The Household of God

0:51It's in this context that John is writing to these churches to stay the course, to keep, maintain a confession of Christ, true confession of Christ, and to be aware of the threats that are on the inside of the church. There are threats on the outside, there are threats on the inside, specifically false teachers leading many to compromise truth, perhaps in a capitulation to what's happening in society, to embrace a form of Christology that does not. Align with the apostolic witness of who Christ was. So there's threats on the outside, there's threats on the inside, and it's in this context, first century Roman world, that we read these words.

1:461 John 5. Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and whoever loves the Father loves the child born of Him. By this we know that we love the children of God when we love God and observe His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments, and His commandments are not burdensome. For whatever is born of God overcomes the world, and this is the victory that has overcome the world, our faith. Well, our text makes it clear this morning that there are, first, a kind of people who are overcoming the world presently. Verse 4, whatever is born of God is overcoming the world.

2:41Second, there is a reason for this because there is a faith that has overcome the world. The reason that there are people who are overcoming the world is because there is a faith that has overcome the world. Back at verse 4. Whatever is born of God is overcoming the world, and this is the victory that has overcome the world, our faith. As I make my way down life's highway, I've come across a couple of people that I'd like to mention. There's this category of people who just seem to be overwhelmed by the world. Life just seems to get them down, and even when things seem to be going well, there are disappointments. Life is a bunch of unmet expectations, and life becomes this unbearable burden that just seems to get certain kinds of people down and it keeps them down. And they don't get better with age. In fact, they grow more cold, more bitter, and more lonely with time.

4:02They compromise truth, yield to temptation, and overwhelmed. But then there's this other kind of people. There are those who seem to overcome whatever life throws at them. Even when life throws them debilitating circumstances and knocks them over, they don't seem to stay down for very long. Their ability to joyfully press on to heaven is just the evidence that they have already conquered the world. There are those who have conquered the world or are conquering because they have a faith that has conquered the world. And the fact that they can just press on to heaven, that they can just press on joyfully, is evidence that they have overcome the world.

5:00What's the difference? What's the difference? Well, one has faith in God and one doesn't. It's what's inside makes all the difference. Did I ever tell you about my Corvette Stingray that I had in high school? Probably, but I'm going to tell you again. I had this habit of taking old cars, painting them, fixing them, and making them nice, and then selling them. And I always wanted a Corvette Stingray. And so I found this Corvette Stingray after going through several vehicles. And I took this Stingray and painted it, put the best paint job at least I could ever imagine on a car. It had a 350 engine under the hood. And I mean, it was, and it had the high-altitude jets. Which were where I was living, made that the fastest thing on the road. I mean, it outperformed any of my friends' cars by even the ones with the had the big 454 under the, you know, we'd come up and, you know, I just, no contest. I could pass any car on the road with no trouble at all. And I had just come to Christ, and so I wanted to make my faith known. And so I got this I Love Jesus sticker to make sure everybody knew I love Jesus. And of course, I didn't want to put it on the paint because I didn't want to ruin the paint job. So I put it in, I had a lot of growing up to do. Okay, you know, the struggles of worldly kind of coming out of that thing, you know. So, well, I felt like the Lord wanted me to get rid of it. And the Lord did too. He just had a different means to get rid of it than I did. One night, I left it parked with keys in it and a full tank of gas and all that. And somebody else who apparently loved Jesus too sat in the seat and just jumped in and took off. You know, praise the Lord, I love Jesus. Look at this. And he took off, and that was the last I ever saw of my Corvette stingray. The moral of the story: if you have an I Love Jesus sticker, put it on the paint. And don't leave the keys in your car. But anyway, then, within a couple of hours, just overnight, I went from driving the fastest, hottest. Corvette stingray in town to a Ford pinto. I don't know if you remember the Ford pintos, but this wasn't just any pento, it was a four-cylinder station wagon pento. And with had the wooden panels, of course, one side of the wooden panels had completely fell off. It was a junker, okay? And the good news is, I couldn't speed, not even in a school zone of 15 miles an hour. It just didn't, it couldn't pass anything on the car, it couldn't pass anything on the road at all. And, you know, the Lord has a way of dealing with his people, doesn't he? Causes will. But what was the difference between those two cars? It's what was under the hood.

8:17And likewise, what's the difference between people? It's what's in their hearts. It's their heart. What drives you? Are you overcoming the world? Do you have the faith that overcomes the world? That's what I want to talk to you about. Do you have the faith that has overcome the world? By this part in John's letter, we've already rehearsed these truths several times. And so if you've been with us, these are going to be a reminder to you.

