1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:03,760 Good afternoon, everybody. It's great to see our crowd and 2 00:00:03,760 --> 00:00:06,280 I'm excited to study with you. I think the only thing better 3 00:00:06,280 --> 00:00:08,960 than listening and studying God's Word is talking about 4 00:00:08,960 --> 00:00:10,880 yourself. And I know I get a lot out of 5 00:00:10,880 --> 00:00:13,360 this. So thank you for being patient 6 00:00:13,360 --> 00:00:17,080 with me as I develop as a teacher and as I go through the 7 00:00:17,080 --> 00:00:18,680 process of explaining the word to you. 8 00:00:19,000 --> 00:00:21,080 Maybe it's helpful for you, maybe it's not, but it's, it's 9 00:00:21,080 --> 00:00:23,520 sure helpful for me. So thank you for being such a 10 00:00:23,520 --> 00:00:25,960 good audience all the time. And I'm looking forward to our 11 00:00:25,960 --> 00:00:29,680 study and 1st John, as we continue on into Chapter 3. 12 00:00:30,160 --> 00:00:35,040 And I've given the the title assured checking for a pulse. 13 00:00:35,040 --> 00:00:37,760 And that is checking for a spiritual pulse. 14 00:00:38,080 --> 00:00:42,160 That is the theme of this book or this letter is assurance. 15 00:00:42,640 --> 00:00:46,840 It's giving people assurance who are facing disagreement or 16 00:00:46,840 --> 00:00:50,640 facing controversy from others outside maybe having doubts 17 00:00:50,640 --> 00:00:52,920 within. And he's giving them insurance 18 00:00:52,920 --> 00:00:57,120 and He's showing them ways they can know and have joy and have 19 00:00:57,120 --> 00:01:01,200 full joy and do not be dissuaded by other people in their faith. 20 00:01:01,480 --> 00:01:04,760 And this letter is as a whole about assurance. 21 00:01:05,000 --> 00:01:07,160 But I think today we're especially going to focus on 22 00:01:07,160 --> 00:01:09,160 assurance. We've been through the purposes 23 00:01:09,160 --> 00:01:11,720 several Times Now, so I don't think I need to rehash those. 24 00:01:12,120 --> 00:01:14,640 We're just going to start reading in a couple verses 25 00:01:14,640 --> 00:01:20,720 before chapter 3 and 1st John 2 where we left off last week or 26 00:01:20,800 --> 00:01:23,520 two weeks ago. It says there in first John 2 27 00:01:23,520 --> 00:01:27,920 verse 24. Therefore let that abide in you 28 00:01:27,920 --> 00:01:29,640 what you heard from the beginning. 29 00:01:30,160 --> 00:01:33,440 If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you 30 00:01:33,440 --> 00:01:36,600 also will abide in the Son and in the Father. 31 00:01:37,120 --> 00:01:41,920 And this is the promise that He has promised us eternal life. 32 00:01:42,920 --> 00:01:45,520 These things I've written to you concerning those who tried to 33 00:01:45,520 --> 00:01:48,440 deceive you. But as the same anointing 34 00:01:48,440 --> 00:01:52,120 teaches you concerning all things and is true and is not a 35 00:01:52,120 --> 00:01:57,960 lie, and just at His, just as it has taught you, you will abide 36 00:01:57,960 --> 00:02:01,600 in Him. And now little children abide in 37 00:02:01,600 --> 00:02:06,120 Him, that when He appears, we may have confidence and not be 38 00:02:06,120 --> 00:02:07,760 ashamed before Him at His coming. 39 00:02:08,400 --> 00:02:10,560 If you know that He is righteous, you know that 40 00:02:10,560 --> 00:02:14,840 everyone who practices righteousness is born of Him. 41 00:02:15,200 --> 00:02:17,560 That's where we left off, and we're going to start in verse 1 42 00:02:17,560 --> 00:02:22,440 of chapter 3. Now He goes on to say behold or 43 00:02:22,520 --> 00:02:27,440 check this out, look at this, admire this, what manner of love 44 00:02:27,960 --> 00:02:31,720 the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called 45 00:02:31,720 --> 00:02:35,920 children of God. Therefore the world does not 46 00:02:35,920 --> 00:02:37,640 know us because it did not know him. 47 00:02:38,440 --> 00:02:41,800 As I understand this word in manner, other people translate 48 00:02:41,800 --> 00:02:44,360 it and it's translated a little bit more aggressively and a 49 00:02:44,360 --> 00:02:48,040 little bit more. He's it's like he's reaching out 50 00:02:48,040 --> 00:02:49,520 to find where does this come from? 51 00:02:49,520 --> 00:02:52,720 Where is this manner of love? What kind of love is this? 52 00:02:52,880 --> 00:02:56,560 One translation said? What kind of foreign love are we 53 00:02:56,560 --> 00:02:59,400 witnessing? It's a foreign out of this world 54 00:02:59,400 --> 00:03:03,520 love that we would see and learn from the things that God has 55 00:03:03,520 --> 00:03:06,560 given to us. What kind of love is this? 56 00:03:06,560 --> 00:03:12,360 The writers say in amazement, in awe of the kind of love that we 57 00:03:12,360 --> 00:03:16,600 would be called his children and the world does not know us 58 00:03:16,600 --> 00:03:18,600 because it doesn't know because it did not know him. 59 00:03:18,600 --> 00:03:23,280 Verse 2 beloved, now we are children of God. 60 00:03:23,840 --> 00:03:27,680 He starts this next stop by stating a fact and as we get 61 00:03:27,680 --> 00:03:33,440 into these, these considerations of assurance, He's stating it 62 00:03:33,440 --> 00:03:36,800 like it's a fact. He's stating it assuredly and 63 00:03:36,800 --> 00:03:40,680 not like if we are of him, he's saying we are children of God. 64 00:03:41,560 --> 00:03:45,680 And he says it has not yet been revealed what we shall be. 65 00:03:46,720 --> 00:03:50,880 But we know that when he is revealed, we shall be like him 66 00:03:51,480 --> 00:03:58,600 for we shall see him as he is. So he's kind of recalibrating 67 00:03:58,600 --> 00:04:01,840 and reminding us of the reality we're in. 68 00:04:01,840 --> 00:04:04,960 Remember, we say that pretty often our our spiritual minds 69 00:04:04,960 --> 00:04:07,680 are always a focus issue. So we study. 70 00:04:07,680 --> 00:04:10,040 Even if you know something, even if I know something, it's a 71 00:04:10,040 --> 00:04:13,680 matter of focus. And he says it has not been 72 00:04:13,680 --> 00:04:17,560 revealed what we shall be. Sometimes we get so used to 73 00:04:17,560 --> 00:04:21,519 being in our lives, in the mundane or in the regular or in 74 00:04:21,519 --> 00:04:23,680 our limitations that that's all we see. 75 00:04:24,440 --> 00:04:27,920 But he's reminding us that we're in a stage right now and it's in 76 00:04:27,920 --> 00:04:31,520 a stage of not yet. It's in a stage of not yet being 77 00:04:31,520 --> 00:04:33,760 revealed. But there's going to be a time, 78 00:04:33,760 --> 00:04:37,720 he says, that we are going to be something else. 79 00:04:39,280 --> 00:04:43,360 It has not yet been revealed or opened up to us, but we know 80 00:04:43,840 --> 00:04:49,120 that when he is revealed, on that day when Jesus comes out 81 00:04:49,120 --> 00:04:53,760 and greets us and where we go to meet him in the air, we're going 82 00:04:53,760 --> 00:04:58,760 to be like him. He always, the gospel writers 83 00:04:58,760 --> 00:05:01,360 always leave a sense of we don't know yet. 84 00:05:02,000 --> 00:05:05,080 They do not seek to fully explain every detail. 85 00:05:05,840 --> 00:05:08,320 And I find that to be, you know, sometimes it's kind of off 86 00:05:08,320 --> 00:05:09,800 putting. Like I just wish God told us 87 00:05:09,800 --> 00:05:12,760 more about and often it's something along the lines of 88 00:05:12,760 --> 00:05:15,240 heaven because you try to describe heaven and it's like, 89 00:05:15,240 --> 00:05:18,840 well, there's not that much that we're that we have to say about 90 00:05:18,840 --> 00:05:20,760 it. There's, there's kind of hits 91 00:05:20,760 --> 00:05:23,800 dropped here and there, but we don't have the full picture. 