The Return, Love, & Cross of Christ

0:46See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God, and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know Him. Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared. But we know that when He appears, we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who thus hopes in Him purifies Himself as He is pure. Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness. Sin is lawlessness. You know that He appeared in order to take away sins. In him there is no sin. No one who abides in him keeps on sinning.

1:36No one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous as he is righteous. Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God.

2:13By this, it is evident who are the children of God and who are the children of the devil. Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother. This is God's word. You may be seated. One of the things that I loved in working in athletic ministry for eight years was getting to be around coaches. I love coaches. Coaches were my heart and life. They were the people that I spent time with. They were the tribe that God had sent us to. And I love them. One of the things I love about coaches and just coaching in general is that coaches, Their job, their trade, is to motivate people to do things. It's to motivate them to do things that, if left to themselves, they wouldn't normally probably do.

3:12It is an awesome thing to see a little 5'8 ⁇ human being look up to a 6-foot 7, 300-pound human being and to instruct him and encourage him to do things that he would not normally do. Motivation is the key. Motivation is a big part of not just the athletic sphere, but it's a big part of our lives as well. As a matter of fact, this entire book, 1 John, is written by John to believers to motivate them to live in light of who they are and in light of who Christ is. As a matter of fact, his motivation here in the text that we're going to sort of walk through this morning, his motivation for these believers is three things.

4:05It's the return of Christ, the imminent return of Jesus. It's the love of Christ. And also their motivation is simply the cross, the person and work of Jesus. Let's look together in this text and sort of walk through and see what John has to say to them and then what he has to say to us. First thing we see is. That the return of Christ provokes accountability. Look at verses 28 and 29 of chapter 2. And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he appears, we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming. If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him. In verse 28, he begins with abide in him. That literally means continue abiding in him. There is an expectation that a Christian will continue to obey Christ and his teaching from conversion to glorification. There's simply no break in between. That a believer has been saved, not simply for himself, to just simply enjoy, but that he has been saved to do the good works that God has prepared ahead for him. In 1 Peter chapter 4, the Apostle Peter makes this amazing statement when he says that since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking. For whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased to sin, so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh, no longer for human passions, but for the will of God. And look at this statement that Peter makes. For the time. That is past suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do. Living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry. With respect to this, they are surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery and they malign you. But they will give an account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. You know what Peter says there? He says essentially to the believer, your time for sinning is over. It's done. That's the past. We don't go back to that. Now, we know that John says here in this letter, he says that anyone who says that they no longer sin is what?

6:38He's a liar, right? And the truth is not in him. So we need to understand what John means when he talks about sinning and when he talks about abiding in him. The Greek makes it really clear. When we talk about abiding in him, we mean simply not that we do not sin any longer, but that the identifying mark of a believer is no longer their sin. We don't make a practice of sinning. We don't make an excuse for our sinning. Amen?

7:10That God has transformed us, He's given us a new nature. And one day He will take away this flesh and give us a new flesh. Amen? One that is glorified. Look at what it says here. It says that, so that when He appears, a big part of John's. Exhortation to abide in Christ is his unwavering assurance that Christ would return unexpectedly and suddenly. Jesus said the same thing in Matthew chapter 24. He says, But know this: that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would have not let his house been broken into. Therefore, you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour that you do not expect.

8:00The Apostle John has an expectation for believers that they would live their lives in such a way that they are expecting to meet Jesus and meet him soon. Amen? That Jesus is coming. And when Jesus comes, how shall we meet him? He says we may have confidence. His desire is that we have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming. John here is going to sort of mark out two different ways of meeting Jesus when he returns. There is confidence and there is shrinking away in shame. To have confidence, paresia, to have courage, to be without fear. The idea is that at Christ's coming, we should already be engaged in what his work has been for us all along. That we should be able to embrace our Savior without fear. That we should have joy because We have been living in this world as citizens in heaven. Amen?

9:07But there's another way. We can shrink in shame. That's the idea of being ashamed, of being disgraced. Remember that in Genesis 3:8, when Adam and Eve had sinned, one of the first things that they did is they looked at one another and they realized that they were naked. And when they realized that they were naked, suddenly upon them came this feeling that they had never had before. That was fear and shame. And they went so far as to hide themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees in the garden. Church, I don't know about you, but when Christ comes, I don't want to hide. Amen? I want to be engaged in the work of the Father.

