Latest / HBCWestminster / 2.12.20 1 John 5:16-21 Pastor Nathan Anderson

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2.12.20 1 John 5:16-21 Pastor Nathan Anderson · HBCWestminster

• 0:00
  Our title for tonight is, And Now to Summarize. And as I said, we're going to be in 1 John 5, 16 through 21. We're in our last passage of this epistle. We have looked at this first epistle of John's for 14 weeks now. 14 weeks, considering in depth.
• 0:26
  his letter to the Christians across Asia Minor as he combats the false teaching of his day that they were facing in these churches. John has, with increasing detail, been contrasting truth and lies, light versus dark. John, as we have discussed in our introduction in our first week, was writing to third-generation Christians, those who were essentially the spiritual grandchildren of the birth of the church.
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  We looked at the reality as we began in our introduction that in the third generation, the beliefs that were once convictions are really now easily become opinions. They are passed down convictions and convictions over time can very easily turn into opinions.
• 1:14
  This made the third generation of believers ripe for the picking. There is now opportunity for dilution of truth and error to be accepted by these believers. This is because where convictions are firmly rooted and unmovable, opinions can be changed. And Satan wastes no time in trying to rise up false teaching amongst these people.
• 1:42
  This generation was ripe for the picking for that reason, but also because the enemy and depravity were teaming up together and really wasted no time to come after them. As deception crept in, then assurance was given away.
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  We've seen John trying to combat this deception and the uncertainty of the believer throughout it by saying again, we know, we know, I know, these things are true, combating lies with truth. Because as this crept in, it caused changes to how they were living. They became doubters, ones whom are lacking of action.
• 2:24
  As action can only happen when we're certain of the steps we're taking. When we talked about, and we began this discussion, like when you walk, if the lights are on in this room, I'm going to walk differently than if the lights go off or if it's really dim. And that was what Satan was doing as he caused this deception and these lies to come in around the person of Christ. The enemy really comes for our minds, brothers and sisters.
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  For our confidence, which rests in our souls, because as that confidence is eroded, he knows we are then easily deceived and our conduct will then follow. These Christians were at risk. They were exchanging the truth for a lie. They were being deceived by the enemy and the doubt had moved in. It was affecting the way they lived. And so John calls it out, points directly at truth and says, walk this way.
• 3:21
  Even though the tone of this letter is certainly corrective, we've talked about that, that he's trying to draw them back to the truth, to the confidence with which they once believed. It also comes from a pastor's heart. He teaches and writes this to Christians whom he loved. And he calls to them and even expresses to them and reminds them of...
• 3:47
  the victory that they had experienced both eternally as those whom have eternal life but also as those who are conquerors as we saw in chapter 2 if you're going to flip over to chapter 2 verses 12 through 14 he says i am writing to you little children because your sins are forgiven for his name's sake i am writing
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  to you fathers because you know him who is from the beginning. I am writing to you young men because you have overcome the evil one. I am writing to you children because you know the father. I write to you fathers because you know him who is from the beginning. I write to you young men because you are strong and the word of God abides in you and you overcome.
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  The evil one. He certainly is writing a corrective letter, but he is doing so by reminding them of what they have once believed, that this is something that is within them. They have believed it. He is just stirring it back up that they might find their conviction once more. We've also seen over and over and in greater and greater detail that those who know God act a certain way.
• 5:04
  Mainly, they love as they have been loved. 1 John 4, chapter 4, verses 10 through 12 tell us this. In this is love, not that we have loved God, but that he loved us, sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. No one who has ever seen God.
• 5:31
  If we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us. We've seen that all this truth in contrast with John writes, which John writes about and with has a central focus in chapters one and two. That focus is really on fellowship. Those who claim to have Christ, to know Christ, to fellowship with Christ will look a certain way. Also, we've looked at.
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  what those true marks of fellowship are and considered them. And then in chapter three, we talked about how he transitions from fellowship to sonship, to adoption into the family of God. And as those who have been adopted, we bear the fingerprint, the birthmark of the one whom adopted us, namely love. John.
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  gave us his purpose statement last week in verse 13 of chapter 5. 5.13 says, I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life. You may know you have eternal life. John, as I said, and we have looked at over and over again as we have reviewed many weeks, John has been building a house. He built that foundation.
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  lining out why everybody should listen to what he is writing because he was a first-hand witness to what he was writing about, to the truth of who Christ was and the impact of that on his life and those around him. He was then putting up walls and threw on a roof and then began to decorate and putting in the details of all of it.
