KINGDOM LIFESTYLE: Walking In Truth

Welcome today, I'm Pastor Fred, good to have you here. When you're here, you're family. So you don't have to be a regular attender. We love you and we appreciate you and we're glad to have you join us today for church.

So if you're new here or you haven't been here for the last few weeks, we started a new series called Kingdom Lifestyle. And so it's really about how do we walk out this Christian life? What should our lifestyle look like? And we started three years ago, yeah.

I'm a, yeah, I started, it's been a long series, you know? Actually, we could preach this message till the day I die. I mean, this is really what it's all about. Because once you get saved, the rest of your life is walking it out.

And we never really get to that place of getting it all together. We're continually being conformed to the image of Jesus by the Holy Spirit, by His word. So it's a daily thing. It doesn't, you don't arrive.

You get better every day. And in the Holy Spirit makes you better. But anyway, it's been three weeks, not three years. And we started out with the first message called Walking by Faith.

And I brought that one three weeks ago. And then Seth brought one called Walking in Love. And then Phil was walking in the light last week. And today is going to be Walking in Truth.

So Walking in Truth, I want to preface this that you give me some grace today. If I step on your toes, I apologize in advance. It's not me. I'll let God's Word do what it does.

But here's the thing. I never want to expose you to the truth of God's Word to the point where you feel shame and condemnation and guilt. That's never the purpose. The purpose of God's Word in exposing you to truth is so that you can grow by it, that you can become more like Jesus.

I want you to see this as an invitation to the more that God has for you. It's not for a reason to go back and self-reflect and feel bad about yourself. So as I was telling Seth and Phil today, these messages are as much for me as for anybody because I need to continually be reminded of my walk and what it should look like and what it needs to be on a day by day basis. So don't ever think I'm preaching at you.

I could very much, I need to be right there and hear the same thing. So our main text today is going to be in first, I'm sorry, third John, chapter 1, verses 1 through 4. So if you have your Bibles and you want to turn there a little ahead of time, we're not going to be there just quite yet. But third John, chapter 1, there's only one chapter in the book of third John and we're going to look at the first four verses.

And verse 4 is kind of our key verse. Verse 4 says this, now imagine this, this is John, the apostle of love. And he wrote the gospel of John, he wrote first, second, third John revelation, he's called the gospel of love. But he says, I have no greater joy.

Like the thing that brings me the most joy in life, he says, I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth. Now there's a lot of things we could probably put in there. I have no greater joy, blank, blank, blank. But here's John saying, he's an old man.

He's looking back on life, he says, I have no greater joy than to hear that my children, my spiritual sons and daughters, the ones that I've helped shape them into faith. I've introduced them to the Lord, I've helped them grow in the Lord. It doesn't bring me any greater joy than to hear that they walk in truth. And I can identify with that.

I'm sure you can too. If you've ever helped somebody and they're walk with the Lord and maybe you introduced them to the Lord, maybe you disciple them, help them grow in their early years, mentor them, whatever it might be. And then you don't see them for a while and you get a report and you hear that they're doing excellent. And they're walking in the very thing that you help teach them.

And that brings a lot of joy. But the other side is true too. You've ever had somebody that you poured a lot of time and effort and energy into and then you get their bad report and they're not doing so good. And that's sad.

It brings sorrow. But John says, I have no greater joy than to hear my children walking in truth. So the word we're looking at, and I'm not going to give you the funny version that Phil says. What do you say Phil?

It's like two spuds, pair of potatoes. That's not what the word is. It's not a pair of potatoes. It's peripitao.

And it's the Greek word is peripitao. We see it in our Bible. It means to walk or to live. It comes from two words, peri, which means around or about.

If you think of periscope or perimeter, it's peri, it means around or about. And the word petao, which means to walk or tread. So when they put this word together peripitao, it means the entirety of your life. It means the whole round of your life.

It means everything that goes in to making up your life. It's just not, well, I'm doing this today and I'm doing that tomorrow and I'm going this next to you next. No. It's everything about your life.

