1 00:00:09,680 --> 00:00:12,360 Good morning church family, If you have your copy of God's 2 00:00:12,360 --> 00:00:15,160 word, go and make your way to 1st John chapter 5. 3 00:00:15,640 --> 00:00:21,520 First John chapter 5, verses 13 through 21 will be our text this 4 00:00:21,520 --> 00:00:26,880 morning as we finish our series from First John on the vitals of 5 00:00:26,880 --> 00:00:29,800 our faith. I can't believe that our time 6 00:00:29,800 --> 00:00:31,840 has passed so quick in this New Testament letter. 7 00:00:31,840 --> 00:00:33,960 I don't know about you, but it's been a blessing to me. 8 00:00:34,280 --> 00:00:38,920 First John just comes plain and simple and straight at the truth 9 00:00:38,920 --> 00:00:42,800 and praise God for his Word and how it guides us and feeds us 10 00:00:42,800 --> 00:00:46,480 and instructs us and changes us. So I hope that maybe you took 11 00:00:46,480 --> 00:00:49,840 that challenge early on to just spend time in First John 12 00:00:49,840 --> 00:00:51,680 yourself. And if you haven't, it's not too 13 00:00:51,680 --> 00:00:56,000 late to do that, to just let the word of God dwell in you and let 14 00:00:56,000 --> 00:01:01,040 it work God's will in your life. Big thanks to Stephen James, our 15 00:01:01,040 --> 00:01:03,920 associate pastor, who filled in for me last week as my family 16 00:01:03,920 --> 00:01:06,400 and I were out of town for a little bit and Mystery Church. 17 00:01:06,400 --> 00:01:08,760 It's so good to be back, but thankful for him. 18 00:01:08,760 --> 00:01:11,840 And, and praise God for our kids leading us in worship today, 19 00:01:11,840 --> 00:01:13,720 right? The joy of the Lord on their 20 00:01:13,720 --> 00:01:16,800 faces, seeing them experience the truth of Jesus and worship 21 00:01:16,800 --> 00:01:19,320 him. What a joy that is and thankful 22 00:01:19,320 --> 00:01:21,760 to the leaders that made that possible this morning. 23 00:01:23,080 --> 00:01:28,120 Y'all, I think you would agree with this statement that life 24 00:01:28,560 --> 00:01:32,840 requires some confidence to live life. 25 00:01:33,960 --> 00:01:39,400 At some point it takes acquiring a little bit of confidence. 26 00:01:40,600 --> 00:01:45,440 Some of my most vivid memories are moments, especially when I 27 00:01:45,440 --> 00:01:49,480 was younger, growing up and maturing, when I walk through 28 00:01:49,480 --> 00:01:53,360 experiences where I was lacking confidence. 29 00:01:53,360 --> 00:01:56,680 Maybe some of your most vivid memories involved the same 30 00:01:56,920 --> 00:02:01,160 scenario. I remember my first day of high 31 00:02:01,160 --> 00:02:05,960 school after moving from Americus, GA where I had done 1 32 00:02:05,960 --> 00:02:10,360 semester of 9th grade and been in a small private school, to my 33 00:02:10,680 --> 00:02:14,160 second semester of 9th grade in a county public school in 34 00:02:14,160 --> 00:02:19,000 Columbus, Ms. I was lacking some confidence on that day. 35 00:02:19,000 --> 00:02:22,440 I remember I came home, told my mom after all the emotions of 36 00:02:22,440 --> 00:02:24,720 that day and the nervousness of that day that I didn't know 37 00:02:24,720 --> 00:02:28,400 where to laugh or to cry. It was all sorts of experiences 38 00:02:28,400 --> 00:02:30,480 all in one. That first day, a day I was 39 00:02:30,480 --> 00:02:33,880 lacking in some confidence. I remember the first time I 40 00:02:33,880 --> 00:02:37,480 attempted to speak in public. It was just an opportunity to 41 00:02:38,200 --> 00:02:41,800 really informally share among the youth group things God was 42 00:02:41,800 --> 00:02:44,200 doing in our lives. I remember being a junior high. 43 00:02:44,200 --> 00:02:47,120 I remember feeling prompted by God to share what was on my 44 00:02:47,120 --> 00:02:49,800 heart and all I could choke out with some tears and I started 45 00:02:49,800 --> 00:02:51,800 crying. It didn't even be able to say 46 00:02:51,800 --> 00:02:55,440 what I wanted to say a moment. I was lacking some confidence. 47 00:02:55,440 --> 00:02:59,000 I remember my first date. Now Lauren was in the first 48 00:02:59,000 --> 00:03:01,120 service and heard this, but it wasn't with her. 49 00:03:01,400 --> 00:03:03,920 So anyway, I gave her a little preface about that. 50 00:03:04,120 --> 00:03:05,480 Praise God, God worked all that out. 51 00:03:05,480 --> 00:03:08,920 But I remember my first date, by the way, my parents were in the 52 00:03:08,920 --> 00:03:11,240 back of the movie theater. Hint to parents, right? 53 00:03:11,520 --> 00:03:13,760 I was under parental surveillance, right? 54 00:03:14,080 --> 00:03:16,920 But I remember lacking some confidence in this moment, and I 55 00:03:16,920 --> 00:03:19,760 really wanted to put my arm around my date, you know, in the 56 00:03:19,760 --> 00:03:21,520 back of the chair at least, right? 57 00:03:21,720 --> 00:03:24,800 But I lacked the confidence to just make the move while she sat 58 00:03:24,800 --> 00:03:26,560 there. So eventually she got up, went 59 00:03:26,560 --> 00:03:29,000 to the restroom before the movie started her to get popcorn or 60 00:03:29,000 --> 00:03:30,280 something. Or I think I'd already bought 61 00:03:30,280 --> 00:03:33,480 that, hopefully. Anyway, I saw my moment to make 62 00:03:33,480 --> 00:03:35,920 my move, so I moved my arm around the back of her chair. 63 00:03:35,920 --> 00:03:38,240 When she came back, of course, I was already in position. 64 00:03:38,240 --> 00:03:42,360 So that was the move that I made, lacking some confidence. 65 00:03:42,360 --> 00:03:45,480 All right, I remember that my first Friday night high school 66 00:03:45,480 --> 00:03:47,040 football game. I remember the sound of the 67 00:03:47,040 --> 00:03:48,720 crowd when I was still in the locker room. 68 00:03:48,720 --> 00:03:51,680 I remember the sound of the cheers, the lights and noise and 69 00:03:51,680 --> 00:03:55,160 the knots in my stomach right before running out on the field. 70 00:03:55,160 --> 00:03:58,000 I remember my first interview. Do you remember the knots and 71 00:03:58,000 --> 00:04:00,600 the butterflies in your stomach the first time you sat across 72 00:04:00,600 --> 00:04:02,920 from a group of people to answer their questions? 73 00:04:02,920 --> 00:04:06,440 I mean, all these experiences when I was lacking some 74 00:04:06,440 --> 00:04:09,680 confidence, but all that's part of growing up, right? 75 00:04:09,680 --> 00:04:12,920 It's part of the maturing process of part of going from 76 00:04:12,920 --> 00:04:16,880 childhood to adulthood is growing in that confidence that 77 00:04:16,880 --> 00:04:19,160 life requires. But the deal is, as you all 78 00:04:19,160 --> 00:04:23,640 know, it's not just physical life that requires confidence. 79 00:04:23,640 --> 00:04:26,200 More importantly, it is the Christian life. 80 00:04:26,600 --> 00:04:31,080 And John has written this entire letter to give us confidence as 81 00:04:31,080 --> 00:04:33,440 Christians. In fact, the one thing that I 82 00:04:33,440 --> 00:04:36,600 want you to get from this last portion of first John is simply 83 00:04:36,600 --> 00:04:37,760 this. Before we read the text 84 00:04:38,240 --> 00:04:42,120 Christian, your confidence is crucial. 85 00:04:43,080 --> 00:04:48,440 Your confidence as a Christian is absolutely crucial. 86 00:04:48,480 --> 00:04:50,600 I want you to listen to the word of God first. 87 00:04:50,600 --> 00:04:54,800 John 5 verses 13 through 21. John writes. 