Psalm 1 - follow the Lord

Psalm 1

\as well as expressing feelings. Praising God, and calling out for help, the Psalms also give instruction, and this psalm is a prime example.The Psalm reminds us that it is wiser and better to walk in the ways of the Lord, than to follow the ways of the wicked. This was something that Israel repeatedly forgot to do. The one who shuns the ways of the wicked is the one who is blessed, Parallelism is a common feature of Hebrew poetry, with an idea being repeated. We have an example here in v 1. We are not to follow the ways of the wicked, and this means not standing in the way of dinners, nor sitting in the company of  mockers.Sinners are, by definition, fools, so it makes sense to avoid standing in their place. Mockers have no regard for the ways of the Lords, so we should not keep company with them. 

Instead we should delight in the law of the Lord. We should meditate on His Law, not on the ramblings of the wicker or of mockers. If we do this we ill be like a tree planted by streams of water, we will receive sustenance and refreshment. If we are in a difficult situation right now, but turn to God we can be confident that we will receive strength. Success lies in following the Lord.

The wicked may seem OK for a time, but they are like chaff, they will not stand in the judgement. It is axiomatic in the Bible that all things will eventually be brought under judgement.

Conversely the Lord watches over the way of the righteous. Right now the Lord is watching over us, we are always in His care, but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.

Psalms - Introduction

Psalms - Introduction

 The Psalms are many people’s favourite part of the Old Testament. Many, but not all, were written by David, 73 are attributed to David, Psalm 90 is attributed to Moses, and others are credited to various temple musicians. They cover a wide range of emotions, Some are pure praise, others deal with David in various situations he encountered as recorded in the Old Testament. The psalms are split into five “books”, and they formed an important part of Israel's worship. The five books are:

Book 1 - 1-41

Book 2 - 42-72

Book 3 - 73-89

Book 4 - 90-106

Book 5 - 107-150

It is worth noting that the New Testament makes use of the psalms, including two of the most “theological” books, Romans and Hebrews. God teaches us through a combination of His word and our experiences. When we are going through testing times I find it helpful to let the psalms correct my thinking, for in the midst of difficultues we often have a number of wrong thoughts, we forget who God is and His promises to us.

3 John 11-15 - Closing remarks

3:11,12

What we do matters, we should not do evil but good. So anyone who promotes what is evil has not seen God. It may be that in John’s day some of the false teachers were actually claiming to have seen God, but anyone who promotes what is evil clearly does not know God at all.  These false teachers may even denigrate those who hold to the truth. WE can see both these factors playing out in regard to the issue of sexual morality. John then positively promotes Demetrius. We should commend those who faithfully speak and teach the truth.

3:13-15

As at the end of 2 John, John says he has much more to say, but wants to see them face to face. He closes with a friendly greeting.

3 John 1:5-10 - Pointing out error

3:5-8

John encourages Gaius that what he is doing is helping the brothers and sisters. Moreover the brothers and sisters were appreciative of his efforts and were reporting how helpful he was being. Gaius is encouraged to continue to treat them well. These brothers and sisters were going “for the sake of the Name. In the previous letter John had warned about not helping those who were opposed to the gospel, conversely it was important to help those who were for the gospel.

3:9,10

Now there comes a warning about a church leader, Diotrephes. This man was all about self promotion and was even opposing John. We should honour church leaders, but there is also a time to point out clear errors and wrong behaviour. Moreover Diotrophes was spreading malicious rumours about John. Thus man was a clear destructive influence.

3 John 1:1-4, and Intro

3 John - Chapter 1

3 John was also written by John the apostle, see introduction to  1 ans 2 John. In 2 John John had warned against giving hospitality to travelling preachers who did not teach the gospel, but denied the humanity of Jesus. In this letter he urges that to offer hospitality to faithful preachers, and warns against a church leader who seems to be of the controlling type.  Leaders who are concerned with their own aggrandisement rather than promoting Christ are a danger.

3:1-4 As in 2 John, John introduces himself as “the elder”, and the letter is addressed to a particular individual called Gaius. He starts by encouraging Gaius. When we have to deal with opposition it takes it out of us, and we need encouragement. He commends Gaius for continuing to walk in the truth. Standing up for the truth is a spiritual battle, and takes effort, so we need to be built up.

2 John 1:7-13 Do not welcome false teachers

2:7-11

John is now about to give what might appear to be rather harsh instruction, this is why he has stressed the importance of love in obeying Christ. As well as christian preachers there were “many deceivers”, these deceivers denied the humanity of Christ, the importance of this was stressed in 1 John. If they welcomed such false teachers  then they were sharing in the "wicked work” of such people. We might think that we should be “nice” and “kind” to everyone, and definitely not judgemental, this is an attitude that finds much traction in the church, but it is unbiblical nonsense. False teachers spread poison, this dishonours Christ and harms people, to support such work is not “loving”.

