WEBVTT 00:00:01.260 --> 00:00:01.260 Well. 00:00:01.340 --> 00:00:01.680 Good morning. 00:00:02.770 --> 00:00:04.590 Yes, I love enthusiastic crowd. 00:00:05.120 --> 00:00:11.880 I got to tell you, last night I was going over the sermon before coming today and watching the Patriots game. 00:00:12.680 --> 00:00:13.500 I spent yeah. 00:00:14.220 --> 00:00:15.000 Be quiet. 00:00:15.020 --> 00:00:16.440 Get out. 00:00:17.880 --> 00:00:24.540 I spent last night just one arm in the in the air raise because God was just excited me about this passage. 00:00:24.760 --> 00:00:27.450 And another arm raised because the Patriots are the Patriots. 00:00:30.280 --> 00:00:31.170 I've already lost my audience. 00:00:31.980 --> 00:00:33.740 Huh? 00:00:33.900 --> 00:00:38.350 Well, if you've got a Bible with you this morning, I'm going to invite you to turn to first. 00:00:38.580 --> 00:00:38.780 John. 00:00:38.820 --> 00:00:42.660 If you don't have a Bible with you, I'm going to encourage you to pull one out of the seat in front of you. 00:00:43.320 --> 00:00:48.300 We're studying the Book of First John together under a topic of the new generation or a new generation. 00:00:49.160 --> 00:00:52.710 If you pull one out of the seat in front of you, it's page 185, in the New Testament. 00:00:53.640 --> 00:00:57.150 Make sure you're not in the Old Testament because pages start over when you get into the New Testament. 00:00:57.320 --> 00:00:58.520 So it's page 185. 00:01:01.180 --> 00:01:06.560 In the Old Testament, what we discover is that God gave us the law. 00:01:08.060 --> 00:01:13.860 In fact, when you study the history of Israel, you'll see that the laws that God gave fell under three categories. 00:01:14.940 --> 00:01:21.110 There was the civil law dealing with the nation of Israel and a theocratic kingdom, and how to follow God and their government. 00:01:22.500 --> 00:01:28.640 There was the ceremonial law, the law that God gave them to worship him in the temple. 00:01:29.720 --> 00:01:33.540 And there was the moral law laws that you find in the Ten Commandments. 00:01:34.880 --> 00:01:37.680 Do not covet, do not lie, do not steal, do not murder. 00:01:37.820 --> 00:01:38.560 All good things right? 00:01:38.980 --> 00:01:40.180 Do not take the Lord's name in vain. 00:01:41.680 --> 00:01:47.400 God gave all three of these laws for the purpose of directing the nation of Israel to him. 00:01:48.520 --> 00:01:48.940 Is my mic on? 00:01:49.820 --> 00:01:50.840 Okay, just making sure. 00:01:50.900 --> 00:01:52.320 Thank you. 00:01:52.740 --> 00:01:59.240 The purpose of the law was to point Israel to him and as a nation, in order to come before God. 00:01:59.260 --> 00:02:07.760 They were required to go into the temple and a priest had to represent the people of God before God, making 00:02:07.760 --> 00:02:12.100 sacrifices for sins and praying on behalf of the nation of Israel. 00:02:13.960 --> 00:02:17.780 Bible tells us in Romans 320 that through the law comes the knowledge of sin. 00:02:19.500 --> 00:02:22.940 That sin in Romans 512 entered the world and death through sin. 00:02:22.940 --> 00:02:26.260 And so death spread to all men, because all had sinned. 00:02:28.140 --> 00:02:35.520 God's desire for us as a nation, for the nation of Israel, and for us as people were to look at these laws in which he would establish 00:02:35.520 --> 00:02:42.260 and us as people to recognize that we can never satisfy and fulfill the demands of a righteous and holy God. 00:02:44.060 --> 00:02:48.540 It was to put us into a place in which we recognize, Lord, we need your help. 00:02:50.180 --> 00:02:50.920 God, we need you. 00:02:52.940 --> 00:02:57.920 The Bible tells us in Galatians 216 that through the works of the law, no flesh would be justified. 