Transcription
My desire as a preacher is not simply to be controversial. It's to be faithful to scripture itself. Let's pray.
Father, I pray that in these next few minutes, open up your word. May we see wondrous things. to behold the beauties, the glories that you would have us to behold from your word. I pray that you would have us to leave this place affected, impacted, changed. May your word be as you describe it, living, active, sharper than a two-edged sword. We pray for We pray that this word would be alive, not a dead letter to us. We ask this in the name of the living Christ. Amen.
Okay, listen. It's always imperative that you look at what God's word says. See, it can be so easy. This happens all the time. The preacher preaches the word and then people find fault with the preacher when they ought to really be paying attention to what the word says. You know what you always have to ask? Is he telling me what comes off the pages of scripture?
Okay, I want you to turn in your Bibles to First John. Now, bear with me. I want to do something here. I trust it won't be tedious. Just pay very particular attention. I am reading from the ESV at the moment and I am going to tell you as I transition from one translation to another and there's a reason I'm going to move between translations because I'm wanting to bring a point home to you that I think the differences in translations help us grasp the ESV. One of the most important things that I have always said in homalytics classes that I've held over the years and hermeneutics is this. Pay attention to what it sounds like God's word is saying. We ought to Jesus on a regular basis said to people, "Have you not read?" In other words, he assumed that if you'd have just read it. Now, sometimes he was saying that to people who actually had read it. They just didn't they didn't pay attention to what they were reading. And that's what I want you to do. Put away your preconceived ideas. That's how we we should be able to approach scripture and read it. I hope on a regular basis you sit down and you just kind of imagine, hey, if I had never read this before, I'm just going to read this like this is the first time I'm reading this. Let's try to do that here.
So, I'm going to dive in at 1 John 2 verse 28. And I'm going to read down through. It's kind of a section together. probably where they put this chapter division wasn't exactly the best. But let's just go from 228 down to 310 and just listen to what it says. I'm going to read from the ESV.
"Now little children, abide in him so that when he appears, this is obviously saying abide in Christ so that when Christ appears, we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming." Now let that sink in. Christ is coming. Can you imagine him there? Some people are going to be shrinking back. Some people are ready and they want to embrace him. You don't want to be, listen, a lot of religious people are going to shrink back at that day. Once they see him, they're going to recognize it is not well with my soul. You don't want to be in the camp that shrinks back.
Okay. Verse 29. "If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness practices righteousness, the ESV says, has been born of him."
31. "See what kind of love, behold, the manner of love the Father has given to us that we should be called children of God. And so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him."
Verse two, "Beloved, we are God's children. Now, and what we will be has not yet appeared. See that? We know that when he appears, we shall be like him because we shall see him." Kind of like Moses beholding the glory of the Lord and the glory God on his own face. When we see Christ, we are going to be transformed into the same image.
Verse three, "Everyone who thus hopes, see, if you've got that hope about that happening in the future, that you're going to be transformed into his exact image when you see him. If you've got that hope, you know what you do now? You purify yourself as he is pure. Everyone who makes a practice of sinning ESV I'm reading also practices lawlessness. Sin is lawlessness. You know that he appeared in order to take away sins. In him there is no sin. No one who abides in him keeps on sinning. No one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him."
"Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous as he is righteous. Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil. For the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. No one I the focus of my message is chapter 3:9. No one born of God makes a practice of sinning. For God's seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he's been born of God. By this it is evident who are the children of God and who are the children of the devil. Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother."
Okay, because I'm going to focus on verse nine. Just listen to me here. The King James says verse 9. Now listen to it very carefully. And I know that you're probably going to say, I like the ESV rendering better. "Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin." This is King James. "Whoever is born of God doth not commit sin, for his seed remainth in him, and he cannot sin because he is born of God."
New King James says, "Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for his seed remains in him. He cannot sin because he has been born of God." Let me ask you something. Are you born of God? How many do we have in here that claim to be born of God? I do. I believe I've been born again. Okay. Whoever is, John very dogmatically says, does not do something. What do they not do? But you don't like that. You like ESV better. They don't practice sin. Okay.