9:52I want to reflect the idea that the writer of Hebrews has in Hebrews chapter 9 when he says that, for Christ has entered not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood, not his own. For then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And just as it Is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes the judgment. So, Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to save those who are eagerly awaiting for Him. Do you see what the writer of Hebrews is saying? He's saying that Jesus has come and He is our sacrifice, that we no longer have to go back to the sacrificial system, that Jesus was the ultimate sacrifice, and that we should be those who are eagerly awaiting for Him. Amen. Is that you, church? Do you want to be found eagerly awaiting your Savior to come back and to rescue you, to come back and to get you? Amen. Isn't that great news? Come on now.

11:18This is great news to be those who are eagerly awaiting the coming of our Savior. That's the reaction we want. You know, when I walk in to a room that my children are in, I know what they're doing. You know how I know what they're doing? I don't have to see where their hands are. I don't have to see where their hands are. I can tell what they're doing by their faces. Because if they are up to something that they know is not approved of in our house, I see it on their face. I see that look of fear. I see that look of shame. But when I see them engaged in what they're supposed to be doing, and I enter into the room, man. That's a sweet time, especially when I come home from work. When I come home from work and they're doing what they're supposed to be doing, there is nothing better than to walk into my house and to see the smiles on their faces as they are waiting for Daddy to come home.

12:16That's what we want to be. Amen. That's where we want to be. We want to be eagerly engaged in the work of our Father so that when he comes home, we greet him in joy. Amen. This is good news. This is good news. Look at verse 29. He says, If you know that he is righteous, this is why I love this. This is where he grounds his argument. Check this out. He says, If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him.

12:53John is confident that those who are Christ's will continue in righteousness. The emphasis, by the way, here is not on the work of people. The emphasis is on Christ's own righteousness. Philippians 3, verses 8 through 11. The Apostle Paul says, Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing greatness or worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake, I have suffered the loss of all things, and I count them as rubbish, as dung, in order that I may gain Christ. Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith, that I may know him and the power of his resurrection and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. Don't miss Paul's wonderful statement here. He says, I don't want to be found by Christ with a righteousness of my own. There is no room for self-righteousness in the life of a believer. He says, no, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith. That trust in what Christ has done already in the life of a believer. As John Stott has said in commenting on this verse, not in Philippians 3, but here in 1 John 2, 29, he says, a person's righteousness is thus the evidence of his new birth, not the cause or the condition of it. A believer works in righteousness, not because he's trying to earn something from the Father, but he works in righteousness because he bears the mark of his. Father. Bears the mark of his father. We belong to him. So we belong to his work. Amen. This is good news. When I was a kid, I would lay down on the couch after school or after practice or whatever and watch TV. My dad, when he would walk into the room, would just instantly say, and it didn't matter if I had been working all day, it didn't matter what time of day it was, whatever. It seemed appropriate to me, but to my dad, it was never appropriate for a young man to be laying on the couch. It just never was. You should be sitting up. You should be engaged in something. You shouldn't just be laying around. To this day, if my dad were to walk into my house and look, I have bought that furniture myself.

15:49It's mine. He didn't pay for it. He didn't even offer to pay for it. It's mine. I can lay all over it. I can lay on it anytime I want to. But if my dad walked in the door, I would sit up like that. I promise you I would. Why? Because, no, my dad is 75 years old. I'm 43. He's still my father. And when he walks into the room, I just have this feeling, this conditioned feeling within me because I. I'm his son, that I need to be up. Amen? I need to be up because I'm a beaver.

