1John 5:1-13 Overcoming the World

1John 5:1-13  Overcoming the World
Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him.2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments.3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.4 For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world---our faith.5 Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

 

In First John chapter 5, the Apostle John is going to use the word for victory over and over again – 4 times in 2 verses.

In the Apostle John's day, victory just so happened to be the name of a goddess.  Her name was Nike  – which we pronounce, Ni-kee. The Greek city, Nicopolos, was so named The City of Victory in honor of Caesar Augustus' victory in battle over the armies of Anthony and Cleopatra. The Roman world lived for nike – for victory. It gloried in its world domination. It gloried in its successes; it basked in its power.  The slogan of the first century Roman world would have been something like "Rome Rules . . . Rome Wins."

And yet, this is exactly the perspective of John the Apostle toward Christianity. Even though Christians are being marginalized and persecuted and John himself will soon be exiled toward the end of his life – John the Apostle almost audaciously selects this word to define the Christian and to define Christianity.  4. And whatever is born of God overcomes the world.

John starts out with this comprehensive principle of victory  That word overcomes is from nike; it's the verb nickaw.  John will use a derivative of this word four times in these two verses.  overcomes the world (verse 4);  twice in the next phrase in verse 4 – this is the victory –that has overcome – 5 – the one who overcomes the world.

It's tempting to draw a little nike swoosh in the margin, isn't it?  Here is John's overarching statement – his overarching principle of promise – no matter what it looks like – he uses the present tense – God is currently – and even now – winning!  We are? Sometimes it doesn't look like it! Australia is threatened by Chinese aggression throughout the Pacific region.   We see Israel under increasing attack, now Hezbollah in the North in Lebanon.  We see our Christian educational institutions under increasing pressure to be dechristianised to accord with a humanistic agenda overriding our governments. 

The Problem Is You Will Encounter Powerful Opposition And Even This is Part of God's Victory.

Now, God wants you to have opposition. God has engineered your life that you would have opposition. God could kill the devil and eradicate the world's system if He wanted to, but He doesn't. Because dear friend, if you don't have any opposition, you'll never know any victory. Many of us are getting set to watch some football tomorrow, and you know those teams will be out there, those great big 160 kilo men will be butting heads, and trying to move that bag of zipped up air up and down that pasture. And, you know it's really all ridiculous but I enjoy it.  But why do those teams go out there when the other team is there? Why don't they go out at say 2 A.M. in the morning when no other team is out there. They could make as many tries as they want and right under the goal posts so Nicho Hines can possibly kick a goal. You say, "Sure they could. But what fun is that?" And, you're quite right. I mean there can't be any victory unless there is opposition.

God allows you to have opposition that you might know victory. But, you will have opposition. And, this opposition is not some football game, it is grim, and it is evil.

One of the problems of the ancient world was that there were people in the churches teaching a false view of God. They couldn't accept the sovereignty of God over all events so they thought that there are really two gods of equal power. This view was that of the Zoroastrians and became the view of the Gnostics that John was writing this book against.  They were never sure which side would win.  Jesus was to them a godly man, but not God the Son. Everything was still in the balance, and you had to get a special zap of god somehow jus to survive as a Christian, and even that wasn't very sure, because you never know, the devil could win in the end! 

John is making it clear that whatever the power of the world, we are overcomers against it. It isn't a two bob each way bet on who will win in the end! Evil will not triumph. The Lord is already triumphant.  And we are overcomers.

We live in a spiritually hostile world. The world includes all that is against God. The world is ungodly people, ungodly activities, ungodly entertainment, ungodly talk and anything else that is ungodly. In 2Co 4:4, Satan is called the god of this world. The cares of this world while we live on earth seek to pull us astray (Mk 4:19). Jesus said, (John 15:19) "If you were of the world, the world would love its own: but because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hates you." Rom 12:2 warns us not to be conformed to this world.