I'm I'm putting words in your mouth, but listen to Young's literal translation on verse 9. "Everyone who hath been begotten of God, sin he doth not, because his seed in him doth remain, and he is not able to sin." Don't you love that? Because of God, he hath been begotten.
The New English Translation. And these are th these are newer translations. I'm going to read the the World English Bible, the New English Translation, the Holman Christian. Just listen. These are modern translations. "Everyone who has this is the NAT. Everyone who has been fathered by God does not practice. They've got the idea because God's seed resides in him. Thus, he's not able to sin." Now they use practice the first time but then they say not able to sin because he has been fathered by God.
World English Bible "Whoever is born of God doesn't commit sin because his seed remains in him. He can't sin because he's born of God." Even when you go to the old home Christian, "Everyone who's been born of God does not sin." When you go back to the old uh Geneva and the Tindale, "Whosoever is born of God sinnth not."
Now, here's the thing. Yes, you got all these translations that are very dogmatic about you're born of God. You do not sin. Okay. Basically, what's happened is the English standard started pulling it in a direction of practice. But you know what? John MacArthur and the whole bunch out there in California recently put together a legacy standards. Is that what you're using? >> You know what these modern guys and isn't that guy Cho? He's one of the elders out there. I think he led the translation team on this. I want you to see that. You know what? Their translation team has actually backstepped on this and there's a good reason why.
Listen to the legacy. "Little children, abide in him. So that when he is manifested, we may have confidence. I'm going all the way back to 228. And not shrink away from him in shame at his coming. If you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone also who does righteousness has been born of him. See how great a love the father has given us that we should be called the children of God. And we are. For this reason the world does not know us because it did not know him. Beloved, now we are children of God and it has not been manifested as yet what we will be. We know that when he is manifested we will be like him because we will see him just as he is. Everyone who has this hope fixed on him purifies himself just as he is pure. Everyone who does sin also does lawlessness and sin is lawlessness. And you know that he was manifested in an order to take away sins. In him there is no sin. No one who abides in him sins. You see? You see how the legacy backtracked? Those guys sat down with the Greek and they got some high fallutin scholars out there and they actually have not gone in the direction of the New American Standard in the ESV. They've backtracked basically to the rendering of all these other translations including the King James, New King James. Just listen to this. This is God's word. No one who abides in Christ sins. No one who sins has seen him or has come to know him. Little children, let no one deceive you. Wow. People get really deceived right here. Apparently, the one who does righteousness is righteous just as he is righteous. The one who does sin is of the devil because the devil sins from the beginning. The son of God was manifested for this purpose to destroy the works of the devil. Verse nine, the one I'm wanting to focus on. Everyone who has been born of God does not sin because his seed, God's seed, abides in him, and he cannot sin because he has been born of God. By this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifested. Everyone who does not do righteousness is not of God as well as the one who does not love his brother."
And then and then we got this this when you go over to chapter five, the legacy says in 5:18, "We know that no one who has been born of God sins, but he who was begotten of God keeps him and the evil one does not touch him."
Here's the thing. Don't get all freaked out by this. Why is the legacy moving back to this terminology? One reason. One reason. And it ought to be pretty plain. Because they are convinced that the Greek terminology demands that translation. Folks, there is a Greek word for practice and it's not the one used here. poetto is used here and it is not the practice. You see the thing is those who teach sinless perfection, you know what they possibly misapply. They may people that believe you can achieve sinless perfection in this life. We may look at it and say, "Hey, they're out of balance." or hey, they take this verse over here and they really run with it, but they kind of maybe ignore these verses over here and so there's that maybe they're a little bit out of balance. But folks, let me tell you something. It's not that it's not that folks like that are without scriptural support for their position. They obviously there are verses like this. And you know what? I cut my teeth on the King James and then I went to the New King James. And what do we do? We come across these verses and we say, "Hey, if we're really honest with how it sounds when you read it from them or you read it now from the left, see, we like the ESV, practice sin." Even there, that might make us feel uncomfortable, but when you read it the way the King James says and you and you know, you can get people that say, "Well, the ESV actually did the right thing and it it's because of the tenth of the verse and every or verb." It it's like maybe they you feel like they were justified in doing it. But let me tell you, the legacy guys, they've backtracked. And there's a reason they backtracked. The the the LSB translators have recognized that typically the verb here is used of a single act. When it's in this tense, it's a continuous present. And when it's in that, it's But folks, more than that, listen to the logic of John's argument. I mean, there's a rationale, a logic to what he's saying here. What's the reason that John gives in verse 9 as to why the believer can't sin? Why can't they sin? Because they're born of God. Do you all see that? That's that's the reason God's seed abides in him. The Christian sinlessness is attributed to what? To the very identity that we have with the nature of God himself. Since God does not sin, what's John's logic? Since God doesn't sin, therefore no one born of him sins. Now look, Paul tends to affirm this kind of extent of change when he says something like this. The new man created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. You know, he talks that way. It's a a massive point. John is not arguing that well since God does not practice sin but only sins occasionally that's what people born of him do. That is not how he's arguing here. I think you can see that he's arguing that since God does not sin those born of God reflect that reality. He ceases sinning.
