II and III John  - These two books are personal letters from John, the first to a congregation and the second to a friend.  Both emphasize the desire of John's heart - to see his "children walking in the truth". 

In II John there is a warning similar to I John about false teachers who were proclaiming a false Christ.... "Those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh."  John calls them "the deceiver and the antichrist".  Over and over again, John urges his readers to walk in truth.  We need to know who Jesus is and to walk according to this Truth. We must be in the Word continually!

In III John, addressed to Gaius, a dear friend of John's, the message is both a commendation of Gaius' faithfulness and a condemnation of Diotrophes, a man who was not walking in the truth at all.  Diotrophes was arrogant and wicked.  He would not listen or receive the truth from John. He was leading others down the wrong path. 

"Beloved, do not imitate what is evil but what is good. The one who does good is of God; the one who does evil has not seen God."  John instructs us again to be discerning, to be careful to stay in the truth.  I am reminded again of John's love for God's children and his desire that we have fellowship with the Father and the Son.. ( I John 1:3).  To walk in the truth, to discern the counterfeit, and to truly obey God's commandments.. we need to be constantly abiding in fellowship with our God. We must be in the Word continually!

Father in heaven, we belong to You.. because we have acknowledged and trust in Jesus Christ, Your Beloved Son, who came in the flesh.. who died on a cross.. who rose again in victory over sin and death! We ask that You keep us walking in the truth.  Give us understanding and discernment so that we are ever faithful, serving You... keeping Your commandments.. and loving You with all our hearts, minds, souls, and strength. May we imitate Jesus.. doing what is good.  We desire to be good and faithful servants that give You all our worship and praise and trust.  Thank You for loving us... for loving me. Fill us with that love that we may love one another..  We love You Lord. Amen. 

 I John 5: 13-21  To know Jesus Christ.. the Son of God who came in the flesh, who completed the Father's will perfectly, dying on the cross as the atonement sacrifice for our sins.. and to abide in true fellowship with Him... to obey His commandments.. to love.. is to have eternal life.  This is John's message for us. 

As God's children we are given the privilege of prayer. "And this is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us." (v14)

This is such a powerful truth.. one that we need to really grasp.  Prayer brings us into His Presence. Prayer is necessary for living in obedience and love. Prayer is the place of abiding.. of being joined together with our Lord.  John says that God hears us. He wants us to bring our requests to Him. 

Prayer is not just for ourselves, but, we are given the privilege and responsibility to pray for each other.  If we see our brother or sister walking in sin.. we must pray... " he shall ask and God will for him give life.. "  We need to be faithful to pray for one another.  This is true love. 

John summarized his message with these words, "We know we are of God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. And we know that the Son of God has come, and has given us understanding in order that we might know Him who is true, and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life." 

Father in heaven, draw us deeper into Your love and in faith.  Keep us walking in the Truth and deliver us from all evil, especially from  those who are anti-christs.. trying to lead us astray.  You have given us the Word and Your Spirit.. that we might stay in fellowship with You. Thank You. Keep us constantly abiding... according to Your will. This we ask and have confidence that You will do it. Amen. 

I John 5:1-12  When we are truly  "born of God"  we are able to love one another as He loves us.  We also have an abiding faith in Jesus Christ and proclaim Him as Savior.  By these,  our faith and  our love, we can know that we "have eternal life".   

Our lives will reflect the love of God as we obey His commandments.. which "are not burdensome".   The Bible Knowledge Commentary(BKC)  says this.. "A person who obeys God's commands is doing what is right, both toward God and toward his fellow believers and is thus loving both God and them.  But it must be remembered that this includes the willingness to sacrifice for one's brother."

As children of God, abiding in His love we "overcome the world."  The Word of God is given to us so that we can know God's directions for overcoming the world.  This is His plan for all who have been "born of God".. We have a faith that is "the victory that has overcome the world."  Hallelujah!

John helps us to understand this even more. 

"And who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?" The BKC explains... "This suggests that such faith is the secret of his continuing victory and , for that reason, obedience to God's commands need not be burdensome." 

John wants his readers to make sure that their faith is in the True Son of God.. (remember that he was countering the teaching of anti-christs.. false teachers).   Jesus Christ.. the True Son.. came  "with the water and with the blood."  Also the Spirit.. who is truth.. bears witness in agreement with the water and the blood.  

The BKC helps explain what this means.  The "water"  may be referring to the baptism of Jesus "by which His public ministry was initiated."   Matthew 3:16-17 tells us that when Jesus came up from the water of baptism the Holy Spirit descended as a dove and "a voice out of the heavens " said "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased." 

The "blood" then refers to the crucifixion "by which His earthly work was terminated.   One false teacher was suggesting that the "divine Christ descended on the man Jesus as His baptism and left Him before the crucifixion.."  John is refuting this false teaching here.  The Holy Spirit's witness joins with the witness of the water and the blood to show that "one single divine Person, Jesus Christ was involved in these events." 