The world has launched a battle against the people of God.  John used the word, "world," in a very technical sense here.  It did not refer to "planet earth." It did not refer to simply the mass of humanity that God loved enough to send his Son. Here, the world represents all that is opposed to God—a system of life that fights the will and purposes of God.

And that world tries to influence God's people in such a way that they lose their identity.

Attacks are designed to steal away our faith seem to hit us every day.

John has already told us how bad the world is.

1John 2: 15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.16 For all that is in the world---the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions---is not from the Father but is from the world.17 And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.

The world is a system of deceit. Position, Power, Pleasure, Possessions, Pride of life. The world's system of values is pernicious. It gets in!    The World and its Passions  The world and its Possessions

The world and its Positions

Today you're going to face and I'm going to face these three temptations. They deal in the area of passions. They deal in the area of possessions. They deal in the area of pride. Passions, that's doing. Possessions, that's having. Pride that's being. Doing, having, and being. The devil knows how to get us. You see all of these are substitutes for what God wants us to have, because we are expected to do something, but what are we to do? We are to do the will of God. We are supposed to have something, but what? We are to be content to have what He wants us to have. We are to be something, but we are to be what He wants us to be. And, if the devil can't get you any other way he'll just simply get you to do a good thing the wrong way.

You are going to be pressured. There's going to be unbelievable pressure this world's system. We have been saved out of this world, but we are in the world. We are sent back to the world to witness to the world and that's the only business we have in the world. We are not to conform to the world. We are not to condemn the world. We are not to compromise with the world, but we are to confront the world, and we are to overcome the world with the gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Now, in the world you are going to meet tremendous opposition. And, don't get the idea that because you're saved, you're not going to have any opposition. As a matter of fact, that's really when you're opposition begins. If you've never met the devil it's because you and the devil have been going in the same direction. You turn around, you start to live for God, and you're going to have a collision with Satan's system that the Bible calls the world.

How Can You Be An Overcomer?

1. Refocus Your Faith

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God,

No matter what's happening in any culture, in any generation, whether it's ancient Rome, or Communist China or North Korea or Vietnam or the Sudan or America or Australia or the ACT– when we deliver the gospel to someone who is then brought to life by faith in Jesus Christ, do you think anything any government, and persecution can stop the gospel? We win!

MAFS.. what a terrible show. I just saw something that is very interesting.  Hayley Vernon   The Married At First Sight star, who has spent the past four years working as a porn actress and high-class escort, announced that she has been 'born again' as a Christian in an Instagram post on Sunday.  The 37-year-old shared images of her baptism in a picturesque lake, aided by two people who appeared to be ministers.  Hayley wore a black shirt that read, 'Jesus said you must be born again', across the front.  Hayley further explained: 'Yesterday I was born again in my faith making a public declaration to the outside world based on the inward transformation I have experienced through finding Christ. 'My relationship with my faith has changed every aspect of my life. If you know, you know, and if you don't when I say EVERY aspect I hand on heart can confirm not one negative has come through finding Christianity, quiet the contrary every corner has levelled up and what wasn't serving me has fallen to the wayside'. She continued: 'There isn't enough space or even words to explain the transformative goodness of God. Every inch of my life has changed for the better, finding my faith has given me a firmer foundation to live my life on. It's absolutely by far been the best thing that has happened to me. I would have called you crazy if 6 months ago you would have said I'd be here.  'But truth be told there has not been one negative only positive areas of improvement - has letting go and being challenged been easy - nope - have I come out better for it? Absolutely,' Hayley concluded.  In February, Hayley announced her resignation from the adult industry in an emotional Instagram Story video.  During the lengthy clip, she branded the sex industry as 'soul destroying' and said she would be 'ceasing all adult work', effective immediately. 

'It just feels like a big breath out for me,' the bodybuilder said.

We overcome te world with the gospel!

