1 00:00:00,600 --> 00:00:04,400 This is City Post Church, we're about three things, build 2 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:09,000 equipped and send all under the lordship of Jesus Christ, a 3 00:00:09,000 --> 00:00:12,300 small Church Plant in Fort Worth Texas, who decided to do things 4 00:00:12,300 --> 00:00:16,000 a little differently. I would almost I had to Crystal, 5 00:00:16,500 --> 00:00:19,000 I love City Post because of the people. 6 00:00:19,300 --> 00:00:22,100 It's where I belong, we truly preach the word. 7 00:00:22,100 --> 00:00:24,100 I love City Post because of the community. 8 00:00:24,100 --> 00:00:25,800 We've been able to build to do ministry. 9 00:00:25,800 --> 00:00:28,800 Like Jesus perlite to push back Darkness. 10 00:00:30,100 --> 00:00:38,100 This is City, Post podcast. You know, nobody goes into a 11 00:00:38,100 --> 00:00:41,100 white elephant thinking, man, I'm going to get something 12 00:00:41,100 --> 00:00:44,800 really good today. It's going to be awesome and I 13 00:00:44,800 --> 00:00:48,800 do got to give a shout out. Joseph probably gave one of the 14 00:00:48,800 --> 00:00:52,800 greatest white elephant gift I've ever seen in my life and 15 00:00:52,800 --> 00:00:56,200 it's tab on was the recipient and it changed his life forever. 16 00:00:56,500 --> 00:01:02,000 So I'm going to leave it that way said, got him I was going to 17 00:01:02,008 --> 00:01:03,700 show picture, but that might backfire. 18 00:01:03,800 --> 00:01:06,700 So what's so what's interesting about, why? 19 00:01:06,900 --> 00:01:10,400 Elephant gifts is that people bring kind of the stuff they 20 00:01:10,400 --> 00:01:13,000 don't want but they wrap it up like really nicely. 21 00:01:13,000 --> 00:01:16,400 It's almost like the wrapping and all that goes into. 22 00:01:16,400 --> 00:01:18,800 It is more valuable than the gift itself. 23 00:01:19,400 --> 00:01:22,600 And so you wrap it up really nicely. 24 00:01:22,600 --> 00:01:25,700 You put a bow on it, you put in the middle of the room, hoping 25 00:01:25,700 --> 00:01:27,900 that somebody's going to come in, like take it. 26 00:01:28,600 --> 00:01:33,500 But the expectation is that the gift that you're going to get, 27 00:01:33,500 --> 00:01:36,600 is not going to be of extreme value to you. 28 00:01:37,200 --> 00:01:41,200 So there's an expectation to a white elephant gift exchange 29 00:01:41,200 --> 00:01:43,400 where nobody really goes in. And they're like, man, we can't 30 00:01:43,400 --> 00:01:46,300 wait to see what I get. It's gonna change my life unless 31 00:01:46,300 --> 00:01:49,000 Joseph gives it to me, right? I mean, that's kind of what it, 32 00:01:49,000 --> 00:01:52,400 that's kind of like what we go in thinking. 33 00:01:53,400 --> 00:01:57,800 And when we talk about Sin, it's kind of the same way, and I'm 34 00:01:57,800 --> 00:02:01,200 glad that, you know, Stephen gave that inch, we planned that, 35 00:02:01,200 --> 00:02:02,800 right? Like, that was just perfect. 36 00:02:03,400 --> 00:02:05,500 Yeah, man, we talked last night were, like, what are you talking 37 00:02:05,500 --> 00:02:08,500 about, bro? But But, you know, sin is the 38 00:02:08,500 --> 00:02:11,800 same way. No, nobody ever goes in like 39 00:02:11,800 --> 00:02:14,000 saying, like, oh, that looks really pretty. 40 00:02:14,000 --> 00:02:17,100 I'm going to I'm going to take it, it's going to be of extreme 41 00:02:17,100 --> 00:02:20,800 value to me. Actually sin comes really 42 00:02:20,800 --> 00:02:23,200 wrapped up in a bow and nice wrapping paper. 43 00:02:23,200 --> 00:02:27,900 But you know that what's inside is going to not just be of no 44 00:02:27,900 --> 00:02:30,000 value to you. It's actually going to destroy 45 00:02:30,000 --> 00:02:32,500 you. So then the question is like why 46 00:02:32,500 --> 00:02:37,100 do we say, why want that anyway? You know, so Or is there 47 00:02:37,100 --> 00:02:40,900 something about Sin that we're going to address today in John 48 00:02:41,200 --> 00:02:44,000 addresses this as well. So we're going to be in first 49 00:02:44,000 --> 00:02:47,700 John chapter 3 and we're going to keep going. 50 00:02:47,700 --> 00:02:49,600 We're going to start off in verse 2. 51 00:02:50,400 --> 00:02:57,400 So verse 2 and verse 3 of First, John chapter 3 is kind of 52 00:02:57,600 --> 00:03:03,700 connected to chapter 2 verses, 28 through 3:3. 53 00:03:04,800 --> 00:03:07,500 And then it's going to go on to talk about the The lawlessness 54 00:03:07,500 --> 00:03:11,100 of sin but we're going to cover all of that stuff. 55 00:03:11,500 --> 00:03:15,500 And really what I'm when I'm hoping today is that you leave 56 00:03:15,500 --> 00:03:22,200 here encouraged that you do have the power over sin in Christ and 57 00:03:22,200 --> 00:03:26,300 that you don't have to be a slave to it, and we know that 58 00:03:26,300 --> 00:03:29,200 Jesus brings life and that sin brings death. 59 00:03:30,200 --> 00:03:32,600 But then if we know that it brings death, why do we go that 60 00:03:32,600 --> 00:03:33,900 way anyway? Why do we choose it? 61 00:03:33,900 --> 00:03:35,100 So we're going to talk about that today. 62 00:03:35,100 --> 00:03:38,500 So let's pray together. Father we love you and we thank 63 00:03:38,500 --> 00:03:41,400 you because you're a good God. And Lord we thank you because 64 00:03:41,400 --> 00:03:44,700 you're faithful to us. So Jesus, I pray that you speak 65 00:03:44,700 --> 00:03:46,100 to us through your word this morning. 66 00:03:46,100 --> 00:03:49,200 God that you helped me to collect my thoughts, Lord, and 67 00:03:49,200 --> 00:03:52,700 everything that has been going on this weekend, to put all that 68 00:03:52,700 --> 00:03:57,100 aside and focus on you and your word for these next few moments 69 00:03:57,100 --> 00:03:59,800 together. So, Lord, remove distractions, 70 00:04:00,000 --> 00:04:03,000 God, speak to our hearts Lord, let everything that comes out of 71 00:04:03,008 --> 00:04:05,400 my mouth. Lord, be of you and not myself 72 00:04:05,700 --> 00:04:07,300 in your name, we pray these things, amen. 73 00:04:08,700 --> 00:04:11,800 All right, so we're going to, let's go ahead and let's 74 00:04:11,800 --> 00:04:13,600 backtrack a little bit. It's not going to be. 75 00:04:15,000 --> 00:04:17,100 I don't know if I put the passages on the screen but let's 76 00:04:17,100 --> 00:04:23,200 start in first, John 2:28 and I know we went through this last 77 00:04:23,200 --> 00:04:27,300 week and we're going to start in verse 2, but we got to, we got 78 00:04:27,300 --> 00:04:29,900 to put it all together. We got to connect all the dots. 79 00:04:30,900 --> 00:04:34,600 So that way verse 2 and 3, when we talk about it, it'll make 80 00:04:34,600 --> 00:04:37,600 sense. So verse 28 says, and now dear 81 00:04:37,600 --> 00:04:42,600 children continue in him so that when he appears, we may be 82 00:04:42,600 --> 00:04:46,400 confident and unashamed before him as his coming. 83 00:04:47,000 --> 00:04:52,700 If you know that he is righteous and know that everyone who does 84 00:04:52,700 --> 00:04:55,200 what is, right? Has been born of him and now 85 00:04:55,200 --> 00:04:59,900 this is 3:1 see what great love. The father has lavished. 86 00:05:00,000 --> 00:05:03,500 It on us and what should be called children of God. 87 00:05:03,500 --> 00:05:07,400 And that is what we are. The reason that the world does 88 00:05:07,400 --> 00:05:12,000 not know us, is that he does. Is that it did not know him. 89 00:05:12,000 --> 00:05:14,600 Verse two. Dear friends. 