Brethren, let me tell you something. Don't fear this. Don't get all uncomfortable. We need to embrace it. Because listen, do you know how this section starts? Behold the manner of love. You see, we we get all bent OUT OF SHAPE. OH, SINLESS PERFECTION. WHAT'S HE SAYING? NO. NO, BRETHREN. NO, not what I'm saying. What's John saying? What's God saying through John? Why does he even talk that way? >> Do you mind speaking louder? >> Okay. But it's it's God's word. If listen, the LSB translators have backtracked on this because they know full well that if they want an accurate translation, they can't continue to push the ESV narrative here. And you know what? They largely drew from the New American Standard, which also uses practice. And where it was convenient, they actually got permission from the New American Standard to make the LSB because they largely drew from it. Isn't it interesting? At this point, they said, "Nope, we can't do it." Because the original language does not support that. And I would just say to you, brethren, don't recoil from this. Recognize, behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us. Brethren, you got to recognize John isn't John isn't dropping this on us to condemn us and make Christians feel like, "Oh, you got to run around with all sorts of doubts." Now, you know what he's doing? He's n to jumping out of his shoes because his Christianity is so glorious. And we just we brethren, don't fear this. We need to embrace it. And before you reject, before you recoil, God, help us to feel the weight of all of this. God, help us to be done, brethren. You know what stuff like this does? If you really pay attention, God, help us to be done with these low, shallow, humanistic views of what Christianity is. John doesn't play that game. He jumps in. We might think he's overly dogmatic. I mean, he said John is straight, but you know what? There's massive truth behind what he says, and we don't want to reject it. Brethren, what is Christianity? Humanistic views, low views? Is it just, oh, it's kind of reluctantly attending church once in a while, and it it's some strict moral code where we got religion? Is it that kind of thing? Is it, brethren? This thing isn't all about hell insurance and just saying a little prayer. Nor is it a picture of this perpetual doubt and confusion. John says, "I write these things to you that you might know some things." Repeatedly through this, he wants us to be certain. He wants us to know. He's not dropping this on us to cause us to go out with all sorts of doubts and this dreary cloud over our head. It's not It's not the thing. This is God breaking into the sinner's darkness by some sort of process by which God's seed. Do you know what the word is in Greek? It's sperma. You say, "Oh, shocking graphic." So be it. So be it. That's how radical scripture is about God breaking into my life as a father. This isn't talking about adoption, folks. Yes, adoption is real. We are predestined, adopted through Jesus Christ. Yes. Yes. Yes. A spirit of adoption. We have when we receive him and we believe in him, we we have this right to become that. That's a legal reality. That's not what this is talking about. This is talking about being a trueborn son. Why? Because God's sperma is in us. And God knows how that sounds. He means it to sound like that because that's the reality. You see the thing is by the sheer fact I've experienced this birth. I've been birthed into the very family of God. God, it's like God says to John, John, tell them, tell them that that my sperma lives in them. My lifegiving seed actually abides in them. And notice this. Notice 31. "See what kind of love the father has given to us that we should be called the children of God. You see, when you're a child, remember what Jesus said when he said, "Be perfect as your heavenly father is perfect." When he started that section there, he said that if if you don't act like the Gentiles and you don't act like the tax collectors and you actually love outside of your immediate realm, he says, "You prove to be children of God." Brethren, you recognize what it is to be a child of God is to look like him. It's to have his his reality. Didn't Peter something say say something like partakers of the divine nature? Deification. Oh, we get all nervous and everything, but this is the way the Bible talks. We do. We have to face it head on. Listen to this. "See what kind of love the father has given to us that we should be called children of God. And so we are. We're called. You see what he's saying? We are. It's not just that we're called that and then there's no reality behind it. We're called that because that's what we really are. Brethren, this is Christianity according to John. It is wonderful. It is powerful. It is full of life. It is full of righteousness. It is full of purity. It's full of God himself. That's the reality. Think about this little epistle. How does it start? It starts by John telling us how we can have fellowship with the father. And he says, "Look, if you walk in the darkness, you do not have fellowship with the