1. A Faithful Church
1 John

2. A Faithful Church is a Walking Church
Christians who practice truth, 1 John 1:6-7
Practice righteousness, 1 John 3:6-10
Jesus leads and we follow, Hebrews 5:7-9
Christians who confess sins, 1 John 1:8-10
Contrite hearts, Psalms 51:16-17 (4)
Deliberate choice not to let sin rule, 1 John 3:4-5, 8
Christians who obey Jesus, 1 John 2:3-6; 3:24

3. A Faithful Church is a Testing Church
Why tests are necessary, 1 John 4:1
Error is deceptive, 1 John 4:5-6 (2-3)
False prophets are still prevalent, Jude 4; Matthew 7:15; 2 Peter 2:1-3
Apostolic truth is essential to know God, 1 John 4:6

4. A Faithful Church is a Testing Church
Failure to test all things, 1 Thess. 5:21-22
Sin and error creep into hearts and lives
Complacency toward sin grows, 1 Cor. 5:6
Love for the truth grows cold, cf. Matt. 24:10-13
Fellowship with sinners becomes normal, 2 Jno. 9-11
Faithful Christians are discouraged, Rev. 2:24-25
Christ is not pleased, Rev. 2:20-23

5. A Faithful Church is a Loving Church
The obedient, testing church is also a loving church
Keeping the word is a mark of mature love, John 2:5
Loving one another includes the tests needed to insure God’s truth is taught and practiced, 1 John 3:14-24 (4:1)

6. A Faithful Church is a Loving Church
Loving one another includes holding each other accountable to God, 1 John 4:7-11
God holds us accountable even while He gave His Son to die for us, 4:9, 11
Love includes correction, Hebrews 12:5-8
We love by teaching truth while refusing error and sin, 1 John 5:1-4

7. Fellowship with Christ is at stake, Revelation 2:5
For a church to be faithful, its members must be faithful to Christ, 1 John 5:20-21
Walk in the light of truth, test all things and speak the truth in love (Eph. 4:15)