90 00:05:14,600 --> 00:05:21,600 Now, we are children of God and what we will be has not yet been 91 00:05:21,600 --> 00:05:26,200 made known, but we know that when Christ appears we shall be 92 00:05:26,200 --> 00:05:30,900 like him for. We shall see him as he, Is verse 93 00:05:30,900 --> 00:05:37,300 3, all who have this hope in him purifies themselves just as he 94 00:05:37,300 --> 00:05:41,700 is purified. So we got to look at verse 2 and 95 00:05:41,700 --> 00:05:45,000 3 and I love how John starts verse 2 in chapter 3 and I 96 00:05:45,008 --> 00:05:49,600 remember last week we talked about us knowing that Jesus is 97 00:05:49,600 --> 00:05:54,100 going to return should actually give us confident and give us 98 00:05:54,100 --> 00:05:58,000 hope and that we find ourselves unashamed when he comes back. 99 00:05:58,200 --> 00:06:01,500 So why everybody's running for the Hill's, we are celebrating 100 00:06:01,600 --> 00:06:06,000 the return of Jesus Christ, because we belong to him and 101 00:06:06,000 --> 00:06:08,500 there's and there's something beautiful in that. 102 00:06:08,500 --> 00:06:11,900 And we talked about, that's where we find our confidence in 103 00:06:12,600 --> 00:06:15,400 and because we find our confidence, the hope that God 104 00:06:15,400 --> 00:06:18,000 gives us. We don't rely on our worldly 105 00:06:18,000 --> 00:06:21,200 confidence, but we rely on God, fidence, right? 106 00:06:21,200 --> 00:06:25,400 That tells us like, I've hauled you and I have and I have named 107 00:06:25,400 --> 00:06:29,300 you and you belong to me. So, regardless of you finding 108 00:06:29,300 --> 00:06:32,300 confidence. In yourself which does not work. 109 00:06:32,800 --> 00:06:35,400 You're going to find confidence in me and that's where we get 110 00:06:35,400 --> 00:06:39,200 our God fittings from and that's going to help us to push 111 00:06:39,200 --> 00:06:42,400 forward. Now John is going to encourage 112 00:06:42,400 --> 00:06:45,000 us a little bit more starting in verse 2. 113 00:06:45,200 --> 00:06:51,500 He says my dear friends. Now we are children of who You 114 00:06:51,500 --> 00:06:54,400 could talk, we are children of whom God, right. 115 00:06:54,500 --> 00:06:56,600 So it's almost like John is starting with this 116 00:06:56,600 --> 00:06:58,800 encouragement. He's like hey remember like 117 00:06:58,800 --> 00:07:04,000 you're a child of God, I think this is so vital because even as 118 00:07:04,000 --> 00:07:07,500 Believers if whenever we state that we are believers in Christ 119 00:07:07,500 --> 00:07:09,700 when we're Christians, the world is going to hell. 120 00:07:09,800 --> 00:07:12,700 I always have something to say they're going to push back, 121 00:07:13,000 --> 00:07:15,300 they're going to call you names. They're gonna they're gonna call 122 00:07:15,300 --> 00:07:17,700 you all these things. Things like all here come like 123 00:07:17,700 --> 00:07:20,300 the right wing Freaks and I mean, like whatever. 124 00:07:21,100 --> 00:07:23,100 You see on the news, I mean that's what the world's going to 125 00:07:23,200 --> 00:07:26,400 push on you. And what John is doing here is 126 00:07:26,400 --> 00:07:29,900 he is reiterating that you are a child of God. 127 00:07:30,000 --> 00:07:33,400 Now remember got to connect it from 2:28. 128 00:07:34,400 --> 00:07:37,100 So John is giving us this amazing confidence but he's also 129 00:07:37,100 --> 00:07:41,200 reminding us that the moment that you say, yes to Jesus, that 130 00:07:41,200 --> 00:07:43,300 you surrender your life to Jesus. 131 00:07:43,300 --> 00:07:46,100 Boom. You become a child of God. 132 00:07:46,700 --> 00:07:48,900 There's no like testing out period. 133 00:07:49,000 --> 00:07:51,600 There's no, like, let me drive the car before I I buy it. 134 00:07:51,600 --> 00:07:56,300 No you become a child of God immediately when you repent he 135 00:07:56,300 --> 00:07:58,700 changes your heart. He gives you the anointing which 136 00:07:58,700 --> 00:08:01,600 is the holy spirit. Don't get lost in that word. 137 00:08:01,800 --> 00:08:04,300 Remember words defined differently, right? 138 00:08:04,300 --> 00:08:08,800 So if you guys know what I'm talking about Friday so make 139 00:08:08,800 --> 00:08:14,100 sure that you know that soon as you have surrendered your life 140 00:08:14,100 --> 00:08:16,700 to Christ, you become a child of God. 141 00:08:17,700 --> 00:08:20,700 And when he's coming, John is going to continue in this 142 00:08:20,700 --> 00:08:25,700 thought is and what we will be has not yet been known to us, 143 00:08:26,100 --> 00:08:30,500 but what we do know, I'm sorry, but we know that when Christ 144 00:08:30,500 --> 00:08:33,700 appears we shall be like him for. 145 00:08:33,700 --> 00:08:37,799 We shall see him as he is. It's kind of a little bit of a 146 00:08:37,799 --> 00:08:40,799 tongue twister here. Now remember, who John is 147 00:08:40,799 --> 00:08:44,700 writing this to the gnostics believed in this cultural like 148 00:08:44,700 --> 00:08:48,600 this, this dualism between material and the physical, and 149 00:08:48,600 --> 00:08:52,500 the spiritual, like there's a separation here, so you could do 150 00:08:52,500 --> 00:08:55,600 whatever you want in the body. But as long as the spirituals 151 00:08:55,600 --> 00:08:58,400 intact, then you could be enlightened. 152 00:08:59,300 --> 00:09:01,500 And a lot of these guys are walking around saying, I'm 153 00:09:01,500 --> 00:09:03,100 enlightened. So, you knew you must listen to 154 00:09:03,100 --> 00:09:05,400 me. God has spoken to me and not to 155 00:09:05,400 --> 00:09:09,600 you. So, we have this in mind, we're 156 00:09:09,600 --> 00:09:13,700 like, like God's Little G. We get to do all these things 157 00:09:13,700 --> 00:09:17,100 and that has caused a shift in the way they see sin and in 158 00:09:17,100 --> 00:09:20,900 Morality and John is pushing back and he's like, no, your 159 00:09:20,900 --> 00:09:24,500 child of God. Now, we don't know. 160 00:09:25,800 --> 00:09:29,600 And what he will be has not yet been made known. 161 00:09:30,200 --> 00:09:32,500 So as he's gnostics are going around and they're telling 162 00:09:32,500 --> 00:09:36,000 people that they know stuff and that their they have like this 163 00:09:36,000 --> 00:09:39,400 inside. Insider trading knowledge. 164 00:09:39,400 --> 00:09:43,900 John is saying no, we don't yet know what all of this is going 165 00:09:43,900 --> 00:09:47,500 to look like. But the truth is is like when 166 00:09:47,500 --> 00:09:51,700 you become a child of God, you begin this step. 167 00:09:51,700 --> 00:09:55,400 It's called what we like to call, sanctification, how the 168 00:09:55,400 --> 00:09:59,700 Holy Spirit Works in us and you become more and more like 169 00:09:59,700 --> 00:10:02,600 Christ. You take on the characteristics 170 00:10:02,600 --> 00:10:05,400 of Christ. You have the DNA, you have the 171 00:10:05,400 --> 00:10:10,100 spiritual DNA of crisis with John tells Nicodemus about being 172 00:10:10,100 --> 00:10:16,300 born again. but when Christ appears, That's when you're 173 00:10:16,300 --> 00:10:19,500 really going to see how we become like Christ. 