Latest / Mount Eaton Church / 1 John 3:4-10 - We Are As Christ Is, Righteous - 9-6-2026

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1 John 3:4-10 - We Are As Christ Is, Righteous - 9-6-2026 · Mount Eaton Church

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Today's message is on 1 John 3, 4 -10. I was
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trying to do the whole chapter and summarize
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it, but I could not, could not just get past
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these six verses. So this is a sermon in itself,
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and we could probably just do a sermon on three
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verses, but I think just in the sense of a summary,
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these six were best. And then we will finish
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the rest of the chapter next week. Let us pray.
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Father, I want to thank you so much for your
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faithfulness and goodness. Thank you, Lord, for
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your word. Lord, as we go through these six verses,
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we are asking you, Holy Spirit, that you would
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guide us in all truth, that you would illuminate
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our minds and our hearts to the truth of what
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you are sharing here. Lord, may we grasp the
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importance of our walk with you and that we would...
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commit to living rightly, and that those who
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do live rightly, live rightly because you are
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righteous. And so give us your wisdom, Lord,
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as we seek you through this, and may you be honored
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and glorified, and may the word be rightly divided,
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and the full counsel of your word be. taught
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and spoken for your glory in Jesus name amen
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there's a lot of there's a lot here in these
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in these six verses it's it's kind of we read
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this and a lot of times we quote some of this
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stuff because it's got some tantalizing statements
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and I want to settle us in the truth of what
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John is trying to say here and it's really the
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association of the believer to Christ and the
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non -believer to the creature of sin, the fallen
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one, Satan. And so there's an association based
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upon what you see in the life of each person.
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So when we're dealing with the issue of a believer,
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you should be seeing this type of living. When
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you look at a non -believer, he reflects or she
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reflects the living of rebellion. And that's
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really the connection here. So we're going to
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take some time to go through this. And I pray
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that you start to unfold. There's a lot of scripture
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we're going to go through in order to support
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what John is trying to say so we can clarify
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these things. There's some Old Testament. There's
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some New Testament. So get ready to do a little
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bit of walking, okay? First thing I want to do
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is give you this principle. Christ came to destroy
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sin, and when Christ comes again, he will take
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us home. And that's a pretty simple, very simple
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truth. It's the reality that the whole reason
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that Christ came the first time was to destroy
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sin. And the reason why he's going to come the
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second time is to come and get his people. Okay?
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Very plain, very to the point, and John clarifies
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this. In Hebrews 9, 26b through 28, But as it
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is, he has appeared once for all at the end of
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the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of
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himself. And just as it is appointed for man
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to die once, and after that comes judgment, so
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Christ, having been offered once to bear the
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sins of many, will appear a second time, not
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to deal with sin, but to save those. who are
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eagerly waiting for him. And a lot of times we
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think about the second coming and it's all about
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his reign. No, it's about our rescue. He came
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to rescue us from sin. Now he's going to come
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to rescue us from death into eternity. And so
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I think we forget about the reality of the power
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of the rescue of Christ. So in 1 John 3, 4 -10,
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Well, specifically 1 John 3, 4 through 6. Okay,
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we'll get to the others in a minute. Everyone
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who makes practice of sinning also practices
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lawlessness. So if Christ came to rescue us from
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sin, how should we live? And if Christ is coming
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to rescue us and take us home to be with him
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for eternity, again, what should you be doing
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now? And so John starts off this statement with
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the issue of practicing sin, makes a practice
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of. And then literally that phrase that we use
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in English means to do sin. That's all this word
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means. Makes a practice is a single word in the
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Greek, and it just means to do. To do sin. So
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everyone who makes practice of sinning also practices
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lawlessness. What's interesting is... Now you
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see this new word that's associated with sin
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called lawlessness. And we're going to define
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these words in a minute. Sin is lawlessness.
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You know that he appeared, in verse 5, you know
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that he appeared in order to take sins away or
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take away sins. And in him there is no sin. So
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what was the point of Christ's first coming?
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To take away sin. That was it. That's the main
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mission. to take away sin, to deal with the sin
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of his people, to deal with the sin and the consequences
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of sin and reality, to restore to himself a people.