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  I use that analogy for us to try and help understand how even though things seem to kind of go repetitive in the epistle, he's doing so with a reason and he's building deeper and deeper truth, what he outlines at the beginning. And so for us to understand that he is building that foundation, those walls and putting on the roof and then decorating, giving us those really fine details of what he means.
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  And as we approach our final section now, John closes this letter out with what is really a summarization of this entire letter. Really, John is spilling out the implications of what he has been saying for this entire thing now. As we look at these final verses, I believe they summarize the impact, the implications of everything he has said to this point. John speaks to the importance, the reason why this must be read, heard, and taught.
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  Because the enemy's way, sin leads to death and the way of the Lord leads to life. John in these final verses basically says, you want to know why you should listen because the Lord your God will not be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. And if you sow deception, lies, it will lead to death. But if you sow righteousness by the power of prayer and healing of the spirit, you will always find life.
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  So because of this truth, this reality, don't fall for the counterfeit, the deception, deceptive presentation of what is a lie. Rather, bask in the wondrous glory of life in your heavenly Father. If I could summarize those verses 16 through 21, that's how I would do it. That's how I did it. I think that summarizes really the entire letter of 1 John.
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  Our eyes are now pointed to the finish line of this epistle. John has built a weighty and detailed argument throughout this epistle. Now to summarize, put a cap on this epistle and soak in the importance and impact of this. Let's read, pray, and we will begin. 1 John 5, verse 16 says, If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask, and God will give him life.
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  To those who commit sins that do not lead to death, there is sin that leads to death. I do not say that one should pray for that. All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that does not lead to death. We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but he who was born of God protects him, and the evil one does not touch him.
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  We know that we are from God and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. And we know that the son of God has come and has given us understanding so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true in his son, Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Let's pray.
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  Father in heaven God we ask as we close out this letter that you would help us to be reminded of the truths that we have soaked in through these 14 weeks of study. God I pray that as we put a cap on this as we finish this letter Lord that it would be an encouragement to us a reminder to us Lord of the impact that your life has on us. God because we know you.
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  We have life, life abundant. Lord, I pray that we would look like your son. God, that your light would shine through us. Lord, tonight I pray that you would just guide my words, guide our thoughts, give its attention to your word and your truth in your name. Amen. Well, back when Carl and I were dating, most of you guys actually...
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  Since there's a very few select few in here. Probably only one who doesn't know this is you. But when we were dating, it was long distance for many years. We met while we were in a one-year Bible school over in England. Began dating once we both got back from school. Even though while we were over there, to be honest.
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  I wanted to spend every making moment with her and probably had already given my heart away to her in anticipation of what might be. We didn't date until we got back. Quote, unquote, date. Anyway, we dated for three years long distance as we both attended schools in our respective countries, her in Canada, me in the States. We would see each other about every three months or so on average, each of us taking turns driving up or down to see one another.
• 12:45
  When I got back, Bible school, I went to for three years and graduated from Frontier School of the Bible. I went through, I think, I know for sure the first entire year. I think it was the first year and the first semester of my second year without Carla coming to the school. So what that meant is, over time, it became kind of a joke amongst my friends that I didn't actually have a real girlfriend.
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  that I had decided to make her up because no girl would date me at school. This was a joke for many times as they got more and more serious with their girlfriends, and as they enjoyed telling me that since no girl would date me there, I had made somebody up that they couldn't verify existed.
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  I took great pride in displaying my real-life girlfriend in front of them when she was finally able to come down and visit me on one of the trips to the school. And in that moment when Carla was shown to be a real person, not a figment of my imagination, they knew I had not made up a fake or counterfeit girlfriend, that she indeed existed. And now they still...
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  at times said that I just hired somebody temporarily. But that's beside the point. What I said was always true became more real to my friends when they were able to see it with their own eyes. John has been, throughout this letter, been showing us the contrast of truth and lies, telling the readers that the truth
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  That truth remains and in fact defines how we act. And the funny thing about how what happened after they came in contact with her as a real life person was now our conversation. Even though it was a joke, they still kind of were like, maybe it's real. Maybe she really doesn't exist. But once they came in contact with her and they saw her to be real, it really...
• 15:08
  did change our conversations. It really did affect some of the things that we said. They suddenly took more interest in what she did and what she was, you know, just it changed things. It had become real when I talked to them about her, that she was the one that I was planning to marry and all this because they finally met her.