174 00:10:20,200 --> 00:10:24,200 No sin. No, shame is going to be perfect 175 00:10:24,200 --> 00:10:26,600 in heaven. We're truly going to be like 176 00:10:26,600 --> 00:10:29,700 him. It says, we shall be like him 177 00:10:30,100 --> 00:10:34,100 for. We shall see him as he is, it's 178 00:10:34,100 --> 00:10:38,300 pretty incredible. And what I want us to really 179 00:10:38,300 --> 00:10:41,100 understand too. Is if you look back, John just 180 00:10:41,100 --> 00:10:44,700 talks about how it's it's because of his lavish love on 181 00:10:44,700 --> 00:10:47,700 us. That all of this is going down. 182 00:10:48,900 --> 00:10:51,400 You see God's love. We got understand God's love, 183 00:10:51,400 --> 00:10:56,000 because God's love aligns with God's character, so you can't 184 00:10:56,000 --> 00:11:00,100 separate the two. So because God is faithful, his 185 00:11:00,100 --> 00:11:04,300 love is faithful because his God is all-powerful. 186 00:11:04,300 --> 00:11:09,800 His love is all powerful because God is like in imaginable. 187 00:11:09,800 --> 00:11:13,300 His love is in imaginable. God is all knowing his love is 188 00:11:13,300 --> 00:11:16,200 all-knowing. Like think about God. 189 00:11:16,200 --> 00:11:20,000 His love is Pete. A part of his characteristic. 190 00:11:20,900 --> 00:11:25,000 So we get to take part in that and for some of us, we can't 191 00:11:25,000 --> 00:11:29,100 even imagine God's love because God is unimaginable. 192 00:11:29,600 --> 00:11:32,900 And so is his love for us. The Bible says, in Isaiah that 193 00:11:32,900 --> 00:11:36,200 his his ways are higher than our ways, his thoughts are higher 194 00:11:36,200 --> 00:11:38,400 than our thoughts. For some of us, we will never 195 00:11:38,400 --> 00:11:43,700 comprehend his love and that is okay. but if we see God, then we 196 00:11:43,700 --> 00:11:47,700 see love So what he's saying is like there's going to be a time 197 00:11:47,700 --> 00:11:51,100 where when Christ appears we're going to be just as he is. 198 00:11:51,600 --> 00:11:53,800 So we're not only going to go with him but that's when we're 199 00:11:53,800 --> 00:11:58,500 really going to kind of take on his form, the actual character 200 00:11:58,500 --> 00:12:01,500 of God and that is exciting thing. 201 00:12:01,900 --> 00:12:07,900 So we shall conform to the image of Christ, IE his nature but 202 00:12:07,900 --> 00:12:12,200 this does not mean that Believers become little gods. 203 00:12:13,300 --> 00:12:17,000 And there is a teaching out there that kind of says that 204 00:12:17,300 --> 00:12:19,800 like, because you have the Holy Spirit living in you, you're 205 00:12:19,800 --> 00:12:23,100 able to kind of be like God and that's what the gnostics kind of 206 00:12:23,100 --> 00:12:26,300 believed. And what John is saying is like, 207 00:12:26,300 --> 00:12:30,500 no, that's not how this works. You are not a deity. 208 00:12:31,900 --> 00:12:35,100 You are not a little entity. You're not a little God walking 209 00:12:35,100 --> 00:12:36,900 around. No. 210 00:12:36,900 --> 00:12:38,500 So you take on the image of Christ. 211 00:12:38,500 --> 00:12:41,600 We can't take on the nature of Christ and when we go to be with 212 00:12:41,600 --> 00:12:44,800 him, we're really going to be like Christ but he's the only 213 00:12:44,800 --> 00:12:47,900 God nobody else and that's something that we got to 214 00:12:47,908 --> 00:12:50,300 remember. And I know it's kind of hard for 215 00:12:50,300 --> 00:12:54,500 us to understand. But when we look at stuff, 216 00:12:54,500 --> 00:12:58,500 that's self-serving and stuff that we make out of Idols, it's 217 00:12:58,500 --> 00:13:00,800 really easy to talk about God's Little G. 218 00:13:01,800 --> 00:13:04,400 So we need to make we got to be careful that we don't fall into 219 00:13:04,400 --> 00:13:09,600 that category. And then verse 3 is the verse 220 00:13:09,600 --> 00:13:13,700 that stops everything up, right? Like this is the last bread, 221 00:13:13,700 --> 00:13:17,100 stick on the table where you have like a little bit of sauce 222 00:13:17,100 --> 00:13:20,400 on your plate left and you need like a bread to like this is 223 00:13:20,400 --> 00:13:22,100 like you know you're eating cotton. 224 00:13:22,500 --> 00:13:26,300 Asada and those Molina's, and you have a little tiny bit left. 225 00:13:26,300 --> 00:13:29,400 So you ordered tortillas even though you're full because you 226 00:13:29,408 --> 00:13:32,600 need to do the mob job. You know, saying like dad's 227 00:13:32,600 --> 00:13:37,000 verse 3, right here, okay. Verse 3 is, is the thing that 228 00:13:37,000 --> 00:13:40,600 brings it all together. All right, this is the tortilla 229 00:13:40,600 --> 00:13:43,600 Dos Molinos. I'm getting hungry. 230 00:13:43,600 --> 00:13:46,700 All right. All who have this. 231 00:13:46,700 --> 00:13:54,300 Hope in him purifies themselves. Just as he is pure, you see 232 00:13:54,300 --> 00:13:55,700 that's what brings it all together. 233 00:13:56,000 --> 00:14:00,500 So we have that God fit in. So we know he's coming back And 234 00:14:00,500 --> 00:14:03,500 because we know this, this changes the way that we live our 235 00:14:03,500 --> 00:14:08,000 lives. IE, we thirst and hunger for 236 00:14:08,000 --> 00:14:11,400 Holiness and righteousness and we start to hate sin. 237 00:14:12,400 --> 00:14:16,200 No, we hate sin. Sin is something that we're 238 00:14:16,200 --> 00:14:20,600 like, man, I love God so much. Like, if I know that he's coming 239 00:14:20,600 --> 00:14:23,700 back, if I know if I have this hope in me. 240 00:14:25,600 --> 00:14:31,100 Then sin does not pay. Play a major role in my life and 241 00:14:31,100 --> 00:14:36,500 I will fight to stay holy and righteous. 242 00:14:37,400 --> 00:14:40,800 You see what he talks about is all have hope this hope they 243 00:14:40,800 --> 00:14:43,900 purify themselves. Why do we fight for 244 00:14:43,900 --> 00:14:48,500 righteousness and Holiness? Because he is pure I love what 245 00:14:48,500 --> 00:14:52,000 he says in First Peter says be holy because the Lord, your God 246 00:14:52,000 --> 00:14:56,100 is Holy. It's a command you go, you 247 00:14:56,100 --> 00:14:59,500 pursue Holiness? That's how you see the Lord, who 248 00:14:59,500 --> 00:15:03,600 shall, Ascend the hill of the Lord who will go for us, those 249 00:15:03,600 --> 00:15:09,600 who have clean hands and a pure heart, as Psalms 24 to say those 250 00:15:09,600 --> 00:15:12,600 who go to church all the time, those who memorize scripture, 251 00:15:12,700 --> 00:15:16,100 those who serve, no, he's talking about Holiness. 252 00:15:16,400 --> 00:15:18,900 And if you truly want to experience, Ian Scott, you're 253 00:15:18,900 --> 00:15:20,400 going to pay attention to holiness. 254 00:15:21,600 --> 00:15:23,300 And I'll be honest. That's something that I'm 255 00:15:23,300 --> 00:15:24,900 learning more and more, especially going through the 256 00:15:24,900 --> 00:15:30,100 book of First, John all, who have this hope purify themselves 257 00:15:30,500 --> 00:15:35,700 just as he is pure. You know Paul talks about this 258 00:15:35,700 --> 00:15:41,100 in Philippians chapter 3 verses 12 through going read that 259 00:15:41,100 --> 00:15:44,800 Philippians 3. A lot of us know this passage 260 00:15:45,400 --> 00:15:47,600 because this is kind of where this hope. 261 00:15:47,900 --> 00:15:52,900 This is what the the Hope turns into Philippians, 3 verses 12 262 00:15:52,900 --> 00:15:58,700 through 14. It says this not that I have 263 00:15:58,900 --> 00:16:03,700 already obtained all this or have already arrived at my goal, 264 00:16:04,000 --> 00:16:09,200 but I press on to take hold of what, for which Christ Jesus 265 00:16:09,200 --> 00:16:11,900 Took? Hold of me brothers and sisters. 