9:00If you're just joining us, this may be somewhat new, but it's a good way John keeps bringing us back these core truths over and over again because I think the reason why people are getting overcome by this world is they don't have faith in Christ. They don't have faith or a very immature faith. Are you overcoming the world? There's only one explanation why you would be, and that's because you have the faith that has overcome the world. I want to talk to you about this faith that has overcome the world this morning. There's three aspects of this faith that I want to talk to you about this morning. I don't have a PowerPoint, but you can just, it's very easy. Three aspects of the faith that has overcome the world. Number one, it's content. Number two, it's origin. Number three, it's evidence. Content, origin, evidence. That's what we're looking at this morning. First, faith that has overcome the world. I want to talk to you about its content. Look back at verse 1. Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ, stop.

10:11Whoever, the one who is believing, the one who is presently believing that Jesus is the Christ, this is the content that John lays out for us. This is the triumphal conviction. The conviction that triumphs over the world is that the Jesus. Jesus revealed on the pages of Scripture is indeed God's Christ. That's it. That's the content. You notice that, look down at verse five, they'll say this again in another expression: who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? Jesus, Son of God, the one who, the Jesus who pre-existed as the Son of God, the one who took upon human flesh in order to bring us life. This Jesus, the Jesus who was crucified, the Jesus who rose from the dead, the Jesus who now sits at the right hand of the Father, the Jesus who is the final judge of every single living soul. This Jesus is the Christ.

11:32The humble peasant from Galilee. The Christ. Jesus, Messiah, peasant, Christ. And confidence in Jesus as such is like a mighty, mighty weapon, the weapon of all weapons. It overcomes all the false teachings, it overcomes all. All the evil influences and all the earthly principalities. Do you believe that Jesus is God's Christ? And the good news is that the ultimate ruler of this world is not in the likeness of fallen humanity. The good news is that God's ultimate ruler is the resurrected Jesus. And so, despite all the evil influences we see around us, despite all the manifestations of evil's influence and power and seemingly grip, not only in John's time, but in our times, we know that humanity is trending toward the ultimate day where Christ's likeness will be manifested in the people of God on planet Earth. This is the future destiny of humanity. We know it's all going there. And if you have that kind of understanding, if you have that kind of conviction, then you look around and you see the evil all around you, you see even the evil inclinations with your own heart, and you know they are passing.

13:32That is why you can overcome the world. Jesus is the pattern for all. But there's more. It's not just that he's the pattern for all. We know that humanity will bear his likeness, but there's more. Jesus Christ is responsible before God for every single human being. That's his authority. That's his care. He's the shepherd of his people. He is the judge of all. Savior of God's people, and he saves to the uttermost. He is responsible. He is the advocate. He is the sacrifice. He is the righteous one who advocates for our behalf. Even in the midst of gross sin, we have a righteous advocate. He is not only the advocate, advocating for our behalf before the Father, he is also the propitiation for our sins. He's a sin offering and the advocate, and he is righteous, and he knows how to present us holy before our heavenly Father.

14:47Jesus is the Christ. I'll say it like this: No one can Christ like Christ, Christ's. If you can make the word Christ a verb, no one can Christ like Christ Christ. There's a lot that goes into being Messiah. He is comprehensive. But Jesus is the Christ. This is the Spirit's testimony. All the external evidences of Jesus' ministry, the scripture itself that foreshadows and points forward to his coming, the apostolic testimony of his advent among us, and all that is evidence. Evidence, the miracles, all this was external evidence that God Himself was testifying, This is my Son in whom I am well pleased. Listen to him. All of that. But then there's also the internal work of the Holy Spirit that bears witness with our Spirit, the truths of the gospel, and bears them and brings them home to our own heart, internally witnessing and testifying, yes, this is indeed the Christ.

15:54And those who believe that Jesus is the Christ have received the Spirit's testimony. Have you received God's testimony of himself, his Son? He is the Christ. And those who have received the Spirit's testimony think like God about Christ. They think like God about the world. They think like God about the future. And that's why they are overcoming the world. To think like God regarding the world and this and his Christ makes all the difference. It moves a person from being overwhelmed in this world to being an overcomer.

16:50That's what this triumphal conviction does. Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ, that's the content of this faith that overcomes the world. Next, I want you to see the origin of this faith that overcomes the world. Look back at verse 1. For whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God. Stop. Whoever believes that Jesus Christ is born of God. Literally would be saying the one who is believing that Jesus is the Christ has been fathered by God, has been begotten by God, has been born of God. All that would, but it's a perfect verb.