So when we talk about lifestyle in the kingdom, it's this word peripitao because it's just not, well, I'm going to choose this one day and something else another day, this is what makes up your life. And so when we learn to walk in truth, it means to have a lifestyle in truth or to live in faith and I have a lifestyle rooted in faith or in the lighter or whatever it might be. And so the word means to conduct oneself, to pass one's life, to make one's way, do use of opportunities to progress. And so he says, I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk, make use of every opportunity, progress in truth, that they're continuing to walk this thing out in truth.

So what's truth? Boy, you could get a lot of definitions on truth. You could get a lot of definitions, be like, well, I believe this, I believe that. The quality or state of being true.

That's a dictionary definition. The quality or state of being true. I want to give you the Bible definition next. Some synonyms, accuracy, authenticity, certainty, antonyms, inaccuracy, falsehood, or what is it?

Why? No, who? Now, don't look at your neighbor. Who do we know from scripture is the liar?

The enemy, right? Yeah, don't say my wife. The repercussions on that. Now, where do all liars go?

Great. I was going to say, city reached church. No, I'm just kidding. That was a trick question.

Now, Jesus says this about the enemy. He says, he says, he does not stand in truth because there is no truth in him when he speaks a lie. He speaks from his own nature because he is a liar and the father of it. He says, Jesus is words.

If you want to define truth, there's two main things in scripture that are going to define truth for you. It's the quality of state of being true. But what is that? Jesus, we know that Jesus says this about himself.

He says in John 14, he says, your memory is found in his disciples in John 14. He says, I'm going away to prepare a place for you. But if I go away, I'll come back. And Philip says, well, how do we know where you're going?

If we don't know where we're going, how do we go in another way? And Jesus is answering John 14, 6, as what? It says, Jesus says to him, I am the way, the truth, and the life. Now, he didn't say I am a truth or I am a way or I am a life.

It's a definite article. He says, I am the truth. Like at the exclusion of all other truths, Jesus says, I am the truth. We know from John chapter 1, verse 1, it says, in the beginning was the word, the word was with God and the word was God.

Verse 14 says, and the word was made flesh and dwelt among us. And we beheld his glory, the glory has that the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. Full means to be complete. It means to be overflowing.

That Jesus, when he was here on earth, not only was the truth, he was full of truth. And he was also, he was the word and the word was God. So we know that God is true. We know that Jesus is true.

Jesus says in John 17, 17, he says, sanctify them by thy word or your word, your word is truth. So the word is truth. Jesus is the word. Jesus is God.

Jesus is truth. Like if you ever want to know what truth is, look at the life of Jesus. Like if you're confused, look at the life of Jesus. Look at how he acted, look at how he responded, look at what he did.

Everything he did, he said, everything I do is what I see my Father doing, everything I say is what I hear my Father say. So everything that Jesus moved in while on the earth was a demonstration of truth. That's one aspect. The other aspect, Jesus says in John 14, he says this, he says, I will pray the Father that he will give you another helper.

So we know that Jesus is what? The truth. Jesus says I'll pray the Father that he will give you another. The word another doesn't mean another one of a different kind.

It means another one of the same kind. It's the word alos, Al-O-S, which means another one of the same kind. Heteros means another one of a different kind. So I think I've used this description before.

If you had a, let's just say, a 2015 F-150 and you wanted to get a 2022 F-150, you're getting another one of the same kind. But if you want to trade your F-150 on a Chevy Silverado, you're getting another one of a different kind. And Jesus said this, he said, I'm going to pray the Father that he will give you another one just like me. So if Jesus is the truth, what does the helper?

He's the truth. I'll pray the Father he will give you another comforter, another helper that he may abide with you forever. Here he defines it, the spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive and neither can it know him because it neither sees him or knows him, but you know him, but he dwells with you and will be in you. Jesus is the truth, but Jesus isn't physically here.

So what does he give us? He gives us the Holy Spirit, who is another one just like him, who will be in us and abide with us forever. So here's what I can tell you. Truth always equals truth, right?