266 00:16:11,900 --> 00:16:15,300 I do not consider myself yet to have taken, hold of it. 267 00:16:16,200 --> 00:16:19,500 But one thing I do know, forgetting what is behind and 268 00:16:19,500 --> 00:16:24,500 straining and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward 269 00:16:24,500 --> 00:16:27,600 the goal. Goal to win the prize for which 270 00:16:27,600 --> 00:16:31,900 God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. 271 00:16:32,600 --> 00:16:34,000 You see? So what Paul is saying, he's 272 00:16:34,000 --> 00:16:37,200 like man, I am pressing on for the prize. 273 00:16:37,600 --> 00:16:40,800 I am living a life that is pleasing to the Lord. 274 00:16:40,800 --> 00:16:43,500 My endurance, my faith is going to go. 275 00:16:43,500 --> 00:16:47,500 So that way, I continue to please God in his Holiness and 276 00:16:47,700 --> 00:16:51,700 when I get there, Christ is going to be my reward. 277 00:16:52,500 --> 00:16:54,500 That's what I'm striving for right now. 278 00:16:55,500 --> 00:16:58,900 So as we're here on this Earth, we are going through the 279 00:16:58,900 --> 00:17:03,000 sanctification process. God is continually working in 280 00:17:03,000 --> 00:17:06,000 us, through the Holy Spirit, to become more and more like him to 281 00:17:06,000 --> 00:17:09,900 take on the character of Christ, and that means fighting our sin. 282 00:17:11,900 --> 00:17:15,700 Because he is, Holy. But when we get to him, that's 283 00:17:15,700 --> 00:17:19,300 when you're really going to experience, something Wild and 284 00:17:19,300 --> 00:17:22,800 the reward is Jesus. Now there's a little transition 285 00:17:22,800 --> 00:17:25,599 that happens here because he talks about the hope that we 286 00:17:25,599 --> 00:17:31,000 have through verse 3 and now we, he jumps to, really break down. 287 00:17:31,000 --> 00:17:34,200 So because we have to purify ourselves because God is pure. 288 00:17:34,500 --> 00:17:37,200 That means that we must takes in a little bit serious. 289 00:17:37,500 --> 00:17:40,900 Not a little bit, a lot of B, sin is a serious thing. 290 00:17:40,900 --> 00:17:44,400 So look at verse 4 and he breaks these next three verses is down. 291 00:17:44,400 --> 00:17:49,800 I mean this is this is so John is so clear here everyone who 292 00:17:49,800 --> 00:17:53,700 sins breaks the law. In fact sin is lawlessness, 293 00:17:53,700 --> 00:17:59,100 verse 5, but you know that he appeared so that he might take 294 00:17:59,200 --> 00:18:03,200 away our sins. And in him is no sin. 295 00:18:03,300 --> 00:18:07,800 And in verse 6, no one, who lives in him, keeps on sinning. 296 00:18:08,200 --> 00:18:13,700 No, one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him. 297 00:18:14,500 --> 00:18:17,300 So verse four, he talks about this, he's like because God is 298 00:18:17,300 --> 00:18:21,500 pure so everyone who sins breaks the law. 299 00:18:22,000 --> 00:18:25,900 Now if we don't explain this correctly a lot of people could 300 00:18:25,900 --> 00:18:29,900 kind of like take this verse and run with it in a different 301 00:18:29,900 --> 00:18:32,500 direction. But you got to look at how this 302 00:18:32,500 --> 00:18:36,000 is written. The verb here, is he who sins? 303 00:18:36,200 --> 00:18:38,700 Actually means he who continues to sin. 304 00:18:38,900 --> 00:18:42,500 So what John is addressing is Habitual sin. 305 00:18:43,600 --> 00:18:47,900 He's talking about if their sin in your life that you do just 306 00:18:47,900 --> 00:18:51,200 out of habit. Like it's, it's a part of you, 307 00:18:51,600 --> 00:18:55,100 but not just out of habit, but you're kind of like, you become 308 00:18:55,100 --> 00:18:58,100 numb to it. Like there's no conviction of 309 00:18:58,100 --> 00:19:02,300 the anointed one in your life. That when you sin, you feel 310 00:19:02,300 --> 00:19:07,400 like, man, I need forgiveness now and because you don't have 311 00:19:07,400 --> 00:19:11,500 the conviction of the anointed one, you continue to sin like 312 00:19:11,500 --> 00:19:13,800 it's just a part of your life. Like it's a A part of your 313 00:19:13,800 --> 00:19:19,500 everyday, like, it's no big deal and you're wrapped up in it, but 314 00:19:19,500 --> 00:19:20,900 see what John is getting to hear. 315 00:19:20,900 --> 00:19:26,200 He's like, if you are a believer in Christ, when you do sin, when 316 00:19:26,200 --> 00:19:29,700 you commit sin, then there is a conviction and that conviction 317 00:19:29,700 --> 00:19:34,800 leads to confession. You see the directory here, but 318 00:19:34,800 --> 00:19:38,700 non-believers, when they do sin, they don't recognize that 319 00:19:38,700 --> 00:19:41,600 they're in their sin. There is no conviction. 320 00:19:41,800 --> 00:19:45,100 Therefore, it will not lead to A confession to a holy and 321 00:19:45,100 --> 00:19:47,500 righteous God. And when I say confession, don't 322 00:19:47,500 --> 00:19:50,700 think of the Catholic Church. Confection like, don't be like 323 00:19:50,700 --> 00:19:51,500 my father. I let her. 324 00:19:51,600 --> 00:19:52,800 No. No, that's not what it. 325 00:19:52,800 --> 00:19:56,600 We have a high priest. That's that's who we confess to. 326 00:19:56,900 --> 00:19:58,400 That's what it talks about Hebrews. 327 00:19:58,900 --> 00:20:02,900 So there's got to be something in you that when you do sin 328 00:20:03,500 --> 00:20:07,600 you're like man, I got to stop. Like this is tearing me up. 329 00:20:07,600 --> 00:20:10,700 I can't keep doing this. You see what he's addressing is 330 00:20:10,700 --> 00:20:14,500 Habitual sin here? Because if you do take on the 331 00:20:14,500 --> 00:20:17,100 new nature God's character, if you claim that you're a 332 00:20:17,100 --> 00:20:23,000 Believer, then sinning is going to go against the work of God in 333 00:20:23,000 --> 00:20:25,600 your life. It's not going to match up. 334 00:20:27,300 --> 00:20:29,800 And then he goes on. And he says that sin is 335 00:20:30,200 --> 00:20:33,200 lawlessness. He's like, nah, like, don't just 336 00:20:33,200 --> 00:20:35,900 do it like a bitch will said, no, it's lawlessness. 337 00:20:36,100 --> 00:20:40,600 We learned this in Romans how sin leads to more sin? 338 00:20:42,200 --> 00:20:46,200 It doesn't just stop. So when John is talking about 339 00:20:46,200 --> 00:20:50,300 being lawlessness in our sin, He's pretty much. 340 00:20:50,300 --> 00:20:53,300 He's using this terminology anus as you're committing 341 00:20:53,300 --> 00:20:57,800 transgressions to God's law. Like you are purposely knowing 342 00:20:57,800 --> 00:21:02,600 that you are breaking God's law. So, give me an example. 343 00:21:03,500 --> 00:21:06,000 So whenever you pull up to a four-way, stop sign. 344 00:21:07,500 --> 00:21:12,200 How many of us actually stop and count to three, one, one 345 00:21:12,200 --> 00:21:13,900 thousand two. One thousand three. 346 00:21:13,900 --> 00:21:17,700 Well, except for a while, you know, while the four-way stop 347 00:21:17,700 --> 00:21:22,900 sign at my house, like, I'm like, 50 yards out, looking both 348 00:21:22,900 --> 00:21:24,200 ways. And I'm, like, I'm clear. 349 00:21:26,100 --> 00:21:28,900 Like I'm going, I'm gonna wear driver. 