John has. 00:14:42.540 --> 00:14:48.060 In fact, he gives us an illustration of where Jesus might pick up that personality in Luke 9. 00:14:48.060 --> 00:14:55.920 Listen to this, Luke 9:51, "When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he 00:14:55.960 --> 00:15:00.590 set his face towards Jerusalem." So Jesus is talking about his death, burial, and resurrection here. 00:15:01.680 --> 00:15:03.350 And so he sets his face towards Jerusalem. 00:15:04.320 --> 00:15:11.360 "And he sent messengers ahead of him, who went and entered a village of the Samaritans to take the preparations for him." So they're 00:15:11.360 --> 00:15:17.160 making their journey to Jerusalem, and as they're making their journey to Jerusalem, it requires them to cross the land of Samaria. 00:15:17.960 --> 00:15:19.710 The Jews didn't like Samaritans. 00:15:20.760 --> 00:15:27.400 You know the story, if you're familiar with the story of the woman at the well, they refer to them as half breeds and they look down upon that group of people. 00:15:27.440 --> 00:15:29.960 In fact, many Jews wouldn't even walk through this land. 00:15:30.000 --> 00:15:34.860 They would walk around this land just because they didn't want to be tainted in their mind by entering into the region of Samaria. 00:15:36.180 --> 00:15:39.120 But Jesus, because he loves all people, didn't care. 00:15:39.200 --> 00:15:41.020 And Jesus would travel back to this region. 00:15:41.580 --> 00:15:43.860 And here he is coming through this region to go to Jerusalem. 00:15:45.240 --> 00:15:48.900 And so he enters into the land of Samaria to make preparations for him. 00:15:49.300 --> 00:15:54.420 Verse 53, "But the people did not receive him because his face was set toward Jerusalem. 00:15:55.420 --> 00:16:02.600 When his disciples James and John saw it, they said, 'Lord, do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them?' 00:16:03.380 --> 00:16:06.980 But he turned and rebuked them and they went on to another village." I love that. 00:16:07.480 --> 00:16:10.360 It's like John has a short fuse, right? 00:16:10.360 --> 00:16:12.250 This is not a very good pastor's heart, right? 00:16:12.780 --> 00:16:15.120 John's about to be an apostle and John what are you about? 00:16:15.460 --> 00:16:16.140 Killing people. 00:16:16.260 --> 00:16:18.680 That's not a very pastorly thing at all. 00:16:18.820 --> 00:16:25.960 "God, you're the ruler of all things, should we strike down thunder and destroy them?" And I like this and Jesus was just like, "No." 00:16:26.060 --> 00:16:26.730 And they continue on. 00:16:27.900 --> 00:16:30.460 John's got this fuse, like macho man, right? 00:16:30.540 --> 00:16:33.320 He's grabbing a hold of the ring and going crazier, the ultimate warrior, right? 00:16:33.440 --> 00:16:40.240 "I want to kill them for you!" "No, let's not do that." "All right, let's go." You got some things to learn, John. 00:16:41.020 --> 00:16:47.960 But this is the kind of individual that we see referenced in John 19:26 as Jesus' best friend. 00:16:49.380 --> 00:16:57.220 I think it's an encouragement for us, saying, "Look, if you know an arrogant, proud, overbearing person, there's 00:16:57.220 --> 00:17:06.780 hope." You know, when I think about John's character, I 00:17:06.780 --> 00:17:13.859 think in our own lives, John has a personality that we can see, no doubt, through the 00:17:13.980 --> 00:17:21.060 first five books of John that once God gets a hold of his life, how incredible that is for 00:17:21.060 --> 00:17:21.609 the Lord. 00:17:23.500 --> 00:17:25.940 I think about in our own lives where we struggle. 00:17:28.040 --> 00:17:35.820 Our greatest weaknesses are often really our strengths in rebellion against the Lord. 00:17:37.620 --> 00:17:44.760 Your greatest weakness, oftentimes, is the unsurrendered part of you that belongs to 00:17:44.760 --> 00:17:45.360 Jesus. 00:17:45.420 --> 00:17:45.940 Does that make sense? 00:17:46.960 --> 00:17:54.440 I can tell you, when I first visited Utah back in, I don't know, 2002, 2003, before I 00:17:54.440 --> 00:18:01.740 even realized God would lead me here to help plant a church, I recognized in my life 00:18:01.820 --> 00:18:07.000 that I was stubborn, hard hearted and not afraid of fight. 