Category: Letters of John and Jude

“I rejoiced greatly that I found your children walking in truth.” (v.4)

The thing that brought John real joy was when he heard that the spiritual children he was responsible for were ‘walking in the truth.’ Truth is not an abstract thing; it is something to be known and experienced. They did not only just know the truth; they were practicing and living it. Receiving and obeying commands from the Father is one of the seals that we are His children. One of the greatest commands is that we love another (v.5). This was something that John had laboured upon and was anxious that it should not be lost (v.8). To hear that they were living in the good of it, brought him great joy. There were others who did not live as they professed. John calls them deceivers and they did not belong to God. They and their pernicious words were not to be received, neither given any ‘house room’ in our lives. This will keep us and our teaching pure. This way, it shall be alive within us, even forever (v.2).

PRAYER :- “Lord, keep us in the simplicity of these wonderful truths.”

“Little children, keep yourselves from idols.” (5:21)

This is a most unusual way to finish a letter. There is no greeting, no commending them to the grace of God (as often seen in the Apostle Paul’s letters), but just a simple caution. Why does John say this to his ‘little children.’? When John speaks of idols in this verse, I do not think he is speaking about images of wood, metal, or stone. There are also the materialistic idols of money, property, career, ambition and the like. It can mean all of these, but in this context, I believe he is talking about the idols that Christians can make. They can idolise a ministry, or even a minister, a name; they can exalt him and refuse to listen to anyone else. They can idolise a church, falling in love with the architecture, the location, or even the history of the place. They can idolise a ‘work’, holding onto the past and not letting go. We don’t want any past movements to just become monuments. Christians can even idolise the ‘truth’, proudly thinking they have it and that no-one else does. John warns against all these traps, of exalting anything above the Person of Jesus Christ and which can so easily replace the simplicity of the life of Christ. We are to remain in a living fellowship with Him, obeying His commands and loving one another with a pure, fervent love, always. This way, we shall avoid the error of things becoming cold and lifeless.

PRAYER :- “Lord, help me to stay in the freshness of your life and love, seeking you daily and not just relying upon the things of the past.”

“If we ask anything according to His will, He hears us: and if we know that hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired from Him.” (5:14,15)

Prayer is a wonderful thing. To have confidence that our prayers will be answered is even better. That confidence comes from two things. The first is that we must ask according to His will and not ours. We must know that the thing we are asking for is what He wants and not according to our own desires. The second thing is to have that assurance that we have been heard. How can we know that? It is simply by being in absolute close fellowship with Him. When we have that relationship, we know that when we speak, He will hear us. Likewise, in that same relationship, when He speaks, we listen. When we listen like that, we will know what is His will regarding a matter. Too often, we speak, we ask, we talk, but we don’t really listen. As we listen to Him, we shall know that He is listening to us. Then, we shall pray in that sweet unity with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and only pray for things which are in the compass of His will. And, because we know that they are His will, when we ask, He hears and graciously grants the request.

PRAYER :- “Lord, teach me more about having intimacy with you when I pray.”

“He who has the Son has life.” (5:12)

God does not want us to be in a ‘dead religion.’ He wants us to be alive with the living, powerful, resurrection life of Jesus Christ. The night before Jesus was crucified He prayed His own ‘high-priestly’ prayer in John chapter 17. In that prayer, Jesus defines eternal life, which is to know God and He whom God has sent (that is, Christ Jesus – John 17:3). Eternal life is not an endless cycle of days. Who would want to live forever in the world as it now is. It is not quantity. Instead, it is quality. The life that Jesus prayed about and John wrote of is that life which God intends for every man and woman that has ever set foot upon this planet. It is a life of full and free fellowship with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. It is a life of love, joy and peace. It is a life without sin, where all sorrow, pain, death and tears are wiped away … forever! This is the life that Adam enjoyed all too briefly in the garden of Eden with all its tranquillity before Satan spoiled it. But, it is more than that. Because, once fallen, but now redeemed, this life is incomparable to anything known before. This is the life that Jesus gives and it is a life more abundant than anything else (John 10:10). But, this life is only possible through the Son. He who has the Son has life, but he who does not have the Son does not have life. Make sure you have the Son, Jesus Christ, so that you may have His life.

PRAYER :- “Lord, thank you for this amazing life you so freely have and now want me to know in all its fullness.”

“His commands are not grievous/burdensome.” (5:3)

Knowing that God is all, selfless love, He will not place upon us some duty, which He knows will be impossible for us to do. Those would be the actions of a totally unreasonable tyrant and God is not tyrannical. The devil would have us believe that the commands of God are unfair and cannot, or even should not, be obeyed. How wrong this is. Not only are His commands not burdensome, but to obey them is liberating. There is nothing better for us, as human beings, than to obey God’s commands. When God spoke to the children of Israel, through Moses, in the book of Deuteronomy, He essentially said, to obey His word is life; to disobey is death (Deuteronomy 30:19,20). Do not avoid obedience. Our Father in heaven knows our frailties and will never place a burden upon us which will crush us. Therefore, rejoice and ask for a heart that delights to do the will of God and will pray, “Not my will, but Yours, be done.”

PRAYER :- “Lord, help me to obey because your commands are life to my soul.”

