Interviewer: Hello, John. We know you are part of the great cloud of witnesses cheering us on from Heaven. Is there anything you would like to say to Christians today?
John: You are wise to listen to the teachings of the apostles today. I was just a fisherman, you know, when Jesus called me. I did not have wealth or a privileged education, but when Jesus said, ‘Come, follow me,’ I could not resist. Like you, I was a sinner, but Jesus changed me. I had a reputation that earned the nickname, ‘son of thunder,’ but I became known as the ‘the apostle of love.’
Jesus is the Light of the World, the Bread of Life, the Vine, the Gate, the Good Shepherd, and the best Friend a person can have. You are a branch that must remain in the Vine. You are a sheep that must listen to the Shepherd’s voice. There are many voices in the world that are not of Christ… do not heed them. “My sheep listen to my voice,” Jesus taught. Are you listening? He says, “Abide in me and I will abide in you.” Are you abiding in him? Are you living for the One who laid down his life for you?
I walked with him and knew him on earth, but you can know him by the Holy Spirit who was sent after Jesus ascended to the right hand of the Father. He instructed us, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” The Holy Spirit is your Counselor and Guide. He will point you to Jesus and remind you of the things Jesus taught. He will give you power to be a witness in your generation. The Holy Spirit will also put a yearning in your heart to see your Savior. You know that when he appears you will be like him, for you shall see him as he is. Everyone who has this hope purifies himself, just as he is pure. I now see him face to face, but on earth I constantly longed to see Jesus. You might say, ‘That was because you walked with him for three years and he called you a dear friend.’ But he calls all who love and follow him dear friends. You know you are in the last hour so be sure to walk in fellowship with your Master. Walk in the light as he is in the light and the blood of Jesus purifies you from all sin.
Some have said my first letter is a little confusing, but if you ask the Holy Spirit for understanding, he will give you insight. God wants his children to have confidence that they have eternal life through the Son. But God also wants all men to look honestly at themselves and live in truth. If a person claims to have to have fellowship with him yet walks in the darkness, he lies and does not live by the truth. Those that claim to live in him must walk as Jesus did. If a person says, ‘I know him,’ yet does not do what he commands, he is a liar and the truth is not in him. This may sound blunt and harsh, but God wants each person to deal with truth. You know Jesus’ greatest command is to love one another. If a person says, ‘I love God,’ yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.
I could say so much more, but I’ll close with a warning and a praise. The warning: Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world – the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does – comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever. The praise: How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called the children of God! And that is what we are! Hallelujah!