Thru the Bible

Steve Schwetz: What's the secret to living the Christian life? Welcome to Through the Bible with Dr. J. Vernon McGee. I'm Steve Schwetz, your host on this five-year journey through God's entire word. And we're going to begin in the New Testament book of 1 John in chapter 2 verse 12 where Dr. McGee gives us a sincere and straightforward answer to that question. So, while you hop aboard the Bible bus and get comfortable, Greg Harris and I want to share the latest news from our home group movement in South Asia.

Greg Harris: Oh my, and this is a subject we love to talk about. You and I have had lots of firsthand experience with it. We we've seen the impact. Very briefly, a home group is nothing more or nothing less than a home Bible study in the mother tongue with Dr. McGee's teaching in six chosen books of the Bible. They meet once a week. They sing, they worship, they pray, and they listen to teaching, and the impact is incredible.

Steve Schwetz: Yeah, God is so moving in this particular movement and blessing the ministry. And we just want to read these testimonies to you. The first one is a listener in Andhra Pradesh, India, and they join us in the Kuvi language. I don't know that we've ever talked about Kuvi.

Greg Harris: No, I don't think I'm pretty sure we haven't, Steve.

Steve Schwetz: Yeah. So, here's the letter. It is a joy to listen to God's word in our own language every Tuesday. The believers are beginning to understand the word of God in a wonderful way, and we are growing together. After some time, I started another new radio home group in a different village. While we were listening to the word of God, one man was hiding. Probably outside the doorway, I can imagine, but listening. Kindly pray for him that the word of God may be fruitful in his life and that he gains confidence to join us.

Greg Harris: And the fact that we're talking about the the Kuvi or Kuvi language, we would never have gotten into this language without this model of using the home groups because as we've often shared with our listening family, radio is expensive and we often can't reach these smaller language groups. We say smaller could be two, three, four million, could be 100,000. But but look at the impact in that man's life. And then he reaches out and he has a neighbor who's hiding at the door listening. Incredible.

Steve Schwetz: Yeah. Yeah. And I just want to point out this guy most people in other parts of the world are multilingual. So that he probably most likely speaks Hindi, and he probably even speaks English. But what does he say? It is a joy to listen to God's word in our own language every Tuesday.

Greg Harris: Yes. Yes. Yeah. Own language. Absolutely. Yes. All right. Let's hear from Basanti who listens in the Kuirak language in Jharkhand, India. That was a lot for me to get out. But

Steve Schwetz: Yeah, and that's another language I don't think we've ever talked about on the program.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: We have not. I was living a life of physical weakness and was anxious. In this condition, I was searching for a way to get relief. One day, I joined a home group that meets in my neighborhood. I really liked it and started to know and understand things about the Bible. Now, I attend this study group with my family and we are growing in the Lord. We are learning more and more of God's word which gives peace to our hearts. I thank God for this arrangement where we can know God's word regularly. I love that. Love the word arrangement.

Steve Schwetz: Oh, just Exactly. Exactly. So, here's here's another one. I think we have time. This one's from a Bengali listener named Ainuden. I am a home group leader. First, I would like to thank my almighty God because of his blessing I came to know the word of God in Bengali. Through the media kit lessons, I came to know that I must share the word of God so that others may know and be saved as I have been saved. So, I started to share the word of God to others and it is bringing joy to me.

Greg Harris: Uh Steve, you and I, of course, could just enthuse all day long about what amazing things God is doing. But did you notice how each of the responses there's an outreach component

Steve Schwetz: Yes.

Greg Harris: which is very different than most of our home Bible studies in in North America. It's kind of us us eight and no more. Maybe we add a few people. But the evangelistic power of this and the unbelievers that love to join these groups, that's what makes this special.

Steve Schwetz: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, it really is uh fulfilling the Great Commission for these folks in a tangible way.

Greg Harris: And it's equipping them to do it.

Steve Schwetz: Yeah. We would so appreciate your prayers for the home group ministry of Through the Bible around the world. And let me go ahead and pray now as we begin our program. Heavenly Father, I pray that you would bless the study in 1 and 2 John as we look at your word. I pray that you would use these home groups around the world to bring many believers uh together that they might be able to share their faith more boldly as a result of the exposure that they have to the word of God through these home groups.

