 Okay, sorry. I think the online students were not able to hear me. Okay, would someone be willing to open us in prayer before we get into today's discussion? Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you Jesus for this time Lord that we are here again Lord I pray as we will learn your word. Lord just help us Lord. Lord give your spirit to let we will understand more Jesus about you. And Lord I give the faculty also in your hand. Lord just give your wisdom and knowledge Lord. So they will teach us Lord in a proper way Lord as you want Lord. Thank you Jesus and we will whatever we learn Lord just help us to apply in our life. Not all glory all honor I give in Jesus name I pray. Amen. Thank you. Can we raise the volume a bit? Will you just check the mic? Check. Okay, I think just so the fans can hear. Okay, so today we're going to be discussing first, second and third John. So I thought instead of doing the usual covering since these are just three letters written by the Apostle John we can share our learnings from these books. Right, so has everyone had a chance to read through it? No. Okay, so what we'll do what about those online because for us to be able to have a discussion we need to everyone needs to at least be aware of what all is included in the books through the books and come today. Okay, let's just take a few minutes and go over the outline in our textbook. That will help you get an idea of what all it talks about. And then maybe we can go into a little more detail and discuss some of what's in the book. So just take a few minutes and read that outline. That's on page 108 in your textbook. Sister, it's on mute. Since Lucy I just asked everyone to read the outline that's on page 108 I think. Okay, okay sister. Thank you. So what we'll do is we'll cover a bit of the background of first John and then we'll go into a discussion. Okay, we'll look more in detail of what first John talks about. So the author is not mentioned in the book itself like we see in other letters where there's an introduction of the writer we don't see that here. But according to the church fathers, an early tradition, we know that John the Apostle who wrote the Gospel of John and Revelation also wrote these three letters. Okay, so he wrote this later in the first century so 85 to 95 AD. And it's believed that he settled in Ephesus. This is something we discussed earlier that he settled in Ephesus and did a lot of his writing from there before he was exiled to the island of Fatmos. And so these letters are believed to have been written from there. So some of the main things we'll see in this letter, the first letter of John is that he talks a lot about false teaching that had come into the church and he's warning the church about false teachers. He talks about love for one another within the body of Christ. He talks about walking in righteousness. So these are three of the main topics we'll see him address and he'll keep going back to them in each chapter. He talks about it and he uses certain images. Are you all familiar with the images that he uses in the book to talk about these things? What's that, sorry? What are the images he's using to talk about living free from sin? Love. Yeah, so he talks about light and darkness, walking in the light versus walking in the darkness. And he describes what walking in the light looks like. And walking in the light means walking in obedience to Christ, walking free from sin. And then he talks a lot about love as evidence of obedience to Christ. And then he also talks about remaining in the truth. So we'll go into more detail into each chapter as we're looking at the outline. So let's see if we can have a discussion if you are able to share your thoughts, please do. So the first is he begins with our fellowship with Christ. That's chapter one versus one to four. And how does he describe Jesus in these first few verses? Physical manifestation and the appearance and the experiences they've actually had with Jesus in person. So he focuses on the fact that he and the disciples had physically experienced. Yeah, they as eyewitnesses had experienced Jesus in the flesh, had seen him, had touched him, had seen his ministry and were sharing whatever they had shared as eyewitnesses. Why do you think he's beginning the letter that way, considering what he's going to continue to talk about? The tangible experience was shared so that their joy can be as written in the fourth verse. Yeah, to welcome them into fellowship, the fellowship that they had shared. Also, anyone else wants to share why he might have started with this that they were eyewitnesses and had experienced Christ firsthand. So that the new believers will have fellowship with these people who have shared their experience. Okay, to invite them into that same fellowship that they had had with Christ. Yeah, and if we go on in the letter, like we talked about, he is addressing false teaching. And does anyone have any idea of what that false teaching was? Okay, let me just give you all the reference. Okay, so he talks about it several times in the rest of the letter. I don't think I have noted down all the exact references. But he's mainly, he calls these people as people who are anti Christ because they are denying that Christ has come in the flesh, that Jesus is the Son of God. Okay, so he is saying, we saw Christ, we touched him, we experienced his ministry. So people who are denying that Jesus came in the flesh are people who have not seen Christ, have not experienced him. But the testimony that we are giving is coming from the fact that we ourselves witnessed it. So you can trust our testimony. Okay, so that's why these, like I've said several times, these introductions to the letters are important because usually the writer will emphasize the main themes of the letter right in the start. And then we'll go on to expand it later on in the letter. Okay, so he begins with Jesus, who is the word of life, who existed from the beginning. Okay, that is similar to what we see in Genesis, similar to what we see in the Gospel of John as well, right? Talks about Jesus