Chapter 2 verses, we're going to get 3 through 6 tonight.
First, Johnny is dance. It's kind of funny.
I was going through my commentaries.
I was telling Faye I was going to, I was going to sit down on
Sunday and just read the commentary on 1st John.
Chapter 2. It's A and it's commentary
writing and it's like 16 pages, like an Exodus chapter is a page
and 1/2 chapter 2 of first John is 16 pages.
It's like it's kind of dance. Yeah.
I'm not reading all of that. That isn't going to.
I mean, I could read it, but I wouldn't, I wouldn't retain it
because it's so, so. Yeah.
Anyway, so that it. But that isn't a complaint.
That's just cool, right? That it's, it's fun to go
through it. So Lord, I just lift up this
time together and Lord that you're that you'd be here, Lord,
that you'd be speaking, Lord, that I'd get out of the way and
Lord that that you'd be teaching me as well.
Lord, that you would not only be speaking through me, Lord, but
that you'd be teaching me. And Lord that you'd be in our
midst, Lord, that you just build us up for the week ahead and
that you would guide and direct. I pray this all in Jesus name,
Amen. So verse 3 Now by this we know
that we know him if we keep his commandments.
He who says I know him and does not keep his commandments is a
liar and the truth is not in him.
But whoever keeps his word truly the love of God is perfected in
him. By this we know that we are in
him. He who says he abides in him
ought himself also to walk just as he walked and that is so that
start off with verse 3 and it's now by this we know that we know
him if we keep his commandments and that that no is Gonosco and
it's to know absolutely or to know through personal
experience. And that's so some places that
that word is used kind of explain it is Luke 134.
Then Mary said to the Angel, how can this be, since I do not know
a man. So that gives you an idea of
just that that personal experience, right.
But this is like that complete knowing is Mark 529 and this is
the lady with the with the flow of blood.
And after she touches Jesus's the hem of his garment and it
says immediately the fountain of her blood was dried up and she
felt it in her body that she was healed of that affliction.
And that felt is that ganosko. So that's so like she knows,
right? It's a it's an internal knowing.
And in the the the cool thing is, it's a lot of times hard to
find words that do cross this line.
But ganosko and yata, which is the Hebrew word for that that
used as know and it's to know by experience, relationship or
encounter. And another place for one is
another one where Adam knew his wife.
But Ganos goes to know far beyond not just the book level.
It's it's to know, right? It's, it's to experience And how
I explained how I, how I thought that through was.
So we're, we're all older now, but we were, we were all young
at one time and we had friends that had kids and we had
opinions and then we had kids and we had friends that didn't
have kids and they had opinions. And we, you know, in the, in
the, your, your 20s, you know, I've got, I've got kids and, and
I, I will pick on him. He doesn't watch this, so it
doesn't matter. But I had a good friend who he,
he told me my children are never going to eat McDonald's because
I think I was stopping and getting McDonald's French fries
or something for Alexa and they're never going to eat
McDonald's. So because God has a sense of
humor. When he had, he had twins, which
wore him down pretty quickly. But I think from age 3 to 5, one
of his daughters would only eat chicken Nuggets and had an aunt
that would do. But it's what I mean by that is
we can read lots of books about something, but knowing it, being
a parent, you learn how to be a parent, right?
You, you know how to be a parent once you're in being a parent.
And it's not that you're, you're like that.
You don't know everything. But you know what, what this is,
right? I know my child.
And that's that, that's that idea of Genosko or to Yata
something is to absolutely know it, to absolutely understand it.
And that if we go back to it now by this, we know that we know
him if we keep his commandments. So we we know, we, we absolutely
know that we absolutely know him if we're doing what he says.
And then second Chronicles chapter 2, verse 12.
And this is talking about Solomon, it says Harem also
said, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who made heaven and
earth. And he he has given King David a
wise son, endowed. And that endowed is that yada
word which is to know absolutely endowed with prudence and
understanding, who will build the temple for the Lord and a
royal house for himself. And now I have sent a skillful
man endowed with understanding Herm, my master Craftsman.
And the idea there is guys, not only not only is knowing him
absolutely a by keeping his commandments, but he he gives us
the power to do that, right. So it's, it's both.
And it's not just that like I know something, it's as I'm
doing His commandments, as I'm following, as I'm listening, He
is giving me that ability to follow and listen better.