92 00:05:25,680 --> 00:05:28,000 And that's what he says here. He leaves kind of a carrot 93 00:05:28,000 --> 00:05:30,640 hanging out there. We don't even know what it's 94 00:05:30,640 --> 00:05:33,120 going to be yet. And that's what hope is. 95 00:05:33,520 --> 00:05:35,920 Faith is the substance of things hoped for. 96 00:05:36,440 --> 00:05:39,000 But another scripture says that we don't hope for what we 97 00:05:39,000 --> 00:05:41,080 already have. And so we've always got this 98 00:05:41,080 --> 00:05:43,680 thing in our minds that says we don't even know how good it's 99 00:05:43,680 --> 00:05:47,000 going to be yet, but we know we're going to be like him. 100 00:05:48,760 --> 00:05:52,440 All of this letter is centered around unity with the Father and 101 00:05:52,440 --> 00:05:55,240 closeness with the Father and being sons of the Father and 102 00:05:55,240 --> 00:05:58,960 daughters of the Father. And we have assurance and 103 00:05:58,960 --> 00:06:02,200 comfort in the fact that however this turns out, we're going to 104 00:06:02,200 --> 00:06:07,320 be one with him, not just in our location, but even in our 105 00:06:07,720 --> 00:06:13,520 presence, in our state of being. He will always be Lord of the 106 00:06:13,520 --> 00:06:17,560 Lords over us to where we're not in the same level as him, but we 107 00:06:17,560 --> 00:06:23,360 are going to be in state and a glorified body, and we will see 108 00:06:23,360 --> 00:06:27,280 Him just as he is. You know, I think we all have a 109 00:06:27,280 --> 00:06:33,040 great longing inside of us that is to be seen and to be 110 00:06:33,040 --> 00:06:35,920 understood. You know, we see that most often 111 00:06:35,920 --> 00:06:37,760 in children. I think most obviously like they 112 00:06:37,760 --> 00:06:39,440 always want attention. They want to be seen. 113 00:06:39,720 --> 00:06:42,400 They want to be they, they even step out and do something 114 00:06:42,400 --> 00:06:44,520 outlandish in order to get attention. 115 00:06:44,520 --> 00:06:49,200 Sometimes we want to be seen at a core level and understood. 116 00:06:50,240 --> 00:06:55,000 The problem with us as adults, as we understand that as our 117 00:06:55,720 --> 00:07:00,800 sense of being seen increases, our risk increases and we are 118 00:07:00,800 --> 00:07:03,240 vulnerable. And when more people see more of 119 00:07:03,240 --> 00:07:07,560 us, that's risky because we know what we are and we know our 120 00:07:07,560 --> 00:07:10,720 faults and we know our shortcomings and we know the 121 00:07:10,720 --> 00:07:13,960 deep secrets and we know the dark and we know the weaknesses. 122 00:07:15,640 --> 00:07:20,080 So it's hard sometimes to have full vulnerability with other 123 00:07:20,080 --> 00:07:22,360 people and to feel comfortable in that. 124 00:07:22,600 --> 00:07:25,800 We feel our greatest sense of comfort in our spouses maybe, 125 00:07:26,400 --> 00:07:29,760 and that's where you were meant to find that sense of they're 126 00:07:29,760 --> 00:07:32,400 going to they see everything you are and they see everything that 127 00:07:32,400 --> 00:07:37,320 you all your warts and all. And yet you find comfort in the 128 00:07:37,320 --> 00:07:40,520 closeness that they understand you deeply and that they 129 00:07:40,520 --> 00:07:46,600 continue to love you anyway. In theory, we know that's what 130 00:07:46,600 --> 00:07:50,160 God is for us, right? We know that at the core of it 131 00:07:50,160 --> 00:07:54,000 all, God sees everything we do from the time we go wake up to 132 00:07:54,000 --> 00:07:57,680 the time we go to bed, and we know that He still loves us and 133 00:07:57,680 --> 00:08:01,440 that is so comforting to us. But there's going to be a day 134 00:08:01,720 --> 00:08:05,640 where it's not just A1 sided knowing, where it's not just God 135 00:08:05,640 --> 00:08:08,320 knows me, I know God knows me, but I have kind of a hard time 136 00:08:08,320 --> 00:08:10,600 seeing him all the time. There's going to come a day 137 00:08:10,600 --> 00:08:15,880 where we are going to see Him for who and what and everything 138 00:08:15,880 --> 00:08:19,560 that He really is. And I don't know about you, but 139 00:08:19,560 --> 00:08:22,920 that encourages me that if I'm going to see that one day, and 140 00:08:22,920 --> 00:08:26,120 that's going to be the climax of my earthly existence and the 141 00:08:26,120 --> 00:08:32,200 climax of my exaltation is to see Him as He is, that makes me 142 00:08:32,200 --> 00:08:37,159 want to see Him more now. That makes me want to look into 143 00:08:37,159 --> 00:08:38,159 Him. I don't know my Bible up here. 144 00:08:38,159 --> 00:08:41,520 I was going to pat my Bible. I want to look into Him more, 145 00:08:41,679 --> 00:08:45,320 and I want to know Him more, and I want to see Him more clearly 146 00:08:46,160 --> 00:08:50,040 and to show love for Him. Just like that day when I'm 147 00:08:50,040 --> 00:08:52,200 looking forward to, I'm supposed to be looking forward to this 148 00:08:52,200 --> 00:08:55,520 day when I see Him just as He is, I want to see every bit of 149 00:08:55,520 --> 00:08:59,960 it I can. Now when we are raised 150 00:09:00,080 --> 00:09:03,040 incorruptible, we're going to see Him just as He is. 151 00:09:03,040 --> 00:09:06,600 Verse 3. And everyone who has this hope 152 00:09:06,600 --> 00:09:10,840 in Him purifies himself just as He is pure. 153 00:09:11,240 --> 00:09:14,240 So we should all be living with this hope of seeing the 154 00:09:14,240 --> 00:09:17,480 glorified Jesus and being next to him in a glorified state 155 00:09:17,480 --> 00:09:20,920 ourselves. And that hope should be living 156 00:09:20,920 --> 00:09:23,720 in US. And if it is, it causes us to 157 00:09:23,720 --> 00:09:28,760 purify ourselves. And any faith that does not 158 00:09:28,760 --> 00:09:33,000 respond with a self reflection and purification because of it 159 00:09:33,560 --> 00:09:35,800 is not as he's going to say, it's not a real faith. 160 00:09:37,880 --> 00:09:40,320 And this is what happens when it's really inside of you. 161 00:09:42,240 --> 00:09:45,000 He purifies himself just as he is pure. 162 00:09:45,000 --> 00:09:48,360 You see Jesus and you see that hope of Jesus and say, hey, if 163 00:09:48,360 --> 00:09:50,840 I'm going to him, I better start purifying myself. 164 00:09:51,240 --> 00:09:53,640 Because God cannot have evil in his presence. 165 00:09:55,160 --> 00:10:00,440 It has an action. Don't let go of the hope, this 166 00:10:00,440 --> 00:10:02,320 hope. Don't let go of the hope amidst 167 00:10:02,320 --> 00:10:05,360 the mundane, amidst the grind, amidst the hard against the 168 00:10:05,360 --> 00:10:07,880 lonely, amidst all the things you deal with. 169 00:10:08,160 --> 00:10:14,520 Don't let go of this hope. Whoever commits sin also commits 170 00:10:14,520 --> 00:10:18,080 lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness. 171 00:10:18,920 --> 00:10:22,240 And you know that he was manifested, He was made evident 172 00:10:22,240 --> 00:10:26,560 to take away our sins. And in him there is no sin. 173 00:10:27,400 --> 00:10:30,720 You know, sometimes we think of it like, I'm not lawless like so 174 00:10:30,720 --> 00:10:33,960 and so is lawless. I I just committed a sin and I 175 00:10:33,960 --> 00:10:37,800 have sin in this area. But he says sin itself is 176 00:10:37,800 --> 00:10:41,920 lawlessness. I am lawless in a regard when I 177 00:10:41,920 --> 00:10:43,880 sin. And it doesn't matter if it 178 00:10:43,880 --> 00:10:48,320 wasn't 15 things, if it was one thing, it was lawless on my part 179 00:10:48,520 --> 00:10:51,520 to commit a sin, to have a heart that was wrong. 180 00:10:52,480 --> 00:10:57,360 He says that sin is lawlessness and sin is just that. 181 00:10:57,360 --> 00:10:59,880 And you know that He was manifested to take away our 182 00:10:59,880 --> 00:11:03,880 sins. So he is separate from this 183 00:11:03,880 --> 00:11:06,400 lawlessness and does not want to be in the presence of it. 184 00:11:07,880 --> 00:11:12,240 Verse 6, Whoever abides in him does not sin. 185 00:11:13,000 --> 00:11:16,240 Whoever sins has neither seen him nor known him. 186 00:11:16,560 --> 00:11:19,640 This is one of the most re explained verses I think maybe 187 00:11:19,640 --> 00:11:24,120 in the New Testament. And it's often times to try to 188 00:11:24,120 --> 00:11:26,640 assure people who are new in the faith who read this and go, 189 00:11:26,640 --> 00:11:32,000 wait, what if if I sin, he says I have no clue who he is. 190 00:11:32,400 --> 00:11:34,760 Well, that's not really what the verbiage means. 191 00:11:35,080 --> 00:11:39,280 These verbs are in present tense action, active oriented. 192 00:11:39,480 --> 00:11:41,600 The NIV words it a little bit more clearly. 193 00:11:41,920 --> 00:11:45,640 It says no one who lives in him keeps on sinning. 194 00:11:46,160 --> 00:11:49,520 No one who continues to sin has neither seen him or known him. 195 00:11:49,880 --> 00:11:53,800 The the key here is it's a pattern of behavior and it's a 196 00:11:53,800 --> 00:11:56,000 pattern of life. And it is a decision you're 197 00:11:56,000 --> 00:11:58,480 currently making to do one thing or another. 198 00:11:58,880 --> 00:11:59,960 It's really pretty straightforward. 199 00:11:59,960 --> 00:12:02,280 We know, and we can corroborate that with plenty of other 200 00:12:02,280 --> 00:12:04,800 scriptures we've already read in First John that says whoever 201 00:12:04,800 --> 00:12:09,240 says he has no sin is a liar. So we know that this is not 202 00:12:09,240 --> 00:12:12,080 saying that we've never sinned before, clearly, because there's 203 00:12:12,080 --> 00:12:14,000 other scriptures to make that clear. 