I. INTRODUCTION.

A. The Apostle John is the author although it is not stated in the letter. There are many reasons that we know he was the author.

1. The early church attributed this Epistle to him. Because of its resemblance to the fourth gospel in style, vocabulary, and ideas, it is generally agreed that both works are the product of same author. Because of their style and content all four of these Epistles were probably produced about the same time and at the same place. Some critics have questioned Johannine (John) authorship, but the strongest evidence is that Christians through the ages have accepted that John the Apostle is the author of all three Epistles, the Gospel of John, and Revelation.

2. There are many internal evidences that John is the author.

a. He speaks with authority as an apostle who knew Jesus Christ intimately would. John was in the inter circle of Jesus' disciples with Peter and James. 1 John 1:2, 2:1, 4:6, 14

b. He claims to have personally known Christ as John certainly did. 1 John 1:1-3, 4:14

c. There are close resemblances in style, language, and thought to his other works.

d. The same words used in the Gospel of John, are used in this Epistle such as


- life (15 times) - light (6 times) - love (33 times) - fellowship(4 times) - know (38 times) - darkness - world.

e. There are expressions that are common to John's writings, such as eternal life, a new commandment, abide in Christ, walketh in darkness, that your joy may be full.

B. Date: Sometime between 90-95 AD

It appears John wrote the Epistle in the later part of his life at Ephesus, where he spend most of his old age. There is no mention of the Domitian persecution which was in 95 AD. So evidences indicate it was written around 90 AD after the Gospel was written. John was near the end of his life and this Epistles reflect this thoughts and concerns for the churches.

C. Address and purpose of the Book:

The Book is generally to Christians everywhere, 1 John 2:1," My little children."

1. Reasons for the writing of the Book:

a. To bring believers into full joy - 1:4

b. To cause believers not to sin - 2:1

c. To promote love for the brethren - 2:7, 8

d. To warn against anti-christs - 2:18, 22, 26

-These anti-christs claim superior knowledge.

-They deny Jesus is the Christ. 2:22

-They deny He is the Son of God. 4:15, 5:5

-They deny Jesus came in the flesh. 4:2

e. To bring believers unto full assurance of salvation. 1 John 5:13

2. Key verse: 1 John 5:13. To give the believer full assurance of salvation and to bring the believer into a personal fellowship with Christ.

3. Purposes of the Book:

It deals with one's personal relationship with the Lord. The Book explains how we can know personally that we or others are truly saved.

It makes things very practical. It is the "How to Live" of a Christian's life in Christ. I addresses how we are to deal with sin, our relationship with fellow Christians, etc.

It deals with assurance of salvation.

It exposed those who profess to know the Lord Jesus Christ but show by their lives they do not know Him as Savior.

D. Historical Situation:

1. The churches of this era.

The churches these Epistles were written to had become to a great degree Gentle. The church in Jerusalem had been destroyed with Jerusalem in 70 AD and no longer existed. Therefore the Jewish influence in the churches had diminished. Now the church at Antioch, and those in Asia mostly had a Gentile membership who were influential in the churches.

2. The heresy of Gnosticism had gained much ground and was having a destructive influence in the churches:

a. The teachings of Gnosticism:

- Knowledge is superior virtue. Knowing truth is better than living for the Lord.

- The Bible should be interpreted in a non-literal sense, and only a few qualified intellectuals could interpret. This was personified in the later cult of the Roman Catholic church.

- God is not the only the creator because the world is material and everything material is evil. God could not have created a sinful world, thus there must be another creating force. Evolution???

- Christ was not God, as deity cannot be united with the material, because the material world is evil. Christ was a man, thus could not have been God.

b. Basically it is a distorted view that a person has two parallel natures and they are completely separate. The evil side does evil, the spiritual side does spiritual things. One is not responsibility for the other. You can be a wonderful spiritual person and an evil person at the same time. That is personified in the modern liberal denominations who preach that everyone is going to heaven. compromises God's word, and condones sin.

E. The Theme of the Book of 1 John is assurance of salvation through the test of fellowship.

1. If I am saved, then I will be in fellowship with the Lord and my fellow believers. The Bible, Word of God tests one's faith to see if a person is truly saved or not.

2. If one is truly saved how then can he have a close fellowship with Christ.

If you fail the test of 1 John the question for you is "How can I be saved?"

I. THE BASIS OR FOUNDATION OF FELLOWSHIP (1 John 1:1-4).

A. From the Beginning. 1 John 1:1

1. Dr. J. Vernon McGee said in regard to Genesis 1:1, "In the beginning was God..." If you don't accept that you can go no further.

a. There are two views as to what John is referring to by the phrase "was heard, seen, looked upon, touched."

