Love Changes Everything.

In 1 John 4:8, we read the words, "God is love." How do we know that God is love? How do we know that He loves us? Knowing that God is love is more than reading these words in God's Word. It's being reached by God's love. Our hearts are touched by His love. Our …

"His dominion shall be… to the ends of the earth" (Zechariah 9:10).

God's purpose was moving on. He had begun with Israel. Their deliverance from bondage in Egypt was a mighty demonstration of His saving power. This was only the beginning. God was moving on to Jesus - "the Saviour of the world" (John 4:42). In Jesus Christ, crucified for us, God was reaching out, in love, …

Where do we find perfect love?

"Perfect love drives out fear" (1 John 4:18).Where do we find perfect love?Do we find it in our own love for God? No! - Our love for God is very far from perfect.Do we find it in our love for one another? No! - Our love for one another is very far from perfect.Where do …

Walking in the light with Jesus

Blessed is the one... whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night (Psalm 1:1-2). Have we forgotten these words that come to us from the first two verses of the book of the Psalms, or do we hear another voice, the voice of our Lord …

Look, I’m standing at the door.

Look, I’m standing at the door (Revelation 3:20). Are you ‘looking for a better country – a heavenly one’ (Hebrews 11:16)? ‘God has put eternity into man’s mind’ (Ecclesiastes 3:11). In every human heart, there’s ‘a God-shaped blank’. Jesus came to give us ‘life’ – ‘abundant life’, ‘eternal life’ (John 10:10; John 17:3; 1 John …

Let it be to me according to Your Word.

‘Let it be to me according to Your Word’ (Luke 1:38). When we ‘walk in the Spirit’ (Galatians 5:16, 22-23), God sees that it is ‘good’ (Micah 6:8). Let us ‘walk in the light’ (1 John 1:7). May the Spirit's ‘living water’ flow in us (John 7:39-39). This is the way of fruitfulness.

Does anything really last forever?

"Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father but is of the …

The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin.

"Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me" (Psalm 51:10). When I was a young boy, being taught the meaning of words, our schoolteacher asked us the question, "What is the opposite of ... ?", e.g. What's the opposite of clean and right? - Dirty and wrong. Make …

We read about the great days.

We read about the great days. We wonder, "Is there anything else?" Is there something more? Do we have a future? Don't think of these great days as "long, long ago, when life was very different." Have we outgrown the need to listen to Peter,s earnest appeal: "Save yourselves from this corrupt generation" (Acts 2:40)? …

The love of Christ: reaching out to us, and reaching out, through us, to other people

Christ died "not for our sins only but also for the sins of the whole world" (1 John 2:2). This is something which we, in the church, must never forget. When we are tempted to shut out 'the big, bad world', we must remember - Christ died "not for our sins only but also for …

The love of God

"This is how God showed his love among us: he sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him" (1 John 4:9). As I read these words, my thoughts went to the words of John 3:16 - "God so loved the world that he gave his one and only …

The blessings that we receive from the Lord

"This is what he promised us - eternal life" (1 John 2:25). What a wonderful promise the Lord Jesus has given to us. He says to us, "I go to prepare a place for you. I will come back and take you to be with me so that where I am, there you may be …

Jesus, Keep Me Near The Cross.

"When I see the blood, I will pass over you" (Exodus 12:13). We read these words, and our thoughts move forward to the words of 1 John 1:7 - "The blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanses us from all sin." How wonderful this is! Hallelujah!  What a Saviour! Here's a song which, I hope, will …

The light of love

"The Lord is my light and my salvation — whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life — of whom shall I be afraid?" (Psalm 27:1). The Lord shines his light upon us. He leads us out of darkness and into his light. He helps us to see our life in his light - the light of his love, the …

In the power of the Holy Spirit

We look at Jesus' birth. We look at His baptism. We see the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit comes upon Mary, and Jesus is conceived. The Holy Spirit comes upon Jesus, and His public ministry is set in motion. After Jesus' birth, Satan tries to destroy the work of God. Herod tries to do away …

Living as a new creation

How are we live as a “new creation” (Galatians 6:15)? Paul speaks to us about “faith expressing itself through love” (Galatians 5:6). What does it mean to have faith? How are we to live a life that is inspired, controlled, motivated and directed by love? Paul speaks about the beginning of the life of faith: …

From strength to strength, from faith to faith, from glory to glory

"Be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus" (2 Timothy 2:1). By the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, we are led from strength to strengh, from faith to faith, and from glory to glory. (1) From strength to strength The phrase, "from strength to strength" is taken from the hymn, "Soldiers of …

The Word and the words (15): The way to the Father … the way of love and holiness … the way to heaven

“Where I am going, you cannot follow now, but you will follow later " (John 13:36). "Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go …

Purify my heart.

"Purify my heart, cleanse me from within and make me holy" (Songs of Fellowship, 475). When we pray this kind of prayer, what are we expecting to happen to us? Are we looking for sinless perfection? If we're expecting sinless perfection, we're in for a big shock? "Purify my heart ... " - this is …

When you are deeply aware of your sinfulness, remember – God loves you.