Faith in Christ gives us a new Father, v.1   Our new spiritual father is God.  Those who by faith trust Christ to save them from sin's judgment are born of God (v.1). God becomes their spiritual Father. He gives them new life in Christ. God makes that believer a new creation. (Ephesians 2:10) "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." God places within every true believer His own nature. (2 Corinthians 5:17) "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." With God as our Father, we CAN overcome the world. We no longer have to conform to this world (Ro 12:2). (Romans 8:37) "Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us."  Because faith in Christ gives us a new Father, faith is the victory that overcomes the world. Hayley Vernon is an example of someone captivated by sin, now freed and changed by God's grace. She owns God as her Father now.  And look what God has done!

Now think of this in the big picture of the culture wars.  Christianity against the atheistic humanism that is prevalent in our secular education system.

Who was really winning in Rome – Nero or Paul and John? Who's winning in China today? The underground believers or Communist leaders?  Who's winning in America today?  Who is winning in Australia today? The revisionists who publish their new definitions of right and wrong, or the Christian who hold to the Bible?  John would say to us all – just as he did to the first century believers – it's time to refocus the lens of your spiritual vision.

2. Reconstitute Your Love

Faith in Christ gives us a new family, v.1-2  Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him. 2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments
Our natural family was the world.  We lived in the world and loved the things of the world. (Ephesians 2:2-3) "Wherein in time past you walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now works in the children of disobedience:" that's who we were! "in times past walking in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as the rest."
Our new family is fellow Christians.  Those born of God naturally love others who have been born of God (v.1). Christians desire to fellowship with other Christians. Loving godly Christians and making them your close friends will help you overcome the world. That is one reason Jesus commanded that we love one another. Choosing godly friends can help you overcome the world. (Proverbs 13:20) "He that walks with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed." (Proverbs 27:6) "Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful." (Proverbs 27:17) "Iron sharpens iron; so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend."

Last Sunday we learnt that the only power that can defeat the pernicious influence of the world on us, is the power of a love, a new selfless framework of love.

We are told here that we are not only to survive the world's powers over us, we are to be more than conquerors over the world and its influence on others!  How can you implement God's artillery barrage against the hostile worldly forces? Do we retreat into monasteries?

Some years ago (about 45 years ago, maybe more) I met a group of people who lived on a commune outside a town called Nyngan. The Municipality of Nyngan was proclaimed on February 17, 1891 with Nyngan having a population of 1355, and in 1906 the Bogan Shire was incorporated. And the population hasn't changed much since. 

The commune people? They were all professional people that had moved out of Sydney to escape the possibility of nuclear war.   They were Christians. They wanted to be free from the worldly direction of the government of the time.  They were isolationist Christians.  But whatever happened to the commune?  Well the camp we were on had Mal Garvern as the speaker. Mal was the founder of Fusion, who uses our hall for evangelising young people in our community. They have a large youth group here and are looking to affiliate it with our church. This is a very good thing.  Mal persuaded them that being isolationist  (like in a monastery) was not God's will for Christians n our world. We are armed and dangerous and we can transform the world.

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him. 2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments

How can we transform the world?     We are armed with love.  We are armed with obedience to His commandments which are a guide to how we love.     Like the Nyngan commune, if we keep it all to ourselves, it can be self destructive. Our selfishness can be self destructive.  Even more self destructive when the great Nyngan flood occurred. The river flooded the town and the water wasn't running off. Until a relative of Janelle's went out in a row boat and blew up the embankment holding the water in, that was the railway line. And then the water got out and the town was able to be repaired.

If we blow out the walls to affect our world with love, with obedience to God's word, with faith in the gospel message we can change our world.  We can be overcomers!

Several years after the death of the Apostle John, right around 125 AD, Aristides attempted to explain Christianity to Hadrian the Roman Emperor when he visited Athens. That letter became known as A Defense of Christianity.