father." But it's it's at that and it that you might know him. If we say we know him, but we don't keep his commandments. This is about knowing him. It's about having fellowship with him. It's it's he's not interested in this off and on relationship. He wants us to abide in him by the and by the time John comes to chapter three, he's like he's he is excited. Behold the manner or the greatness of God's love toward his people. He He pulls us into the family. We're no longer strangers. We're no longer aliens. We're actually these members of the household of God. We are We are actually sons and daughters as a sinner, dirty, defiled, ugly. God saves me. Yes, there's forgiveness. Yes, there's justification. Yes, I'm delivered from hell. But the reality is there's much more. Look at 229. This is the legacy. "If you know that he is righteous, you know everyone also who does righteousness has been born of him. They're his child. That's really been John's point all along through this epistle. At every point, John emphasizes the privilege and the unique standing of the Christian. He's quick to point out that it is obedience. It is walking in the light. It is keeping his commandments. I mean, he's just constantly hitting this note. Whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walks. See, genuine Christianity is tested by my obedience. When you get past this chapter 3, in chapter 4, it says, "The one who does not love does not know God." Why? Because God is love. See, if if we say we know him, if we say we have fellowship with him, if we say we're born of him, then something of his character. This is why Jesus couldn't talk that way. Be perfect as your heavenly father is perfect. There needs to be a family resemblance. And what I want you to recognize is look, there's only one explanation. You see verse 29, 229. There's only one explanation as to how someone can practice righteousness. You see how John talks here? He doesn't say that if you've been born of God, you'll practice righteousness. He comes at it backwards. He says, "You know what? If you look around in this world and you find somebody who's truly good, somebody who's truly practicing righteousness," he said, "there's only one conclusion. There's only one explanation." You see, he's coming at it backwards. He doesn't just say, "Well, people get born of God and then let me tell you what it looks like." He says, "No, look around the world and if you find this character in somebody, there's only one answer for why it exists. There's only two families. You're in one or the other. And this is what this is precisely what he's emphasizing. I hope you I hope you can all see this rather than presenting the idea of being born of God and explaining how it always produces righteousness. It's kind of like Jesus. Do you remember when the disciples came to him that day and they said, "Lord, the people over here that were trying to do this and cast out demons in your name." And he's like, "Look, they're either for us or against us." And it's always that way. There's just two there's two categories. There's two groups. Righteousness. Notice this. 1 John 3:9, this is the legacy. "Everyone who has been born of God does not sin. They're born of God. John's making the family connection. I hope you can all see that. You can always tell the person's parentage. You know what you do? You look you look at a son and you look at the father. And I was I was noticing or you could say you look at the mother and you look at the daughter. I was noticing when Jane was speaking how I I was I was noticing Jenny in her and Aaron in her and you can see them both. Why? Because there's a family resemblance and there always is. And that's his point. In the spiritual realm, it's just the same. I can tell a person's parentage by who they look like. Isn't that the the whole argument here? The family resemblance. Righteousness is always the family identity when it comes to Christianity. Now folks, I'm talking righteousness, not being nice. I'm not just talking about the guy at work who's kind or or such a thing as that. "Everyone who has been born of God does not sin. He cannot sin because he has been born of God." That there's all sorts of people in the world who are funny, who are friendly, who are pleasant, like you just say, "I like that guy. You know full well he's lost, but he's just nice guy." That's not what he's talking about here. Not at all. The the You get people that are just moral to a certain point. Sometimes that's just when people are watching. You know what they do when they're alone, but they don't conform to the family image. Listen to this again. "Everyone born of God does not sin because God's seed abides in him. He can't sin because he's been born of God. By this, the children of God and the children of the devil are manifested. Everyone who doesn't do righteousness is not of God. You don't love your brother, you're not of God. All bear the same family trait. We know who their father is. Parentage is always obvious. Listen to this. If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure. This