204 00:12:14,440 --> 00:12:18,360 He's saying a pattern of life. Now I do want to give that 205 00:12:18,360 --> 00:12:25,320 comfort, but I also don't want to get away from the the point 206 00:12:25,320 --> 00:12:28,360 that he's making. So the point is direction, not 207 00:12:28,360 --> 00:12:33,800 perfection. But we do need to, to look into 208 00:12:33,800 --> 00:12:37,840 this a little bit more. I think for our own honesty. 209 00:12:40,320 --> 00:12:44,400 Only you and only I know what our direction is. 210 00:12:45,680 --> 00:12:48,280 You might think you know somebody, but only you really 211 00:12:48,280 --> 00:12:51,120 know only oneself. Like the scripture says, only 212 00:12:51,120 --> 00:12:53,680 man knows the heart hearts within him unless he reveals it 213 00:12:53,680 --> 00:12:58,360 to someone else. Only you know where your heart 214 00:12:58,360 --> 00:13:03,640 is and where your direction is. And if we are living in sin, 215 00:13:06,440 --> 00:13:08,400 then it doesn't matter what the past was. 216 00:13:09,120 --> 00:13:14,840 We are not living for him now. I think we have to look at this. 217 00:13:14,840 --> 00:13:16,600 If you're going to, if you're going to actually evaluate 218 00:13:16,600 --> 00:13:19,120 yourself, take a situation, think about a temptation you had 219 00:13:19,120 --> 00:13:21,640 recently and think about how you responded to it. 220 00:13:22,160 --> 00:13:24,440 Maybe there's fifteen other things that you just cruise 221 00:13:24,440 --> 00:13:26,800 right through and have no problem with those temptations. 222 00:13:27,080 --> 00:13:30,480 But maybe there's one or maybe 2 where you notice that there's a 223 00:13:30,480 --> 00:13:33,840 temptation happening. Think about how you respond to 224 00:13:33,880 --> 00:13:37,120 it. If you respond to that thing 225 00:13:37,120 --> 00:13:42,160 that gets you and you disregarded what you know is 226 00:13:42,160 --> 00:13:46,480 right and you shirked off what you know what to be right, and 227 00:13:46,480 --> 00:13:50,920 you just went on doing what you felt like doing, then you could 228 00:13:50,920 --> 00:13:53,520 find a place in your heart where there is habitual sin that 229 00:13:53,520 --> 00:14:00,000 you're choosing to live in. So maybe take stock and I'm 230 00:14:00,000 --> 00:14:03,000 going to just throw this in there and this next part you can 231 00:14:03,000 --> 00:14:04,760 completely ignore if it doesn't work for you. 232 00:14:05,160 --> 00:14:07,600 But I find that I sometimes need a tough love. 233 00:14:08,080 --> 00:14:13,480 I was talking to my brother this week and he was himself working 234 00:14:13,480 --> 00:14:16,440 through the stages of he's becoming a mature enough 235 00:14:16,440 --> 00:14:20,440 Christian to where he's trying to counsel somebody else who is 236 00:14:21,200 --> 00:14:23,040 working through sin. And so you have these kind of 237 00:14:23,120 --> 00:14:25,400 double layers of people who are working through sin. 238 00:14:25,600 --> 00:14:28,600 The person who was talking to me was saying I'm trying to help 239 00:14:28,600 --> 00:14:34,080 them, but I myself still struggle with sin and, and he 240 00:14:34,080 --> 00:14:35,640 was trying to help him. Maybe it was some of the same 241 00:14:35,640 --> 00:14:38,480 things that the other person was trying to get help overcoming. 242 00:14:38,640 --> 00:14:40,360 And he's like, I, I can't really do all this. 243 00:14:40,360 --> 00:14:43,840 I can't have all my burdens and, and continue to help someone out 244 00:14:43,840 --> 00:14:48,120 with with their burdens. And I, I, you know, I, I try to 245 00:14:48,120 --> 00:14:50,560 give as much consolation because there's always a phase of 246 00:14:50,560 --> 00:14:52,400 affirming people giving consolation. 247 00:14:52,880 --> 00:14:54,360 You're trying. That's what matters. 248 00:14:54,360 --> 00:14:56,840 And if you need to hear that, if you need to hear you're trying, 249 00:14:56,840 --> 00:15:01,440 keep up, that's great and trying and doing your best is all God 250 00:15:01,440 --> 00:15:05,200 asks of you. But there comes a time where our 251 00:15:05,200 --> 00:15:09,720 mindset can say I'm trying, I'm trying, I'm trying and pretty 252 00:15:09,720 --> 00:15:14,240 soon is it really true? Is it really true that just 253 00:15:14,240 --> 00:15:18,000 because I feel some sort of angst that I'm really putting 254 00:15:18,000 --> 00:15:21,920 effort into my faith, just because I feel that 255 00:15:21,920 --> 00:15:24,760 cognitiveness dissonance, like negativity when I'm trying to 256 00:15:24,760 --> 00:15:27,680 fight against sin, it doesn't necessarily mean you're fleeing 257 00:15:27,680 --> 00:15:30,240 sin. That's what the apostles tell 258 00:15:30,240 --> 00:15:35,200 us, flee from sin. And so I told him something that 259 00:15:35,400 --> 00:15:38,520 I need to hear, and maybe someone in here needs to hear 260 00:15:38,520 --> 00:15:40,760 it. If you don't like the way this 261 00:15:40,760 --> 00:15:43,280 is worded, please disregard it because it's, it's not for 262 00:15:43,280 --> 00:15:46,760 everybody. Sometimes you have to suck it up 263 00:15:47,040 --> 00:15:53,040 and move on from a sin. We can tell ourselves, I'm 264 00:15:53,040 --> 00:15:54,800 struggling with that. I'm struggling with this, but 265 00:15:54,800 --> 00:15:57,800 something makes it click one day and says you can't anymore. 266 00:15:58,400 --> 00:16:00,440 You can't afford. There's people who need you. 267 00:16:00,640 --> 00:16:03,520 There's people who who need your guidance, who need your 268 00:16:03,520 --> 00:16:04,960 leadership, who need your example. 269 00:16:04,960 --> 00:16:07,840 And you can't continue to struggle with this. 270 00:16:08,240 --> 00:16:11,080 You can't continue to just kind of say, oh, I'm trying to get 271 00:16:11,080 --> 00:16:13,200 rid of this sin. I'm pushing it away as hard as I 272 00:16:13,200 --> 00:16:16,320 can. Sometimes you need to draw a 273 00:16:16,320 --> 00:16:20,080 line for yourself and say no. And somebody needs to tell us to 274 00:16:20,080 --> 00:16:24,080 suck it up and move on. Get rid of that thing, get rid 275 00:16:24,080 --> 00:16:27,640 of it completely. I had in sports, this was, I 276 00:16:27,640 --> 00:16:31,840 know the sports really helps me understand this concept because 277 00:16:32,600 --> 00:16:35,960 I was a hard worker in sports and and I tried to lead the team 278 00:16:35,960 --> 00:16:38,840 I was on with my work ethic. You know, we would always have 279 00:16:38,840 --> 00:16:40,960 weight training in addition to our practices. 280 00:16:40,960 --> 00:16:44,280 And so I tried to do my best in there, but I had days where I 281 00:16:44,280 --> 00:16:47,280 was being a Sissy and we all have that where you're just, 282 00:16:47,880 --> 00:16:51,320 you're just, I'm trying and I'm feeling weak. 283 00:16:51,840 --> 00:16:55,240 And one day I was supposed to be the one leading the other group 284 00:16:55,480 --> 00:16:58,360 and I was having that, that mental whining going on, you 285 00:16:58,360 --> 00:17:00,600 know, like you're, you feel like I'm dragging today. 286 00:17:01,440 --> 00:17:03,800 And the coach who does not normally have to say anything to 287 00:17:03,800 --> 00:17:06,960 me, called me some things that I'm not going to repeat in here 288 00:17:07,400 --> 00:17:11,440 and lit my fire. He called me out for being a 289 00:17:11,440 --> 00:17:17,520 Sissy, in other words. And I needed that because after 290 00:17:17,520 --> 00:17:20,079 he said that I had all the motivation in the world. 291 00:17:20,839 --> 00:17:25,480 And I started working harder then and every day after that. 292 00:17:25,480 --> 00:17:29,120 Then I started to feel a sense of like, I don't feel like it 293 00:17:29,120 --> 00:17:31,240 today. I thought of that and it made me 294 00:17:31,240 --> 00:17:33,480 work hard. Now, I didn't live in fear of 295 00:17:33,480 --> 00:17:35,360 his criticism. It wasn't a negative thing. 