And when we gave our lives to Christ, we stepped into him and
he stepped into US. However that you know, it's I
I've heard it, I've heard it explained numerous different
ways of that we're a sponge in in the ocean.
You know, we're, we're, he's in US and we're in him kind of
thing. But this keeping his
commandments is something that is not there's 600 there.
We we think of 10 commandments. And if you've ever had anybody
teach the 10 commandments, like if you've ever listened to
Alistair beg teach them, you can figure out like by halfway
through the first one, you're going to miss all of them.
So you can't get all the the 1st 10, but there's actually like
613 commandments that the Israelites were supposed to
follow rules and regulations. And so is that what it's talking
about when it says keep his commandments It it's not which
is good for us in that, but it's it isn't it is keeping his
commandments is resting in the grace.
That doesn't mean that we then go against the commandments.
It is that we're not looking at those commandments right.
There are rules. So in my house, when my
daughters were in my house, there are rules to be in my
house. You know, you, you close the
doors, you turn off the lights, this kind of stuff.
But the commandments that my, it was, it was me and my daughter's
relationship is what made her my daughter, right?
It, it's that we, we knew each other and those are the
commandments the Lord's thinking about, right?
It's, you got to remember that in the Old Testament, what he
was doing is using, if you, if you go through all the
commandments, you will see Jesus all over him and where he
fulfilled them. But the commandments that we're,
we're aimed at and he, he says it later on, but it's to love
God and love others. But if you look at loving God
and loving others, it is doing all the commandments right.
They they line up with that and he says that, but what we're
trying to do is know him, knowing him, listening to his
leading and by grace through faith, obeying his leading.
And that's the commandments not and not following our fleshly
desires, which is this whole book.
Whenever, whenever God isn't doing something, this whole book
is about people that are following their fleshly desires
and and God reacting to that, right?
That's we can go through it and I can there is, I mean, why is
there divorce? Why are the Israelites, why can
they give a certificate of divorce because of their hard
hearts. Moses gave them the right to do
that so that they wouldn't leave, leave widows, poor and
destitute, right? So it is we are dirt and we are
selfish. So outside of Christ we and
we'll get into that, but outside of Christ we have nothing to
offer. All we have to offer is
following him. Ephesians 21 says, And we're
going Ephesians 2, one through 6.
And it says, And you He made alive, who were dead in trespass
and sin, in which you once walked according to the course
of the world, according to the Prince of the power of the air,
the Spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, Among whom
also we all once conducted ourselves in lust of the flesh,
fulfilling the desires of the flesh of the mind, and were by
nature children of what wrath, just as the others.
But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love, with
which He loved us even when we were dead in trespass, made us
alive together with Christ. By grace you have been saved and
raised and raised us up together and made us sit together in
heavenly places in Christ Jesus. And if you look at this Paul,
Paul knew the law, Genoskote the law.
He knew it, he understood it and he he understood it had no power
to do anything but to condemn. And and that is, I mean, that is
Paul. That's, you know, the, the
Pharisees, we, we pick on them because they're always, they
always say, if, if there was a, a drama, whenever they came on
stage, everybody would Boo and hiss and Jesus would come on
stage and everybody would cheer, because that's the, the Gospels
and the, and Acts, what we get to see the Pharisees.
But do you understand? They were they were holy men.
They were whitewashed tombs and and unable to do what they were
being, but they were the back to Bible group, right?
They were the guys. If you'd have met him, if I'd
have met him outside of Christ, you'd have said that is a holy
man, right? They were they were those guys.
And Paul all through. Whenever he's talking about his
time as a Pharisee, he didn't, he didn't say I was a hypocrite
in the, in the sense that I was out pretending I was doing all
the things I was supposed to do and they were dead.
And you, and you can see a Pharisee of Pharisees of
Benjamite, He, he was, he was that guy.
And he's like, and I did it and I did it to the best of my
ability. And it was a complete waste.
I, I was completely unable to perform it.
And it's why as you go through why Paul gets, as you go through
the his epistles, he gets pretty animated with people about
trying to serve the law instead of serve the lawmaker, right,
Because that's who we're supposed to be after Galatians
219 through 21 says for though sorry for through the law, for I
through the law died to the law that I might live to God.
I have been crucified with Christ.
It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me and the life
which I now live in the flesh. I live by faith in the Son of
God who loved me and gave himself for me.