88 00:04:55,920 --> 00:05:00,600 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son 89 00:05:00,600 --> 00:05:06,000 of God, that you may know that you have eternal life. 90 00:05:06,760 --> 00:05:10,920 And this is the here it is confidence that we have toward 91 00:05:10,920 --> 00:05:15,440 him that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears 92 00:05:15,440 --> 00:05:18,760 us. And if we know that He hears us 93 00:05:19,160 --> 00:05:23,000 and whatever we ask, we know that we have the request that we 94 00:05:23,000 --> 00:05:27,920 have asked of him. If anyone sees his brother 95 00:05:27,920 --> 00:05:33,800 committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask, and God 96 00:05:33,800 --> 00:05:38,400 will give him life to those who commit sins that do not lead to 97 00:05:38,400 --> 00:05:41,000 death. There is sin that leads to 98 00:05:41,000 --> 00:05:42,840 death. I do not say that one should 99 00:05:42,840 --> 00:05:46,160 pray for that. All wrongdoing is sin, but there 100 00:05:46,160 --> 00:05:49,720 is sin that does not lead to death. 101 00:05:50,320 --> 00:05:54,760 We know that everyone who's been born of God does not keep on 102 00:05:54,760 --> 00:06:01,000 sinning, but he who was born of God protects him, and the evil 1 103 00:06:01,000 --> 00:06:04,320 does not touch him. We know that we are from God, 104 00:06:04,320 --> 00:06:08,320 and the whole world lies in the power of the evil 1 And we know 105 00:06:08,320 --> 00:06:12,680 that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so 106 00:06:12,680 --> 00:06:17,040 that we may know Him who is true, and we are in Him who is 107 00:06:17,040 --> 00:06:21,880 true in His Son, Jesus Christ. He is the true God in eternal 108 00:06:21,880 --> 00:06:25,440 life. Little children, keep yourselves 109 00:06:25,480 --> 00:06:29,280 from idols. John has written this entire 110 00:06:29,280 --> 00:06:33,320 letter for the sake of our confidence as Christians. 111 00:06:34,000 --> 00:06:38,480 We've referred to verse 13 over and over again because it's the 112 00:06:38,520 --> 00:06:42,680 essence of the purpose and motivation of the letter. 113 00:06:42,680 --> 00:06:46,080 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son 114 00:06:46,080 --> 00:06:49,080 of God. John is writing to people who 115 00:06:49,080 --> 00:06:55,600 have proclaimed that they have chosen to follow Jesus as Lord. 116 00:06:55,600 --> 00:06:59,440 He's choosing to write to believers that what reason why 117 00:06:59,640 --> 00:07:03,360 that you may know that you may have 100 percent assurance that 118 00:07:03,360 --> 00:07:07,720 you may have confidence, right? That you have eternal life. 119 00:07:07,720 --> 00:07:11,360 John knows if we're going to successfully live the Christian 120 00:07:11,360 --> 00:07:16,040 life, we've got to know who we are and what we believe and whom 121 00:07:16,280 --> 00:07:19,720 we've believed in. What does it mean to believe in 122 00:07:19,720 --> 00:07:23,080 the name of the Son of God? Because this is the essence of 123 00:07:23,080 --> 00:07:26,160 what it means to be a Christian and you might be in the room, 124 00:07:26,160 --> 00:07:28,840 you might be watching online and you might want to know what is 125 00:07:28,840 --> 00:07:31,480 the essence of being a Christian. 126 00:07:31,480 --> 00:07:35,760 It is one who believes in the name of the Son of God, Jesus 127 00:07:36,040 --> 00:07:37,400 Christ. What does that mean? 128 00:07:37,680 --> 00:07:40,960 To have believed on Jesus and to continue to believe means 129 00:07:40,960 --> 00:07:44,360 there's been a moment you chose to believe in Jesus for 130 00:07:44,360 --> 00:07:48,440 salvation from your sin. You realized your sin, which is 131 00:07:48,440 --> 00:07:50,880 wrongdoing. Any wrong done against God and 132 00:07:50,880 --> 00:07:54,560 thought and action and word, or indeed it's anything that breaks 133 00:07:54,560 --> 00:07:56,560 God's law. It's anything that's short of 134 00:07:56,560 --> 00:07:58,680 God's perfection in his righteousness. 135 00:07:58,680 --> 00:08:01,480 And we all have sinned, the Bible says, and fallen short of 136 00:08:01,480 --> 00:08:03,960 the glory of God. The moment you realize that you 137 00:08:03,960 --> 00:08:09,480 have an uh oh moment, a Eureka moment where it's like, OK, this 138 00:08:09,480 --> 00:08:11,960 is a problem. This is the problem. 139 00:08:11,960 --> 00:08:15,440 Because if God's perfect and I'm not, then that's incompatible. 140 00:08:15,440 --> 00:08:18,560 The Bible says it's incompatible for eternity with him. 141 00:08:18,560 --> 00:08:20,800 It's incompatible with a relationship with him. 142 00:08:21,080 --> 00:08:25,520 God and sin don't cohabitate. So what has to happen is God 143 00:08:25,520 --> 00:08:27,480 could only do something ultimately about this. 144 00:08:27,480 --> 00:08:30,600 You've realized your sin, but then you realize God must punish 145 00:08:30,600 --> 00:08:32,520 sin. And then if all that there is 146 00:08:32,520 --> 00:08:34,559 this punishment and wrath for sin, you're going to pay for 147 00:08:34,559 --> 00:08:36,200 that sin. But this is when you realize 148 00:08:36,200 --> 00:08:39,679 God, who is holy, is also a God of love and justice and mercy, 149 00:08:39,880 --> 00:08:44,480 who had a plan to send his one and only Son to take on human 150 00:08:44,480 --> 00:08:47,040 flesh to live a sinless life. How? 151 00:08:47,040 --> 00:08:48,760 So? He could pay for sin on the 152 00:08:48,760 --> 00:08:52,880 cross and then defeat the wages of sin, death itself by rising 153 00:08:52,880 --> 00:08:54,960 from the dead. So we could live a sinless life 154 00:08:54,960 --> 00:08:57,520 for you. Die for your sin, defeat death 155 00:08:57,520 --> 00:09:01,000 itself by rising from the dead to offer you forgiveness of sin 156 00:09:01,000 --> 00:09:03,720 and life forever. So God could do something about 157 00:09:03,720 --> 00:09:08,760 your sin. When you realize that, and you 158 00:09:08,760 --> 00:09:12,640 choose by faith to trust Jesus, the one and only solution, you 159 00:09:12,640 --> 00:09:16,080 believe on the name of the Son of God. 160 00:09:16,080 --> 00:09:18,800 You give your life to him as Lord and Master. 161 00:09:18,800 --> 00:09:23,280 Have you done that? If you haven't, then the one and 162 00:09:23,280 --> 00:09:27,320 only, the one and only real decision, real action for you 163 00:09:27,320 --> 00:09:31,320 this morning is to choose to believe on Jesus as your Savior, 164 00:09:32,200 --> 00:09:35,160 to call on him even now in your heart of hearts, in your soul, 165 00:09:35,320 --> 00:09:37,440 and say, Lord Jesus, would you forgive me of my sin? 166 00:09:37,440 --> 00:09:40,280 I want to trust you as my Lord. I'm giving my life to you. 167 00:09:40,280 --> 00:09:45,040 That's who's believed on the name of the Son of God. 168 00:09:45,880 --> 00:09:49,440 For those who've made that decision who have believed, John 169 00:09:49,440 --> 00:09:53,080 wants to tell us about the confidence we ought to have and 170 00:09:53,080 --> 00:09:54,800 that we ought to live in as Christians. 171 00:09:55,240 --> 00:09:58,200 And So what is that confidence? Well, let's ask it first like 172 00:09:58,200 --> 00:10:00,680 this. What difference does our 173 00:10:00,680 --> 00:10:04,280 confidence as Christians make? What difference does our 174 00:10:04,280 --> 00:10:07,560 confidence as Christians make? This is verses 14 through 17. 175 00:10:07,560 --> 00:10:10,320 There's three actually. 2 to begin with differences. 176 00:10:10,440 --> 00:10:15,560 John says it makes #1 our confidence causes us to rightly 177 00:10:15,560 --> 00:10:18,880 relate to God. Our confidence causes us to 178 00:10:18,880 --> 00:10:21,960 rightly relate to God. Listen to verse 14 again. 