How to Know that You Know God: The Test of Love - 1 John 2:7-11

1:09Welcome back to our study. In 1 John, we're in a section of his letter that deals with assurance. Question I put to you last week was, Do you know God? Do you know God? And then the follow-up question is, How do you know if you know God? How do you know that you know? That is what John wants to accomplish in his audience. He wants his readers to know that they know God if they do. He wants them to know the difference between those who are coming around saying, I know God, who really don't.

1:58And he gave them in verses three through six the test of obedience. We looked at that last time. By this, we know that we have come to know him if we keep his commandments. The one who keeps his commandments is the one who knows him. Today, he gives us another test. How do you know that you know God? And it's the test of love. Do you love like Christ loved? That's the test. Those who love like Christ know God.

2:35And those who do not do not. But look at verse 7. You can see this command to love. Beloved, he's writing to the church, writing to those, that term, he's speaking specifically to the body there, believers. Beloved, I am not writing a new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning, the old commandment. Is the word which you have heard. In other words, I've written to you before. You've heard this commandment before. This isn't going to be new. Not writing an old, not writing something new, and yet I'm writing to you something old, something that's been around since the very beginning of the gospel proclamation. You should love one another. But look at what's happening here. Verse 3. John refers to the commandments as plural, right? We know we know God if we keep his commandments, if we keep Christ's commandments. In verse 7, John narrows it down to one commandment. He focuses on one commandment, singular. This is a commandment. And he doesn't say it in specific words, but it's clear he's speaking about the commandment that Jesus laid out in John chapter 13 and verse 34, where he said, A new commandment I give to you that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you love one another. He'll use the same language in 2 John.

4:10Remember in chapter 1, verse 5, where he's addressing the elect lady, he says, Now I ask you, lady, not as though I were writing to you a new commandment, but the one which we have had from the beginning, that we love one another. There he explicitly states what that new commandment is. And certainly, the context which we are in, he's going to deal with love, loving one another. The new commandment, it's not just the commandment to love each other like you love yourself.

4:46Well, that certainly is still very much in effect, right? He's saying, I want you to love as I have loved you. And that takes, that emphasizes an aspect of God's love that is certainly beyond anything seen in the human realm. To love like he loved. Question: I have for you: what is the real battle in America? What is the battle? What is the battle that God from his throne is watching? It's taking place in America, taking place in our church, taking place in our marriages, taking place in our homes, taking place around the globe. What is the real battle that we are all caught up in? And we are all caught up in it. And it's very easy to get distracted and get our eyes on something else and then totally be blindsided and not see the real battle that we're doing. We're engaged in.

6:03Well, Jesus said two things that provide insight into this real battle. In Luke 18:8, Jesus asked, When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth? Almost as if faith itself will be extinct. Will faith be present when he returns? Faith in the Christ of Scripture. Will there still be those who are waiting expectantly for me? Second thing Jesus says is in Matthew 24:12. It says, Because lawlessness is increased, most people's love will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. Will there be faith and will there be love?

7:03Those are the real battle. Who are those who overcome the world? Who are those who endure to the end? The overcomers are those who, number one, continue to believe in the Christ revealed in scriptures, and number two, who love like he did. And know for certain that even in the face Of all that the devil throws at them, there will be those who overcome. There are those who are born of him, who believe in him, and will not follow another Christ.

7:47And there are those who, because they're born of him, will love like he loves. They will continue to believe in Jesus and love like he loves. You see, it's easy to lose focus on the main thing. It's easy as lawlessness increases, as we go through this world and we sin and we're sinned against, and we feel the pain of being wrong, we experience injustice, we experience the pain and the loss that comes from sin and being sinned against.

8:39It's easy to get jaded. It's easy to grow cynical. It's easy to redefine God. And it's easy to grow in the direction of hate. No, the real battle that's going on in America and in our homes and all around is just a reflection of this cosmic battle between light and dark, and we are all caught up in the middle of it. Earth itself wreaths in this conflict. Well, there's an era that's passing away. Back at verse 8. On the other hand, I am writing a new commandment to you, which is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away, and the true light is already shining. There's an era that is passing away. I am writing a new commandment. It's the commandment that Christ gave. A commandment that, even though we've heard it so many times, it's new to us today. Loving like Christ loved.