is 2:29. You may be sure if you're sitting there with any kind of doubts about what I'm saying. He's saying get past that. You can be sure of this and what I'm laying down right here. Everyone who practice righteousness has been born of him. I love that. There's no doubt about it. You see people with that quality of life, the kind of quality you find in Christ himself, Christ telling us to be perfect like our heavenly father is perfect. There's only one explanation and it's got nothing to do with man-made religion and man-made efforts and the arm of the flesh. Islam doesn't produce this. They produce a sword. They go kill people. It's you look at their women and how they're treated. It doesn't produce that. No one is able to do this unless God's seed is there. That's the issue in all of this. And if it is, no one no one no one is able to resist the effects of it. That's because it's God's seed. It just keeps coming at us. A Young's literal on 3:9 says, "Everyone who hath been begotten of God sin. He doth not because his seed is in him doth remain and he is not able to sin." This is just God's word. And I know you may be feeling like it sounds over the top to me. Not able. He's not able to sin. It's impossible to do otherwise. But listen, of course, people can live basically respectable lives, moral life in this world without being children of God. But no one can live the Christian life unless they're born into this family of God by the way of the new birth. You must be born again. You cannot live this life. And have you noticed throughout First John, he absolutely condemns the idea of unrighteous Christianity over and over? He wants to blow that right out of the water. "No one who abides in him sins. 36. No one who sins has seen him or has come to know him. Little children, let no one deceive you. See, this is a matter of deception. John knows it. God knows it. The one who does righteousness is righteous just as he is righteous. The one who does sin is of the devil because the devil sins from the beginning. The son of God is manifested for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil. Ladies and gentlemen, one of the reasons we see so little righteousness among those claiming to be Christians is precisely because of their parentage. You can come into a church and still have the devil as your father. And in fact, in verse 10, John assures us everyone belongs to only one of two possible family. If you don't belong to God's family, you belong to the devil's family. Listen to this. 1 John 4:7. "Beloved, let us love one another. For love is from God. Everyone who loves, get this again, very dogmatic. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God because God is love. You see, the connection is with the very character. Christians share in the very life of God. You remember what Paul said there in Ephesians 4, alienated from the life of God. We are not alienated from that. We are actually partakers of the divine nature. You can't get away from this reality. John, listen, John is not browbeating us. He's not beating us up with this. He has already said, "Little children, I write to you that you sin not. But if you do, we have an advocate with the father, Jesus Christ the righteous. But hear that, little children. I write to you. I write what to you? This this epistle, this chapter three. You see, you see what he's saying? I'm telling you that if you're born of God, you don't sin. I'm writing not to beat you up with it and cause you to run around with your head in the clouds, dark clouds full of doubt. He says, I want you to behold the manner of love that God has poured out upon you. Listen, if you sin, if you do, but that doesn't sound like that's the normative. He's saying if, well, almost like that's the exception. I'm writing to you not to sin. I want you to pursue that path. If you do, you're a Christian. You're a child of God. Your sins are under the blood. You got an advocate. You're good. You see, brethren, that's why you don't have to freak out about this. Embrace it. Say, "Wow, rather than seeing this as this standard that makes me just awfully look, there are false believers that need to really be wakened up by this and recognize they're not in a good place." But the truth, I mean, look, if when nobody's watching, you're you're off over there in the in the internet and you're looking at pornography all the time. Yeah. When Jesus says that, you know, you gouge out that eye or you go to hell, there are there's reasons why that ought to be really concerning to you. But listen, for the child of God, I am not here trying to discourage you. I want you to recognize the kind of love that God has given you. And he's writing specifically this epistle so that you don't sin. This is supposed to be an encouragement. If you can wake up each morning and just recognize, wow, I am a child of God and God's seed is in me. And you know what? I don't have to sin. Now, if I do, I've got an advocate and my conscience is clear. Isn't that what Hebrews goes on to talk about? The conscience. Brethren, when you're saved, the conscience