00:18:07.400 --> 00:18:08.540 In fact, I would start them. 00:18:08.790 --> 00:18:10.780 That was me in my pre-Jesus days. 00:18:12.440 --> 00:18:15.380 And then God came in my life and he softened my heart. 00:18:16.660 --> 00:18:23.400 And then I began to realize that my whole life when my mom told me I should be a lawyer because I was so stubborn, that God could use that. 00:18:24.700 --> 00:18:28.040 But instead of being stubborn, the way the Bible refers to that is long suffering. 00:18:29.900 --> 00:18:37.900 And then when I looked at Utah, the state of Utah and I looked at ministries that had come and gone over the years and what it would take to be here, I realized that through my life 00:18:37.900 --> 00:18:41.660 that God had really prepared me to live in a place like Utah. 00:18:44.180 --> 00:18:46.540 My heart was in animosity towards God. 00:18:48.160 --> 00:18:49.640 I thought religion was foolish. 00:18:50.660 --> 00:18:57.740 And then I start to study the foundations of Christianity, which the foundations are so ridiculously solid, I wondered why I rebelled so 00:18:57.740 --> 00:18:58.760 long against God. 00:18:59.200 --> 00:19:06.260 But when my heart inclined and gave over to the Lord, and I began to realize, man, I grew up a poor kid, West Virginia, rough. 00:19:07.880 --> 00:19:14.980 And it was the kind of grit that you learned in those moments with a stubborn attitude, that when it becomes used for the Lord, that it can be long 00:19:14.980 --> 00:19:15.260 suffering. 00:19:16.600 --> 00:19:22.030 And rather than fight against people, God could use me to fight for them with compassion and grace. 00:19:23.380 --> 00:19:25.280 And I think a lot of that's what happened in John's life. 00:19:25.280 --> 00:19:26.740 I mean, you think about who he was. 00:19:26.740 --> 00:19:27.320 He was a fisherman. 00:19:28.820 --> 00:19:32.280 In some areas of Israel, that occupation was looked down upon. 00:19:33.060 --> 00:19:34.560 Every day was about grinding it out. 00:19:35.620 --> 00:19:37.200 He was obviously zealous. 00:19:38.440 --> 00:19:45.460 And God used the place that we would read a verse like this and say, "John, you're weak," and begin to recognize that it's an area of your life that's just not surrendered to the 00:19:45.460 --> 00:19:45.910 Lord. 00:19:47.820 --> 00:19:52.930 But when you give it over God, the incredible things that he can do. 00:19:54.280 --> 00:19:55.790 God wants to shape your heart. 00:19:56.860 --> 00:20:01.880 And I think in doing so, God doesn't necessarily have to change your personality. 00:20:02.740 --> 00:20:04.180 What he does is he transforms your pursuits. 00:20:06.480 --> 00:20:11.030 God made us all unique, we all come from different experiences in life. 00:20:11.400 --> 00:20:17.610 And when we get a heart for what God wants to do in this world, he can use those experiences to connect with people and encourage them in pursuit of him. 00:20:19.160 --> 00:20:24.230 And so God's not necessarily about changing your personality, thought there may be some areas of life that God might want to transform. 00:20:26.060 --> 00:20:29.600 But God, rather than change your personality, wants to transform your pursuits. 00:20:29.660 --> 00:20:36.880 And if you're just, okay, I see this happening in John's life, he's definitely got some areas in his life that you 00:20:37.000 --> 00:20:39.260 can tell just aren't surrendered to God. 00:20:39.700 --> 00:20:42.920 Maybe even he's not bought into exactly who Jesus is, though he's following him in life. 00:20:43.320 --> 00:20:45.360 Where does this change happen in John's life? 00:20:45.500 --> 00:20:47.940 Well, I'll tell you, this week in scripture I looked for it. 00:20:47.940 --> 00:20:55.080 I examined, okay, John, where did this paradigm shift in your life happen where not only were you just following Jesus, but 00:20:55.080 --> 00:20:55.700 you were all in? 00:20:57.100 --> 00:21:04.340 And I think it was in John 10:35, this section of scripture, I 00:21:04.340 --> 00:21:11.130 think for John, like it doesn't tell us in the passage, but I think this might have been a little embarrassing for him when he started to think through this. 00:21:11.560 --> 00:21:14.860 By the way, I think this is one of the reasons you know scripture is true. 00:21:15.080 --> 00:21:22.260 This isn't the only reason, I wouldn't pin the validity of scripture on this, but one of the reasons I think we can look at scripture and say, "Okay, scripture's true," is because 00:21:22.800 --> 00:21:28.760 when you study the individuals that write scripture, they really don't care how you view them, they care how you view Jesus, right? 