Line Upon Line

An examination of Job 3, in which Job, having patiently endured catastrophic loss, falls into an existential crisis and despairs of life itself. Pastor Miles uses the passage to address suicide honestly, showing that even righteous people can pray to die, and that the way forward is to leave one's life in God's hands while ministering practically to those who suffer.

A study of Job 2:11-13 that examines how Job's three friends rightly responded to his suffering before they later spoke wrongly, drawing out principles for how the people of God should minister compassion to those who suffer. The teaching frames suffering as the great "problem of pain" and argues that it is most completely addressed through the presence and comfort of God's people.

Drawing from 2 John, Pastor Miles examines the modern phenomenon of "deconversion" in light of the apostle John's warnings about deceivers who departed from the truth of Christ. He calls believers to disciplined responsibility—walking in truth, persevering in the doctrine of Christ, and carrying the gospel to others so as not to lose their reward.

Studying 3 John 1, Pastor Miles examines three men—Gaius, Diotrephes, and Demetrius—to show that God desires our total transformation through His Word and Spirit, a sanctifying work that becomes evident in our testimony before others. He challenges believers to prioritize the prosperity of the soul over the flesh and to live in a way that earns a good testimony that honors God.

Opening a new series on the brief letters of 2 and 3 John, Pastor Miles introduces the aged Apostle John and unpacks 2 John 1:1-6, showing that those who truly know Jesus (the Truth) are enabled by the Spirit to walk in genuine, practical love. He emphasizes that truth and love are inseparable, that we receive grace, mercy, and peace only by accepting both the truth and the love of the gospel, and...

In the closing verses of 1 John 5, Pastor Miles teaches that believers can have a settled confidence in their eternal future with God, in God's present hearing and answering of prayer, and in God's keeping power that ensures they will not remain in sin. This confidence frees Christians to pray boldly for the conversion and restoration of fellow sinners and to live in the fullness of joy John inten...

John teaches that there is a Spirit of truth and a spirit of error in the world, and he gives a single decisive test for discerning them: does a spirit confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh? Both the ancient Gnostic counterfeit and the modern naturalistic counterfeit fail this test, but Christians need not fear because the Spirit who dwells in them makes them overcomers.

A verse-by-verse study of 1 John 5:5-13 showing that eternal life is received by faith in Jesus as the fully divine Son of God, a truth God Himself testifies to in at least five ways. John writes so that believers would have assurance of eternal life and, crucially, continue to believe and not fall away.

Examining 1 John 3:18-24, this teaching addresses the despair and self-condemnation believers can feel when measured against Scripture's call to sacrificial love, and shows that our standing with God rests not on our devotion but on His love—because God is greater than our hearts and knows all things.

Working through 1 John 4:20–5:5, Pastor Miles teaches that a true profession of love for God must be backed up by an active, 1 Corinthians 13 kind of love for God's children. He explains John's three tests of authenticity—obedience, love, and faith—and stresses that we become children of God not by keeping commandments but by believing in Christ, who then enables us to love.

In 1 John 4:7-19, John returns to the theme of love, teaching that Christians love one another in response to God's great love demonstrated at the cross, where Jesus became the propitiation for our sins. Because God is love by nature, the invisible God becomes visible through the tangible love of His people, and the abiding presence of that love—together with righteousness—gives believers assuranc...

1 John 4:1-6 — Pastor Miles DeBenedictis

Teaching through 1 John 3:4-10, Pastor Miles shows that John divides all humanity into two groups—children of God and children of the devil—distinguished by whether they practice righteousness or persist in unrepentant sin. The message defines sin as lawlessness, presents Jesus as the sinless sacrifice who takes away sin, and calls believers to walk out their new nature in practical righteousness.

Working through 1 John 3:10-16, Pastor Miles examines John's stark contrast between the children of God and the children of the devil, showing that our true lineage is revealed by our conduct and most clearly by our love for others. He confronts the cultural discomfort with such hard contrasts, illustrates the division through Cain and Abel, and points to the gospel as the only way a child of the...

From 1 John 3:16-24, Pastor Miles teaches that genuine love is defined and demonstrated by Christ laying down His life for us, and that our practice—not merely our profession—proves whether we truly belong to God as His children. The greatest demonstration of love at Calvary compels believers to sacrificially love others through their deeds, time, resources, and gospel witness.

A verse-by-verse study of 1 John 2:24-28, showing that fullness of joy and fruitfulness in the Christian life flow from abiding in the Word of Life and from the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. Pastor Miles exhorts believers to let God's Word dwell in them richly as protection against deception and as the path to abundant and eternal life.

A verse-by-verse study of 1 John 3:1-3, exploring the staggering love of God that makes enemies into His children, and how this present identity guarantees a future glory that compels present purification. Pastor Miles shows how identity in Christ answers the deepest human questions of identity, purpose, origin, destiny, and morality.

Drawing from 1 John 2:15-23, Pastor Miles teaches that John wrote to guard Christians against deception and misplaced affections, urging believers to fix their focus on the Father and the eternal rather than on the passing things of this world. He shows that the antichrist spirit is already at work, that we have been living in the "last days" since Christ's first coming, and that the fundamental t...

God's desire is to grow believers from spiritual infancy to full maturity, and this growth happens as His Word abides in us, transforming our affections so that we overcome the wicked one. Drawing from 1 John 2:12-17, Pastor Miles traces the believer's journey from being born-again "little children" who are fully forgiven, to mature "fathers" known for their knowledge of God.

A verse-by-verse study of 1 John 1:1-7 showing how John combats the early Gnostic denial of Christ's incarnation by declaring that Jesus is God in the flesh, the light of the world. The teaching presses the impossibility of fellowship with God while walking in darkness, and calls hearers to step into the light through repentance, confession, and faith, where the blood of Jesus cleanses from all si...

Working through 1 John 2:1-7, Pastor Miles argues against a misapplication of "total depravity" teaching that treats the New Testament's commands as mere reminders of our inability rather than calls to walk in obedience. He shows that God desires increasing maturity and righteousness in His children, that a desire for and commitment to obedience are the prime evidence of truly knowing God, and tha...

Teaching through 1 John 2:1-11, Pastor Miles examines John's concern that false teaching was leading first-century Christians to profess faith without practicing it. He shows that the gospel produces joy, holiness, hope, and perseverance, and that the chief evidence of the gospel's work in us is obedience to Christ's "new" command to love one another as He has loved us.

Working through 1 John 1:6-10 and into 2:1-2, Pastor Miles confronts the popular belief that everyone is connected to a wholly loving God who overlooks sin, showing that John addressed the same false thinking in his day. The true gospel insists that God is light, that all have sinned, and that those who humbly confess their sin to God receive forgiveness, cleansing, and the freedom to walk in righ...

Drawing from 1 John 1, Pastor Miles argues that the only plausible explanation for the radical transformation of Jesus' fearful disciples into bold martyrs is that they actually saw the risen Christ. Because the resurrection is true, there is eternal life, fullness of joy, and fellowship with the Father—and without it, Christianity has no point.

John wrote his first letter so that our joy would be full, that we would not sin, that we would know we have eternal life, and that we would continue to trust in Jesus. This teaching shows that the apostles first followed Jesus for pleasure, power, prestige, and possessions—but the empty tomb transformed their motives, securing in them an eternal joy, holiness, and hope that no earthly pursuit can...