Latest / THE BELIEVER'S CHURCH | Let’s Build Our Faith Together / Christian Certainties, Part 1 (1 John 513) John MacArthur

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Christian Certainties, Part 1 (1 John 513) John MacArthur · THE BELIEVER'S CHURCH | Let’s Build Our Faith Together

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Speaker 1: As we prepare for the Lord's Table, it is suitable
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Speaker 1: and fitting for us to return to 1 John. We
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Speaker 1: have come now really to the final section of this
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Speaker 1: great epistle. 1 John chapter 5 verses 13 through 21
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Speaker 1: constitutes the conclusion of the epistle. And this section can
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Speaker 1: be titled, Christian Certainties, Christian Certainties. If you just glance
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Speaker 1: at verses 13 to 21, you will recognize the word
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Speaker 1: know is there. Verse 13, that you may know. Verse 15,
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Speaker 1: if we know that He hears us, we know we
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Speaker 1: have the request we've asked. If you drop down to
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Speaker 1: verse 18, we know. that no one who is born
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Speaker 1: of God sins. Verse 19, we know that we are
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Speaker 1: of God. Verse 20, and we know that the Son
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Speaker 1: of God has come that we might... verse 20...know Him who
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Speaker 1: is true. This is all about what we know. You
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Speaker 1: will also recognize that the word confidence appears in verse
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Speaker 1: 14 and this is the confidence. What is in verse
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Speaker 1: 13 we know. What is in verses 14 through 17
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Speaker 1: is one subject about which we can be confident. What
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Speaker 1: is in verse 18 we know. What is in verse
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Speaker 1: 19 we know. What is in verse 20 we know.
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Speaker 1: And a final warning appears in verse 21. This is
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Speaker 1: about what we know, that's why I've called it Christian Certainties.
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Speaker 1: Now obviously we live in a very, very uncertain world.
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Speaker 1: We hear this all the time, that these are very
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Speaker 1: unstable times, uncertain times. We struggle against all of the
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Speaker 1: uncertainties that we face and, of course, since the terrible
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Speaker 1: tragedy of 9-11 a couple of years ago, there is
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Speaker 1: a new kind of uncertainty injected into our daily lives,
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Speaker 1: the fear of terrorism. We are uncertain when we fly.
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Speaker 1: We are uncertain when we're in public places. This introduces
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Speaker 1: to us a new uncertainty. There are increasing uncertainties about
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Speaker 1: walking down the street and just being in a visible
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Speaker 1: place because there are bombings and there are drive-by shootings
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Speaker 1: and you all know the uncertainties with which we live.
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Speaker 1: And there are some more common uncertainties. When we buy
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Speaker 1: a car, we are uncertain that it's going to function
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Speaker 1: well and so we want a guarantee and the manufacturer
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Speaker 1: provides a guarantee and if he didn't provide a guarantee,
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Speaker 1: we wouldn't buy the car. And then, fearing that we
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Speaker 1: might have an accident for which we could not pay
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Speaker 1: and then get sued, we hedge against that uncertainty by
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Speaker 1: buying an insurance policy and spend our lives pouring a
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Speaker 1: small fortune. into the insurance company for something that hasn't happened.
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Speaker 1: But it might. And when you go to the store
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Speaker 1: to buy an appliance, you are immediately told by the
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Speaker 1: salesperson that you need to buy a 36-month warranty. Or
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Speaker 1: you need to buy a service guarantee, which is another
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Speaker 1: way of saying this is a lousy product Something could
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Speaker 1: go wrong and many people do that. There's uncertainty about
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Speaker 1: our health and so we spend thousands of dollars a
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Speaker 1: year buying either insurance or buying into some kind of
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Speaker 1: a medical plan to protect us from illness and accident
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Speaker 1: and catastrophic issues that might come into our lives physically.
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Speaker 1: There's even uncertainty of life in a family and so
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Speaker 1: insurance policies are... basically purchased so that should the breadwinner,
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Speaker 1: the husband die, there's money immediately given to the wife.
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Speaker 1: Most of you women sitting out there would be far
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Speaker 1: wealthier if your husband was dead than you are now,
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Speaker 1: or certainly many of you. There's uncertainty with employment, so
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Speaker 1: we have unemployment insurance and so it goes. I talked
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Speaker 1: to a professional athlete who told me that when he
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Speaker 1: negotiated his massive contract It included the provision in the
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Speaker 1: contract that in case of injury or accident that made
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Speaker 1: it impossible for him to play, that his complete salary
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Speaker 1: would be paid for the full length of the contract,
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Speaker 1: which happened to be five years, and he would receive
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Speaker 1: an additional 200 percent of that contract for his injury.
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Speaker 1: And they signed him, of course. There was uncertainty about
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Speaker 1: fire and theft, so you have a homeowner's policy. There's
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Speaker 1: even uncertainty now about marrying people, so we now have
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Speaker 1: prenuptial agreements where partners want to hedge against somehow being
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Speaker 1: extorted by the person they're marrying and so it goes.
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Speaker 1: People are so uncertain that they will literally spend huge
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Speaker 1: percentages of their money to cover all of the potential contingencies.
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Speaker 1: And there are other people. who will pay large amounts
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Speaker 1: of money to mediums, astrologers, fortune tellers to have some
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Speaker 1: insight into the future to remove some of the fearful uncertainty.