00:21:29.180 --> 00:21:35.160 To the point where they'll even use their own life illustration that doesn't look that great, in order to show you how great Jesus is, right? 00:21:35.220 --> 00:21:40.060 So, when you read about John, you see John just talking about all his screw ups. 00:21:40.260 --> 00:21:48.140 His desire in his life isn't for you to look at John and be like, "John, you're amazing." But rather, look at Jesus and think, "Jesus, you're incredible." And 00:21:48.140 --> 00:21:49.540 so here's one of those stories in Mark. 00:21:49.900 --> 00:21:56.920 In Mark 10:35, "James and John, the two sons of Zebedee, came up to Jesus saying, 'Teacher, we want you to do 00:21:56.920 --> 00:22:04.200 for us whatever we ask of you.' And he said to them, 'Well, what is it you want me to do for you?' And they said to him, 'Grant 00:22:04.200 --> 00:22:11.220 that we may sit one on your right and one your left in your glory.'" It's like, how great does John and James think 00:22:11.220 --> 00:22:12.880 they are, these two beefcakes here? 00:22:12.900 --> 00:22:16.020 They're like, "We're like your right and your left hand, God. 00:22:16.080 --> 00:22:23.100 And so we're going to tell you what you need to do." If your faith in the Lord is to this point in life where you think God is about 00:22:23.100 --> 00:22:27.820 you coming to God and telling God what he needs to do for you, you've got it wrong. 00:22:28.080 --> 00:22:28.600 Okay? 00:22:28.740 --> 00:22:34.380 God didn't create you so that he could become your servant and you tell him what he needs to do for you. 00:22:35.120 --> 00:22:36.980 God created you for his glory, right? 00:22:37.760 --> 00:22:42.600 And so, the struggle in our own life is to recognize that when I live for God's glory, it's actually to my benefit. 00:22:43.100 --> 00:22:43.240 Right? 00:22:43.240 --> 00:22:45.910 But when I live for my own glory, it ends in my destruction. 00:22:48.220 --> 00:22:55.320 When you study the struggles that we have in society, I think a lot of the problems that we have 00:22:55.320 --> 00:22:59.340 in society is because people use their strength for their purpose. 00:23:00.000 --> 00:23:06.540 And what happens in that, when you live like you're God of your life and you use your strength for your purpose, you treat other people like tools. 00:23:07.260 --> 00:23:08.840 And you take advantage of them. 00:23:09.400 --> 00:23:13.960 When young men run in this world using their strength for their glory, they rape the world around them. 00:23:15.080 --> 00:23:22.180 But when we understand that things in this world are created for God's glory, and that all things belong to him, and when we surrender 00:23:22.180 --> 00:23:29.460 to that and we live for his glory, we use our strength to his glory, to the benefit of people, and all of us end up blessed. 00:23:30.560 --> 00:23:33.880 And here in this story, John is finding this struggle in a very personal way. 00:23:34.260 --> 00:23:34.900 He's like, "You know what? 00:23:34.980 --> 00:23:36.620 I haven't heard any of the disciples ask this yet. 00:23:36.680 --> 00:23:37.820 Jesus is the king. 00:23:37.940 --> 00:23:40.580 God, we'll let you have your spot, we're just going to sit on the right and left. 00:23:40.840 --> 00:23:45.360 And before any of the other disciples ask this question, we're going to go ahead and take spot number two and spot number three. 00:23:45.680 --> 00:23:47.560 And so, Jesus, we're here to tell you what to do for us. 00:23:48.260 --> 00:23:55.500 We're going to take those second and third positions." And rather than heed what James and John 00:23:55.500 --> 00:24:01.760 are saying, Jesus tells them what to do with that thought, right? 