10:06We need to learn how to love each other like he did. That's the new commandment. Though it's old, we've heard it all along. It is new. Its relevancy never goes away, and there's new heights, new territory that is to be taken, new obedience, new levels of obedience, a new commandment. Look at what he says. Which is true in him and you. Something is causing this darkness to pass. In verse 17, he says, The world is passing away, and this darkness is passing away. Well, I want to explain this verse by asking a series of questions. I think it'll help us understand what he's talking about here just by doing a little QA here. It's a good study tactic, by the way.

11:00Question one is: What is the darkness? The darkness is passing away. What is the darkness that is passing away? Plain and simple: the darkness is mankind's organized rebellion against God and the sphere in which temptation to sin occurs. It's a mouthful. What is the darkness? It's man's, first of all, it's man's organized rebellion against God. Man's organized rebellion against God. And it is that sphere in which the temptation to sin occurs. Mankind's organized rebellion against God and the sphere in which temptation to sin occurs. And such darkness is under the control of the evil one.

11:491 John 5:19, John says, This, we know that we are of God and that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. Darkness that is passing away, the world that is passing away is under the power of the evil one. And such darkness is under God's judgment. John 3:19, Jesus said, This is the judgment that the light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light, for their deeds were evil.

12:27So, John, men love darkness rather than the light. What is the darkness? Man's organized rebellion against God, and this sphere in which temptation occurs. Second question: What is the true light? Look back. What is the true light? Well, the answer is the truth and love of God displayed in Jesus. The true light is the truth and love of God that is displayed in Jesus. Think about the very nature of light, metaphor. What does light do? It gives. It gives, it emanates, it gives. Truth and love of God emanates from him. You see, John knew that Jesus was the light of the world.

13:16It's incredible. God loves this world, the world that's passing away, the world that is rebellion and organized in its rebellion and hatred. Of him. God loves this world. He loves the world enough. And see in verse 2, he sent his son to be the propitiation for sins, the sin offering for the whole world. Incredible love, deep love, profound love. John 12:46, Jesus said, I have come as light into the world, so that everyone who believes in me will not remain in darkness. It is not God's desire that you remain in darkness.

14:02He wants you to come out of the darkness into his light. We read it a little while ago. Isaiah 9 spoke about the day when the people who walk in darkness will see a great light, and those who live in a dark land, the light will shine upon them, and that light will be a child who will be born to us, a son that will be given, and the government will rest upon his shoulders. Aren't you thankful?

14:33We've got somebody competent that runs the government of the world. He will be called wonderful, counselor, mighty God, eternal father, prince of peace. There will be no end to the increase of his government or of peace on the throne of David and over his kingdom to a Establish it, to uphold it with justice and righteousness. From then on and forevermore, the zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this. He is zealous for planet earth. Question number three: How was John able to see the light shining in his day? How is he able to see it? He's saying the light is shining.

15:30Notice that statement in verse 8: which is true in him and in you. Jesus wasn't walking around. John had seen Jesus as the light, but Jesus isn't walking around earth, planet earth. So, how can John still be seeing the light shining? How do we see the light shining today? Well, the answer: the love of Jesus displayed in his disciples. That's what John was witnessing. John 13:34, I read it a minute ago. A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. And then he goes on to say this: By this, all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. The light is shining, which is true, which is seen, which is authentic, which is real in you. The light, the true light, is real in him.

16:30And in you. He's not just saying it's true that this is a new commandment. That's not what he's trying to say. He's saying this true light is true in him and in y'all. That's what he's saying. He's seeing the light, God's light, shining in the body of believers. Fourth question I have for this: How did John know that the darkness is passing away? Look back, verse 8. How does he know that the darkness is passing away? Well, because the true light is already shining.

17:22The true light is already shining. The new government, which is authentically seen in Jesus, which is really seen in Jesus and his people, is already shining. Evidence that a new government has taken hold on planet Earth. And that new government is seen in those who love, like Jesus loved. How do we know that the dominion of darkness is passing away? Because we see in Christ's love. We see Christ's love shining even today through his people. The church has received his kingdom. Listen, they understand the new government from the Prince of Peace who sets man at peace with God and those who are at peace with God, with peace with each other.