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Speaker 1: And I suppose a good question to ask an unbeliever
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Speaker 1: when you talk to one is, what are you absolutely
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Speaker 1: certain of? And you know, the standard answer is death
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Speaker 1: and taxes. But beyond that, and death might be a
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Speaker 1: good place to stop, but beyond that sort of trite answer,
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Speaker 1: what are you really certain of? You can't be certain
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Speaker 1: that this planet is going to be here. The second
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Speaker 1: law of thermodynamics tells us that all the material universe
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Speaker 1: is tending toward disorder and disruption. You can't depend upon
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Speaker 1: anything material. anything physical, can't really depend on people. There
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Speaker 1: are no guarantees about how people are going to treat
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Speaker 1: you in the future, even your own spouse and your
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Speaker 1: own family, your parents, your children. It's very hard for
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Speaker 1: an unbeliever to answer the question, what are you absolutely
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Speaker 1: certain of? And if you can get that person to say,
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Speaker 1: well I am certain of death, you've put them in
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Speaker 1: a very, very good position. Well, after you've died, what
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Speaker 1: then are you certain of, poses the inevitable question about
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Speaker 1: eternal life. Well, against the background of living in an
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Speaker 1: uncertain world and living basically with people who are uncertain
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Speaker 1: about almost everything, the Bible is a divine revelation that
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Speaker 1: is filled with absolute certainties... absolute certainties. Let me just suggest
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Speaker 1: a few of them that I jotted down. Numbers 32, 23,
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Speaker 1: be sure your sin will find you out. That's a certainty.
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Speaker 1: Or Psalm 19, 7, the testimony of the Lord, Scripture,
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Speaker 1: is sure. The Bible is certain. The consequence of sin
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Speaker 1: is certain. Proverbs 11, 18, to him that sows righteousness.
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Speaker 1: A sure reward, Job 34 12, God will not do wickedly,
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Speaker 1: that is certain. Isaiah 53 4, surely He hath borne
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Speaker 1: our griefs and carried our sorrows. It is a surety
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Speaker 1: that Jesus has done that. In fact, in Isaiah 55
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Speaker 1: 3 it speaks of the sure mercies of the Lord.
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Speaker 1: His mercies are certain. John 6 69, Peter said, we
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Speaker 1: are certain that You are the Christ, the Son of
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Speaker 1: the living God. John 16 30, we are sure that
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Speaker 1: You know all things. John 17 8, they have known surely,
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Speaker 1: says Jesus, that I came from You. Romans 2.2, we
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Speaker 1: are certain that the judgment of God is according to truth.
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Speaker 1: Romans 4.16, the promise of salvation is sure. Second Timothy 2.19,
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Speaker 1: the foundation of God is sure. Hebrews 6.19, Christ is
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Speaker 1: a sure anchor in the presence of God. Second Peter 1.19,
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Speaker 1: Scripture is a sure word of prophecy. Revelation 22.20, Jesus said,
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Speaker 1: surely I come quickly. There's a few and many, many,
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Speaker 1: many more. We deal in certainties in an uncertain world.
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Speaker 1: That is a problem for our uncertain world, isn't it?
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Speaker 1: It is an offense to people to say that you
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Speaker 1: are certain about everything. It is really an intolerable posture
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Speaker 1: and position to take. But it is the truth. The
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Speaker 1: Bible is a book of absolutes. It's a book. of certainties.
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Speaker 1: We are certain how the universe began. We are certain
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Speaker 1: how it will end. We are certain why God created
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Speaker 1: and how His purpose in the beginning will consummate in
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Speaker 1: the end. We are certain about why people behave the
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Speaker 1: way they behave. We are certain about what is right
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Speaker 1: and what is wrong. We are certain about the elements
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Speaker 1: that make for good human relationships. We are certain about
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Speaker 1: what is necessary to go to heaven. We are certain
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Speaker 1: that there is a hell and certain about how people
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Speaker 1: get there. We are certain about all those things. We
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Speaker 1: are certain about God's promises, certain about His Son, the Savior,
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Speaker 1: certain about His substitutionary death, His literal resurrection, certain about
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Speaker 1: His second coming. We are certain about all these things,
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Speaker 1: absolutely certain. Now you understand, again, that is not something
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Speaker 1: that is easily accepted in our society. But we are
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Speaker 1: unique in a world of doubters. God has even given
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Speaker 1: us a guarantee for the truth of His redemptive promise.
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Speaker 1: In Ephesians 1...14 it says He's given as a pledge,
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Speaker 1: that's a guarantee. of our inheritance, the Holy Spirit of promise.
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Speaker 1: When you became a believer, you put your trust in
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Speaker 1: Jesus Christ, why? Because you came to the conviction and
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Speaker 1: the belief that all God's promises were true, is that right?
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Speaker 1: You came to the conviction that what He said about
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Speaker 1: you was true, what He said about your sin was true,
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Speaker 1: what He said about the judgment you would receive was true,
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Speaker 1: what He said about forgiveness, mercy and grace was true,
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Speaker 1: what He said about Christ was true in the Scripture.
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Speaker 1: You came to the conclusion that all of that was true.