00:24:01.760 --> 00:24:09.020 And so, verse 43, it moves on there, "Whoever wishes to become great among you 00:24:10.820 --> 00:24:11.480 shall be your servant. 00:24:13.560 --> 00:24:18.350 And whoever wishes to be first among you shall be slave of all. 00:24:19.320 --> 00:24:23.120 For even the Son of man," this is Jesus identifying himself, he referred to himself as the Son of man. 00:24:23.120 --> 00:24:32.620 "Even the Son of man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life for ransom for many." Jesus, 00:24:32.720 --> 00:24:35.960 using this word ransom, a beautiful word picture. 00:24:36.820 --> 00:24:39.830 This is a word that relates in the Old Testament to the word of redemption. 00:24:41.140 --> 00:24:42.270 One of the Passover Lamb. 00:24:44.560 --> 00:24:50.080 Jesus is saying he's giving his life as a sacrifice for the benefit of people around him. 00:24:51.640 --> 00:24:54.080 I think this moment was sort of a wake up call for John. 00:24:55.040 --> 00:25:00.900 Because what we tend to do, and Jesus taught this in this illustration, is we tend to look at position based on power and authority. 00:25:01.300 --> 00:25:04.360 Like, I want to be the top dog so I can tell everyone below me what to do. 00:25:04.400 --> 00:25:05.580 But Christianity flips that paradigm. 00:25:08.240 --> 00:25:12.220 If you want to be great in the Lord and his kingdom, become the lowliest of servants. 00:25:15.520 --> 00:25:19.040 God's people understand what it means to serve because we've been served by Jesus. 00:25:20.900 --> 00:25:22.540 He's bought our lives with a price. 00:25:24.880 --> 00:25:32.180 I think the understanding of what Jesus was about began to become clear in John's mind here, 00:25:32.420 --> 00:25:38.080 because of what happens in the life John from this moment forward. 00:25:40.040 --> 00:25:43.780 John's thinking leading into this moment is exactly like our world. 00:25:45.140 --> 00:25:45.660 It's all about me. 00:25:47.160 --> 00:25:50.580 I'm going to wake up tomorrow and just answer the question of whatever makes me happy. 00:25:52.180 --> 00:25:53.120 But Jesus is the opposite. 00:25:54.640 --> 00:25:58.840 He directs our desires through humility, the heart of a servant. 00:26:01.220 --> 00:26:08.240 Maybe in thinking about this verse, as John's going on this journey, is to stop and ask our question, how is God directing 00:26:08.260 --> 00:26:08.500 your life? 00:26:11.380 --> 00:26:15.180 Sometimes when we ask that question, guys, I think we tend to answer it by tasks. 00:26:15.920 --> 00:26:18.000 God wants me to do this, God wants me to do that. 00:26:19.500 --> 00:26:24.260 But I think when we begin to ask that question, before we start with a task, we need to start with our heart. 00:26:26.260 --> 00:26:27.760 Where is God directing your life? 00:26:27.780 --> 00:26:31.380 Because if God gets your heart, he'll change your life. 00:26:32.220 --> 00:26:34.820 If God gets your heart, your tasks will become different. 00:26:36.200 --> 00:26:39.100 But the story starts with where is the battle over your heart? 00:26:40.060 --> 00:26:42.400 And in this moment, John sees his heart about everyone else. 00:26:43.760 --> 00:26:51.380 But Jesus is saying, "Look, lay your heart down for me." How is God directing your 00:26:51.380 --> 00:26:51.520 life? 00:26:52.900 --> 00:26:59.240 I think this calling is what drew out John's heart, because of what happens in the description of John. 00:26:59.240 --> 00:27:06.420 See, when you see in John's description in the Gospels as referred to as the beloved of Christ, or the loved in 00:27:06.420 --> 00:27:12.630 Jesus, that title doesn't start happening until John 13:23 in the upper room with Jesus. 00:27:13.820 --> 00:27:21.100 But if you look at the chronology of when this story takes place, this is when Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem, just before 00:27:21.100 --> 00:27:22.240 he goes to the upper room. 00:27:23.880 --> 00:27:30.880 And now, when Jesus enters the upper room, the title given to John is the 00:27:30.880 --> 00:27:38.260 one that's reflected in John 13:23, John 20:2, John 19:25. 