My Children, Keep Yourselves From Idols

DATE: JULY 5, 2020

TOPIC: "My Children, Keep Yourselves From Idols" 1 John 5:13-21 We come to the final part of the Epistle. John declares, to a maximum degree of clarity, the reason for everything written previously in his letter. He had not done it just to write, but in his writing there was prophecy, there was wisdom and knowledge of God, and above all, love, something that abounded in the life of the apostle John! He would make it clear to them that if they believed in Jesus they had eternal life! In closing, he would ask them to beware of idols, referring to the false doctrines, what is false!

I. John writes to those “…who believe in the name of the Son of God…”

A. (Vs. 13) Such may know THEY HAVE ETERNAL LIFE!

1. The church is for those who have understood, for those who believe in the name of the Son of God. BECAUSE WE BELIEVE WE HAVE ETERNAL LIFE! Therefore, we seek how to take care of ourselves for that eternity!

2. If you have the MARKS of the children of God, then you can know that you have been born into the family of God.

3. What John wrote is so that you understand that IF YOU HAVE THE LORD, you have eternal life!

4. To believe is to understand that you are saved and that you are not interested in the world, or in sin, because you are already enlisted for eternity!

5. EVERYONE WHO TRULY BELIEVES IN THE LORD CAN KNOW THAT HE HAS ETERNAL LIFE!

6. (Vs. 14) When we have eternity, by the salvation that is through Jesus, we can naturally appear before God, GO TO HIM IN PRAYER FULL OF CONFIDENCE!

7. (Vs. 15) We should know “…that if we ask anything according to His will…”, HE HEARS OUR PRAYERS AND WILL ANSWER THEM!

8. So, we should FEAR TO PRAY for something that is not in accordance WITH HIS WILL. And you, if you believe in the name of the Son of God, you must know His will!

9. God's will is revealed to us in the Holy Scriptures, for such reason, we should read the Word in order to better know what the will of God is. And so, then, pray with greater knowledge.

10. (Vs. 16) “If anyone sees his brother commit a SIN THAT DOES NOT LEAD TO DEATH, HE SHOULD PRAY AND GOD WILL GIVE HIM LIFE. I refer to those whose sin does not lead to death. THERE IS A SIN THAT LEADS TO DEATH. I AM NOT SAYING THAT HE SHOULD PRAY ABOUT THAT."

11. As a believer that you are you know that you can pray to the Father in the name of Jesus. If you observe a believing brother in some sinful activity, you can pray for his restoration and God will give him life.

12. But, we see that there is an exception; John says that it is not possible to ask in this way when it is A SIN THAT LEADS TO DEATH!

13. There is sin that leads to death, and the apostle says: “…I am not saying that he should pray about it…” What can be seen IS THE SIN OF APOSTASY, and it is thought that it is what fits the context.

14. An apostate is someone who has heard the great truths of the Christian faith, who has become “intellectually convinced that Jesus is the Christ (Savior, The King)”, and has even made a profession of the Christian faith, although he has never been truly saved. Then that person, after having enjoyed the good things of Christianity, “totally” renounces them and repudiates the Lord Jesus Christ. (Hebrews 6:4-6), they tasted some rays of light and went into a definitive apostasy. These people fell from the knowledge of the truth. In Hebrews 6:4, it says: 'It is impossible for those who have once been "enlightened" (illuminated), who have "tasted" (enjoyed) the heavenly gift, who have "shared" in the Holy Spirit...and "fell", TO BE BROUGHT BACK TO REPENTANCE, "crucifying again" for themselves the Son of God and exposing him to vituperation."

15. These apostates have come to the place where the lights go out on the way to hell! Hebrews 6:6 mentions a "willful" and "malicious" rejection of Christ. It indicates a positive betrayal by joining forces hostile to Him, casting ridicule (what causes laughter or mockery) against His Person and His work!

16. They had professed to be believers, had known the facts of faith, and then turned their backs on the Lord Jesus accepting a teaching that totally denied His Deity and the sufficiency of His atoning work (His blood).

17. A Christian does not have the freedom to pray for the restoration of “such”, because God has already indicated in His word that “they have sinned to death”. This, brother, is to clarify for whom you pray or speak as if they were believers when they are people who want to crucify Jesus in mockery.

18. (Vs. 17) “All wrongdoing is sin; and there is sin that does not lead to death. " There are clear differences in the degrees of sins, and there are sins that are not of such a serious nature that would lead to death.

19. (Vs. 18) But, John makes it clear here that the believer does not continue to sin (“…does not practice sin…”). John refers to everyone who has been born of God!

20. He who possesses the divine nature does not persist in the practice of sin. "...the one who was born of God keeps him safe, and the evil one cannot harm him."

21. (Vs. 19) "We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one." There are two spheres, two different groups in this world, EITHER WE ARE IN HIM, OR UNDER THE POWER OF THE EVIL ONE!

22. (Vs. 20) We know that the Son of God has come so that we may know the one who is True, that is, the True God. God the Father is known through the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is God: "HE IS THE TRUE GOD AND ETERNAL LIFE."

23. (Vs. 21) "Dear children, keep yourselves from idols." This means: Beware of any teaching that opposes these realities! Beware of all the ideas concerning God that have not been transmitted by the apostles. Jesus Christ is God; any other thought is idolatry! Because here, an idol is not so much a material object but rather a false teaching! Amen.