It read, " Christians persuade others to become Christians by the love they have for them; and when they have become so, they call them without distinction, brothers. And if there is among them a man that is poor and needy, they fast two or three days that they may supply the needy with necessary food. They observe the commandment of their Messiah and they live honestly and soberly . . . they praise God for their food and their drink, they render Him thanks. Such is the law of the Christians and such is their manner of life." So Aristedes wrote to Hadrian (Hadrian's wall in England).        The scoffer and unbeliever, Julian, the Roman emperor wrote in the fourth century of Christians saying, "Their teacher has implanted the belief in them that they are all related."

Minucuis Felix, a Roman lawyer, living in the second century wrote this about the Christians – and he wrote with a sense of bewilderment – "They love each other without really being acquainted."

Haven't you found that to be true – you meet someone on the airplane or at work or at school and you find out they're a Christian and there is an immediate kinship – although you are barely acquainted.

So why keep the Commandments of God? Well, keeping the Commandments of God is just simply overcoming. It is God's best for your life now. And it is the guide to how we love others. And, why do you do it? Well, if you love God you'll keep His Commandments. If you love others you'll keep His

Commandments. Be good to people, love them by keeping His Commandments.

3. Recommit to Sharing Your Faith

For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world---our faith.5 Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God

Very shortly, after Jesse comes down next week, we will start a short course in how to share the gospel. Folks are already getting ready for it by learning some verses and a presentation.  We can't share what we don't know. It is our faith that overcomes the world.  Faith here is not only a verb but also a noun.  The faith.  Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God. 

We are going to learn how to present Jesus as the Son of God to others.  How to tell them about our Saviour.  Somebody once said to me, "Sharing the gospel is like one beggar telling another beggar where to find bread."  We needed a Saviour. We found a Saviour, we want to tell others where and how to find this Saviour!

It is this faith in the Saviour that overcomes the world.

It overcame the evil of slavery when William Wilberforce found the Saviour.

The Gospel flourished in Asia when Pastor Hsi determined to get out of the bubble of the Missionaries and share the gospel forthrightly with his own people.

He was born Xi Zizhi in a village near Linfen, became a Confucian scholar, and, after his conversion to Christianity, changed his given name to Shengmo or Conqueror of Demons. Having been an opium addict himself, he ran a ministry to opium addicts in many locations over a considerable area. There is more written about Xi than any other 19th-century Chinese Protestant, due largely to the two-volume biography written about him by Geraldine Taylor of the China Inland Mission.

David Hill, an English Methodist missionary, was instrumental in introducing Xi to Christianity. After his conversion, Pastor Xi fabricated his own medications made of morphia to treat opium addicts, and many sick people were brought to him for healing. Prayer was a major factor in his treatments, and a number of the recoveries were considered miraculous:[1]

At this time I still smoked opium. I tried to break it off by means of native medicine, but could not; by use of foreign medicine, but failed. At last I saw, in reading the New Testament, that there was a Holy Spirit who could help men. I prayed to God to give me His Holy Spirit. He did what man and medicine could not do; He enabled me to break off opium smoking. So, my friends, if you would break off opium, don't rely on medicine, don't lean on man, but trust to God. (Transcribed oral testimony of Xi from "Days of Blessing in Inland China")

Here is an amazing story about a man whose life made such a great impact for God. The Bible is filled with stories of God's work in the lives of ordinary men and women who did extraordinary things for the Lord. These stories were written not only to give us the truth but also to inspire us to trust the Lord. Pastor Hsi experienced danger, adventure, persecution and great power to heal the sick. But what marked his life the most was not the great things he did for God but his deep and profound awareness of his dependence upon God. This book will challenge you to follow the example of this man. He saw the sovereign in-breaking of God, time and time again yet did not allow it to puff him into pride or arrogance.  Dr. Lloyd-Jones writes: "The outstanding characteristic was his spirituality. He was truly a man of God in the real sense of the word. His simple, childlike faith which yet was strong and unshakable was astonishing. He took the New Testament as it was and put it into practice without any hesitations or reservations. "Pastor Hsi's ultimate interest was not in the cultivation of his own holiness, not in faith healing, or the exorcising of devils, or any other of the wonderful phenomena of the Christian life: it was in his Lord.... He desired to know him better and to serve him more truly.