179 00:10:22,640 --> 00:10:24,760 It says, and this is the confidence we have toward him, 180 00:10:25,080 --> 00:10:28,520 that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears 181 00:10:28,520 --> 00:10:30,240 us. And if we know that He hears us 182 00:10:30,240 --> 00:10:32,960 in whatever we ask, we know that we have the request that we have 183 00:10:32,960 --> 00:10:35,720 asked of him. John says the very first 184 00:10:35,720 --> 00:10:38,800 difference that our confidence should make is that we have in 185 00:10:38,800 --> 00:10:42,640 God and whom we believe is that our confidence in whom we 186 00:10:42,640 --> 00:10:45,680 believe and that we've been saved is going to impact the way 187 00:10:45,680 --> 00:10:51,040 we relate to God in prayer. You may think, well that's kind 188 00:10:51,040 --> 00:10:54,240 of random to just relate our confidence to God and how we 189 00:10:54,240 --> 00:10:58,040 pray until you realize, well, what is the most basic element 190 00:10:58,080 --> 00:11:03,560 of a relationship? Your communication, what's at 191 00:11:03,560 --> 00:11:08,480 the core of any friendship, your dialogue in exchange, what is 192 00:11:08,480 --> 00:11:10,680 prayer? At its heart, it's simply 193 00:11:10,680 --> 00:11:14,680 communicating with God. It's your, it's your fellowship, 194 00:11:14,680 --> 00:11:18,200 it's your conversation, it's your, it's your communion with 195 00:11:18,200 --> 00:11:19,560 God. This is what prayers and the 196 00:11:19,560 --> 00:11:24,080 very first thing your confidence in God and in your salvation is 197 00:11:24,080 --> 00:11:26,480 going to make is in the way you relate to God in prayer. 198 00:11:26,680 --> 00:11:29,320 And of course, prayer involves our request. 199 00:11:29,320 --> 00:11:32,360 John is talking here about how it's going to impact the way we 200 00:11:32,360 --> 00:11:36,920 ask God for things, about things we request from God right now. 201 00:11:36,920 --> 00:11:40,160 Before we get into that, we need to understand a little about 202 00:11:40,160 --> 00:11:41,680 what prayer is and what prayer is not. 203 00:11:41,680 --> 00:11:43,800 Because prayer certainly involves our request. 204 00:11:43,800 --> 00:11:46,400 Hallelujah, God says to bring your request to Him. 205 00:11:46,640 --> 00:11:49,320 God wants and longs to hear our request. 206 00:11:49,320 --> 00:11:51,200 He knows them before we can voice them. 207 00:11:51,200 --> 00:11:52,520 We ought to bring them to Him, right? 208 00:11:53,000 --> 00:11:56,880 And yet we ought to understand that prayer, right is not an app 209 00:11:56,880 --> 00:12:02,720 to ask God for what we want. Prayer is not necessarily, 210 00:12:02,720 --> 00:12:05,600 bottom line, a genie. God is not a genie in a bottle 211 00:12:05,600 --> 00:12:10,160 saying Your wish is my command. That's not necessarily what 212 00:12:10,160 --> 00:12:13,280 prayer is, right? You don't go to God in prayer 213 00:12:13,280 --> 00:12:15,440 the way you go to Ingalls or Kroger or Walmart or wherever 214 00:12:15,440 --> 00:12:18,080 you do your grocery shopping and expect when you check out out 215 00:12:18,080 --> 00:12:21,200 the end to be asked by God. At the end of your prayer, did 216 00:12:21,200 --> 00:12:24,760 you find everything you were looking for? 217 00:12:24,760 --> 00:12:27,520 OK, that's not the way prayer works, right? 218 00:12:27,800 --> 00:12:31,440 Prayer is not a divine credit card to swipe whenever your 219 00:12:31,440 --> 00:12:34,360 heart desires something. Now, that doesn't mean we can't 220 00:12:34,360 --> 00:12:36,400 bring our request before God. We certainly can't. 221 00:12:36,600 --> 00:12:38,880 But that's not most fundamentally what prayer is 222 00:12:39,120 --> 00:12:41,120 that To understand prayer is to understand this. 223 00:12:41,360 --> 00:12:44,760 Prayer is not first and foremost a app to get what we want from 224 00:12:44,760 --> 00:12:46,640 God. Prayer is God's app for God to 225 00:12:46,640 --> 00:12:48,560 give us what He wants for us in prayer. 226 00:12:49,600 --> 00:12:52,760 The way to think about that is that God knows what we need and 227 00:12:52,760 --> 00:12:55,320 want more than and better than we know what we should need and 228 00:12:55,320 --> 00:12:58,400 want. And so ultimately, our prayer 229 00:12:58,400 --> 00:13:00,040 life should sound more or not so like God. 230 00:13:00,040 --> 00:13:02,280 Here's my list for today. Would you do this, this, this, 231 00:13:02,280 --> 00:13:03,080 this, and this? Thanks. 232 00:13:03,080 --> 00:13:06,320 We'll talk to you later. Prayer should be more like God. 233 00:13:06,320 --> 00:13:09,520 I'm coming today to offer my life again as a living 234 00:13:09,520 --> 00:13:12,400 sacrifice. God, I want to thank you for 235 00:13:12,400 --> 00:13:14,560 saving me, and I'm offering my life back to you. 236 00:13:14,600 --> 00:13:19,000 And thanks today for your glory. God, I want to pray today about 237 00:13:19,000 --> 00:13:21,200 some things on my heart, but I'm praying not my will, but thy 238 00:13:21,200 --> 00:13:24,600 will be done. And so God, I am desiring this. 239 00:13:24,600 --> 00:13:27,600 If this is your will, would you provide this God? 240 00:13:27,600 --> 00:13:30,240 I, I think I really need this would if it's your will, would 241 00:13:30,240 --> 00:13:33,480 you provide that God? I'm asking that a situation 242 00:13:33,480 --> 00:13:35,160 change. I really want it to change God. 243 00:13:35,160 --> 00:13:37,440 If it's your will to change XY or Z God, would you? 244 00:13:37,560 --> 00:13:40,440 If it be your will, would you change XY or Z? 245 00:13:40,440 --> 00:13:44,160 Prayer is a it is a means by which God provides us our 246 00:13:44,160 --> 00:13:49,200 request, but the key is praying in accordance with his will. 247 00:13:49,360 --> 00:13:51,640 Now you're like, well, how? How do I know if I'm praying 248 00:13:51,640 --> 00:13:54,840 according to God's will? That's a great question because 249 00:13:54,840 --> 00:13:57,200 John says you ought to have the assurance when you pray 250 00:13:57,200 --> 00:13:58,680 according to God's will. Guess what? 251 00:14:00,280 --> 00:14:03,360 You can mark it down as said, done and delivered when you pray 252 00:14:03,360 --> 00:14:05,640 according to God's will. So how do you pray according to 253 00:14:05,640 --> 00:14:07,640 God's will? Well, the first and foremost 254 00:14:07,640 --> 00:14:11,120 thing to do is to soak yourself in Scripture. 255 00:14:11,880 --> 00:14:14,960 If your mind and heart is not saturated in the Word of God, 256 00:14:14,960 --> 00:14:16,720 you're not going to pray according to the will of God, 257 00:14:16,720 --> 00:14:18,840 because guess what? The Word of God is the will of 258 00:14:18,840 --> 00:14:23,960 God spoken, written there for us to have, there for us to read 259 00:14:23,960 --> 00:14:26,040 and study and understand and be guided by. 260 00:14:26,200 --> 00:14:29,720 So the word of God guides us in the will of God. 261 00:14:29,720 --> 00:14:32,440 If before you pray you don't spend some time listening to God 262 00:14:32,440 --> 00:14:35,720 through his word, you ought to, if you don't pray the Word of 263 00:14:35,720 --> 00:14:38,520 God back to God, you ought to pray the word of God saying, 264 00:14:38,520 --> 00:14:41,000 God, these things I just read, may they be true in my life. 265 00:14:41,160 --> 00:14:43,200 God, what you just said is true about you, and I praise you 266 00:14:43,200 --> 00:14:44,400 about it. God, what you said ought to be 267 00:14:44,400 --> 00:14:46,320 true about me. I want to pray that it's true 268 00:14:46,320 --> 00:14:48,320 about me. You can be sure when you're 269 00:14:48,320 --> 00:14:50,640 praying the word of God, you're praying according to the will of 270 00:14:50,640 --> 00:14:52,680 God. But a second thing would be is 271 00:14:52,680 --> 00:14:56,760 that prayer in your life cannot be just an emergency 911 call. 272 00:14:56,760 --> 00:15:02,400 It's got to be a daily habit, a daily habit, because when it 273 00:15:02,400 --> 00:15:04,120 becomes a daily habit, guess what? 274 00:15:04,120 --> 00:15:07,000 You're used to talking to God, you know His voice, and you're 275 00:15:07,000 --> 00:15:10,080 sensitive to the Holy Spirit's guidance as you pray. 276 00:15:10,280 --> 00:15:13,480 If prayer, if all prayer is it, it's an emergency call to talk 277 00:15:13,480 --> 00:15:16,000 to somebody you don't really know and don't talk to you very 278 00:15:16,000 --> 00:15:18,320 much. Conversation is pretty awkward 279 00:15:21,120 --> 00:15:24,480 But when it gets real familiar and intimate because you know 280 00:15:24,480 --> 00:15:27,440 Him and He knows you because you talk daily. 