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  John has allowed his readers and us as we have studied this epistle to meet the truth and see love, to see it, to feel it. He defined it. He made it clear what was real and true, what love is and what its source is. And he made it clear that what lies are, what deception is and what is destructive behavior.
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  As we have studied our past, as we start our passage tonight, he gives, I believe, the implications, the effects of believing and living a lie and what happens when we live in the confidence of the revealed truth. Our points for tonight are going to be prayer brings life. Prayer brings life. Practicing deception leads to death and power, truth and lies.
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  Prayer brings life. As we have said, as we walked through this book, as we met passages such as chapter 3, verse 4, where John says, chapter 3, verse 4, he says everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness. He says everyone who practices, or chapter 1, verse 6, where he says,
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  If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. As we have studied passages like that, we pointed to the reality that in these cases, it was a practice of sin, an ongoing rebellion that John is referencing. This is not a once-in-time mistake.
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  Fall that we struggle with on a daily basis to walk in accordance with and obedience with the Lord. This was ongoing practiced rebellion against the prescribed path and leading of the Lord in his word. And as we consider this first verse in our study for tonight, we must remember context. John says, if one sees a brother committing a sin, not leading to death.
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  Now, there are two things I'd like to make sure we understand here. He says there is one that leads to death. And he says if we see someone who's committing a sin not leading to death, that we ought to pray for them. So I want to make a couple things really clear as we go into this and consider what John is talking about. First is, we all know all sin leads to death ultimately, right? Sin is destruction.
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  what will lead us away from the Lord, not to the Lord. We see this in verses such as Proverbs 11, 19, and obviously in Romans 3, 23, for the wages of sin is death. We know that all sin leads to death if not paid for, accepted as a payment in Christ's sacrifice. We also know that in the early church, there were recorded several instances
• 19:07
  though where sin and death or sickness were an immediate result to sin. Certainly, I mean, there's Old Testament examples as well, but certainly in Acts 5, 1 through 11, Ananias and Sapphira is a perfect example of this. And actually, let's go over to that Acts chapter 5. Chapter 5 even has the heading of Ananias and Sapphira, even though there are many other things covered in this, but this is where we start.
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  Ananias and Sapphira chapter 5 verse 1. It says, But a man named Ananias with his wife Sapphira sold a piece of property. And with his wife's knowledge. That's an important statement. With his wife's knowledge he kept back.
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  for himself some of the proceeds and brought only a part of it and laid it at the apostles' feet. But Peter said, Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land while it remained unsold? Did it not remain yours, your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart?
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  You have not lied to man, but to God. When Ananias heard these words, he fell down and breathed his last. And great fear came upon all who heard it. The young men rose and wrapped him up and carried him out and buried him. After an interval of about three hours, so this was not immediate.
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  She came in, his wife came in, knowing what had happened. Knowing, again, knowing what had happened. His wife, in verse 2, knew that he had kept back a portion. Verse 7, knowing again what had happened. And Peter said to her, tell me what you sold the land for so much.
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  Tell me whether you sold the land for so much. And she said, yes, for so much. But Peter said to her, how is it that you have agreed together to test the spirit of the Lord? Behold, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door and they will carry you out. Immediately she fell down at his feet and breathed her last. Verse 11, great fear came upon the whole church, upon all who heard of these things.
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  Certainly we know that there was instances like this where sin was met with immediate death. That is certainly true. I think that John could have, having seen and experienced these things, he could have some of these instances in his mind when he is writing about this, when he's talking about sin which does not lead to death and sin which does lead to death.
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  The other instance where we know that sin was talked about as there was sickness that was caused because of sin was 1 Corinthians 11, 27 through 32. We see the Christians are sick because of the lack of reverence and unconfessed sin as they took the Lord's Supper. They were actually getting drunk off the wine. Certainly, we see in Scripture there are instances where sin, sickness, sin, and death are connected.
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  In James, though, in James 5, verse 20 and 21, we see that as a brother or sister comes to ask for prayer for healing of physical ailments, one of the things the elders or the shepherd is supposed to do is give them an opportunity to confess sin in case it is connected with the sickness they are experiencing.
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  With all these examples, I want to emphasize one thing that we must keep in mind. Throughout scripture, we see God is a forgiving and forbearing God, do we not? We see also in scripture over and over again, it is God who knows the heart of the person, not man, right?