If something's true, truth has to equal truth. So that the Holy Spirit is truth, the Word of God is truth, which means that the Holy Spirit will never violate the Word of God. I just think God wants me to be happy. And I was praying the other day, and I just felt like the Holy Spirit said, I should go shack up with that girl, because he wants me to be happy.

And you know, it would be cheaper for our bills. You know, God wants me to be a good steward. The Holy Spirit will never violate the Word of God. Now, sometimes he does violate our understanding of the Word of God, probably because your understanding is off.

But truth always parallels truth. He never violates his Word. Next slide. Let's read.

I want to read this passage to you. Third John. All right. So two pillars today.

Two, what defines truth? Jesus or the Word and what else? All right. I'm going to have to say, all right.

Let me do this way. The Holy Spirit and Jesus or the Word. OK. We got that.

Third John says this. It says the elder, which is John, to the beloved Gaius, whom I love in the truth, beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health as your soul prospers. Let's just hold it there for a minute. Everybody say this.

Just as. Just as. Just as means. If you look the Word up, it means in proportion to or to the same degree as or equal to.

So what's he saying here? He says, I pray that you may prosper and be in health just as what? Your soul prospers. So I do believe that God wants you to prosper.

I do believe God wants you to be healthy. But I'm not sure that this is the verse that I would go to to prove that. Really, at that time, this was more of a greeting of well being. It says, hey, I just want you to be prosperous and healthy.

We might say that today. But there's a truth in here as well. He says, I pray that you may prosper, which is what? Externally?

And that you may be in health, your body, just as or to the same degree as what? Your soul prospers. Your soul. Your soul is your mind.

Your will and your emotion. So he's saying this. He says, I want you to have health and I want you to have be prosperous in your life, but to the degree that you renew your mind. To the degree that you're prosperous on the inside, I want that to be evident on the outside.

I want to see the internal reality become the external reality in your life. Because what happens sometimes is this. We see promises in the Bible and God wants to bless you. God wants to prosper you.

I believe that. But sometimes we see God withholding blessing in our life because my character hasn't gotten to the level to where I could sustain the blessing in my life. See, it's actually sometimes an act of mercy of God to withhold something from me because if he released it into my life, it would crush me. Did you ever see somebody who had no money when the lottery?

What do most of them have in three years? Nothing because their character hadn't been developed to the level of sustaining the blessing in their life. And so John says this. He says, I want you to prosper.

I want you to be in health, but to the degree as in proportion to the degree that your soul prospers. So I want you to renew your mind to the truth of God's word so that when that blessing comes that you're able, your character and your maturity are at the level that you'll be able to carry the thing God's put once to put in your life. See sometimes you have to remember it's a cornerstone of theologies that God is always good. And so you may not see it.

You may not experience it, but you've got to remember in a much situation God's good. So if he's withholding something, just think of it like this. It's gaining interest. It's gaining interest.

And maybe he's just waiting until you get to the place in your life where you're built up and reminds me of the place where you can actually carry the thing that he wants to release to you. Keep pressing on. Everybody say just as. Just as.

Alright, verse three. It says, I rejoice greatly when brethren came and testified of the truth that is in you. Just as you walk in the truth. I have no greater joy than to hear my children walking through.

He says, I was happy. I was joyless when people came and testified of the truth that is where in you. Just as you walk in the truth. Same thing.

He says, I want the internal reality that's in you to be demonstrated in an external reality or walk. And he said, I was joyful when brethren came and testified of the truth that is in you. Just as to the same degree as to the proportion as that you walk in truth. Every born again Christian has truth in them.

Right? Is Jesus in you? Is the spirit of Christ in you? What is he?

The truth. So if Jesus is the truth, if the Holy Spirit is the truth and he is in me, guess what's in me? The truth. That's a fact.

So the fact is that every believer has the truth in them but not every believer walks in truth. And what he's saying is it makes me really happy when you get to a place in your life to where you realize that the truth in you now becomes reality on the outside. And that takes place here. Here's a question you got to ask yourself.