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And so you see that his first coming was specifically
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to take away sin. Why? Because in him there is
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no sin. He's the only one who could take away
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sin. No one else and nothing else could take
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away your sin. Now, No one who abides in him
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keeps on sinning. And no one who keeps on sinning
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has either seen him or known him. Now this is
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important because we have churches full of people
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who live as if they don't know Jesus. And because
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of bad evangelicalism and the preaching of a
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false gospel, we think that a prayer has been
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enough. to save somebody. And so we have pews
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that are full of people who have just said a
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prayer, and as a result of their prayer, they
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think they're in, but they live as if they aren't.
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And so John makes a clarification here. No one
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who abides in him keeps on sinning. In other
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words, there is a process in my life where I
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sin less. I don't become less a sinner. I just
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sin less. The work of progressive sanctification
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in my life takes out of me what God does not
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want, and he instills in me Christ -like character.
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He deeply plants it in me. And so I become more
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like Jesus over time. And the pinnacle, total
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pinnacle completeness of that work is the resurrection
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of the dead. When my body will be like his body.
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That's the finish. That's the capstone to the
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whole thing. No one keeps on sinning has either
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seen him or known him. What's that mean? I'll
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say it this way. None of all that abide in him
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sins. All who sins, none seen or knows him. None.
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You can't say I know him. and live like you don't.
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And so we need to really start to understand
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the reality of the fruit. Many of us, when we
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come across words that are used to describe sin,
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we read about four particular words used in the
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Scripture. Those four are transgression, iniquity,
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sin, and lawlessness. These four words, though
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they are all sin and expressions of sin, are
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different, not only in definition, but in act.
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So when you read these particular words, I want
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you to understand what God is saying concerning
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the condition of the heart and its actions. All
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four of these express a deep hatred of God. Okay?
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A deep hatred of God. Transgression means to
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rebel or revolt against God. That's transgression.
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Iniquity means to bend, twist, or distort. Perversity
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or depravity. That's iniquity. Sin means to miss
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the mark, the way, or the standard. And then
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lawlessness or lawless means to break, violate,
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or have contempt for the law of God and to commit
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wickedness. Because all deal with a different
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attitude, a different mindset, and though it
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is all sin in general, when you talk about these
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particular words, And it's unique because when
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you read Daniel 9, 24, it literally mentions
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three of them. So we know that they're different.
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Here's something else we need to be reminded
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of. We are the righteousness of God in Christ.
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You are the righteousness of God. And if you
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are the righteousness of God, how should we live?
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In 2 Corinthians 5, 21, in him we might become
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the righteousness of God. And if we are the righteousness
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of God, then we should live that way. 1 John
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3, 7 -8. Little children. Again, we talked about
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this last week, why John uses this term. And
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literally, the word in the Greek is little children.
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He's speaking to us as a father would speak to
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his children. Let no one deceive you. Let no
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one cause you to stray or lead you into error.
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Let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness
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is righteous as he is righteous. And this is
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the term whoever is the word pas, and it literally
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means all. All who practice righteousness is
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righteous as he is righteous. And what does this
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mean? Have we really thought about... What it
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means that we are righteous. You're righteous
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because he's righteous. Your righteousness is
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fully on Christ. He has bestowed his righteousness
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upon you. You are righteous because he is righteous.
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And if we are righteous, then we should be doing
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righteousness. And what is righteousness? Righteousness
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is the understanding of doing right. To do right.
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It's all it is. Are we doing right? What is right?
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To live as Christ lived. To obey as Christ obeyed.
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But pastor, I have a problem with that because
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I'm not Jesus. No, you're not. But he lives in
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you. The very, very power that raised Jesus from
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the dead lives in you. And so we can walk in
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victorious living because we are the righteousness
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of God. In Christ. Like I said, this term whoever
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also is translated from the definitive article
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in the Greek, which is the. In English, we translate
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it in an idiom called the who or the one. So
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when you see whoever sometimes, it's mentioning
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the sinning one is the idea here. Or the one
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who sins is what John is using here. Very interesting
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term. When we look at the definitive article
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and we look at English and we're like, whoever,
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and I'm like, doesn't matter how far I try to
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find it, you can't find it. And so what they
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do in English, though, is they do help us understand
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in the phraseology of these terms by bringing
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an idiom in, the who or the one. And so whoever
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makes practice, the one who practices. The one
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who does practice sin is how it could be translated.