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  We see, in fact, that God is so forgiving and so forbearing that it actually makes Jonah resentful. And it was one of the reasons why he didn't want to go to Nineveh. Because he knew that if they repented, God would forgive them and relent from his punishment that he had prescribed on them. And he gets all whiny about it. Jonah is actually one of my favorites. There's a really good book talking about Jonah.
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  And it really revived my perspective on the whole story and how it's really about Jonah. It's not about Nineveh. And it's all about how God just chases relentlessly Jonah down with his grace and mercy. And Jonah the whole time is resentful of it all. And it reminds me of me often. I'm sure it reminds us of us, how we often...
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  find ourselves running away from God, prescribing judgment on somebody else all the while we're in our own rebellion. Anyway, Jonah, I just have a really fresh view of Jonah and that story and love it. But we see in that story, we see throughout scripture that God is a forgiving and forbearing God, one who withholds judgment and punishment, not wishing that any should perish. So when John tells us here,
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  And if we take this as a culmination of what John has been writing, right? He has been talking over and over and over again about these believers who are either practicing love or practicing hate, living in the light or living in the dark. This is a...
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  A path that they are walking and is well worn. He wants to, in these final statements I believe, warn them once again that this is a destructive path they are on. That God can, they have seen God cast judgment immediately upon sin. And they must be aware. So I think he is desperately trying to warn these believers who have been practicing sin.
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  On the other hand, for us, those who do not know the heart of the person, I think he is compelling, he is encouraging, he is admonishing us to pray. Pray for our brothers and sisters who are wandering. Pray for those who are not walking with the Lord and pray desperately for our own hearts as we are capable of falling away ourselves. Asking the Lord.
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  To give life. To revive their souls. To revive their passion. Their joy of their redemption that they once had. So I think John certainly can have stories like Ananias and Sapphira in mind as he writes this. As he talks about these differences. I think he certainly is considering these people who have made a practice of sin. Who have left the path, the obedience of...
• 26:47
  to God's word and have walked away. He certainly has them in mind. But I think we have to be careful. The unfortunate thing about passages like this is that they have been used as excuses not to pray for a brother or sister who have walked away from the Lord. And that is the opposite. That is the opposite of the Lord's heart for them, of John's heart for them. He wants us to understand the severity.
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  What is at stake? Life and death is at stake, brothers and sisters. But it is not for us to judge. We are to pray. And the beautiful part is that what it says here is if we pray, we can be part of restoring somebody back to the Lord. We can be part of God's loving, merciful plan to grab a hold of lives that are lost or have wandered away.
• 27:49
  I do think we have to be introspective. We have to ask the Lord to... David was amazing at this. He continually asked the Lord to search his heart. I think we have to start with ourselves, asking God to show us where there is wickedness still in our hearts. Specifically, this passage made me think of another passage. Peter writes in 1 Peter 3.7 as he's talking to husbands.
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  And he tells husbands that if we're not living right with our wives, if we're not honoring and caring for our wives, that it can actually hinder our prayer life. And so I just want to encourage us that passages like this should make us consider our walk with the Lord first and other people's walks with the Lord second.
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  because it is impactful to how we live, how we pray, and what we do. I'm way off my notes. Yeah, I think I got all of that. I think we do have to be mindful, too, though, that Scripture talks a lot about God disciplining those He loves, about God chasing after those people who are lost. We have to be careful.
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  how we pray when we have a brother or sister who is wandering from the truth. If they are experiencing God's chastening, then we can pray earnestly for that to revive their trust and belief in the Lord and their desire to walk with Him. But we do not want to pray against God's discipline in someone's life. Pray that it would wake them up, that they would find restoration.
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  But God has made it clear in his word that he does chasten those who are wandering from him. So one of the cool things, one of the amazing things about prayer is we can pray for those who are walking away and we can be part of, in our prayer life, restoring them. If you guys know Bob and Dina's story, the faithfulness of her prayer life for 30 plus years.
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  and the Lord answering that and restoring him back to the Lord and his walk and his love for him. It is a wonderful example of that. Prayer brings life. That's our first point. Next one is practicing deception leads to death. He says, we know that no one who was born of God keeps on sinning.
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  Why would we not keep on sinning? Because we've received the seed of life that he talked about previously, eternal life from God. Chapter 3 verse 9, we saw that, that God has given us the seed of life in himself. Chapter 3 verse 9 says, no one born of God makes practice of sinning for God's seed abides in him and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born.