18:38It's not a racial problem in God's true church. Are you part of the kingdom that's passing away? Or are you part of the kingdom that's enduring forever? That's the question I want you to think upon. Maybe we put this back to the original question: do you know God? How do you know you know God? How do you know if anybody else knows God? Well, John provided a very simple test so that you can know. He doesn't want you to be ignorant on who the children of light are and who the children of darkness are very easily seen.

19:24First was the test of obedience, today, the test of love. So let's look at. The difference between the children of darkness and the children of light, so that you will be able to test yourself to see if you're in the light and to be able to recognize others who are in the light. First of all, the one in darkness, verse 9. Look at the one in darkness. The one who says he is in the light and yet hates his brother is in the darkness until now.

19:55Notice their profession. He is the one going around saying he is in the light. So those who are in the darkness, they really have to go around and tell you they're in the light because you wouldn't ordinarily gather it from their life. So they've got, I am in the light. I'm telling you, I'm in the light. They've got to tell you that because you wouldn't put it together otherwise. So I am in the light. I am in the light. It's like that idea of being enlightened. And you can think about, yes, there were some Gnostic heresies that were beginning to form. And the whole idea of the Gnostics were knowledge, Gnosis. I know, I have this secret knowledge, and it's made me holy to where I can't sin anymore. We've dealt with some of that. We're going to see some more of that.

20:46But it's the idea, I have been enlightened. I possess the knowledge of God. That's what they're, I am in the light. Kind of a similar thought. But even today, as we think about this, if we hear somebody, Somebody saying, I am in the light, or I have been enlightened, they're saying something to the effect that I act as God acts. I know what God wants, and I do what God wants. I'm on God's side, and if you want to be on God's side, you'll get on my side.

21:18And there's all kinds of rhetoric, all kinds of displays that we see across our American spectrum. People wanting to say they belong to God. Even in the political spectrum, I'm doing God's will. I'll tip my hat to maybe a scripture. I'll tip my hat to maybe use some God talk, all that kind of stuff. But it's basically the same thing: I am in the light. I am in the light. What I say, God affirms. But look at their action.

22:00The one who says he is in the light and yet hates his brother is in the darkness until now. The one who hates his brother, that person is in the darkness. The one who hates, the one hating, the one who's saying one thing, but hating his brother. It's in the darkness. So, do you hate people? So, this scripture isn't about us, is it? Because I don't think there's hardly anybody. In here, would probably say, yeah, I hate. I hate by our conventional definition of the term, right?

22:39But let me tell you something. Just as this society has a very wrong understanding of the biblical notion to love, it has a very wrong notion of what hate means. I'm going to walk through that. We would probably all say, no, I'm neutral. There are some people maybe I don't love, but I'm neutral. I don't have hatred feelings toward them. What is biblical hate? What are some hate? What is he getting at here? Hate. Let's just walk through it. Hate is really a relative term in Scripture. There's a spectrum. From the one hand, you know, detesting, abhorring, rejecting with great passion, that certainly is in the spectrum of hate.

23:34But there's also a whole nother side of the hate spectrum, and that is cold indifference, just indifference, not loving. And the Bible speaks of hate in all that whole spectrum. Now, let me ask you: do you hate people? In Genesis 20, 30. Jacob loved Rachel more than Leah and served Laban for another seven years. When the Lord saw that Leah was hated, he opened her womb. Interesting. You have the ESV, it uses the word hate. You have the King James, hate.

24:23Leah was hated. You have the New American, Leah was unloved. Same word. It's relative. Did Jacob despise, abhor Leah? No. But he loved Rachel more. Relative to Rachel. Leah was hated. In Luke 14, 26, Jesus uses the same kind of idea with hate. If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, even his own life, he cannot be my disciples. He says the same thing again in 12:25 of John. He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it to eternal life. Does Jesus really want us going around abhorring, detesting our parents? No. But what he is saying is: your love for me must surpass that. Of natural instinct. That's what he's saying.