281 00:15:28,520 --> 00:15:32,200 Holy Spirit has the slightest ability just like that little 282 00:15:32,200 --> 00:15:37,120 nudge impression here lead there to lead you in praying the will 283 00:15:37,120 --> 00:15:40,040 of God versus what's not the will of God. 284 00:15:40,680 --> 00:15:42,720 Y'all? What difference does our 285 00:15:42,720 --> 00:15:46,680 confidence as Christians make #1 It'll change the way you relate 286 00:15:46,680 --> 00:15:53,080 to God in prayer #2 Our confidence causes us to relate 287 00:15:53,080 --> 00:15:57,600 rightly to one another. Listen to verse 16 again. 288 00:15:58,120 --> 00:16:01,600 If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to 289 00:16:01,600 --> 00:16:06,320 death, he shall ask. God will give him life to those 290 00:16:06,320 --> 00:16:08,360 who commit sins that do not lead to death. 291 00:16:08,360 --> 00:16:09,840 There is sin that leads to death. 292 00:16:09,840 --> 00:16:11,480 I do not say that one should pray for that. 293 00:16:11,880 --> 00:16:14,680 All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that does not lead to 294 00:16:14,680 --> 00:16:16,040 death. I don't know about you, but you 295 00:16:16,040 --> 00:16:18,160 might be thinking, what in the world is John talking about? 296 00:16:19,840 --> 00:16:23,400 Right? Well, bottom line here John is 297 00:16:23,400 --> 00:16:26,400 saying and speaking to the difference our confidence as 298 00:16:26,400 --> 00:16:31,400 Christians should make when we experience or see or witness one 299 00:16:31,400 --> 00:16:35,360 another sin. By the way, this is a moment 300 00:16:35,360 --> 00:16:38,320 when maturity is needed. And by the way, we all are going 301 00:16:38,320 --> 00:16:41,640 to witness one another sin if we're around each other enough. 302 00:16:41,880 --> 00:16:45,760 Amen. OK, Sin still happens in the 303 00:16:45,760 --> 00:16:48,400 lives of believers. We'll talk about that more as we 304 00:16:48,400 --> 00:16:50,760 go. Some people, I was talking to a 305 00:16:50,760 --> 00:16:54,280 man this past week who's not in church, and his first excuse was 306 00:16:54,280 --> 00:16:57,800 the sin that he says he see, sees or has seen in the lives of 307 00:16:57,800 --> 00:16:59,680 believers. And you, you bet sometimes sin 308 00:16:59,680 --> 00:17:02,600 in the lives of believers can ruin someone's witness and turn 309 00:17:02,600 --> 00:17:04,440 people off. And that ought not be the case. 310 00:17:04,720 --> 00:17:07,200 But we as Christians are not in church because we're claiming to 311 00:17:07,200 --> 00:17:10,800 be sinless. We're in church because we know 312 00:17:10,800 --> 00:17:13,720 we've sinned and we know the one who is sinless and we're seeking 313 00:17:13,720 --> 00:17:16,800 to walk after him by the power of the Holy Spirit, right? 314 00:17:17,640 --> 00:17:20,000 So we're going to see, we're going to witness one another 315 00:17:20,000 --> 00:17:23,079 sin. How do we rightly respond to one 316 00:17:23,359 --> 00:17:26,200 another? Well, notice here it says if 317 00:17:26,200 --> 00:17:31,120 anyone sees his brother committing a sin, not if anyone 318 00:17:31,120 --> 00:17:35,680 hears about his brother committing a sin or hears from 319 00:17:35,680 --> 00:17:39,560 the neighbor or gets a text or hears A rumor or gets a phone 320 00:17:39,560 --> 00:17:44,880 call, right? Sees like point blank, 100% 321 00:17:44,880 --> 00:17:46,760 black and white. I witnessed. 322 00:17:46,760 --> 00:17:48,960 There's no doubt this just happened. 323 00:17:48,960 --> 00:17:51,800 Maybe it was even maybe against you or against someone else. 324 00:17:51,960 --> 00:17:54,160 There's plain and obvious rumors don't count. 325 00:17:54,280 --> 00:17:56,360 John says when that happens, when you see a brother and 326 00:17:56,360 --> 00:17:59,920 sister in Christ, it can be one of two types of sin he lists 327 00:17:59,920 --> 00:18:03,280 here he says #1A sin that doesn't lead to death. 328 00:18:03,280 --> 00:18:05,360 And he says there's sin that does lead to death. 329 00:18:05,560 --> 00:18:08,360 So first of all, what in the world is John talking about? 330 00:18:08,440 --> 00:18:10,560 Sin not leading to death, Sin leading to death? 331 00:18:10,560 --> 00:18:12,280 Well, let's kind of get into it like this. 332 00:18:12,280 --> 00:18:13,480 See if we can try to make this clear. 333 00:18:14,920 --> 00:18:18,320 Death is either physical death or spiritual death. 334 00:18:18,320 --> 00:18:20,480 All right, let me just be trying to be even more clear. 335 00:18:20,640 --> 00:18:22,440 We all know what physical death is, right? 336 00:18:22,440 --> 00:18:26,400 When body stops working and body and soul separate and soul 337 00:18:26,400 --> 00:18:29,240 enters eternity, OK, that's physical death. 338 00:18:29,240 --> 00:18:32,320 We're all familiar with that. Then there's also spiritual 339 00:18:32,320 --> 00:18:33,840 death. Well, spiritual death is not 340 00:18:33,840 --> 00:18:36,320 physical death. It is the separation not of body 341 00:18:36,320 --> 00:18:40,160 and soul, but of soul from Creator for forever in eternity. 342 00:18:40,680 --> 00:18:42,640 So which one does John mean there's a sin leading? 343 00:18:42,640 --> 00:18:45,960 Is it, is it physical death he means or is it a spiritual death 344 00:18:45,960 --> 00:18:49,760 he means? If he means physical death, this 345 00:18:49,760 --> 00:18:54,120 would mean, if this is what he means, that a Christian can sin 346 00:18:54,120 --> 00:18:58,960 in such a way that God may choose to take that Christian 347 00:18:59,040 --> 00:19:03,960 out of this world prematurely. By physical death. 348 00:19:03,960 --> 00:19:06,360 You say, Kyle, that sounds a little extreme. 349 00:19:08,080 --> 00:19:13,000 Let me just give you some real but very rare scenarios of this 350 00:19:13,000 --> 00:19:14,880 very thing happening in the New Testament. 351 00:19:16,160 --> 00:19:21,120 Do you remember the story of Ananias and Sapphira, a couple 352 00:19:21,120 --> 00:19:27,320 in the New Testament church that under the pretense of selling a 353 00:19:27,320 --> 00:19:33,040 piece of property, under the impression to the church that 354 00:19:33,040 --> 00:19:37,640 they were going to give 100% of the profits to the church to use 355 00:19:37,640 --> 00:19:41,480 for meeting physical needs. But in actuality, what they were 356 00:19:41,480 --> 00:19:44,080 going to do was to keep back a certain percentage for 357 00:19:44,080 --> 00:19:48,720 themselves. And what happened? 358 00:19:51,680 --> 00:19:53,080 You don't really want to say out loud, do you? 359 00:19:54,200 --> 00:19:57,880 But God took them home. Physical death. 360 00:20:00,480 --> 00:20:04,040 You remember talks about in First Corinthians Chapter 11 361 00:20:04,040 --> 00:20:08,560 verse 28 through 30, some of the Christians in Corinth were 362 00:20:08,560 --> 00:20:11,880 partaking of the Lord's Supper in such a disobedient manner 363 00:20:11,880 --> 00:20:17,560 that as a result God calls some he said caused some to get sick 364 00:20:17,560 --> 00:20:24,960 and some to even die. Now I know that maybe throws a 365 00:20:24,960 --> 00:20:28,720 monkey wrench in like, you know what is that, right? 366 00:20:31,840 --> 00:20:35,120 These are instances in the New Testament of sin actually 367 00:20:35,120 --> 00:20:38,520 leading to physical death, right? 368 00:20:38,520 --> 00:20:41,600 And as one preacher put it, you might call this form, when God 369 00:20:41,600 --> 00:20:45,120 chooses to use it, God, God's form of this form of God's 370 00:20:45,120 --> 00:20:47,200 discipline, God's dishonorable discharge. 