296 00:17:35,640 --> 00:17:40,840 It was I don't have to stay in a mindset that allows myself to 297 00:17:40,840 --> 00:17:45,760 perpetually whine and gripe about what I'm doing, even if 298 00:17:45,760 --> 00:17:47,760 it's hard. And I learned a different 299 00:17:47,760 --> 00:17:52,080 mindset because of that. And I think spiritually I need 300 00:17:52,080 --> 00:17:54,600 that sometimes. And certain people have told me 301 00:17:54,600 --> 00:17:57,080 certain things where you're like, you're right, I don't have 302 00:17:57,080 --> 00:17:59,600 to stay in the sin. I have a choice whether I walk 303 00:17:59,600 --> 00:18:02,120 away from it or not. And I have a choice whether I 304 00:18:02,120 --> 00:18:05,880 draw boundaries for myself and further increments away from 305 00:18:05,880 --> 00:18:07,520 that so that I do not go near that. 306 00:18:08,480 --> 00:18:10,120 So maybe you need that, maybe you don't. 307 00:18:11,840 --> 00:18:15,040 But whatever the case is the, the always the answer moving 308 00:18:15,040 --> 00:18:16,760 forward is you need to focus on right now. 309 00:18:17,240 --> 00:18:21,120 What are you going to do now? If you struggle with habitual 310 00:18:21,120 --> 00:18:24,480 sin that's past, what are you going to do now and make your 311 00:18:24,480 --> 00:18:28,600 decision now to follow God And if you have things maybe that 312 00:18:28,600 --> 00:18:32,080 you're dealing with things that make it a call like that just 313 00:18:32,080 --> 00:18:34,600 feel overwhelming. You're like, I I'm just stuck. 314 00:18:34,920 --> 00:18:36,720 That's often times where you need help. 315 00:18:37,160 --> 00:18:38,680 You need somebody's help and that's OK. 316 00:18:39,240 --> 00:18:43,240 Talk to somebody, say I need you to help me bear these burdens 317 00:18:43,520 --> 00:18:45,000 and so fulfill the law of Christ. 318 00:18:45,000 --> 00:18:49,240 The Bible says carry, have someone else help you carry your 319 00:18:49,240 --> 00:18:50,280 burdens. That's fine. 320 00:18:50,840 --> 00:18:54,600 That is doing your best. Soliciting the help of other 321 00:18:54,600 --> 00:18:59,640 believers is just fine. OK, so no one who lives in him 322 00:18:59,640 --> 00:19:01,400 keeps on sinning. We make a pattern. 323 00:19:01,400 --> 00:19:04,080 We make a new path to not continue in sin. 324 00:19:04,120 --> 00:19:07,160 Verse 7. Little children, let no one 325 00:19:07,160 --> 00:19:10,280 deceive you. He who practices righteousness 326 00:19:10,280 --> 00:19:13,400 is righteous just as he is righteous. 327 00:19:15,280 --> 00:19:17,080 He's don't, don't make it overcomplicated. 328 00:19:17,080 --> 00:19:19,280 People can make it about everything that it's not. 329 00:19:19,520 --> 00:19:21,880 If you listen to some religious discussions, it's all about 330 00:19:21,880 --> 00:19:24,360 everything except for what are you doing? 331 00:19:25,640 --> 00:19:27,760 And he says don't let anybody deceive you. 332 00:19:27,960 --> 00:19:30,520 Don't deceive yourself. Don't deceive anybody else. 333 00:19:30,720 --> 00:19:36,000 Don't perpetuate this lie. That is against the fact that if 334 00:19:36,000 --> 00:19:38,280 you are practicing righteousness, you are 335 00:19:38,280 --> 00:19:40,480 righteous. It's sometimes that simple. 336 00:19:41,880 --> 00:19:45,720 But he who sins, verse 8, is of the devil, for the devil has 337 00:19:45,720 --> 00:19:49,640 sinned from the beginning. The line is clear. 338 00:19:50,960 --> 00:19:53,960 But remember, this doesn't just mean, oh, if you practice 339 00:19:53,960 --> 00:19:56,720 righteous and you do all the right things, then then you're 340 00:19:56,720 --> 00:20:00,240 holy and better than everybody. But remember, righteousness, 341 00:20:00,240 --> 00:20:03,080 true righteousness, is the right heart too. 342 00:20:03,800 --> 00:20:07,120 So no one could criticize this sentence and say, well, that's 343 00:20:07,120 --> 00:20:10,640 how you get a bunch of high haughty people. 344 00:20:10,840 --> 00:20:13,840 Well, no, because the right heart is absolutely at the 345 00:20:13,840 --> 00:20:17,520 center of righteousness. So there's no room for criticism 346 00:20:17,520 --> 00:20:21,480 of the Scripture there. There is no righteousness 347 00:20:21,480 --> 00:20:23,760 without righteous motive. The brass tacks. 348 00:20:24,360 --> 00:20:27,080 Maybe there's people who had the anointing we studied last time 349 00:20:27,600 --> 00:20:30,400 and they said, no, it's this, it's that about the anointing. 350 00:20:30,400 --> 00:20:34,400 No, it's who practices it for this purpose. 351 00:20:34,400 --> 00:20:38,360 The Son of God was manifested that he might destroy the works 352 00:20:38,360 --> 00:20:41,360 of the devil. Whoever has been born of God 353 00:20:41,360 --> 00:20:46,000 does not sin, for his seed remains in him and he cannot sin 354 00:20:46,280 --> 00:20:49,200 because he has been born of God. There's another concerning 355 00:20:49,200 --> 00:20:50,800 phrase. Wait, it says you can't sin. 356 00:20:51,120 --> 00:20:55,240 See, they said it's impossible. It's a generalized statement. 357 00:20:56,600 --> 00:21:01,400 If you have God's Spirit living in you, it counteracts the evil. 358 00:21:02,000 --> 00:21:04,440 And so it's a very general, you don't have to make this as as 359 00:21:04,440 --> 00:21:06,320 specific as it's impossible to sin. 360 00:21:06,640 --> 00:21:13,920 It's that sin is going against the new life, the new heart, the 361 00:21:13,920 --> 00:21:16,240 new everything that God is putting inside of you and 362 00:21:16,240 --> 00:21:19,520 working in you. So you can't continue to live in 363 00:21:19,520 --> 00:21:23,880 sin because of that. God's working in you in a way 364 00:21:23,880 --> 00:21:25,840 that you can't. Two things don't go together. 365 00:21:25,840 --> 00:21:28,400 It's like oil and water. Oil and water don't mix. 366 00:21:28,920 --> 00:21:33,280 It's kind of like a general statement he's making because 367 00:21:33,280 --> 00:21:34,760 those two things do not go together. 368 00:21:35,080 --> 00:21:39,080 Those who are born of God have a totally different approach to 369 00:21:39,080 --> 00:21:43,440 life. Verse 10 In this, the children 370 00:21:43,440 --> 00:21:46,920 of God and the children of the devil are manifest. 371 00:21:47,600 --> 00:21:50,280 This is a pretty big deal. He just drew a hard line in the 372 00:21:50,280 --> 00:21:52,960 sand. Whoever, whoever does not 373 00:21:52,960 --> 00:21:58,560 practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love 374 00:21:58,560 --> 00:22:02,360 his brother. There's a lot of social media 375 00:22:02,360 --> 00:22:06,120 these days and there's a lot of media that connects people in 376 00:22:06,120 --> 00:22:10,160 Word from a long way apart. And one of the hard things about 377 00:22:10,160 --> 00:22:12,000 that is people. You, you can hear people from 378 00:22:12,000 --> 00:22:14,200 all over saying different things and you have no idea who they 379 00:22:14,200 --> 00:22:18,440 really are. So I encourage all of us to try 380 00:22:18,440 --> 00:22:21,960 to live more closely in the circles where you actually 381 00:22:22,000 --> 00:22:25,280 communicate and not live in these far off circles where you 382 00:22:25,280 --> 00:22:27,600 don't really see people's actions because it can be really 383 00:22:27,600 --> 00:22:30,720 confusing. And you by the Bible says by 384 00:22:30,720 --> 00:22:32,000 their fruits, you shall know them. 385 00:22:32,280 --> 00:22:34,760 So when you're listening to somebody, you're talking to them 386 00:22:35,120 --> 00:22:39,120 and you're trying to better understand them and, and, and 387 00:22:39,120 --> 00:22:42,200 God's plan and everything, it can be confusing if you don't 388 00:22:42,200 --> 00:22:47,080 see the whole life, But when you see their fruits, it's going to 389 00:22:47,080 --> 00:22:49,240 make certain things. You're going to understand God's 390 00:22:49,240 --> 00:22:51,320 plan. You're going to understand how 391 00:22:51,320 --> 00:22:58,240 to understand people, how to, how to hear people, because 392 00:22:58,240 --> 00:23:01,120 there's people all over the world who claim one thing. 393 00:23:01,120 --> 00:23:04,560 There's how many mega preachers have we heard about who mega 394 00:23:04,560 --> 00:23:07,960 church preachers who were living double lives the entire time. 395 00:23:09,840 --> 00:23:14,000 Focus on our circles and we can have relationships that prove 396 00:23:14,000 --> 00:23:18,280 the law of God and that maybe disprove other things and make 397 00:23:18,280 --> 00:23:23,880 it more clear for us God's plan and God's ways when we focus on 398 00:23:25,160 --> 00:23:30,680 the people who are around us. Nor is he righteous who does not 399 00:23:30,680 --> 00:23:32,920 love his brother. He's given us more tests. 400 00:23:33,160 --> 00:23:35,720 Remember throughout this letter he say this is how you know. 401 00:23:35,720 --> 00:23:38,360 This is how you know, and this is one of the tests. 402 00:23:38,440 --> 00:23:40,600 If you do not practice righteousness and if you do not 403 00:23:40,600 --> 00:23:42,240 love your brother, you are not of God. 404 00:23:42,560 --> 00:23:45,720 Verse 11 For this is the message that you heard from the 405 00:23:45,720 --> 00:23:50,520 beginning, that we should love one another, not as Cain who was 406 00:23:50,520 --> 00:23:52,520 of the wicked one and murdered his brother. 