is clean. That's why we don't have to walk around in all this misery and long-faced and doubts and like the circles that that these hypercalvinists and the circles that Judy comes from. You don't have to be all miserable like that. Why? Because we have an advocate. We're free. We're forgiven. But brethren, you see the encouragement not to sin is his seed is in you. You don't have to listen. The flesh doesn't have anything on you. You're free. You are absolutely free. sin will have no dominion. And when you go to chapter eight of Romans, it says, "Brethren, the flesh, you're not a debtor to the flesh." You ever read that? You know what that means? Your flesh, which craves bad things, you can look at it and you can say, "No, I owe you nothing." And I, you know what? God's seed is in me. And I have desires to do what's right. I don't like the sin. all for that day when we can see him face to face. Brethren, we will never be like this again. We will never be bogged down by the flesh again. We will never be in a place where the spirit is willing and the flesh is weak ever again. We will see him as he is. And John's like, we don't even know it is paradise. We see that what what we're going to be, we don't know. Brethren, I'll tell you that it is going to be so glorious. You've heard Paul Washer say, if you could see yourself, you'd fall down in worship. It is going to be so beautiful and so glorious and so free. But right now he's wanting us to see. Look, if you're his child, you don't sin. You say, "Really? That just sounds like an exaggeration. Hyperbole. It's over the top. It's but he's saying, I'm writing this so you don't sin." It's like if you just realize what you are. Don't be condemned by this. Embrace it. Say, "Glory to God." If this kind of thing is true and God actually wants John to speak that dogmatically, then there must really be something to this. Oh, brethren, the riches of what it means to be a Christian. When Jesus said, I say to you, love your enemies. Pray for those who persecute you so that you may be sons of your father. That's what you want to be. Don't be like the Gentiles. Don't be like the tax collectors where they just do nice things to their family. Look out beyond it. Look out into the world, brethren. The riches, you know what it says? The reason why the world does not know us, it says in verse one, is that it did not know him. When I got saved, there was such a radical transformation in my life and I began to understand the doctrine of being born again. And I was just blown away that I lived 25 years of my life as a nominal Catholic without ever having a concept that there were people walking around me in this world who were born again. I had no concept. I was so blown away by it. It's like I lived so much in the dark for all those years. I could have walked by a Christian. I had no concept. But you see, now we're the ones children of light and the children of darkness walk around. They have no concept. It says it's the world doesn't recognize us because it didn't recognize him. You know what? Trump's not calling you to sit in his cabinet, but if he was smart, he would. Why? Because we have the mind of Christ. We have the mind of the King of Kings. We We know I we've got we've got things going through our brains about truth that that the mayor, the governor, I don't know. Some of them might be saved. Most of them are not. The rulers of this world, what did they do? They crucified Christ. If they'd have known he was the Lord of glory and if they would have had a might and set on the right thing. But you know what? This stuff has been revealed to us by the spirit of God. We're in another realm, brethren. We are blessed. We are the chosen. No, the world doesn't recognize us. They didn't recognize him. But do you recognize when you're walking through this world, you are the privileged one. You are royalty. No one in this world has anything on you. Don't look at the rich. Don't look at the billionaires. Don't look at these guys. They don't have anything on you. You You're in the He's purposed immeasurable riches of grace and kindness toward us that are in Christ Jesus. Surely goodness and mercy will follow us all the days of our life. Christian, when you walk down the street, do you recognize you're the ones that God has set his special love on? Behold the banner of love. You're in his sight. You're in his eyes. You're the apple of his eyes. World doesn't recognize you. To them, you're ridiculous. You're idiots. You need a crutch. This whole thing, brethren, we're the ones that are going to take a seat with Christ on his very throne. We're going to judge angels. Have you ever read that? Judge the world. The world doesn't recognize us. We're gonna, the scripture says, we're going to see God face to face. We're going to bask in the glow of his glory. You are so privileged. What you are, Christian, is so powerful and so privileged. And I just say this. I say the same thing, brethren. I preach this to you that you sin not. That clearly to John is the normative path. But if you do, if you do, that's like