Latest / Cumberland Trace Church of Christ (Formerly Lehman Ave Church of Christ) / "Words of Life" by Hiram Kemp - Part 8

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"Words of Life" by Hiram Kemp - Part 8 · Cumberland Trace Church of Christ (Formerly Lehman Ave Church of Christ)

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All right, if you've got your Bible, go ahead and be turning it to 1 John.
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1 John 2 is where we're going to be tonight, 1 John 2.
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Now, last week, we started off introducing the book of 1 John.
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We talked about who it was written to.
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We talked about John's purpose in writing.
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Remember, John gives several purposes and why he wrote the book of 1 John.
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In chapter 1 and verse 4, for example, he says,
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I'm writing these things so that your joy might be full.
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And then in chapter 5 and verse 13, he says, I'm writing so you'll know you
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have eternal life.
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So throughout the book of 1 John, John gives these reasons.
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In chapter 1, we read about his whole purpose statement.
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He opens up in chapter 1, verses 1 through 3 by introducing us to the person
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of Jesus, and Jesus was heard, and seen, and felt.
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And he's saying to these people that are reading this for the first time,
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the Jesus you're following is the real flesh and blood Jesus that came
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to this world.
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That's 1 John 1, 1 through 3.
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And then in verse 4, he puts this exclamation mark on it by saying,
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because that's true about you, your joy should be full.
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And he talks about joy being full because we have fellowship with God,
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if you look at chapter 1 and verse 3.
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And then in 5 through 10, he talks about because this is true,
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you have this fellowship with God, it can be maintained, it can be enjoyed.
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And verses 5 through 10 of chapter 1 talk about this.
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God is light and him is no darkness.
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And if we say we have fellowship with him and walk in darkness, we lie.
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We're not practicing the truth.
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And he basically unpacks, here's how you have fellowship with God.
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Tonight, 1 John 2, this quarter, we're looking at 1, 2, and 3 John and
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talking about words of life.
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And tonight, I want you to think about 1 John 2 as a passage that teaches us what
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we need to do to stay in the light.
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So in 1 John 1 and verse 5, God is light and him is no darkness at all.
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1 John 1 and verse 7 says, if we walk in the light as he is in the light,
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we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus, his son,
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cleanses us from all sin.
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So here's the question.
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What does it mean to walk in the light?
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When you think about that phrase, just based on what you know about the Bible,
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and if you want to look at 1 John 1 and verse 7 again, you can look at that
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passage, and it talks in 1 John 1 and verse 7 about if you walk in the light,
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you have fellowship with one another, the blood cleanses us from all sin.
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So in the light, there's fellowship, there's forgiveness and all of that.
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But the question is, if you're in the light, God will forgive you.
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What does it mean to be in the light?
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When you think about that phrase, if you walk in the light, to you,
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that means what?
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What does that mean, to walk in the light?
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What does somebody say?
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You're faithful?
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Okay, you're going to be faithful.
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Yes.
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Not going to have perfect obedience, but your goal.
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You're striving to be obedient, for sure.
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You're on the path to eternal life.
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Yeah, John's going to say in 5.13, you have eternal life already,
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and you're on the path to it.
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Anybody else?
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What does it mean to walk in the light?
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What do you think about?
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Not just willfully sinning.
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That's in 1 John 2.
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He's going to say that in three different places.
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In 1 John 3 and verse 6, 1 John 3 and verse 9, and then in 1 John 5 and verse 18,
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he'll talk about this idea that God's people, they don't just willfully sin.
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All right, so, so far, we've got trying your best, striving to please God,
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not willfully sinning, doing your best to be glorifying to God.
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Anything else?
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Anything else you can think of when you think about walking in light?
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By the way, all of those answers are right so far.
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Anything else?
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Mike?
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Walking in the path of truth.
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That's one of John's favorite words.
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Yep.
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Anything else?
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What we show other people.
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We need to be a light and an example to others.
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Joey?
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Following in Jesus' examples, his ways.
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Anybody else?
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What we're going to look at tonight from 1 John 2 is going to flesh all of this out.
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But John, on occasion, will get very specific, and John will say,
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if you're doing this, you're walking in the light.
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Here's why that matters before we start.
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Because what did he say in chapter 1 and verse 7?
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If you're in the light, you have what?
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What did he say?
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Fellowship and another F word, ends with forgiveness.
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Forgiveness, yeah.
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Starts with an F, ends with forgiveness.
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Yeah, forgiveness.
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I need to know what it means to walk in the light because I need both of those
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things from God.
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I need fellowship and I need whatever John says that we're about to read.
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I better be laying hold on that because I need the blood to keep cleansing me.
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When we were baptized, sins were washed away the first time.
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But there's a second law of pardon where God continues to cleanse sins only for
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people that are walking in the light.
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So let's talk about tonight how we stand in the light.
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And here are the things we've got to do.
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So 1 John 2, 1 and 2, this is how John starts.
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My little children, I'm writing these things to you so that you may not sin.
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But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father,
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Jesus Christ the righteous.
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And he is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only,
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but also for the sins of the whole world.
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So standing in the light in the first place, it involves avoiding a sinful
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lifestyle and then availing yourself to Jesus's forgiveness.
