First John has a strong warning against false teaching, false prophets and false teachers. But we can’t see it without guidance from the Holy Spirit. I have read these words many times, but only now can I see John summarized everything into one action, to walk as Jesus did. 1 John 1:5-7, This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. If anyone refuse to walk in the light, that means not walking as Jesus did, then “the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin” may not be applicable to him, because he consistently coming back to sin again and again, without confessing of his sin. They are hypocrites, the modern day scribes and Pharisees.
The true gospel is very simple, there are two types of living. Men have to choose either walk in the darkness or walk in the light. Apostle John explained what it means to walk in the light, 1 John 2:4-6, The man who says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But if anyone obeys his word, God’s love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did. This is so clear to me now, any professing Christian who does not walk as Jesus did is a liar. He may not know he is walking in the darkness, but there is no third option, to walk in gray or to walk in half-light and half darkness. That is to say we either live the rest of our life for God’s will or for our own wills. We can not blend them together, as Jesus said in Matthew 6:24, “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money. False prophets and false teachers will not do God’s will, and they have been deceiving the flock into doing the same.
John summarized the main purpose of his letter in this one verse, 1 John 2:1 My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. Here the phrase “you will not sin” has a deeper meaning that we often overlook, it means not living a life of doing your own wills or plans. Fake religions have successfully deceived many of God’s children into believing sin is limited to something like smoking, drinking or stealing and so on. They don’t know that living a life of not doing God’s will is sin. When John wrote, “I write this to you so that you will not sin“, the hidden message is made clear in verse 6, “Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did“. In other words, he instructed all the disciples “must walk as Jesus did“, “so that you will not sin“.
The young lady Catherine Booth-Clibborn met in Brussels understood this. She prayed everyday like this, “Jesus, when I light this fire, also light a fire within me. The fire of Your will, the fire of love, the fire of joy, the fire of peace, and the fire of compassion.” She knows the scripture much more than the theologians or pastors, that is why La Maréchale considered that was the best sermon she had ever heard. This young sister is an example of those who had been transformed by the Spirit as Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” Jesus’ words in Matthew 23:8-10 (NASB) are not widely accepted, “But do not be called Rabbi; for One is your Teacher, and you are all brothers. …… “And do not be called leaders; for One is your Leader, that is, Christ. Those who are called to lead God’s people must first deny themselves and take up their cross, only then can they do God’s will by hearing the Lord’s voice.
But our flesh will always push us towards a different direction, using earthly knowledge, like logical thinking and reasoning to analyze or explain spiritual things. That will lead us further away from truth. We see this even from the second and third centuries, people always have different opinions and assumptions on who created Jesus and the relationship between the Father and the Son. Generally, we tend to explain heavenly things by human logic with earthly concepts and principle. For example in 325, under the Roman Empire, after much debate and argument, the first Council of Nicaea reached an agreement, which is the Nicene Creed. I did some research, the debate was not about revelation from above, but more of human wisdom and the political need for power and control. It seems to me they did not understand what is written in Romans 10:17 “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” The word of men, no matter how good it may sound, will not produce any faith. Jesus said in John 6:63, The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life. Men’s words can’t achieve anything, as Jesus also said in John 15:5, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. Therefore, we have to take heed to what is written in 1 Peter 4:11 (NKJV), If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. …... Too many people have despised the word of God and still thinking they are on the way to heaven.
Following the Second Ecumenical Council in Constantinople in 381, some words were added like, (we believe) “In one Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church.” Some historians suggested a different timing. But by adding the church parallel to God and asking the flock to believe both, that’s a plain contradiction to the scriptures, Revelation chapter 2 and 3 told us clearly that the churches have different people inside. There are false apostles in the Ephesus church, synagogue of Satan in Smyrna church, people holding the teaching of Nicolaitans in Pergamum church, Jezebel and her children in Thyatira church, and dead and lukewarm in Sardis and Laodicea church. The churches have to repent, except for the church in Philadelphia, Jesus said in Revelation 3:10 Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come on the whole world to test the inhabitants of the earth. And a small number from the dead church (see Revelation 3:4) “Yet you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes. They will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy. Those who recite the creed frequently can bring lots of confusion and self-contradiction in their mind and spirit.
Instead of focusing on doing God’s will, some wanted to study God as a kind of scientific subject, like other earthly things. They created doctrines and theologies, like Christology, Soteriology and so on, these produce fruit that are exactly the opposite of taking up one’s own cross and denying the self. Some people like to have more “knowledge and wisdom of God” and to be leaders of other ignorant and unlearned people. But they failed to see what Jesus said in Matthew 15:8-9 (NKJV), ‘These people draw near to Me with their mouth, And honor Me with their lips, But their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ ” The guest in the podcast #150 from AStrongerFaith.org is a good example. She was seminary trained, a functional cessationist, and served as a vocational minister in the Presbyterian church for over a decade. But God said she was like that big tree their city had to cut down, “because it was rotting on the inside and it looked like it was great on the outside.”