407 00:23:53,040 --> 00:23:56,440 And why did he murder him? Because his works were evil and 408 00:23:56,440 --> 00:24:00,080 his brother's righteous. You know, if if you had cane 409 00:24:00,080 --> 00:24:03,720 side, maybe you have a long list of reasons why that dynamic kind 410 00:24:03,720 --> 00:24:05,320 of went sour. And it's kind of a toxic 411 00:24:05,320 --> 00:24:07,200 relationship. Sometimes people do that kind of 412 00:24:07,200 --> 00:24:09,960 stuff and they make it all complicated and muddy. 413 00:24:11,120 --> 00:24:14,200 He says it's this simple. His works were evil and his 414 00:24:14,200 --> 00:24:17,120 brothers were righteous. Now all he had to do was repent. 415 00:24:17,120 --> 00:24:20,280 It would have been fine in God's sight, but that's what caused 416 00:24:20,280 --> 00:24:24,560 him to lash out and anger. Verse 13 Do not marvel, my 417 00:24:24,560 --> 00:24:28,200 brethren, if the world hates you, don't be surprised. 418 00:24:28,920 --> 00:24:33,680 We know that we have passed from death to life because we love 419 00:24:33,680 --> 00:24:37,200 the brethren. So he's going to talk for a 420 00:24:37,200 --> 00:24:40,120 little bit about some things to do about loving the brothers. 421 00:24:40,280 --> 00:24:43,800 And I do believe, yes, we have a responsibility to all the world. 422 00:24:44,000 --> 00:24:46,640 We have a responsibility to anyone we might come in contact 423 00:24:46,640 --> 00:24:49,600 with in the world. But the things he's going to say 424 00:24:49,840 --> 00:24:53,680 are very specifically directed, I believe, at the brethren, the 425 00:24:53,680 --> 00:24:55,360 brothers and sisters in the body. 426 00:24:55,640 --> 00:24:59,000 And this is this is an intense call to action. 427 00:24:59,480 --> 00:25:02,600 So I, when I read this, I found myself more challenged than I 428 00:25:02,600 --> 00:25:06,960 have been in the past to honor you all and to honor my brothers 429 00:25:06,960 --> 00:25:10,520 and sisters in a way that maybe I hadn't realized the level we 430 00:25:10,520 --> 00:25:14,120 are called to. He says he who does not love his 431 00:25:14,120 --> 00:25:18,760 brother abides in death. Whatever, whoever hates his 432 00:25:18,760 --> 00:25:22,400 brother is a murderer. And you know that no murderer 433 00:25:22,560 --> 00:25:27,680 has eternal life abiding in him. By this we know love because he 434 00:25:27,680 --> 00:25:30,240 laid down his life for us. So he just said, love your 435 00:25:30,240 --> 00:25:31,840 brother. So what does it look like to 436 00:25:31,840 --> 00:25:36,360 love a brother? By this he laid down his life 437 00:25:36,360 --> 00:25:39,840 for us. And we also ought to lay down 438 00:25:39,920 --> 00:25:45,320 our lives for the brethren. That is a radical way of looking 439 00:25:45,320 --> 00:25:47,720 at the world in every circumstance. 440 00:25:48,040 --> 00:25:50,800 What is the best thing I can do for you? 441 00:25:52,320 --> 00:25:54,160 What is the best thing I could do for you? 442 00:25:54,880 --> 00:25:57,920 What is the best thing I can do for every person in my life is 443 00:25:57,960 --> 00:26:03,760 particularly the brethren up to the point of dying for them. 444 00:26:05,920 --> 00:26:08,520 Most people do not need you to die for them. 445 00:26:09,160 --> 00:26:11,360 I don't know anyone in my life right now that would need me to 446 00:26:11,360 --> 00:26:13,280 die for them. I don't know anyone that would 447 00:26:13,280 --> 00:26:16,000 get anything out of that. So we know that that's not 448 00:26:16,000 --> 00:26:17,760 required. It's kind of like when Jesus 449 00:26:17,760 --> 00:26:21,440 said, you know, he said, you know, there he was washing their 450 00:26:21,440 --> 00:26:23,880 feet and, and they said, well, they washed my whole body. 451 00:26:23,880 --> 00:26:26,320 He's like, you don't need that. You don't need me to wash your 452 00:26:26,320 --> 00:26:28,120 whole body because only your feet are dirty. 453 00:26:28,480 --> 00:26:30,800 You don't need to go around and dying for people because that's 454 00:26:30,800 --> 00:26:33,880 not what they need. People need you to lay down 455 00:26:33,880 --> 00:26:37,520 their life for them in many ways, whatever that requires. 456 00:26:41,280 --> 00:26:43,520 I heard an analogy given one time. 457 00:26:44,560 --> 00:26:47,960 They said, imagine your whole life, everything you had to 458 00:26:47,960 --> 00:26:51,200 give. Maybe that giving is physically 459 00:26:51,200 --> 00:26:55,720 or maybe it's your effort. You have $100 to give in your 460 00:26:55,720 --> 00:26:58,640 life. God does not give us $100 bill 461 00:26:59,640 --> 00:27:02,960 because you'd walk out, hand them that person, maybe die for 462 00:27:02,960 --> 00:27:05,320 them, and you'd check your bill and you walk right out and 463 00:27:05,320 --> 00:27:13,720 you're done. But instead, God gives us a 464 00:27:13,720 --> 00:27:18,240 whole lot of pennies. He gives us bags and bags and 465 00:27:18,240 --> 00:27:21,840 bags of pennies and he says lay down your life for them. 466 00:27:22,360 --> 00:27:24,880 If you're going to give everything you have to those 467 00:27:24,880 --> 00:27:29,160 around you and to the world and to your brothers, that $100, you 468 00:27:29,160 --> 00:27:33,320 got to do it 1 penny at a time. And that is exhausting just 469 00:27:33,320 --> 00:27:35,040 thinking about that hand out a lot of pennies. 470 00:27:37,680 --> 00:27:39,280 It's exhausting, but it's what's needed. 471 00:27:40,240 --> 00:27:45,480 The one by one action of goodness and love is what Jesus 472 00:27:45,480 --> 00:27:48,800 has called us to, and it's the example that he left because he 473 00:27:48,800 --> 00:27:52,600 died at 3033. He died after living a lot of 474 00:27:52,600 --> 00:27:54,200 life. He didn't just pop in and pop 475 00:27:54,200 --> 00:27:56,680 out. He gave everything day after 476 00:27:56,680 --> 00:27:59,280 day, exhaustion after exhaustion. 477 00:28:00,680 --> 00:28:07,320 You know, that's why many extremist Muslims have died in 478 00:28:07,320 --> 00:28:10,880 the world, because they have in the Quran, it says that if you 479 00:28:10,880 --> 00:28:14,200 die for the holy war, the jihad, if you die in the middle of 480 00:28:14,200 --> 00:28:16,640 that, you have a free pass to their heaven. 481 00:28:17,880 --> 00:28:21,160 That is that mentality. Hey, give me one shot. 482 00:28:21,160 --> 00:28:23,000 I'll do it. I'll be done and I get in, get 483 00:28:23,040 --> 00:28:24,640 out. Three minutes of bravery can 484 00:28:24,640 --> 00:28:26,760 give you an eternity in in your paradise, right? 485 00:28:26,760 --> 00:28:30,120 Well, we know that that's, that's a human way of thinking. 486 00:28:30,680 --> 00:28:36,480 It's easy way out, really. He calls us to every single day 487 00:28:36,640 --> 00:28:40,760 give pennies of that $100 to the point that we have given all and 488 00:28:40,760 --> 00:28:45,840 service to the people around us. And this, his picture I actually 489 00:28:45,840 --> 00:28:47,920 got was, was actually a real picture. 490 00:28:48,160 --> 00:28:52,040 They found this guy, his name was John Reyes and he was in LA. 491 00:28:52,480 --> 00:28:54,800 He had, he had been going through his father's, his late 492 00:28:54,800 --> 00:28:56,680 father's things. And he went into the crawl 493 00:28:56,680 --> 00:29:00,160 space, into the house and found 1,000,000 pennies. 494 00:29:00,520 --> 00:29:02,800 And that was about $10,000 worth of pennies. 495 00:29:02,800 --> 00:29:06,520 So funny little, it doesn't really apply to the analogy 496 00:29:06,520 --> 00:29:09,240 we're talking about right now, but it does take patience and 497 00:29:09,240 --> 00:29:12,480 consistency to give what God has given us. 498 00:29:12,640 --> 00:29:15,760 And in this sense, we lay down our lives for the brethren. 499 00:29:16,640 --> 00:29:19,600 I like that picture. As you think about someone 500 00:29:19,760 --> 00:29:22,960 coming and bringing something and laying it down in front of 501 00:29:22,960 --> 00:29:29,200 somebody else humbly, maybe with a head bowed down, imagine doing 502 00:29:29,200 --> 00:29:31,680 that to the person you're sitting across from or next to 503 00:29:31,680 --> 00:29:34,920 or down the road from you. That is the mentality he calls 504 00:29:34,920 --> 00:29:40,480 us to specifically to our brothers and sisters that you 505 00:29:40,480 --> 00:29:42,280 would maybe to the person in here that you don't even know 506 00:29:42,280 --> 00:29:45,280 very well. Your responsibility is to bring 507 00:29:45,280 --> 00:29:49,400 your life and to lay it down in front of them, whatever that 508 00:29:49,400 --> 00:29:55,000 means, whatever they would need. And that takes intentionality 509 00:29:55,000 --> 00:29:56,960 that I have maybe not devoted as I should. 