25:36The kind of hate that Jesus calls us to is to be putting down self-instinct, self-interest. That's the kind of hate that Jesus talks about. Putting down your self-interest. For the sake of being my disciple and coming after me, if you don't get accustomed to putting down your self-interest, you cannot follow me. Because if you're looking out for your self-interest, you won't follow me. You'll follow your own path. And so to hate is really boils down not to love.

26:19Hate is to not love someone enough to make sacrifices for them. John 15:13, greater love has no one than this, then one lay down his life for his friends. So hate is a failure or an unwillingness to deny oneself for the benefits of somebody else. Hate contemplates its own well-being first. In 1 Corinthians 13:5, love does not seek its own. But guess what hate does? Seeks its own first. And if there's something left over, yeah. Hate. Is indifferent and ignores those in real need when it causes an inconvenience. You know, the whole story of the Good Samaritan, Luke chapter 10. Didn't want to be inconvenienced, right? Hatred and love distinguished. Hate despises the seemingly insignificant. As Jesus said in Matthew 18:10, see that you do not despise one of these little ones, one of these little insignificant ones. Right? If a person's not significant to us, guess what? We tend to, yeah, yeah, go on with something else. I'm going to spend my time.

27:41I want to engage in somebody that's going to give back to me. I don't want to just engage with you because really, you're not significant enough. That's an expression of hate in a biblical sense. Hate withholds the cup of water from the thirsty. Hate makes no effort to welcome the stranger. Hate makes no effort to clothe the naked or help the sick. Hate boils down to a calloused indifference. So it's a range of emotions. From the mildly indifferent to open hostility, all that hatred.

28:30It's a trajectory away from an individual. That's what hatred is. Love is a trajectory to an individual. But hatred boils down fundamentally to the absence of the actions of love. And this is going to be a huge theme in 1 John and verse 3.10. By this, the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious. Anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother. It says it again in 3.15, everyone who hates his brother is a murderer. And you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. 4.20, if someone says, I love God and hates his brother, he is a liar, for the one who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen.

29:20Remember in 3 John, remember Diotrephes? We've already been through that. Diotrephes, verse 9, I wrote something to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to be first among them, does not accept what we say. Diotrephes loves to be first. That boils down to a hatred. And so John is saying to Gaius there in 3 John, Diotrephes doesn't know God because he doesn't love the brethren. Brethren, he doesn't love the family of God. Therefore, you can be sure he does not know God.

30:08What about you? Are you a lover of first? That's what has wreaked havoc. God's earth. The one who says, look back at verse 9, he is in the light and yet hates his brother, is in the darkness until now. So even if your thought is my, maybe you go, if your thought is something like this, like, I love God, if that's your profession, but I can't stand to be around some of y'all, there's a disconnect. No one who is truly in the light hates people.

30:49The one who hates his brother is a child of the darkness, still is under that rebellious dominion of evil. And who is the brother referring to in this context? The members of the church. Yeah, we are to love enemies. You know what the expression of the love for enemies is? Just like God, do good. He's talking about something on a much more profound level here: a love for the family of God. And those who do not love the family of God, and I don't care, you put them in any kind of spectrum, political, ecclesiastical.

31:30You don't love the Christ of Scripture and you don't love those redeemed by him, guess what? In the darkness until now. Now, the way you relate to the individual members and the collective members of Christ's body tells the story of whether you're in the light or the dark. That's the one in darkness. Let's look at the one who abides in the light. Let's look at the child of the light. Verse 10. The one who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him.

32:06So, look at the condition here. The one who is loving his brother is abiding in the light. Notice that this individual doesn't have to go around telling you, I'm in the light. At least, that's not merely what's happening. It's evident not merely by his profession. He doesn't have to say, Oh, by the way, I'm in the light. Watch what I do. No, that's what those in the darkness have to do. No, you gather very quickly who is in the light. You can tell who is abiding in the light because they are characterized by simple acts of love. That's what light does, right? Light gives, it gives, it gives. That's what it does. It illumines, it gives, radiates.