being right there from before creation, being the one through whom creation came to be. So here he describes Jesus as the word of life, that is the one who gives life, the one who is the source of life. And then he talks about having experienced Jesus himself. Okay, so verses 5 from chapter 1 to verse 2, verse 27, he talks about proofs of fellowship and he talks about it in different aspects of what is the proof that we share in fellowship with Christ. Okay, so the first is walking in the light and this is where he uses that image of light and darkness. What are some things you see here that he describes about walking in the light? Okay, can you repeat it in the mic? In starting scripture, he says like God is light and the later he tells like if we are walking in darkness, so like no use of telling like there's no truth that we are walking in light with God. Okay, so what does it mean to walk in light or to walk in darkness? The mean is like when we will obey God then obviously we will walk in light with God. Okay, so if we are walking in obedience to God then we are walking in the light, if we are walking in disobedience we are walking in darkness. And so proof that we are walking in the light is that we are walking in obedience to God. So if we say that we are in the light but we continue to walk in darkness then the book says that we are lying that we are in the light. Okay, anything else? The denial of not living in sin is by itself true. The denial of not living in... Denial of sorry? If one denies that he or she is not sin, itself implies that he's been still in the darkness. Okay, so being freely confessing our sins is evidence that we are walking in truth, walking in the light. Okay, brother Sanjay, yes, you can go ahead. Just adding to what I think brother Akhila just shared that being in denial of sin, in the world in which we live, there's a big debate on what is sin and what isn't sin. And to acknowledge that we are in sin or to acknowledge that we are sinners is the first step to coming close to Christ. The first step, just to acknowledge that we are sinners. And I mean in the world in which we live today, most people would rather deny they're in sin because they don't want to give up sin. They want to continue in sin. So it takes a lot of humility, it takes a lot of I think courage actually to accept you're a sinner and then come to Christ. Thank you. Yes, I think being willing to come into the light and have that sin exposed is evidence that we want to walk in truth. So what is very interesting here is that he says, first of all, that we are walking free from sin, meaning light and darkness. The distinction is if you're walking in the light, you're walking free from sin. You're not walking in sin. But the other aspect is that when you do sin, you confess and you're further purified. So you're becoming more pure as you are walking in the light. So that is something that is unique to walking in the light is not that we are not expected to sin at all. But that we confess and we allow God to purify us as we're walking in the light. So walking in the light is walking free from sin, walking in truth where we can freely confess our sins before God and receive his forgiveness and his purification. We go to the next part, chapter 2 verses 3 to 14. This talks about keeping his commandments and it talks about it in different aspects. Are you able to share what you'll see about walking in obedience or keeping his commandments? Chapter 2 verses 3 to 14. We can see in chapter 2 verse 4. He who says, I know him and does not keep his commandments is a liar and the truth is not in him. If we are just saying that we know Lord, we accept him as a Christ, our Savior, but our works are not right. We are continuing in sin. Whatever works we are doing, our life, what we are spending, whatever we are doing, it's just like before what we are doing. So it's not only like you accepted it, but it's also about your works, what works you are doing. You should walk on, like earlier we discussed, walk in light. So is it like keeping the commandments and work on the right path? So in the sixth week, you can see, he who says he abides in him, ought himself also to walk just as you walk. So it's like keeping his commandments is like how Jesus walked. If we look on all the Gospels, we could not say, Jesus just teased something and the disciples wrote it. Jesus actually lived the teachings whatever he shared. So walking in light and walking in righteousness is just like how Jesus walked. We just try to become like more him, more to become like him. Thank you. So if we claim to really know God, if we claim to really be people who are in fellowship with him, then our lives should evidence that. The way we are living our lives should be evidence of the fact that we know him. That means how are we living? We're living in obedience to what he has commanded and we are living like Jesus lived. That's evidence of our fellowship with Christ. So this is another theme that we can see from the first chapter, living in fellowship with the Father and the Son. And later on, he'll start to talk about the Holy Spirit. So he also talks about another aspect. Is there anything else that you'll see in this section? We cannot claim that you love God and we cannot claim that we love God and we are living in the light but choose to hate our brother and continue to live in darkness. But choose to? Hate our brother. It can't contradict. It has to be mutual. It has to be on the same page. You love God and you love the brother as well. Yeah. So evidence that we love God is also seen in loving one another in the body of Christ. If we say that we love God but we hate our brother and sister, then we are liars. Okay. So this is another thing, not only obedience to God's commands but and we see that in the rest of scripture, right? That the law of God is fully summarized in that one command, love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, instant and love your neighbors yourself. So if we are saying that we are walking in obedience to God, if we are saying that we are living