He said, somebody came and testified. Testify means to give witness to what you've seen, heard, or experienced. So that's somebody else seeing something in your life and going telling it to somebody else. So I'm asking this, does your walking in truth testify to God's truth?

Or your version of the truth? Because we all got a version of the truth. God's awake or you mad at me? Both.

So here's what happens sometimes. I know what goes through your mind. You're like, well, I want to be authentic. I want to be real.

I don't want to be fake. I get that. So what do we do? We make up these sayings like, well, you know, that's just how I am.

That's just how I am. I just happen to be really irritable. I'm an irritable person. That's how I am.

And so why would I want to act anyway other than who I am? I'm just a very angry person. I used to be a very angry person. And I used to make excuses for it.

Like that's how God made me. See what happens is when we have a bad attitude or we have an irritable attitude or we have anger or any of those things. And I want to be authentic. So I'm just going to let you see the way I am.

I'm actually identifying with my version of the truth and not God's version of the truth. Because the truth that's in me doesn't have a bad attitude. The truth that's in me wasn't born that way. See, I get that you might say, well, I was born that way, but you've been born again.

That was the old you. The new you is holy. The new you is righteous. The new you is just like Jesus.

And Jesus doesn't have a bad attitude. Jesus isn't gossiping behind people. Well, that's just what we do at work. What else is there to try working?

Like, let's try something constructive for once. Well, I don't want to be fake. You're actually being fake when you think you're being true to yourself and you're being, you're identifying with the wrong version of you. Let's say it this way.

When your external reality doesn't mirror your internal reality, you're actually living in a virtual reality. I think I'm this way. Therefore, that's how I'm going to let people see me. But the version of you that you're letting them see is not in proportion to it's not just as the truth that's in you.

See, the truth that's in you doesn't act that way. The truth that's in you doesn't do things that way. And John says, I have no greater joy than to hear that the way you're walking it out day by day by day is just as in proportion to that Jesus truth that's in you. Here's what happens.

Let's go the next line. I need a volunteer. Let's do this. I need a volunteer that has only been here in the last six months.

Is that you? All right. Come on up. Tell me your name again.

Olivia. Everybody say hi, Olivia. Olivia, have you ever studied money? Could you recognize a real dollar bill and a fake dollar bill?

Okay. All right. What about a hundred dollar bill? All right.

Well, let's just see. Let's see. All right. So I'll help you.

Okay. So here's I'm going to let you pick which one you want. Okay. So you might want to get this right.

All right. Because this is really important. All right. So here's two bills, right?

They both have what number on them? One hundred and one hundred. They kind of look just alike. Right.

So do you see one that might be real and one might be a copy? One has the word copy on it. Oh my gosh. This girl knows what she's doing.

Well, I was thinking this because it looked over there. Yeah, it looks a little different. This one says the United States of America. This one says what?

It says motion picture use only. All right. So if you get to pick one of these, which one would you pick? The real one.

Okay. That's good. That's yours. You guys sit down.

All right. Now here's what happens. All in writing to the Roman Church, he's talking about why the entire world is guilty before God. It says the invisible attributes of God can be clearly seen through creation and through nature.

Therefore the entire world is guilty. So Paul's establishing that. I'm taking this a little out of context, but because there's a nugget in here. And when he talks about that group of people, he's talking about unsaved people, it says that day in verse 25, it says they exchanged the truth of God for what?

A lie. And worship and serve the creation rather than the creator. So here's what happens is we get truth. Right.

Do you realize there cannot be a fake hundred dollar bill unless there's a real one? Like if I tried to give you a million dollar bill, would you believe it? No. Why?

Because there's no million dollar bills. You'd laugh. And so here's what happens is we're presented with the truth of God's word which Olivia has, and then we're presented with a lie. And what do we hopefully choose?

The truth. Right. We choose the truth. But then comes along the enemy.

Right. And he does this. Whoo. I've got Olivia.

I'll tell you what. I'll give you five of these if you give me that one back. Well, I don't. That's a good question.