350 00:21:30,100 --> 00:21:34,000 Now, why do I do that? I know that the law is to stop 351 00:21:34,000 --> 00:21:38,000 at the stop sign, but I continue to do what I do. 352 00:21:38,600 --> 00:21:43,000 You see that's lawlessness. You see, we know what God's law 353 00:21:43,000 --> 00:21:46,000 says toward sin. We see it. 354 00:21:46,100 --> 00:21:50,000 We see the signs but we continue to do what we do. 355 00:21:51,100 --> 00:21:53,500 And that's what he's saying sin is lawlessness. 356 00:21:54,600 --> 00:22:01,700 So even though we know so we are being We're being like, we're in 357 00:22:01,700 --> 00:22:06,600 Rebellion towards God's in. I mean, we're in Rebellion 358 00:22:06,600 --> 00:22:11,000 toward God because of our sin. So we kind of are aligning 359 00:22:11,000 --> 00:22:14,800 ourselves to the world saying the law doesn't really exist or 360 00:22:14,800 --> 00:22:18,000 I could get away with it. So I'm going to kind of live the 361 00:22:18,000 --> 00:22:22,900 way I do and and it when we do that, if you're in God, then you 362 00:22:22,900 --> 00:22:27,700 have a conviction in your life which leads to repentance, which 363 00:22:27,700 --> 00:22:28,800 means that you're going to do it. 364 00:22:28,900 --> 00:22:30,600 Out face and you're going to stop. 365 00:22:31,900 --> 00:22:35,100 But if you don't stop and you continue in these patterns and 366 00:22:35,100 --> 00:22:38,000 it doesn't impact you and there's no conviction and 367 00:22:38,000 --> 00:22:40,900 there's no confession and you only feel bad because you got 368 00:22:40,900 --> 00:22:44,100 caught. That's not the work of Christ in 369 00:22:44,100 --> 00:22:46,700 us. That's a James 4:17. 370 00:22:47,700 --> 00:22:52,400 So Eddie everyone who practices like this habitual sin is living 371 00:22:52,700 --> 00:22:55,400 in an ongoing condition of lawlessness. 372 00:22:55,800 --> 00:23:00,900 That's Romans 415, which marks all who are outside of God's 373 00:23:00,900 --> 00:23:04,400 Kingdom. Oh, that's a hard truth, y'all. 374 00:23:05,800 --> 00:23:09,600 So, when people tell you their followers of Christ, you don't 375 00:23:09,600 --> 00:23:11,800 just say, explain it to me. Y'all still be like you gotta 376 00:23:11,800 --> 00:23:15,800 show me your fruit here. Because if you're loving sin and 377 00:23:15,800 --> 00:23:19,000 it doesn't FaZe you and all that stuff, then I gotta we gotta, we 378 00:23:19,000 --> 00:23:21,300 have a talk, we got to ask some questions. 379 00:23:22,400 --> 00:23:25,600 Look at verse 5 is keep going but you know that he appeared so 380 00:23:25,600 --> 00:23:30,000 that he might take away our sins and in him there is no sin. 381 00:23:31,200 --> 00:23:34,800 He see the another reason why we should not practice lawlessness 382 00:23:34,800 --> 00:23:38,200 is because it's incompatible to the work of God. 383 00:23:38,700 --> 00:23:41,100 So Jesus, there's no sin in Christ. 384 00:23:41,900 --> 00:23:44,500 He's the one that took the sin so in order for us to be 385 00:23:44,500 --> 00:23:49,700 forgiven of sin we must there must be something or somebody 386 00:23:49,900 --> 00:23:54,500 that could meet the standard of God the law of God which is 387 00:23:54,800 --> 00:23:58,100 perfect. Whenever people tell me Well 388 00:23:58,100 --> 00:24:01,500 Rick you don't have to be a believer in Christ to be good. 389 00:24:02,000 --> 00:24:04,800 My next question is like well then what's good? 390 00:24:05,600 --> 00:24:07,600 What standard do you have? That's good. 391 00:24:07,600 --> 00:24:11,300 Well, I didn't kill nobody. Well, what's your standard of 392 00:24:11,300 --> 00:24:12,300 good? Let's ask Hitler. 393 00:24:12,300 --> 00:24:15,200 Stalin. Because they killed millions of 394 00:24:15,200 --> 00:24:17,900 people and he thought they were doing great, you know. 395 00:24:17,900 --> 00:24:20,800 So we got to have a standard. We got have a law that is 396 00:24:20,800 --> 00:24:25,100 perfect and that we aim for and that law is the law that God 397 00:24:25,200 --> 00:24:26,900 created. Why does his matter? 398 00:24:26,900 --> 00:24:28,600 Because he's the only one that could do it. 399 00:24:29,400 --> 00:24:32,400 Jesus is the only one that lived a life without sin. 400 00:24:33,300 --> 00:24:39,700 So he was able to take our sins because there was no sin in him. 401 00:24:40,400 --> 00:24:43,800 For God made him who knew no sin to be ours. 402 00:24:43,900 --> 00:24:46,800 Our sin. So that on our behalf so that 403 00:24:46,800 --> 00:24:50,700 way you and I could become the righteousness of God as First 404 00:24:50,700 --> 00:24:54,700 Corinthians 5:20, so all these great things. 405 00:24:54,700 --> 00:24:59,000 So John is, letting everyone know that our sins are forgiven 406 00:24:59,000 --> 00:25:03,300 because Christ did not have any sin in his entire life. 407 00:25:03,800 --> 00:25:07,200 So he's able to forgive us of our sins and then look at verse 408 00:25:07,200 --> 00:25:13,600 6, No one who lives in him. Keeps on sinning. 409 00:25:14,600 --> 00:25:19,600 No one who continues to sin, has either seen him or have known 410 00:25:19,600 --> 00:25:22,500 him, man. That's a strong Passage. 411 00:25:25,600 --> 00:25:29,000 So what John is pointing to is as a Believer, listen, you could 412 00:25:29,000 --> 00:25:31,000 have all the information in the world. 413 00:25:34,600 --> 00:25:38,100 But your confidence and your, in your perception, and your 414 00:25:38,100 --> 00:25:42,400 personal perception, should be able to appear to others. 415 00:25:44,500 --> 00:25:48,900 And you should take sin, seriously. and when he talks 416 00:25:48,900 --> 00:25:54,900 about Christ, not having sin, In him being able to destroy sin. 417 00:25:54,900 --> 00:25:58,400 That's not like a past thing. Now this it's like a present 418 00:25:58,400 --> 00:26:01,700 reality. Like our sins are forgiven past 419 00:26:01,700 --> 00:26:04,600 present and future because of what the work that Christ did on 420 00:26:04,600 --> 00:26:08,300 the cross. So, John is making sure that we 421 00:26:08,300 --> 00:26:11,100 really understand this and in verse six, he's like no one that 422 00:26:11,100 --> 00:26:14,900 lives in him keeps on sinning, it's that word habitual again. 423 00:26:16,000 --> 00:26:20,100 if you belong to Jesus, Then your life should be so 424 00:26:20,100 --> 00:26:24,700 drastically changed that you look different than your past 425 00:26:24,700 --> 00:26:30,700 life. you say in Corinthians, and second Corinthians says, the 426 00:26:30,700 --> 00:26:35,700 old, has gone, and the new has come Will you continue to sin 427 00:26:35,700 --> 00:26:38,200 and will you struggle with sin? Yes, because we are broken 428 00:26:38,200 --> 00:26:41,500 people. Will you be a slave to sin? 429 00:26:41,600 --> 00:26:43,700 You don't have to be a slave anymore because Christ. 430 00:26:45,100 --> 00:26:48,400 Do you find joy in sin? No, because of Christ. 431 00:26:48,900 --> 00:26:53,200 Those are the marks of a real believer, and no one who lives 432 00:26:53,200 --> 00:26:58,400 in Jesus, in Christ keeps on living the same way that they 433 00:26:58,400 --> 00:27:01,600 live before. There's got to be something that 434 00:27:01,600 --> 00:27:03,800 changes in your life. There's got to be a heart 435 00:27:03,800 --> 00:27:07,100 change. And I was thinking about Paul 436 00:27:07,400 --> 00:27:11,500 when Paul ran into Christ and the road to Damascus. 437 00:27:12,700 --> 00:27:16,200 And he was blinded and the scales fell off his eyes. 438 00:27:16,500 --> 00:27:19,900 Paul didn't stand back up and say, all right, I'm going to 439 00:27:19,900 --> 00:27:22,400 keep going to go be an extremist again. 