Over the next few weeks as the Lord allows, we will study the letter of 1 John. Let\u2019s begin this journey by getting to know the author.<\/p>\n
by Joey Carroll Corinth Missionary Church<\/p>\n
Under the influence of the Holy Spirit, John wrote five New Testament books: The Gospel of John, 1, 2, 3 John, and Revelation. His writing is unique from the other New Testament authors and easily recognizable. By the time he writes his books, he is an old man who has spent much of his lifetime reflecting upon and learning from all the things the Lord Jesus taught him and modeled before him. In fact, John realized something that we would do well to learn. John writes in the last verse of the Gospel of John, \u201cAnd there are also many other things which Jesus did, which if they were written in detail, I suppose that even the world itself would not contain the books that would be written,\u201d (John 21:25, NASB). Since that is true, a life spent contemplating and obeying what Jesus taught would not only fill up a man\u2019s thoughts for a lifetime, it would also make one exceedingly wise and discerning \u2013 just like John.<\/p>\n
John has several \u201ctitles\u201d throughout Scripture, and those \u201ctitles\u201d reveal to us a great deal about John\u2019s character.
\nIn 2 and 3 John, he refers to himself as \u201cthe elder,\u201d and he truly was in every sense of the word. A faithful elder has a deep concern for the church. He loves the church, instructs the church, and protects the church, and you can certainly see all of these things in John. In 2 John, he warns the church to watch out for many deceivers who have gone out into the world. He is deeply concerned that they might lose what they had already understood and accomplished in their spiritual growth. His favorite word of instruction to the church was for us to love one another. John\u2019s letters dripped with love for his congregants, often referring to them as the \u201cbeloved\u201d or his \u201cchildren.\u201d<\/p>\n
However, this was not always true of John. John had a brother named James, and together they were known as the \u201cSons of Thunder,\u201d and that was certainly not a title that should make one proud. John had his struggles early on. One of his more sinful and embarrassing moments is recorded for us in Luke 9:52-56 when he wanted to call down fire from heaven and consume those who had rejected the Lord. Another time he and his brother desired a place of prominence and position, which led to a rebuke from the Lord (Mark 10:35-37). John was just like the rest of us. He was a sinful man in desperate need of a Savior. That should give us all great hope because this fiery fisherman, who was known as a son of thunder, later became known as \u201cthe elder,\u201d whose teaching could be summarized by this one phrase, \u201cChildren, love one another.\u201d<\/p>\n
John was also known as \u201cthe disciple whom Jesus loved.\u201d In humility, John never referred to himself in his gospel account. He could only describe himself by the love that he had experienced from God \u2013 a love that redefined and reshaped his entire life. This will be the
\nexperience of every person who is truly born again. The love which comes to us first from God through God\u2019s Son, Jesus Christ, is reciprocated by a love for God and for others.
\nOne last title of John that is very important in our study of God\u2019s Word is John, \u201cthe eyewitness.\u201d You can understand this title from his first words in 1 John, \u201cWhat was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and
\ntouched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life,\u201d (1 John 1:1, NASB). Many people do not know how eyewitness accounts work. In a court of law, an eyewitness account is the type of evidence that makes a case. You cannot argue against two or more eyewitnesses who testify to identical accounts of what happened. Go reread 1 John 1:1 above, and you will notice the plurality of witnesses. \u201c… what WE have seen with our eyes,\u201d (emphasis added).
\nSo, as we study 1 John in the weeks ahead, remember this is coming from a man who saw these things and experienced them first hand; therefore, we can trust in what he says.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Over the next few weeks as the Lord allows, we will study the letter of 1 John. Let\u2019s begin this journey by getting to know the author.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12006","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-tho"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.theclarion.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12006","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.theclarion.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.theclarion.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.theclarion.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.theclarion.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12006"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/test.theclarion.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12006\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12007,"href":"https:\/\/test.theclarion.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12006\/revisions\/12007"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.theclarion.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12006"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.theclarion.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12006"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.theclarion.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12006"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}