1 John  3:19-4:21 - ‘God is greater than our hearts’. When you are deeply aware of your sinfulness, remember - God loves you. God’s Word is brutally honest - about us: ‘The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?’ God’s Word is wonderfully encouraging - about His love for …

A better way of life – life in Christ

"God so loved the world (the people of the world)" (John 3:16); "Do not love the world (the ways of the world)" (1 John 2:15). "God so loved the world" - These words are a call to mission. We are to show the people of the world how much God loves them. We're to be …

We will be led in the pathway of victory, as we learn to follow Jesus.

"The One who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world" (1 John 4:4). Do not underestimate Satan - he has great power, but make sure that you never overestimate him. Christ is greater than Satan - and Christ in us! We should respect the power of Satan - he …

There’s something more than human love.

"Your Word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path" (Psalm 119:105). Without the Word of the Lord, we stumble along in the darkness. We stumble, and we fall. When we stop listening to what the Word of God says to us, the darker things become. It's not easy to keep on …

When we feel like the light’s been switched off

Our light can go out. Jesus' light never goes out. This is something we must never forget. It's not about our light. It's about His light. Our feelings tell us one thing. Jesus tells us something else. Who are we to believe: our feelings or Jesus, our Saviour? We know what our answer should be, …

God’s love for us, our love for him and our love for one another

"We love because he first loved us" (1 John 4:19) .  Before there is our love for God, there is his love for us. Before there is our love for another, there is God's love for each one of us. God's love, always, comes first. This is something we should never forget. When we become …

Let’s share the Good News.

1 JOHN  1:1-2:17 - ‘Jesus Christ’ died ‘for our sins’. This is Good News. It is not to be kept to ourselves - He died ‘for the sins of the whole world’. We have ‘fellowship with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ’. ‘We have fellowship with one another’. These blessings are not to …

Our sin speaks out against us. Our Saviour speaks out for us.

"See what great love the Father has lavished on 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. Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been …

Life is going well.

Life is going well, but we wonder, "Will it all be taken away from me?" We worry about many things, but we need not despair. Jesus is with us. He gives us hope. He assures us that His perfect love casts out our fear (1 John 4:18).

The School of Discipleship (15): Learning from Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s book, “The Cost of Discipleship”

What can we learn from Bonhoeffer's book, The Cost of Discipleship? This book was first published when Bonhoeffer was only 31 years old. Page references are to the edition I was using at the time I wrote these notes. I've included the page references. It will give you a rough idea of the part of …

From a self-centred life to a God-centred life

They said, ‘Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth’ (Genesis 11:4). Return, Israel, to the Lord your God. Your sins have been your downfall!  Take words with you and …

Loving him who first loved me

How lovely is your dwelling-place, Lord Almighty! My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God (Psalm 84:1-2). Blessed are those who dwell in your house; they are ever praising you (Psalm 84:4). We love the house of the Lord, the place where we …

Jesus is Lord, not Satan.

God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear (Psalm 46:1-2). Fear is the enemy of love. Fear is the enemy of peace. Fear is the enemy of joy. Fear is the enemy of faith. Fear is the enemy of hope. Where does fear come from? It comes from Satan. Who …

No more darkness

 "The darkness is passing and the true light is already shining" (1 John 2:8). Often, it seems to us like we are surrounded by darkness. We wonder, "Is there any light at the end of the tunnel?" When we feel like this, we need the eternal perspective, the vision of God's glory - "The city …

The serpent, Adam and Eve, and us!

In Genesis 3:1-7, we read abot the evil influence of "the serpent" (Satan - Revelation 12:9). Here, we must note the difference between temptation and sin. Satan tempted Adam and Eve. They sinned. They couldn't blame Satan for their sin. Temptation only became sin when they gave into temptation. It's the same with us. We …

Words of love, hope and truth

"And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. Opponents must be gently instructed, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the …

Words from far away and long ago … or more than that?

"The Lord is my light and my salvation ... The Lord is the strength of my life" (Psalm 27:1). We read these words from a faraway place and a long time ago, and we wonder, "Are these words for us? Are they for today's world? or Should they be left in the past?" Does God's Word give …

Let Your Love Flow.

"God is love" (1 John 4:8). God loves us, because He is love. His love for us has nothing to do with what we are. It has everything to do with who he is. He is love. May his love - perfect love, the greatest love, the best love,  flow out to us from his …

Responding to God’s Word (55): Soldiers of Christ, arise.

Greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world (1 John 4:4). Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Father's Son, will be with us in truth and love (2 John, verse 1). I have no greater joy than to hear that my children …

God has given us eternal life. This life is in his Son.

"And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life" (1 John 5:11-12). God has created us for eternal life. He has opened up the way for us to have eternal …

The Kingdom Of God: John’s Gospel And Letters

'He's a born again Christian.' This phrase suggests that there are some Christians who are born again, and there are  other Christians who are not born again. What are we to make of this? According to Jesus, you cannot be a Christian unless you have been born again. There is no such thing as a …

Faith Is The Victory.