510 00:29:57,920 --> 00:30:01,720 That takes a level of focus and looking into needs, not being 511 00:30:01,720 --> 00:30:04,880 nosy but but looking out for others that I have not done 512 00:30:04,880 --> 00:30:10,920 before. But whoever has this world's 513 00:30:10,920 --> 00:30:14,440 goods and sees his brother in need and shuts up his heart from 514 00:30:14,440 --> 00:30:16,360 him. How does the love of God abide 515 00:30:16,360 --> 00:30:19,120 in him? He asked a rhetorical question 516 00:30:19,120 --> 00:30:22,920 like how is that you We've been talking about the the what 517 00:30:22,920 --> 00:30:26,160 manner of love verse one that the father has bestowed on us 518 00:30:26,160 --> 00:30:27,800 that we would be called children of God. 519 00:30:27,960 --> 00:30:32,720 We look at that and we say wow, and and he says, how could that 520 00:30:32,720 --> 00:30:35,640 love be in us if we don't respond to the needs of our 521 00:30:35,640 --> 00:30:40,160 brethren with this kind of love and sacrifice and love for 522 00:30:40,160 --> 00:30:44,120 others? That is a shocking level of 523 00:30:44,120 --> 00:30:48,600 responsibility and love. Verse 18 my little children, let 524 00:30:48,600 --> 00:30:53,560 us not love in Word or in tongue, but in deed and in 525 00:30:53,560 --> 00:30:58,920 truth. He specifies how this love 526 00:30:58,920 --> 00:31:01,680 happens. He says put it into action. 527 00:31:03,480 --> 00:31:07,040 He's not implying that words themselves don't have value. 528 00:31:08,640 --> 00:31:12,920 He is elevating how important it is that our love take tangible 529 00:31:12,920 --> 00:31:15,440 action for the people around us that we say we love. 530 00:31:18,320 --> 00:31:22,160 Sometimes what is needed is emotional support and maybe you 531 00:31:22,160 --> 00:31:25,440 talk a little bit, maybe you don't talk much at all and but 532 00:31:25,440 --> 00:31:27,080 communication, that's what they need. 533 00:31:27,080 --> 00:31:31,680 Maybe so he's not devaluing that, but the core of it is the 534 00:31:31,680 --> 00:31:33,720 deed. What is the deed that I'm going 535 00:31:33,720 --> 00:31:36,800 to do and what's the problem? Why is this such a big deal? 536 00:31:37,040 --> 00:31:46,320 Words deceive, actions reveal. Have you ever seen somebody 537 00:31:46,320 --> 00:31:48,680 doing something and been been been confused by it? 538 00:31:49,760 --> 00:31:51,280 Not really. I when I see somebody doing 539 00:31:51,280 --> 00:31:53,720 something, I feel like I understand exactly what they're 540 00:31:53,720 --> 00:31:56,000 doing. But I've been, I've been 541 00:31:56,000 --> 00:32:00,480 confused many times or deceived when someone says one thing and 542 00:32:00,560 --> 00:32:02,440 I don't get the same picture somewhere else. 543 00:32:03,840 --> 00:32:06,880 Words deceive and actions reveal, but you know who? 544 00:32:07,080 --> 00:32:09,640 You know what they really deceive and you know who they 545 00:32:09,640 --> 00:32:13,720 really reveal to. It's not as big of a deal maybe 546 00:32:13,720 --> 00:32:17,240 as other people, but the people that they really reveal and 547 00:32:17,240 --> 00:32:25,240 deceive to is us. Verse 19, He says, and by this, 548 00:32:25,320 --> 00:32:28,840 by the deeds that he just referenced, we know that we are 549 00:32:28,840 --> 00:32:32,400 of the truth in this conversation of assurance. 550 00:32:32,600 --> 00:32:37,160 If we are not doing deeds of good love, they would reflect 551 00:32:37,160 --> 00:32:41,560 laying down our lives to others. If we don't do that, he says, 552 00:32:43,200 --> 00:32:46,840 well, he says the counter. He says by doing this, by laying 553 00:32:46,840 --> 00:32:50,320 down your life for the brethren, you know that you're of the 554 00:32:50,320 --> 00:32:53,600 truth. That's how you draw confidence. 555 00:32:54,320 --> 00:32:57,720 That's how you start to realize, man, I, I'm doing this thing. 556 00:32:57,840 --> 00:32:59,920 When I first started my Christian walk, I wasn't really 557 00:32:59,920 --> 00:33:01,880 confident, You know, am I really cut up for this? 558 00:33:01,880 --> 00:33:04,760 Am I too far gone? Am I, am I too sinful for God to 559 00:33:04,760 --> 00:33:07,240 save? But now that I'm making some 560 00:33:07,240 --> 00:33:11,480 progress and I'm active and I'm doing the love of God, I'm 561 00:33:11,480 --> 00:33:14,040 starting to feel like God's right. 562 00:33:14,040 --> 00:33:16,560 I am doing it. I am impossible to save and I am 563 00:33:16,560 --> 00:33:18,280 doing this. Not that you're earning your 564 00:33:18,280 --> 00:33:23,320 salvation in any way, but he says by this kind of active love 565 00:33:23,760 --> 00:33:28,520 we know that we're of the truth and shall assure our hearts 566 00:33:28,520 --> 00:33:33,560 before him. God has a great role in teaching 567 00:33:33,560 --> 00:33:36,640 us, as we're going to see in a minute, and assuring our hearts. 568 00:33:38,280 --> 00:33:42,160 But the very clear distinction here is when you do good, you 569 00:33:42,160 --> 00:33:46,040 develop more assurance. And I know for sure myself 570 00:33:46,200 --> 00:33:49,800 that's the case. There have been times where when 571 00:33:49,800 --> 00:33:54,120 I did something for someone, I walked away feeling peace in my 572 00:33:54,120 --> 00:33:58,040 heart. Not, not glory for me, not pride 573 00:33:58,040 --> 00:34:01,560 in me, but peace. And the more I've gotten older, 574 00:34:01,560 --> 00:34:06,080 I've realized that peace is because I'm having confidence 575 00:34:06,080 --> 00:34:08,520 that hey, I am a biblical Christian. 576 00:34:10,239 --> 00:34:13,040 I don't have to wonder if this guy 2000 years ago really has an 577 00:34:13,040 --> 00:34:16,719 influence on me because I see it and I can see it in actions that 578 00:34:16,719 --> 00:34:21,120 are becoming tangible and that assures our hearts. 579 00:34:22,679 --> 00:34:25,199 Now I will add this. It may not be a quick fix. 580 00:34:25,320 --> 00:34:27,320 People have said it before and you've heard it. 581 00:34:27,840 --> 00:34:30,239 Doing, doing, doing, doing, doing more doesn't always solve 582 00:34:30,239 --> 00:34:32,159 every problem in your life. And I'm not implying that. 583 00:34:32,159 --> 00:34:35,840 I'm not saying if you just run yourself ragged doing good deeds 584 00:34:35,840 --> 00:34:38,159 that you're just going to all of a sudden be this frazzled at 585 00:34:38,159 --> 00:34:39,960 peace human. You're you're not you're you may 586 00:34:39,960 --> 00:34:42,120 still have other things that you're dealing with internally 587 00:34:42,120 --> 00:34:44,960 that need to get settled down and worked out to where you're 588 00:34:44,960 --> 00:34:48,679 at peace. But this is the general recipe. 589 00:34:50,320 --> 00:34:52,400 James too has some things to say about this. 590 00:34:52,400 --> 00:34:54,400 He says, what does it profit, my brethren? 591 00:34:54,400 --> 00:34:56,800 If someone says he has faith but does not have works? 592 00:34:56,800 --> 00:34:59,600 Can faith save him? If a brother or sister is naked 593 00:34:59,600 --> 00:35:03,720 and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, depart 594 00:35:03,720 --> 00:35:06,280 in peace, be warmed and filled, but you do not give them the 595 00:35:06,280 --> 00:35:09,320 things that they're needed for the body, what does it profit? 596 00:35:10,040 --> 00:35:13,200 That's also faith by itself. If it does not have works, is 597 00:35:13,200 --> 00:35:16,680 dead. You see that the saying did 598 00:35:16,680 --> 00:35:18,880 nothing, as he already told us in first John. 599 00:35:19,120 --> 00:35:21,760 But someone will say you have faith and I have works. 600 00:35:22,240 --> 00:35:25,640 Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my 601 00:35:25,640 --> 00:35:27,760 faith by my works. There it is. 602 00:35:27,760 --> 00:35:32,200 There's that note of confidence. The Christian draws confidence 603 00:35:32,200 --> 00:35:35,440 by knowing that their works reflect who they really are. 604 00:35:36,160 --> 00:35:38,640 So much of the religious world, if I listen to a commentator, 605 00:35:38,640 --> 00:35:43,000 it's like they beat works completely out the door and and 606 00:35:43,000 --> 00:35:44,760 it's just discouraging. It's like, well, how do you know 607 00:35:44,760 --> 00:35:46,200 then? Well, it's just in your heart. 608 00:35:46,200 --> 00:35:49,120 It's like, well, I mean, there's there's nothing wrong with the 609 00:35:49,120 --> 00:35:52,560 idea that faith is working in you, but you don't beat works 610 00:35:52,560 --> 00:35:54,720 out the door to where people have no idea where they stand. 