2:12,13

John had more to say, but preferred to visit them in person. Face to face teaching is more effective than written, video or podcast teaching. “You sister “ is probably a related church, and they sent their greetings.

2 John 1:1-6 - Walk in love

2:1-3

John refers to himself as “the elder”, and his recipients as “the lady chosen by God”. If we are saved we are “chosen by God”. Jesus said to His disciples that they did not choose Him, but He chose them (John 15:16). John also tells them that they live in the truth. One of the tactics of the enemy is to make us feel uncertain, so John assures them that they are in the truth. And this is not a temporary thing, but “will be with us forever”.

The “Grace, mercy and peace from God” will be with us in truth and love. This comes from God.

2:4-6

The letter was addressed to the lady and her children, those who believe as a result of her walking with Christ. So John is delighted that some of her children are also walking in the truth. John urges them to continue to “love one another" In these first few verses we have already seen a number of similarities to 1 John. And this love is not a sentimental thing, but means walking “in obedience to His commands”. We are to walk in love.

2 John - Introduction

2 John - Introduction

This short letter says it comes from “the Elder” John  is believed to have functioned as an elder in the Ephesian church. The recipients are referred to as “the lady chosen by God”. The author is John the apostle, there are a number of similarities to 1 John, so it is reasonable to assume the same author. It was probably written about the same time.

At the time there were travelling preachers and teachers, both Christian and gnostic types. The natural instinct was to be hospitable, but John urges them to show some discernment. Jesus told His disciples to be “innocent as doves, but as shrewd as serpents” (Matt 10:16), we are not meant to be naive fools!

1 John 5:18-21 Born of God

5:18-21

Anyone born of God does not continue to sin. Now John is not arguing for sinless perfectionism, but anyone who still rejoices in sin and advocates sinful behaviour is not born of God. On a more positive note the one born of God is kept safe by Him, and the evil one cannot harm them.  False teachers may be pretending to offer some extra form of protection. But in Christ we have all the protection we need. We are children of God, and the world is under the control of the evil one. So we need to appreciate the truth of the situation. Moreover, the son of God “has given us understanding”. Some false teachers may claim to be oh so clever and to belittle our understanding. We should not listen to them, for Christ has given us understanding. He has enabled us to know God.

John closes his letter with a warning “keep yourselves from idols”. I think it was Calvin who said the human heart is an idol factory. We have great propensity to make idols out of anything.

1 John 5:13-17 - Confidence and the seriousness of sin

5:13-15

John reassures his readers that he is writing these things to them because they do believe in the Son of God, and so that they “may know that they have eternal life”. We need to teach our congregations, but we also need to reassure and encourage them. This also means that we can approach God with confidence in prayer, knowing that He hears us. 

5:16,17

If we see a fellow believer sin, that does not lead to death, we should not condemn them, but pray for them, pray that God will give them life. What is “sin that leads to death”? It could mean that if the person dies we should not pray for them, or it could refer to persistent wilful sin. Either way there is a recognition that sin can have terminal consequences.

1 John 5:6-8 - water and blood

5:6-8

“Who came by water and blood”, water possibly refers to baptism, or possibly it refers to natural birth, blood refers to the cross. Taking the baptism and cross it refers to the beginning of His ministry, and the cross to the end, taking the birth and cross combination, it refers to his humanity and death. I personally think the latter fits the context better. John then says that there are three that testify, the Spirit, the water and the blood, and they are in agreement. All three are vital, and to deny any one of them is to deny everything. The Holy Spirit testifies about Jesus, he is fully human (the incarnation), and He shed His  blood on the cross for our sakes. 

1 John 5:1-5 - Loving the Father and the Son

5:1-3

Loving the Father and loving the Son are one and the same thing, they are inseparable, you cannot claim to love one and not the other. Some who do not love God claim to love Him and His children, but the only way to truly love people is to love God and carry out His commands. Loving God and obeying His commands go together and are inseparable. Jesus spoke about loving Him and obeying His teaching (John 14:23).

5:4,5

“Everyone born of God overcomes the world”. The world is opposed to God, so we face opposition, but if we are born of God we overcome the world. We overcome the world by believing that Jesus is the Son of God, not by going along with the world. Believing that Jesus is the Son of God is crucial.

1 John 4:13-21 - Love

4:13-16

The Holy Spirit is absolutely essential. He assures us that we live in Him. Acknowledging that Jesus is the Son of God is a crucial sign too. Jesus is the focus of all the Father’s plans, so we testify that the Father sent His Son to be the saviour of the world. “So we know and rely on the love God has for us”. What we believe matters, but it is also a relationship, a love relationship with God.

