01/18/2026
Sermon notes Jan 18
Test of Christianity
1 John 1: 5-10
THIS IS A TEST
I AM GOING TO ASK SOME TOUGH QUESTIONS
WHY TEST
2Co 13:5 Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?
Jas 1:8 A double minded man is unstable in all his ways
SEVEN TESTS OF CHRISTIAN
Php 2:12 Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
D.L. MOODY
God is my Father because Jesus Christ, my elder Brother, has made me a child of the King; therefore, I must behave that way. Fellowship brings joy (see 1 John 1:4). There is no joy greater than fellowship with a friend.
I walk with a God of light: “God is light, and in him is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5). If my walk is with Him, I will walk in the light of His love and grace.
1Jn 1:5 This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
#1 WALK IN THE LIGHT
1Jn 1:6 If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:
1Jn 1:7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
IF YOU TURN OVER A STONE, THE CREATURES UNDER IT RUN FOR COVER
ITS THE SAME WHEN CHRIST IS NEAR
Luk 12:2 For there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; neither hid, that shall not be known.
Luk 12:3 Therefore whatsoever ye have spoken in darkness shall be heard in the light; and that which ye have spoken in the ear in closets shall be proclaimed upon the housetops.
WHEN I WAS A KID I THOUGHT NO ONE KNEW WHO I WAS
#2. ADMIT YOU ARE A SINNER.
2 THINGS YOU MUST KNOW IN ORDER TO BE SAVED.
(A) WHO HE IS
(B) WHO YOU ARE
1Jn 1:8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
YOU CAN NOT WALK WITH GOD AND PRACTICE SIN
WHAT IS SIN?
Jas 4:17 Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.
GOD HAS GIVEN US THE HOLY SPIRIT TO SHOW US THE SIN IN OUR LIFE THRU CONVICTION
IF A FARMER LIVES IN A STONEY AREA, HE HAS TO REMOVE THE STONES EVERY YEAR
THIS IS THE WAY WITH SIN
DON’T BE DISCOURAGED
GOD KNOWS WE ARE HUMAN
1Jn 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
BE SPECIFIC WITH GOD. NAME YOUR SINS. THAT HELPS YOU TO REALIZE WHO YOU ARE AND HOW MUCH YOU NEED HIM.
#3 OBEY GODS WILL
1Jn 2:4 He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
Mat 12:50 For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.
WHAT ARE THE COMMANDMENTS OF CHRIST?
Mrk 12:30 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.
QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF
DO I SPEND MORE TIME WITH ANY ONE THING MORE THAN I DO WITH GOD?
AM I AMBITIOUS TO CARRY OUT SOME PLAN IN MY LIFE THAT I THINK MIGHT BRING ME HAPPINESS
DO I WANT TO KNOW GODS WILL FOR MY LIFE?
AM I TRULY TRYING TO BE OBEDIENT TO HIM?
Mat 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you
HE HAS A PLAN FOR YOU
Pro 20:24 Man's goings are of the LORD; how can a man then understand his own way?
A group of fellows were going to a nightclub that had a reputation for being rowdy. They stopped to ask a young friend to go along. “I can’t go,” he said. “Why not?” his associates asked. “Well, because my mother wouldn’t want me to.” “How do you know she wouldn’t? She doesn’t even know we’re going.” “Because I know my mother,” was his very wise reply. This is true when you learn to know God—you will know what His desires are.
Jhn 15:14 Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.
SHORTLY AFTER THIS CHRIST GAVE HIS SECOND COMMAND
Jhn 15:17 These things I command you, that ye love one another.
#4 IMITATE CHRIST
1Jn 2:6 He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.
THE WORD CHRISTIAN MEANS CHRIST LIKE.
Mat 5:13 Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.
SALT PRESERVES FOOD FROM SPOILING
ARE YOU THE PRESERVATIVE OF THE CROWD YOU HANG AROUND WITH
DO YOU KERP YOUR LANGUAGE CLEAN
DOES YOUR PRESENCE KEEP YOUR FRIENDS FROM DOING QUESTIONABLE THINGS?
SALT ALSO MAKES A PERSON THIRSTY. DO YOU MAKE OTHERS AROUND YOU THIRSTY FOR CHRIST
YOU MAY BE THE ONLY BIBLE THAT SOME MAY READ.
#5 LOVE OTHERS
1Jn 2:9 He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now.
LOVE CHANGES A PERSON
As a long life, way you go clouds may hide the light of day, have no fear for well you know, love will roll the clouds away
when the road is rough and long, and the world is cold and gray lift your voice and happy song love will grow the clouds the clouds away
God is watching over all and he hears you when you cry trusted him when shadows phone love with row the clouds away.
3 CHIEF ATTITUDES TOWARD OTHERS
(A) HATRED WHICH IS MURDER
1Jn 3:15 Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.
(B) INDIFFERENCE OR NO CONCERN
1Jn 4:20 If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?
1Jn 4:21 And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.
(C) LOVE
LOVE SHOWS ITSELF IN DIFFERENT WAYS
PHYSICALLY
IN THE CONCERN OF WELL BEING FOR OTHERS
SPIRITUALLY
IN CONCERN WITH THE SOUL OF OTHERS
#6 KEEP APART FROM THE WORLD
1Jn 2:15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
Gal 1:4 Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father:
WHAT SEEMS TO WORK FOR THE WORLD DOES NOT WORK FOR US
WE DON’T BELONG HERE. THIS IS NOT OUR HOME.
1Jn 2:16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
1Jn 2:17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.
(A) LUST OF THE FLESH
TEMPTATION COMES THRU THE BODY
40 DAYS WITHOUT BREAD OR WATER
BETWEEN 1 TO 2 MONTHS IS AS LONG AS ANY TYPICAL PERSON CAN GO WITHOUT FOOD.
THE SAME WEAPON HE ATTACKED EVE WITH, HE ATTACKED JESUS WITH.
SATAN HAS NOT INVENTED NEW WAY OF ATTACK.
1Co 10:13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.
Luk 4:3 And the devil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread.
Luk 4:4 And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.
WHAT THE BIBLE IS ALL ABOUT by Henrietta Mears
Our appetite is still one of the most vulnerable points when Satan attacks us. The necessity for bread and pleasure is supposed by some to justify any means to get them. But it is not necessary that we live at all! There is only one moral necessity: to trust God and keep His commandments.
(B) LUST OF THE EYES
WHEN SATAN REALIZES HE CANT GET YOU WITH ONE HE MOVES TO THE NEXT ATTEMPT
Luk 4:5 And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.
Luk 4:6 And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it.
Luk 4:7 If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine.
Luk 4:8 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.
Mat 6:19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:
Mat 6:20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:
WHAT YOU SET YOU EYS UPON CAN CORRUPT YOUR SOUL
BE CAREFUL LITTLE EYES WHAT YOU SEE
(C) PRIDE OF LIFE
ITS TEMPTING TO TAKE SHORT CUTS ESPECIALLY WHEN THINGS GET TOUGH
1Pe 5:6 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:
Mat 16:26 For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?
#7 PROVE CHRIST IS RIGHTEOUS BY HOW YOU LIVE
1Jn 2:29 If ye know that he is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of him.
2Co 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
Psa 51:10 Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.