Are they real? What do they say? They say copy. So I'm going to give you five of these.

No. What if we just did this? What do you want them? No.

These things cost about five bucks for a hundred. But here's what we do. We do this in our spiritual walk. We take the real hundred and go back and get about a hundred fakes that are worthless.

That's a dumb exchange. And why do we do that? It says because they worshiped and served the creature yourself rather than the creator. Get the big eye in the way.

What do I want? They serve the creature and worship the creature instead of the creator. But we do that all the time. We get some truth.

And then it comes along the enemy. Did God really say that? Wouldn't God want you to be happy? Well, God wouldn't ask you to do that.

Not God. All of a sudden. We start thinking about it. Next thing you know, we, you know what?

Here you go, Devoth. Give you my truth. And I'll take that lie. And what do we do?

We protect that lie with our life. We defend it. We even find scriptures to defend the lie that we believed. That's real deception.

So what I want to give you today, I want to give you three things. I want to give you three ways that you can testify that you're walking in the truth. Three ways to know. Three ways to show, to testify that you're actually walking in the truth.

Today's a little more practical than normal. So number one, I'll give you now, stay in the word. Number one, stay in the word. Number two, submit to the spirit.

Number three, be set apart for service. Stay in the word, submit to the spirit, and be set apart for service. All right, stay in the word. So what we're going to do today, I'm going to stay in John.

So John writes more about truth than any writer in the New Testament. So we'll just look at a few passages John writes about truth. The first one, stay in the word. This is a common, I'm sure you've read this before.

So the verse right before this says, after Jesus spoke these things, many people believed in Him. So who's he speaking to? It says, then Jesus said to those who believe. So who's he speaking to?

People had believed in Him. So here's what happens is not everybody that believes in Jesus is actually walking in the truth. There have been so many things in my life over the last 30, 40, 50, not 50, but I was a little guy then, but 30, 40 years where I have bought into something, I've been deceived, and I really thought it was genuine. And only when I hold it up to the truth of God's word and only when I allow the Holy Spirit to begin to work in my life, I realize, wow, that was dumb.

That was a fake. That was a fake dollar bill. It says, then Jesus said to those Jews who believed in Him, if you do what? Abide, if you abide in my word.

So here's what everybody quotes this part, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. The truth that you don't know won't set you free. Or the truth that you don't receive. See, Jesus says this, he says, he spoke to those who believed.

He said, if you abide in my word, the word abide, it's the same word that refers to the Holy Spirit abiding or remaining in us. Staying, it means to dwell. It means to stay put. It means to live in, to take a boat in.

He says, I want you to stay in my word. Get in the word, stay in the word. He says, if you abide, if you stay, if you remain in my word, then you're what? My, oh my gosh, you know what a disciple is?

A learner. He says, if you stay in the word, you'll be a learner. You'll be a disciple. Here's what happens a lot of times, people get in the word and they get a first grade education and then they go out.

You know, it's like you learn how to do addition, subtraction, and then you want to come talk to me about calculus. It's like me trying to talk to Einstein. Like, it's just like, I'm not there yet. And so what happens is people get in the word and they get a nugget of truth and then that becomes the one thing they live their entire life on.

And Jesus didn't say, get in the word and then leave. He said, I want you to get in the word and stay. He said, if you stay in the word, then you'll be a disciple. A disciple is one who learns.

Like, you don't actually ever get there. I have not arrived. You haven't arrived. You're still learning.

But the moment you get out of the words, you stop learning. Jesus says, if you remain in the word, then you're my disciples. And then what? You will know the truth.

That word no means to know through experience, to know through intimacy. That you'll actually develop a relationship with the truth who is Jesus and the truth who is Jesus will set you free. See, what we don't realize a lot of times is that truth comes in layers and dimensions. And even there's a place in John 16, Jesus says to disciples, he says, I'm not going to tell you everything right now because you couldn't bear it.