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Speaker 1: And when you believed in the truth of the gospel,
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Speaker 1: embracing all that God has said, you You put your
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Speaker 1: trust in Christ because of that belief and God promised
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Speaker 1: you eternal life and to secure that eternal life, He
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Speaker 1: gave you a guarantee and the guarantee that He gave
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Speaker 1: you was the Holy Spirit who immediately took up residence
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Speaker 1: in your heart. And that's exactly what Paul says in
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Speaker 1: Ephesians 1...14. He is the pledge, the Erebon. Erebon means guarantee,
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Speaker 1: down payment. deposit, pledge, promise, it's even the word for
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Speaker 1: engagement ring, the symbol of a pledge and a promise.
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Speaker 1: God deals in certainties. He has bound Himself by His
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Speaker 1: Word to those certainties and He has guaranteed His Word
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Speaker 1: in the gift of the Holy Spirit whose temple we
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Speaker 1: as believers are. And so as we come to the
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Speaker 1: end of John's epistle, John wants to reiterate for his
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Speaker 1: readers and for us the certainties that are ours in Christ.
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Speaker 1: With verse 12, John ended the formal argument of the book.
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Speaker 1: Verse 12 summed it all up. He who has the
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Speaker 1: Son has the life, the eternal life. He who does
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Speaker 1: not have the Son of God does not have the life. Remember,
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Speaker 1: this is a book that is intended to distinguish true
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Speaker 1: Christians from false Christians. And John sums it up by
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Speaker 1: saying eternal life belongs to those who have the Son.
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Speaker 1: If you have the Son, you have the life. If
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Speaker 1: you don't have the Son, you don't have the life.
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Speaker 1: And then John summarizes his purpose in verse 13. these
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Speaker 1: things I've written to you who believe in the name
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Speaker 1: of the Son of God in order that you may
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Speaker 1: know that you have eternal life. This book was written
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Speaker 1: to give you assurance. Chapter 1 verse 4 says these
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Speaker 1: things we write, that your joy may be made complete.
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Speaker 1: The only way you'll have complete joy is to have
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Speaker 1: complete assurance of your salvation. Chapter 2 verse 1, my
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Speaker 1: little children, I'm writing these things to you that you
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Speaker 1: may not sin. If anyone sins, we have an advocate
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Speaker 1: with the Father Jesus Christ the righteous. He says, I'm
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Speaker 1: writing so that you may have full joy, full joy
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Speaker 1: related to the fact that you always have an advocate
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Speaker 1: who intercedes even when you sin so that you can
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Speaker 1: know that you are saved. I want you to have joy.
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Speaker 1: I want you to have joy. holiness and confidence in
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Speaker 1: His intercession and I want you consummately to have the
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Speaker 1: assurance that you may know that you have eternal life.
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Speaker 1: That is the most important certainty, to know you have
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Speaker 1: eternal life, to be certain you have eternal life. All
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Speaker 1: through the epistle, He's been giving tests, tests that identify
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Speaker 1: the true and the false believers. There were false teachers
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Speaker 1: among these believers. There were antichrists among these believers. There
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Speaker 1: were spiritual fakes and frauds and phonies and deceivers among
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Speaker 1: these believers. They were insecure as believers tend to be
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Speaker 1: when they're not well taught. And so John gives tests,
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Speaker 1: doctrinal tests. The test of understanding a true view of
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Speaker 1: man as sinful, the test of understanding a true view
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Speaker 1: of Jesus Christ, who He is and why He came,
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Speaker 1: those are the doctrinal tests. The moral tests have to
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Speaker 1: do with obedience to the law of God and to
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Speaker 1: Christ and love for God and not the world and
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Speaker 1: love for others. And we've gone through all of those
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Speaker 1: various tests. And believers who read the epistle, or like us,
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Speaker 1: study the epistle, come to the conclusion that they pass
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Speaker 1: the test. They believe the right things about themselves as sinners.
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Speaker 1: They believe the right things about Jesus Christ as Savior.
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Speaker 1: They manifestly obey the Word of God, that's the direction
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Speaker 1: of their life, and demonstrate love for Him and love
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Speaker 1: for others. John says here, this is why I've written this.
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Speaker 1: I want you to know. I want you to be certain.
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Speaker 1: I want you to be confident. Of course the Roman
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Speaker 1: Catholic Church says nobody can ever know if they're saved,
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Speaker 1: nobody can ever know if they're going to go to
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Speaker 1: heaven until after they die, which would be to completely
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Speaker 1: discard this entire epistle. By the way, the word know
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Speaker 1: appears 39 times in this epistle. I counted them just
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Speaker 1: to be sure. I think that's accurate. It might be
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Speaker 1: off one or two. Thirty-nine times in this epistle and
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Speaker 1: seven of those times in this last section. Our faith
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Speaker 1: is not a hope-so, it's a know-so. It's not wishful thinking,
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Speaker 1: it's not pie in the sky. God has spoken and
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Speaker 1: what God has spoken is true. And if we know
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Speaker 1: what He has said, then we know what is true.
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Speaker 1: We don't speculate, we don't hope, we are certain. I
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Speaker 1: remember years ago when I was writing a book on
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Speaker 1: the Charismatic Movement, I was talking about the danger of
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Speaker 1: thinking that God gives new revelation, that God speaks. And
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Speaker 1: I read a book written by a Charismatic leader and
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Speaker 1: in it he said this, when someone in our congregation
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Speaker 1: stands up and says, thus says the Lord, we know
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Speaker 1: that either he is representing what the Lord has said
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Speaker 1: or he's not. Now that is not helpful. That's why
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Speaker 1: we don't turn to that because there is no criteria
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Speaker 1: by which to know. We know what God has put
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Speaker 1: in His holy Word. Listen to Job. Job in the
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Speaker 1: patriarchal era, way back before Moses, therefore before the writing
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Speaker 1: of the before there was any Scripture in anybody's hand. Job,
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Speaker 1: the righteous man, says this, Job 19.25,' And as for me,
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Speaker 1: I know that my Redeemer... what?... lives and that at the last
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Speaker 1: He will take His stand on the earth. Even after
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Speaker 1: my skin is destroyed, yet from my flesh I shall
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Speaker 1: see God whom I myself shall behold and whom mine
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Speaker 1: eyes shall see and not another. I know my Redeemer lives.