371 00:20:47,200 --> 00:20:50,560 In other words, when he from his sovereign, all perfect, all 372 00:20:50,560 --> 00:20:53,760 knowing perspective, realizes that maybe so and so would do 373 00:20:53,760 --> 00:21:00,200 more harm on earth than good, it's time to go, brings them 374 00:21:00,200 --> 00:21:03,320 home. Now you, I'm sure, like me, got 375 00:21:03,320 --> 00:21:06,200 a lot of questions about that that I don't have the answers 376 00:21:06,200 --> 00:21:10,240 to. All I know is that it's happened 377 00:21:10,240 --> 00:21:14,240 in the New Testament and John brings it up here. 378 00:21:14,360 --> 00:21:17,040 If that's what he means by physical death, what what if he 379 00:21:17,040 --> 00:21:19,240 means spiritual death? What if he means there's sin 380 00:21:19,240 --> 00:21:21,800 that leads to spiritual death? And what he would mean by 381 00:21:21,800 --> 00:21:25,440 spiritual death again, would be eternal separation from God, IE 382 00:21:25,440 --> 00:21:26,600 no salvation. What? 383 00:21:28,000 --> 00:21:29,320 What? What would he mean by that? 384 00:21:29,880 --> 00:21:34,040 Well, if that's what he means, then he's obviously speaking 385 00:21:34,040 --> 00:21:37,840 about someone who claims to be a Christian on the outside, but 386 00:21:37,840 --> 00:21:41,080 it's not actually on the inside because guess what? 387 00:21:41,080 --> 00:21:43,080 He just clarifies for us in verse 18. 388 00:21:43,080 --> 00:21:45,040 I want you to look back. In fact, I think John 389 00:21:45,040 --> 00:21:47,600 anticipates this question. Well, John, are you arguing 390 00:21:47,600 --> 00:21:49,000 someone can lose their salvation? 391 00:21:49,000 --> 00:21:50,400 Look at what he says in verse 18. 392 00:21:50,680 --> 00:21:55,520 We know that everyone who's been born of God does not keep on 393 00:21:55,520 --> 00:21:56,720 sinning. That doesn't mean they never 394 00:21:56,720 --> 00:21:57,320 sin. Again. 395 00:21:57,320 --> 00:22:00,040 I'll explain more in a bit. Does not keep on sinning. 396 00:22:00,200 --> 00:22:03,960 But he who has been born of God protects him and the evil one, 397 00:22:03,960 --> 00:22:09,080 what does not touch him? John says if one has been born 398 00:22:09,080 --> 00:22:13,200 of God, you got Jesus protecting you and Satan can't touch you. 399 00:22:13,400 --> 00:22:16,080 So obviously, if there's a sin that leads to spiritual death, 400 00:22:16,240 --> 00:22:19,200 it's sin by someone who's never been truly forgiven of their sin 401 00:22:19,280 --> 00:22:21,360 because they've never really truly trusted Christ for 402 00:22:21,360 --> 00:22:22,880 forgiveness. And yes, that sin is going to 403 00:22:22,880 --> 00:22:28,120 lead to their eternal separation from God, which all leads us 404 00:22:28,120 --> 00:22:32,040 back to what is, what is a sin that doesn't lead to death? 405 00:22:32,080 --> 00:22:34,520 And how should we respond? How should we rightly relate to 406 00:22:34,520 --> 00:22:38,440 one another here? Well, this is the sin that we 407 00:22:38,440 --> 00:22:44,280 all stumble in. This is the sin when we say 408 00:22:44,280 --> 00:22:47,880 things we shouldn't say. This is the sin when we do 409 00:22:47,880 --> 00:22:52,760 things we shouldn't do, when we're unkind to our spouse, when 410 00:22:52,760 --> 00:22:57,360 we're selfish with our neighbors or friends or employees. 411 00:22:58,440 --> 00:23:03,800 When we lose our self-control and get angry, when we act out 412 00:23:03,800 --> 00:23:08,200 of the out of and away from the influence of the Holy Spirit, we 413 00:23:08,200 --> 00:23:12,080 do things that are conceited or prideful or mean or arrogant, 414 00:23:12,080 --> 00:23:14,200 right? I mean, we all, we all struggle. 415 00:23:14,200 --> 00:23:17,280 We all, we all fight and get entangled and sin, we stumble. 416 00:23:17,480 --> 00:23:22,120 We don't want to do it, but but what we still, what, we still do 417 00:23:22,120 --> 00:23:24,920 it, don't we? That sin nature, we fight. 418 00:23:24,920 --> 00:23:29,120 There's sin that doesn't lead to death, and yet we still stumble 419 00:23:29,120 --> 00:23:32,400 into it, John says. When you see a brother or sister 420 00:23:32,400 --> 00:23:38,360 stumble and sin phone a friend, is that what he says? 421 00:23:40,600 --> 00:23:43,880 Confront him immediately. Is that what he says? 422 00:23:47,760 --> 00:23:54,040 Talk to a talk to a mentor? What does he say do? 423 00:23:56,280 --> 00:23:59,360 How do we rightly relate to one another even when we send? 424 00:23:59,360 --> 00:24:04,640 John says we we pray for them, we'd love them enough to go to 425 00:24:04,640 --> 00:24:08,200 God about what we've seen and witnessed before ever talking to 426 00:24:08,200 --> 00:24:10,600 them, before talking to someone else. 427 00:24:10,760 --> 00:24:13,320 There's other steps the New Testament gives, but the first 428 00:24:13,480 --> 00:24:18,240 most foundational way that our confidence in who we are ought 429 00:24:18,240 --> 00:24:21,680 to have an effect in our lives is that when we see sin or sin 430 00:24:21,680 --> 00:24:25,320 against is we love that person enough knowing who we are in 431 00:24:25,320 --> 00:24:28,080 Christ, We go to God about that and pray. 432 00:24:29,400 --> 00:24:32,960 What if that was our most consistent response when we saw 433 00:24:32,960 --> 00:24:35,840 or witnessed sent in the lives of believers? 434 00:24:38,040 --> 00:24:39,760 What changes would that make in a church? 435 00:24:40,800 --> 00:24:46,600 What changes would that make in a marriage, in a relationship, a 436 00:24:46,600 --> 00:24:50,080 friendship with Co workers, with neighbors, with friends, church 437 00:24:50,080 --> 00:24:53,400 members? I can tell you the difference it 438 00:24:53,400 --> 00:24:54,920 would make because look what God says he'll do. 439 00:24:55,120 --> 00:24:58,760 God says when we do, he will restore, he'll heal, he'll 440 00:24:58,760 --> 00:25:02,320 forgive, he'll preserve how much brokenness and shattered 441 00:25:02,320 --> 00:25:05,880 relationships and tension and the all the effects of sin 442 00:25:05,880 --> 00:25:08,640 remain in our lives because we don't do the most fundamental, 443 00:25:08,640 --> 00:25:12,040 basic, most practical thing the Bible tells us to do towards one 444 00:25:12,040 --> 00:25:15,040 another out of our confidence and who we are in Christ, which 445 00:25:15,040 --> 00:25:17,600 is to pray for one another when we witness one another sin, 446 00:25:20,160 --> 00:25:23,560 right? This would this would be a game 447 00:25:23,560 --> 00:25:27,160 changer. Change how we relate to one 448 00:25:27,160 --> 00:25:30,800 another. Y'all, our confidence as 449 00:25:30,800 --> 00:25:34,000 Christians is crucial. It changes the way we relate to 450 00:25:34,000 --> 00:25:36,280 God. Change the way we relate to one 451 00:25:36,280 --> 00:25:39,360 another #2 what are let's ask this question. 452 00:25:39,360 --> 00:25:42,040 What are the truths that we have confidence in? 453 00:25:42,400 --> 00:25:43,840 What are the truths we have confidence in? 454 00:25:43,840 --> 00:25:46,040 This is verse 18 through 20, and I'm going to start speeding up 455 00:25:46,360 --> 00:25:47,360 number one. First truth. 456 00:25:47,360 --> 00:25:50,840 We know a Christian cannot keep on sinning. 