1 João 5

1 João 5:5

Murray - OVERCOMING THE WORLD The ones who win this battle against the world are the ones who believe that Jesus is the Son of God 1 John 5:5 Early on in this Epistle, John teaches us what the real nature and power of the world consists of: the lust for physical pleasure, the lust for everything we see, and pride in our possessions. We find these three marks of the world in the Garden of Eden. Through the body, the eyes, and the pride of wisdom, the world acquired the mastery over Eve and over us. Ever since, the kingdom of God and the kingdom of this world have been in deadly conflict. The world still exerts a terrible influence over Christians who do not know that in Christ they have been crucified to the world. The power of this world proves itself in all the pleasures of sin. And most Christians are either ignorant of the danger of a worldly spirit or feel utterly powerless to conquer it. Christ left us with this great far-reaching promise: “But take heart, because I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). As we abide in Christ and seek to live a holy life in the power of the Holy Spirit, we may confidently count on that power to overcome the world. “The ones who win this battle against the world are the ones who believe that Jesus is the Son of God.” Prayerfully place your trust in the mighty power of God as the only pledge of certain and continual victory. BELIEVE “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life” (John 6:47). Trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior gives the believer eternal life in heaven. The Lord Jesus exhorted His disciples, “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me” (John 14:1). Good works, pilgrimages, self-discipline, meditation techniques, all count for nothing in the eyes of God. Christ is the all-sufficient Savior of all those who trust in Him. “But these [things] are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name” (John 20:31). It is trust in the person of Jesus Christ that makes one a child of God. “Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?” (I John 5:5). A DAY OF DECISION Tim LaHaye - Embracing Eternity: Living Each Day with a Heart Toward Heaven The ones who win this battle against the world are the ones who believe that Jesus is the Son of God. 1 John 5:5 “Cry out to the Lord in your trouble, and he will save you out of your distress. He will bring you out of darkness.” Armageddon, 247–48 I SAW A BUMPER sticker once that read: “The end is near. Last one out gets to turn out the lights.” At the time it made me snicker. Sometimes our attempts at humor hit closer to the truth than others. But I’m sure the irony was lost on a lot of people. So how close are we to the second coming of Jesus? Closer than we were yesterday; that’s as far as I’m willing to guess. But you have to admit that it does feel as if it could be any minute. For those who have put their trust in Jesus, that’s a comforting thought. For those who are still sitting on the fence, well … you do the math. The truth is, there is a very real battle being waged on earth, and millions of souls hang in the balance. The war is between good and evil, heaven and hell, God and Satan, those who believe and those who reject Jesus as their Savior. It is a battle that is being fought on fronts all over the globe. And one that also wages in the heart of every man and woman on earth. God beckons us to join him; Satan tries to stop us. God draws us near; the enemy pulls us away. God holds out the free gift of salvation; the devil tries to distract our attention with his tricks. This war won’t go on forever. Someday the banners will be thrown down, and a victor will arise. One day we’ll look up, and it will all be over. Heaven will be filled, earth will be in chaos, Satan will try to hang on to what little hope he has left, but the end will be evident to both sides. And there will be no doubt about who won. The apostle John was given a front-row seat to the whole thing, and he carefully recorded the details for posterity. “Then the Devil, who betrayed them, was thrown into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur, joining the beast and the false prophet. There they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.… Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared.… And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem” (Revelation 20:10; 21:1–2). Who are the victors of the battle? “The ones who believe that Jesus is the Son of God” (1 John 5:5). Settle in your heart today which army you choose to fight with. Decide this hour which side you want to be on. The war of the ages won’t wage forever. See that you’re on the winning side when the final banner is raised. REFLECTION Is anything keeping you from putting your faith in Vance Havner - "This Is the Victory" "In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." John 16:33 The world is too much with us nowadays. We cannot explain it for God holds that secret and the world by its wisdom knows not God. We cannot endure it by a Stoic stiff-upper-lip philosophy. Thousands are trying to bluff through, whistling their way past the graveyard, wearing the royal robes of a put-on fortitude over the sackcloth of inner wretchedness (2 Kings 6:30). We cannot enjoy the world for "she that liveth in pleasure is dead while she liveth," it is all a lifeless counterfeit. But we can overcome the world and any of us, regardless of circumstance, can get in on this. Christ did not dodge or deny the fact of trouble: he declared plainly that in this world we might expect it. But he follows it with, "Be of good cheer." He overcame the world and whoever is born of God and believes that Jesus is the Son of God overcomes the