Letters From John

(Sermon series)

 by Rev. Richard Jones

THE RIGHT KIND OF LOVE

1 John 2: 1-17

HIS LOVE
1 John 2:1-2 (ESV)
1  My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.
2  He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.

Romans 6:12-13 (ESV)
12  Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions.
13  Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness.

2 Corinthians 5:21 (ESV)
21  For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Psalm 103:10-14 (ESV)
10  He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities.
11  For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;
12  as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.
13  As a father shows compassion to his children, so the LORD shows compassion to those who fear him.
14  For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust.

 OUR LOVE
1 John 2:3-6 (ESV)
3  And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments.
4  Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, 5  but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: 6  whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.

DO LOVE
1 John 2:7-11 (ESV)
7  Beloved, I am writing you no new commandment, but an old commandment that you had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word that you have heard. 8  At the same time, it is a new commandment that I am writing to you, which is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining. 9  Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness.
10  Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling.
11  But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

Leviticus 19:18 (ESV)
18  You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD.

John 13:34 (ESV)
34  A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.

Romans 12:9-10 (ESV)
9  Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good.
10  Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.

GROW LOVE
 1 John 2:12-14 (ESV)
12  I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven for his name’s sake. 13  I am writing to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I write to you, children, because you know the Father. 14  I write to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one.

DON’T LOVE
 1 John 2:15-17 (ESV)
15  Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16  For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. 17  And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.

James 4:4 (ESV)
4  You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

Romans 12:1-2 (ESV)
1  I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.
2  Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

John 17:14-17 (ESV)
14  I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.
15  I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one.
16  They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.
17  Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.