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So if you want to stay in the light, John says you got to avoid a sinful
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lifestyle and then avail yourself to the forgiveness of Jesus.
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So in this text, John uses this phrase, 1 John 2 and verse 1,
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my little children.
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This is a term of endearment.
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He's the only one that uses this phrase, this my little children,
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which suggests a few possibilities about his relationship to the church.
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It's possible that he converted these folks.
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But the more likely possibility is that John was involved with them right after
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their conversion.
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He was a mentor of sorts.
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You know, Paul says this about Timothy in 1 Timothy 1 and verse 2,
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Timothy, my dearly beloved son in the faith, or Titus 1 and verse 4,
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he'll say it about Titus, to Titus, my true son in the faith.
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So when John starts and he says in verse 1, my little children,
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he's speaking to this congregation as those that are endeared to him.
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My little children, these things we write to you for what?
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Why did John write?
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Well, yeah, so you may believe, but in 2, 1, why does he say he's writing?
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My little children, these things we write to you so that you don't what?
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That you don't sin.
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Now, think about this, John ended chapter 1, he ends chapter 1 by saying,
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if you sin and you walk in the light, the blood of Jesus will what?
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Cleanse you.
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And then in 1 John 1 and verse 9, he says, if you sin and you confess it,
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God is faithful and just to do what?
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Forgive you and cleanse you of all unrighteousness.
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Now, John's just giving you all this hope about forgiveness.
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If you mess up, God will forgive you.
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And then he says, by the way, we wrote this so that you don't sin.
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Now, how do you reconcile that, what John says in 2, 1, with what you read
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in chapter 1 verse 8 and chapter 1 and verse 10?
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In chapter 1 and verse 8, John says, if we say we have no sin,
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we deceive ourselves.
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In chapter 1 and verse 10, he says, if we say we have not sinned,
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we make God a liar.
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So John says in chapter 1, everybody does what?
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Commit what?
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And then he writes and says, by the way, we're writing to you so
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that you don't sin.
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How do those go together?
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My little children, these things we write to you so that you sin not.
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But if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father.
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On one hand, John says, you sin.
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True or true?
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Not a trick question.
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You sin, yes.
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But then over here, John says, by the way, I gave you all that information
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so you don't sin.
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So which is it?
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And why is it both?
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We may not sin if we stay in the light.
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We may not sin if we stay in the light.
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That's how we don't sin.
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We cannot not sin.
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Correct, correct.
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We don't sin.
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And he's giving them little children and giving them reassurance.
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In the light, you still sin because you still need the blood.
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So in 1 John 1, 7, Chuck, he says, if you walk in the light as he is
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in the light, you have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus
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continues to cleanse you.
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So even in the light, you sin.
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That's where the blood is.
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That's where forgiveness is.
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And it doesn't matter how persistent you walk in the light or how faithful you
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walk in the light, you will sin.
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If that wasn't the case, you wouldn't need the blood.
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Now, you're right.
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We don't just live a...
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Huh?
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What was that?
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Well, that's that thing that is suffering.
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Christ, you said, but how do we not sin?
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That's right.
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That's how we don't sin.
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Okay.
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Oh, you're saying it's not held against us because of the blood of Jesus.
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Because the blood of Jesus is how we're covered.
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Okay.
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Andy, and then somebody over here.
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Don't rub in your hair any alcohol on you.
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Don't even blink too hard.
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Alcohol, if anybody makes some sudden move.
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Okay, Andy, go ahead.
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We're not going to be sinless, but we should sin less.
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Yeah, I think that's what John's going for when he says, my little children,
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these things we write to you so that you don't sin.
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Joey, go ahead.
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Sorry.
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Kind of reminds me of like what Paul...
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If you read that, we're basically kind of our sins dealt with all the time.
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Your mind, what might go to, oh, then I'm just going to keep on sinning,
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even though that goes against walk and all those things.
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But he's like, he's basically saying, you know, you're going to sin.
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You say you're not, you think you're a liar, but you should be striving not to.
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I think that's right.
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I think both of those comments perfectly capture what's happening,
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especially the Romans 5.
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At the end of Romans 5, Paul says, where sin abounds, grace did much more abound.
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And then the next thing he says is, what shall we say then?
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Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?
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God forbid.
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If you just heard all of this good news about God's grace and God's forgiveness,
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a potential temptation for you might be, if God's going to forgive me no matter
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what I do, as long as I confess, and if I walk in the light, I'm forgiven,
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you might be tempted to take it easy on what?
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And John says, I never wrote any of this to encourage you to sin.
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I'm writing to you so that you don't sin.
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Romans 6 and verse 1, or Titus 2, 11 through 14, the grace of God that brings
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salvation has appeared to all people, teaching us that we should deny
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ungodliness and worldly lust and live soberly and righteously and godly
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in this present age.
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So, you can have forgiveness if you walk in the light.
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That's what God wants for you, but there's never been any permission
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to just live how you want.
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Your mom might buy, you're a kid, if you're a kid, your mom might buy a brand
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new washer and dryer and send you to school in a white T-shirt,
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white pants, and white shoes.
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You shouldn't get on a mudslide just because of that, though.