17:39Something that's happened in the past with continual ongoing effects. Whoever is believing that Jesus is the Christ has been fathered by God. Faith in God comes from God, both its content and the ability. It comes from God. Remember when Jesus was asking his disciples, Who do you say I am? The most important question that any of us could ever ask ourselves: Who do you say Jesus is? Well, Jesus put this question to his disciples. And Peter, in Matthew 16:16, said, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus said to him, Blessed are you, Simon Barjonah, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. See, the disciples believed the Spirit's testimony about Jesus. See, the new birth, initiated by God, shows up in faith, shows up by believing what God believes about Jesus. The faith existed, right? God thinks rightly about Jesus. And it's when we think as God thinks about Jesus that we are transformed.

19:24The ability, whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ, Born of God. Believing is the consequence, not the cause of the new birth. Believing is the consequence. The one who believes has been born. This is why you must be born again. This is why Jesus Himself, nothing more emphatic can be said about anyone and the need of every human being upon the planet. You must be born again. You must be born from above. And how are you born from above? You receive the Spirit's testimony about his Son.

20:12In fact, the one whoever believes, it's the same time. Faith and the new birth seem to happen simultaneously. Where birth, where the new birth has occurred, faith. Where faith is, the new birth has already occurred. Man has a responsibility before God to receive the testimony. And those who receive the testimony have been born of God, are born. We have the responsibility to receive the truth, and those who have been born of the Holy Spirit overcome the world. When you receive God's testimony about his son, you have overcome. The world.

21:05It's important to understand in this context, John's not trying to explain the ordo salutis. If you're taking my seminary class, you know what that means. What's he trying to do here? He's trying to expose defective Christianity. That's his purpose for writing this. In the context, there are many who had departed from the apostolic witness of who Jesus is, and it's in their Christology, it's their understanding of who Christ is that they are grossly defecting from. And just throughout this book, we've already seen all this, no need to go back and rehearse it, but what's wrong with their view of Christ? These false teachers, they deny that Jesus Christ is the Messiah. That's one thing they've been doing. They deny that he's God's Son.

21:56They deny that he has come in the flesh. They deny that his death was real and necessary. All these things. Some deny maybe various aspects, some denied them all. But that was kind of the false teaching that was circulating at the time. They believed that the Son of David, Jesus, shows up, and then the Son of God comes upon him at the baptism. And then just before the cross, the Son of God gets out of there. And so the person that goes to the cross is Son of David. Not Jesus the Christ.

22:36And so what ends up happening is they can't fathom the idea that Messiah, God's son, would die on the cross. And what John is saying, no, that is the truth that you need to grasp. Messiah has come, Messiah on the cross. Look, learn, take it in. The king is doing something up on the cross. Take it in. God's accomplishing something on the cross. Take it in. Whoever believes that Jesus, the one crucified under Pontius Pilate, whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God.

23:29Looked at the content, looked at the origin of this faith that overcomes the world. Now I want you to see the evidence of it. The evidence. How do you know if you have this faith? Well, there's two unavoidable effects of being born of God. First, we already mentioned, is the believing recognition of Jesus Christ as God's unique Son. There's a second, second unavoidable effect. And that is the placement of the believer into the family of God.

24:05Can't help it. You're born of God, you have a high-view, believing view of Christ revealed in Scripture. Second, you have been placed into the family of God. Look at verse 1. Again, whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God. And here it is. And whoever loves the Father loves the child born of him. Whoever loves the Father loves the child born of the Father, right? Who's the family of God? God and those born of God. And if you are born of God, you love the family of God. That's what John is saying. And this isn't hard for us to get our minds around, right? Even in earthly contexts, it's natural for there to be family bonds of love, right? Children naturally love their father or mother.

25:04Children naturally, siblings, naturally love each other. You say, well, that's not always the case. Yeah, that's because sin is in the world, right? It's only when sin enters into the family relationships that people do not naturally love those within their own family. But there is a natural love we have. We love our moms. We love our dads. Only sin disrupts that natural love. Order. We all understand there's a family love. The family of God involves the Father, those born of the Father. And the one who loves the family of God loves loving the Father and those born of the Father.

25:50See what happens when one is supernaturally placed into the family of God. Guess what else happens? A supernatural love for the family of God is also granted. When you are born again, when you are born from above, you are placed in the family that is from above. And so there is a natural affection, a natural love for the family of God. It's also generated at the same time. I love how John Stott says it. The new birth is a supernatural event which takes us out of the sphere of the world where Satan rules into the family of God. We have been rescued from the dominion of darkness and transferred into the kingdom of God's dear Son. The spell of the old life has been broken. The fascination of the world has lost its appeal.