00:02:59.960 --> 00:03:07.280 When Jesus shows up on the scene a few centuries later, after the time of Abraham coming to God and 00:03:07.280 --> 00:03:14.380 God, mentioning the Ten Commandments to Moses, Jesus shows up on the scene and one of the traditions that had been established among the Pharisees and the 00:03:14.540 --> 00:03:21.760 and the leaders of the time was that they believed they could live the law and look righteous to God, rather 00:03:21.760 --> 00:03:24.740 than use these laws to point them to their need for God. 00:03:25.200 --> 00:03:29.980 They sought within themselves to establish their own righteousness and prove to God that they were worthy. 00:03:32.380 --> 00:03:39.400 Jesus showed up to these Pharisees, and he made this statement in Matthew 27 and verse 27, woe to 00:03:39.400 --> 00:03:40.500 you, scribes! 00:03:40.520 --> 00:03:41.640 That's like a one in the world. 00:03:41.640 --> 00:03:42.450 Do you think you're doing right? 00:03:43.600 --> 00:03:47.280 And Pharisees, you hypocrites, can imagine. 00:03:47.280 --> 00:03:48.110 It's got an exclamation point. 00:03:48.440 --> 00:03:53.600 Jesus saying this to me as a follower of Christ, I would probably melt maybe ball on the spot. 00:03:53.900 --> 00:03:57.740 He called me a hypocrite, but he says, why do you scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites? 00:03:58.040 --> 00:04:04.440 For you are like whitewashed tombs, which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness. 00:04:07.380 --> 00:04:13.930 The man has the ability to even take good things that God intends for us, to direct us as people in our hearts to him and make them bad. 00:04:15.400 --> 00:04:19.399 And he's saying to the Pharisees, all of these religious rules that you're living. 00:04:19.620 --> 00:04:20.700 Everyone in this world may be fooled. 00:04:20.740 --> 00:04:25.540 They may think that you're beautiful on the outside, but on the inside you're as dead as dead gets. 00:04:27.420 --> 00:04:31.140 You look like this glorious tomb that someone established on the side of the cave. 00:04:31.160 --> 00:04:33.580 But when you get inside, all that there is the stench of death. 00:04:34.180 --> 00:04:34.540 It's empty. 00:04:37.100 --> 00:04:38.200 What is the purpose of the law? 00:04:40.240 --> 00:04:42.650 The purpose of the law is to direct us to Christ. 00:04:44.720 --> 00:04:50.520 It says in Galatians three 2222 But the Scripture has shut every one under sin. 00:04:51.660 --> 00:04:56.660 So the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. 00:04:58.200 --> 00:05:01.780 It's saying, you look at this law and you look at this demand of everything that God requires in you, in this life. 00:05:01.820 --> 00:05:04.520 And you begin to realize, I can't meet a holy God standard. 00:05:05.420 --> 00:05:06.500 I need a Savior. 00:05:06.880 --> 00:05:08.700 I need someone to save me from this situation. 00:05:09.000 --> 00:05:13.660 And it says Jesus Christ might be given to those who by faith believe in him. 00:05:15.460 --> 00:05:22.500 But before faith came, we were kept in custody under the law, being shut up to faith, which was to 00:05:22.580 --> 00:05:23.220 later be revealed. 00:05:24.800 --> 00:05:29.780 Therefore, the law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ. 00:05:31.540 --> 00:05:38.760 I give us that introduction to lead us into First John, because John writes the book of John with this 00:05:38.760 --> 00:05:39.260 passion. 00:05:40.960 --> 00:05:42.240 John's an older man. 00:05:42.240 --> 00:05:47.180 He's about to be before the Lord, physically present before God, and see him face to face. 00:05:48.920 --> 00:05:56.320 History tells us that John in his old age, the church in Ephesus where he ministered with Mary, Jesus, Jesus's mother, 00:05:56.320 --> 00:05:57.570 that he got so old. 00:05:57.660 --> 00:06:01.940 Mary had since passed, but he got so old that the people would run to his home on Sunday morning. 00:06:02.020 --> 00:06:09.080 And John just wanted to be in the church, but he couldn't walk there, and they would carry him to the church, and they give this image that they would prop him up on stage and say, John, just 00:06:09.080 --> 00:06:10.790 tell us what it was like to be with Jesus. 