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And then if you come home all muddy and your mom said, well,
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what happened to you?
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Well, we got a washer and dryer, no problem.
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Yeah, the washer and dryer is there for people that mess up,
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but don't just drown yourself in spaghetti because, well,
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we got a washer and dryer.
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You should be saying, what?
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I still want to be conscientious.
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I still want to be wise.
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But if I so happen to make a mistake, I'm a human being, we have a what?
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Washer and dryer.
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You might have a new mop or a vacuum.
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You wouldn't get to the end of your plate and, well,
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I'll just dump all this on the floor, but that's why we got the new vacuum.
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No, you would say the vacuum is there to catch up stuff in the event
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that things drop.
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You're a human, those kind of things happen.
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There's a mop, there's a vacuum to catch those things up.
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You don't have to be perfect, but you don't just start turning that
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into the garbage disposal because you just feel like it.
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And that's what John's saying about the blood of Jesus.
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The blood of Jesus is there to forgive us when we sin, but we don't just splatter
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ourselves with sin because, well, the blood's there and God will forgive me
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if I walk in the light.
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Notice what he says in verse 1 at the end.
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But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father,
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Jesus Christ, the righteous.
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That advocate there, that same word is used for the Holy Spirit
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throughout John's Gospel.
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So in John, if you're writing your Bible, you want John 14, 26,
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John 15 in verse 16, John 15 in verse 26.
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This word advocate is used in those passages to talk about the Holy Spirit,
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which is somebody who's a defender.
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They come alongside you, they help you.
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But here he says our advocate is who?
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Jesus Christ, the righteous, and he's the propitiation for our sins and not
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for ours only, but for the whole world.
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So John says, if you do sin, you have an advocate,
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somebody that'll come alongside you, Jesus Christ, the righteous,
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and he's the propitiation.
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What does that mean?
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He's the go-between.
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What else?
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A mediator, sacrifice.
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Yeah, he's the atoning sacrifice for our sins and not only for ours,
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but also for the sins of the whole world.
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So first, if you want to walk in the light, avoid a sinful lifestyle.
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But when you sin, avail yourself to the blood of Jesus,
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meaning that if you mess up, you can stand the light.
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As Chuck mentioned, if you appeal to the blood of Jesus,
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God will wash away your sins.
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This last part in verse 2 when he says, not for ours only,
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but also for the sins of the whole world, what does that mean?
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Is everybody in the world going to be saved?
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So why does he say Jesus is the atoning sacrifice not only for our sins,
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but also for the sins of the whole world?
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He just died for everybody.
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He died for everybody?
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Clint, you say it.
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I'm just saying, I mean, it's forgiveness that's available for everybody.
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Yeah, it's for everybody that will accept it.
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Yeah, 1 Timothy 4 and verse 10, Paul says,
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Jesus is the savior of all men, especially of those that believe.
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So we cash in on the forgiveness, but it's open to everybody.
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So if you want to walk in the light, avoid a sinful lifestyle.
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View your life as an all-white outfit.
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And when you got baptized, you were washed clean, whiter than snow.
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You're going to spill things on yourself.
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You're a human being.
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That's called sin.
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But God will cleanse you.
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But you can't just go out here and say, well, it really doesn't matter what I do.
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That's why we got a washer and dryer in heaven.
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That's why Jesus died.
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That's not why.
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It's for you when you mess up.
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And this verse says he's the propitiation or he's the atonement sacrifice,
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not only for our sins, but also for the whole world.
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Mike and then Chuck.
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That's right.
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Yeah, everybody won't cash in on it, Chuck.
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Yeah, that's right.
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Correct, correct.
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That's exactly right.
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Jesus cashed in.
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So step number one, walk in the light, stay in the light,
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avoid a sinful lifestyle, avail yourself to Jesus' forgiveness.
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Here's number two, keep his commandments.
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Look at three through six.
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Quickly, he says, and by this we know that we have come to know him
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if we keep his commandments.
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Whoever says I know him but does not keep his commandments is a liar,
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and the truth is not in him.
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But whoever keeps his word and him truly, the love of God is perfected.
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By this, we know that we are in him.
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Whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.
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So right after John says, hey, avoid sin, and if you mess up,
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you can appeal to Jesus' blood.
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Second thing, walking in the light involves keeping his commandments.
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Verse three, and by this we know that we know him.
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In the Bible, New Testament, what does it mean to know him?
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What does it mean?
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He's talking about Christ here, by the way, keeping with what he said in verses one
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and two about Jesus.
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What does it mean to know him?
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How do you know you know God?
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What was that?
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If you're following him, yep.
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If we...what was that?
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If we love him, yep.
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If we have a relationship with him.
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Show of hands, anybody know who Elon Musk is?
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Show of hands.
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If he walked in, would you say, hey, I know you?
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Like, do you know him or do you just know who he is?
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What would it take to know him?
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What would it take to actually know a person?
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You'd have to have a relationship.
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What did somebody else say?
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Conversation.
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They would also have to what?
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Know you.
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You can say you know anybody.
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Do they know you?
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And so, John says, here's how we know we know him.
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If we do what?
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If we keep his commandments in verse three.
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Why do you think the New Testament is so many places?
