Sermons – Mountain Valley Church of God

7 Beloved, let's love one another; for love is from God, and everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 The one who does not love does not know God, because God is love. The Holy Spirit produces love in us teaches us to love The power to love like Jesus […]

7 Beloved, let's love one another; for love is from God, and everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 The one who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 By this the love of God was revealed in us, that God has sent His only […]

5 They are from the world, therefore they speak as from the world, and the world listens to them. 6 We are from God. The one who knows God listens to us; the one who is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit […]

1 John 4:4 4 You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world. The World What does John mean by the world?  In 1 John, the world refers to the organized system in rebellion against God; with it's lust […]

Happy Father's Day!   Over and over in the scripture, fathers are commanded to provide a good example for their Children.  Timothy 2:11-12 calls this to mind when he says “For you know how, like a father with his children, we exhorted each one of you and encouraged you and charged you to walk in a […]

1st John 3b-4a:  “and this is the spirit of the antichrist.” So, the denial that Jesus came in the flesh, so that He could die for our sins and be the only Way to the Father is motivated by the spirit of the antichrist.   This results in the characteristic attitude of the world to deny […]

1 John 4:2-3 The churches of Asia Minor that John is writing to were unwisely leaving themselves open to believing false teachers and teachings, accepting and trusting in teachings without testing them, which caused a lot of confusion in the church, just as it does today. Every teaching, every doctrine claiming to be the Truth […]

John wants to address the confusion in the body of Christ that is caused by the working of false spirits, and false inspirations within the church. Beloved, do not believe every spirit. John is concerned for their spiritual welfare.  He begins with a command not to believe every spirit, every pneuma, every wind of new […]

23 This is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He commanded us. When we obey the Holy Spirit's urging and Jesus' command to love one another by fellowship with each other and meeting each other's needs, then the practical effect is that […]

1 John 3:2-3 Beloved–John begins here, with “Beloved”, conveying how dear these churches are to him. Now —John is emphasizing that our status as Children of God is not something that we have to look forward to in hope—we are Children of God right now!  We are the Children of God John emphasizes that we […]

A resolution is “a firm decision to do or not to do something. It is an act of will. But the big question is:  Who's Will?  The New Year(s). The New Year is, indeed special in the Bible.  In Exodus 12: 1 God spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt; he said, […]

8 In the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock at night. David had fed his sheep in those same fields around Bethlehem, and today, 3,000 years later, there are still shepherds feeding flocks in those fields.  Shepherds typically kept watch over their fields by night from April […]

18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows Matthew describes the origin or source of Jesus, his Genesis, just as John does in John 1:1-4 from the perspective of the Power of God in performing this unique miracle by the Holy Spirit. when His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, The focus in […]

2 Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea The wise men, or Magi didn't arrive until after Jesus' birth.  Just when is a matter of conjecture.  But there are clues (see Leviticus 12:1-4).  It took a full forty days before her purification would have been completed.  Luke 2:39, 39 And when His parents had completed […]

Chapter 3:1 3 See how great a love the Father has given us, that we would be called children of God; and in fact we are. For this reason the world does not know us: because it did not know Him. The apostle John loves to talk about family.  He so often addresses those he […]

1 John 2:29 29 If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness also has been born of Him. John's saying that they should know by now that God is righteous, but the word he uses indicates that it's possible that some of them have not trusted in the righteousness […]

1st John 2:28 28 Now, little children, remain in Him, so that when He appears, we may have confidence and not draw back from Him in shame at His coming. And Now, Little Children If these members of the churches of Asia Minor, present day Turkey, are acting as Children of God, they will be […]

26 These things I have written to you concerning those who are trying to deceive you. John doesn't want them to be snared by these false teachings.  John says trust in Jesus, and the Power of the Holy Spirit to guide you into all Truth, not in these false teachers.  In warning them about false […]

25 This is the promise which He Himself made to us: eternal life. John has been telling us about the benefits of abiding, remaining in relationship with God in Christ. We have fellowship with God: 1 John 1:3 3 what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may […]

1st John 2:23-24 23 Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father; —When people deny the Son, they show that they do not have the Father. Hebrews 10:28-31 tells us that if it's the case that 28 Anyone who has ignored the Law of Moses is put to death without mercy on the testimony […]

1 John 2:20-22 20But you have an anointing from the Holy One, John wants to reassure his readers that they are Christians.  John draws a sharp distinction between True Believers and these false teachers by going right to the source.  2 Cor 1 21 Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and anointed […]

What about those who choose to leave the faith? There are those who choose to leave the faith, even though they know something about Jesus.  Probably the most obvious case is Judas Iscariot (see John 13:26-7). Judas made a choice to betray Jesus, even though he saw the witness of Jesus' love and kindness, ministering […]

1 John 2:18-19 John's warning against false teachers. 18 Children, it is the last hour; and just as you heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have appeared; from this we know that it is the last hour. Again, we see John address the churches that he is writing to as a loving […]

1st John 2:16-17 Do Not Love The World Pt. 2—The Lust of the Flesh, The Lust of the Eyes, and the Pride of Life 16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but […]

1st John 2:15-17 Part 1:  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. Do not love the world An obstacle to the spiritual growth which can hinder the progress toward spiritual maturity that we talked about last […]

1 John 2:12-14 12 I am writing to you, little children, because your sins have been forgiven you on account of His name. John's just spent time giving them evidence that they're saved saying that if they follow God's commands out of love for Him, then it is evidence that they are saved.  If you're […]