457 00:25:50,840 --> 00:25:53,520 I told you we returned to this one because John says we know it 458 00:25:53,520 --> 00:25:56,720 and we know that everyone who's been born of God does not keep 459 00:25:56,720 --> 00:25:59,360 on sinning. That does not mean we never sin 460 00:25:59,360 --> 00:26:01,840 again. What that means is, is that when 461 00:26:01,840 --> 00:26:05,440 someone becomes a Christian, they do not continually, in an 462 00:26:05,440 --> 00:26:10,680 ongoing, willful, knowing, rebellious, refusing to repent 463 00:26:10,800 --> 00:26:15,080 kind of way, sin in the face of God and don't try to do anything 464 00:26:15,080 --> 00:26:19,560 about it. One of the things I love is when 465 00:26:19,560 --> 00:26:24,360 people get saved, especially later in life, potentially like 466 00:26:24,440 --> 00:26:30,000 teenagers or adults, and they've lived a number of years not 467 00:26:30,000 --> 00:26:32,680 following Christ. They got habits and they got 468 00:26:32,680 --> 00:26:35,760 rhythms and they got patterns and they got practices in their 469 00:26:35,760 --> 00:26:38,360 lives that are ungodly. And all of a sudden when they 470 00:26:38,360 --> 00:26:40,280 hear the word of God and they're studying and they're reading it 471 00:26:40,280 --> 00:26:42,760 and they're hearing it preached and light bulbs are going off 472 00:26:42,960 --> 00:26:44,960 and they're like, Oh my goodness, I didn't know. 473 00:26:45,160 --> 00:26:46,560 I didn't know this didn't honor God. 474 00:26:46,720 --> 00:26:48,560 I didn't know this didn't honor Jesus. 475 00:26:48,560 --> 00:26:50,200 I didn't know this was disobedience. 476 00:26:50,400 --> 00:26:53,840 And yet when they discover it, I love the light bulb moment going 477 00:26:53,840 --> 00:26:57,120 off because it's the desires that God has given them because 478 00:26:57,120 --> 00:26:58,800 they've been changed. They're like, Oh my goodness, I 479 00:26:58,800 --> 00:27:01,560 can't keep living like this. I've got to, I've got to do, 480 00:27:01,560 --> 00:27:04,880 I've got to change. I can't keep in being involved 481 00:27:04,880 --> 00:27:06,560 in this. I've got to walk away from that. 482 00:27:06,760 --> 00:27:08,600 I love. Why watching the Holy Spirit 483 00:27:08,600 --> 00:27:12,480 take someone and do the 180 in their living because of they've 484 00:27:12,480 --> 00:27:17,960 been born of God. That's what this means doesn't 485 00:27:17,960 --> 00:27:21,840 mean once they got saved they never sinned again, but it's 486 00:27:21,840 --> 00:27:25,360 they're actively fighting sin because they know it doesn't 487 00:27:25,360 --> 00:27:29,520 honor God anywhere When they sin they choose to repent. 488 00:27:31,480 --> 00:27:33,200 Christian doesn't keep on sinning. 489 00:27:33,200 --> 00:27:36,920 The second thing, the truth that our we have confidence in as we 490 00:27:37,080 --> 00:27:41,000 know we belong to God and the world belongs to Satan. 491 00:27:41,840 --> 00:27:43,720 This is verse 19. Listen to this first again, we 492 00:27:43,720 --> 00:27:47,080 know that we are from God and the whole world lies in the 493 00:27:47,080 --> 00:27:50,200 power of the evil. 1 How do we know that we belong to God? 494 00:27:51,280 --> 00:27:53,880 What Do you remember all the tests that John gave us in the 495 00:27:53,880 --> 00:27:57,440 first part of this letter that we ought to take and see if we 496 00:27:57,440 --> 00:28:01,040 pass with positive results. Do you remember the light test? 497 00:28:01,280 --> 00:28:07,080 God is light and in him there is no do you walk in the light? 498 00:28:07,080 --> 00:28:14,240 Do you remember the like test, the call to live, walk, to 499 00:28:14,240 --> 00:28:16,600 literally walk? The metaphor is like Jesus. 500 00:28:16,600 --> 00:28:19,920 Do you walk like? I'm not saying perfectly, but is 501 00:28:19,920 --> 00:28:23,560 there any resemblance? Do you walk like Jesus? 502 00:28:23,680 --> 00:28:26,720 John asked. Do you remember the love test? 503 00:28:27,480 --> 00:28:30,920 God is love. If God is love, brothers and 504 00:28:30,920 --> 00:28:33,680 sisters, we ought to love one another. 505 00:28:34,280 --> 00:28:38,440 Do you love your neighbor? The like test, the like like 506 00:28:38,440 --> 00:28:41,360 test, the love test. These tests reveal the truth 507 00:28:41,360 --> 00:28:44,000 that we are not of this world, not because we perfectly passed 508 00:28:44,000 --> 00:28:47,200 the test, but because there's an obvious difference in our lives 509 00:28:47,200 --> 00:28:51,080 because of coming to know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. 510 00:28:51,320 --> 00:28:53,400 But then listen to this. We know we're from God. 511 00:28:53,560 --> 00:28:56,240 And then look at what John says and we also know this truth. 512 00:28:56,360 --> 00:29:01,720 The whole world lies in the power of the evil. 1 I want you 513 00:29:01,720 --> 00:29:03,680 to just let that truth sink in for a moment. 514 00:29:03,680 --> 00:29:09,520 The whole world as I speak right now and until Jesus returns and 515 00:29:09,520 --> 00:29:14,080 establishes fully and finally his reign and his rule right now 516 00:29:14,440 --> 00:29:19,640 until Satan is finally defeated, the whole world, the whole world 517 00:29:19,640 --> 00:29:22,960 lies in the power of the evil one. 518 00:29:24,600 --> 00:29:30,360 Lots of people want to ask why is our world so full of sin, 519 00:29:31,160 --> 00:29:35,600 suffering, brokenness and destruction and corruption? 520 00:29:37,080 --> 00:29:38,480 Ladies and gentlemen, that's the answer. 521 00:29:39,640 --> 00:29:44,320 It's because the whole world lies in the power of the evil 1 522 00:29:44,320 --> 00:29:48,440 and the evil 1 is actively working to kill and steal and 523 00:29:48,440 --> 00:29:50,240 destroy. And the main way he works is 524 00:29:50,240 --> 00:29:54,320 through deception, blinding the eyes of people so they will not 525 00:29:54,320 --> 00:29:57,960 choose to see and believe Jesus Christ and believe on the name 526 00:29:58,160 --> 00:30:01,960 of the Son of God who is light and life. 527 00:30:04,480 --> 00:30:09,280 One of the reasons that you're still breathing and alive as a 528 00:30:09,480 --> 00:30:16,000 believer is so that God can use you to rescue those who 529 00:30:16,000 --> 00:30:20,080 desperately need to hear and see the truth of the light and life 530 00:30:20,320 --> 00:30:24,040 of Jesus Christ. That's not just the job of a 531 00:30:24,040 --> 00:30:27,080 pastor. That is the job of every 532 00:30:27,200 --> 00:30:31,160 Christian for you, living your life, letting Jesus live through 533 00:30:31,880 --> 00:30:34,040 you in the midst of the darkness, because Jesus as the 534 00:30:34,040 --> 00:30:36,600 light of the world has entrusted you to shine your light before 535 00:30:36,600 --> 00:30:42,520 men, to be a light in a Dark World under the power of the 536 00:30:42,520 --> 00:30:49,200 evil. 1 #3 Truth we know is that Jesus Christ is the one true God 537 00:30:49,440 --> 00:30:53,200 who has come in the flesh and given us eternal life. 538 00:30:53,200 --> 00:30:57,080 This is verse 20, and this is the crowning confidence of a 539 00:30:57,080 --> 00:31:02,040 Christian, that God the Father so love the world that he sent 540 00:31:02,040 --> 00:31:05,600 his one and only Son, that whosoever would believe in him 541 00:31:05,600 --> 00:31:09,160 should not perish, but have everlasting life. 542 00:31:09,880 --> 00:31:14,520 This truth is the truth we've staked our lives on Jesus, who 543 00:31:14,520 --> 00:31:18,240 is God and who alone offers eternal life. 544 00:31:18,840 --> 00:31:21,560 By the way, if someone ever asks you how do you know Jesus was 545 00:31:21,560 --> 00:31:24,520 truly God, all you got to do is point him to this text. 546 00:31:24,520 --> 00:31:27,880 Listen to what John says here. He is into verse 20. 547 00:31:28,040 --> 00:31:32,360 He is the true God and eternal life. 548 00:31:32,360 --> 00:31:35,640 People often want to deny that Jesus was God. 549 00:31:36,160 --> 00:31:41,200 Jesus was crucified because he claimed to be God. 550 00:31:43,640 --> 00:31:48,000 And as we've said before, Jesus is either Lord or a liar or a 551 00:31:48,000 --> 00:31:49,880 lunatic. But those are your only three 552 00:31:49,880 --> 00:31:53,520 options. He's either who he says he is or 553 00:31:53,520 --> 00:31:55,480 he's not. Christian. 554 00:31:55,480 --> 00:31:58,520 Your confidence is crucial. These are the truths our 555 00:31:58,520 --> 00:32:01,000 confidence in. But one final question #3 is 556 00:32:01,000 --> 00:32:03,000 this? What is John's warning? 