611 00:35:55,440 --> 00:35:58,400 If you do it, you know it and you have peace. 612 00:35:58,560 --> 00:36:03,080 It's simple in that sense. You believe that there's one 613 00:36:03,080 --> 00:36:06,800 God, you do well, good for you. Even the demons believe and 614 00:36:06,800 --> 00:36:10,120 tremble. He goes on the same verse 26 For 615 00:36:10,120 --> 00:36:13,880 as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works 616 00:36:13,880 --> 00:36:14,880 is dead. Also. 617 00:36:16,120 --> 00:36:21,040 We talked about the beginning, finding a Christian pulse, the 618 00:36:21,040 --> 00:36:25,600 assurance of our spiritual life. Works are your pulse. 619 00:36:26,600 --> 00:36:30,880 Works do not earn you salvation, but it is indicator of whether 620 00:36:30,880 --> 00:36:34,560 you are alive or not. And you can't live without life 621 00:36:34,560 --> 00:36:40,600 and without action. So he goes on to say after we've 622 00:36:40,600 --> 00:36:45,240 kind of taken a tangent, but on the note verse 19 said, let's 623 00:36:45,640 --> 00:36:48,200 get our flow again. And by this we know that we are 624 00:36:48,200 --> 00:36:50,840 of the truth and shall assure our hearts before Him. 625 00:36:52,880 --> 00:36:56,840 For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart 626 00:36:57,520 --> 00:37:00,640 and knows all things. There are kind of two sides of 627 00:37:00,640 --> 00:37:02,280 this coin. I think there's a maybe a more 628 00:37:02,280 --> 00:37:05,520 clear emphasis here. And I think the clear emphasis 629 00:37:05,520 --> 00:37:12,600 he's making is God is sure, even if you aren't, God is sure about 630 00:37:12,600 --> 00:37:15,400 your salvation and about your standing with Him. 631 00:37:16,040 --> 00:37:18,320 Even if you don't have confidence all the time in it, 632 00:37:19,400 --> 00:37:23,400 that is a great assurance. That is a wonderful piece that 633 00:37:23,400 --> 00:37:26,960 God knows you even when your heart may condemn you. 634 00:37:31,640 --> 00:37:36,160 Jeremiah 17 says this, but blessed is the one who trusts in 635 00:37:36,160 --> 00:37:37,960 the Lord, whose confidence is in him. 636 00:37:38,160 --> 00:37:41,280 They'll be like a tree planted by the water that send out its 637 00:37:41,280 --> 00:37:43,720 roots by the stream. It does not fear when the heat 638 00:37:43,720 --> 00:37:46,000 comes. Its leaves are always green. 639 00:37:46,200 --> 00:37:49,720 It has no worries and a year of drought and never fails to bear 640 00:37:49,720 --> 00:37:50,800 fruit. This is the NIV. 641 00:37:51,600 --> 00:37:57,160 The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. 642 00:37:59,200 --> 00:38:04,480 Your heart can deceive you against truth and what's right, 643 00:38:04,640 --> 00:38:08,280 but it can also deceive you about your right standing with 644 00:38:08,280 --> 00:38:11,160 God. There are plenty of people, and 645 00:38:11,160 --> 00:38:15,480 I've experienced this, where my heart was condemning me when it 646 00:38:15,480 --> 00:38:19,640 shouldn't have and it made me lose peace. 647 00:38:20,160 --> 00:38:23,800 The writer Jeremiah says the heart is deceitful. 648 00:38:24,120 --> 00:38:26,800 Don't look at your heart like it's the gold standard. 649 00:38:26,800 --> 00:38:29,520 Sometimes you have to. And I've had to in my life by 650 00:38:29,520 --> 00:38:33,920 experience, pry away from the idea that my heart is really the 651 00:38:33,920 --> 00:38:38,040 guide, even if it would be more critical than Scripture. 652 00:38:38,680 --> 00:38:40,760 Sometimes we think, well, as long as my heart's more critical 653 00:38:40,760 --> 00:38:42,080 than God's Word, then I'm good, right? 654 00:38:42,240 --> 00:38:45,920 Well, not necessarily because you can live a tormented life. 655 00:38:47,760 --> 00:38:50,240 He says it is beyond cure. Who can understand it? 656 00:38:51,080 --> 00:38:52,400 Sometimes that's the way our minds work. 657 00:38:52,400 --> 00:38:54,640 Who can understand the way my mind is working? 658 00:38:55,440 --> 00:38:57,840 But God is greater than our hearts. 659 00:38:59,360 --> 00:39:06,440 First John says, verse 10 said I, the Lord, search the heart 660 00:39:07,000 --> 00:39:09,400 and examine the mind. That's the consolation from 661 00:39:09,400 --> 00:39:13,120 Jeremiah is that God really sees. 662 00:39:13,880 --> 00:39:15,560 And if you don't know where you stand, don't worry. 663 00:39:15,560 --> 00:39:17,320 God knows perfectly well where you stand. 664 00:39:17,960 --> 00:39:20,040 He searches your heart and he will know you. 665 00:39:20,920 --> 00:39:25,600 That's the greater reality. Something else to remember in 666 00:39:25,600 --> 00:39:28,640 the same conversation is personality follows you into 667 00:39:28,640 --> 00:39:31,320 your faith. So maybe you're somebody who's 668 00:39:31,360 --> 00:39:33,520 overly conscious as a general person. 669 00:39:33,520 --> 00:39:36,240 Maybe it's school. Maybe everything you do, you're 670 00:39:36,240 --> 00:39:38,800 like very conscientious about it. 671 00:39:39,040 --> 00:39:41,360 Some people fly right through the day and they don't. 672 00:39:41,360 --> 00:39:43,160 They're not too worried. They're I'm doing my best, but I 673 00:39:43,160 --> 00:39:44,720 don't need to get too hung up on anything. 674 00:39:44,800 --> 00:39:46,360 It's not a bad thing. It's just maybe they're more 675 00:39:46,360 --> 00:39:50,200 personality, your personality and who you are as a person is 676 00:39:50,200 --> 00:39:51,600 going to follow you in your faith. 677 00:39:51,640 --> 00:39:53,800 They're not separate. That's who you are. 678 00:39:54,240 --> 00:39:58,200 Just like we understand Peter was a kind of an audacious 679 00:39:58,200 --> 00:40:02,320 person and when he became in the Kingdom, he was audacious in the 680 00:40:02,320 --> 00:40:06,320 Kingdom, and sometimes for good and sometimes not so good, his 681 00:40:06,320 --> 00:40:08,760 faith followed him. Thomas, that's another one I 682 00:40:08,760 --> 00:40:11,640 thought of just off the top of my head where he was called 683 00:40:11,640 --> 00:40:14,040 doubting Thomas or Thomas. Why did you doubt? 684 00:40:14,360 --> 00:40:16,720 Maybe he was a skeptical person as it was. 685 00:40:17,600 --> 00:40:21,160 We we read about some of the more prominent figures, but 686 00:40:21,240 --> 00:40:23,480 there's all kinds of personalities below that 687 00:40:23,600 --> 00:40:27,240 threshold of audacious that exists that influence your 688 00:40:27,240 --> 00:40:32,200 perspective spiritually. So we have to learn to navigate 689 00:40:32,400 --> 00:40:36,360 our own personality. So how do we see reality? 690 00:40:37,960 --> 00:40:41,280 Here's how we see reality. James 1 is not really focusing 691 00:40:41,280 --> 00:40:44,240 on this topic, but it's a clue in there that I found really 692 00:40:44,240 --> 00:40:47,960 helpful in this study. James one verse 23 says for if 693 00:40:47,960 --> 00:40:51,560 anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he's like a man 694 00:40:51,560 --> 00:40:53,640 observing his natural face in a mirror. 695 00:40:54,000 --> 00:40:57,120 For he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets 696 00:40:57,120 --> 00:41:00,000 what kind of man he was. I'm not focusing so much on what 697 00:41:00,000 --> 00:41:02,800 James is talking about in context, but there he makes a 698 00:41:02,800 --> 00:41:05,320 reference about what scripture does. 699 00:41:05,760 --> 00:41:07,880 Get this. If anyone is a hearer of the 700 00:41:07,880 --> 00:41:13,560 word, hearing the word of God allows you to observe the 701 00:41:13,560 --> 00:41:16,240 natural face in the mirror. What's he saying? 702 00:41:16,400 --> 00:41:19,520 He says when you see God's word and when you study it, it shows 703 00:41:19,520 --> 00:41:23,560 you who you really are. It shows you reality, it shows 704 00:41:23,560 --> 00:41:26,720 you truth. Now he's saying, unfortunately, 705 00:41:26,760 --> 00:41:30,480 often times we walk away from it and forget reality about who we 706 00:41:30,480 --> 00:41:33,840 are. But I, I like that thought that 707 00:41:33,840 --> 00:41:38,200 we, we can stick with that, that if I want to see me, if I want 708 00:41:38,200 --> 00:41:40,960 to grow and seeing myself for what I really AM and what 709 00:41:40,960 --> 00:41:44,200 everything really is. Instead of being unconfident 710 00:41:44,200 --> 00:41:49,240 and, and, and whatever you might say over conscientious, continue 711 00:41:49,240 --> 00:41:54,920 to look into the word of God and stay with it because it will 712 00:41:55,200 --> 00:42:00,360 give you a clear pers, a clearer perspective on who you really 713 00:42:00,360 --> 00:42:04,080 are and how everything else really is like a mirror in front 714 00:42:04,080 --> 00:42:07,680 of your face. Don't let go of that, even when 715 00:42:07,680 --> 00:42:09,480 it's confusing. You know, no matter how long it 716 00:42:09,480 --> 00:42:12,480 takes, it took me a long time for some of these things. 