440 00:27:23,600 --> 00:27:27,700 No, like the encounter with Christ was so powerful that it 441 00:27:27,700 --> 00:27:33,500 changed his life forever. He didn't go back and I know a 442 00:27:33,500 --> 00:27:38,200 lot of us that have been changed through Jesus even though we 443 00:27:38,200 --> 00:27:41,600 struggle and we fight with the sin in our life, that he saved 444 00:27:41,600 --> 00:27:45,000 us front, that he saved us from. There's nothing in me. 445 00:27:45,000 --> 00:27:47,500 That's like, man, I sure do wish I was back there. 446 00:27:49,500 --> 00:27:51,300 No way. Are you kidding me? 447 00:27:53,600 --> 00:27:57,000 No one who continues to sin has either seen him or know him. 448 00:27:58,100 --> 00:28:01,100 So you didn't just experienced Christ. 449 00:28:01,500 --> 00:28:04,800 You have no idea who he is and he doesn't know who you are, 450 00:28:05,700 --> 00:28:12,400 which is kind of scary. So we need to make sure that 451 00:28:12,500 --> 00:28:16,100 this whole idea of constant sitting in a visual sin like we 452 00:28:16,100 --> 00:28:19,600 have to repent if that is us and we got to say, do I really have 453 00:28:19,600 --> 00:28:21,300 a relationship with Jesus Christ, right? 454 00:28:21,300 --> 00:28:23,300 Understand. Do I have his anointing? 455 00:28:23,500 --> 00:28:26,100 Because if my life continues this way, then I don't know if 456 00:28:26,100 --> 00:28:28,400 he abides in me and I abide in him. 457 00:28:30,400 --> 00:28:34,100 Now, here's what's wild about all this, as I was thinking 458 00:28:34,100 --> 00:28:37,900 about this, when Paul talks about like this, lawlessness 459 00:28:37,900 --> 00:28:43,000 about Sin and all that, like we know especially how to Roman's, 460 00:28:43,000 --> 00:28:46,300 like for the wages of sin is what death. 461 00:28:46,800 --> 00:28:48,900 But the gift of God is eternal life through Christ. 462 00:28:48,900 --> 00:28:52,600 Jesus, our lord, we know that sin is destructive. 463 00:28:53,200 --> 00:28:56,600 If I went on a game show and there are like, Ricky behind 464 00:28:56,600 --> 00:28:59,700 door. Number one, You're going to have 465 00:28:59,700 --> 00:29:03,100 death destruction and disorder behind door. 466 00:29:03,100 --> 00:29:04,900 Number two, you're going to have life. 467 00:29:05,800 --> 00:29:07,600 What door would you like to pick today? 468 00:29:08,400 --> 00:29:11,000 I'm not going to be like, give me Door Number One processor. 469 00:29:11,000 --> 00:29:13,000 I don't know. Like, that's so dumb. 470 00:29:13,000 --> 00:29:16,000 Like you know, where it's going to lead you to. 471 00:29:16,600 --> 00:29:20,700 And as Believers, many of us know that our sin is 472 00:29:20,700 --> 00:29:23,200 destructive, we know that it leads us to. 473 00:29:23,600 --> 00:29:26,000 So my question is then why do we keep doing it? 474 00:29:26,700 --> 00:29:31,400 What is it about it? And the truth is sin, does not 475 00:29:31,400 --> 00:29:36,000 show up. In its natural form. 476 00:29:36,300 --> 00:29:38,300 It's almost like a white elephant gift. 477 00:29:39,500 --> 00:29:42,600 It is gift wrap beautifully and nicely. 478 00:29:44,000 --> 00:29:49,000 In self-satisfaction. And they put a humongous po of 479 00:29:49,000 --> 00:29:52,800 self-deception. You see like most of the sin 480 00:29:52,800 --> 00:29:57,600 feeds, our sinful man, our sinful nature, it is 481 00:29:57,900 --> 00:30:03,300 self-satisfying, we do it because it makes us good feel 482 00:30:03,300 --> 00:30:07,500 good about ourselves but that's exactly what John talked about 483 00:30:07,500 --> 00:30:11,900 the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of, 484 00:30:11,900 --> 00:30:18,000 man, So whenever sin does appear in our life, it doesn't come in 485 00:30:18,000 --> 00:30:20,600 the form of death and destruction and and all that 486 00:30:20,600 --> 00:30:22,400 stuff. No, it actually comes in the 487 00:30:22,400 --> 00:30:26,300 form of this is good for you. Just going to make you happy and 488 00:30:26,300 --> 00:30:29,200 this is going to satisfy your life. 489 00:30:31,800 --> 00:30:34,400 And then once you get in it, it becomes habitual. 490 00:30:34,400 --> 00:30:38,000 It's habit-forming like you just keep doing it. 491 00:30:38,000 --> 00:30:41,600 It just keeps on working. If you're as habit-forming and 492 00:30:41,600 --> 00:30:45,000 then because you just continue, it becomes Lawless, you know, 493 00:30:45,000 --> 00:30:47,100 that it's wrong, but because it feels good. 494 00:30:47,100 --> 00:30:49,400 I'm going to keep moving forward to it. 495 00:30:50,400 --> 00:30:53,900 But ultimately, your sin is going to lead you to death. 496 00:30:55,000 --> 00:30:59,600 It's going to destroy you. And I think that there's three 497 00:30:59,600 --> 00:31:01,500 things that sin does in our lives. 498 00:31:02,000 --> 00:31:05,800 So I kind of want to address. How does it become habitual? 499 00:31:06,600 --> 00:31:09,300 How does sin become a habit forming? 500 00:31:09,500 --> 00:31:12,000 How does it lead to destruction in my life? 501 00:31:12,700 --> 00:31:15,100 And I think that there's three there's three things that it 502 00:31:15,100 --> 00:31:19,300 forms and I'm just going to start kind of like from the top 503 00:31:19,300 --> 00:31:21,400 down. Number one, sin is death 504 00:31:21,400 --> 00:31:25,300 forming. It's death forming, we know out 505 00:31:25,300 --> 00:31:27,900 of scripture for the wages of sin is death. 506 00:31:27,900 --> 00:31:30,800 It's straight-up tells you it's right here. 507 00:31:31,900 --> 00:31:33,800 And we say it over and over again. 508 00:31:33,900 --> 00:31:37,000 It's so destructive that the Son of God had to give his life for 509 00:31:37,000 --> 00:31:39,300 it. Something had to die. 510 00:31:40,700 --> 00:31:45,800 It's death, forming it erodes your life. 511 00:31:46,800 --> 00:31:50,300 Like if you think about like waves hitting the land a little 512 00:31:50,300 --> 00:31:52,500 bit at a time, it's not all that wants. 513 00:31:52,500 --> 00:31:55,800 But little bit at a time that that land just starts to kind of 514 00:31:56,200 --> 00:31:59,600 disintegrate into the ocean. And next thing, you know, it, 515 00:31:59,800 --> 00:32:02,500 there's landslides and destruction and houses are 516 00:32:02,600 --> 00:32:06,800 collapsing. So it always starts with this 517 00:32:06,800 --> 00:32:10,900 death, former we know that, but it's also cycle for me. 518 00:32:11,900 --> 00:32:14,400 Where do I get that from? Because in verse 4, he says that 519 00:32:14,700 --> 00:32:18,100 sin is not just Lawless but it's also something that we continue 520 00:32:18,100 --> 00:32:21,200 to do it. Forms Cycles in her life. 521 00:32:22,400 --> 00:32:25,700 And in the way it eases into our lives is pattern forming. 522 00:32:26,400 --> 00:32:32,000 If forms patterns in our lives. And I know a lot of us get 523 00:32:32,000 --> 00:32:35,400 sucked into this. So we see that we see sinful. 524 00:32:35,400 --> 00:32:39,600 We want to, please our flesh. We want to please our Humanity. 525 00:32:40,700 --> 00:32:43,700 So, we start doing the same thing over and over, and over, 526 00:32:43,700 --> 00:32:47,600 and over and over again, expecting different results. 527 00:32:48,100 --> 00:32:50,400 That's maddening. That's the definition of 528 00:32:50,400 --> 00:32:53,100 insanity. You know, we saw this like the 529 00:32:53,100 --> 00:32:58,600 woman at the well, Where she had all these different partners? 