In other words, this is God's testimony regarding His Son, and to believe otherwise is to call God a liar. God's witness is this, John continues, "that God has given us eternal life and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life." 

Father in heaven, we are reminded again of the greatness of Your grace.. that You have loved us and given to us a perfect Savior, Jesus Christ, Your Son, who became the propitiation for our sins.  You have brought us to faith in Him and have poured out Your love through Him, transforming us for eternity!  Thank You Father!  Keep us in  Your ways and in Your Truth, Lord God.  May Your Spirit continually fill us with Truth and Love and faith, by Your grace and for Your glory.  Thank You Jesus, for You are our everything.. our Savior and Sanctifier, our Healer and our King.  Praise to Your Name. Amen. 

 I John 4:7- 5:1  John continues to emphasize the truths that help us  to "know that we have eternal life".(5:13)   Chapter 3:23 says, "and this is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as He commanded us."  John now expands on these two traits... 

 In 4:7, John says, "Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God."  Then in 5:1 he writes, "Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God; and whoever loves the Father loves the child born of Him."   

Love and Faith. These two traits are evidence of one "born of God".   If we say we believe in Jesus, but have no love.. we are missing the mark.  Likewise, if we are full of "love".. acting with even the most generous of hearts.. but do not fully trust in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.. we are lost and without hope. 

The evidence of God's presence in our lives.. our faith and our love.. is produced by the Holy Spirit.. "By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit." (4:13) 

John presents the basic beliefs that we must acknowledge and live by.. 

v7  ".. love is from God"

v8 ".. God is love"

v9 God manifested His love.. "God  has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him."

v10 .. "this is love... that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins." 

v11 since God loved us " we also ought to love one another." 

v12.. "if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us." 

By the power of the Spirit of God in us we are able to "bear witness that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world." 

We confess that "Jesus is the Son of God", revealing His presence in us and our presence in Him. v15

We believe in His love for us. 

We abide in His love. 

We abide in Him. 

We gain confidence as love is perfected in us. 

We lose fear, which is cast out by that love. 

"We love because He first loved us." 

Father in heaven, how glorious is Your Name in all the earth!  You loved us and sent Your Son to save us. We give You praise and offer thanks for Your most gracious gift.  Teach us by Your Holy Spirit to keep abiding in these truths.  Fall fresh on us, Spirit of God, that we might be perfected.. complete.. in the fullness of the love of our God and Father and of the Son. Abide in us that we might have true faith and true love, in the Name of Jesus, our Lord. Amen. 

 I John 4:1-6  In this section John teaches us about discernment.. in particular, discerning between "the spirit of truth and the spirit of evil."   As it was in John's time, so it is in ours.. "many false prophets have gone out into the world."  

K. Neil Foster writes in his book, The Discerning Christian, about this subject... ".. the primary reason for the epistle (of 1 John) is to counteract error, to protect the church, and to sweep away the pretense of false professors, false prophets, and false anointed ones."  Foster calls those who are antichrists the "anti-anointed"  They often come out of the church, with a "substitute anointing, a demonic anointing... against Christ and His kingdom." He gives this warning, "The church needs to be reminded that there are many antichrists. They always start out from inside, but because their anointing is an anti-anointing, they finally take a position against Christ." 

Those who have the "real anointing".. Foster writes, will never deny Christ. As John wrote, "By this you know the Spirit of God; every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God."  A false prophet cannot consistently and continually make this confession, Foster writes.  This person is being influenced by an evil spirit, whether he knows it or not.  Foster points out that it is not just in making a false declaration.. by saying that Jesus Christ did not come in the flesh.. but sometimes it is their silence.. they cannot "acknowledge" the truth of Who Christ is. 

One more important point that Foster makes about this that will help us discern.. "The false prophet, the one with the anti-anointing, will not listen. Antichrists do not listen. True believers listen to John and to his words. Those not from God do not listen to John."    These people are often argumentative and cause friction and quarreling.  "True discernment ultimately is to know that a spirit is speaking and to know whether or not Jesus Christ's incarnation is continually acknowledged." 

John does not leave us doubting, but encourages.. "You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world... We are from God; he who knows God listens to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of evil."  

This reflects back to what John has been saying all along.. We know we belong to God if we obey His commandments.. if we believe in Jesus Christ and love one another.   Neil Foster writes.. ".. there are literally millions in our day in North America alone who 'believe' but who are apparently not at all interested in obeying.."  May we carefully and prayerfully be truly discerning christians. 