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Speaker 1: I know that He will stand on the earth in
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Speaker 1: the last days and set up His eternal Kingdom. I
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Speaker 1: know that after this body is dissolved, I will awaken
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Speaker 1: to see God with my own eyes. That's a lot
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Speaker 1: to know before there was written any Scripture. I know,
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Speaker 1: said Job. maybe the oldest book in the Old Testament.
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Speaker 1: In chapter 42, Job answered the Lord and said,' I
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Speaker 1: know that You can do all things and that no
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Speaker 1: purpose of yours can be thwarted. He had a sound
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Speaker 1: doctrine of eternal life, resurrection, in my flesh will I
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Speaker 1: see God, bodily resurrection, an eternal Kingdom, and he also
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Speaker 1: had a sound understanding of the absolute sovereignty of God.
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Speaker 1: One might say that he was a pre-Abrahamic Calvinist. He knew.
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Speaker 1: The Old Testament is filled with such statements of absolute knowledge.
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Speaker 1: I wish I could take the time. Here's what the
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Speaker 1: psalmist says, David, in Psalm 20 verse 6,' Now I
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Speaker 1: know that the Lord saves His anointed. He will answer
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Speaker 1: him from His holy heaven with the saving strength of
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Speaker 1: His right hand.' David says,' I know my God hears
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Speaker 1: the prayers.' of those that are His and He answers... He answers.
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Speaker 1: In Psalm 56 verse 9, similarly,' Then My enemies will
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Speaker 1: turn back in the day when I call. This I know,
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Speaker 1: that God is for Me.' Isn't that great? I may
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Speaker 1: have enemies, they may attack me. But God is on
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Speaker 1: my side. In God, therefore, whose Word I praise, in
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Speaker 1: the Lord whose Word I praise, in God I have
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Speaker 1: put my trust, I shall not be afraid. What can
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Speaker 1: man do to me? And there is a confidence in
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Speaker 1: God's absolute power, omnipotence. These are just highlights, Psalm 119.
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Speaker 1: I know, O Lord, that Your judgments are righteous and
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Speaker 1: that in faithfulness You have afflicted me. I know what
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Speaker 1: You do is right and sometimes You bring suffering because
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Speaker 1: You're faithful to me. Faithful? Yes, faithful to bring the
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Speaker 1: necessary suffering. suffering to perfect me. So the psalmist says,
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Speaker 1: that I know. You do what's right even when you
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Speaker 1: allow suffering. Your purpose is to be faithful to make
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Speaker 1: me what I need to be. Psalm 135, 5, for
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Speaker 1: I know that the Lord is great and that our
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Speaker 1: Lord is above all gods Whatever the Lord pleases, He
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Speaker 1: does in heaven and in earth, in the seas and
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Speaker 1: in all depths. Anywhere in the universe I know, says
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Speaker 1: the psalmist, God does whatever He wants. In Psalm 140
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Speaker 1: verse 12, I know that the Lord will maintain the
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Speaker 1: cause of the afflicted and justice for the poor. I know,
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Speaker 1: he's saying. that God is compassionate. Now, let me just
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Speaker 1: give you a little exercise. As you read through your
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Speaker 1: Bible from place to place and time to time and
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Speaker 1: day to day, just see how many times you find
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Speaker 1: somebody say, I know, I know. Here's something else. Paul said,
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Speaker 1: for I know that nothing good dwells in me. That's
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Speaker 1: a certainty, right? Romans 7...18. I know that. Or 2
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Speaker 1: Timothy 1...12, I know whom I have believed and I
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Speaker 1: am confident that He's able to guard what I've entrusted
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Speaker 1: to Him until that day. That is, I know my
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Speaker 1: Lord to whom I've committed my life will keep me.
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Speaker 1: I know. So here's John closes his epistle. All that's
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Speaker 1: just sort of footnote. As he closes his epistle, he
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Speaker 1: uses the word know seven times. Six of the seven,
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Speaker 1: it's oida, a form of oida, which is a reference
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Speaker 1: to absolute knowledge, not something learned by experience, positive absolute
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Speaker 1: knowledge known not by our experience but by divine revelation.
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Speaker 1: So here we are as Christians living in a world
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Speaker 1: of absolute certainties. This is the great crescendo. of this
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Speaker 1: magnificent epistle. You pass the test. You pass the doctrinal test.