9 The one who says that he is in the Light and yet hates his brother or sister is in the darkness until now. We've looked at our love for God as measured by our obedience to His commands now we look at our loving relationships with our brothers and sisters in Christ as a […]

1 John 2:7-8 7 Beloved, I am not writing a new commandment to you When we understand what God has done for us in sending Jesus to the Cross, and what Jesus has done in dying for us, for our sins so that we can have relationship with God, then we love God. We obey […]

1 John 2:5-6 5 but whoever follows His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him: Whoever follows His Word We know that we are saved because we obey God's commandments. And we are obedient to God out of love for Him.  We […]

1 John 2:3-4 3 By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; 3 By this we know A healthy relationship with […]

1 John 2:2 and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. He Himself Not only is Jesus our Advocate in Heaven who works on our behalf, He is also the sacrifice that cleanses us and satisfies God's just wrath, making […]

2:1  My little children, I am writing these things to you In this verse, John reveals another of his purposes in writing this epistle.  He doesn't want us to sin.  Even though he has already reminded them that they are sinful and do continue to sin, and have sin that is in need of confession, […]

1:10 If we say that we have not sinned, John is warning us against an attitude toward sin that any believer, including him, could fall into and thereby do harm to their fellowship with God.  This is the kind of claim that might be made by one who admits to a sin nature, but sees […]

We have a choice, to confess before the Lord, or not, but there are two things that occur if confession does occur. All believers, John included, must acknowledge our sin before God, in order to experience Jesus' cleansing work. Agreement with God in Mutual understanding of Guilt Before Him-And the idea behind the word “confess” […]

1 John 1:8 If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. 8a If we say that we have no sin, Now that John has reminded us of the complete moral purity of God, and of the necessity of walking in the light, John wants […]

5a This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you 1st John is an attestation by an eye-witness of what John heard.  John is bearing witness that this comes directly from God.  5b that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. So John begins the main […]

3 what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ. These first three verses serve as the prologue of this epistle.  First John is written to encourage us, as believers, […]

Authorship-The author of this epistle is John, the beloved Apostle, the author of the gospel of John, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd John, as well as Revelation.  There is no surviving early copy of the epistle that does not attribute it to him in the title.  Unanimous attribution of the early church (including Ignatius in 110 […]

All human fathers are imperfect. That's why we need a Heavenly Father. To be a Godly father, we  emulate our Heavenly Father.  Genesis 18:19 tells us that God chose Abraham because of his fatherhood, even before he was a father to Isaac.  Genesis 18:19  19 For I have chosen him, so that he may command […]

And everyone who hears these words of Mine In Luke Luke 6:46, He says everyone who comes to me. Everyone who hears or reads Jesus' words is responsible for activing on them.  Although many at least intend to act on them, not everyone does.  This week we're looking at the false Christian, the pseudo-Christian, the […]

Jesus has finished His foundational instructions to His disciples, and to us, about what it means to be a true follower of Jesus.  Jesus, the Word from the Beginning, is our foundation, the rock on which our life, our house is built, and His teachings tell us what it means to be His disciple.  If […]

Lord—Kurios–“one who is in charge by virtue of possession”, the owner, a persion in a position of authority exercising absolute ownership rights as Lord.  There is a difference between paying lip-service to Jesus as Lord, and actually making Him Lord of your life  “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,'       Jesus is contrasting […]

Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes, nor figs from thistles, are they? Grapes and figs are good fruit.  In the Old Testament, the nation of Israel is symbolized as a fig tree.  We see Israel represented as a fig tree (in Hosea 9:10 and in Jeremiah 24), or a fig tree that bears no […]

False prophets are defined as those who, claim for themselves the capacity to define for others the will of God, but represent in their practice and teaching a false understanding of the will of God, specifically an understanding that is not in accord with scripture.  Jesus is warning us of wolves that disguise themselves as […]

Even from the beginning, God said being a mother would not be easy (Gen 3:16).  Motherhood of course it's wonderful in so many ways.  There's a special bond between mothers and their children that is often the deepest bond with another human being that we have. The Bible is filled with examples of the struggles […]

15 “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. We're talking about false prophets today, and the best way to spot a counterfeit is to know what the genuine article looks like.  In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus teaches the true meaning of the Law […]

Enter through the narrow gate The first question that we have to ask about this verse is Enter Where?  Jesus is teaching about the Way to Eternal life.  Long before being a Christ-follower was called Christianity, it was first called simply The Way.  We are not only Christ followers, but we are identified personally with […]

28 Now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb. The Gospel of Matthew presents the Resurrection of Jesus as the culmination of Jesus' mission as the Messiah.  As followers of Jesus, it's important for us to understand that […]

Therefore When we put the Golden rule in the context of the theme of judging others only with righteous judgement, this summary statement becomes clear.  In everything We all know what it's like to read Jesus' words “Love your neighbor as yourself” and say to ourselves ‘Yes, I agree, how wonderful, it makes sense to […]

We talked last week about asking and seeking and knocking and that it's the very act of giving our lives over more and more to God that causes us to be quick to hear the Holy Spirit's direction, and to obey what He has to say.  Jeremiah 29:11 11 For I know the plans that […]

First Jesus cautioned us against judging in the flesh with it's biases in not being able to see the truth because of our own prejudice and in hypocrisy.  Then Jesus tells us that we can't refuse to make discerning judgement.  Jesus gave us the responsibility to judge righteously and with grace.  Who is sufficient to […]