16:38I belong to him. As believers, as Christians, we bear the mark of our Father, and we should be engaged in the work of righteousness. Not because we're trying to earn something, but because we are bearing the mark of our Father. So we see clearly that accountability to the Lord, accountability to the Lord comes from the understanding of his return. But not only that, we see in verses 1 through 3 of chapter 3 that the love of Christ generates conformity to Christ. The love of Christ generates conformity to Christ. Look at verse 1. He says, see what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God, and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. That word, see, is in the imperative. It's a command. The imperative calls for direct attention and reflection upon the amazing love God has bestowed upon his children. He does not want you to miss this. Essentially, John is saying, you need to take time and think about this love. You need to take time, believer, dwelling upon this great love, because if you will, it will have an effect on the way you live. He makes the statement right after that: see what kind of love. It only occurs seven times in the New Testament, and it always implies astonishment. It always implies amazement that someone is in awe. And what is John so astonished and amazed with? That's the next part of verse 1: that we should be called children of God. John is absolutely blown away that God would set His love and affection upon sinners. God is blown, John is blown away that God would set His love and affection on John. He never got over it. He went into exile, He was punished, He was persecuted, and He ultimately gave His life for His Savior. But He never got over God's love for Him.

19:11In doing that, in reflecting and being amazed at God's great love for us, it should cause us not only to work in righteousness, but it should also cause us to stop and remember who we are. Very next phrase that he uses there in verse 1, he says, See what kind of love the Father has given to us that we should be called the children of God. And then he uses this little phrase, and he says, And so we are.

19:50That's an amazing phrase because that tells us something. It tells us that this is not something that we have to earn being a child of God, and it's not something that we have to wait for. It is a present reality. You are a child of the King, you are a child of God the Father. You are a child of the Maker and the Creator and the Sustainer of the Universe. So as you sit in your pew or at New Life in your chair, and you go on this week, and you feel the pressures of this world, and as you're connected into this world and this world's system, and as we start to understand the selfishness and the cruelty and the loneliness of the world, think back to this little phrase in 1 John chapter 3: so we are.

20:56That's you, and that's me. Amen. You are a child of the king. And then he says that the reason why the world doesn't know us is that it didn't know him. The reason why the world doesn't know us, the reason why the world treats us this way, the reason why there is persecution, and the reason why there is misunderstanding, the reason why there is ignorance, is because the world doesn't know him. The child of God is unknown by the world because they have different fathers, which is a point that John's going to further explain in verse 10.

21:36Jesus speaks of this, however, in John's Gospel, in chapter 10, verses 26 through 28. Jesus says, but, and he's not speaking about his children. He's speaking actually about Pharisees. He says, you don't believe because you're not among my sheep. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. And no one, no one will snatch them out of my hand. What great peace we should have in those verses. Amen? What great security we should have there?

22:22The love and the security and the peace that we find there in John 10 is something that the world can't. Cannot offer. This world is temporary, as John has alluded to earlier in chapter 2. It will pass away, according to verse 17 of chapter 2. But the word of God and his promises will stand forever. But that's why the world doesn't know us. It's because they don't know him. Look at verse 2. This is when his love really gets charged in and becomes personal because he uses this word to introduce charge to verse 2. He uses this word to describe you and describe me and all of those who are in Christ. He says, beloved. The love of God has changed their very identity into those who are loved by the Father. He says, beloved. We are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared. But what we know, but we know that when he does appear, we shall be like him because we shall see him as he is. You see this concept in this verse, in chapter 2, that's very prevalent in all of the New Testament, and it's the idea of here, now, and not yet. Now, and not yet. Because he uses this phrase. He says, we will be. And yet he uses in the same verse, not yet. I mean, that's a summary of the Christian life. We are his now with all of the benefits that go with being his here now. All that entails to have that hope, to have that power over sin, to have that community, to have that belonging in the body of Christ. But we have not yet seen all that that means.

24:28He says, when he appears, we shall be like him because we shall see him as he is. Now, John is talking about that day at the consummation of the age when Christ comes back and we see him or whenever we die and go and enter into glory, into Christ's presence there in heaven, that we will see him and we will be like Christ. What does that mean? Well, he doesn't exactly say what this transformation is going to look like, but that's because that's not John's emphasis here. John's concern with what we will be. And what we will be is like Christ. What we will be is like Christ. That's the whole point. That's what should encourage you. That's what should empower you. That's what should give you rest and peace. In 1 Corinthians 13, 12, you know that chapter, right? The love chapter. Those of you that are married in. Here. You probably had some verses from 1 Corinthians 13, right? Read at your ceremony.