in the light, then that should be evidenced in our love for one another within the body of Christ. We then see verses 12 to 14 where he addresses people who are in different stages in their growth and faith, right? Verses 12 to 14. So what are the, what do you see as the stages of growing in faith in these three verses? He addresses the children. He addresses young men and then he addresses fathers. So do y'all think he's literally addressing children, young men and fathers or what is it? Stages of knowing God. Stages of knowing God. So children in the faith, young people in the faith and then elders in the faith. So what are the stages here that he describes when you're a child? What level of faith do you have? What level of revelation do you have? Okay, our sins are forgiven. Yeah. So when we are at an early stage in our faith, we have a recognition that our sins are forgiven. And if we look in verse 14, we also have a knowledge of the Father that we know that we are God's children. What is the next stage? You've just overcome the wicked one and then you've just started growing a little more stronger in God's word and the word of God starts abiding in you. Yeah. So he says in the first part, verse 13, you have overcome the evil one. And then verse 14, he describes how you've overcome the evil one. You are strong in the word and the word lives in you and you've overcome the evil one. And then the last stage of being fathers or being elders in the faith. That they have known God from the beginning, that they cannot deny him. There's no doubt that they cannot deny him. Yeah. They know God who is from the beginning, right? So this is the same revelation that John shares right at the start. We know him who was from the beginning. That's what he shares in verse one of chapter one. And so he's saying as fathers in the faith, you share in that same knowledge that we have as Christ's apostles. You also share in that knowledge of the Creator, the giver of life who was before creation. You have that same kind of knowledge that we have. Okay. We'll move to the next section. Okay. The next section is not loving. That's a very short, just three verses. Chapter two verses 15 to 17, not loving the world. What does it say here about not loving the world or about loving the Father? What do we see here? That when we love the world, the love of the Father is not in them. That the world is passing away. And the things of the world what we love is not permanent. But if we love God, then it is forever. God abides in us forever. It's eternal life. And because the lust of the eyes, the pride of the life and the lust of the flesh, all these are passing by, passing away. Yes. So all the things that we desire that are of the flesh are things that are temporal, but the desires of God are things that are eternal. So he's calling them to love the things of God rather than the things of this world because the things of God will be the things that will last for eternity. Okay. Let's continue verses 18 to 27, abiding in the truth. So here is where he begins to address false teaching from this passage, from this section onwards. And he's talking about people who had gone away from the church. He's saying that the fact that they went away showed that they never actually belong to us. But what is their confidence as believers? Where can they stand firm? Where does their knowledge of truth come from? Can we look at verse 21? This is chapter 2 verse 21. First John chapter 2 verse 21, I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you know it and that no lie is of the truth. Okay. And if you go back to verse 20, how do they know the truth? But you have an anointing from the Holy One and you know all things. Okay. So this is their confidence. Until now he's talked about the son and the father being in fellowship with the son and with the father. And now he comes into the Holy Spirit's role in the life of a believer. So our confidence in our knowledge of what is true and what is false comes from the Holy Spirit. And here he'll start to distinguish between the Holy Spirit versus the spirit of the Antichrist or the spirit of the world that is bringing false teaching into the church. Okay. So he encourages them at the end of this passage, remain steadfast because when we stay in the truth is when we remain in God and in God is true eternal life. We'll go into the next section, the fruit of fellowship with God. So chapter 2 verses 28 to 3, 24. The first is eagerly expecting Christ's return. Okay. So some things that he talks about here is living righteous lives. So if we are truly born of God, then we will live as people who are righteous live the way God wants us to live because God's seed is in us. We live in purity, we live in obedience. And then he goes on to talk about the practice of righteousness. Chapter 3 verses 4 to 10, what does he say about practicing righteousness? Chapter 3 verses 4 to 10. Only about occasional sin, it's talking about perpetual sin of knowing God and then continuing to still live in sin. So it's contrasting where we practice righteousness versus continuing in sin. So both can become a habit. You can practice righteousness, you can continually live in righteousness or you can continually live in sin. So if you are continuing to live in sin, then you cannot be someone who is living a righteous life. It's different from you sin once and you confess that sin. That's different from walking in a life of sin. So he says if we've truly experienced Christ, we cannot continue in sin. But if we continue in sin, what is that evidence of if we are continuing in sin? We're not born of God. We are not born of God. We are of the devil. So he used actually very strong words. These are not words we would use to describe a sinner. We wouldn't say you're of the devil. We wouldn't call people who say something about Christ not coming to flesh as Antichrist. But he's using very strong clear language to distinguish between the spirit of truth and the spirit of the world or the spirit of the Antichrist. But in verse 9, what does it mean when it says for his