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  of God. We have received the seed of God. We have received life, and because of this, we have new desires, new appetites. I shared this illustration on Sunday in Connect Hour, but last year, Carla and I did Whole30, and actually you guys did as well. So you guys, Jaira did it with us. You guys know what it's about. It's a fairly intense, I mean, some people are like, oh, it's not that bad.
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  I hated it. In the middle part. The end I liked. It's pretty intense. It's meant to retrain your body to use new things as fuel. Where sugar and empty carbs were the fuel, you now use protein and carbs from vegetables such as potatoes, meats, and all of that stuff.
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  This transition can be painful as your body rejects these new types of fuel and says, give me the things that I used to have. I don't want these ones. These ones don't make me feel the way I want to feel. Give me sugar. Particularly if you were eating really poorly as I was before we went on it. The cool thing, though, is over time you begin to crave new things. You begin to actually want something different. You don't crave potato chips.
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  One of the weird things towards the end was I was like, man, I just can't get enough sweet potatoes. I want some sweet potatoes. It changed. My cravings changed. We who have the seed of God, of life in us, those whom have trusted Christ as our Savior over time, begin to crave new things because we have this seed growing in us. John tells us, though, as this new craving.
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  Should happen in us. There are three things. I think he talks about. Which will destroy. Choke out. This seed of God in us. This life in us. That God wants us. To live. The first is the world. The world. John tells us. The world lies in the power of the evil one. Lies in the power of the evil one. Verse 19. He says that. Ephesians 2.
• 33:48
  Let's jump over to Ephesians. This is a really great passage to consider as we look at this. As John warns us against the world. Ephesians chapter 2, it's just a few pages over. Ephesians chapter 2 verses 1 to 2 speaks to this very well, I think. He says in verse 1 of chapter 2, And you were dead in the trespasses of your sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world.
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  following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience. What does Paul say there? He says that we were dead in our trespasses and sins, but he says that we were walking in the pattern following the course of the world, which is following the pattern of the prince of darkness, the enemy, Satan. The world, because it does not know God, is at war with God's spirit.
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  with Christians, just as Satan is at war with God. The world is following the pattern of the prince who is at war with God. John first warns us that the world, the world will come after us.
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  The reality of this atmosphere of a world which is walking in the pattern set out by a prideful and lying prince makes it hard for us to keep our minds pure, our hearts truly focused and connected with God. Why? Because as we know, we still have the old nature and thus that part of us is still seeking to follow the pattern of the enemy. The flesh is the other, I believe.
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  John warns us about, which can take away, choke out the seed of God, the life that God gives us, or what I would say is the depravity of man, the reality of sin. Paul speaks of this very clearly and well and illustrates it for us as he talks about it in Romans chapter 7. Romans chapter 7.
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  verses 14 through 21. And I was going to read that, but I'll just summarize for us for time since we're five minutes away. This is that famous passage. What I want to do, I don't do. What I do, I don't want to do. He's just talking about this internal battle, this ping pong back and forth as he has this passion to follow after God, relentlessly, and yet always finds himself weak in the flesh. I think that passage really illustrates that.
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  We are still at war with our old selves, which desires to follow the pattern of the prince of the world. Depravity, sin, the world is at war with our new nature. Lastly, the evil one, the evil one, verse 18, the end, the evil one does not touch him. He talks about this, but gives the implication that the evil one is actually trying to go after us, right?
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  has power over this world that we live in, and is seeking to, as we know from 1 Peter, to devour, to destroy as many as he can. The enemy has many ways in which he does this, in which he uses in leading the believer back into sin. His favorite being lies, deception, as he did with Eve. We looked at that a number of weeks ago in the garden. He does so as we have seen.
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  To create doubt and then plunges into the conflicted mind to disrupt truth. As he builds this doubt and certainty, he plunges into the mind and takes away the conviction and the ability to walk in truth. He also does so as he afflicts pain and suffering.
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  can see in the story of Job and even Paul as he talks about the affliction that he has received and continues to be there, even though he has prayed for it to go away. Suffering is one of those things that Satan loves to use because it attacks kind of all the parts of us. It makes us weak physically, emotionally, mentally. And if we're not careful, those lead to weak.
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  weaknesses in our spiritual walk. Another he uses is pride, as was the case of Saul, David, and the Pharisees, really. And the reality is that the enemy is a formidable foe because the enemy is not afraid of us, right? We talked about that a few weeks ago. He's really not afraid of us. All this really can and could lead to a bit of discouragement, though, as we consider
• 39:06
  the call to stop sinning, to leave the old ways behind, to walk in newness of life. We think about the fact that the world is still in the power of the evil one, that we're supposed to stop sinning. We could get discouraged. So what's the answer? What's the path to freedom?