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You can think about some places, especially mentioned by John.
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Think John 14, 15.
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Jesus says, if you love me, keep my commandments.
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If you flip it around, John 15 and verse 14,
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Jesus says, you are my friends if you do whatever I command you.
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Why do you think the New Testament stresses over and over again,
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if you really have a true relationship with God,
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it'll be worked out in obedience?
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Like, why does it say this over and over again?
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Or think about, go to this passage.
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Go to Matthew 7.
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Go to Matthew 7 and notice verse 21.
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Matthew 7, 21 down through 23.
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Hold your hand in first, John.
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I'm just showing you, you know these verses,
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but there's a reason why the New Testament
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zeroes in on this repeatedly.
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Obedience says something about your relationship to God.
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So, Matthew 7, 21, Jesus gets to the end of the Sermon on the Mount
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and he says, not everyone that says to me, Lord, Lord, will what?
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Enter the kingdom of heaven, but he that does the will of my father,
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which is in heaven, and then he runs down through all of these things.
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And that day, many will say to me, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied
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in your name, and your name cast out demons,
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and your name done many wonderful works?
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And I'm going to profess unto them, depart from me,
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you that practice lawlessness, I never knew you.
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You could pile the verses up tonight.
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Luke 6, 46.
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Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and do not what I say?
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Why do you think the Bible repeatedly tells people this?
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You don't know God.
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You don't have a real relationship with him unless you obey.
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Why do you think that's rehearsed over and over again?
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Lip service doesn't mean anything, for sure.
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Yep.
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What else?
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It's critically important.
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Yeah, but I want to know behind that, why is this important?
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Why does God have to keep telling you, just remember, you don't know me.
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You and I are not friends unless you're obeying.
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Why does the Bible keep telling you and me that?
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And we might think what?
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We might think we really know him even though we're not what?
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Even though we're not obeying.
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You might think, well, I listen to all this person's songs,
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I watch all of their interviews, I really know them,
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and they'll walk right past you in the mall.
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You don't know them.
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And a lot of people think, oh, I know God.
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I mean, I call his name a lot of times.
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I pray to him.
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I come to church services.
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And God's saying, the only people that really know me are the people that do the
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kind of stuff I'm saying.
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Look at verse 4.
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He says, whoever says I know him but does not keep his commands is a what?
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Is a liar.
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If you're writing your Bible, mark this out.
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John uses this phrase repeatedly in 1 John, calling somebody a liar
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or self-deceived.
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Notice the verses.
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Go back up to chapter 1 and verse 8.
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Chapter 1 and verse 8, he says, if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves.
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That's the first time John talks about lying to somebody.
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In chapter 1 and verse 10, he says, if we say we have not sinned,
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we make him a what?
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A liar.
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Go to chapter 2 and go to verse 22.
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Chapter 2, 22.
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Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ?
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This is a favorite phrase of John where he says, if you do this or fail to do this,
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you're a liar.
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Look at chapter 4 and verse 20.
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Chapter 4 and verse 20.
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If anyone says I love God and hates his brother, he's a what?
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He's a liar.
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And then in chapter 5 and verse 10, this is the last one.
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Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself.
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Whoever does not believe has made God a liar because he hasn't believed.
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So John likes to say a person is a liar if they don't follow through.
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And in chapter 2 and verse 4, he's talking about this.
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If you say I know him but don't keep his commands, you're a liar,
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and the truth is not in you.
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But whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected,
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and by this we know we're in him.
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Whoever says he abides in him ought to walk, chapter 2, verse 6,
18:58
in the same way in which he walked.
18:59
How do I know I'm in the light?
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Here's why I asked that question at the beginning of class.
19:03
Sometimes when people ask that question, we get vague, and the Bible wants us to
19:08
funnel down and get specific.
19:10
So if somebody says, what does it mean to walk in the light?
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We might say something like this.
19:13
Trying your best.
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That's great, but what does that mean?
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Trying to follow Jesus.
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Right, but like what does that mean?
19:22
Walking in his steps.
19:23
Right, but what does that mean?
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John gets specific and he says, you're going to have to obey him.
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James says the same thing.
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Faith without works is you have to obey.
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I know I'm walking in the light if I'm doing what he says, if I'm obeying him and
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keeping his commandments.
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In verse 5, he says, this is how the love of God is made perfect.
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So God loves you, and God's love reaches its full end when you love God back.
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How does God know if somebody loves him?
19:53
If you obey him.
19:54
God's love language is obedience.
19:55
That's what God respects.
19:57
If you obey God, God says, you and I are on the same page.
20:00
If you don't submit and obey, lip service, as so many have already commented,
20:04
doesn't mean anything.
20:07
For sure.
20:11
For sure, and he'll double down on that in chapter 419.
20:13
He'll say, we love him because he first loved us.
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Yes, God's love is obviously in us first and it should motivate us.
20:21
If somebody buys you a present, if somebody gets you a gift, let's just say
20:24
they get you a shirt or they give you something and you never wear it,
20:28
what does that suggest to this person?
20:30
They buy you a pair of shoes and you never put them on,
20:32
what would they possibly think?
20:34
You don't like it.
20:35
That's not your style.