00:27:39.500 --> 00:27:43.500 John 19 is the story of Jesus hanging on the cross. 00:27:46.580 --> 00:27:53.600 I think in the moments of Mark 10 to John 13 and into John 19, Jesus finally 00:27:53.600 --> 00:27:56.480 understood what Christ was about. 00:27:57.780 --> 00:28:03.460 And I think this is the only reason that John is the only disciple that shows up to the cross when Jesus is being crucified. 00:28:05.080 --> 00:28:08.730 For the other disciples, they understood that this moment could really cost you your life. 00:28:10.300 --> 00:28:13.620 But in these moments, John didn't care because what he loved was Jesus. 00:28:15.580 --> 00:28:22.580 And so it says, "But standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother's sister and Mary, the wife of Clopas, and Mary 00:28:22.580 --> 00:28:23.130 Magdalene. 00:28:23.700 --> 00:28:30.820 When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, said to his mother, 'Woman, behold your son.' Then he said to 00:28:30.820 --> 00:28:37.820 the disciple, 'Behold your mother.' And from that hour, the disciple took her to his own home." When 00:28:39.000 --> 00:28:46.000 it comes to the care of your mother, if you know you're not going to be around, what kind of person do 00:28:46.000 --> 00:28:47.290 you ask to care for her? 00:28:50.140 --> 00:28:56.200 In Jesus' and John's day, this was sort of the welfare system, right? 00:28:56.200 --> 00:28:57.630 Your family took care of the family. 00:28:58.540 --> 00:29:00.300 And if you didn't, you could die. 00:29:01.940 --> 00:29:09.100 And from history we know that Jesus' father is not mentioned, so the thought is that Jesus' father has long died, 00:29:09.160 --> 00:29:09.500 Joseph. 00:29:09.500 --> 00:29:12.140 Well, his earthly father, I should say, has long died. 00:29:13.060 --> 00:29:14.320 So the question is, who is going to take care of Mary? 00:29:15.400 --> 00:29:16.350 But who is the one Jesus asks? 00:29:18.560 --> 00:29:19.860 The disciple he loves. 00:29:21.920 --> 00:29:25.100 Now, I want to be careful and say this, that I don't think that Jesus... 00:29:25.420 --> 00:29:32.000 this word for the disciple whom Jesus loved, this title for John, I don't think it's saying that Jesus didn't love the other disciples. 00:29:33.260 --> 00:29:37.460 I don't think that it's saying that John finally did enough to earn Jesus' love. 00:29:38.120 --> 00:29:43.380 I think rather what it's teaching us is that John is the first of the disciples really to begin to experience God's love. 00:29:44.530 --> 00:29:47.460 Because John has lended his heart into the goodness of who Jesus is. 00:29:50.080 --> 00:29:57.240 When you think about what it means to be loved by the Lord, and to be have this 00:29:57.240 --> 00:30:04.340 title, I should say, as John has, I don't think it's an impossibility for any follower of Jesus to be referenced this 00:30:04.340 --> 00:30:04.640 way. 00:30:04.700 --> 00:30:11.720 In fact, if you were to look in 1 John 2, starting in verse one, throughout the rest of the book, there's a way that John 00:30:11.720 --> 00:30:16.760 refers to the church, little children, beloved in the Lord. 00:30:19.340 --> 00:30:21.180 Jesus sees you as loved in Christ. 00:30:22.140 --> 00:30:25.340 That same title used of John in these Gospels, he uses for the church. 00:30:25.440 --> 00:30:26.330 And why does he do that? 00:30:28.220 --> 00:30:31.780 Because the church is made up of those who understand who Jesus really is. 00:30:33.420 --> 00:30:35.120 And we've given our lives over to him. 00:30:36.800 --> 00:30:40.660 So what kind of heart becomes such a close friend of God, just like John? 00:30:40.660 --> 00:30:48.800 Well, if I were to give you a verse that I think really sums it up for us, I would say this, in James 4, by the way, this isn't James, John's 00:30:48.800 --> 00:30:49.160 brother. 00:30:49.500 --> 00:30:52.990 James, John's brother, I think has already historically been martyred at this point. 00:30:53.060 --> 00:30:55.190 But this is James, Jesus' half brother. 00:30:55.620 --> 00:30:58.120 Not to confuse it with all the James and Johns in scripture, right? 