• 39:32
  We find it in verse 18 of chapter 5. We get our relief, our answer. Jesus Christ keeps the believers so that the enemy cannot get his hands on him. Why does John admonish, encourage, challenge us to abide in Christ? Because in Christ we are protected. The enemy cannot touch us. The end of verse 18.
• 39:59
  It says, but he who was born of God protects him. He who was born of God is Christ. Who does he protect? He protects us. The evil one can't touch him. I'll just mention it for time. A fantastic illustration of how this works out is Peter. Peter and Luke, Jesus comes to him and says, Peter, Satan has asked that I...
• 40:36
  to sift you like wheat, to basically destroy you, to just scatter you abroad, tear you asunder. And Christ tells him, but don't worry, I've prayed for you and it will not happen. And in that moment, there's statements that show Christ's omniscience, that he is exercising his omniscience in that moment that are really cool. One is that he knows that Peter is going to betray him.
• 41:06
  But he says specifically, when you have turned away again. So he says you're going to betray me and then he says you're going to turn away from that. So he knows that Peter is going to turn back. And he says when you turn away again, strengthen the brothers. I love, I love, love that. I'd encourage you in connection with this promise that the evil one cannot protect us, cannot touch us because...
• 41:41
  Christ protects us. Read that passage. Read the end of John when Christ restores Peter and the beauty of that. And then, man, read the beginning of Acts and see what Peter does with that newness of confidence. And I think that that is a perfect example of what John is admonishing us and encouraging us towards as he has been writing this letter and building this argument.
• 42:08
  We should not fear because we are in Christ. Abide in Christ and we are protected. Lastly, and extremely quickly, power and truth and lies are contrasted. I want to give you guys six statements of truth and reality in this final section which John gives us. He says, we know that the Son of God has come. He has given us understanding so that
• 42:37
  The purpose of that understanding is that we might know him who is true. Who is true? God is the one who is true. And because we know God and know his son, we are now in him, in Christ. And because we are in Christ, we have eternal life.
• 43:00
  Amazing, amazing, amazing truths that he talks about and says we know. We know these things are real. We know they are true because they come from the source of truth, God himself. I wanted to illustrate what these final statements have as he tells us what is true, what is real, what is the reality of the believer. And then this final statement of the little children. Keep yourselves from idols, he says.
• 43:30
  This is a contrasting statement. He tells us all the things that are true, and then he talks about the counterfeit. He says, keep yourselves from idols. Our son, Oren, we found out, was allergic to dairy. When he was really little, he...
• 43:49
  cheese. We would always find him in the fridge with his little face in the cheese drawer taking chomps and bites out of there. He has since had to go to almond cheese and all of these other things and cashew milk. Every time I buy him ice cream, I cry because it's just not real. It's not the real thing. It's okay. They've gotten a lot better, but it's not
• 44:19
  the real thing. Once you've had the real thing, why would you want to go back to something else? And I think that's the picture John is telling us here. We know what we have been given. We know it. We know it's true. It comes from the source of truth. So he says, why, little children, would you go to idols, the counterfeits, the dead things that do not have life? I think you could paraphrase.
• 44:52
  Or reword John's closing statement like this, Watch out for the fakes, the counterfeits, and the lies, and live in the incredible confidence of the truth. Next week, we're going to look at 2 and 3 John. We're going to look at the elect lady and the beloved Gaius, whom I think are pointed out because they were living out the faith, love, and truth which John admonished towards.
• 45:22
  In this first epistle, which we have just closed out. I want to encourage us. We know the truth. It came from the source of truth. Why, why would we eat almond cheese when we can have the real thing? Let's pray. God in heaven, Lord, we just ask that you would help us.
• 45:52
  to be reminded daily, moment by moment, what we have received. And what we have received is truth. Because of that, God, we have the opportunity, the ability to live out our faith. As we experience the love, as you fill us up, as we begin to comprehend more and more what is the forgiveness you have extended to us, God, I pray it would just seep out of us.
• 46:26
  that people would know that we believe this, that we have confidence in it. Make us truth speakers, truth livers. Make us lovers of you and lovers of the lost and lovers of our brothers and sisters in Christ. May we represent you well as sons and daughters of the Most High. We pray these things in your name. Amen.