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Speaker 1: You pass the moral tests. You are the real Christians
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Speaker 1: and you know. Now he's going to close with five
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Speaker 1: things we know. I'll give you one tonight. It's a
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Speaker 1: good one. Be content. Leaves four for next time. Number one,
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Speaker 1: we know we have eternal life. We know we have
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Speaker 1: eternal life. Look at verse 13, these things I've written
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Speaker 1: to you. What do you mean, John? What things? The
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Speaker 1: whole letter, the whole letter. How do I know that? Well,
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Speaker 1: there are a number of indications. One, He shifts from
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Speaker 1: The third person in verse 12, he who has the
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Speaker 1: Son has the life, he who does not have the
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Speaker 1: Son of God does not have the life. To the
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Speaker 1: first person, these things I have written, which indicates that
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Speaker 1: this is not in the flow of thought. He's not
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Speaker 1: simply saying what I've just said in the prior verse,
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Speaker 1: but rather there's a shift altogether out of the third
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Speaker 1: person of speaking to them to a self-proclamation of his purpose.
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Speaker 1: These things I've written to you that you may know
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Speaker 1: introduces all that is about to follow, all of which
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Speaker 1: is the conclusion, all of which is about what we know.
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Speaker 1: So clearly, this literally refers to the whole epistle which
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Speaker 1: then launches Him into all the things that we who
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Speaker 1: do have the Son know for certain. This is also
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Speaker 1: a good parallel to the gospel of John. When John
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Speaker 1: wrote his gospel, 21 chapters, he came down into chapter 20,
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Speaker 1: the end of the chapter, the last verse of chapter
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Speaker 1: 20 and he said this, these things have been written
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Speaker 1: that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the
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Speaker 1: Son of God, and that believing you may have life
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Speaker 1: in His name. That sweeps back over the whole of
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Speaker 1: the gospel of John. Everything from chapter 1 in the
27:28
Speaker 1: beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, the
27:30
Speaker 1: Word was God. All things were made by Him, without
27:33
Speaker 1: Him was not anything made that was made. All the
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Speaker 1: way down the Word became flesh and then all through
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Speaker 1: those 20 chapters, everything so far has been written that
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Speaker 1: you may believe, all the I AM sections, all the
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Speaker 1: miracles of Jesus that are recorded in the gospel of John,
27:49
Speaker 1: all intended that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ,
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Speaker 1: the Son of God, and that believing you may have life,
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Speaker 1: eternal life in His name. The gospel of John was written... follow me... the
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Speaker 1: gospel of John was written so that people might believe
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Speaker 1: and be saved. The epistle of John was written so
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Speaker 1: that the saved might know they're saved. The gospel of
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Speaker 1: John has a message of salvation. The epistle of John
28:20
Speaker 1: has a message of assurance. And so the parallels as
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Speaker 1: he gets close to the end of the gospel, he says,
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Speaker 1: this has all been written that you might believe. And
28:30
Speaker 1: here as he gets near the end, this has all
28:32
Speaker 1: been written that you who believe might know that you
28:36
Speaker 1: have eternal life. The first one was to bring you
28:40
Speaker 1: to belief and this one is to eliminate any lingering doubt.
28:44
Speaker 1: How wonderful it is to know this. As I said earlier,
28:46
Speaker 1: it must be sad to be a Roman Catholic, must
28:49
Speaker 1: be sad to live your whole caught up in a
28:51
Speaker 1: system and the more devout you are, the more you
28:53
Speaker 1: give to that system and be told incessantly and constantly
28:57
Speaker 1: that one thing you can never ever know is where
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Speaker 1: you're going to go when you die. Talk about frustration.
29:06
Speaker 1: Talk about disappointment. Talk about beleaguered people. I can't imagine
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Speaker 1: anything worse than going all the way through your life
29:17
Speaker 1: with some kind of loyalty to that system, never ever
29:22
Speaker 1: knowing or even being able to know whether you have
29:27
Speaker 1: qualified to go to heaven. We can know. People who
29:34
Speaker 1: have no interest in religion or very minimal interest in
29:37
Speaker 1: religion generally say, well I hope I'm going to heaven.
29:40
Speaker 1: I think I might be good enough. You know, that's
29:42
Speaker 1: a question you really ought to have some certainty on
29:45
Speaker 1: because eternity lasts a long time. I mean, just kind
29:49
Speaker 1: of going around and taking a cavalier approach in life to, well,
29:52
Speaker 1: I think I'm going to heaven. I think, you know,
29:53
Speaker 1: when things all sort of wind down I'll probably be
29:56
Speaker 1: good enough to get there. You know, you need to
29:58
Speaker 1: do a little better than that because of what is
30:00
Speaker 1: at stake. Can you know? Of course. John says, that's
30:05
Speaker 1: why I wrote this epistle. Measure yourself against the tests.
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Speaker 1: Do you believe in Jesus Christ? Do you understand your
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Speaker 1: own sinful condition? Are you manifesting day in and day
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Speaker 1: out the evidence of a transformed life by virtue of
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Speaker 1: your love for God, your love for others, your hatred
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Speaker 1: toward the world? And by manifestation of your obedience, if
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Speaker 1: that's the case, if you pass the test, verse 13 says,
30:37
Speaker 1: you may know that you have eternal life. You may
30:40
Speaker 1: now know that you have eternal life. When I die,
30:46
Speaker 1: I'm going to heaven. If people say to me, when
30:48
Speaker 1: you die, are you sure you're going to heaven? Absolutely. Absolutely.
30:54
Speaker 1: I always think about what Larry King said to me
30:56
Speaker 1: off the air. He said, do you have any fear
30:59
Speaker 1: of death? I said, I have no fear of death.