25:351 Corinthians 13, 12. He says, For now we see in a mirror dimly. But then, talking about the time when we are in Christ's presence without this body, we will see him face to face. Now I know in part. Then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. What a great hope. What a great hope. As believers, God has set his love upon us. And we long to love him as he has created us to love and adore him.

26:14But our sin and our presence in this world, it prevents us from fully fulfilling that longing. But upon his return for his church, our face-to-face encounter with the risen Lord will complete our glorification process as we are now transformed to be like him. On that day, the believer's yearning for inner Christ-likeness will be fully realized. And there are times I'm reading my Bible, I'm in prayer, and I see God's word, and I see His character, and I reflect upon my own life. And though I desire to do these things for the Lord, I see that I come up short. I see that in my own sin and in my own weakness and my own flesh that these things although I get glimpses they cannot be fully realized on this side of heaven this verse man it fires me up it excites me because I know that one day it will be for fully realized one day it will look at verse 3 and everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure the believer has a hope in the person and the work of Jesus Christ we both rest and we work according to his promises we rest and we work according to his promises God has promised us that he will save us totally and completely out of this world amen God has promised us that for those that are in Christ Jesus and fully place their faith and trust in his finished work on the cross that he has saved us right here and right now and has made you and made me into a child of God we rest in that work we rest in that promise this idea of cleansing ourselves of being in that routine of purification of Abstaining from buying in to the world's system, of following God in His Word, of doing and fulfilling the commands of Jesus. This idea of cleansing ourselves is not a novelty, and it's not something that's new to John. It's not something that's new even in the New Testament. In 2 Corinthians, Paul talks about cleansing himself. And it's a verse that probably you're very familiar with in 2 Corinthians 7, verse 1, when he says, Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God. That's a great verse, but it needs its context. So, in chapter 6, leading up to chapter 7, there in 2 Corinthians, look at what Paul says. He says, Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God, as God has said. And now he's going to quote from the Old Testament. He's going to quote from Isaiah. He's going to quote from Exodus. And he says, I will make my dwelling. Listen to these promises, church. Because though they were made in the Old Testament, they were fulfilled in Christ. And all of those that are in Christ, we are heirs to these promises. He says, I will make my dwelling. Dwelling among them, and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Therefore, go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing. Then I will welcome you, and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty. Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of the body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.

30:36We don't become consumed with the cares of the world, adopting its values, because our citizenship is in heaven, and our allegiance is to King Jesus. We don't simply give ourselves over to biological impulses because we don't simply come to a biological end when we stop breathing. We have an eternity that has been set and redeemed for us. We are to live in light of those promises. We are to cleanse ourselves. We are to follow God's word. We are to follow the teachings of our Savior because he is our Savior and because He has redeemed for us a place that one day we will enter in. Notice that purifies himself. That phrase, it's not in the imperative. It's not a command. It's in the indicative. That means that it's a state of being. The idea is that John believes that the very nature of a Christian is that he should seek purity. The very nature of a believer is that he should seek purity. You know, in college ministry, and I did youth ministry for a little while, but in college ministry, especially, in discipling guys, especially men. And this really goes for all of us. But I would have this question put to me from time to time. Let me know if you've heard this before. How far is too far? Anybody? All right? How far is too far? Now, usually we think of that in terms of physical relationships, right?

32:19But really, this is a question that a lot of believers ask. How much is too much money? I don't know. As if money in and of itself is evil, which is not. What is too far to go in my speech? How far is that? I've been absolutely guilty of that. Even from this pulpit at times. How far is too far? And the problem with that is that that's the wrong question to ask, according to 1 John. According to the one who would seek to purify himself. The question is not how far is too far. The question is, what honors and glorifies my Savior?

33:09Think about that. Think about our lives and how they change. Think about how the lives of young people change when that's the question instead of how far is too far. How is God glorified in my body? How is God glorified in my work? How is God glorified in my finances? How is God glorified in my relationships with other believers? How is God glorified? That's the question to be asked because that question, how is God glorified? It comes from a place of love.

