I John 4:4-6 (ESV)

2. I John 4:4-6 (ESV) Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.

3. They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them.

4. We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

5. Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. I John 4:4, ESV

6. Overcoming Little Children This can, again, represent his relationship to the congregations, or their relationship to God From, or Of, God Though spirits of the antichrist surround them They can be encouraged by their continued faithfulness to the Gospel Overcome “them” This could be spirits from the antichrist False teachers Evil in general Likely, though, all of these

7. Overcoming (2) John is not unaware He recognizes their struggle against evil Nor does it necessarily mean some of these individuals wont slip If they remain faithful they will continue to overcome Confidence in Christ and His Spirit Their ability to overcome comes from the One within them If Christ, and His Spirit, is in them then they will continue to overcome Christ has conquered Through His conquering we conquer as well (see I John 2) He has shown Himself to be the ultimate victor

8. Test the Spirits (2) Of or From God This terminology is used 16 times in I John It accompanies those who confess Jesus and live according to Him False Prophets They are false, because they teach separately from the doctrinal, ethical, and relational standard Christ set forth and taught to His disciples Gone out into the World This may represent those antichrists who were once part of the congregation but left (see chapter 2) Though it may represent any false prophet/teacher These false prophets are out in the world, and because of that they are of the world (hence, not of God)

9. They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them. I John 4:5, ESV

10. Belonging to the World John now focuses on those from, or of, the world They are influenced by the spirit of the antichrist (see I John 4:1-3) They are opposed to Christ They speak from the worlds perspective They teach from the same mesh as the world It reflects the wisdom of the world (I Cor. 1-2) Those belonging to the world listen to the false teachers Individuals belonging to the world listen because it is the message they want to hear John focused on knowing true from false in verses 1-3 He again brings up this theme of knowing right and wrong He does this by informing his readers of where their messages originate

11. We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error. I John 4:6, ESV

12. Originate from God Contrasting those who originate from the world are those who originate from God Who are the “we” It likely represents the apostles, though quickly becomes those who accept, and further proclaim the Gospel which was heard The important thing, they originate from God Those who know God will listen to the message proclaimed by the apostles They will accept the message because it is from God Spirit of truth…Spirit of error It recognizes the schism which has occurred They are of the truth if they remain faithful

13. Main Point This is the second half what was said in verses 1-3 Now his readers can further distinguish between the truth and error Likewise Christ and His Spirit are greater than what the world may offer If they remain faithful to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit they can know they will overcome any struggle that arises against them

14. Application Points Of the World Evidence of the evil spirits and those whom they influence is that they reflect the world We can know truth from error by what is being proclaimed This reminds us of the similar point made last week, concerning those of God and those of the antichrist The evidence is in their doctrinal, ethical, and relational stances To understand this will allow us to maintain our faith in the truth

15. Application Points Of the World (2) I am thankful for this congregation because you can look back and reflect on society and Christianity You can see how much has changed This change did not occur overnight It took years for our societies in and outside of the Church to have a change of mind about these issues It started in the universities and slowly permeated the rest of society especially through art, media, and entertainment The last bastion has been the Church Unfortunately even many congregations who were once faithful to the Gospel and the Scriptures have begun to fall sway to the relativism within society at large

16. Application Points Of the World (3) Whereas once we were able to stand firm together Now we can’t even be sure what the majority of our own denominational congregations believe We see many congregations accepting unacceptable and unethical lifestyles when compared with the Scriptures Instead of standing firm in our relation to Jesus Many have chosen to trade our relationship with God with a relationship with the world So antichrist teachings have become more relevant in many congregations

17. Application Points Of the World (4) This seems harsh Who are you, or I, to say such things about congregations? We able just as John is able in today’s Scriptures We can know who is of God and who is not of God by their faithfulness to God When we change our beliefs away from those who knew Christ, who were sent by Christ, then we make one claim, that we do not believe they were of God We cannot play the field for both the antichrist and Christ

18. Application Points Of the World (4) The only way we can know we are not in error is to know truth We must make ourselves ready by knowing the Scriptures The world is crafty, it will trick us if it can into doctrinal, ethical, and relational fallacies Be faithful to the Gospel and all it’s doctrinal, ethical, and relational statements There are many in the world and of the world We are called to be in the world but not of the world We are sojourners in this land, trusting that God will lead us out of the desert into the promised land

19. Application Points Of the World (5) This desert has many pitfalls, many snares, many mirages None of them are worth the cost, though they have masks of life, they have faces of death Too many congregations, to many people, fail to recognize their very beliefs are of the world, not of God Let us be strong, and stand together and proclaim the Gospel given to us by God Himself Not an invention of the world, created by death for death, but given by God for life We have tough foes to face, but we have hope, and we can trust the source of our hope even if all the darkness should rise against us