717 00:42:14,880 --> 00:42:19,360 That's how we see reality. One last note on this idea, 718 00:42:19,720 --> 00:42:23,160 they, there's a study done by these two men, Dunny and Kruger, 719 00:42:23,160 --> 00:42:26,160 and, and they had, they coined this term the Dunning Kruger 720 00:42:26,160 --> 00:42:29,640 effect, which is a cognitive bias that when you are 721 00:42:29,640 --> 00:42:35,400 inexperienced at something, you overestimate your ability and 722 00:42:35,400 --> 00:42:38,840 when you're experienced at something, you underestimate 723 00:42:38,840 --> 00:42:40,960 your ability. That's pretty straightforward. 724 00:42:40,960 --> 00:42:43,160 You see someone who's like done something a couple times, like 725 00:42:43,160 --> 00:42:44,280 I'm feeling pretty good about it. 726 00:42:44,720 --> 00:42:48,720 They've only had a couple of isolated circumstances and their 727 00:42:48,720 --> 00:42:50,400 confidence levels may be higher than it should be. 728 00:42:50,400 --> 00:42:53,280 It's inflated, whereas people who have been doing something 729 00:42:53,280 --> 00:42:59,360 for a long time realize all the nuances of every skill and all 730 00:42:59,360 --> 00:43:02,760 the details that go into making good plans. 731 00:43:02,760 --> 00:43:06,600 If you're doing architectural drawings and figuring out design 732 00:43:08,000 --> 00:43:11,360 attributes of a building, there's so much nuance to 733 00:43:11,360 --> 00:43:13,960 someone who's really experienced, understands how 734 00:43:13,960 --> 00:43:17,640 good some people are, and they underestimate themselves 735 00:43:17,640 --> 00:43:19,720 sometimes. So there's a cognitive bias you 736 00:43:19,720 --> 00:43:21,560 may have maybe that influences this. 737 00:43:21,720 --> 00:43:26,400 Maybe the more you try, the more you realize your own weakness. 738 00:43:26,400 --> 00:43:29,480 And that's echoed in Romans. I'm not going to read the whole 739 00:43:29,480 --> 00:43:32,160 thing forsake of time, but Paul's basically saying when I 740 00:43:32,160 --> 00:43:35,840 started, when I saw the law of God, it showed me all the wrong 741 00:43:35,840 --> 00:43:39,080 inside of me and it showed me all my flaws and it it just made 742 00:43:39,080 --> 00:43:41,400 it worse. It seemed like it made the fight 743 00:43:41,400 --> 00:43:43,160 harder. It made it me feel like there's 744 00:43:43,160 --> 00:43:44,760 so much more sin to take care of. 745 00:43:45,880 --> 00:43:49,280 That's kind of what happens when God starts to work in me. 746 00:43:50,200 --> 00:43:52,120 He sometimes those things become revealed. 747 00:43:52,720 --> 00:43:54,840 Here's the assurance. When we have humble hearts, 748 00:43:55,280 --> 00:43:57,880 God's word will cut, and that's a good thing. 749 00:43:59,600 --> 00:44:02,920 But assurance is necessary. And that assurance comes from 750 00:44:02,920 --> 00:44:08,960 God knowing our hearts and from him encouraging us to do good so 751 00:44:08,960 --> 00:44:11,280 that our hearts fully see, hey, you're doing this thing. 752 00:44:12,120 --> 00:44:14,480 Now the negative side of this, just real quick, it's short. 753 00:44:15,080 --> 00:44:19,240 If even our hearts know if we're in the wrong, God says, trust 754 00:44:19,240 --> 00:44:22,480 me, I know there's no getting away from God. 755 00:44:22,480 --> 00:44:27,040 If even our hearts condemn us and we are truly and wrong, God 756 00:44:27,040 --> 00:44:28,520 knows even better than our hearts. 757 00:44:29,840 --> 00:44:31,520 So let's get the flow of what he said. 758 00:44:31,520 --> 00:44:34,200 My little children, let us not love in Word or in tongue, but 759 00:44:34,200 --> 00:44:37,600 in deed and in truth. And by this we know that we are 760 00:44:37,600 --> 00:44:40,280 of the truth and shall assure our hearts before Him. 761 00:44:40,480 --> 00:44:43,440 For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart 762 00:44:43,640 --> 00:44:46,760 and knows all things. New stuff, here it comes, 763 00:44:46,760 --> 00:44:48,760 beloved. If our heart does not condemn 764 00:44:48,760 --> 00:44:51,240 us, we have confidence toward God. 765 00:44:51,400 --> 00:44:55,600 That is awesome. And whatever we receive from Him 766 00:44:56,520 --> 00:45:00,080 because we keep His commandments and do those things that are 767 00:45:00,080 --> 00:45:02,720 pleasing in His sight. So the flow of thought was, if 768 00:45:02,720 --> 00:45:04,800 you do right, that assures your heart. 769 00:45:05,040 --> 00:45:07,360 And when you assure your heart you have confidence before Him, 770 00:45:07,360 --> 00:45:09,400 and when you have confidence before Him, you ask Him for 771 00:45:09,400 --> 00:45:13,080 things and He gives them to you. That's awesome. 772 00:45:13,080 --> 00:45:16,880 When we have confidence before God because we're doing right, 773 00:45:17,280 --> 00:45:22,800 we ask things for Him and He and whatever we ask we receive 774 00:45:23,760 --> 00:45:27,080 because of the good that we show that we are on his side, that we 775 00:45:27,080 --> 00:45:30,960 are interested in his purposes and we want to we want his 776 00:45:31,160 --> 00:45:32,560 commandments to be at the forefront. 777 00:45:33,040 --> 00:45:36,000 We do those things that are pleasing in his sight and this 778 00:45:36,000 --> 00:45:39,440 is his commandment that we should believe on the name of 779 00:45:39,440 --> 00:45:43,120 his Son, Jesus Christ and love one another as he gave us 780 00:45:43,120 --> 00:45:45,840 commandment. You know what's funny is the 781 00:45:45,840 --> 00:45:48,840 commandment that they're obeying the whole time was the action, 782 00:45:48,840 --> 00:45:52,480 but he called it here. Believe on belief, on the name 783 00:45:52,480 --> 00:45:54,680 of the Son of God and loving one another. 784 00:45:55,560 --> 00:45:57,840 So if anyone wants to tell you, you know it's about belief and 785 00:45:57,840 --> 00:45:58,600 love. Yes. 786 00:45:58,600 --> 00:46:02,200 Well, how does he say you know you believe in you love by doing 787 00:46:02,200 --> 00:46:05,480 these good things. It's really pretty simple. 788 00:46:08,200 --> 00:46:12,000 The command to believe and to love is manifested in her 789 00:46:12,000 --> 00:46:17,040 actions as Jesus commanded us and that pleases him. 790 00:46:17,040 --> 00:46:20,880 Now He who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and 791 00:46:20,880 --> 00:46:24,920 He and Him, there's the unity and the closeness that you don't 792 00:46:24,920 --> 00:46:26,800 want to feel like Jesus was a long time ago. 793 00:46:27,240 --> 00:46:31,920 He's moved on from you. We're together in Him by this. 794 00:46:31,920 --> 00:46:37,040 We know that He abides in us by the Spirit whom He has given us. 795 00:46:38,000 --> 00:46:40,800 When I read this, I feel the tide waters calmly wash over 796 00:46:40,800 --> 00:46:45,400 reading this and we have great peace knowing that we can be in 797 00:46:45,400 --> 00:46:48,720 Him and we can be assured of that. 798 00:46:49,360 --> 00:46:54,440 And today you are not assured. He's given us a clear outline 799 00:46:54,440 --> 00:46:55,880 for Howard. Remember, John is a book of 800 00:46:55,920 --> 00:46:59,320 overview and and broad concepts. So we didn't flesh out every 801 00:46:59,320 --> 00:47:01,640 detail of what it means to be a complete Christian. 802 00:47:02,240 --> 00:47:04,320 That takes time, that takes understanding. 803 00:47:04,680 --> 00:47:08,200 And but you can start the walk by believing and hearing the 804 00:47:08,200 --> 00:47:10,280 word of God creates belief in US. 805 00:47:10,960 --> 00:47:14,680 And because of that belief, we respond with a repentant heart 806 00:47:15,080 --> 00:47:17,480 and we say, I'm going to change from doing my will and go to 807 00:47:17,480 --> 00:47:20,240 God's will. And we confess that Jesus Christ 808 00:47:20,240 --> 00:47:22,560 is the Son of God. There's no other name by which 809 00:47:22,560 --> 00:47:24,720 we may be saved under heaven by than by him. 810 00:47:25,000 --> 00:47:28,640 And we are baptized into Christ for the mission of our sins. 811 00:47:28,640 --> 00:47:31,840 And if you've already done that and you need to make it right 812 00:47:31,840 --> 00:47:34,560 and need to make something right with the brethren, we're happy 813 00:47:34,560 --> 00:47:37,320 to help you if there's anything we can pray for while we stand 814 00:47:37,320 --> 00:47:37,840 and while we sit.