The KEY to the writings of John

I have heard and read a refreshing message concerning the writings of John, mainly emphasizing 1 John. In 1 John, there are 7 major mysteries:

1) The mystery of the divine life (1 John 1:1-7);
2) The mystery of the fellowship of the divine life (1 John 1:3, 5-10);
3) The mystery of the anointing of the Triune God (1 John 2:20, 27);
4) The mystery of abiding in the Lord (1 John 2:5-6, 24, 27-28; 3:24);
5) The mystery of the divine birth (1 John 2:29; 3:9; 4:7; 5:1);
6) The mystery of the divine seed (1 John 3:9);
7) The mystery of the water, the blood, and the Spirit (1 John 5:6-9).

(The verses are linked to Recovery Version Online)

Here are the points that caught my attention:

First, the key to the writings of John is simply that we need to LOVE GOD and to LOVE ALL THE BROTHERS. If we pay attention to John's Gospel and his Epistles, and the book of Relevation, we will see that John voiced the matter of loving God and the brothers. (If you have time, visit any Bible Online websites and do a search for the keyword "love.")

Second, loving God is a matter of the vertical fellowship with the Triune God; loving all the brothers is a matter of the horizontal fellowship with one another.

Third, a few portions from the Scriptures that combine the first & second points:
1) 1 Corinthians 2:9-10
We love God because God reveals all things, the depths of God to those who love Him.

2) John 21:15-17
Shepherding the Lord's sheep is an issue of our loving the Lord Jesus. What is shepherding? Shepherding is loving one another by feeding one another. See this? When we love God, that is when we have vertical fellowship with Him, the issue is that we will shepherd one another, that is we will have horizontal fellowship with the saints, the Lord's sheep.

3) John 13:34-35
The Lord's commandment to us. Very crucial.

4) 1 John 4:7-8, 19-20
We love Him because He first loved us, and because of this love, we could love the brothers.

5) Revelation 2:4
The Lord's warning against losing the first love. The issue is the degradation of the church.

The speaker quoted Augustine in one of his written article, featured in Affirmation & Critique, April 2007:

"Enjoying God is the only thing that can make us ultimately happy."

"Trying to find our ultimate happiness by enjoying something other than God makes us miserable."

"Love is the motive and rule of interpreting the Scriptures."

May we continue to LOVE GOD & LOVE THE BROTHERS! Amen!