00:30:58.640 --> 00:31:05.660 But James, in chapter four, verse eight, I think he writes in this passage what it really means 00:31:05.660 --> 00:31:09.060 to be a friend of God. 00:31:09.060 --> 00:31:12.890 To follow after Jesus as if you are one of the beloved. 00:31:14.200 --> 00:31:19.300 To understand the same lesson that John learned in Mark 10:35-46. 00:31:20.160 --> 00:31:27.300 He says this, "Draw near to God," and look, here's the promise, "he will 00:31:27.300 --> 00:31:28.550 draw near to you. 00:31:30.200 --> 00:31:38.860 Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double minded." James 00:31:38.860 --> 00:31:41.680 is recognizing something for us within all of our lives. 00:31:43.560 --> 00:31:48.820 And there is this battle within us to live for two kingdoms, mine or Christ's. 00:31:50.280 --> 00:31:52.520 This world or Jesus'. 00:31:54.360 --> 00:31:59.290 And James is recognizing in the dichotomy that struggle is, that you can't live for two masters. 00:32:01.200 --> 00:32:07.780 And he's calling us in this moment to say, "Look, you want to be nearer to God, get rid of the double mindedness in your life. 00:32:09.420 --> 00:32:13.530 Live for one or the other." And the Bible tells you sin's fun for a season. 00:32:14.400 --> 00:32:15.560 At least for a season you're going to have fun. 00:32:19.580 --> 00:32:26.700 The struggle in our lives and experiencing the goodness of what it means to walk in the love of Jesus is in the battle in our own 00:32:26.700 --> 00:32:30.020 heart to relinquish that position to allow Christ on the throne of our lives. 00:32:32.360 --> 00:32:34.880 And so in this call, James is saying draw near to God. 00:32:35.580 --> 00:32:36.080 How do you do that? 00:32:36.200 --> 00:32:38.240 Well, you've got to let go of something. 00:32:38.520 --> 00:32:39.160 And what do you let go of? 00:32:41.440 --> 00:32:42.980 The world that you think is so important. 00:32:44.920 --> 00:32:46.000 Purify your heart from that. 00:32:46.920 --> 00:32:55.040 And then he says this in verse 10, just like John learned, "Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord and 00:32:55.120 --> 00:32:58.340 he will exalt you." You know what that is? 00:33:00.520 --> 00:33:01.060 That's surrender. 00:33:02.600 --> 00:33:05.100 Look how it refers to God, in the presence of the Lord. 00:33:05.140 --> 00:33:07.140 You know what it's referencing Jesus as here? 00:33:07.940 --> 00:33:10.540 Lord, King, the authority. 00:33:13.200 --> 00:33:15.040 Lay yourselves down before this King. 00:33:17.140 --> 00:33:25.600 I think it's a practice of Christianity every day, where we wake up every day and we say, "God, you made me for your glory." 00:33:25.800 --> 00:33:28.630 And really the delight of life is discovered in that. 00:33:29.800 --> 00:33:33.400 I can fool myself into thinking if I live for myself that I will find joy. 00:33:33.500 --> 00:33:36.200 But I've lived this world long enough to know in the end I'm bankrupt. 00:33:37.340 --> 00:33:38.740 I'm tired of me. 00:33:39.740 --> 00:33:42.520 It doesn't lead me to where I often fool myself into thinking it's going to go. 00:33:43.960 --> 00:33:45.820 But, God, you created me for your purpose. 00:33:47.420 --> 00:33:52.320 And I'm going to trust in the goodness of who you are over and above anything that I might put myself in a position in. 00:33:52.860 --> 00:33:56.020 Because I've seen who you are and it's good. 00:33:57.320 --> 00:33:57.880 And it's loving. 00:33:59.000 --> 00:34:00.000 And it's gracious. 00:34:00.960 --> 00:34:01.560 And it's sacrificial. 00:34:03.320 --> 00:34:05.580 For no other purpose than your glory and my well being. 00:34:07.140 --> 00:34:09.060 And so I'm surrendering myself to that. 00:34:11.199 --> 00:34:15.020 I think this kind of attitude is what John learned. 00:34:15.260 --> 00:34:22.460 In fact, when you study the rest of this, in John 20:2 that we referenced a minute ago, that tells us that 00:34:23.000 --> 00:34:28.159 when Jesus' resurrection starts to be proclaimed, who was the first disciple to the tomb? 00:34:29.699 --> 00:34:29.980 It's John. 00:34:31.520 --> 00:34:38.679 The story tells us in John 20 that he wasn't the first one to enter the tomb, because Peter was running with him and I think out of respect for he older generation or the older 00:34:38.679 --> 00:34:40.659 individual with him, he let Peter go in first. 