20:36
You don't like it.
20:37
Jeremy called me an Israelite tonight.
20:39
I'll meet you all as slim chickens tomorrow for lunch, okay?
20:41
Yeah, if you don't like, if you don't wear it, if you never use it,
20:45
if you never carry that purse or that bag, somebody's going to get the idea,
20:48
you don't really appreciate it and you could have said in the moment
20:51
of the gift giving, oh, I really appreciate it.
20:53
Oh, this is my color.
20:54
I like it.
20:55
I love it.
20:55
But over time, they start saying, it's like, you never wear it.
20:58
I've never seen you with it before.
20:59
You must not like it.
21:02
God showers love on you.
21:03
He showers love on me.
21:05
How does God know we like it, we appreciate it?
21:07
John says, in this, the love of God is perfected.
21:10
God will know when you reciprocate it in your life to other people
21:13
and you demonstrate it.
21:14
And he says in verse 6, and we've got to pick up speed,
21:17
whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.
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I've got two questions.
21:22
What is it, two questions, what does it mean first to abide in him?
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What does that mean, to abide in Jesus?
21:29
It means to remain in him, to stick close by, don't go anywhere.
21:33
If you abide in him, you should walk the way he walked.
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Now, the second question, how did Jesus walk when he was on the earth?
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Just throw out some things.
21:42
How did Jesus walk when he was on the earth?
21:43
How did he walk?
21:46
Humility, humble, servanthood, a doer.
21:52
So if you had a piece of paper and you drew a line down the middle and somebody
21:55
put Jesus over here, and they said, well, how did Jesus walk?
21:58
And you start listing stuff, loving, gentle, compassionate, faithful,
22:02
prayerful, holy, and then you put your name on the other side,
22:07
you shouldn't even have to look, you could just start transferring it over.
22:09
That's what John's saying.
22:10
How do you stand the light?
22:12
By doing those things.
22:14
That's why you've got to get acquainted.
22:15
We've got to get acquainted with Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.
22:18
How did Jesus actually live?
22:20
Because that's the standard.
22:21
In 1 Peter 2, Peter talks about Jesus and he says, he suffered,
22:25
he left us an example that we should follow in his steps.
22:29
He did no sin.
22:30
When he was reviled, he reviled not again.
22:32
When he suffered, he didn't threaten in return.
22:34
So if somebody says, I'm walking like he walked, here's a question.
22:37
When you're mistreated, how do you respond?
22:40
Everybody in this room that has any kind of familiarity with the Bible,
22:43
we know how Jesus responded when he was mistreated.
22:46
How do you respond when people mistreat you, when they malign you,
22:48
when they lie about you and misrepresent you?
22:51
If you want to be in the light, you've got to walk like he walked.
22:53
What did Jesus do?
22:54
He didn't revile again.
22:55
He didn't give it back in return.
22:57
Peter says, follow in his steps and do that, and then you'll be in the light.
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Just a quick reminder, what's in the light?
23:03
Two things, fellowship and I got to walk like he walked.
23:07
I want that.
23:08
Here's number three, walking in the light.
23:09
Standing in the light involves this, the new commandment to love.
23:12
1 John 2, 7 through 14, I'm going to read this whole section here.
23:16
He says, beloved, I'm writing you no new commandment, but
23:20
an old commandment that you have from the beginning.
23:22
The old commandment is the word that you have heard.
23:24
At the same time, it's a new commandment that I'm writing to you,
23:27
which is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and
23:31
the true light is already shining.
23:34
Whoever says he's in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness.
23:37
Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and
23:39
in him there is no cause for stumbling.
23:42
But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and
23:46
does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded his eyes.
23:49
I'm writing to you, little children,
23:51
because your sins are forgiven you for his name's sake.
23:53
I'm writing to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning.
23:56
I'm writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one.
24:00
I write to you, children, because you know the father.
24:02
I write to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning.
24:05
I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and
24:08
the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one.
24:11
So here's the third thing.
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John set this up in chapter one.
24:14
Walk in the light, you'll have forgiveness, you'll have all these blessings.
24:16
And then in chapter two, he fleshes out what it means to stay in the light.
24:19
So far, John has said, avoid sin, but if you sin, you have an advocate with
24:24
the father, don't try to take care of it yourself, appeal to that propitiation.
24:28
Then he says, keep his commands.
24:30
Make sure your life is going in the way of Jesus.
24:32
And then the third thing he says is this new commandment.
24:35
Okay, look at verse seven.
24:37
Behold, beloved, I'm writing you no new commandment, but
24:40
an old commandment that you have from the beginning.
24:42
What's old about this commandment?
24:44
And just as a, let's just kind of get their cheat code, the command is to do what?
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Love who?
24:52
Starts with one, ends with another.
24:54
Love who?
24:56
One another, right, yeah.
24:57
All right, so that's the command.
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Here's the question, why does he say it's not new?
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He says, this is not a new commandment in verse seven, but
25:03
an old commandment that you have from the beginning.
25:06
Where did that come from?
25:07
Where is this beginning he's talking about?
25:10
Okay, so the old law talks about loving one another.
25:13
Leviticus 19.18 says, love your neighbor like you love yourself.