32:54And so, those who abide in the light are of the light and radiate. The light. And listen, by the way, love is expressed in simple acts, not necessarily spectacular feats. Oh, there may be spectacular feats associated with love, but you know what love does? It routinely, mundanely is constantly expressing itself in simple acts of love. I witnessed that this last week. As many of you know, I sent out an email. My dad is suffering further decline, and I sent out an email to get to ask for prayer. And within a half hour, I was overwhelmed with not only the prayers, the thoughts, but the practical helps: the wheelchair, the shower bench, the cane, etc.

34:06Look at verse 15. Just drop down a little bit. We'll get to it next time, but John gives a direct command there. He says, Do not love the world. You know, the flip side of Christ's command to love as he loves, the negative side of that is, do not love the world. Because if you love the world or the things in the world and you're pursuing those things of the world, You don't have the time. You don't have, you are, you have not accommodated yourself to love those in need.

34:40Do not love the world. Do not pursue the things of the world, or you will not be able to be in a position to quickly respond with simple acts of love because it takes sacrifice. We're not to love the world, but we are to love those passing through the world. The darkness is passing. This world is passing. We're all passing through it. And we are to love. We are to accommodate. We are to give ourselves to the well-being of those passing through, not to pursue the things of this world.

35:22But I want you to see this incredible statement here at the end of chapter verse 10. The one who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him. No cause for stumbling. The word is scandal. There is no scandal in him. Because he loves somebody, you are not going to see a scandal emerge. It's not there. Too preoccupied with loving the individual, giving up. Himself or herself sacrificially, it's not seeking to take. There is no scandal. That's the word. There is no cause to catch them in a temptation. There is no trap.

36:20There is no offense. It's not there. You see, if we abide in the light, we see how to navigate our relationships in love. If you abide in the light, remember Psalm 119, 105, your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. The word of God shows us the next step we are to take, but it also shows us the path going forward. And if you're in the light, you're moved by the love of God.

36:53And in your relationships, there's no room for scandal. Listen, if everybody loved like Jesus, did, does, there would be no pornographic industry. There would be no human trafficking. There would be no social injustice. There would be no fraud. There would be no unforgiveness. There'd be none of that. Because individuals would be giving themselves. And have as a primary interest the interest of others instead of themselves. If we abide in the light, we see how to avoid sinning against those we love.

37:49It's that simple. And yet, many of us go through life and completely miss it. It's the new command, it's the old command. Christ's display of love for humanity and his disciples' love for each other is the evidence that this present darkness is passing away. Evidence of a new government. Something has taken hold of humanity. That in Genesis 6:5, you remember every thought of man's heart was only evil always. Remember, and God sent a flood. Mankind's not going to end there. God has inserted Himself, and a new government, an enduring kingdom is already shining.

38:42So do not love the world, love the people like Jesus did. And that's why John reminds them of the new command to love. So the question is: how do we love like Jesus did? What does love? Loving like Jesus involved? Good question. Come back tonight because I'm going to start a four-part series that goes deep into this. Looking at the love chapter, love is patient, love is kind. And then I want to look at episodes from the Gospels where Jesus embodied such love. Listen, if there's one thing we've got to get down, that is loving one another as Christ loves. That's going to be the case.

39:27If this epistle from John is going to mean anything to us, we need to learn, because this exhortation to love one another is going to keep coming up and up and up and up. And we need to go deeply and we need to learn how to love like He does. So I hope you'll join us for that. Well, before we close, I want you to see the future of those who live in darkness. Verse 11. But the one who hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness and does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded his eyes. So what happens when you walk around in the darkness? You can see a progression in verse 9, they're just in the darkness, right? Here, they're walking about in the darkness. What happens when you walk about in the darkness and you trip, right? And you don't know where you're going. The light that shows us our next step and the path ahead isn't there. Isn't received by those who are walking in the darkness.

40:36And so they do not know what they stumble over. Proverbs 4:19 says this: The way of the wicked is like darkness. They do not know over what they stumble. They stumble, they don't even know what they stumbled over. But in the big picture, they have no idea where the road that they're on takes them. And it takes them away. They will pass away with the passing of the darkness. The one who knows God loves people like Jesus did. Those who do not are in darkness and are passing away with the darkness. Everything we see is passing away.