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Makes practice, to do, commit, to produce. Of
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sinning is of the devil. Now this is where you
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get this term, and many times we know this because
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we have a tendency to use these verses in our
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explanation. And what he's doing here is he is
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associating the sinner to the one Who sinned
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from the beginning. And we're going to see that
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in a minute. Which is interesting. Which is really
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interesting. Now, the one, whoever makes practice
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of sinning is of the devil. This word, of the
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devil, means to depend upon in thought and action.
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To think and act like he did. In other words,
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I want to be just like him. Have you ever heard
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the term when your child says, I want to be just
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like dad? Well, that's what lost people are doing
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without realizing it. And that's why Jesus uses
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the term, you are of your father, the devil.
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You think like him, and you act like him. It's
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the same idea. They want to be just like dad.
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And so, look what it says after that. For the
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devil has been sinning from the beginning. What?
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Help us understand this. Well, we're going to
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see that in Isaiah 14 in a minute. But understand
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that the devil has been sinning from the beginning.
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And yes, even though this term diabolos translates
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as accuser, the thought that John is bringing
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forth here is the same thought that Jesus brought
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forth in the gospel. He is associating those
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who do evil with the one who is evil. And we
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see that in Genesis 3, which we're also going
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to recognize in a minute. The reason the Son
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of God appeared, which is from verse 5, was to
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destroy the works of the devil. So why did Jesus
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appear? We know in verse 5 it's to take away
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sin. But what is the work of the devil? Sin.
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And what we end up reading is in Romans 6. 6
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through 7, if you would turn there. Romans 6,
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6 through 7. What is the reality of Christ destroying
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sin? Destroying the works of the devil. We know
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that our old self was crucified with him in order
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that the body of sin might be brought to nothing.
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So that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.
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For one who has died has been set free from sin.
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We are free. from the works of the devil. Jesus
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destroyed the works of the devil. The reality
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is that sin has been destroyed. And so, Colossians
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2. You guys can turn there. Colossians 2, 13
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and 15. And you, who were dead in your trespasses
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and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made
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alive together with him, having forgiven all
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our trespasses by canceling the record of debt
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that stood against us with its legal demands
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this he set aside nailing it to the cross the
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reality of our debt has been paid because of
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sin now when we look at the reality of this of
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helping us understand what the works of the devil
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are go to genesis 3 And here is the very beginning
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of what we see in the works in Genesis 3. You
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guys know what the work was. He's in the garden.
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He's having a conversation with the woman. Her
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husband is standing right next to her as he watches
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her do this. Never attempts to stop her. Even
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though God had told him before he created the
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woman. Adam, do not eat of the tree of the knowledge
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of good and evil. For the day you eat of it,
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you shall surely die. That was given to Adam
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before the woman was formed and created from
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the rib. And so we see that this serpent, the
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dragon of old, is having a conversation with
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her at the tree. And he deceives her. He says
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to her, You will surely not die, verse 4, chapter
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3, for God knows that when you eat of it, your
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eyes will be opened and you will be like God,
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knowing good and evil. Really, we know what Satan's
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desire was. We'll read that in 14. But here's
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something I want us to see, because this is going
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to help us in the second part, or in the rest
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of this chapter, verse 9 and 10 of 1 John 3.
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Look what he says to the serpent. Because you
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have done this, cursed are you above all livestock
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and above all beasts of the field. On your belly
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you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the
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days of your life. I will put enmity between
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you and the woman, between your offspring and
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her offspring. He shall bruise your head. And
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you shall bruise his heel. And this word offspring
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is plural, some would say. I agree with it. I
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see the plurality there. Between your offsprings,
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between your seeds. And her seed is singular,
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meaning Christ. And he shall bruise your head.
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He shall crush your head and you shall bruise
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his heel. And we're going to see this understanding
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of seed in a minute. Now, turn to Isaiah 14.
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And I want you to see, verse 12, the pride, the
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sin of the creature. Isaiah 14, 12. How you are
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fallen from heaven, O day star, son of dawn.