So Jesus knew everything, but he said there's some things I'm going to wait till later to tell you because right now you're not ready for it. And so what happens is truth comes in layers. Truth comes in dimensions. And if I don't stay in the word and remain in the word, I'd level out at the place that I stopped staying in the word.

So it's like this, when Jesus reveals a new truth, he doesn't negate the old truth. He actually builds upon it. So you remember in John 15, he says this, he says, I no longer call you servants, but I call you friends. For a servant doesn't know what the master is doing, but all things I've heard to the father I've declared into you.

So he's saying this, there was a time, what's a servant do? A servant takes orders, right? Go watch the car. It was great when I had kids because I could tell somebody to do that.

Now I have a dirty scar in town. You think I would know somebody that could wash a car. Or you say, go make your bed, right? A servant just does whatever the master says to do, but doesn't know the why behind the what.

And Jesus says, I no longer call you servants because I call you, but I call you friends. And because you're friends, I'm actually telling you the reason why I'm doing what I'm doing. Here's the truth though. Just because Jesus no longer calls me a servant, it calls me a friend, it doesn't mean that friends don't serve.

So the fact that I was a servant, I've learned how to serve, and now I'm a friend and I know the why behind the how and the what, doesn't mean that I dismiss the truth that was just built upon. The same's true in the Old Testament. We have the Old Testament law. Jesus says in Matthew 5, verse 17, he says, I didn't come to abolish the law, but I came to fulfill it, right?

Jesus actually brings this new thing called grace. We're no longer under law, we're under grace. So what did the law do? The law established what God's moral code was.

When grace came in, grace doesn't become an excuse to go break the law. It's not an excuse to go sin. It's actually truth built upon an old truth. Here's God's standard.

And oh, by the way, the new truth is I'm going to give you the power to keep the thing I already told you to do or not to do. See one builds upon the other. When the Holy Spirit was first given in the Old Testament, the first person recorded in Exodus that the Holy Spirit was poured out on. It was a guy that was a craftsman in the building of the temple.

And it said that God filled him with the Holy Spirit and that the demonstration of being filled with the Holy Spirit under the Old Covenant It said that he was filled with the Spirit in wisdom and knowledge and understanding. New Testament, the Holy Spirit's poured out and we see a demonstration in power. One builds on the other. See, a lot of people want the power, but they don't want the understanding.

A lot of people want the grace, but they don't want the standard of the law. So the problem comes in when we want the New Testament experience, but not maintaining the standard of the Old Covenant. See, there's the standard. We want the new experience.

We want the Holy Spirit, but we don't want the understanding and knowledge that also comes from the Spirit. We want grace and we want to know that God forgives me no matter what I do, but we don't want to maintain the standard that still God says this is wrong. Well, it's under grace. It is.

But that's not an excuse. Truth. The new truth doesn't excuse the old truth. It merely just builds on the one that was already founded.

Does that make sense? So you got to stay in the Word. See what happens when you don't stay in the Word? They said this.

They said, we're Abraham's descendants. We have this. I find this one the funniest statements in the Bible. We have never been in bondage to anyone.

They were in bondage to the Egyptians, the Babylonians, the Persians, the Syrians, and right when they were saying that to the Romans. Duh! But this is how deceptive living a lie is. I was talking to a young guy the other day.

I was trying to talk to him about coming into our men's home. He said, look, I was in prison. I'm out of prison. I got my car back.

I got an apartment. I finally have freedom. But he strung out with an apartment and a car. I said, you're not free.

You're deceived. You're deceived. See, here's a guy saying, why don't you talk to me about freedom? I've never been in bondage to anybody.

How many times do we talk to people who think they're free, but they're actually living in bondage? Very common. And so it's like the spirit. What did you tell me yesterday?

It's a spirit of stupid. I don't even know if it's a spirit of deception as much as it's just a spirit of stupid. Like maybe you just need a good slap in the face. We'll do that and then we'll get you delivered.

The truth that you don't know or refuse to receive won't set you free. See, sometimes it's not just staying in the Word and knowing what the Word says. I talked to a guy one time, a long time friend of mine. He was living in a situation that he should not have been living in.

This guy knows the Bible. He knows the truth. He knows what God's Word says. I said, well, what you're doing is wrong.

He goes, look, I know what the Bible says. I just don't care. I just don't care because I want to worship the creature more than the Creator. And I'm going to exchange the truth of God's Word for a lie.

So stay in the Word. Next thing, submit to the Spirit. Jesus says, I still have many things to tell you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when he, the Spirit of truth has come, he will guide you into a little bit of truth.

He's going to guide you into all truth. He's going to guide you. So here's the thing about the Holy Spirit. He's not going to drive you into truth.

That's why I say that you have to submit to the Spirit because although the Bible gives us some guidelines, the Bible doesn't give us instruction of every single thing to do in life, but the Holy Spirit will guide you. But you have to be submitted to the Holy Spirit. You have to submit. Like if I'm going to follow somebody when we've gone overseas, we will get a guide.

And this guide, like I could get a map when I went to where do we go? Let's just say I went to Rome. I could get a map and walk around Rome like an idiot. Oh, let's see.

I guess that's St. Peter's Cathedral. Well, I don't know. But when you take a guide, the guide actually knows what he's talking about or what she's talking about.

They show you places that you never would have seen on the map. And so it says that the Holy Spirit will guide you and lead you into all truth, but you've got to be willing to follow. See, there's a verse in the Old Testament. David says this in Psalm 8611.

He says, teach me your way, O Lord, and I will walk in what? Truth. See, there's a connection between your way and your truth. You see that?

He says, teach me your way, and then I'll walk in your truth. His way is truth. That word way is very similar to this word peripityo. It means that God's manner or modus operandi of doing things.

That's how God does things. David says, teach me how you do it, and I will walk in it. See, there's a teachable spirit there. There's a humble spirit there.

There's somebody that, what's a disciple, a learner? It's somebody that wants to be taught that's submissive, that's willing. Okay, God, teach me. Show me.

I'm willing. I'm open. There's another verse that Solomon writes in Proverbs 1412. It says this.

David says, show me your way, and I'll walk in your truth. Solomon, his son, says this. There is a way that seems right to a man, but the end of that way is death or destruction. See, so often, like, oh, you know, I'm just the one thing's my own way.

Right? You ever been there? Flat on your face? See, there's a way that seems right.

This looks like the right way, but it's not. It seems right. It feels right. By all natural inclination, this should be the right way to go.

And that's why I've got to stay in the Word. So when I stay in the Word, and I'm in the Word, and now I'm submitted to the Holy Spirit, he's taking the Word that I'm in, and he's leading me. And I'm thinking, I'm going to go this way. He's like, Fred, now it's not the right way.

I want you to go this way. So even if you get off a little bit, let's just say you're just off by one degree. You're not going to fall off the cliff right away, right? If you're off 90 degrees, you're going down right away.

But most people aren't off 90 degrees. Most people are just off by a degree or two. And so if I'm off by a degree or two, guess what happens? Eventually, I'm going to fall off the cliff.

God's Word and God's Spirit are completely parallel. Truth and truth. And if I stay in the Word and I stay in submitted to the leading of the Holy Spirit, he will never, ever lead me off the cliff. What does Psalm 23 say?

He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Surely, goodness and mercy, following all the days in my life. That's the path that he wants to lead you. But you've got to be willing to follow.

Alright, the last thing's this. Go to the next slide. Set apart for service. So honor, honor Seth.

I'm going to break stride. I'm going to actually read from the message translation here. But like, hell's not freezing over. I know you're going to be.

So I want to read it to you in this version first. Then I want to finish with this thing in the message. So John chapter 17, this is verses 15 through 19, Jesus. Jesus is praying to the Father.

It's like after he met with the disciples, he goes, he's praying for us today. I quoted you earlier, John 17, we looked at it. So sanctify them by your truth. Your Word is truth.

So in context here, there's an aspect where sanctification, let me just talk about that for a minute. So sanctification is twofold. When you get saved, the minute you accept Jesus, you are made holy. Your Spirit is born again.

You are completely sanctified and holy as holy and righteous as He is in your born again spirit. There's also a part of sanctification which is the process of becoming more like Jesus than ever ends. It's ongoing. So it says this in Hebrews 10, 10.

It says, by one offering, he has sanctified us by the will of the Father. That's sanctified. It says, for once in all time, he has sanctified us. It's a one-time thing.

But then just a couple of verses later in verse 14 of Hebrews 10, 14, it says that he has perfected forever those who are being sanctified. So there's a part of you that's perfect forever. You're born again spirit. There's a part of you that's progressively becoming more like Jesus.

And that part of becoming more like Jesus, there should be less and less evidence of sin in your life. Like, you're sin-free in here and you should begin to have less sin in your life. And so that's part of this, but that's not the sanctification. I don't think Jesus is talking about that sanctification here because it says that he's going to sanctify himself and obviously he had no sin.

So let's read this. I do not pray that you should take them out of the world, but that you should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Next slide.

Sanctify them by your truth. Your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. And for their sakes, I sanctify myself that they all may also may be sanctified by the truth.

Sanctified means to be set apart. Right? It's to be set apart. It means to be consecrated.

It means to be dedicated. And so Jesus says, sanctify them, set them apart with your truth. Your word is truth. And he said, as you have sent me, so send I them, and I am sanctifying myself.

So Jesus is not becoming less sin. What he's saying is he's setting himself apart for this higher purpose of actually going to the cross and finishing what God has called him to do. It's like another step. It's like, I mean, that was like the final level that he went to.

So I'm sanctifying myself. I'm setting myself apart that they also might be sanctified by the truth. All right. I want you to listen to this in the message.

It says this. It says this. I'm not asking that you would take them out of the world, but that you guard them from the evil one. They are no more defined by the world than I am defined by the world.

Make them holy, consecrated with the truth. Your word is consecrating truth. In the same way that you gave me a mission in the world, I give them a mission. In the same way that you gave me a mission, I give them a mission.

I'm consecrating myself for their sakes. So they'll be truth consecrated in their mission. To walk in truth, you need to stay in the Word. You've got to remain in the Word because God wants to continue to reveal new levels of truth to you.

But if you don't stay there, you're going to choose the level at which you cap out. He's got things like he's unlimited. There is so much more to him than you could ever experience. So you've got to stay there.

You have to be submitted to the leading of the Holy Spirit. You have to realize that the Holy Spirit, if you're truly following the Holy Spirit, where he leads you is going to be perfectly in line. With what is in God's Word. He'll never lead you apart from that.

And then finally says that I want you to be sanctified for the purpose of being mission minded. That just as God sent Jesus here for a mission, he has a mission for you. He's got a mission and a purpose for each person here. You're going to be able to touch lives that I never will.

You're going to be able to pour into people that I never will. You're going to be able to pray for people that I may never ever run into. That God has a mission for somebody at your job. He has a mission for you for somebody that you go to Little League with with your kids or whatever it is.

He has a mission for you. What's the point? See, how can you expect to help somebody else walk in truth when you're living a lie or something? Bless you, bless you, bless you.

God bless you. If I don't stay in the Word, if you don't stay in the Word, if we don't submit to the Holy Spirit, we will not on our own live a life that's in line with God's Word. We render ourselves ineffective in helping somebody else that needs to be set free. It's sad, but it's kind of funny.

It's that spirit of stupid again. I see somebody in bondage trying to help somebody else get out of bondage. I feel like that's exactly what Jesus, when he's talking about the Pharisees, he says you blind guides. He says the blind leading the blind.

You know where you end up? In the ditch. So here you are stuck in this sin, trying to help somebody else who's stuck in the same sin. The next thing you know you're about, they're just stuck in it together.

I'm going to go over here and help them get out while I'm still in it myself. Now get the poop off the bottom of your shoe before you go walking in somebody else's house. Get the plank out of your eye. Like you can't help somebody else until you're free yourself.