"Faith is the victory that overcomes the world" (1 John 5:4). Jesus has won the victory.  He gives His victory to us. We receive His victory by faith. For Jesus, the pathway to victory was the way of the Cross. We will be led in the pathway of victory, as we learn to follow Jesus. …

Each of us must choose how we’re going to live.

"Don’t love the world and what it offers. Those who love the world don’t have the Father’s love in them. Not everything that the world offers, physical gratification, greed, and extravagant lifestyles, comes from the Father. It comes from the world, and the world and its evil desires are passing away. But the person who …

Don’t keep the Good News to yourself!

‘Jesus Christ’ died ‘for our sins’. This is Good News. It is not to be kept to ourselves – He died ‘for the sins of the whole world’. We have ‘fellowship with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ’. ‘We have fellowship with one another’. These blessings are not to be kept to ourselves. …

‘Jesus Christ’ died ‘for our sins’ – This is Good News.

1 John 1:1-2:17 - ‘Jesus Christ’ died ‘for our sins’. This is Good News. It is not to be kept to ourselves - He died ‘for the sins of the whole world’. We have ‘fellowship with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ’. ‘We have fellowship with one another’. These blessings are not to …

All glory to the Lord – the God of eternal love, the God of our eternal salvation.

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight" (Ephesians 1:3-4). We sing praise to the Lord. He has blessed us so much - …

See what great love the Father has lavished on us.

"Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God" (1 John 3:1, King James Version). "See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!" (1 John 3:1, New International …

Love has the victory forever.

"Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does …

O Lord, listen! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, hear and act!

Daniel 8:15-9:19; 1 John 2:28-3:10; Proverbs 29:10-18 There is real urgency about Daniel’s prayer: “O Lord, look with favour on Your desolate sanctuary … O Lord, listen! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, hear and act!” (Daniel 9:17,19). We do need to pray with urgency. There are many who seek to lead us astray (1 John …

Jesus Christ – the Lamb of God

"When I see the blood, I will pass over you" (Exodus 12:13). When we read these words, our thoughts move forward to several verses from the New Testament. In John 1:29, our attention is directed towards Jesus Christ, "the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world." In 1 Corinthians 5:7, we learn …

The Lord bless you and keep you.

"Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven" (Psalm 32:1). The forgiveness of sins - this is such a great blessing. The forgiveness of sins: it's just the beginning of so much great blessing which will continue throughout our life on earth and for all eternity. "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit …

The light of God’s holiness, and the light of his love

Come, let us walk in the light of the Lord (Isaiah 2:5). When the light of the Lord shines into our hearts and upon our lives, it shows us our sin and it shows us our Saviour. The light of God's holiness shows us that we are sinners who need to be saved. The light …

To The Ends Of The Earth

“His dominion shall be… to the ends of the earth” (Zechariah 9:10). God’s purpose was moving on. He had begun with Israel. Their deliverance from bondage in Egypt was a mighty demonstration of His saving power. This was only the beginning. God was moving on to Jesus, “the Saviour of the world” (John 4:42). In …

Through Christ, We Are “More Than Conquerors.”

Revelation 14:1-15:8 With ‘patient endurance’, we are to ‘obey God’s commandments and remain faithful to Jesus’ (12). This will not be easy. Satan will do all that he can to defeat us. How can we be ‘victorious’ over him? We must rejoice in all that God has done for His people, Israel. He delivered them …

Reverence And Trust

"The God of Israel ... the Rock of Israel" (2 Samuel 23:3) Here, David speaks with "reverence" for God and "trust" in God (Rev William Still).

Full salvation

Gen 3:10–15, Isa 64:6, Rom 10:11, 2 Cor 5:21, 1 John 1:9 Through Christ's Death On The Cross, God Has Provided For Us A Full Salvation! Having chosen the way of sin, we are ‘naked’ and ashamed (Genesis 3:10). The Gospel teaches us that ‘there’s a way back to God from the dark paths of …

Links to Rev James Philip’s notes on 1, 2 and 3 John

1 John 2 John 3 John

There’s a difference between life under the sun and life in the Son.

There is nothing new under the sun (Ecclesiastes 1:9). Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! (2 Corinthians 5:17). There's a difference between life "under the sun" and life in the Son. It's important that we understand this difference. Life under the sun: this is life, …

The blood of Jesus Christ, God’s Son, cleanses us from all sin.

To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: “God, I thank you that I am not like other people – robbers, evildoers, …

1 John 3-5

There is, here, a call to holiness. We are "to live a holy life... to be holy, just as God is holy." We are enabled to do this through "God's seed within us." "Living a holy life" involves "loving our brothers (and sisters): "we are to love one another" (chapter 3). When we live this …

1 John 1-2

The Christian life is grounded in Jesus Christ: "His blood cleanses us from all sin" (chapter 1); "He is the sacrifice that takes our sins away" (chapter 2). With Christ in full view, the Christian life is very different from a legalistic way of life. What does it mean to say that the Christian life …