I do not set aside the grace of God.
For if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ
died in vain. He said he gets he gets animated
about the law is not where this is at.
It's about Christ and what he did on the cross and his ability
to give us the power to do what he asked us to do.
This life we now live in the flesh.
We live by faith in Christ. And, and guys, in my hardest
times in life, those words are, are words that I, I say under my
breath, you know, I, I, I say, I say things when, when I'm having
a horrid day at work or something.
And I say I can do, do everything as under the Lord and
not to men. And this life I now live in the
flesh. I live by faith in the Son of
God who loved me and gave himself for me.
Because if those two are correct, I got nothing to worry
about. I know the guy in charge and I'm
doing not, not what I think is right, but I'm following him.
And in following him he, he comes in and he does work in my
life with giving me peace and giving me hope, right?
How do I know that? I know?
And this is the joy of life in Christ.
He's alive, right? This isn't I I stand up here
every week and I talk to you about being in your word.
I talk to you about praying. But this is not Buddhism, right?
Don't say that. It isn't a chant.
You don't say the right things. It's not, it's not, it's not
being an in Islam where you get up and you pray five times a day
pointed towards Mecca. We talk to a living God who
wants to talk to you and wants to want you to grow in him.
And here's the thing for everybody out there that wants
to talk about, well, I, I've never heard him.
If you have given your life to the Lord, you have heard from
him. That's bottom line.
The day you gave your life to the Lord, if it was a serious
thing between you and him and you actually gave your life to
the Lord in your heart. You know that you know, first
Corinthians 12/3 says, therefore I make known to you that no one
speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus a curse and no one
can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit.
That doesn't mean there aren't people out there that are
heretics that are calling Jesus Lord that that means that they
know what they're doing on the if you've had a real, real
conversation, you've heard from the Spirit, right?
It's do you do you know that you know, and for me, like I said, I
didn't have when I got saved, I didn't have a like ultra
spiritual conversion. That was wow, I'm floating in
the no, what happened? The the honest to goodness thing
that happened was I went home and started reading my Bible
like I got saved. I gave my life to the Lord.
I stood up. I, I, I prayed to receive Christ
and when I went home, I started, I started reading and everybody,
everybody thinks that's OK. What A at that point in my life,
at 30 years old, I graduated high school at 18 years old.
And in 12 years I could probably count on one hand how many pages
of text I had read, not books, how many pages.
So for me to go home and start reading chapters of the Bible
was a work God was doing in my life and I and I, whether
anybody else believed it or not wasn't important to me.
I knew that's why I was because I didn't read.
Not only did I not read, I didn't like to read.
So then that I was like, I mean, I went through the Bible.
I went through the Old Testament, which was, you know,
you get to let Leviticus and Numbers and as somebody that
doesn't like to read, that's so, but that was the kind of thing
that he did in my life, right? And I can give you, I can give
you moment after moment in my life that he has spoke to me
directly that he has spoke to me through his word.
We have we, we serve a God that wants to speak to us.
And when he speaks, are we listening?
Because that's the that's the kind of commandments when we're
talking about that, right? My the John 1421 which you guys
have heard dozens of time, which is he who has my commandments
and keeps them. It is he who loves me and he who
loves me. We are loved by my Father and I
will love him and manifest myself to him.
That manifest myself to him is if you if you hear from Jesus
and you do what he says, He has more to say to you.
It's it's no, I mean I, I say it all the time.
It's no different than two kids. One of them wants to learn from
you and does what you ask them to do, and the other one could
care less. You're talking.
Which one are you talking to? Right?
You're, you're going to, and not because you love either one of
them any less, right? It's that I'm this one, I'm this
one. There's fruit in this one's
life. I can, you know, whether that's
teaching them how to, how to hunt or teaching them how to
change spark plugs or a tire or whatever that whatever that
thing is, you're teaching them the, the, the, the student
that's willing to listen and, and do what you said, you're
going to pour more into. It's it's that concept.
Now know that as I'm talking about commandments and and that
it's about what he's saying to us, know that when he's speaking
to us, he will never go against his word, right?
He, he is never going to say go murder that person.
You can lie to that person, go cheat, go steal, go be prideful.
He's not going to say that, right?
Those are that he he's going to lead you in in in loving, loving
him and loving others in those ways right, and that's Matthew
2730302237 is Jesus said to him talking to one of the Pharisees
or lawyer says you shall love the Lord your God with all your
heart, with all your soul, with all your mind.