00:34:42.159 --> 00:34:49.420 But when your best friend dies and you hear your best friend comes back to life, you 00:34:49.420 --> 00:34:51.719 are the first one to that tomb. 00:34:53.540 --> 00:35:00.680 John runs to that tomb and in Galatians 2:9, it even says he become a pillar, that's the way it refers to him as a pillar of 00:35:00.680 --> 00:35:01.440 the early church. 00:35:02.860 --> 00:35:10.100 So by the time we get to 1 John, John is the last of the original disciples or apostles. 00:35:11.420 --> 00:35:13.930 He has gone through a ton in his life. 00:35:14.980 --> 00:35:20.460 He's probably a bit lonely, he probably, in these moments, longs to be with his loved ones. 00:35:20.460 --> 00:35:24.620 I mean, he's probably lived life long enough where heaven has more that he cares about than earth. 00:35:27.200 --> 00:35:29.740 And he probably wants to see his friend, Jesus. 00:35:31.280 --> 00:35:32.980 He saw his brother, James, martyred. 00:35:34.020 --> 00:35:35.240 He saw all of his friends martyred. 00:35:36.920 --> 00:35:39.170 He, himself, they tried to boil alive. 00:35:39.380 --> 00:35:45.240 He was exiled at one point to the island of Patmos because of his faith in Christ. 00:35:46.480 --> 00:35:53.760 And you think about this for a moment, the last living disciple, what kind 00:35:53.760 --> 00:35:56.980 of wisdom can you learn from this guy? 00:35:58.960 --> 00:36:02.220 I think the early church recognized what they had on their hands with John. 00:36:02.360 --> 00:36:04.160 John, later in his life was in the church of Ephesus. 00:36:05.320 --> 00:36:12.090 But history even records, as John got towards the end of his life, so feeble that he couldn't walk any more. 00:36:12.320 --> 00:36:17.620 Than when the church would gather, they would run to his home and they would physically carry him to the church. 00:36:17.820 --> 00:36:19.270 And they would just prop him before people. 00:36:20.080 --> 00:36:27.600 They were like, "John, teach us." And history tells us, I mean, he got so old that the only thing that he could say was just, "Love one another." 00:36:31.730 --> 00:36:36.430 Can you imagine in a community like this, what Satan would desire to do to us? 00:36:38.030 --> 00:36:41.390 Tear us apart, right? 00:36:41.490 --> 00:36:44.410 Make us enemies, lack community. 00:36:46.890 --> 00:36:47.830 John knew that. 00:36:48.770 --> 00:36:52.010 And John, who wrote the book of Revelation, knew there was a battle in front of the church. 00:36:52.110 --> 00:36:55.150 Like even I can say to you today without even knowing what tomorrow, there will be a battle. 00:36:56.650 --> 00:36:57.250 What do you need? 00:36:57.830 --> 00:37:01.350 Man, you need a community living out the purpose for which God has called you to. 00:37:01.710 --> 00:37:02.930 How do you succeed in that? 00:37:02.930 --> 00:37:04.390 Well, I think John nails it, right? 00:37:04.590 --> 00:37:07.890 I mean, just a simple statement, Jesus' commandments like love God. 00:37:07.890 --> 00:37:09.610 If you love God, you're going to love what God loves. 00:37:09.610 --> 00:37:10.910 What God loves is people. 00:37:10.990 --> 00:37:17.030 The greatest thing that you can do in demonstration of your love for God this morning is take some time to care about people around you. 00:37:18.590 --> 00:37:19.210 We all need encouraged. 00:37:20.550 --> 00:37:21.990 We all have battles to face. 00:37:22.950 --> 00:37:26.930 Love one another. 00:37:27.590 --> 00:37:36.150 If you were to take this book this morning and just read the introduction, remember 00:37:36.150 --> 00:37:40.570 by the time John writes this letter, I mean, he's close to 100. 00:37:40.890 --> 00:37:42.860 He doesn't want anything from you. 00:37:44.270 --> 00:37:45.790 Instead, I think he wants something for you. 00:37:47.570 --> 00:37:50.810 He understands the gift of what it means to pursue Christ with this life. 00:37:50.810 --> 00:37:53.650 And he wants to see this happen in the next generation. 