- Abide in Jesus - John 15:9-13 9 As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. 10If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. 11I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete. 12'This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends. 1 John 3 1 See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. [STOP] What does the world represent here? * Non-Christians Who did the world not know? * Us Why does the world not know us? * We abide in Jesus 2Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is. 3And all who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure. [STOP] There are times in life we may not fully know the Lord's plan. We must abide in Him through Faith. When He is revealed (within us), we will be like Him. All who abide in Jesus will be pure as He is. 4 Everyone who commits sin is guilty of lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. [STOP] Can anyone tell me what sin is defined as? * Any act against the will of God 5You know that he was revealed to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. 6No one who abides in him sins; no one who sins has either seen him or known him. [STOP] We are all sinful people. It all started with Adam and Eve, who were the first people on Earth. By abiding in Jesus, we can be forgiven from our sins. Those who live in sin do not see Jesus. 7Little children, let no one deceive you. Everyone who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. 8Everyone who commits sin is a child of the devil; for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The Son of God was revealed for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil. [STOP] When it says "Everyone who does what is right is righteous", how do we know that what we are doing really right? * Abiding in Jesus, doing His will It does say "just as He is righteous" at the end of verse 7. Because we are all sinners since the beginning, it is important to realize that Jesus did come to destroy the works of the devil so we can be righteous and abide in Him. 9Those who have been born of God do not sin, because God’s seed abides in them; they cannot sin, because they have been born of God. 10The children of God and the children of the devil are revealed in this way: all who do not do what is right are not from God, nor are those who do not love their brothers and sisters. [STOP] Cross Reference - Matt 22:37-39 - The Greatest Commandment - 37He said to him, ‘"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind." 38This is the greatest and first commandment. 39And a second is like it: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." [STOP] 11 For this is the message you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. 12We must not be like Cain who was from the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother’s righteous. 13Do not be astonished, brothers and sisters, that the world hates you. [STOP] Can anyone tell me why it says that the world hates us? * The world as we discussed represents Non-Christians. 14 We know that we have passed from death to life because we love one another. Whoever does not love abides in death. 15All who hate a brother or sister are murderers, and you know that murderers do not have eternal life abiding in them. [STOP] Stop and think about it opportunity - Abiding is Jesus is as simple as loving Him and loving one another. By our hearts, we are judged. 16We know love by this, that he laid down his life for us - and we ought to lay down our lives for one another. 17How does God’s love abide in anyone who has the world’s goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help? [STOP] Do you think God wants us to loose our lives for one another like Jesus did? * No. As we discussed, showing love is sufficient. Through love we are to we are to help others in need. 18Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action. [STOP] Can anyone tell me the difference between loving in word or speech and truth and action? * Loving by word or speech is just saying you are going to show love, but by loving by truth and action proves that you are going to do it. 19And by this we will know that we are from the truth and will reassure our hearts before him 20 whenever our hearts condemn us; for God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. [STOP] We will reassure our hearts before God, but there are times when our hearts will condemn us. Can anyone give me an example of when our hearts will condemn us? * Sin Who is greater than our hearts and knows all? * God 21Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have boldness before God; 22and we receive from him whatever we ask, because we obey his commandments and do what pleases him. [STOP] If our hearts do not condemn us, what are we avoiding? * Sin What is it that we receive from God by avoiding sin and obeying his commandments? * Whatever we ask. 23 And this is his commandment, that we should believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. 24All who obey his commandments abide in him, and he abides in them. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit that he has given us. [STOP] Any questions? Work Cited: OBB Bible Browser http://www.oremus.org/bible/ The New Revised Standard Version