This is the first and great commandment.
And the second is like it, you shall love your neighbor as
yourself. On these two commandments hang
all the law and the prophets. And, and the law of the prophets
is, is basically the, the Jewish Old Testament.
And that's that they called, they called Moses's book the
Law, and they had the Law of the Histories and the prophets,
right. So if we are in Christ and we
talk about that, that's our position.
When we gave our life to the Lord, we're in Christ.
That means that we are. Christ is love.
So we are in love, right? We are not.
Christ doesn't have a tank of love that he gives us to give
other people. He is love right now.
He is truth as well, right? So love is is that Jesus, if you
watch him all through his time here, Jesus loved people and
told them the truth. He didn't he didn't love people
and lie to them. He loved people and told them
the truth, which which is something that I would tell you
that we fail in. I think worldwide as a church,
as a the body of Christ of doing, we're either 100% truth
and no love or we're 100% love and no truth.
And the facts are he's 100% of both.
And we're supposed to be telling people the truth in love, right?
And I just, I go back to that the demon possessed guy that I
talked about on Sunday and just remember how much Jesus didn't
go after the guy, but he did cast out the demons, right?
And that is Jesus every time he meets somebody, you know, when
you look at the the woman caught in the very act of adultery is
he didn't, he didn't judge her in the sense that he he didn't
condemn her. He did, he did judge her sin and
said, I don't condemn you either.
Go and sin no more, which means in order for her for him to say
go and sin no more, you were sinning.
Don't send no more. You know that that's that's what
that is. And we, we as, as that's
something we should be not send sniffers, but we should be
having honest conversations with people, right?
Having honest conversations because we serve a God that's
living and big enough to handle, handle anything in their lives.
The whatever. Back when we were having the,
the Y and the guy in the in the women's bathroom, I watched the
whole town council meeting and there was a lady that stood up
right in the middle somewhere. And I mean, I heard they were
both sides. I mean, there was a lot of
conservative Christian right. There was a couple of the left,
but then there was this one lady in this one lady stood up and
she just, she, she stood up and said basically, Jesus is
awesome. My life was a train wreck.
And he met me and he cleaned it
up. And if you're here tonight and
you have a train wreck, he would love to meet you where you are
and clean that up. That's that's who we are guys
that outside of Christ, Nick's a train wreck outside of Christ
phase a train wreck. That's just the facts because
outside of him not in his will not following him we we have
nothing to offer but do we recognize the spirits voice and
that's something I I really want to hit on tonight is because
this is a relationship because we're talking about his
commandments and knowing what they are.
How do we know I'm there there is there is devotional life.
We need to have a devotional life.
We need to be in our word right. We need to be praying.
But do you recognize the spirit's voice right.
And when I when I say that if you look at Acts 16, six, and
this is just that perfect picture of Paul's Paul, Paul and
his traveling companions knew who the Spirit was and knew his
voice. Now when they had gone through
Pergamon or Pagia and the region of Galatia, they were forbidden
by the Holy Spirit to preach the word in Asia.
After they had come to Messiah, they tried to go in to Pathania,
but the Spirit did not permit them.
So passing by Messiah, they came down to Toros, and a vision
appeared to Paul. In the night a man of Macedonia
stood pleading with him, saying, Come over to Macedonia and help
us. Now after he had seen the
vision, immediately he sought to go to Macedonia, concluding that
the Lord had called us to preach the gospel to them.
So the Lord is telling him not to go to Asia and preach the
gospel. Well, that must be the enemy or
the Lord's telling him not to go to Bithynian and preach.
Well, that must be the enemy, but he knew.
But Paul and his companions knew the Spirit's voice, right?
They they knew how to take leading from him.
It isn't just that, hey, we're supposed to go do this thing.
So we're going to push through my story about that is first
time I went to Uganda, didn't know the Spirit's voice thought
I did. We were, we had a, we had a gung
ho group. It was a great time. 18 of us.
We had a we were doing a vacation Bible school and soccer
camp. And it was it was a lot of fun.
And when we first got to Pajuli, Pajuli was the ending of a
government camp and there was bare minimum 1200 kids with very
few adults. And we had a great time.
And our plan was to do the do the soccer camp.