31:01
Speaker 1: He said, you don't have any fear of death? I said, well,
31:04
Speaker 1: you know, I have a normal antipathy toward pain and
31:07
Speaker 1: so I would like to minimize my pain in dying,
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Speaker 1: that's just kind of a normal thing. But death itself, no,
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Speaker 1: I don't have any fear of death. And he said, well,
31:15
Speaker 1: how is it you have no fear of death? I said,
31:17
Speaker 1: because I know exactly where I'm going to go. I
31:19
Speaker 1: know exactly where I'm going to go. I'm going to
31:22
Speaker 1: go to heaven. And you're sure you're going to go
31:25
Speaker 1: to heaven? And of course he said to me, I
31:28
Speaker 1: wish I had that faith. Well that faith comes by
31:32
Speaker 1: hearing the message of Jesus Christ. These Christians to whom
31:38
Speaker 1: John wrote had been shaken by false teachers. They had
31:41
Speaker 1: been shaken by antichrists. They were insecure. They had therefore
31:50
Speaker 1: lost their confidence in ongoing forgiveness. They had lost their joy.
31:56
Speaker 1: And so John has gone back and said, look, examine yourself.
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Speaker 1: If you're walking in the light as He is in
32:05
Speaker 1: the light, then you're in the fellowship. If you're confessing
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Speaker 1: your sin, then you're the one whom He's forgiving. Look
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Speaker 1: at your life. If you're obeying the commands of Christ.
32:20
Speaker 1: If you're loving God, loving others and not loving the world,
32:24
Speaker 1: if you're confessing Jesus as God, if you're practicing righteousness,
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Speaker 1: if you're experiencing the internal confident witness of the Holy Spirit,
32:38
Speaker 1: then you can be sure... you can be sure. And so
32:43
Speaker 1: the first certainty is that we have eternal life. Now
32:47
Speaker 1: I don't need to... spend a great amount of time
32:49
Speaker 1: defining for you what eternal life is in the simplest sense.
32:54
Speaker 1: Eternal life means living forever with God. It means living
32:58
Speaker 1: forever with God in His glorious, wonderful heaven. I mean,
33:06
Speaker 1: that's what it means. But there's a lot more to it.
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Speaker 1: For example, go down to verse 20, the last statement.
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Speaker 1: It speaks of Jesus Christ, this is the true God
33:24
Speaker 1: and eternal life. So eternal life is living forever with God,
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Speaker 1: listen to this, possessing the very life of God that
33:37
Speaker 1: was possessed by Christ Himself. We enter into the very
33:43
Speaker 1: life of God. In some ways we inherit His perfect, sinless, holy,
33:51
Speaker 1: righteous life without becoming God. I guess you could say... I
33:58
Speaker 1: don't know if it's a good illustration... we' re like a light bulb.
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Speaker 1: We contain His life like a light bulb contains light.
34:09
Speaker 1: The bulb isn't light. The light comes into the bulb
34:14
Speaker 1: and illuminates it. So His life will be transmitted to us.
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Speaker 1: It's already been transmitted to us, although the light doesn't
34:26
Speaker 1: shine very brightly because the bulb is still dark. It's
34:32
Speaker 1: not pure crystal transparency because it's darkened by our fallen flesh.
34:41
Speaker 1: in which we still live. I guess you could put
34:44
Speaker 1: it this way, the light is on but what the
34:48
Speaker 1: world sees is dim. Someday when we leave this mortal
34:56
Speaker 1: flesh and enter into the glorious manifestation of the children
35:00
Speaker 1: of God, we will become absolutely transparent, crystal clear bulbs
35:08
Speaker 1: through which The power of eternal life will flow to
35:13
Speaker 1: radiate throughout all eternity. In John 17, that great high
35:18
Speaker 1: priestly prayer that Jesus prayed and the third verse, He says,'
35:24
Speaker 1: And this is eternal life, that they may know You,
35:30
Speaker 1: the only true God.' and Jesus Christ whom you sent.
35:37
Speaker 1: That's exactly what we read in chapter 5 verse 20.
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Speaker 1: God and Christ are the eternal life. They are the
35:45
Speaker 1: power of eternal life. And to say that we will
35:49
Speaker 1: have eternal life is simply to say that we will
35:53
Speaker 1: literally have the life of God in us. It's already true,
35:57
Speaker 1: it's just not fully manifest because that life is incarcerated
36:03
Speaker 1: in the darkness of our still fallen flesh. We already
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Speaker 1: possess that life, that's why we love God, that's why
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Speaker 1: we love others. That's why we don't love the world.
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Speaker 1: That's why we have a longing and a heart to obey.
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Speaker 1: That's why we desire righteousness and hate sin because that
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Speaker 1: life is already in us. It is the very life
36:25
Speaker 1: of God. Another way to see it is that the
36:27
Speaker 1: Spirit of God dwells in us and therefore that presence
36:31
Speaker 1: of God is in us as the Spirit of God
36:33
Speaker 1: is in us, as the Spirit of Christ is in us,
36:35
Speaker 1: as God is in us, as Christ is in us,
36:37
Speaker 1: the whole essential nature of the Trinity has taken up
36:41
Speaker 1: residence in our lives. It is a massive miracle. The
36:46
Speaker 1: world doesn't yet see it, as Romans 8 says, they
36:49
Speaker 1: can't see us yet because we haven't had that unveiling,
36:53
Speaker 1: that glorious manifestation awaits the resurrection. In the meantime, we
36:59
Speaker 1: struggle with the dark covering that makes the light that
37:06
Speaker 1: is in us so hard to see. This is not
37:10
Speaker 1: about a duration of life, it is about a quality
37:15
Speaker 1: of life, a kind of life. We have now and
37:22
Speaker 1: will forever have the life of God in us, holy
37:27
Speaker 1: and pure and righteous and good and content and satisfied
37:32
Speaker 1: and fulfilled. Eternal life is a life that lacks nothing,
37:38
Speaker 1: wants nothing, seeks nothing. misses nothing, desires nothing other than
37:46
Speaker 1: what it has. God's life in us. We already have it.