557 00:32:03,280 --> 00:32:05,520 What is John's warning concerning our confidence? 558 00:32:05,720 --> 00:32:07,680 It's in verse 21. I want you to read it out loud 559 00:32:07,680 --> 00:32:08,280 with me. You ready? 560 00:32:08,280 --> 00:32:15,120 Here we go, little children. Keep yourselves from idols. 561 00:32:16,080 --> 00:32:19,480 Keep yourselves from idols. What's an idol? 562 00:32:21,840 --> 00:32:25,640 It's a counterfeit God. It's anything short. 563 00:32:25,640 --> 00:32:32,280 It's anything that's not the one true living big G creator of all 564 00:32:32,280 --> 00:32:34,520 things, sustainer of all things God. 565 00:32:34,640 --> 00:32:37,840 It's anything we put in our lives in the place of God. 566 00:32:38,040 --> 00:32:40,520 It's anything that's in the way of our worship of God. 567 00:32:40,640 --> 00:32:44,520 It's anything that that is less than God's revelation of 568 00:32:44,520 --> 00:32:46,080 himself. It's anything of our 569 00:32:46,080 --> 00:32:48,800 imagination, or it might be of wood or stone, or it could be a 570 00:32:48,800 --> 00:32:52,520 person, place or thing, any noun that gets in the way of our 571 00:32:52,520 --> 00:32:56,280 right and first and foremost, worship of God. 572 00:32:56,520 --> 00:33:02,000 John's One Warning deals with the fact, as we know well, that 573 00:33:02,000 --> 00:33:05,600 our hearts are prone to wonder. As the song says, Lord, I feel 574 00:33:05,600 --> 00:33:08,080 it prone to leave the God I love. 575 00:33:08,840 --> 00:33:11,280 This has been a temptation for people throughout history, 576 00:33:11,280 --> 00:33:12,760 right? Even God's people in the Old 577 00:33:12,760 --> 00:33:16,320 Testament constantly struggled with idolatry. 578 00:33:17,040 --> 00:33:18,560 Why? Because they lived in a world 579 00:33:18,560 --> 00:33:22,400 under the power of who? The evil one who's constantly 580 00:33:22,400 --> 00:33:24,880 seeking to kill, steal, and destroy through deception. 581 00:33:25,040 --> 00:33:27,040 The number one thing the enemy would want you to do is just 582 00:33:27,040 --> 00:33:29,560 worship a false God. He knows you were made to 583 00:33:29,560 --> 00:33:31,040 worship. You're going to worship 584 00:33:31,040 --> 00:33:32,440 something. You don't have a choice. 585 00:33:32,440 --> 00:33:34,400 You may disagree with that, but it's just true. 586 00:33:34,480 --> 00:33:37,040 You'll worship yourself. You'll worship something you'll 587 00:33:37,040 --> 00:33:39,000 worship. The question is, whom are you 588 00:33:39,000 --> 00:33:41,760 worshiping? John says you better not worship 589 00:33:41,760 --> 00:33:44,720 anything, anyone but the one true God. 590 00:33:44,960 --> 00:33:47,880 And so even in the Old Testament, kings would often 591 00:33:47,880 --> 00:33:49,760 seek to restore right worship of God. 592 00:33:49,920 --> 00:33:51,440 But you often read this little phrase. 593 00:33:51,560 --> 00:33:55,600 But the high places were not removed. 594 00:33:56,840 --> 00:34:01,400 The cultural landmarks of what the culture said one should 595 00:34:01,400 --> 00:34:03,240 worship and where one should worship. 596 00:34:03,520 --> 00:34:07,120 They tried to do right worship, but they kept a little bit of 597 00:34:07,120 --> 00:34:11,280 what the culture worshiped. It was a thorn in their sign. 598 00:34:14,239 --> 00:34:16,920 This warning for us here is not a warning. 599 00:34:16,920 --> 00:34:19,239 I don't think anybody in the room is going to be tempted to 600 00:34:19,239 --> 00:34:23,040 bow down to wood or stone this afternoon, OK? 601 00:34:24,600 --> 00:34:30,520 But we have cultural high places that we're tempted to worship at 602 00:34:31,719 --> 00:34:35,120 sometimes alongside of worshiping the one true God. 603 00:34:35,120 --> 00:34:38,239 And we say, well, we want to involve and include the worship 604 00:34:38,239 --> 00:34:41,360 of this or the worship of that. What are some of those things? 605 00:34:41,360 --> 00:34:43,360 Let me just tell you what some of them are. 606 00:34:43,440 --> 00:34:46,840 Our culture has high places of worship at certain standards of 607 00:34:46,840 --> 00:34:51,639 living and financial success. Our culture has high places of 608 00:34:51,639 --> 00:34:54,840 worship at earthly success at all cost. 609 00:34:55,679 --> 00:34:59,840 Our culture has high places of worship of our kids and their 610 00:34:59,840 --> 00:35:05,320 success, especially in sports. Our culture worships at the high 611 00:35:05,320 --> 00:35:08,960 place of busyness. It worships at the high place of 612 00:35:08,960 --> 00:35:12,720 social standing and reputation, especially in the modern form of 613 00:35:12,720 --> 00:35:18,160 influence, likes and followers. Our culture worships at the high 614 00:35:18,160 --> 00:35:21,760 place of personal self-expression, especially the 615 00:35:21,760 --> 00:35:25,280 pursuit of happiness or sexual orientation or fulfillment or 616 00:35:25,280 --> 00:35:28,120 whatever it is one says identifies them or makes them 617 00:35:28,120 --> 00:35:31,080 happy, even if it cuts straight across the grain of the Word of 618 00:35:31,080 --> 00:35:37,400 God. These are all places our culture 619 00:35:37,400 --> 00:35:41,640 worships at, by the way. We can be tempted to worship at 620 00:35:41,640 --> 00:35:45,360 them too. Part of the problem, if you look 621 00:35:45,360 --> 00:35:47,960 at the landscape, I think of the American church in general. 622 00:35:47,960 --> 00:35:51,680 One of our problems in America, I think in general as believers 623 00:35:51,680 --> 00:35:56,560 is lack of maturity in our faith, lack of knowing what we 624 00:35:56,560 --> 00:36:00,280 believe, why we believe it, and boldness to stand for it and 625 00:36:00,280 --> 00:36:03,920 boldness to share it. And an immovable anchored 626 00:36:04,120 --> 00:36:08,160 concrete in the truth roots down deep so we can produce fruit far 627 00:36:08,160 --> 00:36:10,040 and wide. And when you're immature in your 628 00:36:10,040 --> 00:36:13,360 faith, when your surface level right, so often you say, well, 629 00:36:13,360 --> 00:36:15,840 I'm going to worship God, but I'm going to carry some of these 630 00:36:15,840 --> 00:36:18,040 high places with me. And no wonder Christians, in 631 00:36:18,040 --> 00:36:21,200 their immaturity and continuing to worship some false gods in 632 00:36:21,200 --> 00:36:24,080 their life, continue to experience some misery, some 633 00:36:24,080 --> 00:36:27,920 lack of fulfillment, lack of joy, because they've just not 634 00:36:27,920 --> 00:36:31,240 surrendered all to Jesus and they don't have confidence in 635 00:36:31,240 --> 00:36:33,960 who He is, who they are, and what He's called them to do in 636 00:36:33,960 --> 00:36:37,240 their lives. And they return to the high 637 00:36:37,240 --> 00:36:39,920 places seeking what only God can provide. 638 00:36:41,360 --> 00:36:45,440 Christian, don't give your confidence to a counterfeit. 639 00:36:46,560 --> 00:36:49,800 Don't give your confidence to a counterfeit. 640 00:36:50,280 --> 00:36:53,440 Your confidence is crucial. It'll change the way you relate 641 00:36:53,440 --> 00:36:55,520 to God. It'll change the way we relate 642 00:36:55,520 --> 00:36:57,840 to one another. It'll change your grounding in 643 00:36:57,840 --> 00:36:59,640 the truth. And it will prevent you from 644 00:36:59,640 --> 00:37:03,400 running after fakes because you know the real thing. 