1 John.1:1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life; 2: (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;) 3: That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. 4: And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.

Introduction

As we begin a new year together, I invite you to think on the hymn written and published in the 19th Century by Fanny Crosby and it goes like this:

Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine;

Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine!

Heir of salvation, purchase of God,

Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood.

This is my story, this is my song,

Praising my Saviour all the day long.

What a beautiful hymn! What precious truth! Blessed Assurance, Jesus is Mine! That’s our theme this year and that is one of the major themes of the book we are going to study this year. We are going to look at the First Epistle of John, which is also known as “The Assurance Epistle.”

I pray that this year 2021 more than anything else would be a year that would greatly count for God and for eternity. I pray that it would be the kind of year that we will look back and consider it as one of the best years of our lives individually and corporately as far as eternal things are concerned. But in order to have fruitful and productive year, we must have a well-grounded assurance in our lives. Because a well-grounded assurance is related to joy, comfort, and fruitful Christian service. You cannot have joy of salvation, comfort of salvation, and fruitful service if you do not have the assurance of salvation. The most joyful and the most useful God glorifying Christian is the one who knows and confident that he or she is accepted before God.

If you have been in an airport, you may have noticed the difference between passengers who hold confirmed tickets and those who are on standby. The ones with confirmed tickets are calm, relaxed, read books, talk with their friends, or take a nap. But the ones on standby are clearly tense and anxious and pace back and forth in front of the ticket counter. What’s the difference? The difference is a matter of confidence and assurance. The standby people have no assurance they will make the plane and reach their destination. 

It is similar to those who know what the Bible teaches about this wonderful salvation that God provides to those who will accept it by faith. They have God’s Word and are fully convinced and confident knowing that God has saved them, forgiven all their sins, and given them eternal life, and on their way to Heaven. Others live in uncertainty and anxiety, never being sure they have been truly saved and the result is lack of joy, lack of direction, lack of purpose, and lack of usefulness.

My prayer through this year’s study, our testimony would be like that of Fanny Crosby, “Heir of salvation, purchase of God, Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood. This is my story, this is my song, Praising my Saviour all the day long!”

Today, my goal is to introduce ourselves to the book of First John. In our introduction we are going to cover three things, namely, the Author, the Audience and the Aim of this Epistle. To truly appreciate this first epistle of John, we need to know Who wrote it? To whom was it written? Why was it written? May God help us to profit and enrich us as we study this “Assurance Epistle” together.

I – The Author of 1 John

Who is the human author of this book? Who wrote this epistle or letter? Most of the New Testament epistles begin with a formal greeting and end with a conclusion and instructions, but First John doesn’t follow that standard format. The human author does not identify himself. It does not have an introduction that says, “I John, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ, to such and such a person or such and such a church. Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.”

There is no formal greeting or salutation, no mention of the author’s name and addressee. Although the author does not identify himself by name, there’s plenty of evidence to say that John the apostle is its human author. There are internal and external evidence that the apostle John is its author. One internal evidence is that this epistle or letter is very similar to the Gospel of John in style, vocabulary, and content that there’s no good reason to doubt that John wrote this epistle. And for external evidence, early Christian writers such as Irenaeus, Clement of Alexandria, Tertullian, and Polycarp cited First John as John’s epistle. Irenaeus, a student of Polycarp who was a close associate and a disciple of John, quoted from the epistle and attributed it to John.

Who was John?

John was a Galilean fisherman. He and his brother James were the sons of Zebedee and were also called the sons of thunder (Mark 3:17). His mother was Salome, who was the sister to the Virgin Mary, which means John was the Lord’s cousin, according to the flesh. John was originally a disciple of John the Baptist, and then of Jesus. He was one of the first two disciples called. Of all the apostles, John seems to have been closest to the Lord. We read of him in the gospel as one “leaning on Jesus’ bosom … whom Jesus loved.” Along with his brother James, and his friend Peter, he also had held a privileged position in the inner circle (Matt. 17:1; 26:37; Mark 5:37).

History tells us that in his later years, John pastored in and around Ephesus, ministering to the Churches of Asia Minor. He outlived all of the other apostles and was known as John the Elder (2 John 1; 3 John 1). He suffered much for Christ, He was exiled to the Isle of Patmos and tradition tells us that he was boiled in oil.

The apostle John is now advanced in age when he wrote this letter from Ephesus to remind and encourage the church to remain faithful to the basics of Christianity. John is also the human author of the Gospel of John, 2nd and 3rd John, and the book of Revelation.

II – The Audience of 1 John

Who were the recipients of this letter? 

To whom did John write this letter? John did not specify the recipients of this letter, but since he pastored in and around Ephesus, most likely this was a general epistle written in general to Christians scattered throughout Asia Minor which is the modern-day Turkey. Although John mentioned no specific audience in this letter, its recipients were clearly believers.

1 John 2:12 I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name's sake. 13: I write unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I write unto you, young men, because ye have overcome the wicked one. I write unto you, little children, because ye have known the Father. 14: I have written unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one.

1 John 3:1 Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.

1 John 5:13 These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.

These verses make it clear that this letter was addressed to believers. But these believers were dealing with problems related to false teachers. The Apostle writes to combat false teachings and teachers and warns against them throughout this entire writing.