the exception. If you do wake up each day and it's like, I don't have to sin. Why? Because I'm no debtor to the flesh and sin's not going to have dominion over me. You say, "Yo, there's a sinless per be done with your straw, man. Just go to John and and be honest with what he says." And it's like, "Yes, the same author says there's a sin that's not unto death." That's right there. But, oh, but there is a sin that's unto death. Take it in context with the whole letter, but recognize how he's writing, brethren, you know, he starts the first chapter. If you say you have no sin, then you're deceived. But the reality is when he gets to dealing with the Christian and he's unfolding this thing and he's wanting to convince us not to sin. "I write these things so that you don't little children, I'm writing that you don't sin. In fact, he says if you say that you know him and you don't keep his commandments, you're a liar and the truth isn't in you. I mean, he's very dogmatic. He goes through this whole thing. He's very dogmatic. But the reality is he's writing to us that we don't sin. And so take it as that to receive it, embrace it, that wow, I'm I'm his son. I can bear his image. Jesus actually was serious when he said, "Be perfect as your heavenly father is perfect." Who he causes his reign, he causes his son. Be like that, brethren. Be shine him forth. Show that you've got the divine nature. You're a partaker. Reveal it. Wake up in the morning. Let your faith, you recognize we're people that walk by faith. And we believe what God has said in his word and my faith rests in it. And so it's like it's like Jane said, I felt free. This this should be freeing. This should not be a chain around your neck. This should be wow. I'm a child of God. I don't have to live like a child of the devil. I'm free from that. He's I'm not in bondage to that. I'm a free man. Just don't use your freedom for lentiousness. Don't don't don't use your freedom like a child of the devil might. Use your freedom, brethren, to just love. If you if you fail, if you stumble, you have an advocate. So there's nothing to discourage or distract you. Go run. Don't sin, do righteousness, and show who you are. And even if the world doesn't know you, God knows you. Brethren, deal with a word. This is John. This is inspired. This isn't Tim Conway. If you've read that portion of scripture out of your Bible, you know what I'm telling you is true. I'm just saying what it says here. So, conclusion of the matter, just don't think that Christian is someone who's just trying to clean up their life. It's like we got we got something. Isn't it interesting? Sometimes the sometimes scripture talks about the spirit being within us. Sometimes it talks about Christ being within us. But actually to have it talk about his sperma being in us, his his seed being in us. This is kind of a fresh thought right here. But it actually means that God infuses something. There's I mean you recognize that the it's very it's very illustrative. It's it's there's there's just such a reality how God has involved himself in our life that we become his children. He is my father. Brethren, you have a father. This is we need to live in light of this reality. It's not just Christian isn't just somebody trying to do better than they did before or better than most other people. Undoubtedly, they'll be better, but it's it's this is something supernatural, powerful, life-changing. God unleashes a power to stop us in our tracks when it comes to sin. And just recognize the freedom of that, the glory of that, the reality of that. Let your faith lock into it.
Father, I pray that you'd help us all to live up to the fullness of just these realities. May there be freedom. Little children. I write to you that you sin not. Jesus Christ the righteous is there for us as an advocate if per chance we fall into sin. Thank you for providing not just not just our forgiveness, but you're you've provided something that we might have fellowship, we might have an abiding, we might have a a a family intimacy. Lord, we pray the reality of that would work out in our lives, in the homes, in our communities. Lord, help us to live up to these realities. We are not debtors to the flesh. Lord, help us to live in the freedom and the glory and the power. Help us to exude the very image of God, the very image of Christ. We are predestined to be conformed to the image. We are your workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works. And we just pray, Lord, that you would fashion us, mold us into everything that we need to be. Don't leave us alone. Don't leave us, don't leave us to be, Lord, we don't want to become comfortable. We don't want to fall to sleep. Lord, we want to run well while we have life. I pray that you'd help us to do it. Lord, invigorate your people. Invigorate the church. Help us to stir up one another to love and good works. Lord, while it's day, I pray, Lord, that we would be a people very aggressively found to be working while it is day. Lord, help us. Be with us. Smile upon us, please. We ask in Christ's name. Amen.