645 00:37:05,440 --> 00:37:09,280 This past week, Lauren and I and the kids and we took a road trip 646 00:37:09,280 --> 00:37:14,200 that involved pulling our, our camper behind us and somewhere 647 00:37:14,760 --> 00:37:19,520 north of, yeah, northwest of Muskogee, OK, Had my first 648 00:37:19,520 --> 00:37:26,840 blowout of two within two hours. Lord and I, we're having certain 649 00:37:26,840 --> 00:37:30,960 conversations that weren't super pleasant, but I was trying to 650 00:37:30,960 --> 00:37:37,640 stay full of the Holy Spirit. I was certain that let me get 651 00:37:37,640 --> 00:37:40,120 back in the light here. I was certain that I was 652 00:37:40,120 --> 00:37:41,280 probably going to need some help. 653 00:37:42,080 --> 00:37:45,720 I could tell that the side of the camper, the flap over the 654 00:37:45,720 --> 00:37:49,440 wheels was half blown off and the metal skirting in the side 655 00:37:49,440 --> 00:37:53,200 was rippled and insulation had blown out. 656 00:37:53,200 --> 00:37:55,200 I thought, man, I'm looking at a mess, I'm going to need some 657 00:37:55,200 --> 00:37:57,320 help. So I called for some help. 658 00:37:57,320 --> 00:38:00,520 Praise God, I was able to get the tire changed before help 659 00:38:00,520 --> 00:38:02,320 arrived. But that help I called. 660 00:38:02,320 --> 00:38:04,960 I met them at the next Love's Travel stop about a mile down 661 00:38:04,960 --> 00:38:09,400 the road. And there, by God's Providence, 662 00:38:09,400 --> 00:38:10,960 I met a man by the name of Michael. 663 00:38:11,400 --> 00:38:13,600 Now, I had prayed before I left on this trip. 664 00:38:13,600 --> 00:38:16,120 God, if there's anyone I'm supposed to cross paths with, 665 00:38:16,120 --> 00:38:19,080 anyone I'm supposed to share with, God, help me know in the 666 00:38:19,080 --> 00:38:21,000 moment. You know, the problem is God 667 00:38:21,000 --> 00:38:22,960 will do this to you when you're not really feeling it. 668 00:38:22,960 --> 00:38:27,840 You know what I'm saying? When, yeah, your mind is 669 00:38:27,880 --> 00:38:29,960 everywhere else. Your heart's everywhere else. 670 00:38:30,840 --> 00:38:33,320 But I'm thinking I don't believe things happen for no reason. 671 00:38:33,320 --> 00:38:35,760 So I'm like, OK, God, I'm looking. 672 00:38:35,760 --> 00:38:38,080 I'm looking. So sure enough, I was looking 673 00:38:38,080 --> 00:38:40,120 for the air. Finally, I found the air. 674 00:38:40,280 --> 00:38:41,640 A man named Michael helped me find it. 675 00:38:42,240 --> 00:38:44,400 And Michael's helping me assess the damage. 676 00:38:44,400 --> 00:38:46,160 And I'd use some different things and tools. 677 00:38:46,160 --> 00:38:49,600 I had to try to get the camper back in somewhat aerodynamic 678 00:38:49,600 --> 00:38:50,320 shape. All right. 679 00:38:51,000 --> 00:38:53,360 And so Michael has a blessing to me. 680 00:38:53,360 --> 00:38:55,240 And I said, Michael, man, you've been a blessing to me. 681 00:38:55,240 --> 00:38:57,320 And at this whole time, this guy was so nice. 682 00:38:57,320 --> 00:38:59,880 I was like, God, you obviously want me to talk to this guy. 683 00:39:00,840 --> 00:39:04,240 He worked for loves middle of nowhere maintenance guy. 684 00:39:05,360 --> 00:39:07,720 And I said, man, you've been a blessing to me. 685 00:39:08,400 --> 00:39:11,560 How, how could I pray for you? I'd love to be a blessing to 686 00:39:11,560 --> 00:39:12,840 you. How could I pray for you? 687 00:39:14,120 --> 00:39:19,880 And he said, man, I'm, I'm a brain cancer survivor, But the 688 00:39:19,880 --> 00:39:23,760 doctor said it's just a matter of time before it's back and you 689 00:39:23,760 --> 00:39:26,800 could pray for me about that. I said, Michael, do you, do you 690 00:39:26,800 --> 00:39:30,320 have a knowledge of Jesus and knowledge of what's going to 691 00:39:30,320 --> 00:39:33,200 happen when you die? They said, man, I've studied 692 00:39:33,200 --> 00:39:35,280 theology and you know, really I've got to a place where I'm 693 00:39:35,280 --> 00:39:37,440 just, I'm doing as much good as I can. 694 00:39:40,200 --> 00:39:46,640 So here's the deal. Michael was a man is a man that 695 00:39:46,640 --> 00:39:51,200 is confident he's going to die. By the way, you ought to be too, 696 00:39:52,520 --> 00:39:54,000 OK? It's coming for me. 697 00:39:54,320 --> 00:39:57,480 It's coming for you. Brain cancer is just helping 698 00:39:57,480 --> 00:40:01,400 Michael process it with a little more clarity, OK? 699 00:40:02,600 --> 00:40:06,760 But Michael was not a man. Is not a man confident of what's 700 00:40:06,760 --> 00:40:11,280 going to happen when he died. Do you see the difference? 701 00:40:12,360 --> 00:40:14,160 It's one thing to be confident that you're going to die. 702 00:40:15,200 --> 00:40:18,160 It's a whole another thing not to be confident about what's 703 00:40:18,160 --> 00:40:21,720 going to happen when you do. So I looked at Michael and I 704 00:40:21,720 --> 00:40:24,600 said, man, listen, it's not about what you do. 705 00:40:26,560 --> 00:40:29,520 You can't help enough people like me on this road to get to 706 00:40:29,520 --> 00:40:33,640 heaven. There's only one His name is 707 00:40:33,680 --> 00:40:36,480 Jesus. And when you die, it's going to 708 00:40:36,480 --> 00:40:40,000 boil down to Michael, whether you've trusted your life to him, 709 00:40:40,720 --> 00:40:43,720 receive forgiveness from him, and whether or not you're going 710 00:40:43,720 --> 00:40:46,800 to spend eternity with him because of what he's done, not 711 00:40:46,800 --> 00:40:51,560 because of what you've done. Michael, do you realize God made 712 00:40:51,560 --> 00:40:55,720 you to have 100% confidence in what's going to happen when you 713 00:40:55,720 --> 00:40:59,240 die? I want to ask you, do you have 714 00:40:59,240 --> 00:41:04,280 100% confidence of what's going to happen when you die? 715 00:41:06,040 --> 00:41:08,360 And if you don't, and John and Praise team come out in just a 716 00:41:08,360 --> 00:41:09,960 second, I want you to come talk to me. 717 00:41:10,520 --> 00:41:17,280 If you don't, God wants you to. Maybe there's things in your 718 00:41:17,280 --> 00:41:21,440 life like high places that are robbing you of confidence 719 00:41:23,320 --> 00:41:25,680 because you've been going and looking for things that only God 720 00:41:25,680 --> 00:41:30,120 can provide in the wrong places. Maybe you got some sin in your 721 00:41:30,120 --> 00:41:33,720 life you need to walk away from, it's robbing you of confidence. 722 00:41:35,640 --> 00:41:39,360 Maybe you've never trusted Christ with your whole heart to 723 00:41:39,360 --> 00:41:42,320 save you from your sin and it's the day to do that today, to 724 00:41:42,320 --> 00:41:44,760 believe on the name of the Son of God. 725 00:41:46,200 --> 00:41:48,320 Maybe you seem to come get on your knees or come stand and say 726 00:41:48,320 --> 00:41:51,400 God, these are my things causing me to lack confidence and I 727 00:41:51,400 --> 00:41:54,720 don't want to live that way. I want to live the way you 728 00:41:54,720 --> 00:41:59,000 designed me to live, knowing without a doubt, Father, I want 729 00:41:59,000 --> 00:42:03,280 to pray that as we respond to you in your word, Father, that 730 00:42:03,680 --> 00:42:05,480 you would give us the confidence we need. 731 00:42:05,560 --> 00:42:07,040 God, I want. I want to pray for Michael. 732 00:42:09,160 --> 00:42:11,040 God, I know that he heard the gospel. 733 00:42:12,040 --> 00:42:13,920 I don't know what he's done with it. 734 00:42:15,280 --> 00:42:16,960 Father, I know there's someone here today. 735 00:42:16,960 --> 00:42:20,920 Perhaps it's just like him that doesn't fully know, but needs to 736 00:42:22,080 --> 00:42:24,680 that God they crossed paths with the message this morning so they 737 00:42:24,680 --> 00:42:27,720 could respond by faith. I pray they would God give us 738 00:42:27,720 --> 00:42:30,200 confidence, help us to walk in it rightly relate to you and to 739 00:42:30,200 --> 00:42:34,400 one another to know the truth so we believed and not to run after 740 00:42:34,400 --> 00:42:36,880 fakes. In Jesus name I pray, Amen. 741 00:42:36,880 --> 00:42:39,120 Would you stand with me? We're going to sing and respond. 742 00:42:39,400 --> 00:42:41,360 You come as the Lord leads. I'm going to wait for you.