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How you are cut down to the ground, you who laid
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the nations low. How did he lay the nations low?
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Deception. He deceived. That's what he does.
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We know that because you can read it in Revelation.
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Chapter 13 and chapter 20. He deceives the nations.
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That's his goal, is to deceive the nations. How
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did he deceive the nations? God is not good if
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he's keeping something from you. You're not going
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to die. Deception. Laid the nations low by sin.
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By introducing rebellion. So you said in your
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heart, I will ascend to heaven. Above the stars
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of God I will set my throne on high and I will
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sit on the mount of the assembly in the far reaches
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of the north. I will ascend above the heights
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of the clouds and I will make myself like the
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most high. You will be just like God, knowing
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good and evil. But you were brought down to Sheol,
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to the far reaches of the pit. Those who see
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you will stare at you and ponder over you. Isn't
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that interesting? So we know a little bit about
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the reality of the works, and that was to introduce
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rebellion to the creatures called man and woman.
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The one thing that God created that was bearing
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his image. Now I want you to get this. He gets
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kicked out of heaven, thrown down to the ground.
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And what's the first thing he does? I mean, I
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thought I was the most beautiful. I was going
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to be above the most high. You want to do that
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to me? That's what I'm thinking. He's thinking.
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So he attacks the very thing that bears the image
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of God and introduces deception. And they take
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the bait. They take the bait. So God, Christ,
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came to destroy what has happened. Now you can
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see the relation between those who are lost and
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don't know Christ and Satan. They really want
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the same things. I mean, I did until Christ saved
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me, until Christ made me alive, until I came
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to the realization through his regeneration in
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my life, the renewal of my life, the truth of
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his word making me alive that I saw the deception.
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I will never be him, though we live without Christ
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as if we will be. I mean, just do it, right?
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That's the slogan. Or in school, when my oldest
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son was in school, it was all about self -esteem.
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Everybody's trying to make everybody a god, until
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they realize they're really bad at it. It's only
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by the power of Christ, right? The children of
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God practice righteousness and love one another.
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What do the children of the devil do? They hate
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righteousness, they practice lawlessness, and
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they hate one another. In Romans 12, 9 -10, let
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love be genuine. Abhor what is evil. Hold fast
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to what is good. Love one another with brotherly
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affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.
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This is the build -up for next week. So what
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is he doing? He's making a very stark contrast
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between the believer and the non -believer. 1
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John 3, 9 -10, no one, again this word is pas,
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all, no one born of God, no one begotten, no
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one caused, no one produced by God makes practice
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of sinning. That's what he means here. Geneo,
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or geneo, it's the English, So if we are born
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of God, if we are his children, then we don't
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make practice, we don't do sin on purpose. For
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God's seed abides in him. Now, what is this term,
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God's seed? It's really the Holy Spirit abiding
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within the soul by which we are regenerate and
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made children of God. That's literally what he's
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talking about here. The seed is the Holy Spirit.
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God's Holy Spirit abides in you. And he cannot
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keep on sinning. Now, what's interesting about
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this term, dunamai, dunamai is this understanding
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of to be able or have power. You ever think about
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why are you so different? Because if God's spirit
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abides in us, he does not let you keep on sinning.
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We know because in Hebrews he says that he disciplines
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those he loves. If he doesn't discipline you,
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you are an illegitimate child and not a child
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at all. So the reality is he deals with our stuff.
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What else do we know about God? That he gives
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us the power to live rightly because we are the
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righteousness of God. And the reason why we are
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the righteousness of God is because Christ is
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righteous and Christ has bestowed his righteousness
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upon you. Another stark contrast to those who
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are not born again. Then he says because. This
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word is since. Since he has been born of God.
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You cannot keep on sinning since you've been
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born of God. If we have been born of God, the
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ability to continue in sin on purpose with full
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rebellion and willfulness, it's gone. I don't
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want to sin. Paul states that in chapter 7 of
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Romans. Why do I do the things I do not want
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to do, but the things I hate I keep on doing?