4:17,18

We will have confidence on the day of judgement because of God’s love for us. False teachers often rely on fear, but perfect love drives out fear. “Fear has to do with punishment”. The cross has paid the price for us, Jesus took on Himself the punishment that should have been ours, so we have no fear. God’s love drives out fear.

4:19-21

God’s love for us is the starting point, we love in response to His love for us. Again John points out that hating a brother or sister is incompatible with loving God. How can we say we love God who is unseen if we do not love a brother or sister who we can see?

1 John 4:7-12 - This is love

4:7-12

Love comes from God. This is one of the arguments for the Trinity, for it is because God exists as three persons that love could exist between these persons. So love if we are born of God. Conversely if we do not love then any claim to know God is spurious. The supreme demonstration of His love for us was His sending of His son, so that we “might live through Him”. The Son was sent as an atoning sacrifice. There are some ignorant people who refer to this as “cosmic child abuse”, but such people only demonstrate their own stupidity and ignorance. The Father and Son were in complete agreement. God’s love for us is the starting point, any love we have for Him followed on from that. We also ought to love one another. Love is the essential proof that God lives in us.

1 John 4:1-6 - The Test

4:1-3

We now come to what is probably the most theological part of the letter, focusing on the incarnation. It is interesting that John is clearly concerned with lifestyle and behaviour, “Loving one another”, but this does not diminish his concern with right theology. Indeed most false teachings fail to get the person of Jesus Christ right, denying either His humanity or His divinity. It is worth noting that most early heresies tended to deny His humanity. John begins this section with a test to see whether or not a spirit is from God. He also recognises that many false prophets have gone into the world. The key test here is whether a spirit “acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh”, i.e. the humanity of Jesus. Any spirit that does not acknowledge this is not from God, indeed it is the spirit of the antichrist, and the spirit of antichrist is already in the world.

4:4-6

The Holy Spirit bears witness to the humanity of Christ, and He is in us. If we believe the gospel then we have overcome the spirit of anti-Christ, for the Holy Spirit is greater than the spirit who is in the world. We should not be surprised if the world listens to the anti-Christ, for the anti-Christ is the spirit of the world, and speaks from the viewpoint of the world. If we believe the gospel we are from God, for we are born again of God.

1 John 3:19-24 - Believing in the Son, and loving one another

3:19-24

The change in our lives shows that we belong to the truth, despite what  anyone else may try to tell us. Note that our experience is seen as important. Even so, it may be that we still feel condemned. In that case “we know that God is greater than our hearts. He knows everything, and He sent Jesus to die on the cross for us knowing just what we were like. Note that there is an interplay between theological truth and our experience. It is better when we do not feel condemned, and this gives us greater confidence in prayer. Our actions and obedience do matter. The primary command of God the Father is to “believe in His Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another”.and the Holy Spirit attests to the truth of this.

1 John 3:11-18 - Love one another

3:11-15

John places a great deal of emphasis on loving one another. He goes right back to Cain as to why this matters so much. Cain “belonged to the evil one”, he murdered his brother because Abel’s action showed up his own failures. Likewise the world hates us, and this should come as no surprise.In repenting and believing in Christ we have done “the right thing”, so the world that is in rebellion does not take kindly to us. 

Loving each other (or not) is a key indicator of whether or not we have passed from death to life.

3:16-18

Jesus laying down his life for us is the prime example of love, we should act towards our brothers and sisters in Christ in the same way. This includes sharing our material possessions, it will not always be as grand a matter as actually dying for someone. Love is not just a matter of words and feelings, but of deeds and action.

1 John 3:1-10 - Not continuing to sin

3:1,2

Tactics used by false teachers fall into two broad categories. On the one hand they may try to make us feel guilty or inferior, John has been dealing with this line of attack so far. The second broad line is to claim to be offering us something better. But the Father has lavished on us great love, we are loved by the Father, and the sign of that ove is that we are now children of God, there is nothing better that anything else can give us. So if the gospel is so great, why does not everyone go for it? The reason is that the world does not know Jesus. Instead it hates Him. 

Our final destiny has not been made known to us yet, at least not in detail. But we do know that we shall be like HIm, and we shall “see Him as He is£. Indeed that is why we shall be like HIm. Because of all this, we purify ourselves. To continue to live in sin is not consistent with the gospel.

3:3-6

In Christ we are forgiven for all our sins, but sin is still lawlessness. Sin is not an acceptable part of the new life in Christ.Jesus appeared in order to take away our sins. He takes away the guilt, but also changes our nature, so if we live in Him we will not continue to sin. The notion that Jesus is all about forgiveness and acceptance, so we overlook sin and carry on is completely at odds with the gospel.