And then we were going to show the Jesus film in a choli that,
you know, when it got dark and there was a storm coming, there
may have been a whole bunch of uneasy feelings that we were all
ignoring because we're doing this for Jesus and it's going to
be fine. We're going to do this for
Jesus. OK, So when it got dark, no, it
wasn't fine. We we had no business being out
there in the dark with 1200 kids that were just like mischievous
kids everywhere. And then add a whole lot of the
enemy that the truly Satan had had control of northern Uganda
for 23 years. And and I say that at a level
that it was for the next after we we retreated in and locked
everything down for the next 4 years.
We did nothing after dark when we went nothing.
Now I can walk around, I can walk around put Julie in the
dark and I'm fine. But it was there was an
oppression that and it wasn't because Jesus was weak.
It was because Nick's not smart and that's there is a knowing
our Lord's voice, right? And, and that takes a lot of
time to us getting quiet. And that was something I can
tell you that as much as we were there on a mission trip and we
were having a lot of fun, we probably did not have a lot of
quiet in our life that day. Nobody got hurt.
It was definitely eye opening and scary.
We could, I could explain it, just know it was definitely a
moment. Rocks were thrown.
There was it was good times. But Paul knew the Spirit's voice
and, and we're supposed to be about that, right?
And like I said, that that has to do with our devotional life.
That has to do with being in your Bible.
That has to do with prayer. That has to do with, with
fellowship and worship and witnessing and, and when you
hear God's voice, right, fun thing about God's voice.
If he's, if he's speaking to you, you got to know the God.
God is specific. He's going to tell you
specifically. And the reason that I'm telling
you he's going to tell you specifically is he wants the
blame. We were kind of joking about
that earlier, but God, it's, it's like with the building,
right? If if we bought the building,
God wants the blame for the building, right?
He wants he wants to be if you look at Gideon, the reason that
the reason that he started with 30,000, shrank down to 10,000
and got down to 300 was because God said no, you still have too
many you'll, you'll claim you did this and that's that's God.
He's if you ask you, if you hear him ask you to do something
ridiculous, that's probably God. No, I'm kidding.
That's I always and then is it something that you can do right?
Is there a he's he's going to ask you to do a step right.
It's when when I got told I was going to build a water line
across Africa, my actionable step was that we're going to go
get my, my passport. That was the next step, right?
Didn't mean I was going to get on a plane to go to Africa, but
I had AI had a next step. And then there was a next step,
which was OK. So now, now we're going to start
paying attention anytime mention anytime somebody mentions
Africa, we're going to we're going to be paying attention to
that. And there was just a process,
right? God, like a good boss, gives
directions for growth, right? He, he wants us to grow.
You know, he wants us to grow at loving him and loving others.
And like I said, is that, you know, that's where we start.
And you don't have to do the day you gave your life to the Lord.
No, without a shadow of a doubt that what he wants you to do is
to love him and love others. That's that's just the facts and
loving. I touched on it, but loving is
doing the best for the other person, not doing the thing that
makes the other person happier right now that isn't love.
That's that's actually a lot of times the opposite of love
right. Watch spoil.
You know, look at spoiled children or other things that
if, if you're not willing to do the hard things with them right
now, they're going to have a, they're going to have a harder
life. And then God always leads us to
hope. And I, I heard, I heard a
definition that I just loved for hope.
That is absolute confidence that produces strength.
We can have hope in the God we serve, right?
Because if he asked me to do it, I don't, I don't have to figure
out how to do it. The next step, you know,
Elizabeth Elliott quote, just do the next thing.
And when I, when I say that is I don't have to figure out how to
build a water line across Africa.
I don't have to figure out how to buy this church.
I don't have to figure that stuff out.
I have to be willing, willing and ready to do anything you
asked me to do in the process of those things, but I don't have
to, I don't have to be the, the point of so we have to do this,
this and this, right? He's, he's got a plan for that.
And I guarantee you, you, I can look at my life and I can tell
you that my ability to plan and his ability to plan, he's way
better at it, right? When I, when I get out in front
with my plan, all that means is I got to go back and go the
other way, right? Because I'm usually ahead of him
when that happens. So I trying to stay behind him
and say, OK, Lord, how do you want to do this?
That's when I went to Uganda and we were less than a month from
going and we had $200.00 of, of guaranteed support.
