Latest / A Chapter a Day Bible Reading / February 11 - 1 John 5

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February 11 - 1 John 5 · A Chapter a Day Bible Reading

• 0:11
  Hello friends, it's Sean here. It's Wednesday, it's the 11th of
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  February and it's great to have your company.
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  I hope, like me, you have been enjoying reading through the
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  book of First John. Isn't it wonderful?
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  Couldn't we just spend weeks listening to someone encourage
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  us to be transformed by Jesus love and to show that love to
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  each other? This is good stuff.
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  Unfortunately, it's a brief book and today we need to wrap it up.
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  And even though there are two more letters from John, we will
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  save those for another time because tomorrow is a day for
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  Jude. And the next week we are going
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  to begin reading the book of Hosea.
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  But that is next week's glorious excitement.
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  This week's excitement is finishing up first, John.
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  And so today I was going to say, Paul, today John wraps up this,
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  this urging letter, this persuasive text that he has
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  written to this community urging them to live as transformed
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  people. So without further ado, let us
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  read this concluding chapter together.
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  First, John chapter 5. Everyone who believes that Jesus
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  is the Christ has become a child of God, and everyone who loves
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  the Father loves his children too.
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  We know we love God's children if we love God and obey his
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  commandments. Loving God means keeping his
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  commandments, and His commands are not burdensome.
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  For every child of God defeats this evil world, and we achieve
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  this victory through our faith. And who can win this battle
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  against the world? Only those who believe that
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  Jesus is the Son of God. And Jesus Christ was revealed as
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  God's Son by his baptism in water and by shedding his blood
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  on the cross, not by water only, but by water and blood.
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  And the Spirit who is truth confirms it with his testimony.
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  So we have these three witnesses, the Spirit, the
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  water, and the blood, and all three agree.
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  Since we believe human testimony, surely we can believe
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  the greater testimony that comes from God.
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  And God has testified about His Son.
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  All who believe in the Son of God know in their hearts that
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  this testimony is true. Those who don't believe this are
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  actually calling God a liar because they don't believe what
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  God has testified about His Son. And this is what God has
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  testified. He has given us eternal life,
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  and this life is in His Son. Whoever has the Son has life.
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  Whoever does not have God's Son does not have life.
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  I've written this to you who believe in the name of the Son
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  of God, so that you may know you have eternal life.
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  And we are confident that He hears us whenever we ask for
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  anything that pleases Him. And since we know He hears us
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  when we make our requests, we also know that He will give us
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  what we ask for. If you see a fellow believer
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  sinning in a way that does not lead to death, you should pray.
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  And God will give that person life.
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  But there is a sin that leads to death.
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  And I'm not saying you should pray for those who are
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  committed. All wicked actions are sin, but
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  not every sin leads to death. We know that God's children do
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  not make a practise of sinning, but God's Son holds them
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  securely and the evil 1 cannot touch them.
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  We know that we are children of God and that the world around us
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  is under the control of the evil. 1 And we know that the Son
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  of God has come, and he has given us understanding so that
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  we can know the true God. And now we live in fellowship
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  with the true God, because we live in fellowship with His Son,
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  Jesus Christ. He is the only true God, and He
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  is eternal life. Dear children, keep away from
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  anything that might take God's place in your hearts.
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  Thank you for this encouragement Lord, that you give us through
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  these words. You inspired John to write words
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  to that community at that time, but also words that echo through
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  the ages to us in our lives today.
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  Our Lord, I pray that our lives can be transformed by your love,
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  and that our communities can be transformed by your love.
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  That we would love each other, that we would keep each other
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  kindly accountable to living in a different way from what this
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  world promotes, but a way of grace and kindness, a way of
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  inclusion and generosity, all with the knowledge that we are
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  loved and forgiven. Children of the eternal loving
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  God, thank you Jesus for changing everything.
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  And as you have changed everything in the universe, in
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  the world, I pray that our hearts are also completely
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  transformed for you. So here we are offering you our
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  heart. Do with it as you would, for we
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  are yours and we love you. And we pray all of this in your
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  name, Jesus, Amen.