33:43When God has set his love on a believer, his life changes. Her life changes. And from then on, their desire is conformity with Christ. Let's go to the last section. Look at verse 4. Verses 4 through 10. The cross of Christ, it produces progressive victory over sin and over Satan. Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness. Sin is lawlessness. You know that he appeared in order to take away sins. And in him, there is no sin. No one who abides in him keeps on sinning. No one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous as he is righteous. Now, I want us to notice something really quickly before we go on to the rest of this verse or this text. Look at the word that he uses. He says, everyone. Now, that word would be really easy to sort of skip over. Everyone. It's even easier in the Greek because in the Greek it's just a three-letter word, pas.

35:07But John uses it intentionally. Because John writes this letter to Christians not only to encourage them, not only to warn them, but also to refute a heresy that is going around in that first century church, and that's the heresy of Gnosticism. Gnosticism comes from the Greek word gnosis, and it's the idea that there were Gnostics, the people that were within the church, that believed that since they had some sort of special knowledge, that's what gnosis means in Greek, knowledge, that they had some sort of special knowledge of God. And because they had this special mystical connection with God, all of a sudden the material, the physical, didn't matter. And so they could go on in sin. They could go on in sin, and it doesn't matter. And you can't hold me accountable because I have special knowledge of God.

36:00But by using this all-inclusive word, this pas, John makes no exceptions. Everyone who continues on in sin is not abiding in Christ. Everyone who continues on in sin is not abiding in Christ. Look further. Look at verses 8 through 10. Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil. For the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's seed abides in him. And he cannot keep on sinning because he's been born of God. By this, it is evident who are the children of God and who are the children of the devil. Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother. I just want to tell you right now, this is a hard text to preach. This is a hard text to talk about because I am aware of my own sin.

37:12I am aware of my own flesh. And the last thing that I want anyone in this room to do is to believe that I am one who is without sin because that is not true. Because if it were true, according to this very book, according to this very letter that we've been studying. The last couple months, I would be a liar and the truth would not be in me. So we need to understand what does John mean by making a practice of sinning, by keeps on sinning, because he uses that phrase several times in this text. Well, you've got to understand how it's written. In the Greek, it's written in the present active indicative.

37:58The present active indicative. That means that it is continuing on with no intention of ending. It means that the identifying mark of that person is sin. Even when it's covered with religious deeds, the identification is still with their sin. Jesus understood this. And he called this out in this group of people called the Pharisees. In John 8, man, you think, man, nobody from this pulpit has ever preached as hardcore as Jesus did in the Gospels. And specifically in John chapter 8, when you understand his audience and you understand its context. In John chapter 8, beginning in verse 39, Jesus is engaging with the Pharisees, who he had a special relationship with.

38:53Pharisees were supposed to be the moral standards of the day. They were supposed to be the religious leaders. Leaders of the day, and yet Jesus, as you will see, has the harshest words for those religious leaders. You'll see why. They answered him, talking about the Pharisees, Abraham is our father. Jesus said to them, If you were Abraham's children, you would be doing the works that Abraham did. But now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did. You are doing the works your father did.

39:34And they said to him, They were cut right here, by the way. They were upset. And so here's what they're going to do: when you're upset and you've lost the argument, you know what you do? You go dirty. You go dirty and you make it personal. And that's exactly what the Pharisees did. Look at this slander they bring against our Savior. They said to him, Well, we were not born of sexual immorality, virgin birth. We have one father, even God.

40:10Oh, man. Jesus' patience is incredible. But even more than that, his great truth that he heaps down upon them is amazing. Jesus said to them, Hmm, well, if God were your father, you would love me, for I came from God, and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me. Why do you not understand what I say? It's because you can't bear to hear my word. You are of your father, the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and he does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. And when he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. But because I tell the truth, you don't believe in me. Which one of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.

41:20That's hard preaching. And that's the truth. It's the truth laid upon these false religious leaders, these self-righteous posers who needed to be called out for who they were. But, church, that same truth applies to us and it applies to this world in this, that we should not be so dismayed and frustrated with the world that we disengage. We have to understand that we don't have the same spiritual father. Amen? And that instead of. Raising up indignation. Understand that this same Jesus will go on in the Gospels and look at Jerusalem and in this just amazing emotion, say, Oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem. And he is including all the Jews, including these Pharisees. Oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how I longed to gather you together to me, to gather you to me, like a hen does to her chicks.