530 00:32:59,100 --> 00:33:01,000 How come they don't keep working. 531 00:33:02,200 --> 00:33:04,800 Like what is it about it? What is it about her? 532 00:33:06,200 --> 00:33:08,300 A lot of us fall in that same category. 533 00:33:09,400 --> 00:33:14,000 Well, we do the same thing. We find our joy in sin. 534 00:33:15,200 --> 00:33:17,000 And all of a sudden, we feel terrible. 535 00:33:17,000 --> 00:33:21,000 We feel bad, we get, we try to get our lives better. 536 00:33:21,300 --> 00:33:25,400 Once it's better, we find joints in and you keep going and you're 537 00:33:25,400 --> 00:33:28,600 doing the same thing expecting different results. 538 00:33:30,700 --> 00:33:32,900 And you're going to get to a place where you're like, man, my 539 00:33:32,900 --> 00:33:36,300 relationships are wrecked my family's jacked up? 540 00:33:36,400 --> 00:33:39,600 I'm not living in my purpose and this I have no Effectiveness in 541 00:33:39,600 --> 00:33:42,300 life. Now, I'm tied to addictions. 542 00:33:43,600 --> 00:33:45,600 Why? Because it's pattern for me. 543 00:33:47,300 --> 00:33:50,000 You got to start looking why? And then you get to a place 544 00:33:50,000 --> 00:33:51,600 like, how come nothing is working? 545 00:33:53,200 --> 00:33:55,300 How come I'm on my fifth relationship? 546 00:33:56,600 --> 00:33:58,300 Because you keep doing the same thing. 547 00:33:59,500 --> 00:34:01,500 How come I keep giving myself to people? 548 00:34:01,600 --> 00:34:03,700 How come I keep putting the stuff in my body? 549 00:34:04,000 --> 00:34:07,300 Why do I keep living this way? Because it's pattern forming. 550 00:34:08,400 --> 00:34:12,699 You've bought into the lie and now it's form patterns in your 551 00:34:12,699 --> 00:34:15,199 life. But here's what sin does. 552 00:34:15,199 --> 00:34:17,699 Because if you give Satan a little bit, he's not just going 553 00:34:17,699 --> 00:34:20,600 to destroy your life but he's also going to take your legacy. 554 00:34:21,500 --> 00:34:24,199 So now it's going to creep into your what, your families. 555 00:34:25,400 --> 00:34:27,100 You see? So now it's like I'm pattern 556 00:34:27,100 --> 00:34:30,199 formed like so these are the things that I continually do in 557 00:34:30,199 --> 00:34:32,300 my life. That is out of sin. 558 00:34:32,500 --> 00:34:34,600 And now, who's taking part in it? 559 00:34:34,699 --> 00:34:38,900 My kids. Kid is watching how dad treats 560 00:34:38,900 --> 00:34:42,800 mom? My kid, my son, my daughter is 561 00:34:42,800 --> 00:34:47,199 watching her mom treats Dad, how they're they're they're not 562 00:34:47,199 --> 00:34:50,600 loving each other how they're buying into their sin. 563 00:34:50,800 --> 00:34:55,100 So those patterns and are now creeping in to the rest of your 564 00:34:55,100 --> 00:34:58,700 legacy and the rest of your family and those Cycles begin to 565 00:34:58,700 --> 00:35:02,400 form And now me who's going to do and I mean he's going to do 566 00:35:02,400 --> 00:35:05,800 it and it's just going to continue to go family from 567 00:35:05,800 --> 00:35:10,200 generation to generation to generation unless something 568 00:35:10,200 --> 00:35:15,800 breaks. And those patterns form those 569 00:35:15,800 --> 00:35:20,000 Cycles form and then what ends up at the end of it, all this 570 00:35:20,000 --> 00:35:23,300 death and destruction. Not just for your life. 571 00:35:24,000 --> 00:35:26,600 But we got to think about our families and our kids, and our 572 00:35:26,600 --> 00:35:29,300 Generations, their lives as well. 573 00:35:30,700 --> 00:35:35,100 Our relationships. you have to ask yourself why in the world is 574 00:35:35,100 --> 00:35:39,700 every single man in my family, abusive Why are we all 575 00:35:39,700 --> 00:35:42,900 alcoholics? Why are all the women in my 576 00:35:42,900 --> 00:35:44,000 family? Divorced. 577 00:35:44,800 --> 00:35:46,200 Why did all of us? Get pregnant? 578 00:35:46,200 --> 00:35:50,200 When we were 15? What is it about these 579 00:35:50,200 --> 00:35:53,300 destructive life-size. How come it keeps happening 580 00:35:53,700 --> 00:35:57,900 because of Habitual sin. You didn't take sin serious. 581 00:35:59,400 --> 00:36:03,400 So, these patterns form into Cycles the Cycles form into 582 00:36:03,400 --> 00:36:08,000 destruction. And if and at the heart of all 583 00:36:08,000 --> 00:36:14,100 of this is saying, saying God, you do not work. 584 00:36:15,300 --> 00:36:17,000 You pull people away from the faith. 585 00:36:17,500 --> 00:36:22,600 Everything Satan does is to go against what God created and to 586 00:36:22,600 --> 00:36:29,600 thrive So whenever we start in those in that path, we fall into 587 00:36:29,600 --> 00:36:33,000 this whole like self-made and self-help. 588 00:36:33,000 --> 00:36:35,600 Well, if your self made in self help you better add 589 00:36:35,600 --> 00:36:39,300 self-destruct to because that's exactly where you're heading. 590 00:36:40,500 --> 00:36:42,300 How can do it myself? I read 10 books. 591 00:36:42,300 --> 00:36:43,700 I'm like, yeah, well, keep reading. 592 00:36:43,700 --> 00:36:46,900 You're gonna be 10 more. Because it's never going to 593 00:36:46,900 --> 00:36:49,600 work. So how do we get out of this? 594 00:36:49,700 --> 00:36:53,800 How do I get out of this? You'll bite in Christ. 595 00:36:54,500 --> 00:36:59,300 Jesus is the only one that could enter into your life. 596 00:37:00,300 --> 00:37:03,400 And take that sin away. So he doesn't just take the sin 597 00:37:03,400 --> 00:37:09,300 away, but he takes the hunger of sin away and replaces it with a 598 00:37:09,308 --> 00:37:10,900 hunger and thirst of righteousness. 599 00:37:11,800 --> 00:37:15,700 That's how we know we're in him. So whenever that habitual, 600 00:37:15,700 --> 00:37:18,700 whenever since starts creeping in our lives and I dabble back 601 00:37:18,700 --> 00:37:21,700 in it instead of me being like Oh that was awesome. 602 00:37:22,000 --> 00:37:24,800 Like this is great like man, my wife and kids hate me now. 603 00:37:25,800 --> 00:37:30,800 Now it's going to be like wow I have failed miserably. 604 00:37:31,800 --> 00:37:35,400 God forgive me when I fall into my flesh. 605 00:37:36,100 --> 00:37:38,900 Help me to honor and please you more. 606 00:37:40,600 --> 00:37:43,300 Whenever you start seeing more of Jesus, he starts seeing less 607 00:37:43,300 --> 00:37:46,200 of sin, when people are, like, how do I fight it? 608 00:37:46,200 --> 00:37:48,000 How do I fight it? How do I fight it? 609 00:37:48,500 --> 00:37:51,700 It's Christ, man. The more you see him, this 610 00:37:51,700 --> 00:37:54,800 beauty, the more you're around, his people, all that stuff. 611 00:37:54,800 --> 00:37:57,700 That's what helps you fight. Our sin, listening, you will 612 00:37:57,700 --> 00:38:00,700 struggle. We're not perfect people, but we 613 00:38:00,700 --> 00:38:04,200 do serve a perfect God and he will help us. 614 00:38:04,200 --> 00:38:09,100 So, what's on the flip side? So what he says here, no one who 615 00:38:09,100 --> 00:38:11,500 lives in him. Keeps on sinning. 616 00:38:11,500 --> 00:38:15,500 No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him. 617 00:38:17,000 --> 00:38:25,000 So if I know him and I have his and I have his anointing, Now, 618 00:38:25,000 --> 00:38:28,900 I'm choosing life now. For the wages of sin is death. 