world, and this is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith (1 John 5:4, 5). This business of overcoming the world is open to you. You may be an invalid, you may be in straits, you may be poor and ignorant and despised, but there is no condition in which you may be placed that can keep you from overcoming the world if you will receive him and let him live his overcoming life in you. "Be of good cheer." He is the way out. Greg Laurie - A RADICAL DIFFERENCE (Borrow For every season : daily devotions) Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? (1 John 5:5) The Book of Acts tells the story of a handful of men and women who, by the power of the Holy Spirit, did not leave their world the same way they found it. They were ordinary people whom God enabled to do extraordinary things. It was the beginning of a movement that continues to this very day. On the Day of Pentecost, about 120 believers were gathered together when the Holy Spirit was poured out. Everywhere they went, they were ridiculed and opposed and persecuted and physically assaulted for their beliefs. Some were even put to death. Yet within a period of about 30 years, this original group of 120 and their converts came to be known as those who turned their world upside down. When we see their fearless proclamation of the Good News, their expectant prayers, and their full-hearted willingness to obey, these Christians almost seem radical. But it isn’t that they were radical; it is just that we’re not radical enough. We are living a watered-down version of the Christian life. What we see in the Book of Acts is normal, New Testament Christianity. Could what happened in Acts happen again? Could we see another great movement of the Holy Spirit? The answer is yes, we could. But it starts with you. It starts with me. Let me ask you this: What if everyone in the church behaved just as you do? How well would the church know the Bible? What kind of a prayer life would the church have? How many people would be giving a hand to the discouraged and needy? How many would be hearing the gospel? What kind of church would it be? The church is made up of people like us. And we can make a radical Andrew Murray - 1 JOHN 5:5 CHRIST HAD SPOKEN STRONGLY ON the world hating Him. His Kingdom and the kingdom of this world were in deadly hostility. John had understood the lesson and summed up all in the words: "We know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness." "Love not the world, nor the things that are of the world." "If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him." John also teaches us what the real nature and power of the world is: the lust of the flesh, with its self-pleasing; the lust of the eyes, with its seeing and seeking what there is in the glory of the world; and the pride of life, with its self-exaltation. We find these three marks of what the World is in Eve in Paradise. She "saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise." Through the body and the eyes and the pride of wisdom, the world acquired the mastery over her and over us. The world still exerts a terrible influence over the Christian who does not know that in Christ he has been crucified to the world. In the pleasure in eating and drinking, in the love and enjoyment of what there is to be seen of its glory, and in all that constitutes the pride of life, the power of this world proves itself. And most Christians are either utterly ignorant of the danger of a worldly spirit or feel themselves utterly powerless to conquer it. Christ left us with the great far-reaching promise: "Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." As the child of God abides in Christ and seeks to live the heavenly life in the power of the Holy Spirit, he may confidently count on the power to overcome the world. "Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?" "I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me"; this is the secret of daily, hourly victory over the world and all its secret, subtle temptation. But it needs a heart and a life entirely possessed by the faith of Jesus Christ to maintain the victor's attitude at all times. Oh, my brothers and sisters, take time to ask whether you do with your whole heart believe in the victory that faith gives over the world. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God. —I JOHN 5:5 Devotions from the World of Sports - Page 11 A cold, biting wind blew off Lake Erie as the Denver Broncos faced the Cleveland Browns in the 1987 American Football Conference championship. Cleveland’s ferocious defense, the Dawgs, made them the favorite to advance to the Super Bowl. With just under six minutes remaining, the 79,915 Brown fans visualized their heroes in football’s ultimate game. Bernie Kosar put Cleveland ahead 20–13 with a 48-yard touchdown pass to Brian Brennan. The crowd cheered as Denver botched the kickoff and recovered the ball on the 2-yard line. The Dog Pound crowd smelled victory. A grim and determined John Elway took command. His scrambling and passing moved Denver to midfield inside the three-minute mark. The Browns’ defense stiffened, however, and sacked the Denver quarterback for an 8-yard loss. Facing third and 18, coach Dan Reeves signaled time-out. He called for a 10-yard pass over the middle, but Elway noticed safety Ray Ellis playing deep. Number 7 hit Mark Jackson at the Cleveland 28 with seventy-nine seconds to play. A couple of passes and an Elway run put the ball on the Browns’ 5. Facing third and 1, the Denver quarterback rifled a pass to Jackson. With seconds to go, the Broncos tied. The Browns failed to score in overtime. Denver forced a punt, and Elway marched his offense to the Cleveland 15. Rich Karlis kicked a 33-yard field goal to give the Broncos a victory. Professional football fans refer to Denver’s tying touchdown march as, “The Drive.” Christians often feel backed against their own goal lines facing unbelievable odds. We’re afraid to move forward. In troubled times, there is no alternative but Jesus. We must rely on His strength and make choices with Christ’s teachings and example as our guide. Philip Brooks - 1 John 5:4, 5 Make, then, this Incarnation the one pervading power of a man’s life. Let his first feeling about this world always be, “God has been here, and so God is here still,” and have you not made him strong to walk unpolluted and unscorched through the furnace of the world’s most fiery corruptions? It is the low system, the constitution that is broken down and depressed in tone, that takes the contagion.