42:31So don't miss Christ's compassion for the world, but understand that he did not suffer foolishness and he spoke the truth. They don't understand because they don't have the same father. But I want you to see something here. I want you to see something that's pretty awesome. In verse 6, excuse me. In verse 8, at the end of that verse, he says, Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning, hearkening back to Jesus's own words. But look at the last part of that verse. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.

43:29John's appearance. Encountering the works of the devil done in the flesh is not to simply attempt to do good works out of our own power and our own might. He appeals to the cross. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. John's appeal to believers is not to gather up good works, but to rest in the person and work of Jesus Christ upon the cross. That our work that we do is an outflowing of what God has done in the life of a believer.

44:11If you can't say amen to that, nudge your neighbor. Amen. Man. It's not out of our own ability to work. That's what the Pharisees were trying to do and earn. He says, no, rest in the fact that the reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. He says, no one born of God makes a practice of sinning. For God's seed, look at this, abides in him. And he cannot keep on sinning because he's been what? He's been born of God.

44:49By this, it is evident who are the children of God and who are the children of the devil. Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one. Who does not love his brother. Where does John ground the believer's righteousness? He doesn't ground it in his works. He grounds it in the fact that he has been born of God. I believe Jesus has something to say about being born of God from John's own gospel in John chapter 3. And there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. And this man came to Jesus by night and he said to him, Rabbi, we know that you're a teacher come from God, for no one can do the signs that you do unless God is with him. Nicodemus thought he was buttering up to Jesus at this point. Because Nicodemus is a Pharisee, and this is what they do to one another: they butter each other up with flowery words. But Jesus is not having any of it. Jesus is about the spirit of truth. Jesus answered him, Truly, truly, he's about truth. I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus said to him, Why? Because Nicodemus, at this point, is not born of God. Nicodemus is born of man. And Nicodemus can only see as man sees in his flesh. He cannot understand Jesus' words. And so instantly, because Nicodemus only Understands being born again as being physical in nature, he immediately goes to the idea of someone, a grown adult man, going back and entering into his mother's womb and being born again, which is not only impossible but quite off-putting, right?

46:53How can a man be born when he's old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born? Jesus answered, speaking and focusing upon spiritual truth. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, you must be born again. The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you don't know where it comes from, and you don't know where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit. Jesus was making it clear to Nicodemus and to every other outwardly religious person that God cannot be manipulated to accept works not done in faith, any more than we can cause the wind to blow or control our own birth. Only by receiving Christ by faith, by being born again by the Spirit. Can we actively abide in Christ, practice righteousness, or even love our brother?

48:11Which is the mark that John uses at the end of this chapter for the life of a believer. Tertullian was an early Christian author of the second and third century. He was a North African monk. And he reported that when the early Christians were being persecuted for their faith, that Roman citizens would often be paid sums of money by the government or even given food to spy on their neighbors, seeking to find Christians or other condemned criminals to turn into the government. You've got to understand that there would be ten consecutive Roman emperors who would persecute Christians from the first century to about the fourth century.

48:56And oftentimes these pagan spies would blow their cover because they would witness the way believers would treat each other. And it would so move them and affect them that as they were supposed to be spying, they would begin to shout in a loud voice, see how they love one another? They must be Christians. How does that happen? That happens when people are born of spirit and not born of man. Because when we understand and when we reflect upon the imminent return of Christ, it holds us accountable to one another and to our Lord for how we live. When we experience the love of Christ, it affects us, it enables us, it empowers us to conform to Christ's likeness.

50:01And we understand that the power of the cross, the power of the cross enables the believer to progressively walk in sanctification and in victory over sin and Satan in this world. Know who you are in Christ. Let me pray for us. Father, thank you for your word. Thank you for Brother John. Thank you that he did not, Lord, that he did not give in to the sensibilities of his world and context, but that he spoke the truth to believers to encourage them to continue on. Righteousness.

51:03O Lord, may we do the same. We love you and we bless you. In the name of Jesus, we pray. Amen. I want to encourage you to stand up and to sing with us as we continue on in our response and worship.