Without the Holy Spirit we are not able to understand much. Jesus explained this, as He said in John 16:12-13 “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.
You have an Anointing from the Holy One
You do not need anyone to teach you
the Spirit of truth … will guide you into all the truth
I just learned a new revelation from writing this passage, the Apostle John revealed false teacher and false prophet’s tactics with just 7 verses. In 1 John 2:20-21, But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth. I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it and because no lie comes from the truth. These 2 verses are profound. The only thing God’s children needed is the “anointing from the Holy One “, he is the Spirit of truth. It reflect what Jesus said in John 16:13-15, But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.”
The Spirit of truth will teach us “all the truth” and “what is yet to come”. But many will try to deceive the sheep, so John wrote in verse 26 and 27, I am writing these things to you about those who are trying to lead you astray. As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit —- just as it has taught you, remain in him. In another word, a true servant of Christ should only teach how to “remain in him“. All false teachers and false prophets do not have the Spirit of truth, nor do they “remain in him“, they will mislead you into many things that sound logical and good, including scriptures and knowledge. But not how to “remain in him“.
Verse 24 and 25, See that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father. And this is what he promised us — even eternal life. These two are the same as Jesus’ teaching in John 15:5, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. …… If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
The answer to “remain in him” is in verse 6, “Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.” In NIV “remain” and “live” are from the same Greek word μένω (G3306). NIV some times use “remain” other time use “live”, while KJV, NKJV, NASB and ESV all translated it to “abide”, it appeared 18 times in 1 John and 33 times in gospel John. Jesus’ words are the same. To have faith in Jesus, to believe in him means imitating him, as he said in John 14:12, Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.
In the Epistles Paul emphasizes this many times. 1 Corinthians 11:1, Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ. And 1 Corinthians 4:16, Therefore I urge you, imitate me. And Ephesians 5:1 Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. To imitate Jesus means following his way of the cross, of denying the self, as John 8:28, So Jesus said, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he and that I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me. And John 14:31, but he comes so that the world may learn that I love the Father and do exactly what my Father has commanded me. He did it by taking the spiritual food—-daily bread, just as he taught us in the Lord’s prayer. As John 4:34, Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work.
We suppose to do the same, asking our Father in heaven to give us this day our daily bread, so that we can receive instructions on how to do His will. The evil forces are using everything they can, often blind guides and carnal believers, to deceive the sheep, and lead them into destruction by pushing them away from imitating Christ. Such as, making them busy with activities without the Holy Spirit, so they have no time to read the Bible. Feed the sheep with self-confidence and self-righteousness, so they are unable to discover their sins. The devil has lot more traps than we can ever think of. Without guidance from the holy Spirit we can’t see the truth.
My sheep hear my voice
The challenge still remains: to hear God’s voice is by no means easy. There is a cost to pay, and that’s the cross. Mark 8:34 Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. Those who don’t deny themselves will hold on to some of their opinions and ideas. They will disagreed with some of Jesus’ teaching, such as Matt 5:43-45 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.
Many said they love Jesus, but that “Jesus” can be a virtual one made up by men’s own ideas. For men want to avoid the fire from hell and also enjoy many kinds of earthly things. We all have a tendency to love worldly things more than God, many have ignored what is written, 1John 2:15-16 Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. For everything in the world — the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life — comes not from the Father but from the world. It takes time to overcome the love of the world, we need to remember the warnings as Phil 3:18-19 For, as I have often told you before and now tell you again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is set on earthly things. I think we are not that different from them, and we have to think about how to repent now, for time is running out.
The Imitation of Christ
I was reading “The Imitation of Christ” by Thomas Kempis. It has 4 books, lots of words so I went to book 3 because it is a conversation between the disciple and The Voice of Christ. At first, it sounds interesting, there are many teachings not seen in the Bible, but I can’t find anything wrong. Because the main thing I like to learn is how to follow Jesus’ way of life. So I find chapter 18 which titled “…… After the Example of Christ”
The Eighteenth Chapter
Temporal Sufferings Should Be Borne Patiently, After the Example of Christ
The Voice of Christ
MY CHILD, I came down from heaven for your salvation and took upon Myself your miseries, not out of necessity but out of love, that you might learn to be patient and bear the sufferings of this life without repining. From the moment of My birth to My death on the cross, suffering did not leave Me. I suffered great want of temporal goods. Often I heard many complaints against Me. Disgrace and reviling I bore with patience. For My blessings I received ingratitude, for My miracles blasphemies, and for My teaching scorn.
The Disciple
O Lord, because You were patient in life, especially in fulfilling the design of the Father, it is fitting that I, a most miserable sinner, should live patiently according to Your will, and, as long as You shall wish, bear the burden of this corruptible body for the welfare of my soul. For though this present life seems burdensome, yet by Your grace it becomes meritorious, and it is made brighter and more endurable for the weak by Your example and the pathways of the saints. But it has also more consolation than formerly under the old law when the gates of heaven were closed, when the way thereto seemed darker than now, and when so few cared to seek the eternal kingdom. The just, the elect, could not enter heaven before Your sufferings and sacred death had paid the debt.