And my board was a little freaked out and like, what are
you going to do? And I'm like, we're not going to
starve. I didn't know how we were going
to get home because we had plane tickets to go.
I didn't know how we're going to get home.
But I also knew that God wasn't going to send us over there to
starve because there this was an absolute we were supposed to go.
This wasn't, wasn't a guess. This was absolutely we were
supposed to go. And by the time we, we were
getting on the plane to go, our budget that we had figured out
because our board had us figure, I think we needed, I think we
needed $1800 a month and it was all covered.
But it was not my problem, if that makes sense.
And, and I was just talking to my board last night.
That doesn't mean that I don't worry about things because I do,
I try to give it all to the Lord.
But I, I have those moments that I'm like, so I know this is your
problem, but am I doing this right?
And am I doing this wrong? You know, and so, but those are
conversations that I get to have with the living God.
Does that make sense? I mean, we when you're when
you're in any other religion, you don't get to have that
conversation with a living God. You get to have.
I hope I did enough. And Jesus is that now in in
saying that, yeah, he who says I know him and does not keep his
commandments is a liar. And the truth is not in him.
So the simple truth is, if I am in Christ and he gave me clear
direction, either by written word or by conviction, and I
choose to be outside of his direction, it doesn't go well,
there's there is one and and I've taught it numerous times.
My my favorite guy in the Bible is the guy named Uriah the
Hittite, which I could get into. But first Kings 15 five says
because David did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and had
not turned aside from anything that he commanded him all the
days of his life except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite.
And what did David do in the matter of Uriah the Hittite and
and you can listen to 100 Bible studies and listen to adultery
and murder and manipulation. No, he stuck his fingers in his
ears and went La La, la, La La. I don't want to hear it, Lord,
that's that's the sin. I'm not listening.
I'm not doing it. And that is anything that he can
so it says and had not turned aside from anything that he
commanded him all the days of his life, except in the matter
of Uriah the Hittite. And when he got to Uriah the
Hittite, God put David's sinned and we all sin.
David's sin God called him on it in a big neon light and David
tried the cover up game and then and that's James 417.
Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to
him it is sin. David knew 100 percent, 100% he
was in the wrong, 100% that he'd been caught, 100% that God said
fix it and he chose to kill Uriah the Hittite instead.
And Fast forward to months down the road that Uriah the
Hittite's dead, Bathsheba's living in the castle, and in
walks Nathan. And Nathan shares a story with
Nathan, the prophet shares a story with David, and David has
another choice. And what David does in Second
Samuel 1213, it says so. So David said to Nathan, I have
sinned against the Lord. And Nathan said to David, the
Lord also has put away your sin. You shall not die.
That's the turn David turned and and he was as far as any of us
from the Lord, and then he turned right.
And it isn't that God condemned him to hell in that middle time.
It's that he was outside of the Lord's will for his life.
And he was he was in, he was outside the protection of the
Lord, if that makes sense. He's he when you're out sinning,
God is going to use whatever is needed to get your attention and
the question I guess in in this something that that kind of hit
me. Do we do we have the Nathan's in
our lives that are willing to come and ask us those questions
right, 'cause 'cause that was I always you look at Nathan and
that's not an easy conversation. I'm going to go to David.
You know, the Call Saul killed his thousands, David killed his
10s of thousands, the guy that killed Goliath.
And I've got to go. I got to go confront him and I
got to confront him about his sin.
And do we have those people in our lives that are willing to
have those conversations if they need, if they need to?
And then verse 5. But whoever keeps his word,
truly the love of God is perfected in him by this.
We know that we are in Him and this is the root right?
We our relationship grows as we grow in Christ.
Our know of Christ grows right, but He continues to perfect us.
We will never be perfect, right? There is never going to come a
time this side of heaven that we are perfected, but He will
continue to perfect us. He will continue to refine us,
right? He will continue and and doing
that is, you know, if you ever, if you've ever seen a Crucible,
which is what they heat metal in, it's not a comfortable
place, right? Our job as as believers is not
to get saved and then become comfortable in our lifestyle.
Our our job as believers is to continue to grow in our
relationship with Christ. John 1422 So this is right after
my favorite verse. Judas not Ascarius said to him,
Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us and not
the world? And Jesus answered and said to
him, If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will
love him, and we will come to him and make our home with Him.
He who does not love me does not keep my words.