3:7-10

Those who perpetuate the myth of continuing to sin are seeking to lead us astray, we must not listen to them. We are made righteous in Christ, and this will start to affect our lives.Sin is the devil’s work, and Christ appeared to destroy the devil’s work. Note from what John said in chapter one, this is not about perfectionism, it is more about the direction we are going in. Hating sin and loving our brothers and sisters in Christ are signs of truly belonging to God.

1 John 2:26-3:2 - Christ is the best reward

2:26,27

John now makes it clear that he is writing these things about "those who are trying to lead them astray”. His readers were anointed, and this anointing was received from Jesus. It is quite possible that the false teachers claimed to have a special anointing, and were in some way belittling the people John was writing to. John assures his readers that they did not need anyone to teach them. This does not mean that we don’t need teachers, but only teachers who believe the gospel. John assures them yet again, saying that the anointing they have received was real, not counterfeit (as it was in the case of the false teachers. They must remain in Christ.

2:28,29

Turning away from Jesus may look like a tempting option, may look as if it will make life a little easier, but we need to remember that Jesus is coming back, on that day it will be a lot better for us if we “continue in Him”, if we have stuck with Christ. Then we will be confident and unashamed. Jesus is righteous, so that those have been “born of Him” will do what is right.

3:1,2

Tactics used by false teachers fall into two broad categories. On the one hand they may try to make us feel guilty or inferior, John has been dealing with this line of attack so far. The second broad line is to claim to be offering us something better. But the Father has lavished on us great love, we are loved by the Father, and the sign of that ove is that we are now children of God, there is nothing better that anything else can give us. So if the gospel is so great, why does not everyone go for it? The reason is that the world does not know Jesus. Instead it hates Him. 

Our final destiny has not been made known to us yet, at least not in detail. But we do know that we shall be like HIm, and we shall “see Him as He is£. Indeed that is why we shall be like HIm. Because of all this, we purify ourselves. To continue to live in sin is not consistent with the gospel.

John 2:24-27 Remaining in the Son

2:24,25

Again, John urges them to stick with what they first heard. The gospel needs to be presented clearly, and then expounded and explained. Only by sticking with the gospel will we remain in the Father and in the son, and Jesus had told them the importance of abiding in Him (John 15:4). Then we will receive the promised eternal life.

2:26,27

John now makes it clear that he is writing these things about "those who are trying to lead them astray”. His readers were anointed, and this anointing was received from Jesus. It is quite possible that the false teachers claimed to have a special anointing, and were in some way belittling the people John was writing to. John assures his readers that they did not need anyone to teach them. This does not mean that we don’t need teachers, but only teachers who believe the gospel. John assures them yet again, saying that the anointing they have received was real, not counterfeit (as it was in the case of the false teachers. They must remain in Christ.

1 John 2:20-23 The Father and the Son

2:20

In one sense we are just ordinary people, but in another we are special, for we have been adopted as sons of God. In some ways it is like Jesus, He was the Son of Man, fully human, but He was also the Son of God, and could do amazing things. John expresses it by saying we “have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth. This is a defence against any group that tries to make us feel inferior.

2:21

John assures them that they already know the truth. Again it is a counter against false teachings that seek to make us doubt. Remember that in Eden the serpent said “did God really say....” we should have confidence in the gospel.

2:22

We have had lifestyle tests, now we come to the key doctrinal test, and doctrine matters. Some try to tell us that to be concerned about right doctrine is a mistake, such people are the ones who are truly mistaken. The first test is denying that Jesus is the Christ. Jesus is indeed the Christ, He is the centre and the focus of everything. If we deny Jesus then we are also denying the Father, for the Fathers sent Christ in order to fulfil His plans.

2:23

The matter is very simple, we cannot have the Father without the Son. They come as a package., you cannot have one without the other.

1 John 2:15-19 - Do not love the world

2:15-17

There are many false teachers who “love the world”, this can come in the form of so-called “prosperity teaching", or those who go along with the world's crazy and corrrupted ideas on sexuality. We cannot love the world and God. The world’s ways are in rebellion to God, so if someone is motivated primarily by worldly thinking they are not of God. The world and is ways will pass away, but the one who does the will of God lives forever, we need to make the right choice and to listen to those who have made the right choice, not ones following the way of death.

2:18,19

Some may say this teaching causes division, but Jesus said He came not to bring peace, but division (Lk 12:51). Some appeals for unity are actually appeals for toleration of wrong teaching. In the letters to the seven churches in Revelation there are criticisms from Jesus of  those who tolerated wrong teaching. Those who leave because false teaching is not tolerated show that they never really belonged to God nor to us. Note the strong line that John takes against false teachers, they are even identified with the antichrist.