41:23Even if evil strengthens its grip, it's passing away. I love sunrises. I love being up here in the morning in my study long before the sun comes up. Sometimes I'll go out and just watch the sun come up over the church. It's interesting as it comes up over the woods and over the cemetery. There are places of light and there are places of darkness. Still, as the sun is coming up, there's both: pockets of light, pockets of darkness.

42:00There are some animals that prefer the darkness. They run back into it. And there are some animals that love to come out in the light. But I know as I look out that day is coming, even if there are still some pockets of light, I mean, pockets of darkness, I know day is coming. And that's what John, seeing this, he knows the new kingdom is coming. He saw the deep darkness of the crucifixion. John witnessed that. He also saw the first light of that resurrection morning.

42:41He also saw the truth and the love of Christ spreading across the nations. And he knew darkness is passing away. You see, the challenging thing in darkening times as we see evil seeming to pick up its momentum or strengthening its grip, the challenge in such times is to close the heart and begin to despise. This is what God had to overcome. He had to overcome within himself when he was looking upon the sin of humanity, built this beautiful garden, man's sin rest. It perverted it, destroyed it.

43:35He sent his son in order to be the means to continue a loving relationship with people. And we are being made in his image. We're going to be like that. And so it's no wonder that we are going to experience, as we go through this world, we're going to experience the painful watching of what sin does to a great nation, what sin does to the church, what sin can do to our homes, what sin can do to our personal lives.

44:05And as we experience this painful watching, we have to overcome the urge, like God, to hate or to despise as he did. He watched sin destroy paradise, but he didn't become cynical, jaded, but he continued to love. And we're being made into his image. You know, during the War of 1812, Dr. William Beans was taken prisoner by the British. One of his friends located the ship where Beans was being held and negotiated his release. However, both Beans and his friend weren't allowed to leave until the British bombardment of Fort McHenry was over.

44:59They had to. Watched their homeland endure the full force of the British bombing campaign from the deck of the ship. They watched the fury of the rockets' red glare and the bombs bursting in air that were seeking to pound Fort McHenry into submission. But by morning light, it had become evident that the British were unable to destroy the fort, and they gave up. Bean's friend, as many of you know, Francis Scott Key, when Key saw the American flag still flying over Fort McHenry on the morning of September 14th, 1814, he was deeply moved, and he quickly pinned a few lines in tribute to what he had witnessed. O say, can you see by the dawn's early light, what so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming, whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight or the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming. And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air, gave proof through the night that our flag was still there. O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave o'er the land of the free and the homeless. Of the brave after all the bombardment, evidence that the people could not be broken. What is the real battle? What are we really facing here in America 2021 in our own lives, in this church, as God looks down from on high, as the Son gets ready to return, what is to remain? What is he looking for after the full fury of satanic bombardment has taken its course?

47:19When every bomb has been set off, when the last dart is hurled, what is Christ looking for? He is looking for faith and he's looking for love. Will the Son of Man find faith? Will he find love? It's so easy. Easy to get caught up and to miss the whole picture. We're called to love like he did. That's the thing we need to learn in this life. To overcome is to come in and abide in the light.

48:21To continue to believe in Jesus, a people, still standing. That's what he's looking for. Evidence. Faith in the Christ of Scripture and a love. And if you love like this, not perfectly, but if you see evidences of genuine love like his, you can be sure you know God because it doesn't come from anywhere else. Only he has that kind of self-sacrificing love for the benefit of others. So are you part of the darkness that's passing away?

49:11Do you know God? Let me get more personal. Do you love people in this room like Christ did? That tells the story. Your story. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we welcome your kingdom. We welcome your dominion over our lives. Father, and even as we see this incredible standard of your love set before us, we know we are inadequate and that we are incapable of such love apart from a genuine work of your Holy Spirit. And so we welcome you. We also recognize that even as you lay out this principle before us, that it's an invitation to come under your dominion. And that is what we want to do this morning more fully, more completely. And Father, if there are those who do not know you today, may they come under your dominion.

50:25Please do whatever you need to in our life to bring about your full and absolute sway. In Jesus' name, amen.