20. Application Points He is Greater We know the darkness is vast, and we know the power of the world because we once walked in it Yet we have also experienced a great Light in the darkness, and that is Jesus Christ Above all we have hope knowing the power of Christ is greater This is where our hope originates It is not in the world, in angels, in ourselves, it is in Christ We know that because He has conquered all other victories are His also

21. “[20] But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. [21] For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. [22] For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. [23] But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. [24] Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. [25] For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. [26] The last enemy to be destroyed is death.” (1 Corinthians 15:20-26 ESV)

22. Application Points He is Greater (2) We know this last victory over death will occur We know that because Christ has conquered, even death will be undone This is our greatest hope, because Christ was raised from death to life, we will too if we are in Him How this world would trick us! How easy it would be for the world to get us back into the rhythm of sin, but for the grace and mercy of our God through Jesus Christ On our own we would fall back into these states We are no match for the darkness It knows all of our weaknesses, because we came from it

23. Application Points He is Greater (3) Yet, we do not need to remain in a state of failure…because we know life We have been bought and redeemed We know the power of the one in whom we abide and who abides in us It has transformed us and will continue to transform us if we remain faithful Jesus Christ and His Spirit are more powerful than the world, and yet they abide in us It is because of this Paul says this at the end of I Corinthians 15

24. “[50] I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. [51] Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, [52] in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. [53] For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality.

25. [54] When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” [55] “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”[56] The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. [57] But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. [58] Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain. (I Corinthians 15:50-58, ESV)

26. Application Points He is Greater (4) Greater is He that is in us, than he that is in the world This victory belongs to us as well We will be triumphant But as Paul says, “But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” It is His victory, and such a great victory that all who belong to Him share in it

27. Application Points He is Greater (5) So remember where our hope originates It does not originate from our ability, but Christ By Him we will stand firm against all evil All that is required of us is faithfulness He has called us to follow Him doctrinally, ethically, and relationally He is able to stand against the world His teachings in these things are greater than the worlds It is not that we lose when we follow Christ, instead we gain when we are obedient to Him

28. Application Points He is Greater (6) He is greater than the world The life He gives us is greater than the life the world can offer We give ourselves to the one who is greater, knowing all who do will inherit eternal life He is greater than the world Greater in the life He gives, and greater in power and glory Give yourselves over to the glory of God completely, knowing that victory belongs to all who seek and know the will of God, for they abide in Him, and He abides in them

29. Application Points The Gospel When we consider the atrocities of the world, of the darkness which evil blankets over the world, and how easily deceptions come, we have hope in Jesus Christ We have hope remembering our greatest victory comes not by our own hands, but by Christ How sweet the victory of Christ, and how wonderful knowing it is from His own hands The Gospel begins with our origins, in the beginning God created all things by the power of His Word Lastly, He made us in His image Because God is a God of love, reason, knows, can be known, has personhood, has morality, and shows chesed we can as well It is by this we find sanctity, dignity, and worth to human life

30. Final Application Points The Gospel (2) Like God, however, we were able to choose We could choose obedience to God into life, or sin in disobedience and death, we chose and continue to choose the latter Because of this our relationships with God, within ourselves, each other, and the world are broken It is also because of this we accrue a greater moral guilt, a true guilt, before our righteous God Thankfully, God did not leave us in this darkness forever, instead He sent His Light and His Word into the darkness, that is Jesus Christ His Son

31. Final Application Points The Gospel (3) Jesus lived, died, and rose again in time, space, history, and flesh By His blood we are bought and redeemed Because of Him our relationships can begin to be restored His victory in life and over death become our victory in life and over death

32. Final Application Points The Gospel (4) All that is required of us is obedience in two things The first is repentance We are to live a lifestyle in accord with the Scriptures, walking in step with the Spirit for the glory of God in love The second is faith in Christ We recognize our dependence upon the Son of God for our salvation It is not about what we do, but what Christ has done We are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, according to the Scriptures alone, for the glory of God alone

33. Final Application Points The Gospel (5) For those who are disobedient there is only condemnation All of our good deeds are as filthy rags before our holy and righteous God They will face judgment if they do not place their faith in Christ, for there is no salvation apart from Christ For those who are obedient there is no condemnation They become sons and daughters of God Most High They experience the love of God reserved on for His Son They inherit an eternal kingdom where they will experience the peace of God forevermore