00:37:54.090 --> 00:37:58.910 We're going to unpack this in the weeks ahead, but let me just read this opening paragraph. 00:38:00.170 --> 00:38:07.410 He says, "That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes," an eyewitness 00:38:07.610 --> 00:38:13.610 account he's talking about here, "which we have looked upon and have touched with our hands concerning the word of life. 00:38:14.190 --> 00:38:21.230 The life was made manifest and we have seen it and testified to it and proclaim to you 00:38:21.230 --> 00:38:26.750 the eternal life, which was with the father and was made manifest to us. 00:38:27.250 --> 00:38:32.170 That which we have seen and heard, we proclaim also to you." John knows, he's older now. 00:38:32.550 --> 00:38:36.290 A lot of the generation that physically saw Jesus walk the earth is passing away. 00:38:38.010 --> 00:38:45.050 But he's saying, "Look, as an eyewitness who was there, I'm sharing this to you, I'm proclaiming also to you 00:38:45.050 --> 00:38:47.290 so that you may have fellowship with us. 00:38:48.470 --> 00:38:54.050 And indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ, and in this community. 00:38:54.330 --> 00:38:57.390 And look, verse four, he tells you why he's writing this is our goal. 00:38:58.630 --> 00:39:06.430 Verse four he says it, "And we are writing these things so that our joy may 00:39:06.430 --> 00:39:08.990 be complete." I love that. 00:39:12.330 --> 00:39:13.870 What does God want for you? 00:39:13.870 --> 00:39:15.160 What does John want? 00:39:16.110 --> 00:39:18.770 Man, he wants you to experience the joy of following Jesus. 00:39:18.790 --> 00:39:24.410 And he doesn't just say you and your joy, but he's saying in this passage our joy, collectively. 00:39:25.930 --> 00:39:28.510 What a beautiful thought, walking into this story. 00:39:30.130 --> 00:39:36.470 That it's about a community in the joy of the Lord striving together. 00:39:38.210 --> 00:39:45.650 John, in these final words, he records for church history that it's about seeing the joy of 00:39:45.710 --> 00:39:46.870 the church moving forward. 00:39:48.270 --> 00:39:55.410 So here's a thought for us this morning, as we go through this book, I want us to get the best that God has to offer for 00:39:55.410 --> 00:39:56.280 us as a community. 00:39:56.310 --> 00:39:56.850 How do we do this? 00:39:59.130 --> 00:40:02.010 Well, I think it starts in understanding what it means to be a friend of the Lord. 00:40:04.410 --> 00:40:05.010 Where is your heart? 00:40:07.210 --> 00:40:13.850 In order to glean the most out of God's wording in our lives, I think it starts with addressing where our heart is going into that word. 00:40:13.870 --> 00:40:14.840 Why are you reading it? 00:40:16.470 --> 00:40:19.970 I think the call in this passage is for us to surrender ourselves. 00:40:22.170 --> 00:40:29.330 And so when I think about the journey ahead of us, I think for us to take the most out of what God's going to communicate together 00:40:29.330 --> 00:40:34.750 collectively so that we can discover our joy, is to also answer the question, what does it mean to be a friend of God? 00:40:37.170 --> 00:40:38.880 And that is to lay down our hearts before him. 00:40:41.130 --> 00:40:43.450 I love the way that Jesus was patient with John. 00:40:45.130 --> 00:40:50.680 Stubborn, arrogant, shooting off at the mouth, and there was hope. 00:40:52.210 --> 00:40:52.590 There was hope. 00:40:54.470 --> 00:40:55.290 Jesus didn't give up. 00:40:57.130 --> 00:40:57.850 He walked with John. 00:40:59.370 --> 00:41:04.440 And John in these moments finally understood that God was for him, not against him. 00:41:05.110 --> 00:41:12.410 And if he would just lean his heart into that, God would tremendously bless him in the joy for which he created him to belong 00:41:12.410 --> 00:41:13.450 in Christ. 00:41:15.270 --> 00:41:17.860 And so here's what I'm going to do this morning, I just want to close with prayer. 00:41:19.650 --> 00:41:26.810 And I want to pray for our lives as we go through the story, that where our heart wrestles with God, that 00:41:26.890 --> 00:41:31.440 God could use this passage to give us a foundation to enjoy the journey with him.