37:51
Speaker 1: It's what He says. That you may know that you
37:56
Speaker 1: have eternal life. It's just an incredible thing to think about,
38:02
Speaker 1: isn't it? But it's what we have. And that we
38:07
Speaker 1: can be certain about. If you believe in the name
38:11
Speaker 1: of the Son of God, if you believe savingly so
38:17
Speaker 1: that it is manifest in not only your doctrine but
38:20
Speaker 1: your conduct, you can know that you have eternal life.
38:26
Speaker 1: And eternal life does last forever because God lasts forever.
38:32
Speaker 1: Where did we get this eternal life? Well, I just
38:36
Speaker 1: read you verse 20. from Jesus Christ, this is the
38:41
Speaker 1: true God and eternal life. God sent His Son into
38:43
Speaker 1: the world that whoever believes in Him should not perish
38:47
Speaker 1: but have everlasting life. That's exactly what verse 13 says.
38:52
Speaker 1: If you believe in the name of the Son of God,
38:55
Speaker 1: you may know that you have eternal life. All God's
39:00
Speaker 1: life is in Christ and all of Christ's life is
39:04
Speaker 1: in us. an astonishing reality. We do not await our
39:13
Speaker 1: eternal life, we have it now, although it is not
39:17
Speaker 1: yet fully manifest. Turn in closing to Ephesians 3, then
39:26
Speaker 1: we'll come to the Lord's table. But this is a
39:28
Speaker 1: good passage to wrap up. my thoughts. In Ephesians 3
39:33
Speaker 1: verse 14, Paul says,' I bow my knees before the Father.'
39:36
Speaker 1: He's praying here for us, bowing before the Father from
39:41
Speaker 1: whom every family in heaven and earth derives its name.
39:44
Speaker 1: And he's praying to Him that He would grant you.
39:48
Speaker 1: according to the riches of His glory to be strengthened
39:51
Speaker 1: with power through the Spirit in the inner man. I pray,
39:54
Speaker 1: He says, for believers who already have the Holy Spirit,
39:59
Speaker 1: who already have the life, the eternal life, I pray
40:04
Speaker 1: that they may be strengthened by the indwelling Spirit. Then
40:08
Speaker 1: in verse 17, I pray that Christ may settle in
40:13
Speaker 1: their hearts. In other words, that their lives will be
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Speaker 1: pure enough for Christ to settle down and be at home,
40:21
Speaker 1: that they would be rooted and grounded in love. I
40:25
Speaker 1: want the Spirit to work on their hearts. I want
40:28
Speaker 1: Christ to clean up things and then find a place
40:32
Speaker 1: to rest in them. I want them to be grounded
40:36
Speaker 1: in love. In other words, I want them to understand
40:41
Speaker 1: that the temple of the Holy Spirit who strengthens them,
40:43
Speaker 1: I want them to know that they are the house
40:45
Speaker 1: in which Christ dwells who cleanses them. I want them
40:50
Speaker 1: to understand the reality that God lives in them. So,
40:57
Speaker 1: verse 18, they may be able to comprehend with all
41:01
Speaker 1: the saints what is the breadth and length and height
41:04
Speaker 1: and depth and to know the love of Christ. which
41:09
Speaker 1: surpasses knowledge that you may be filled up to all
41:13
Speaker 1: the fullness of God. Paul says... this would take a long
41:19
Speaker 1: time to sort of unpack here. Paul says, I want
41:22
Speaker 1: you to understand the Spirit is in you and the
41:24
Speaker 1: Spirit is strengthening you. I want you to understand the
41:27
Speaker 1: Son is in you and the Son is cleansing you
41:29
Speaker 1: to make you a in which He can settle down
41:32
Speaker 1: and be at rest. And I want you to comprehend
41:35
Speaker 1: the length and breadth and height and depth and to
41:39
Speaker 1: understand this immense love of Christ which is beyond comprehension
41:44
Speaker 1: so that you may also recognize the fullness of God.
41:49
Speaker 1: He's trying to take us from glory to glory to glory,
41:51
Speaker 1: from level to level to level to expand our comprehension.
41:54
Speaker 1: And in the end what He is saying is the
41:56
Speaker 1: whole Trinity is in you, the whole Trinity dwells in you.
41:59
Speaker 1: All that the Spirit is there to strengthen you, all
42:02
Speaker 1: that Christ is is there to cleanse you and to
42:05
Speaker 1: purify you, all that God is is there to fill
42:08
Speaker 1: you with His fullness. I just pray that you could
42:13
Speaker 1: understand that. Don't go around wondering needlessly who you are
42:21
Speaker 1: and how you stand before God. Get a grip on this. unimaginable,
42:26
Speaker 1: incomprehensible privilege of possessing eternal life. Then in verses 20
42:36
Speaker 1: and 21, he launches into a doxology of praise. Now
42:42
Speaker 1: to Him who is able to do exceeding abundantly beyond
42:49
Speaker 1: all that we ask or think. Well, that's God, isn't it?