Oh, what great thanks I owe You, Who have shown me and all the faithful the good and right way to Your everlasting kingdom! Your life is our way and in Your holy patience we come nearer to You Who are our crown. Had You not gone before and taught us, who would have cared to follow? Alas, how many would have remained far behind, had they not before their eyes Your holy example! Behold, even we who have heard of Your many miracles and teachings are still lukewarm; what would happen if we did not have such light by which to follow You?
After much prayer and seeking, I have to conclude this is not the voice of Christ. This voice said, “From the moment of My birth to My death on the cross, suffering did not leave Me. I suffered great want of temporal goods.” That is exactly the opposite of Psalm 23, “The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.” The author of this book missed the fundamental point: Jesus’ way of life is very simple, John 14:31 (NIV84), but the world must learn that I love the Father and that I do exactly what my Father has commanded me. ” Again we see in John 12:49 (NIV84), For I did not speak of my own accord, but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and how to say it.
The young lady Catherine Booth-Clibborn met in Brussels seems to understand more than most theologians and scholars who have published many books. Because every morning she would ask the Holy Spirit for the fire to do God’s will and the fire of love. And that is the daily bread mentioned in the Lord’s prayer. Suddenly, I can see my hypocrisy and complacency, I often forget to ask for the daily bread. The scripture said in 1 John 4:1, Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. I have failed to see that this must apply to myself first, and I shouldn’t assume I had the Spirit every day. I need to know God’s will through the Holy Spirit, before testing any spirit. I am still struggling all the time.
It is easy to agree with the scripture in Romans 12:1, Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God — this is your true and proper worship. But difficult to walk the walk every day, only then can we start to imitate Christ. I don’t know why my heart is still so far away from the Lord that I don’t seek him, nor wait on him as I should, and I have wasted too much time on earthly things. I have sinned, I have not taken the Lord’s prayer seriously, asking him to “forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors“. Let’s pray Psalm 4, 23, 62 and 139 (NKJV),
HEAR me when I call, O God of my righteousness! You have relieved me in my distress; Have mercy on me, and hear my prayer.
How long, O you sons of men, Will you turn my glory to shame? How long will you love worthlessness And seek falsehood?
But know that the LORD has set apart for Himself him who is godly; The LORD will hear when I call to Him.
Be angry, and do not sin. Meditate within your heart on your bed, and be still.
Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, And put your trust in the LORD.
There are many who say, “Who will show us any good?” LORD, lift up the light of Your countenance upon us.
You have put gladness in my heart, More than in the season that their grain and wine increased.
I will both lie down in peace, and sleep; For You alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety.
Psalms 23:1-6 (NKJV) THE LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters.
He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; My cup runs over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me All the days of my life; And I will dwell in the house of the LORD Forever.
TRULY my soul silently waits for God; From Him comes my salvation.
He only is my rock and my salvation; He is my defense; I shall not be greatly moved.
How long will you attack a man? You shall be slain, all of you, Like a leaning wall and a tottering fence.
They only consult to cast him down from his high position; They delight in lies; They bless with their mouth, But they curse inwardly.
My soul, wait silently for God alone, For my expectation is from Him.
He only is my rock and my salvation; He is my defense; I shall not be moved.
In God is my salvation and my glory; The rock of my strength, And my refuge, is in God.
Trust in Him at all times, you people; Pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us.
Surely men of low degree are a vapor, Men of high degree are a lie; If they are weighed on the scales, They are altogether lighter than vapor.
Do not trust in oppression, Nor vainly hope in robbery; If riches increase, Do not set your heart on them.
God has spoken once, Twice I have heard this: That power belongs to God.
Also to You, O Lord, belongs mercy; For You render to each one according to his work.
O LORD, You have searched me and known me.
You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thought afar off.
You comprehend my path and my lying down, And are acquainted with all my ways.
For there is not a word on my tongue, But behold, O LORD, You know it altogether.
You have hedged me behind and before, And laid Your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is high, I cannot attain it.
Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence?
If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.
If I take the wings of the morning, And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
Even there Your hand shall lead me, And Your right hand shall hold me.
If I say, “Surely the darkness shall fall on me,” Even the night shall be light about me;
Indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You, But the night shines as the day; The darkness and the light are both alike to You.
For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb.
I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well.
My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, The days fashioned for me, When as yet there were none of them.
How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them!
If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand; When I awake, I am still with You.
Oh, that You would slay the wicked, O God! Depart from me, therefore, you bloodthirsty men.
For they speak against You wickedly; Your enemies take Your name in vain.
Do I not hate them, O LORD, who hate You? And do I not loathe those who rise up against You?
I hate them with perfect hatred; I count them my enemies.
Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties;
And see if there is any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting.