What a way to start a Sunday, right? Man, that worship was just amazing. I told Casey, I was like, maybe one of these Sundays worship won't go 45 minutes. And he's like, yeah, that wasn't even a long one.
Yeah, it didn't feel long at all. Did we start on time? Yeah, we did. It's just amazing when God shows up and it's just like, you lose track of time, you just get lost in his presence.
Man, just love the Lord. And I love this church. I love the relationships. I love that when we do that break in between worship and announcements and the teaching that everybody just, I mean, dives straight in to hanging out with each other.
And there's just, you can feel the buzz in the room. It's just everybody genuinely loves each other. And I just love that about this church. And we carry each other's burdens.
And we're there for each other. Pastor Rob was supposed to teach today. Madison's grandma passed away this past week. So they're doing what they need to do with their family and spending time with them.
And Casey and I get to get the opportunity. And he officiated Ashley in my wedding yesterday. Anybody there that one? That was awesome.
And I get the opportunity to teach the one that Rob was going to teach. And we get to do these things for each other and have each other's backs. Love this church. So we're continuing on and love of illuminated.
You can see the graphic up there. We're going to be hitting the first 10 verses in chapter three. And anybody reading ahead? Yeah, we haven't talked about it.
But we've got any good Bible students out there. Just curious, hey, if I read ahead, what are we getting into here? Let me encourage you to do that. Let's be good Bible students.
And let's get as much as we can out of these scriptures. This whole summer, we're going through the book of 1 John. So it's not that long. It's only five chapters.
So you can read it over and over again. And then when somebody dives into a few verses and goes deep, you can get that much more out of it. But let's do that as a church. Amen?
Let's do that as a church. Let's not let the first time we're reading these verses be when you show up on Sunday. Go read the next few verses or the rest of the chapter this week. Sound good?
Awesome. Title today's message, kind of the theme, the idea here in the first 10 verses of chapter three is grow up as a child of God. Anybody child of God? Yeah?
So we need to not just remain in infant phase. We need to grow up as children of God. And we're going to take this in chunks like we've done before. And that starts with verse one.
First John three, verse one. Let's read it. See what great love the Father has lavished on us. Who has felt God's love before?
Come on church. That we should be called children of God. And that is what we are. Somebody say, that is who I am.
The reason the world doesn't know us is that it did not know him. So we have a lot to unpack just in this one verse. And the first thing that we need to understand, if you are a genuine Christian, remember, John is giving us a comparison between, this is what a genuine Christian looks like, and this is what a fake Christian looks like. If you are a genuine Christian, one of the first two things that you need to understand when you give your life to Christ.
And the first one is something that is one of the reasons why we go to Christ in the first place. And a lot of us understand that. And that is that we are forgiven, amen? He has forgiven us of our sins.
He has paid the price with his blood on the cross for our sins, all of our wrongdoings. But the second thing, and what a lot of people have a problem with and they struggle with, truly believing, is that they are changed. You are forgiven and you are changed. Hopefully as a son or a daughter of God, you don't just believe that you're forgiven, but you believe that you are a different person.
You are changed. God doesn't just wipe your slate clean from your past, the way you used to live, the way you used to think, the things that you used to believe. It's not just there for the past. It's for the past, present and future sins.
But that's not just it. You have been changed, amen? Come on, when Jesus gets a hold of your life, it is life transforming. And if your life looks the same as it did before, then you have to question whether there was a real conversion, whether there was real salvation.
Come on, if you don't start changing from the inside out, then what you've experienced is not real, because there should be change. You are a new creature, you are a new creation. Maybe you just, if you're in that place where your life doesn't look that much different, maybe you just had too many Red Bulls, right? And Shocker, you don't have wings.
You are the same person, because when we have a real conversion experience, Jesus begins to change us from the inside out. Anybody heard that old fairy-teller story about the prince who was cursed, and he became a frog, and then he needed to be kissed in order to turn into a prince again? There's a frog there, right? This is the state of so many people in the world.
And this story is such a great picture of mankind. You know, we started off with Adam and Eve, and they were in that stage of prince and princess, right? And they were good with God. Everything was great, but then we had the fall of man, and all of mankind was put under a curse.
That's not where we're supposed to remain. That's not who we're supposed to be. We're not supposed to be like frogs sitting on lily pads. And that's why Jesus came, so that he could break that curse.
He could pay the price for those sins, and transform us from the inside out. And it's literally when you've experienced like that, it's analogy, right? But it's almost like you've gotten the kiss from God. Just like this frog needs a kiss to turn back into a prince.
A prince, we need that kiss from God and the curse to be broken. In the beginning of that verse that we looked at, the first word was see. See what great love the father has lavished on us. And see right there, that is a good translation.
It's not a bad translation. I mean, it does hit the bulk of what we see in that Greek word but the King James Version actually gets closer. See is from the NIV. King James Version actually gets closer to the Greek word there.
And it says behold. Behold is a strong word. Wow, look at this. Can you believe the great love that the father is lavished on us?
And he would call us children of God. I mean, can you see it? Have you tasted of it yet? Has anybody told you about it yet?
Have you seen this in your life? Have you felt the great love that the father is lavished on us? Come on. And one of the defining characteristics of a healthy church is that you see people getting safe.
You see people coming to a saving, a saved knowledge of Jesus Christ. In healthy churches, you see people getting safe consistently. And that's because they're living out the great commission and they're led by the Holy Spirit. And when you see someone who just gave their life to Christ and it's real, you see some of these things that I'm mentioning.
They're a new person because Jesus set them free from sin. They're 180 degrees different from what they used to be because they have repented. And they've said, I'm walking this way, I'm not going that way anymore. And they're genuinely excited because of this love that God lavished on them.
And they're genuinely grateful to be called children of God. Why is this? Because everything is so fresh and new at that point. You have those things in your life where you're excited about it, especially when you get saved.
It's fresh and new and it's just man, it's so exciting. And I feel the love of God and it's wonderful. But there's a lot of us in here. We have some mature Christians in the room who've been walking with the Lord for a long time.
And for some of us, sometimes that initial excitement starts to wear off. And it's like we've lost that spark. And then sometimes we start going through the motions. I'm not going to make you raise your hands.
But maybe some of you understand what I'm talking about. You can relate to that. I don't feel that anymore. I can tell you, maybe this is good advice.
I'm pretty sure it is because I've heard it from wise people and I've tried to implement it in my life. I try not to live my life based on my emotions, led by my emotions. My spirit man needs to rule over my emotions and my will and my thoughts and my physical body. And that is Jesus leading me.
And so sometimes we lose that spark. We start going through the motions. And it's because we've forgotten about God's love. We've forgotten how great of a love.
The Father's lavished on us. And that He has adopted us into His family. I mean, if you will just spend time pondering that and say, God, can you just give me a little more today? Just give me a little more knowledge or wisdom or whatever you want to give me to help me understand more of this picture because we're probably not going to understand it fully in this lifetime.
But can you give me just a little more today? It's just be mind boggling. It'll just make your heart start racing because you're so grateful. I mean, you're not just an old frog on a lily pad anymore.
You are a child of God. God came along and He saw something in you that no one else did. He saw, man, I have plans for this person. If she will just believe in my son, they can experience those plans.
And He gave you the kiss of heaven and broke the curse. And you are now changed. You're a child of God. That is what John is saying here.
That is who we are. And let's look at a couple of different places in scripture where it just kind of opens this up for us. Ephesians 2, 4, and 5 says it this way. But because of His great love for us, God who is rich and mercy made us alive with Christ.
Even when we were dead in transgressions, it is by grace you have been saved. He's made us alive in Christ. We were headed for death and destruction. Now we are headed for an eternal purpose, an eternal place that is called heaven, man.
Amen? Let's look at another one, Colossians 1, 12 through 15, says it this way. And giving joyful thanks to the Father who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of His holy people in the kingdom of light, for He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son He loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. Come on, does anybody believe that's great news today?
Come on, if you've made that decision for Jesus, if you've put your trust in Him, if you believe in Him, if you've given your life to Him, you call Him Lord and Savior, you were dead in sin, and now you are alive in Christ. You were disqualified. Now you're qualified for a great inheritance. You were living in darkness.
Now you live in the kingdom of light. You were under a curse. Now you are redeemed and you are forgiven, man. But for those who are saved in the room, fellow princes and princesses, don't expect the frogs out there to celebrate with you or understand, okay?
Have you ever seen this guy online? I don't know his name, but he goes to LGBTQ, pride parades and different functions, and he preaches the gospel. You ever seen the reaction from people? They get angry.
They spit in his face. They curse him. They cuss him out. They shouted him.
They use megaphones to just drown him out. They will take his stuff and try to destroy it. I mean, it's just crazy, the things that this guy's willing to endure. But it's really an incredible picture of what I'm talking about here.
Those people who are closed off to Jesus, I mean, you can say exactly what the gospel is. You can share it with them. And it's as if there's a brick wall that you can't get through sometimes. And they don't know because they don't know Christ, like you do.
And many people will hate Christians, and that's because they first hated Christ when he was here. And he talks about this in John 15, 18-21. If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belong to the world, it would love you as its own.
As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. Remember what I told you, a servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also.
If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the one who sent me. See, and sometimes we go through hard things and relationships and we go through trials and temptations. We act as if something strange is happening in our lives.
Like we didn't expect this, but Jesus is like, hey, people are going to hate you, not just not like you. They're going to hate you because you live your life according to me and you profess to say that I am your Lord. You say the name of Jesus and it's gonna make them growl. It's gonna make them get mad because they hate me, and therefore they're going to hate you.
And sometimes we're like, God, why are you allowing this to happen to me? But this is part of the deal when we're looking at growing up as a child of God. This should become an expectation, not something where we're like, oh my gosh, I'm just being persecuted and I don't like this. And God, why would you like this happen?
No, no, this is an expectation. And Jesus himself said, if they hate you, remember they hated me first. So we need to realize that lost people do what lost people do. And we can't fault them for that.
They just don't know Jesus like you do. Just lost people do what lost people do. They're lost and in need of a savior. Whether they realize it or not, they just haven't come to that saving knowledge yet.
And maybe God put you in their life for a reason, to love on them and to not just like berade them and beat them over the head with the Bible, but to love on them and be there for them and serve them. And maybe there will be an opening at some point for you to share why you have faith and why you have chosen Jesus, share your testimony. So we get saved and then anybody had this happen? You go to your friends and family and you're so excited, you tell them about it and then they treat you like you're crazy.
What in the world got into you? They laugh at you, they mock you, they may even curse you. They may say things like, man, you used to be fun. I like the way you used to act.
I like the way you used to dress. I like the way you used to talk. I don't like that you've changed. And we're shocked in that moment thinking, man, I thought they'd be excited for me.
Like, why don't they understand this? I understand. I felt the love of God. Why don't they understand this?
I thought that they would say, hey, tell me more about this Jesus. I expected him to say, hey, can I come to church with you this Sunday? But what we need to understand is something from scripture here, 2 Corinthians 4, 4. This is so important for us to understand this Christians.
The God of this age, who's that? Satan has blinded the minds of unbelievers so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. So when that is happening to you, you don't get mad at the person, get mad at Satan. He is blinding that person.
And you may love that person. That person may be someone that's really close to you in your life and it's like, man, I just, nothing is getting through, get mad at Satan, pray for that person over and over and over again, pray against Satan in any of his demons and anything that he is trying to accomplish. He is the one blinding people's minds. Don't blame the person.
Lost people do what lost people do. Love the person, man, and go out of your way for them. Love them. Love doesn't be there for them.
This is what John is saying there in verse one. The reason the world doesn't know us is that it doesn't know him. And this verse, I just have two takeaways here, two things that makes me think about, and it says to me, the first one is persevere with those people who are not saved in your life, especially those who you care about and you are praying for and you are trying to be there for them and you are trying to help them see who Jesus really is. Persevere, hang in there.
Have you ever read the study? This was done many years ago, but they did a ton of research. I can't remember which group it was. I read this many years ago.
And they found that it takes on average seven invites for somebody to come to church with you. seven. So how quickly do you give up? One, two, three.
Maybe you get all the way to six. Man, it's just they say no every single time. I'm so grateful for Carl Harper. One of my friends, I grew up with him.
I met him in seventh grade and we were in band together because he kept inviting me to youth group and I was not saved. And he must have done it 10, 15 times. I don't know how many times, but it was way more than seven. And eventually I was like, this dude's not going to give up and I went and Jesus changed my life.
Amen. What if Carl didn't persevere? I may not be standing here today. Come on.
Who's that person for you? Who persevered and kept going and kept going and kept going and did not give up on you? Man? Well, they just, you know, I think they're starting to hate me because I just talk about it so much and I keep inviting them persevere.
You may be one invite away from their life changing forever. So that's the first thing that makes me think about the second thing this first makes me think about is evangelism. Evangelize. Make Jesus name known in your actions, in your love, in your thoughts, in your words, in all of you.
Make Jesus name known. God, open my eyes. Start your day with God. Open my eyes to see every opportunity today.
Give me your eyes. Give me your heart for people today. Don't let me miss any opportunity because I know you're going to give me so many different opportunities to spread the love of Jesus today. Don't let me miss one, Lord.
And let me be a living example of Christ's work in me today to anybody that I encounter. Remember? I mean, amen. You remember?
Amen. You know, I think I don't think it's like a common misconception, but I think a lot of people think when they hear the word the term full-time ministry, they think about pastors. They think about people who are doing this for a living, right? Riding clergy on their tax return, right?
But those are not just the people who are in full-time ministry. If you profess Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you are in full-time ministry. Wherever you're at, you're in full-time ministry. So someone out there that you know may be ready to give up.
Don't miss the opportunity to show them the love of Christ. Amen? Let's look at the next two verses of 1 John chapter 3, verses 2 and 3. Dear friends, now we are children of God.
You starting to believe it. And what we will be has not yet been made. No, but we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like Him. Have you ever read that before?
When you read verses like this, sometimes it's like, stop. Hold on. Did that really say that? Maybe you need to read it over and over again until you'll actually believe that.
When Christ returns, you will be like Him. For we shall see Him as He is. That reminds me of the scripture in 1 Corinthians 13. Go look it up.
All who have this hope in Him purify themselves just as He is pure. So what is it saying? It's saying the best is yet to come. But what is He talking about here?
He's talking about heaven. He's talking about heaven. Are you excited for heaven? It's all out of hands that went up saying they were a child of God.
I'm just wondering as anybody who is a child of God, excited for heaven. There's so many things that we'll finally understand when we get to heaven and open the scrolls and you get to ask that question. Why? Anybody dying to ask the question why about a number of different things?
Like some of them could be random, some of them could be funny, some of them could be things that man that really hurt in my life. Why did that have to happen? I trust you. But that didn't make any sense to me.
Why? And we'll get to understand these things. And also there are so many things that we'll get once we are in heaven. Anybody ready for that heavenly body that the Bible talks about?
I could use some of that right now. That'd be pretty nice. Anybody wonder if somebody, no matter what age they die, what age will they be in heaven. I mean, there's so many different things that I wonder about.
But I'm so excited for heaven. And even better than what we'll get or what we'll understand in heaven is who we will become. And that verse just told us when Jesus comes back, we will be like him. And if you have a strong and clear hope for your future, then what this verse is saying is all who have this hope in him purify themselves just as he is pure.
Interesting. So what will happen is that things of this world will over time become less and less and less attractive to you. And the things of Christ will become more and more attractive to you. Think about a college football player.
There's so many of them who think that they're going to go pro. Well, just thinking something doesn't make it happen. You don't just think something and then it exists. There's a lot of people in Hollywood that like to talk about this sort of thing.
It's not biblical. It's not true. The only person who thinks something and then it exists is God. But college football player, they believe that they're going to go pro.
But those who don't really believe it, they say it, but they don't really believe it. What do they do when the season is over? Sit around on the couch, eat whatever they want. They party.
They stop working out. I mean, they have no initiative. Oh, but I'm going to be a pro one day. Really?
How's that going to happen? Because there's guys who are twice as talented as you and they're working twice as hard as you. How's that going to happen? So the one who really believes that he's going to make it to the pros, he trains hard, he watches his diet carefully, he spends extra time in the film room, he studies his techniques, he works on those techniques, he perfects his craft, they purify themselves here and now to prepare themselves for the future.
Are you seeing that connection? Come on. How about me with drumming? Many of you know I'm a drummer.
Well, when I was young, I wanted to be on the drum line at Hayes High School. And I wanted that so badly. We go to the football games when I was little and I was in like little league football and I didn't really want to watch the game. I just wanted to watch the drum line.
I just was infatuated with it. I just loved it. So I got into band and I worked hard and I got onto the drum line. I was on the snare line and then I had bigger dreams.
I want to go to the University of Texas and make that drum line. Only the best of the best. Get on that drum line. That's crazy.
If I was on that snare line, wow, that'd be amazing. And can I tell you, the first three years I tried out, I failed. They didn't take me. But I didn't give up.
I kept persevering. I spent thousands of hours practicing. I mean thousands. I remember one summer I was working at Hinnish Everlay up in Austin and I was living in Buda and I was driving an hour to an hour from.
So my job every single day, Monday through Friday and I had marching snare drum sticks and I was playing and practicing the entire way there and the entire way back. Very safe driving, obviously. I got really good at driving with my leg with the steering wheel. But I was like, man, I got to practice.
I mean, I got to do it. I'm not going to give up on this thing. The fourth year I made it. But I could see it's going to happen and I'm going to put the work in.
I'm going to purify myself in the here and now. You're getting that picture. You know, people talk about like, hey, I'm going to get these promotions and I'm going to climb up the ladder at work. But you see these people say these things and then you don't see them come to work with initiative.
You know, working harder than everybody else. Coming in 10 minutes early, staying 10 minutes late, taking the initiative, doing things you weren't asked to do. Right? Here's another one.
I believe that I'm going to have a great marriage. Any married people in here today? Okay, keep your hand up if you believe you're going to have a great marriage. Right?
Oh, even more hands went up. That's cool. I guess you weren't married before. Now, or maybe there's some people that aren't married but you believe, I love that.
There's some day you're going to have a great marriage. Well, do you really believe that? Because there's a lot of couples that say that and think that. I never sat down.
I mean, to this day, I've never sat down with a couple and they say, man, we're so excited. We're just prepping for our divorce. It's probably one or two years away. But man, we are on schedule.
Right? We're heading in the right direction. Never met a couple that sat down and said those things. Everybody wants a great marriage.
But what are you willing to do to get it? You know, I believe in my heart. Well, your heart is going to deceive you. That's what the Bible says.
It's deceptive. So if we just all with any of these things that I'm talking about and hitting different areas of life, but we got to look at ourselves in the mirror and be honest. Am I putting the work in? If I want a great marriage, what am I doing about it?
Am I praying to God about it? Am I on my knees saying, God, show me. Where do I need to change? What do I need to do to honor and respect and love my spouse more?
Am I reading good books on marriage? Not just once and then I just put it away. But when's the last time you read that book that made such a big impact on you five, 10 years ago? How about reading books about being a great husband or being a great wife?
And has anybody ever read the power of a praying husband or the power of a praying wife? Those are amazing books. Love and respect. I mean, there's so many different books and we have so many different resources in GMI.
If you're out of book ideas, just come see us and we'll get you more. But put the work in. Every time we have a marriage works seminar, we do them every year with GCF new bromfals. Go to it.
Every August, we teach about marriage in August for the month of August. Go to church. Talk to your spouse about those teachings. See where you are in those things.
Put the work in. Amen? How about having great children? My children.
I want them to do great things one day. Not just great things. I want them to be kingdom builders. I want them to, you know, I'm going this far and they start where I left off and they go even further than I did.
I mean, I want them to change the world around them for the gospel, for the kingdom. Well, if you really believe that, you're going to make a lot of sacrifices. You're going to make a lot of investments and not just financially. A lot of investment into your children.
Right? Are you just putting up with your children or are you training your children? That's an important question. Right?
Well, you know, I mean, this is where all the excuses come in, right? And I've heard all of them. And it's really easy to do that. Well, you know, they have this and this and this and we just submitted that.
I mean, when are you just going to be honest? Just look at yourself in the mirror. Man, am I going to put the effort in? Am I going to go for it?
Am I going to say, God, what do I need to do in order to prepare them for life? I mean, how many times have you gone through kingdom families? I mean, Kate and I started going with our child training, parent, really parent training seminar, right? Kate and I went to kingdom families many times, not just multiple times, many times before we ever had rose or old as child.
And I can be, you know, I'm honest, like, it wasn't kind of awkward at first. These are kind of weird, you know, principles and concepts to be learning when, you know, we don't have a child to practice on is it? But I guess I'll stow it away, you know, but it prepared us. But it didn't fully prepare us because then you got a child.
It's like, whoa, well, what about this? And what about this? And so we're reaching out to her mom, Sally. I mean, daily.
What are we doing this situation? What are we doing this situation? This is, I mean, and we are asking for help. We're seeking wise counsel.
Proverbs says a fool trusts in his own ways, but a wise man seeks counsel, right? And so we wanted to be wise. So we saw counsel and we have been through kingdom families over and over and over again, every single time we go through it, even to this day with a nine year old and a three year old, it's like they're in different seasons. They're different things that we are experiencing with them and we are learning and every single time we go through that material, we're talking about different aspects of it and it's like, okay, here's we need to shore up this area, we need to work on this and it's so much fun to do, but it takes so much time and it is a sacrifice.
There's a great amount of selflessness that goes into it, but I want my kids to be set up for success. I don't want them to just love Jesus. I want them to change this world. So we got to put in the work.
The apostle John is saying, what he's saying here is as a real Christian, not a fake Christian, it's not about how little you do and still get into heaven. Come on. Let's get some amen's on that one. Come on.
Right. If you think that way, man, I don't know, can you be born again and think this way? Like, if you are really following Jesus, don't you think he's going to put more passion and desire and initiative in you through that relationship? I think he is.
I don't think he's going to just say, hey, just be comfortable, settle for less. It'll be good for you. Be good for your marriage. Be good for your family.
It'll be great. That's not the Jesus I know. Now he was a world changer. Come on.
Well, I believe in my Christian and someday I'll go to heaven and be with Jesus, but John says, all those who have this hope purify themselves in the ear and now, meaning they work hard, they pursue it. So many Christians settle for less in life and they want the smallest life possibly that they can have and barely get into heaven. Do you really think that that's God's plan for you? Let's just make sure that we, you know, there might be an elephant in the room.
We're not talking about salvation here. Salvation is not something that we earn. Salvation was paid for at the cross. It's a gift given by grace through faith for those who believe in Jesus.
But eternal rewards in heaven are earned. If you haven't read that before, they are earned. And that's by how we live our lives. Let's read it.
Paul says to Timothy, his protege, 1 Timothy 6, 19, in this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age. When's the coming age? He's talking about heaven. So that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.
So in this way, in this way they will lay up treasure for themselves. What does he mean by that? When you have that kind of deal, it's like, whoa, what did he just say? Because he says in this way, well, what did he just say?
Well, in verse 18, he commands Timothy, and for him to command Christians to do good works, to be rich and good deeds, and to be generous. That is in this way. So in this way, doing good works, rich and good deeds, and being generous, they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for heaven. That's what Paul is telling Timothy.
So this command is not talking about our life in heaven. It's talking about our life here and now what we do in this life affects our life for eternity. And growing up as a child of God means that we don't lay up treasures for this life. We lay up treasures for the next life, for heaven.
I want a big old mansion in heaven. I'm not trying to be greedy. It's just, because I know that if I lay up treasures in heaven, that means I affected that many more people here on earth. You see what I'm saying?
That is just like icing on the cake. But seeing more people get saved and seeing families change and generations change for the gospel of Jesus Christ. That is what floats my boat. Anybody else?
That'd be great. Let's do it together. Why not? 2 Thessalonians 2, 14 and 15.
He called you to this. Here we go again. In the last one, he called you to this. What is that?
This? The godly righteous way of living. The sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit. He called you to that through our gospel that you might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
So then brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold fast to the teachings we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter. So whether you learn God's word by reading the Bible or by hearing it on a Sunday or maybe you're listening to the Bible or you're memorizing Scripture, hold fast to it. Stand firm in it. Church.
Men? Okay. Let's read our last chunk of 1 John 3 verses 4 through 10. Everybody see the women?
Awesome. Everyone who sends breaks the law. In fact, sin is lawlessness. But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins.
And in him is no sin. No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. Wow. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.
Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. The one who does what is right is righteous just as he is righteous. The one who does what is sinful is of the devil because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work.
No one who is born of God will continue to sin because God's seed remains in them. They cannot go on sinning because they have been born of God. This is how we know the children of who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are. Anyone who does not do what is right is not God's child nor is anyone who does not love their brother and sister.
So this is an important passage here to understand what he's saying and what he's not saying. What he's not saying is you get saved, you put your belief in Jesus and then the next time you sin that just proves that you're not in Christ. That's not what he's saying. What he's saying is there should be a change.
There should be a progression in your life where those things that had to hold on you, they no longer have a hold on you and you progressively have less and less and less sins who that have a hold on you and you are living more the righteousness that God has given you, that life that he's given you. You are living in that. Your life is changing. And only you, maybe there's some outward things that people can see around you but only you can really know if that progression is happening and also how fast that progression is happening because it's your heart that has to be open and soft to the Lord for him to be able to change it.
He won't make you do these things. He is happy to change your heart and to help you overcome sin if you will just open up your heart and allow his grace to work in your life. Man, but the biggest difference between a frog and a prince, an unbeliever and a believer is the frog continues in sin. A prince has the desire and the power to fight it off.
And some of you might look at that and it's like, well, I'm with you halfway. I sure do have a desire. I've tried, and I've tried, and I've tried, and I've tried. I don't want to stand, but I keep doing it and I just, ah, where's the power?
That power is available to you. Let's read about it. Shall we? Philippians 2, verses 12 and 13.
Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence, continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose. So whether you have your physical Bible here or you have a Bible app, whatever you have, highlight or underline or emphasize to will and to act. You see that on the screen there?
What is happening here? We're continuing to work out our salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God who works in you to will and to act. So he gives us the desire, the will to change, to fulfill his good pleasure.
And also he gives us the power to act. He is working in us. He gives us the power to fulfill his good purpose. Frogs continue to sin, but princes and princesses have not only the desire to change, they have the power to change.
Church. God doesn't just give us a desire for what is right. He gives us the power to do what is right. So if God gives us the desire and the power to not sin, that's clear, right?
They're right on the same page. So here is the logical next question for me that I would ask myself and we all ask ourselves, am I making excuses or am I making progress? God gives me the desire and the power to make the change. Am I making excuses or am I making progress?
And Church, you could hear that and you're the person who's making excuses and you could think, gosh, you know, you start beating yourself up, you feel like God has beaten you up. Can I tell you that we have a gracious, slow to anger, God that's filled with loving kindness. He's so patient with us. We don't deserve it.
But for some reason, he doesn't give up on us and he is so patient with us. He doesn't expect perfection. But he does expect for you. I mean, you're going to slip up every once in a while.
You're going to make mistakes, but he says, just grab my hand, turn back the way that I have you going and just take a step forward. And then take another step forward tomorrow. Come on, walk with me through this life, a life that is progressing every day toward complete holiness and righteousness. We will not attain that in this life, but we can get closer and closer to it because he does give us the power to change.
Overcoming sin is a battle. It's a lifelong process. And I trust that many of you have read this passage and probably related to it. Romans 7, verses 18 to 25.
Listen to Paul's anguish here. For I know that good itself does not dwell in me. That is in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.
For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I don't want to do, this I keep doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. So I find this law at work. Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me.
For in my inner inner being, I delight in God's law, but I see another work at law in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. What a wretched man I am. Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Come on church, thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord.
So then I myself in my mind am a slave to God's law, but in my sinful nature, a slave to the law of sin. Even with that good news there, thanks be to God who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord. Some of us can still relate to this and feel like yeah, it's an endless cycle. I can't get out of it.
And I didn't put it in my notes, so I made sure to be able to get to it quickly. Because it's so important when you read the end of chapter seven of Romans that you flip over to the first verse of chapter eight, because it's great news, church, think about what we just read. And then it goes on to say, therefore there is now no condemnation at all for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.
For what the law could not do weak as it was through the flesh. God did sending us his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh. And as an offering for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh. That is a powerful truth for us.
So what are two things we can draw from this? And then we're done today. Two quick things. First of all, in this battle against sin, growing up as a child of God, we want to progress toward holiness and righteousness.
In this battle, we have been given everything we need. We've been given everything that we need to live a victorious life to overcome sin and darkness. We have been given everything that we need. Second Peter, one, three through four.
Check this out. His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him, who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these, he has given us his very great and precious promises that are yes and amen for those who are in Christ Jesus. So that through them, you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.
Church, if you are in Christ Jesus, he has given you everything you need. By what? What's the beginning? By his divine power.
What is that word? Power there. Doonamis. If you don't know about the word doonamis, go back in our app and go find a message that I did called power from on high.
And I completely, I mean, I just go crazy on the word doonamis. But that's exactly what it's talking about there. And where we have to land with the word doonamis is we have to figure out where did it show up on the scene and how does it show up on the scene for us. It showed up on the scene for the apostles because Jesus said wait here after he ascended, wait here until you receive power, doonamis from on high.
And then what happened in Acts 2? The Holy Spirit fell on those people and all of them got baptized in the Holy Spirit and they received power from on high. So by that power, we have been given everything that we need. Don't you know you need to get baptized in the Holy Spirit?
Come on, Church. If you think that it's some weird tongues thing and you're freaked out by it, so is I, but can I tell you my life has changed forever because I got baptized in the Holy Spirit. I never preached a sermon before I got baptized in the Holy Spirit. Some things that had a hold on me don't have a hold on me anymore because I received that divine power the Scripture talks about.
See when we talk about Christianity there's no first-class business, class economy, plus economy, right? Like if that were the case then you know I would may and that's a big may be able to afford economy, right? When it comes to the great things that God has for us and just my nature without God probably wouldn't even be able to afford a ticket on the plane. But there's no special access level.
There's no special elite knowledge. Come on, are you with me? You have the same access, the same knowledge and the same power available to you that the Apostle Peter had. You have the same access, same knowledge, same power available to you that the Apostle Paul had, the Apostle John.
Come on, are you with me? These were great men of God, but you could be a great man or woman of God. You have the same things available to you, same God, same salvation, same baptism, same power, man. Which leads us to 1 Corinthians 10-13, no temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind and God is faithful.
He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear, but when you are tempted he will also provide a way out so you can endure it. So repeat after me, when I am tempted I have everything I need to defeat temptation. God is faithful. He will be with me.
And here's the second thing, the last thing that we're looking at today. Second thing that we can draw from that passage we read in Romans 7, we have to be willing to do our part. We have to be willing to do our part. Christ always does his part.
He always does. We can't neglect to do our own. Look at this quote from James So the Christian life must not be an initial spasm followed by a chronic inertia. And that's exactly what I described in the beginning of this message when I talked about those people who were saved for a long time and they start going to the motions they've lost that spark.
What does inertia mean? In action, dead, dormant. You had this initial spark, you were so grateful, but now your Christian life looks dead, dormant, inactive. And God doesn't breathe new life into us church for us to do nothing and remain unchanged.
We must be willing to do our part. So this is the last passage that we're looking at today. What does it look like to do our part? Second Peter 1, 5-11.
For this very reason, everybody say this with me. Make every effort. Say it again. Make every effort.
Say it again. Make every effort. What does make every effort mean? Make every effort.
Those people that hate those kind of things are just cringing in their seats right now. You have to define it. You can't use the words to define it. We just did.
It's okay. Make every effort to add to your faith goodness to goodness knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to birth perseverance, godliness, and to godliness, mutual affection, and to mutual affection love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, everybody say increasing measure. They will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.
But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins. Therefore, my brothers and sisters, make every effort. There it is again to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble.
You will never stumble and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Faith, goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, mutual affection, love. These things are impossible in our own strength that has to come through the power of the Holy Spirit, the sanctifying power, the Holy Spirit working in and through us. Day after day, week after week, month after work, when you increase in these things.
If you're not perfect at them, it's okay, but let's increase in these qualities. What will our church look like if every single one of us increases in these things for the rest of this year? What could happen? Men, come on.
And what happens if we're increasing in these? You will never stumble. That's what it says. And you will receive a rich welcome into the kingdom of God.
And we know from God's Word that his exceedingly great and precious promises they are yes and amen to those who are in Christ Jesus. So does God ever wellch on his promises? So let's not forget to do our part. We have to be willing to do our part.
So will you declare this today? We stand with me. And just close our eyes. And before you repeat after me, I'd only want you to repeat it after me if you mean this.
Don't do it if you don't mean it. I'm going to say what I'm about to say. I have it written down here. And this is what I'm going to say.