25:18
So this is an old commandment from the Bible in the Old Testament,
25:21
the Hebrew scriptures taught, love one another.
25:24
But this from the beginning isn't just about that.
25:26
He's not just saying, this is an old commandment you have from the beginning,
25:29
talking about the first part of the Bible.
25:31
He's talking here about when you became a Christian,
25:34
you were taught to love one another from the very beginning.
25:37
That's how John's using beginning here.
25:39
From the time these folks were converted, right out of the waters of baptism,
25:43
one of the things included in that is, you need to love one another.
25:46
But then he says, this is the old commandment which you've heard.
25:48
Look at verse eight.
25:49
At the same time, it's a new commandment that I'm writing to you,
25:52
which is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and
25:56
the true light is already shining.
25:57
So what's new about the command to love one another if it's already in
26:00
the Old Testament?
26:01
What's new about it now?
26:03
On the one hand, John says it's old, and then he says, but
26:07
there is a sentence which is new.
26:08
All right, it's old because, as Miss Brenda says, it's in the old law,
26:12
Leviticus 19, 18, other Old Testament passages that tell us the love.
26:17
How is it new?
26:22
Christ illustrated it more than anybody else ever has.
26:25
Yeah, I think that's exactly right.
26:27
Jesus says, greater love has no man than this,
26:29
that a man will lay down his life for his friends, John 15, 13.
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That's new.
26:37
Yeah, so love one another is repeated over and over again 55 times or more.
26:42
It's drilled down into us, and John says, this is a new commandment.
26:46
I want you to love one another.
26:47
Look at your Bible in verse 9.
26:49
Here's where we get specific, and here's where this matters for us.
26:52
All right, verse 9.
26:54
Whoever says he's in the what?
26:57
Uh-oh, I want to know about that, because the last time John mentioned the light
27:01
was in chapter 1 and verse 7.
27:02
This is a big deal.
27:04
Whoever says he's in the light and does what?
27:08
Is in the...
27:10
All right, stop right where you are.
27:11
Go back to chapter 1 and verse 5.
27:13
In chapter 1, verses 5 and 6, John says, this is the message we've heard from him.
27:18
God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
27:21
If we say we have fellowship with him and walk in darkness,
27:24
we lie and don't practice the truth.
27:26
This is a big deal, what you're reading in 2, 9, and 10,
27:29
because John's about to define for himself what it means to walk in the light.
27:33
And notice what he says, starting in verse 9 of chapter 2.
27:36
Whoever says he's in the light...
27:37
By the way, what's in the light again?
27:39
Two things.
27:39
What's in the light?
27:40
Fellowship and...
27:42
John says, if you claim to be in the light, where there's this fellowship
27:45
and forgiveness, and you hate your brother, he says, you're still in darkness.
27:51
Verse 10, whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him,
27:54
there's no cause for stumbling.
27:56
But verse 11, whoever hates his brother is in the what?
28:00
And walks in darkness and doesn't know where he's going because the darkness has
28:03
blinded his eyes.
28:04
Here's why this matters.
28:07
We have to make sure we're loving each other because this is tied
28:10
to your forgiveness.
28:13
Now, here's what you might be thinking.
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I don't have a problem.
28:16
I don't hate anybody.
28:16
See, John won't let us get away with that.
28:18
John, throughout his whole book, he only deals with dramatic opposites.
28:22
So for John, there's God and there's the devil.
28:25
There's light and there's darkness.
28:28
There's love and there's hate.
28:30
There's Cain and there's Abel.
28:31
Every time John speaks, he only gives two options.
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So we might say, I don't hate them.
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I just don't like them.
28:38
Well, John's going to put that in which category?
28:39
Which one do you think John's going to put it in?
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See, John won't let you get away.
28:43
John says you either love or you hate.
28:45
And here's the thing, if you're not on good terms with the brethren,
28:49
it's not just, well, I just go to church.
28:50
I don't talk to them.
28:51
I'm just going on...here's the thing.
28:53
Now, you're out of the light.
28:54
And what's in the light?
28:56
Forgiveness and fellowship.
28:57
When we said, what does it mean to walk in the light?
28:59
It's interesting.
29:00
Nobody said, I know I'm in the light if I love the brethren.
29:03
But when John described it, he says, that's literally what it means
29:07
to walk in the light by John.
29:08
John didn't say, try your hardest to live the Christian life.
29:11
John didn't say, really follow...he says some of that.
29:15
But when he specifically says, here's how you know you're in the light,
29:18
the evidence John gave was, do you love other Christians?
29:23
And this makes sense.
29:24
Go back to chapter 1 and verse 7.
29:25
This is pretty interesting to me in chapter 1 and verse 7 where he talks
29:28
about if you walk in the light.
29:29
Notice what John says.
29:30
This might just slip by sometimes.
29:32
In chapter 1 and verse 7, he says, if we walk in the light as he is
29:36
in the light, we have fellowship with who?
29:38
See, you would think that would be about God, but John doesn't say that.
29:41
He says, if we walk in the light, we have fellowship together because we're
29:45
occupying the same space.
29:47
You can't have fellowship with God and be on bad terms with God's people.