And the word which you hear is not mine, but the Father who
sent me. So are we keeping His word or
not keeping His word, right? That that is a direct, direct
gauge on my love for my Savior, right?
And when I say that I do you make excuses for your sin and I,
and I don't think there's there. I don't think we're in here and
people are, are, are sleeping around and lying and cheating
and stealing. Do you make excuses for your bad
attitude? Do I make excuses for my bad
attitude? Do I make excuses for my pride?
Do you know when somebody cuts me off, whatever that thing is,
do we make, do we say it's OK for me to sin on that thing
because it's how God made me or I, I just want to, or I have the
freedom to do it? Am I, am I just casual about the
things he's asking me not to do? Or am I casual about not doing
the things he is asking me to do?
Right. And we should never be OK not
doing what the Lord is telling me to do.
And I and I say that that means if you read it, if you read it
and you don't, you know, I don't, I don't like that verse.
Figure out if it's you or the verse.
Figure out, figure out if if you don't understand what it said
and it says something different than you understood and OK, now
we're good. Or if it says something that you
completely disagree with, you need to change, right?
And that's important because you'll find that when you and,
and we're going to get into the abiding in the branch and the
vine and all that, but you will find that a tree is not steered
by a branch. A branch is directed by the
tree, right? And John 4 or 15 four, abide in
me and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit
of itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless
you abide in me. I am the vine, and you are the
branches. He who abides in me and I in Him
bears much fruit, for without Me you can do nothing.
If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and
is withered, and they gather them and throw them into the
fire, and they are burned. If you abide in me and my words
abide in you, you will ask what you desire and it shall be done
for you. By this my father is glorified
that you bear much fruit. So you will be my disciples and
and that that one part in their words, if you if you ask what
you desire, well, if you're abiding in Christ, what you
desire is what he desires. So therefore the answer is yes,
right? That's that is that's how that
goes. If if if what I want is to grow
closer to him and my my all my prayers are focused on that
right is is doing more getting closer following him more than
than his answers are going to be yes and Amen continually right
the going back and we'll read through it real quick starting
in verse 3. Now by this we know that we know
him if we keep his commandments. He who says I know him and does
not keep his commandments is a liar and the truth is not in
him. But whoever keeps his word truly
the love of God is perfected in him by this we know that we are
in him. He who says he abides in him
ought himself also to walk just as he walked.
And the assurance that we get from this is that if we follow,
he will lead us. And, and the truth is, if we
rebel, we are lying to ourselves and the truth is not in US.
And and the the thing with that is God isn't going to leave us
there. Revelation 319 says as many as I
love, I rebuke and chasten, therefore be zealous and repent.
Behold, I stand at the door and knock.
If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in
to him and dine with him and he with me.
So as we, as we look at those, as we, as we look at those 3
verses or 4 verses, guys, don't, don't dwell on the one that
says, says that if you don't know, if you're not keeping his
commandments, you're a liar and the truth.
And then you hold on the fact that we serve a living God who
can speak to you and can do the work that he's asking me to do
that he's asking you to do. He's giving us the power to do
it. It isn't, it isn't grit your
teeth. Like I said a couple weeks ago,
this isn't about gritting your teeth and reading your Bible and
praying and being in fellowship and worshiping and going out
witnessing. If you are doing that, gritting
your teeth, that is a burden and we and you will burn out.
But if you were reading your Bible because you want to know
the guy that wrote it better, if you are praying because you want
to hear from him and be directed from by him, then he's going to
speak to you. If you are, if you're in
fellowship with his body so that you can that you can build up
those that need built up and be built up by others, right.
If you're worshiping the Lord and and just crying out to him
and just are amazed that we get to serve a living God and and
witnessing. If you're just out sharing with
people who this God is right? If you're doing that stuff with
that heart, then then this is is easy.
But if you're doing it with a works heart, all those same
things are burdensome, burdensome and and you will burn
out, right? So take the assurance from those
4 verses that we can know that we know because we serve a
living God. And Lord, I just thank you for
everybody here, and I thank you for this time and I thank you
that you are here with us, Lord, or two or three are gathered.
But Lord, that you filled us with your spirit.
You feel everybody here that you give us appointments out in the
world to just be speaking to people.
Lord, that you would guide and direct, that you would guide our
thoughts, that you would give us your ears to hear, that you
would give us your words to speak.
And Lord, I pray all this in Jesus name, Amen.