Bless the ministry, Lord. Bless our study as we continue now in Jesus' name. Amen. Turn to 1 John chapter 2 as we go through the Bible with Dr. J. Vernon McGee.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: Now as we come again to our text today, I'm going to pick up here at verse 14. This is a section that a great many separate from what is followed. But actually, I feel it's very much a part of what he's been talking about and that it is really not a separate thing at all. You see, he's been telling us how we as God's children, how we can know that we are his children. And the way that we can know it is by the fact that we love him and that we keep his commandments. And later on, he's going to say his commandments are not grievous.

Now, we're not even talking about the 10 commandments here. We actually are talking about the commandments that the Lord Jesus gave. And here we are brought actually into the holy of holies in a very personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. Someone has made this kind of a division, and I like it. In the Epistle to the Romans is how we come out of the house of bondage. In Ephesians is how we enter the banqueting house. Hebrews is how we approach the throne of grace. And in 1 John, how we approach the divine presence. Now, you and I can have assurance that we are genuine child of God, not only be a proof to our neighbor that we're a child of God, but to ourselves because of our obedience under him.

And that we want to please the Lord Jesus in all that we do. And that is the motive for obedience to Christ. If you love me, keep my commandments. And that is the thing that is brought to our attention here, and it's very important. Now, I feel like that there's some folk today that more or less grit their teeth and they say, yes, I'll obey him. But the motive is not love. It's like the little boy that is mama made him sit in a chair in the corner and face in the corner, you know. And she heard a disturbance in the corner, and she said to him, Willie, are you sitting down?

And he says, yes, ma'am, but I'm standing up on the inside of me. And I think there are a lot of God's children today. They're obeying outwardly some little rules and regulations. And that's another reason that I oppose all the gimmicks today for living the Christian life, that it's some sort of a philosophy and if you follow some gimmicks and they attempt to follow it. But they are standing up on the inside of them. They're not doing it because they love the Lord Jesus. And friends, when you solve that problem and you love him and you want to obey him because you love him, then may I say a great deal of the marital problems will be solved today.

A great deal of the uncertainty that you have in your own heart. And that's the reason this type of thing is so popular today. If you start talking on how to live the Christian life, why people come running. And if they're given a lot of gimmicks to follow and a great many people like to lean on something, even if it is a poor broken reed, they want to lean on it. But that won't help you. It won't hold you up. It's based today on a love relationship. You see, salvation is a love affair. And John's going to tell us about it a little later.

We love him because he first loved us. Now, he had divided the Christians into three groups, little children. And those little children are little born ones. And that is a word that means these little children. And it's a word that speaks of the fact that their sins are forgiven them. And that is a picture of all believers. We all were at that stage one time. And then he says to the fathers, because you've known him, that is from the beginning. Now, that means the beginning of the coming of Christ into the world. That is you have known him, that is the Lord Jesus from his incarnation.

Through his life till the time he was crucified on the cross and raised from the dead. Then he says, I write unto you, young man, because you have overcome the wicked one. And then he says, I write unto you, little children, because you have known the father. Now, that is a different word here for little children. And that is the place, of course, where we all begin. You can't add anything really to that. That speaks of believers, young and old, to know him. And you can't go beyond that. And this is the one that Paul mentioned.

Paul said even at the end of his life when he wrote Philippians, he says that I might know him and the power of his resurrection. Now, this is not something that's theoretical. How do you know somebody? Well, you know somebody by living with them day by day. I have discovered that my wife knows me. She's lived with me nearly 40 years, and she knows me very well. And you want to know something? I know her very well. And this summer, we really got acquainted with each other. We had time for the first time since we were married to sit on our back patio and just sit and talk.

And we talked about many things from the time that we met even before we met down to the very present. This past summer is the greatest summer I ever spent. And yet, I was sick during that time. It was really a wonderful experience. Well, I know her. She knows me. Now, how are you going to know the Lord Jesus Christ? Well, friends, the only way you can know him is in the word of God. And a great many people they feel that if they go to a Bible study once a week or they go to a little course that they take that somehow another that they are super-duper saints.