29:51
You get to chapter 2, 9, and 10, John says, if you hate the brothers,
29:55
you're in the darkness.
29:57
And if you're in the darkness, you don't have forgiveness.
30:00
He says, you don't know where you're going.
30:02
You're stumbling because the darkness has blinded your eyes.
30:05
Why would John say that?
30:06
If you hate the brothers, you're in the darkness, your eyes are blinded,
30:09
why would John put those together like that?
30:12
Because the Bible is trying to teach you how to do two things mainly,
30:15
love God with all of your heart, soul, mind, and strength,
30:18
and love your neighbor.
30:20
If you read the Bible and then you hate the brothers, you're dark and your eyes
30:24
are blinded because guess what?
30:26
You've missed the whole point.
30:28
Doesn't matter how many verses you know.
30:29
Doesn't matter how many services you attend, how many good deeds you do.
30:33
If you don't love the brothers, John says, you're in darkness and you've
30:37
forgotten where you're going, the darkness has blinded your eyes,
30:40
and you're not in the light with God.
30:42
Because this person over here who's a Christian, who's in the light,
30:45
God loves them.
30:46
God's got his hands around them.
30:47
You won't deal with them.
30:48
You can't be in the light with God like that.
30:50
He says darkness until now.
30:53
Yeah.
30:54
But the light has already shined, Christ.
30:57
That's right.
30:58
Yeah, Christ is the light, but he's saying, you remain in the darkness
31:01
up to this present point.
31:03
The light's available, which is Jesus, but you don't have access to it as long
31:07
as you stay in this discord and this disgruntled relationship with the brother
31:11
or sister in Christ.
31:13
I'm spending just a little bit of time on this and we've got to go because I think
31:17
we sometimes think like this.
31:20
If I'm at odds with another Christian, I'm just going to go into worship services
31:25
and do my Christian thing, and I'm not really worried about that.
31:29
Like, that's just them, we're just...
31:30
And God's saying, no, sometimes what you need is not down the aisle.
31:34
Sometimes what we need is across the aisle.
31:36
At the invitation, we need to go hug somebody's neck and beg their pardon.
31:39
And it's a heaven or hell issue because as long as I'm at odds with you,
31:43
as much as it depends on me, Romans 12, 18, sometimes you've done all you can do
31:47
and there's no reconciliation.
31:48
But until that's happened, you realize like there's no forgiveness.
31:52
I'm cutting myself off from the blood of Jesus.
31:54
So here's what we should be saying, I'm not going to let you send me to hell.
32:00
I'm going to forgive you.
32:01
I'm going to beat you forgiving and reconciling because I really want
32:05
to go to heaven and I'm not in the light.
32:06
I can't have forgiveness because you and I are at odds with each other.
32:09
That's why John says, this isn't a new commandment, it's new now,
32:13
but you've really got...
32:13
We've got to get this right because other than this, the darkness has blinded your
32:17
eyes and you don't have forgiveness.
32:19
All right, any questions on that?
32:21
You like everybody in here now?
32:22
Great.
32:23
All right.
32:23
Chapter 2, 15 down through 27, you want to stay in the light,
32:28
he says, reject the world.
32:29
First John 2, 15, beginning, he says, do not love the world or the things
32:33
that are in the world.
32:34
If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in them.
32:38
For all that is in the world, the desires of the flesh, the desires
32:40
of the eyes, and the pride of life is not from the Father but is from the world.
32:44
And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does,
32:47
the will of God abides forever.
32:48
So walking in the light, avoid sin, appeal to Jesus' blood.
32:52
Keep his commands, love the brothers, but then reject the world.
32:56
And this is a long section.
32:57
I'm going to do 15 through 17 and then do the rest.
33:00
But this first part, 15 through 17, don't love the world.
33:04
In verse 15, what does John mean here by the world?
33:07
Sometimes in the Bible, the world means what or who?
33:12
Everybody, like John 3, 16, God so loved.
33:16
So God loves the world sometimes.
33:18
Sometimes in the Bible, the world means like all the people.
33:21
But then in this passage, love not the world, what does this mean?
33:24
What does the world mean here?
33:27
Ungodly art, worldly ways.
33:29
This is important.
33:29
This verse doesn't mean like love not the world, no baseball, no ice cream,
33:34
no slim chickens, none of that, right?
33:36
This doesn't mean you can't love things in the world.
33:38
It means ungodly stuff.
33:40
How do you know that?
33:41
The rest of the verse.
33:42
In verse 16, all that is in the world, and he gives three categories,
33:45
the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.
33:48
Those three things are everybody's downfall in the end as it relates to sin.
33:54
The lust of the flesh, what is that?
33:56
That means if it feels good to me, I want to do it.
34:00
The lust of the eyes, if it looks good to me, I want to have it.
34:05
And the pride or the arrogance of life says, it's my life, I can do whatever I want.
34:12
In Genesis 3, the Bible says, when Eve saw that the tree was good and a tree to be
34:17
desired to make one wise, she took and ate and gave to her husband and he ate.
34:21
And they followed all three of these.
34:23
Look good, touched it, felt it, absorbed it, did their own thing.
34:27
And John says, if you want to walk in the light, you've got to get that humanistic
34:30
thinking out of your mind.