Hsi and Fan (a former Buddhist priest who lived a very austere life, with no possessions). On the following morning, as soon as he awoke, Fan was again filled with wonderful joy, and declared himself a believer. "I see it all now," he exclaimed. "Idols indeed are false and useless. Our Heavenly Father is the true and living God, and Jesus the only Saviour."

spent a day or two with the missionaries, who supplied him with a New Testament and urged him to come again at the earliest opportunity. This he gladly promised to do, hoping that he might bring some of his followers with him. At first there would be misunderstanding, no doubt, and perhaps suspicion, but he felt so sure that they would appreciate the glad tidings before long. Alas, he little dreamed how bitter was the opposition that awaited him, and from how sad a cause. Toward evening he approached Fantsun, and sighted the familiar homestead where he had left wife and children only a few days before. But no little ones ran out to meet him, no kindly welcome was spoken as he passed down the village street. Something evidently was wrong. There was trouble in the air. He heard sounds of wailing as for the dead. This seemed to grow louder as he neared his own dwelling. Could it have anything to do with him and his? Dazed by the dreadful tidings, for a time he could hardly take it in. His son, his own bright bonnie little son, killed during his absence! Torn to pieces by a ferocious wol£ It seemed too terrible to be true. And then he had to suffer all the reproaches of wife and relatives, who poured upon him the bitterness of their grief and indignation. Of course it was his fault, his son. The gods were incensed, and no wonder. Had not all gone well with them up to the time of this renegade errand? Was not the religion of his fathers good enough for him? Alas, that an innocent child must suffer for his folly, and a poor mother be heart broken! For himself, it was richly deserved. Had they not told him th"ere would be trouble, from the first? It did all seem inexplicable, and an older Christian than Fan might well have been staggered. But in that hour of anguish he was not left alone. "I greatly obtained God's grace," was his testimony, "and the Holy Spirit, filling my heart, caused me to know my Heavenly Father better, and to trust Him more." But the neighbours could not understand such calmness, and only thought his delusion the more terrible. They insisted that he must at once renounce these dangerous heresies, and bring offerings to appease the idols. "Calamity will overtake us all," they cried. "Hitherto you alone have suffered. But drought will come, a_nd famine. The gods will be revenged upon the whole community, and then do not expect to get off easily. We shall certainly destroy your house and all that you possess." "See," said Fan quietly; "the God I worship now is the living God, who made heaven and earth. He can prevent the drought from coming. He is stronger than our idols. I do not fear them any longer, and will pray to Him who is above all evil spirits to protect the village from harm." Something about his confidence seemed to impress them, and they were in the habit of looking to him as a leader in religious matters. At any rate they left off threatening, and settled down to wait and see. "But remember," was the frequent warning, "if trouble comes, you will be the first to pay the penalty."

