MEM

1John 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.

In MEM 167 we were exploring the primary purpose John wrote this epistle to the church, it is to remind us of the absolute need for fellowship. The key to this fellowship unity is abiding in the Father and His Son and they in us. We also considered some of the benefits of this fellowship.

Then in MEM, 168, John’s message mandated that we, being the children of Elohim (God), live a sin free life; and John clearly defines "Sin" that no one can plead ignorance in this regard.

In the last MEM, 169, we looked at the fellowship benefit of knowing, this is knowledge from Elohim. There is no lasting communion without knowing that we know, this brings the confidence we all desire.

Now we will see what John has to say about tying all of this together in the bond of LOVE.

1John 4:19 We love, because He first loved us.

• that "we should be called children of God…" 1John 3:1-2
• the promise of eternal life 1John 5:11-13
• our anointing 1John2:27
• the abiding 1John 2:24, 27; 3:6, 9, 24; 4:13
• to Know we know Him 1John 2:20
• that we can love because "He first loved us" 1John 4:19
• the ability to listen 1John 4:6
• effective power to be victorious over self and Satan 1John 2:14; 4:4

1John 3:1 See how great a love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. 2 Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we shall be. We know that, when He appears, we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him just as He is.

1John 3:11 For this is the message which you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another;

1John 3:14 We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren…

This is the unity bond that keeps the body of Messiah working in harmony to His glory.

1John 2:5 but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him:

1John 2:10 The one who loves his brother abides in the light and there is no cause for stumbling in him.

1John 3:10 By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother.

1John 2:15 Do not love the world, nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

1John 3:17 But whoever has the world's goods, and beholds his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him?

1John 3:15 Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer; and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

1John 3:16 We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.

1John 3:18 Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth.

John’s love chapter - John is firm, yet he is considered the apostle of Love

1John 4:7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8 The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.

1John 4:9 By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. 10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has beheld God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us.

1John 4:16 And we have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. 17 By this, love is perfected with us, that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love. 19 We love, because He first loved us.

1John 4:20 If someone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. 21 And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also.

1John 5:1 Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God; and whoever loves the Father loves the child born of Him. 2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and observe His commandments. 3 For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome.

1John 3:24 And the one who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. And we know by this that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.

1John 2:5 but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him:

1John 2:6 the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.

1John 4:15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.

1John 3:9 No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.

John was writing at the end of the apostles of Messiah’s era. He was writing after many long years of making disciples and preparing them for the return of the Messiah. What better instruction can we have but to pay attention to his inspired writings?

1John 1:3 what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, that you also may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.

1John 3:1 See how great a love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. 2 Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we shall be. We know that, when He appears, we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him just as He is. 3 And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.

1John 2:24 As for you, let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father. 25 And this is the promise which He Himself made to us: eternal life.

1John 2:17 And the world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God abides forever.

1John 5:5 And who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

1John 1:7 but if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.

1John 2:12 I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for His name's sake.

1John 2:14 I have written to you, fathers, because you know Him who has been from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one.

1John 3:7 Little children, let no one deceive you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous;

1John 3:9 No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.

1John 3:10 By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother.

1John 3:14 We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren…

1John 3:16 We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.

1John 5:21 Little children, guard yourselves from idols.

Walk in Love

Proverbs 3:12 For whom the LORD loves He reproves, Even as a father, the son in whom he delights.

Proverbs 8:17 "I love those who love me; And those who diligently seek me will find me.

Proverbs 10:12 … love covers all transgressions.

Proverbs 15:9 … He loves him who pursues righteousness.

Proverbs 15:17 Better is a dish of vegetables where love is, Than a fattened ox and hatred with it.

Proverbs 17:17 A friend loves at all times…

Proverbs 19:8 He who gets wisdom loves his own soul; He who keeps understanding will find good.

He who has ears let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches…

― Thomas à Kempis, The Imitation of Christ

Ah! - 1John 2:6 the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.

And - 1John 4:6 We are from God; he who knows God listens to us; he who is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

You are critically wounded and dying in the jungle somewhere in the Central Highlands of Viet Nam.

It's November 14, 1965. LZ (landing zone) X-ray.

Your unit is out numbered 8-1 and the enemy fire is so intense from 100 yards away, that your CO (commanding officer) has ordered the Med-Evac helicopters to stop coming in.

You're lying there, listening to the enemy machine guns and you know you're not getting out.

Your family is half way around the world, 12,000 miles away, and you'll never see them again.

As the world starts to fade in and out, you know this is the day.

Then - over the machine gun noise - you faintly hear that sound of a helicopter. You look up to see a Huey coming in. But… It doesn't seem real because no Med-Evac markings are on it.

Captain Ed Freeman is coming in for you. He's not Med-Evac so it's not his job, but he heard the radio call and decided he's flying his Huey down into the machine gun fire anyway. Even after the Med-Evac’s were ordered not to come. He's coming anyway.

And he drops it in and sits there in the machine gun fire, as they load 3 of you at a time on board.

Then he flies you up and out through the gunfire to the doctors and nurses and safety.

And, he kept coming back!!! 13 more times!!! Until all the wounded were out.

No one knew until the mission was over that the Captain had been hit 4 times in the legs and left arm. He took 29 of you and your buddies out that day. Some would not have made it without the Captain and his Huey.

Medal of Honor Recipient, Captain Ed Freeman, United States Air Force, died August 20, 2008, at the age of 80, in Boise, Idaho

Watch a video of Ed telling the story here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdDYNI7V0co

Remember: If your mind goes blank, don’t forget to turn off the sound.

Do you think of love only in the context of romance? This is a limited and false view based on a cultural understanding of love. It makes friends feel awkward about saying they love their friends of the same sex. Yeshua (Jesus) wants us to have a larger and broader view of love, of which romance is only a part. His word is a story of every kind of love. He told His disciples that there was no greater love than this; that a man lay down his life for his friends. There is nothing romantic about this. Let our understanding of love be without awkwardness or embarrassment. We can love because He first loved us. Because we are beloved, love one another. (Adopted from a blog post by Dale Cresap)

1John 3:11 For this is the message which you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another;

Psalm 119:97 O how I love Thy law! It is my meditation all the day.

Psalm 119:165 Those who love Thy law have great peace, And nothing causes them to stumble.

Psalm 145:20 The LORD keeps all who love Him…

Psalm 146:8 … The LORD loves the righteous;

Psalm 70:4 … And let those who love Thy salvation say continually, "Let God be magnified."

Blessed be YHVH (Genesis 14:20 And blessed be God Most High…)