Most commentators accept that this refers to either Christ or to the Gospel.

b. If Christ, then John is saying he heard, saw, touched Christ who is the incarnate Son of God.

c. If the Gospel? Then he is talking about LIFE. Ones real spiritual eternal present and future life in Christ.

However, the matter is settled by the Greek text:

1st...the word "which" is neuter not masculine. If the sentence is referring to Jesus it would be normal to use a masculine word to refer to Christ.

2nd...Verse 2. The first sentence refers back to the previous sentence and explains, "for the life was manifested" It does not say for the Word was manifested, but life was manifested."

d. I think it is clear what John is referring to is the message of Jesus, who is the Word, which is the Gospel and that is the source of life.

This does not lessening Christ's position as the incarnate Son of God, but is addressing a specific aspect of what Christ accomplished, that is L I F E! Life in Jesus Christ.

2. John did hear, see and touch Christ, BUT those he is addressing had not! But the importance of a relationship with Christ is not in an experience such as personally seeing Christ. John is addressing those who were unable to physically see and know Christ, that they might have a relationship with Him. But through God's word a believer can have a fully knowledge and personal relationship with Christ.

a. John was is presenting the truth that an relationship with Christ is based on an obtainable spiritual personal relationship. Those of John's day unto our present age are far removed from the physical Jesus Christ, yet we can have as deep or closer relationship spiritually with Him as John had who had actually been with Christ.

b. John says "we have seen, bear witness of it, and I will show it to YOU!. This I believe is the Key to what he is saying and his intent is to show it to us. It has been "manifested" or it is revealed to us. (see v3 also)

c. This view is consistent with the content of the book.

3. 1 John 3. You cannot have the message of life without being introduced to the author of life, God the Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ. You cannot know the message of life the Gospel without knowing the source of life who is Jesus Christ

Thus Christ and the message are one. John 1:1, Jesus is the Word and the Word is God.

a. John says heHEARD: This is in the prefect tense in Greek, meaning a past completed action, with a present result. What John had heard in the past now affected his life, it was relevant, had current importance.

b. He SAW: He includes the reference to seeing with the eyes, which means it was not spiritual "seeing." The Gnostic's view taught Jesus did not have an actual physical body, (material is evil), thus He was a phantom. John says, "I saw Him physically." Therefore Jesus Christ was God incarnate in the flesh wholly man and wholly God.

c. He LOOKED UPON: means "to gaze a long time." He emphases what he was saying he experientially knew to be fact. He and the disciples lived with Jesus daily for three years and they were able to examine Him personally.

d. He HANDLED HIM WITH HIS HANDS: He had physically touched Christ and he was no phantom, He was real! Moreover, John had lived for Christ some sixty years, daily walking with Him. Christ had ascended to heaven, yet he was vitally real and every present hour by hour in John's life. John knew what it was to live walking in the Light of Christ's present, being led by the indwelling Holy Spirit of God both in Christ's physical presence and in His spiritual presences as well.

Through John's Epistle God is telling us that we too can and should have this personal close relationship with Christ.

II. THE NATURAL RESULT AND PURPOSE OF THE MESSAGE OF LIFE. 1 John 1:4

A. The Gospel is to be shared.

1. John says what I saw, heard, touched or was manifested to me, I proclaim that to you. Many throughout the ages have experienced that salvation and the life that the message gives.

2. The life he is referring to in Verse 2 is the result of the message. This life is not ordinary life that a person would naturally possess, it is more a deeper fuller life, complete and ultimate that must be sought.

This is not referring to the form of life the unsaved man can have, but that supernatural life that only comes from knowing Jesus Christ as one's personal Savior.

3. John says, "We write or we testify" This is in a legal sense, this is a legal term, of one testifying under oath what was true, and had actually been witnessed by the person testifying.

B. John fully understood the reason that God was inspiring him to write this Epistle "that your Joy may be full". This is referring to happiness, warmth, smiling or having a good feeling of heart. This is referring to the peace of God.

1. It expresses the thought that this joy would fill them to the brim, to the highest degree possible.

2. The word "full" means "complete".

III. CONCLUSION:

The message of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ is the message that life eternal, full, complete and to the highest degree is avail in having personally received that life through Jesus Christ the Lord.!

The implications:

A. There are counterfeits! John is going to reveal the real life giving the true item.

B. We are to examine the real item to make sure that we have it...then bask in the full reality of the fact that we are the Children of God!

C. This fellowship with God can be had...this life eternal is real, and is an absolute truth. Therefore we should live reflecting this truth and letting it be the basic of our lives and hope.

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