My friend, the word of God is like food. And it's wonderful to go to these Bible studies once a week. I've conducted Bible study once a week over the years, and I certainly approve of it. But imagine going in and eating a good meal and then saying, well, I'll be back in a week and I'll have another meal with you. Well, that's no good. That's the reason we believe that a daily radio program is so important today because we give food here once a day. And in many areas, we're now giving it three times a day.

And I was speaking at a church yesterday and there were quite a few radio listeners there. One lady came up to me and made the statement. She says, I listen to you three times a day because we're on that here in Southern California. And another one right back over her to say it. She says, well, I do too. And be honest with you, they hear the same thing and I'd get very tired of hearing the same thing myself. But nevertheless, that's the way we're to grow through the word of God. This is the bread of life.

And if we are to know Christ, we're to live with him. And he's to live with us. And that's the way you can come to know him. This is not theoretical. This is not something that's nice, idealistic, and we hear it and write it in a notebook and then forget about it. The question and let's just get right down now where the rubber meets the road. Do you live with Christ? How about it? I hear many people say, well, I lost my mate and I'm living alone now. And many others write and say, though I've lost my mate, I have the Lord Jesus with me and I'm not alone.

May I say to you, it's all right to live with him. I don't care who you are. If you live with him, it will enable you to grow. And that's the thing that he's talking about here. Now, he says something else here. He says, I've written unto you, fathers, because you've known him from the beginning. And this speaks of those that are growing because they know him. They've been living with him. And now we have here, I've written under you, young man, because you're strong and the word of God abideth in you. Now, when he said the young man were strong before and they were able to overcome the wicked one, he didn't mention the fact that the word of God abideth in you.

Now, he gives the secret. How are you going to overcome the wicked one? Well, through the word of God. And the word of God says they overcame him by the blood of the lamb. It's when you rest in the Lord Jesus Christ and he becomes personal to you and becomes real to you and you can talk with him. I ride along in my car a great deal by myself. I always talk with him when I'm by myself. And I know that it seems strange. I had a woman drive up by the side of me at a street light, and I was just talking away.

I was praying, but I just do it in a very informal manner. And I was telling the Lord Jesus about myself and not that he didn't already know. And I was asking him for help. This woman looked over at me and she looked to see if somebody was in the car. She saw there wasn't anybody in the car, and here I was talking. So, she just took her index finger and went around her head, which she obviously meant that she thought I was off, didn't have all my marbles or something. Well, may I say to you, I don't care what she thinks.

The important thing is that we need to know him. We need to know him. And we can know him in his word. Now, would you notice we're told here that you can overcome the wicked one. How can you overcome the wicked one? With the word of God. What is it called? Well, the only weapon of offense that's ever been given to a believer is the word of God which is the sword of the spirit. And I tell you, if you're going to be able to defend yourself against the devil, you're going to need the word of God.

And the reason so many believers are succumbing today to the world is simply because they're not in the word of God. I don't care how many of these little courses you take, and I don't care whether you go to a Bible study once a week. I've done that for years. And I find that a great many people do not mature. And yet a great many others do. Why? Because they stay in the word of God. You need to eat three times a day. And believe me, if you need physical food to be strong, you sure do need spiritual food to be strong.

Now, we're told here in verse 15, love not the world. Now, what world is he talking about here? He does not mean the world of creation. That is the system and the order that you find in creation today. In spring, the flowers bloom and the trees put out leaves. And then in the fall, the leaves begin to turn all kinds of beautiful colors like yellow and gold and red. Then they fall off and winter comes and all of that. That's not the world that we're not to love. We're to love that world God created it.

It's God's creation. And we are to do that. The poet says, what is so rare as a day in June when heaven tries earth if it be in tune and over it softly her warm ear lays. And whether we look or whether we listen, we hear life murmur or see it glisten. Now, you know I said that by memory. I haven't repeated that in years. I learned that when I was in grammar school. And that is always stuck with me. My birthday's in June, and so I just always think in June how wonderful it is, how wonderful nature is.