Father in heaven, how thankful we are for the fullness of Your Holy Spirit who dwells in our hearts and leads us in all truth.  Greater is He who is in us!  Keep us walking in love and obedience, faithful to proclaim the truth of Jesus Christ, the incarnate Son of God, who came to save us, and who is our Advocate before the throne of grace. We give all praise and glory and honor to You, O God, as we humble ourselves at Your feet and pray for strength to "be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of His might.. able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil.."  We know that "our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places."  So, we put on the holy armor that You have provided..with thankfulness, asking for deeper understanding and discernment..   As we proclaim Jesus Christ, our everlasting Lord. Amen. 

 I John 3: 4- 24  John talks about the practices of one's life... to practice sin.. or to practice righteousness.. this is what shows the character of our hearts. As God's children, if.. we have come out of the world's ways of doing things.. and are walking according to His Word and will.. the we will have changed our practices.. 

The person who practices sin.. who breaks the Law, who hates his brothers, who delights in doing evil, who ignores those who are suffering, and who refuses to trust in Jesus... this person is "of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning."  John says.. "and the children of the devil are obvious... " 

And.. as Paul wrote.. so were we all.. "And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world , according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. " ( Eph. 2:1-3)

 Paul goes on to say.. "But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.. " (v4-6) 

John is saying the same thing.. "And you know that He appeared in order to take away sins; and in Him there is no sin. No one who abides in Him sins; no one who sins has seen Him or knows Him."  As we are "made alive" in Christ, we are forever God's children and no longer abide in sin or death.  Hallelujah!

Does that mean that we can't sin.  No.. as John has already covered.. we have not lost our sin nature.. and it does matter how we live.. We are called to righteousness.  We must "practice" righteousness. We need to abide in righteous living.  We are God's children and "His seed abides" in us.  As it is obvious who the children of the devil are.. it is should be obvious who the children of God are.. and again John returns to his theme song.. "we should love one another".   

"We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren."  John goes on to remind us that love is not  an emotion.. but an action. "We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren."   Love is proven, not by our words, but by our deeds. "Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth." 

John asks his readers to test themselves on this..to examine what's in our hearts...  Does our heart assure us or condemn us? If our heart assures us that we are walking in the ways that please Him, we can have confidence.  But, if our heart condemns us.. ".. we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; " and "if we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness ." 

Father in heaven,  how great is Your love to us! So thankful that You have given us life and forgiveness and righteousness through Jesus Christ the Son.  Continue that work in our hearts that we might live as Christ has shown us.. loving one another in word and deed.  You know our weaknesses and You have given us overcoming power by the blood of the Lamb.  Help us to walk in complete surrender, abiding with You, and becoming all that You have purposed for us to be, in Christ our Lord.  In His Name we ask this, amen. 

 I John 3:1-3  It is through the Father's great love that we are called His children.  When we really think about this Truth.. it stuns us.  Do we really believe it?  Do we really act like it is true?  John wants us to think about this.. to internalize it.. to wonder at it.. 

As God's children, John says, ".. the world does not  know us, because it did not know Him."  The Greek word for "know"  can also mean to "be aware.. perceive... or understand".  This makes it clearer.. The world does not understand us.  They don't understand our positions against sinful behavior.. and call it discrimination or prejudice.  They don't understand our commitment to Jesus and call it religious bigotry. They call the church a place of hypocrites, because they don't understand that we are not perfect, but needy and putting our trust in a Savior who is perfect. They do not understand the power of Jesus' blood shed to take away our sins. They don't understand the hope that only He can give.. 

John gives us a word of encouragement.. "Beloved now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we shall be. We know that, when He appears, we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him just as He is."   Oh, what a blessed hope we have in Jesus!  "And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him, purifies himself, just as He is pure." 

I am reminded of the old hymn that my grandmother used to quietly sing sometimes...

" Oh to be like Thee, blessed Redeemer,

 this is my constant longing and prayer. 

Gladly I'll forfeit all of earth's treasures, 

Jesus, Thy perfect likeness to bear.

Oh, to be like Thee! full of compassion,

Loving, forgiving, tender and kind,

Helping the helpless, cheering the fainting,

Seeking the wandering sinner to find.

Oh to be like Thee! lowly in spirit,

Holy and harmless, patient and brave,

Meekly enduring cruel reproaches,

Willing to suffer others to save. 

Oh, to be like Thee! while I am pleading,

Pour out Thy Spirit, fill with Thy love;

Make me a temple meet for Thy dwelling, 

Fix me for life and heaven above.

Oh, to be like Thee!

Oh, to be like Thee,

Blessed Redeemer, pure as Thou art!

Come in Thy sweetness, 

come in Thy fullness; 

Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart. 

( by Thomas O Chisholm)

May this be our prayer also!  

Father, thank You for loving us and adopting us as Your own children! We offer our praise and thanksgiving to You, Almighty and Gracious God! We lift our hearts to You. Fill us with Your Spirit, that we might be more like Jesus.  We ask it in His Wonderful Name. amen.