seed remains in him? Chapter 3 verse 9. Yes, whoever has been born of God does not sin. For his seed remains in him. Because they have been born of God. So it's just using that the spirit has been planted in us. So that is the seed that is put in us. And that seed begins to grow and the Holy Spirit begins to help us grow in righteousness. But he's using the language of being born, receiving that seed of planting of righteousness and growing in it. We also have another question on chat. What does pride of life mean? That's in chapter 2. Chapter 2 verse 16. The last of the flesh, the last of the eyes and the pride of life. So these three are usually connected back even to the sin in Genesis. Where we see Adam and Eve take from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. So they take from it because they give into the desire of their flesh. So see, if we go back to Genesis chapter 3 verse 6. It says, when the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye and also desirable for gaining wisdom. She took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband who was with her and he ate it. So we see here that last of the eyes described. She saw that it was good for food and pleasing to the eye. It's the last of the flesh, desirable for gaining wisdom. And if we go back to verse 5. When Satan tempts them, he says, for God knows that when you eat from it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God. That is the pride of life, wanting to be like God. So having this pride that I as a human can take the place of God. Which is what Satan essentially did, which is why he was thrown out of God's presence. He wanted to take God's place on the throne and he tempts us as human beings to want that same kind of power and authority to take the place of God. So the pride of life is in our own hearts or minds imagining that we are equal to God or we can be equal to God. It's also very similar to the temptation of Jesus, right? Can we equate that to it? Where Satan comes to tempt Jesus and he says, hey bow down to me and you'll have all of this. Yes, in terms of if you bow down to me, you will have authority over all these things. So you will have this place of authority, you will have this place of power that belongs to me and I'm going to give it to you. So again, temptation coming in the form of tempting you to pride. We got it. Thank you. So we'll continue from there. We just have very, very few minutes so we're not going to do 2nd and 3rd John, but those are just single chapters. So there's not a lot in them. Sorry, where did we stop? We stopped at chapter 3 versus 4 to 10. So we'll just continue quickly from there. So from there he goes back to loving one another within the body of Christ. And then he goes to, if we hate one another, we are murderers like King who murdered his brother because he was jealous of his righteousness. So he then talks about a clear conscience that true love is lived out in action and he uses the example of Christ's sacrifice. And he says that if we say we love one another, it's not sufficient to just use words, but it is in how are we showing love to our brothers and sisters? Are we recognizing the needs of our brothers and sisters in Christ? Are we meeting their needs when we have the ability to meet their needs? And then he ends with the spirit being proof that Christ is in us. So here, again, he's this last part of the letter or from the middle of the letter, he starts to talk more about the Holy Spirit and the role of the Holy Spirit in the life of a believer. So the presence of the Holy Spirit in us is proof that Christ is in us. And why is it important that we have the Holy Spirit is where he goes more into teachings from the false teachers in chapter 4. So he begins with testing the spirits. So if you have the Holy Spirit in you, you will acknowledge that Christ is the Son of God. But if you don't have the Holy Spirit in you and you have the spirit of the Antichrist, then you will deny Christ in the flesh. And so he says, depending on what you state as your faith, that Christ is the Son of God or that Christ has not come in the flesh, it's evidence of which spirit is in you, whether it's the Holy Spirit or the spirit of the Antichrist. And then he goes on to loving one another, to continue to see these teams, loving one another. Evidence that we are born of God is by the fact that we love one another. He goes on to Christ sacrifice as evidence of God's love for us. And the fact that we, when we love one another, we show that we are in communion with God. So if we truly are sharing in fellowship with God, then we should be loving one another. So these are the, that's pretty much all that he says in this book. So the main themes are, what are the main things that we've seen repeated throughout the book? Sorry, main themes that we've seen from, as we've gone from each chapter to the other, to the next. Fellowship, fellowship with God and fellowship with one another, yeah. Love, love for God, love for one another. Walking in the light versus walking in darkness, overcoming the world, okay. Not living according to the world. And mainly he's talking about the world from the perspective of that false teaching that was coming in. So overcoming the world and not living according to the world. Walking in obedience, right. That is another theme that we see. And then one theme that is not repeated throughout, but is definitely there underlying is that of life. Okay, so eternal life as Christ, the source of eternal life. And if we remain in him, then we share in that eternal life. So we didn't go into second and third John, but those, both of them are very short books. And your textbook also just has a little bit of information on them. So please read through those two pages in your textbook and read through second and third John, both very short letters, just one chapter each. And we'll come back on Monday. We'll do the book of Revelation and in the class with that. Jude, we finished with James, right. So we just have Revelation left on Monday. Okay. Thank you all so much. We'll see you on Monday.