And somebody's put it like this. Heaven above is softer blue, earth beneath is sweeter green. Something lives in every hue Christless eyes have never seen. Birds with gladder songs o'er flow, flowers with deeper beauty shine. Since I know, as now I know, I am his and he is mine. Isn't that a lovely thing that today because he's the creator, we can love this physical creation. So, he doesn't mean that. Well, there is another way that he's not talking about. He's not talking about humanity here. That is mankind because we're told God so loved the world.

The world of what? People, human beings, if you please, that he gave his only begotten son. Well, what does he mean? Well, he's talking here about this world system that you and I are in today. And believe me, there is a world system today and it's satanic. And he mentions it in the 14th chapter of the Gospel of John in verse 30. Let me read that. Hereafter, he says, I will not talk much with you for the prince of this world cometh and he hath nothing in me. The prince of this world, of the world what?

The world system, the civilization that you and I are in today with all of its governments. They belong to Satan. This system does. He offered the Lord Jesus the kingdoms of this world. And I don't think he left out the United States when he made the offer. It all belongs to him, and we're not to love this world today. And he mentions it again over here in the 16th chapter verse 11. He says of judgment because the prince of this world is judged. Again, the system that is satanic, that is in this world today. And we are told over in Ephesians the second chapter and I want to turn then by the way when he speaks there of the foundation of the world in verse four of chapter one.

He's talking there about the material creation. But when you come over to chapter two at verse two, he says, in which in times past ye walked according to the course of this world. What is the course of this world? Well, this is a world today that's filled with greed, with selfish ambition, with fleshly pleasures, and with deceit, and lying, and danger. That's the world that you and I live in today. And he says to us, love not this world. And you are going to be obedient to one world or the other. You're either going to obey the world system today and live in it and enjoy or else you're going to obey God.

Will you listen to Paul as he speaks in Galatians the sixth chapter verse 14? Let me read this to you. But God forbid that I should glory except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ by whom the world is crucified under me and I unto the world. Paul says there stands between me and this world system today the satanic system across. And both are bidding for me. And I as a child of God, I am obedient under him. And I glory in the cross of Christ. And you can be sure of one thing, the world today is not glorying in the cross of Christ at all.

Now, Peter speaks of this same thing in the second chapter of 2 Peter verse 20. He says, for if after ye have escaped the pollutions of the world, the pollutions. And then he spoke before of the corruptions of the world. You and I live in a world that is corrupted and polluted. And we are hearing so much today about air pollution and water pollution. How about the mind polluted today by all of the pornography and all of the vile language. How about the spirit of man that's being dull by these things? We are not to love the world, neither the things that are in the world.

If any man love the world, the love of the father's not in him. You can't run with the devil's crowd all week and then run with the Lord's crowd on Sunday. You may run with them, but you sure are out of place, my friend. That's just something that you can't do. Now, we have something here that is quite interesting. I won't get very far here, but this is such an important section that we're staying with it for all that's in the world. Here's what's in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.

Now, these three were the same temptation that Satan brought to Eve in the garden of Eden, the lust of the flesh. Eve saw that the tree was good for food, you see. Evil to the flesh, lust of the eyes. Eve saw that the tree was good to look at. May I say to you, I look out at Southern California today and I say it's beautiful. But I sure have to be careful. You can be caught up in all this beauty. And then the pride of life. Eve saw that the tree was to be desired to make one wise.

What's our enemy? The world, flesh, and the devil. And that's the same temptation that Satan brought to the Lord Jesus. And he hasn't changed his tactics. He brings it to you and me, and we fall for it. We'll look at that a little more carefully next time. Until then, may God richly bless you, my beloved.

Steve Schwetz: To find a resource to better understand God's word yourself, just visit ttb.org or call 1-800-655-BIBLE. And as always, there's more great teaching from Dr. McGee ahead. Until then, I'm Steve Schwetz asking God to bless you as you keep your eyes on him.

Guest (Male): Through the Bible is a five-year study of God entire word. And together we discover God's purposes in history and our lives found only when we believe in Jesus Christ. Do you know him yet?