42:54
Speaker 1: God the Father, God the Son, God the Spirit. Now
42:56
Speaker 1: to the one who can not only do what we
42:59
Speaker 1: can think, He can do what we can ask, not
43:01
Speaker 1: only what we ask or think but all we ask
43:03
Speaker 1: or think, not just all we ask or think but
43:06
Speaker 1: beyond all we ask or think, not just beyond it
43:09
Speaker 1: all but abundantly beyond it all, and not just abundantly
43:12
Speaker 1: beyond it all but exceeding abundantly beyond it all. I
43:16
Speaker 1: mean the terms are just grandiose. You say, that's some
43:20
Speaker 1: kind of power. To Him who is able to do
43:24
Speaker 1: exceeding abundantly beyond all that we ask or think according
43:28
Speaker 1: to the power, you would expect Him to say, that
43:31
Speaker 1: is in Him. But He says the power that works, what?
43:35
Speaker 1: Within us. It's just absolutely staggering. To Him be the
43:40
Speaker 1: glory in the church, that's us, and in Christ Jesus
43:45
Speaker 1: to all generations forever and ever. Amen. Get a grip
43:48
Speaker 1: on the reality of eternal life, it is that the
43:51
Speaker 1: Trinity lives in you. You possess the very life of God.
43:55
Speaker 1: It is clouded and covered by the sin in Your
43:58
Speaker 1: unredeemed flesh so that the world cannot fully see what
44:01
Speaker 1: we are. There will come a day in the next world,
44:03
Speaker 1: in the next life when we are liberated from this flesh,
44:07
Speaker 1: the great redemption of the body, and then the power
44:10
Speaker 1: and the glory of eternal life will come through us unhindered, unrestricted, unrestrained, unclouded,
44:18
Speaker 1: but it's already there. It is that power of the Trinity.
44:23
Speaker 1: that works within us. It works to our salvation. It
44:28
Speaker 1: works to our sanctification. It works to our endurance, our ministry,
44:34
Speaker 1: our usefulness, our service, our evangelism. It works to the
44:39
Speaker 1: benefit of our prayer life. Everything we do is a
44:43
Speaker 1: reflection of that power. And why did God do this?
44:48
Speaker 1: Why did He give us this power now? Verse 21,
44:51
Speaker 1: in order that He might receive glory in the church
44:54
Speaker 1: and that Christ might be glorified to all generations so
44:59
Speaker 1: that the world could see the power of Christ even
45:04
Speaker 1: if cloudy in the amazing power expressed in the church.
45:11
Speaker 1: We are then possessors already of this eternal life. If
45:16
Speaker 1: you believe in the name of the Son of God,
45:18
Speaker 1: that is, you believe Him to be who He is,
45:20
Speaker 1: said He was and believe Him to have done what
45:22
Speaker 1: He said He did, if you believe the gospel, you
45:25
Speaker 1: may know that you now possess eternal life. Father, we
45:32
Speaker 1: come now to the time around Your table realizing that
45:35
Speaker 1: that eternal life was only made possible because of the
45:40
Speaker 1: sacrifice that Jesus rendered on the cross. You gave Your
45:47
Speaker 1: only begotten Son. as a sacrifice for sin, to die
45:52
Speaker 1: our death so that we might receive Your life. This
45:59
Speaker 1: is the great gift of which we have sung so
46:03
Speaker 1: magnificently tonight, to which we give testimony here in this table.
46:08
Speaker 1: We recognize the bread as the symbol of our Lord's
46:12
Speaker 1: body given for us, the cup as a symbol of
46:15
Speaker 1: our Lord's blood shed for us. He became sin for
46:21
Speaker 1: us who knew no sin that we might be the
46:25
Speaker 1: righteousness of God in Him. He died just for the unjust.
46:32
Speaker 1: He was wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our
46:37
Speaker 1: iniquities and the chastening for our peace was laid on
46:40
Speaker 1: Him and by His stripes we're healed. This eternal life
46:44
Speaker 1: which we now possess. which will last forever is a
46:50
Speaker 1: gift that You've given us because of what Christ did.
46:53
Speaker 1: He died that we might live. He died on this
46:58
Speaker 1: earth that we might live in heaven. He died as
47:02
Speaker 1: a man that we might live as glorified saints. And
47:07
Speaker 1: so we come again to celebrate His death. And You've
47:11
Speaker 1: told us, don't take lightly of these elements. Examine your heart,
47:15
Speaker 1: make sure there's no sin between you and God, there's
47:18
Speaker 1: nothing that shouldn't be there. Confess it lest you treat
47:23
Speaker 1: this in a trivial fashion and bring about chastening and judgment.
47:30
Speaker 1: Nothing is more serious than coming to this table where
47:35
Speaker 1: we thank You for sending Your Son to die bearing
47:40
Speaker 1: the full weight of Your judgment on our sin. Deliver us, Lord,
47:43
Speaker 1: from any love of any sin, holding on to anything
47:51
Speaker 1: that would cause us to be hypocritical in coming to
47:54
Speaker 1: this table. Cleanse us now, we pray in your Son's name. Amen.
48:11
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48:18
Speaker 1: all copyright protection under applicable law. Our copyright policy is
48:23
Speaker 1: available at gty.org, and it includes instructions for and limitations
48:28
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