26:56So it boils down to the fact that those who do not love God. The church do not love God. That's what John's saying. Those who do not love God do not love the church, and the reason is they're not born of Him. If there is not a love, a supernatural kind of love that cannot be explained, why do we endure sometimes? I look at the church where we're personalities from all different sorts, all different backgrounds. Why is there such an affinity? Why is there such an enduring commitment, even when there's personality clash? Why is there such an enduring commitment that believers have to other believers? They've been supernaturally placed into the family of God and supernaturally been given a love for the family of God. That is the evidence that one belongs and has been born of God.

28:04Then John goes on to give us proof of the love that proof for a love for God's children. If love for the family of God is evidence of the new birth, what is the proof that we love the children of God? How do we know we love the children of God? You see where he's going? He's taking it. Okay, so love for the family of God is the evidence of the new birth. So how do you? Know if you love the children of God? But he answers, by this we know that we love the children of God. Don't you love how clear he says it? When we love God and observe his commandments.

28:45Interesting. Sounds circular. When we love God and observe his commandments. You see, what's the proof that someone loves God's children? They display a love for God and obedience to his commandments. And many of his commandments deal with relationships with one another, right? This isn't hard to understand. Love for God's children is displayed by loving God and obeying his commandments. You cannot love each other without obeying God's commandments. Do not steal, right? Do not lie to one another. That's not a loving action. Do not covet, right?

29:27Do not want what somebody else. That's not an expression of love at all. So if you're going to love somebody, you're going to have to obey his commandments. And so there will be a respect for the commandments of God, let alone the fact that the very command to love each other is a command of his. Sacrificially loving one another is a command of his. So you cannot love the children of God without loving and God and observing his commandments.

30:05But then he goes on. Okay, so he's given us a proof of love of what love for God's children looks like. But what does the love for God look like? Look back. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. Seems like he's going in a circle here. Or let me say it like this. There's two truths that just cannot be divorced from one another. Love for God, love for God's people. If you love God's people, you will be loving God by obeying his commandments. If you love God, you're going to obey his commandments.

30:45It's all connected. One cannot love God and keep his commands without loving the children of God. And one cannot love the children of God without loving God and keeping his commandments. Love for the family of God, love for God. These two thoughts cannot be divorced from each other. It is the evidence. But look back. It is the evidence that somebody has faith. It is evidence of the faith that has overcome. The world. It's like overcoming the world, overcoming the disposition and inclinations of the world to love self. If you can love others, you have demonstrated that you are overcoming that internal inclination to love yourself.

31:55But look at this. Verse 3. Look at this last phrase that John says, and his commandments are not burdensome. Verse 3, for this is the love of God that we keep his commandments, and his commandments are not burdensome. What? Say, what? What are you talking about? Not burdensome. Listen to what the Bible expects. It's a remarkable statement. Remember, all over, we are to love God with all of our hearts, with all of our minds, with all of our strength. That's a lot, right? It's everything.

32:42We're also commanded, the whole summary of the Old Testament law to love our neighbor as ourselves. That's a burden. That seems challenging, right? Look at the Good Samaritan. What God called him to do. And then there's the command to love fellow believers with the same sacrificial love that Jesus displayed. So love God with all of your heart and soul, mind, and strength. Love your neighbor as yourself. And then love the family of God with the same sacrificial disposition that Christ displayed. And John says, His commands aren't burdensome.

33:28And coming from John, this is really remarkable. He saw Christ's crucifixion. He saw what God's expectation for the Son of God was. He saw where sacrificially pouring himself out for others took him. He was there at the cross. He saw him disfigured beyond recognition. He may have even witnessed Peter being crucified upside down, or certainly would have been privy to Peter's wife crucified. He knew hardship from the inside and the out. One tradition says that he was boiled in oil.

34:23And then he can say his commandments are not burdensome. How can this be? In fact, Israel, we read the text a little while ago in chapter 43. They were saying, God, you've wearied us. You've burdened us. He says, I haven't burdened you at all. You have burdened me with your sins. So, how? How can these things not be burdensome? Did I ever tell you about my Corvette? What's the difference? Different engine. Why was the Corvette so much could outperform the pinto? It had something else deep underneath the hood, right?

35:20It's the new birth. What happens when we're born again? All of a sudden, that which is burdensome to the point of being crushed doesn't become a burden anymore. Those who have been born of God have overcome the worldly tendency to satisfy their own sinful cravings, and as a result, they are free to show love to others and so fulfill God's command. They've got a new engine, they've got a new disposition. And they are free. They are free to love. They are, God's commands don't become a burden anymore. I told the story in the first service about a one-room schoolhouse many years ago, back when getting to school was a big challenge, especially for the mobility impaired.