619 00:38:30,100 --> 00:38:33,700 But thank God for the butt and the verse come down. 620 00:38:34,500 --> 00:38:40,500 The gift of God is eternal life in who Christ Jesus our lord. 621 00:38:41,500 --> 00:38:44,600 So if I choose the gift of God which is eternal life in Christ, 622 00:38:44,600 --> 00:38:47,900 Jesus our lord it's the same thing except it's backwards. 623 00:38:48,800 --> 00:38:53,300 It's life forming. And it's going to form these 624 00:38:53,300 --> 00:38:58,000 life-giving patterns in my life and it's going to creep into the 625 00:38:58,000 --> 00:39:02,200 cycles of my life. So Sid no longer is leading me 626 00:39:02,200 --> 00:39:06,100 into a destructive path. So with sin, my relationships 627 00:39:06,100 --> 00:39:08,800 are jacked up my family's jacked up my purpose, all that stuff, 628 00:39:09,400 --> 00:39:13,200 but now I have life leading, have Christ in me. 629 00:39:13,400 --> 00:39:16,000 I'm abiding in him. I honor and thirst for 630 00:39:16,000 --> 00:39:19,400 righteousness, life forming life-giving. 631 00:39:19,500 --> 00:39:22,500 That means that my Cycles. Kids are going to see the way I 632 00:39:22,508 --> 00:39:25,300 treat my wife. They're going to see how Mom 633 00:39:25,300 --> 00:39:27,800 treats dad, they're going to see us worshipping together. 634 00:39:27,800 --> 00:39:29,800 They're going to see us reading God's word together. 635 00:39:29,800 --> 00:39:32,200 Going to see us forgiving one another whenever we have 636 00:39:32,200 --> 00:39:35,600 smackdowns at home they're going to see how we handle that. 637 00:39:36,900 --> 00:39:40,400 And that cycle is going to break off and then they're going to 638 00:39:40,600 --> 00:39:43,600 continue to grow in a life or they're going to want to honor 639 00:39:43,600 --> 00:39:46,500 God, because Mom and Dad are honoring the Lord. 640 00:39:47,000 --> 00:39:50,100 I pray for my kids, man. I'm like, man, I pray that 641 00:39:50,100 --> 00:39:52,200 living Elena fall in love with Jesus. 642 00:39:53,200 --> 00:39:55,300 Who cares if they could kick a ball? 643 00:39:56,500 --> 00:39:59,400 Who cares if they're in select it doesn't matter to me. 644 00:39:59,800 --> 00:40:03,500 My number one goal in life is for them to follow and fall in 645 00:40:03,500 --> 00:40:07,600 love with Christ because I know that if they follow Jesus then 646 00:40:07,600 --> 00:40:10,300 their steps are going to be guided the rest of their lives. 647 00:40:11,300 --> 00:40:14,800 Regardless you don't need no help from the world all that 648 00:40:14,800 --> 00:40:16,500 other stuff is going to continue. 649 00:40:18,500 --> 00:40:22,000 So instead of being self-made and self-help and and and all 650 00:40:22,000 --> 00:40:26,000 that stuff is going to be Christ made in Christ help and send 651 00:40:26,000 --> 00:40:29,700 destruction, instead of self-destruction Christ is the 652 00:40:29,700 --> 00:40:33,000 one that takes it over. So my patterns are going to be 653 00:40:33,400 --> 00:40:36,800 righteous and holy patterns, they're going to guide my 654 00:40:36,800 --> 00:40:40,200 relationships, my family, my purpose is found in him. 655 00:40:40,200 --> 00:40:42,900 Now I'm going to be gospel effective. 656 00:40:44,500 --> 00:40:47,000 My addictions are going to be for the things of the Lord, not 657 00:40:47,000 --> 00:40:49,000 for the things of this world. That means that they're going to 658 00:40:49,008 --> 00:40:53,100 be life-giving. My relationships are going to 659 00:40:53,100 --> 00:40:55,800 thrive. I'm going to find and marry an 660 00:40:55,800 --> 00:40:58,700 awesome woman named Rachel right? 661 00:40:58,700 --> 00:41:02,300 Come on. You know, that's I mean I could 662 00:41:02,300 --> 00:41:05,100 only bring so much to the table but the Lord has to do the rest 663 00:41:05,100 --> 00:41:09,300 here but you see that's where those patterns fall in. 664 00:41:10,500 --> 00:41:14,800 So now in my cycle is whenever we do fight with sin and now I'm 665 00:41:14,800 --> 00:41:16,800 forgiven, I'm loved, I'm restored. 666 00:41:16,800 --> 00:41:20,100 I'm you know, it's life forming and then we're going to continue 667 00:41:20,100 --> 00:41:23,500 to see that for our families for generations and generations to 668 00:41:23,500 --> 00:41:32,000 come See, I'm not lost anymore. And I know some of us have seen 669 00:41:32,000 --> 00:41:33,900 that and we'll just close with this and we'll pray. 670 00:41:36,400 --> 00:41:39,100 It's new, it's fresh. It's exciting whenever you 671 00:41:39,100 --> 00:41:43,300 follow Christ for the first time and it continues that way. 672 00:41:44,400 --> 00:41:47,500 Now, some of us are stuck in those patterns and cycles of 673 00:41:47,500 --> 00:41:50,300 sin. Let Me encourage you this this 674 00:41:50,300 --> 00:41:54,000 way there is forgiveness in Christ. 675 00:41:55,200 --> 00:41:59,400 There is forgiveness in Christ. You've got to deal with the 676 00:41:59,400 --> 00:42:04,500 heart issue first You could go to all these places, you can 677 00:42:04,500 --> 00:42:08,900 talk to all these people, but if Jesus is not at the center of 678 00:42:08,900 --> 00:42:11,800 it, you're going to just keep going through those cycles of 679 00:42:11,800 --> 00:42:15,700 seeking help reading books. And all these things Christ, is 680 00:42:15,700 --> 00:42:18,400 the one that changes our hearts, he's the one that forgives us 681 00:42:18,500 --> 00:42:22,200 and he's the one that gives us life. so listen, if you're 682 00:42:22,200 --> 00:42:24,800 sitting here today, you're like, man, Ricky you are all up in my 683 00:42:24,800 --> 00:42:28,600 Kool-Aid and you know, the flavor, how did you know, 684 00:42:30,600 --> 00:42:35,200 Listen, Jesus is the answer, he's the way he is the truth, he 685 00:42:35,207 --> 00:42:37,700 is the life and he wants to give you life. 686 00:42:38,700 --> 00:42:42,100 Go to him, go to him. He pray for us and then we'll 687 00:42:42,300 --> 00:42:44,400 worship a little bit. Have some announcements here. 688 00:42:44,700 --> 00:42:48,600 Father, we love you. And we thank you so much for all 689 00:42:48,600 --> 00:42:53,400 that you are in our lives. God, Lord, we pray father that 690 00:42:53,400 --> 00:42:55,000 we just fall more in love with you. 691 00:42:57,100 --> 00:43:00,000 And Lord for those who are fighting sin for those who are 692 00:43:00,008 --> 00:43:06,000 struggling with sin, for those who have a habitual sin in our 693 00:43:06,000 --> 00:43:08,800 lives. God, I pray that you free us 694 00:43:08,800 --> 00:43:11,500 from that. God that you show us that 695 00:43:11,500 --> 00:43:15,500 there's a better way that there's life not just for you 696 00:43:15,500 --> 00:43:18,600 Lord or not, just for us, but for our families. 697 00:43:19,900 --> 00:43:21,700 For our children and their children. 698 00:43:23,300 --> 00:43:26,600 So God, I pray that you help us to be faithful to you, help us 699 00:43:26,600 --> 00:43:28,300 to surrender Our Lives to you father. 700 00:43:28,300 --> 00:43:32,300 And if there's anybody in this room who has not made a decision 701 00:43:32,800 --> 00:43:37,600 for you father, that your spirit convict them to show them, that 702 00:43:37,600 --> 00:43:41,600 there's nothing better to surrender your life to Christ to 703 00:43:41,600 --> 00:43:44,200 you father because you bring life. 704 00:43:44,900 --> 00:43:46,700 So Jesus, we pray all these things in your holy and 705 00:43:46,700 --> 00:43:47,300 righteous name.