The river was unusually full of water, and his confidence in prayer increased day by day. Among his former co-religionists, not a few began to show deep interest in the Gospel, and at the close ofHsi's visit, his wife and some members of the family declared themselves Christians. Then it was the blow fell: a sorrow· so overwhelming that it seemed as if it must uproot their faith. How often such mysterious assaults are experienced by converts emerging from heathenism in lands "where Satan's seat is." The great enemy does not readily relinquish his hold. But, thank God, there is a place of refuge: "He that was begotten of God keepeth him, and the evil one tot1eheth him not." Fan was away from home. He had gone down a second time to visit the missionaries in Pingyang. His two remaining children were playing in the village, ·without a thought of danger, when suddenly a hungry wolf appeared as before, and carried off the boy, a little fellow of only five years old, killing and devouring him within sight of his father's door. The villagers were horrorstricken. His second son to meet a death so terrible! The drought truly had been averted, but the offender was again singled out as a mark for the vengeance o( the gods. Heart-broken, the parents wept together-both their boys taken from them, within six months of each other, by a tragedy so mysterious. To be without a son in China is the worst of all calamities, and added to this were the cruel reproaches of neighbours and friends. But they were not left alone in. their sorrow. The cry of their hearts, "Lord, I believe; help Thou mine unbelief," brought divine comfort to their aid. Fan especially was lifted above the trial. "Let the devil harass ifhe will: I know that Jesus saves," became his motto. With intense fervour he now threw himself into the work of God. The enemy of souls had smitten him sore; he would in return devot~ every energy to snatching others from his dominion. Such earnestness, under the circumstances, was doubly impressive. He established regular Sunday services in the village, which were well attended; and the missionary came over frequently from the city to strengthen his hands. But as the work developed and his neighbours became more interested, Fan was perplexed by a new and serious difficulty. He found that the inquirers, even the most promising, were in too many cases confirmed opium-smokers. There was not a man among them who would attempt to defend the habit. All alike were convinced that it was harmful and degrading. It never even occurred to them that they could be Christians and continue smoking opium. But they knew no way to be delivered. And the sad conclusion seemed that there could be no hope for them; they could never be reckoned among the followers of Jesus. \. But this Fan would no~ believe. Full well he knew the difficulty. But there must be some way by which even opium-smokers could be saved. Had not the Son of God .come on purpose "to seek and to save that which was lost"? The obstacles were great and many. He could not take all these inquirers to Hsi's home or to the missionaries in the city. They had no accommodation for them. He was not himself a doctor, and would be unable to proceed with their cure, even if he had the needed medicines. And yet how could he go to these men, knowing there were medicines that would help them, and tell them they must face the awful struggle in faith alone? Most of them would give it up on the spot. No, he felt that in some way he must strengthen them to conquer. God had given him this work to do. But-how? At length, as he prayed, the thougl - dawned upon him that if the patients could not go to the doctor perhaps the doctor might come to them. Mr. Drake had medicines, and knew how to use them. He had also a kind heart. His own home, a cave-dwelling, was large enough to take in a dozen or twenty people at a time. He would himself house and care for both doctor and patients, as long as might be necessary, and give everyone who wished it a chance to be free.  19 men  joined Fan in daily Bible reading memorization and hymn singing along with the Western medications from the Missionaries. But the medicines ran out, and the missionaries were away.

"With prayer and fasting," he writes, "I waited upon the Lord, and besought Him to point out to me the proper ingredients, and to strengthen and help me, that I might prepare the pills quickly and carry them to the Refuge, that those who were breaking off opium might partake thereof and be at peace." And then, very simply, it all came to him just how those pills were to be made. The drugs were at hand in his store, and, still fasting, he took the prescription, compounded the medicine, and hastened back to the Refuge. Then he and Fan together, assured that this remedy was of God, administered it to the patients. It proved an entixe success, and with grateful hearts they gave Him all the praise. The pills were just what was needed. Inexpensive and easily made, they could be produced in large quantities and at short notice. This entirely changed the aspect of opium refuge work. No longer dependent upon foreign supplies, why should not such effort be systematically developed and made self-supporting? And to Hsi's mind it raised the further question: "Have we not here light upon the problem we have been pondering so long-How best to bring people everywhere under the influence of the Gospel, and provide employment for Christian men needing some means of subsistence?" It all unfolded and developed in the most natural way. The key fitted the lock, opened the door, and gave access to a wide beyond of opportunity and promise.

"Thou has made us for Thyself; and our heart is restless till it finds rest in Thee." ST. AucusTINE. Thou art t.lie source and centre of all minds, Their only point of rest, Eternal Word! From Thee departing they are lost, and rove At random, without honour, hope, or peace. From Thee is all that soothes the life of man, His high endeavour, and his glad success, His strength to suffer, and his will to serve. But, oh Thou bounteous Giver of all good, Thou art of all Thy works Thyself the crown! Give what Thou canst, without Thee we are poor; And with-Thee rich, take what Thou wilt away. COWPER The Task'.