36:30Roads were not there, equipment was not there to transport those who could not walk. Well, on one occasion, there was a young boy who would carry his brother, who couldn't walk, who was crippled. He would carry his brother to the school every day throughout his years, would carry him on his back to school. Somebody asked the boy, Well, that's a real big burden you carry every day. The little boy's like, He's not a burden. That's my brother. That's my brother. He's not a burden. Not a burden at all. You see what happens when we're born again.

37:21Our brothers and sisters in Christ are not burdens. They're our brothers and sisters. Into the family of God. But John makes it very clear as we're working through this. There are three distinguishing features of a Christian. One, belief in Jesus. He's the Christ, Son of God. Two, love for God, love for God's people, sacrificially. Love. Three, obedience to God's commands. Belief in Christ, love for God's people, obedience to God's. These are the distinguishing features of true Christians.

38:14You see, the new birth sets us in a different relationship with Christ, sets us in a different relationship with God, sets us in a different relationship with each other. And because we have been born into that, it's in our spiritual DNA, we cannot repudiate it, we cannot walk away from it. That is what makes a Christian. That is how God made us. That's why the disciples could say when everybody else is defecting, where should we go? Jesus, you're the one with eternal life.

39:07Well, we have looked at three aspects of the faith that has overcome the world. We've looked at its content, we've looked at its origin, we've looked at its evidence, its content, that Jesus is the Christ, its origin, it comes from God, its evidence, love for the Father and for his children. So I come back to the question: do you have faith? Do you have the faith that has overcome the world? The reason you are not overcoming the world is because you don't have the faith that has overcome the world.

39:46But all this is an invitation for you to come into that faith, come into that saving relationship with Christ. Back at verse 4: for whatever is born of God overcomes the world, and this is the victory that has overcome the world, our faith. Word there is Nike. You're familiar with the Nike brand, named after the goddess of victory. The real victory isn't in any of the Roman pantheon. As John, and this is remarkable, John said these words.

40:30During the heights of Roman dominance, if you looked around in John's day, the power of Rome was everywhere, its influence was expanding, its grip seemed unbreakable. And yet, John clearly stated: the victory doesn't belong to Rome. The victory doesn't belong to the Roman Emperor or the Roman government or anyone else associated with such powers, temporal powers. All of these proved powerless against the rising faith in Jesus Christ. Rome's gone in many ways. But the faith of Christ here.

41:34It's like John is saying, look upon the cross. Victory belongs to the humble Jewish Messiah upon the cross. And victory belongs to all those who are believing in him. Contrary to what you'd see around the world, it's The Jewish Messiah and his humble believers, that John, that scripture says, theirs is the victory. They're the ones that are going to endure. They're the ones that are going to sing his praise. They're the ones that are part of the enduring kingdom. Look to the cross. Look upon the cross. The Messiah is there. The Messiah is dying. Why?

42:27He's doing something. He's breaking the very power of hell within the human heart. And he's resurrecting a people from the dead. There, look on the cross. There you will see the kingdom that is going to endure forever. There, the king that endures forever is. There, those who believe in him will reign with him forever. Oh, as we look around the world today, the power of evil just seems to be uncontrollable, seems to be unstoppable, seems to advance without restraint. Temptations seem to be pressing and taking their territory. Except, wait, look to the cross. All these are passing away.

43:28Have you been born of God? Have you genuinely received God's testimony concerning Jesus? If you have, you have the faith that is overcoming the world. No, you have the faith that has overcome the world, and you are in the process of overcoming the world. His kingdom will endure, he shall reign. How do you invite Christ into your heart? Well, having faith in God by believing the testimony concerning Jesus. He is the Christ. He did go to the cross for your sin, for my sin, to offer you pardon and to bring you into a loving relationship within the family of God, a right relationship with God.

44:35Just come before him. Repent of your sins. Be turning away from your sins, renouncing them, and be believing the good news. Your Creator really does love you and want a relationship with you. And that is why he gave his son. Believe the testimony. Believe God's testimony concerning. Jesus. Do not let the world tell you who Jesus is. They don't know. Let God tell you. So come to Jesus. Come to Jesus as Jesus is. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we come before you, thanking you for the truth that we see on the pages of Scripture. We thank you for the Spirit of truth that you have sent to witness on an external and on an internal way.

45:30We desire to walk in your ways and to walk more fully in this faith that has overcome the world. Father, we want to do so because you deserve our testimony that you are faithful, that you are good. You deserve our praise. And you want us to taste and see that you are really good, that truly, when we come to know you, commands no longer become burdensome. They're life, they're freedom, they're good gifts. And so, Father, transform our hearts today to esteem you more. In Jesus' name, amen.