34:32
You can't think, I can do whatever I want.
34:34
And then in 18 down through 27, he says, children, it is the last hour.
34:38
And as you've heard, the antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists come.
34:42
Therefore, we know it's the last hour.
34:44
They went out from us, but they were not of us.
34:46
If they had been of us, they would have continued with us.
34:49
But they went out that it might become plain that they are not all of us.
34:52
But you've been anointed by the Holy One, and you all have knowledge.
34:56
I write to you not because you don't know the truth, but because you know it and
34:59
because no liar is of the truth.
35:01
Who is a liar?
35:02
But he who denies that Jesus is the Christ.
35:05
This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son.
35:08
No one who denies the Son has the Father.
35:10
Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also.
35:13
Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you.
35:15
If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you too will abide in
35:18
the Son and in the Father.
35:20
And this is the promise that he made to us, eternal life.
35:24
I write these things to you about those who are trying to deceive you.
35:27
But the anointing that you've received from him abides in you, and you have no
35:30
need that anyone should teach you.
35:32
But as his anointing teaches you about everything and is true and is no lie,
35:36
just as it has taught you, abide in him.
35:38
Okay, so at the end of this, John talks more about the world and
35:42
then we'll close out the class.
35:43
But he says, if you want to avoid the world, avoid those three things,
35:47
lust of the flesh, lust of the eye, the pride of life.
35:49
And then he highlights some characters, and I'll say that in plural.
35:52
And in verse 18, he calls this the antichrist.
35:55
What does antichrist mean?
35:56
Take a guess.
35:58
Against who?
35:59
Against Christ.
36:01
There's a lot of people that think various things about the antichrist.
36:04
Some people are waiting for some end-time figure at the end to oppose all God,
36:08
and that's the antichrist.
36:10
Here's what I'll tell you.
36:11
The word antichrist only appears in the New Testament in John's writings.
36:14
In 1 John, and then one place in 2 John.
36:17
Just looking at your Bible from right here,
36:19
here's what we know about the antichrist.
36:21
Number one, John says, he would come in the last hour.
36:25
This means, like, in the last age, the Christian age.
36:28
So John says, he would come in the last age, the Christian time.
36:32
Number two, verse 18, here's the second thing about the antichrist.
36:35
There are many.
36:36
John never thought there was one person, capital A, antichrist.
36:39
He says, there are many antichrists,
36:42
and they were already in the world during John's time.
36:44
He says, that's how we know it's the last hour.
36:47
So this person comes in the Christian age.
36:49
There's more than one antichrist.
36:51
Number three, look at verse 19.
36:54
Whoever these individuals were that were in opposition to Jesus,
36:57
they were Christians at one point.
36:59
He says, they went out from us, but if they would have been with us,
37:02
they would have continued with us.
37:03
But they went out so that it might be made clear that they're not from us.
37:06
But then, he says in verse 20 down through 21,
37:09
you have everything you need to oppose them.
37:11
Rather than doing, like, a crazy, you know, methodological Bible study,
37:15
trying to figure out who this person is, just know if you're a Christian,
37:18
you already have the equipment to oppose.
37:20
He says, you have the truth, no lies of the truth, nothing can stop you.
37:24
How do you know that somebody is the antichrist or an antichrist?
37:27
Because John says there are many.
37:28
How do you know?
37:29
False teachers in relation to the Father and the Son.
37:33
False teachers in relation to the Father and the Son.
37:35
But specifically here, they deny the reality of who Jesus is.
37:39
And you can put 2 John 7 with this.
37:41
Go to 2 John.
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We've got, like, 30 seconds before they ring the bell.
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Just flip a page and go to 2 John and notice verse 7.
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For many deceivers have gone out into the world.
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Those who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh,
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such a one is the deceiver and the what?
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Everybody who says Jesus never came in the flesh is the antichrist.
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Go back to 1 John.
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Go back to 1 John and notice chapter 4 in verse 3.
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Every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God.
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This is the spirit of the antichrist which you heard was coming and now is
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in the world already.
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What John says essentially to these Christians is,
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reject this worldly philosophy that would make you doubt the truth
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about Jesus.
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And the last thing tonight is, abide in him and practice righteousness.
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That's how he ends this chapter.
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Now little children abide in him so when he appears, we may have confidence and not
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shrink back from him in shame at his coming.
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If you know he's righteous, you may be sure everyone who practices
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righteousness has been born of him.
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So he's saying, stick with Jesus, he was righteous,
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practice that same righteousness, and when he shows up,
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you won't have to be afraid.
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You might be thinking, when I think about the judgment in the
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second coming, it's natural to be afraid because I wonder if I've done enough.
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You just read 1 John 2, he didn't say anything about you doing enough.
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But I made a lot of mistakes.
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Were you out there just like throwing mud on yourself in life or were you
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trying and then you appealed to the forgiveness?
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Did you love the brethren?
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John says, here's how you stay in the light.
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And in the light, there's imperfection, there's sin, but even in the light,
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there's fellowship and if you want that, John says, do these things,
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these five things, and you'll stay in the light.
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And all of your sins, even now, will be presently washed away.
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Thanks for a good Bible class.
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Appreciate it.