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Why? I don't want to do this, but the things
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I want to do, I can't do. battle this war that
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is going on with me, Paul states. So verse 10
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continues. John continues to help us to understand
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the difference between the two. By this it is
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evident, it is clear, it is apparent, it is visible,
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it is manifest who exists as the children of
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God. In other words, you will know them. You
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will know who are God's children. And Jesus makes
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this clear. Let me give you a quote from him.
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He says, a bad tree cannot produce good fruit,
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nor can a good tree produce bad fruit. You will
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know them by their fruit. So let's stop playing
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the Christian game in America and call it what
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it is. We've got to be sensitive. We've got to
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be gentle with people. We don't want to offend
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them. The cross is offensive. It's meant to offend
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you. There is a cost that was paid on your behalf.
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The God of all creation put on flesh to become
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like man, which he created in his own image,
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to take away sin. It's offensive. It should offend
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you. It should offend every single person on
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the face of the earth. And it does. Those who
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God saves, they love deeply. But those who have
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rejected God, they hate. As he states in John
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3. So, we then see, again, by this it is apparent
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who are the children of God and who are the children
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of the devil. Do you see that? It's pretty clear.
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He's making a distinction here. If John makes
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the distinction of the lost and the saved, why
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do we continue saying churched and unchurched?
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The church can't do anything apart from Christ.
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Christ is the one that does all the work. And
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Christ calls them lost or saved, blind or seeing,
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dead or alive, old nature, new nature. We don't
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got to like it, but if God says it, it is what
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it is. So we know that there is a clear distinction
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here in the world. There is no in -between. It's
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interesting. Saw a gentleman talk about his turning
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away from God. He's a preacher. He calls himself
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a biblical scholar, but yet he walked away from
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Jesus. And we talked about that last week. If
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they were of us, they would have remained with
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us, but because they're not of us, they didn't
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remain with us. That means he was never born
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again. It didn't matter what kind of degree he
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had. But look at what it says. Who are the children
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of the devil? Well, we know who the children
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of God are. We practice righteousness. And we
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don't continue in our sin because he perseveres
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us in our life as a saint through progressive
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sanctification. Look what he says here. This
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is the distinction. Children of the devil. Whoever,
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all, whoever does not practice righteousness
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is not of God. I love John. I got to tell you.
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He just says it. He just blah. and you're like,
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well, how do you do that? And you got preachers
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who are like, I'm not going to preach that. Well,
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I'm going to preach it. We're going to preach
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it. We're going to teach it. We're going to talk
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about it. We have to. Those who practice unrighteousness
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are not of God. Whoever does not practice righteousness,
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whoever does not do right is not of God, nor
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is the one who does not love his brother. And
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what you're going to see is John is starting
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to build up the reality of what is the proof?
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What's the number one proof of those who know
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God and those who don't? How we love each other.
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So my challenge to you is this summer, many have
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been away. Many have gone on vacation. Many have
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been busy. Many have been working. Many have
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made reasons or excuses why they're not here.
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and I contact every single person that's not
34:38
here. But they shouldn't just hear from pastor.
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They need to hear from you. Ask them, where have
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you been? We miss you. We want you back home.
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Well, I've been busy all summer. Okay, no problem.
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Is there anything I can do for you? Because you
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know what happens when people get into the cycle
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of not coming to church? They stop coming. If
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you have any questions about that, COVID is a
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really great example of that. And elders and
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I were talking about that on Thursday. COVID
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has affected church, and it has been a permanent
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effect. And it's not just our church. It's every
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church. So my challenge to you is, you don't
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see someone, check in with them. Contact them.
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Follow up with them. We do a lot of that. You
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know, they don't come for a week or two. That's
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okay. After two weeks, you should be making a
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phone call. So that's my challenge to you. So
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I hope you can see clearly the difference between
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the two peoples, the lost and the saved, because
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that's exactly what John is doing here. Now,
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if you would, please, let's get ready for communion.
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I want you to take the time to really be searching
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your hearts. As we are about to partake of the
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Lord's Supper, if the elders would come forward,
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please. This is a very serious moment for us.
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Not only are we reflecting on the reality of
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a sacrifice, but you also are reflecting, rejoicing
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that He's resurrected. This is what we do in
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remembrance until He comes. So, let's be also
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thinking and praying about this.