“This is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us.” (4:10)

“We love Him because He first loved us.” (4:19)

Within the space of fifteen verses, the word ‘love’ (either by noun, or by verb) is mentioned no fewer than twenty-seven times. It is mentioned at least twelve other times in the letter. Love was uppermost in John’s thinking. The Greek word used is ‘Agape’, a word rarely found outside the Bible. Therefore, its use all the more specifically describes the nature and actions of God. It is not easy to describe love, but more easily to describe its results. Love is not an emotional impulse. Feelings are involved but they are the effect, not the cause. This love did not begin with us. It originated with God and is entirely selfless. Because love is not selfish, God did not keep it to Himself; He wanted to share it. And, because He wanted to share it, He acted, in that, while we were still enemies of God, He sent His own Son into the world to live and then to die, for us and for our sins. This is love. God cannot act otherwise. God is love. He cannot be anything else. He is all love, through and through. Though you may search a million years for another agenda, you will not find it. The only appropriate response is to break down and love Him, because He first loved us. This is the love He wants you and I to fully know.

PRAYER :- “Lord, words are inadequate, but thank you, that in spite of ourselves, you love us, because You are love.”

“Greater is He that is in you that he that is within the world.” (4:4)

This is an enormous comfort to every true believer, no matter how insignificant they think themselves to be. It is not that they themselves are greater, but that there resides Someone within them who is the Greater One. It is incredible to think that whatever powers that there are in the world, over the world and even ruling the world, that all their combined forces are no match for Christ Jesus. He is the only One who has all authority. All nature, whether on earth, or in space is subject to Him. Ultimately, to Him, all things, even supernatural things, must bow their knees and confess Him as Lord to the glory of God, the Father (Philippians 2:10-11). To make it more personal, whatever onslaughts you may face, whatever legacy, or upbringing you have had and whatever sins (yours, or someone else’s) that will have helped shape your personality, Jesus Christ within you is greater than them all. As Elisha said to his servant, “Fear not, there are more with us than there are with them.” (2 Kings 6:16). The servant just needed eyes to see it. Do not let he who is in the world dictate fear into your life. We are not promoting presumption but we are to realise afresh that the Lord of all creation lives within us and has cast down every enemy of your soul.

PRAYER :- “Lord, thank you for the amazing victory that you have accomplished for us in Christ Jesus.”

“Every Spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God.” (4:2)

This is not a statement to be learnt parrot-fashion and repeated whenever convenient. Though many say that they believe in God, this is not enough to conclude that they are ‘of God’, or belong to Him. Others may say that they admire His teaching, or have attended church, or have prayed now and again. The ‘proof of the pudding’, or the ‘plumbline test’ centres around the person of Jesus Christ. When we believe and confess that everything that was in God (His eternity, omnipotence, majesty, mercy and grace) has all come together to live within a real flesh and blood human being, then the spirit saying that is of God. As said, this is not just a creed to be repeated, but when we realise that all the attributes of the Godhead have come to live in Him bodily (Colossians 2:9), then those same attributes can also exist in us. This is so that we should walk and live even as He walked and lived (2:6); and as He was in the world, so we can be the same also (4:17). This is the truth. Antichrist spirits deny it. Let us not only know and confess the truth, but also, by His grace, experience it day by day.

PRAYER :- “Lord, thank you that you live in a human body and that now, by Your Holy Spirit, you can also live within our bodies.”

“And this is how we know that He lives in us; it is by the Spirit which He has given to us.” (3:24)

In their lack of knowledge and wisdom, men seek for a proof that they have the Holy Spirit and belong to God. Is this proof speaking in tongues, performing a miracle, praying a majestic prayer, or making some great declaration? Firstly, the Holy Spirit is not a ‘thing’ we own; He is the third person of the Godhead and has been graciously given as a most wonderful and precious gift. So, how can we know that we have the Spirit of God living within us? According to John, we know we have the Spirit, by the Spirit. In other words, the Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God (Romans 8:16). The Holy Spirit Himself gives us an inner knowing that He is in us and that we belong to Him as His children, knowing God as Father (Galatians 4:6). It is as when Elisabeth met Mary (who was pregnant with Christ) and something within her (the unborn John the Baptist in her case) leapt at the presence of Christ. Other signs can be manufactured, or copied, but this inner knowing which surpasses all other ‘knowings’ is the greatest proof we have that we are His and He is mine. My heart, therefore, rejoices at the sound of Your Name.

PRAYER :- “Lord, thank you for your Holy Spirit who leaves us in no doubt that we belong to You.”

“Everyone who loves is born of God.” (4:7)

This is perhaps the greatest sign that one is born again. When we are born again, the nature of Christ’s love is freely given to us, poured out into our hearts by the Holy Spirit (Romans 5:5). We can say (in all reverence) that Christ oozed love. When taunted, He did not respond in kind. When struck, He did not retaliate. Instead, pure love poured out from Him. There is no fear in love. His love keeps us utterly secure. This is not theoretical love. In the verse quoted, the verbal form of the word is used. It is a love that translates into actions. This love goes the second mile, triumphs over hatred, always seeks the highest and the best, never exalts itself, is never jealous and keeps one in perfect peace and purity. This love of Christ is not a reservoir that has a limit and may run dry. It is an ever-flowing, living thing, so that those who abide in Him are always drinking of it and expressing it to others. To be in His love and in the presence of one who loves with the love of God is the safest, securest, most wonderful thing ever. Time passes without notice. It wins the hardest of hearts, cleanses the vilest of sins and overcomes the most difficult of situations. Blessed is the man and the church where this love is so abundantly evident. It is the sacred treasure of God’s heart and worth having above all else.

PRAYER :- “Lord, thank you that Your indescribably wonderful love has come to live within my poor heart.”