John was a very old man when he wrote this letter. John Phillips wrote, “John wrote for the third generation. Peter and Paul, James and Jude all wrote for the first and second generations of believers. John, however, as a first-generation apostle, passed over two generations to write for an increasingly apostate third generation.

For by its third generation, every movement of God needs a fresh touch of the Holy Spirit. The first generation is motivated by conviction; great truths have been grasped, and those who have espoused them have a compulsion to spread those truths abroad. They will dare all and die for them. The second generation inherits these truths, but the conviction softens into a belief. They believe the truths they have been taught; they debate them, defend them, and disseminate them, but the fire and passion have gone. By the third generation, the belief becomes an opinion. The third generation will trade first-generation truth, dilute it, change it, accept counterfeits, and make room for error. And that’s why John wrote for the third generation—the third generation needed a fresh revival.”

There is the great danger for the children and the grandchildren of the first-generation Christians to have an easy familiarity with Christianity. Though these younger generation may affirm beliefs in basic Christianity, there is a great danger for them to have a head-knowledge of salvation and a shallow commitment to the things of God. So, John like a devoted pastor who has a love and concern not only for the believers’ well-being but also more importantly a concern for the glory of God and His Christ, writes them to warn the shallow professors and to reassure the genuine believers.

This brings us to the aim or the purpose of this epistle.

III – The Aim of 1 John

While many epistles contain a single statement of the author’s purpose in writing, John lists at least five reasons for writing this letter. John describes his own five-fold purpose. I will just comment on them briefly today since we will come across each one of these again as we progress in our study.

1. To help believers discover intimate fellowship

1 John 1:3 That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.

One of the reasons John wrote this epistle is to help believers discover intimate fellowship with God and fellow believers. John wants his readers to have a deep fellowship with God and he claims that his readers can experience the same fellowship with God that the apostles had.

2. To help believers have full joy

1 John 1:4 And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.

Another reason for this letter is to help believers experience the complete joy. He wants them to know the full joy of their salvation.

3. To help believers walk in moral purity

1 John 2:1 My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:

John realizes believers still sin, but it is also a book that promotes a mindset that challenges the believer not to sin. So, John wrote this letter to help believers to bring about moral purity.

4. To forewarn the believers

1 John was also written to counter false teachers.

1 John 2:26 These things have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you.

John wrote this epistle at the time when false teachers with their heretical teaching had arisen from among the church.

1 John 4:3 And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.

These false teachers are already in the world and in the church. So, in this letter, John states that one of the reasons he writes this letter is to forewarn the believers and to counter those who denied that Jesus had come in the flesh. We will talk more about these false teachers next week.

5. To give believers assurance of salvation

1 John 5:13 These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.

The Gospel of John was written to reveal how to be saved, First John was written to reveal how to be sure. In this book John not only teaches the doctrine of eternal security, but it is written so that God’s people may know they actually have eternal life. There are only five short chapters in this first Epistle, and the word “know” occurs over forty times. The key to it is KNOW! The great theme that runs throughout this first epistle of John is Biblical assurance of salvation—that ye may know that ye have eternal life.

Closing Thoughts

The first Epistle of John is a great book for the believers individually and corporately. It is a book for all believers of all spiritual levels. It is a book every church needs. As I have said at the outset, First John is the “Assurance Epistle.” One of its major themes is how true believers can enjoy the perfect assurance of salvation through intimate fellowship with Jesus Christ and other believers. Assurance of salvation is very important. It is so important that it has been the focal of Satan’s attack. Satan does two things concerning assurance of salvation. For one thing, he causes the true believer to doubt their salvation and the other thing, he causes the false believers to have assurance of salvation. But my prayer as we study this book true believers will have the joy of salvation and false professors will be awakened and come to true saving faith and knowledge of the Saviour.

In closing I want us to go back and talk about John, the human author of this book. John, along with his brother James, were first known as the “sons of thunder.” Our Lord called them as “sons of thunder” for a reason. In the gospels we find John debating with the other apostles about who was the greatest. On one occasion, when the people in a village of Samaria were not responsive to the message of Jesus, John with his brother James wanted to call down fire from heaven on them.

Luke 9:54 And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did?

They asked the Lord, if they can call fire down from heaven to destroy the people in a village of Samaria. This response of James and John to the Samaritans reveals their “thunderous nature.”

So, John started out a self-seeking, self-promoting, hasty, rough, quick temper, and reckless disciple. But God transformed him and his brother. At the end of his life, John, who was known as of one of the “sons of thunder,” became known as the “apostle of love.” The theme of love runs throughout his writings. John greatly mellowed as he grew in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. No, he did not compromise truth as he grew older. He did not tolerate error and sin. You will see in this letter how tender and loving he is and yet he stood firm when it came to revealed truth. As you will see in this letter, he is a man of grace and truth. This is a quality and characteristic he learned from our Saviour, who Himself is full of grace and truth.

God transformed John and James into different people than they were before. John matured well and learned from Christ. He was transformed. But this did not happen overnight and spontaneously. It took all of Christ’s three-year ministry on earth for John to learn it. As John hears, and beholds and handles the Word of Life, as he beholds the glory of the Lord, he is being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. As he beholds the glory of God in the person and work of Jesus Christ; as He beholds the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth, John is being transformed into a man of grace and truth. This can happen in our lives as well, as we spend time with the Saviour and behold His glory and perfection. May God bless us as we do!

AMEN!