… And a deep, living sense of God is the true vitality of a human soul which quenches the poisonous fires of corruption, as powerless to be hurt by it as the cold, calm sea is to be set on fire by the coals that you may cast burning into its bosom. Think of the day after Jesus had called John and Peter and Nathanael to be His servants. They had begun to hear His words of eternal life. They had become dimly conscious of so much above and beyond. Do you think it was as hard for them to pass unspotted by the places of temptation in Chorazin and Capernaum? They had tasted the powers of the world to come. And the true way, the only true way, to make any man who is a slave to this world, catching its corruption, free and pure, is to make him see another world, the supernatural world, the world of spiritual life above him and below him and stretching out before him into eternity, made visible by Christ’s Incarnation. Ian Paisley - Battling the World "Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?" 1 John 5:5 The believer is locked in a mortal struggle with the world. What is the world? "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world... For all that is in the world, the lusts of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world." 1 John 2:15-17. Battling the World's Fashions The greatest of all battles are not fought on the earth's soil but rather in man's soul. There is an old book called "The World's Customs". It cries "Conform". It's text is not the right thing but the done thing. I must hiss at the world fashions and do right though the stars fall, Battling the World's Furies The battle is furious. The world will silence you by persecution. The voice of slander, the perdition pen of libel and hell's sword of slaughter will all be used to destroy you. You must determine "I YIELD TO NONE". Battling the World's Friendship If the world smiles upon you—hails you as a great person then beware. Friendship of the world is enmity with God. Battling the World's Frauds The world is full of frauds—the "Lord, Lord" hypocrites. They profess love for your Lord in order to destroy you. We must recognise the world no matter what disguise it wears. If we do no down it, it will down us. "Christian, on guard against the world!" J. C. Philpot - RICHES - Overcoming the world "Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?" 1 John 5:5 A man must either overcome the world—or be overcome by it. To overcome the world is to be saved—to be overcome by it is to be lost. He, then, who does not believe that Jesus is the Son of God does not and cannot overcome the world—for he has not the faith of God's elect—he is not born of God—there is no divine life in his soul—and he has therefore no power to resist the allurements, endure the scorn, or rise superior to the frowns and smiles of the world—but is entangled, carried captive, and destroyed by it! Where the world is loved, the heart is necessarily overcome by it—for in the love of the world, as in the love of sin, is all the strength of the world. Now unless the love of Christ in the soul be stronger than the love of the world, the weaker must give way to the stronger. Those who do not love Christ cannot overcome the world, for such are utter strangers to the faith which purifies the heart from the lust of it, to the hope which rises above it, and to the love which lifts up the soul beyond it. -J. C. Philpot. RICHES Theodore Epp - THE GOD OF THE OVERCOMER In Strength for the Journey Genesis 20:8-18 When Abraham was guilty of a repeated sin regarding Sarah, he was rebuked by an unbeliever, Abimelech (Gen. 20:9,10). It is tragic when a believer who is out of fellowship has to be rebuked by an unbeliever. Certainly this is to the believer's shame. However, this brought Abraham to the root of the problem, and he confessed the sin that he had conceived when he left Ur of the Chaldees (v. 13). God knew that Abraham would confess his sin, as is evident from what God told Abimelech in the dream: "Now therefore restore the man his wife; for he is a prophet, and he shall pray for thee, and thou shalt live" (v. 7). God vindicated Abraham, His friend. God not only forgave Abraham, but He also made Abimelech a debtor to Abraham's prayers, for "Abraham prayed unto God: and God healed Abimelech, and his wife, and his maidservants; and they bare children. For the Lord had fast closed up all the wombs of the house of Abimelech, because of Sarah Abraham's wife" (vv. 17,18). God enabled Abraham to overcome. The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is also the God of the overcomer. Revelation 21:7 records the promise: "He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son." What God was to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, He will be to you, too, because He is the God of the overcomer. "Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?" (1 John 5:5) 1 John 5:4 Commentary <> 1 John 5:6 Commentary