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Called Children of God: Seeking God's Approval 0:09 Good morning. Welcome to Stand on the Word. Thanks for joining me this morning. Alright. Our journey takes us to the final 3 chapters of first John as we look at chapters 3 through 5. Verse 2 of chapter 5, by0:21 this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and we keep his commandments. Now I'm gonna have to warn you in advance. This is this is like a smorgasbord of truth, and we only0:33 have time for a a takeout plate. So be sure and and read all of these chapters and jot down what the holy spirit shows you because there is there is so much here that,0:45 applies to us today. Now just a reminder, the lord willing, we are going to start a new journey through the bible next month. And so I I hope that you will prayerfully consider 2 requests.0:57 Number 1, that you'll join me on this journey again, and number 2, that you'll invite someone to join you on this journey, that someone needs to be encouraged and strengthened by a1:09 daily, just daily abiding in the word of God. So if you if you'll do that, here's what, I'd ask you to do. Text the word bible to 6 7 7 4 2. Bible to 6 7 71:21 4 2. Now you may be on this journey and say, I'm just gonna continue it. Well, there's new resources available. We wanna be able to communicate with you about that. So if you will, sign up at, again, text1:32 bible to 6 7 7 4 2. There's also a place here that you can share that with, with others. You can send it to them. They can sign up as well. Alright. Verse 1, chapter 3. Behold what manner of1:44 love the father has bestowed on us that we should be called children of God. Therefore, the world does not know us because it did not know him. Now this1:56 first verse should prompt some soul searching. Who do we want to be known by? God or the world? From whom are we seeking approval and affirmation?2:08 God or the world? As John has made abundantly clear here, it can't be both light and darkness because the 2 are incompatible. We can't be wanting to walk in the light of2:20 fellowship with God and the darkness by being in fellowship with the world. It's 1 or the other. Verse 4, whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness.2:32 Alright. Any questions? If policymakers would rediscover the wisdom contained in this verse, I believe it would change our country. It would make2:44 America great again by first making it good again. You know, as sin, and sin is that which is contrary to the word and the will of God, is actually condoned2:56 by our laws and our policy, guess what happens? We get lawlessness. I mean, look what's been happening in our country in the last decade. You see, we cannot pick and3:07 choose what we want to consider lawless. Okay? We can't determine that. Yes. The court can make decisions. Policymakers can pass laws. But here's the reality.3:20 That which violates god's truth is lawless, and lawlessness only breeds more lawlessness. Verse 5, and you know that he was manifested3:32 to take away our sins, and in him there is no sin. Whoever abides in him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen him nor known him. So John is not saying3:44 here that a believer never sins. We know that's not true. Alright? What he is saying is a child of God is not at home in the house of sin. Right? They're not gonna be comfortable. Not notAbiding in Christ: Love, Unity, and Testing Spirits 3:56 gonna take up residence there. Verse 8. He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose, the son of God was manifested that he might destroy the works of the devil. Now4:08 if you're living in the house of sin and you're comfortable, well, guess who your landlord is? It's Satan. But you can move out. The lease was broken by4:19 Jesus on the cross, and you can be free. Alright. Verses, 10 through 18, we see, again, the evidence of our unity with God being love and unity with other4:31 believers. Verse 10, chapter 3. In this, the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest. Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who4:43 does not love his brother. For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love 1 another. Alright. This is getting, this is getting very practical, very real. This is4:55 where the rubber meets the road, and it's getting very personal. By this, we know love because he laid down his life for us, and we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. That's verse 16. Verse5:07 18, my little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. Verse 23, and this is his commandment, that we should5:18 believe on the name of his son, Jesus Christ, and love 1 another as he gave us commandment. I have a a a paperweight on my, a desk at at home5:30 that someone that, someone gave it to me, and it summarizes this verse. Love God, love people. Love God, love people. It's it it it it that is means what Jesus said in the 2 greatest commandments is really the5:42 summary of the 10 commandments. Love God, love people. Verse 24. Now he who keeps his commandments abides in him and he in him. And by this, we know5:54 that he abides in us by the spirit whom he has given us. You see, abiding in Christ requires obeying him.6:06 Verse 4 verse 1, chapter 4. Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this, you know the6:18 spirit of God. Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this6:29 is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard was coming and now already and now and is now already in the world. Now this is this is really the acid test for6:41 truth, and we read this over in chapter 2 last time. Verse 4 of chapter 4, you are of God, little children, and have overcome them because he who is in you is greater than he who6:53 is in the world. We've heard that verse, great verse. Through Christ, we have overcome the world because as evidenced at the cross, the power of God is greater than the power of Satan,7:05 and we need to walk in that. Satan is a deceiver. He'll try to keep us blinded to that reality, but we need to be reminding ourselves of that through being in the word of God, meditating7:17 upon the word of God, obeying the word of God. Verse 4, they are of the world. Therefore, they speak as of the world, and the world hears them. We are of God.7:29 He who knows God hears us. He who is not of God does not hear us. By this, we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. This is the sheep and the goats. Those that hear the spirit of truth and those7:41 who listen to the spirit of error is the division. It's quite evident. Now here through the rest of the chapter, we see again this major theme of John's letter. Our love of God is7:53 evidenced in our love for our fellow believers. Verse 7. Beloved, let us let us love 1 another, for love is of God, and everyone who loves is8:04 born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. In this, the love of God was manifested towards us that toward us that God8:16 has sent his only begotten son into the world that we might live through him. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love 1 another. No 1 has8:28 seen God at any time. If we love 1 another, God abides in us, and his love has been perfected in us. You know, it is through our our through through fellowship with8:40 other believers. We we see the characteristics of God. And and and in his presence, it is in believers. Jesus said, where 2 or 3 are gathered, there I am. Verse 16, and8:53 we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God and God in him. Love has been perfected among us in this that we may9:05 have boldness in the day of judgment because as he is, so are we in the world. Verse 18, this there is no fear in love, but perfect love9:16 cast out fear because fear involves torment, but he who fears has not been made perfect in love. We love him because he first loved us. If someone says I love God and9:28 hates his brother, he is a liar. For he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God who whom he has not seen? And this9:40 commandment we have from him, that he who loves God must love his brother also. This is, this is challenging. Alright? But it's important to defineTrue Love Through Obedience: Victory, Prayer, and Fellowship 9:52 what John is talking about here when it comes to love. Okay? Because in our culture our culture, especially today, has conflated love with affirmation. God did not send Jesus to die on the cross to10:04 affirm us in our sin, but to save us from our sin. So what he's talking about, our love, we love as Jesus, as God loved us, is a perfect10:15 standard of love. It is not affirmation. And so when we're loving someone, we're we're to love, especially the brother the brothers, our our brothers and sisters in Christ. That is evidence that God is in10:27 us, that we're loving fellow believers. It also the fact that God is in us, the Holy Spirit is in us, it enables us to love, but it's loving according to God's standard, not the10:39 world's standard. We cannot affirm every decision, every behavior. And, also, when we're talking about unity, it doesn't mean that we're uniform uniformity. It doesn't mean that we see everything the same. There can be10:51 differences. Many, Remember Paul's description of the body. 1 body, many members. Every part of the body has a different function. It11:02 also has a different perspective, and that's fine. And and and the body of but we should respect each and everyone, loving them knowing that each and everyone in the body11:14 of Christ has a purpose and a calling. Alright. In the next chapter, he defines what, what love of god looks like. So we'll just just brace yourself11:26 for that. We're gonna talk more about that in the next chapter here. By this, we know that we love the children of god when we love god and keep his commandments. Okay? For this is the love of God that we keep his11:38 commandments, and his commandments are not burdensome. For whatever is born of God overcomes the world, and this is the victory that has overcome the world, our faith. So, alright, so here, our our standard is a11:50 love for God. And if we love God, we're gonna be loving 1 another. But look what it says here. If we love God, we obey him. And our faith in him it's our faith in him that overcomes the power of12:02 this world. Alright. So it's, you know, love is just not this free for all of anything goes. Our love for God is demonstrated in our obedience to12:14 God. And through that obedience to his word and the power of the holy spirit in us, we can love others, which is evidence that the holy spirit is working in us. And I would say it's a challenge.12:26 Alright? I I recognize that. But that's why we have to abide in Christ. That's why we have to be in his word. That's why we have to have the holy spirit prompting us, convicting us,12:38 when we fail to meet this standard, and that is the evidence of god working in our life is that we love the brother. Alright. In the last chapter, John also gives guidance for12:50 prayer. Verse 14 of chapter 5. Now this is the confidence that we have in him that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us, whatever we ask,13:01 we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of him. So how do we know his will? How do we know what to pray? Here it is, the word of God and the Holy Spirit. As13:13 John John wrote these words in the gospel in his gospel, he wrote these words of Jesus. If you abide in me and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish and it will be13:25 done for you. That's what Jesus said. Abide in if you my if my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish and it will be done for you. Well, if if the word of God is abiding in us, well,13:37 we're going to be requesting those things of God which are in accordance with his word. And in Romans 8 verse 26 and 27, Paul wrote this, likewise, the spirit also helps us in our weakness,13:49 for we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the spirit himself makes intercession for us according to the will of God. It's a14:01 good job a good 3 chapters, a lot, Phil, a lot in there. So I I, again, I encourage you to to meditate upon that, read it, make those notes that the the the the Holy Spirit prompts you14:13 with. And, it's it's always good to go back sometimes and look at those notes. And, and and sometimes additional, reading is necessary. So it's always great to have a good commentary. Matthew Henry is a good14:25 commentary. There are others. But I encourage you to make the most of this journey through the word of God. Father, we thank you for your word, and and, lord, what a high standard.14:37 But where we can't we can't meet this standard on our own to love our brothers and sisters in Christ, fellow followers of Christ. And, Lord, I I know it's just like in a family, there is just disagreements14:49 and there are conflicts. And and so in the broader body of Christ, those exist. But when the Holy Spirit is working in us and we're abiding in you and we love you15:02 and we're obeying you, the evidence is that there is the love for our brothers and sisters in Christ. Doesn't mean we all see everything the same. There's differences of opinion and different15:13 views, but there is an abiding love. And so, father, I pray I pray for the body of Christ today, for every follower of Jesus Christ that15:25 the evidence would be there, that we would love 1 another as we obey you, as, we walk in fellowship with you, loving you because you first15:37 loved us. For we pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Alright. Again, thanks for joining me this morning. And, again, be sure to sign up. Text the word bible to 6 7 7 4 2 for our next15:48 journey. Until next time, keep standing on the word.15:54 Today's study comes from the stand on the word bible reading plan available for free at frc dot org slash bible. By following along in just a few minutes a day, you16:06 can read through the entire Bible in just 2 years. Learn more and request the free reading guide at FRC dot org slash Bible.In this video 0:00 Called Children of God: Seeking God's Approval3:46 Abiding in Christ: Love, Unity, and Testing Spirits9:46 True Love Through Obedience: Victory, Prayer, and Fellowship
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