00:06:12.520 --> 00:06:17.600 And John would just begin to share the messages of the Lord with these people, because John spent three years ministering with Christ. 00:06:17.720 --> 00:06:22.860 John is the only apostle that was at the death of Jesus and at the empty tomb when Jesus was resurrected. 00:06:23.180 --> 00:06:24.510 And he shares these stories. 00:06:24.540 --> 00:06:31.720 And as John gets older, he realizes that he's going to this church, and he's an older man, and there's a new generations of believers that have come 00:06:31.720 --> 00:06:36.230 into the church, and none of them these are these people are so young that none of them had seen the resurrected Christ. 00:06:36.300 --> 00:06:38.600 None of them had seen Jesus do ministry on this earth. 00:06:38.620 --> 00:06:40.300 And so John began to share with them. 00:06:40.880 --> 00:06:41.950 Does John got to the end of his age? 00:06:42.180 --> 00:06:44.040 He also wrote a letter to them. 00:06:45.080 --> 00:06:52.180 And his passion was this, that a new generation of people, a new church for Christ, would rise up and make Jesus the center of their lives. 00:06:53.960 --> 00:07:00.980 Because John had noticed something in, as he wrote the book of First John, was that there were people coming in to what 00:07:00.980 --> 00:07:05.710 they called God's church, and they didn't really follow after Christ. 00:07:07.620 --> 00:07:14.290 There were people coming into God's church that were saying they were followers of Jesus, but encouraging the body of Christ to live contrary to him. 00:07:15.980 --> 00:07:23.480 John's heart for his new generation and this church, was that they would seek the face of Christ, that 00:07:23.480 --> 00:07:28.880 they would become a discerning people and be able to recognize when someone is truly standing for Jesus and someone isn't. 00:07:30.860 --> 00:07:35.330 And so when John wrote the book of First John, he really dealt with three primary categories. 00:07:35.660 --> 00:07:41.140 He says to us, If Jesus is your God and you're following after God. 00:07:42.620 --> 00:07:44.120 The second was a moral check. 00:07:44.180 --> 00:07:51.420 If you hate sin in your life and your desire is to pursue God, the second or the third was a social 00:07:51.420 --> 00:07:51.870 check. 00:07:52.240 --> 00:07:57.280 And it was if you love other people for the sake of Jesus, then you love God. 00:07:59.740 --> 00:08:07.920 This morning I want to deal with the latter two our moral check and our social check cheque, for the purpose of growing 00:08:07.920 --> 00:08:15.720 healthy in our relationship with Jesus, and to become a discerning people and 00:08:15.720 --> 00:08:22.840 to evaluate our own lives and not live hypocritically as we're going to see some of the people did in the in the second chapter of John saying they love 00:08:22.840 --> 00:08:24.700 Jesus, but denying them with our lives. 00:08:24.960 --> 00:08:29.580 But to love God and to actually live for him. 00:08:31.800 --> 00:08:37.780 John begins to write, and Jesus, he himself is the propitiation for our sins. 00:08:37.880 --> 00:08:39.039 That's a clever word. 00:08:39.120 --> 00:08:45.260 It means propitiation, means God is looking down on this earth, and he's demanding justice for the sin that's being done. 00:08:45.800 --> 00:08:47.060 Jesus dies on the cross. 00:08:47.060 --> 00:08:51.840 When Jesus dies on the cross, the father looks at the son's payment on the cross and he's satisfied. 00:08:52.300 --> 00:08:59.480 He turns away that your sins have been propitiated and not for ours only, but also for those 00:09:00.200 --> 00:09:00.960 of the whole world. 00:09:03.000 --> 00:09:08.440 When Jesus died for sins, he died for all your sins, past, present, and future. 00:09:08.580 --> 00:09:09.520 But not just yours. 00:09:09.980 --> 00:09:10.400 Everyone's. 00:09:12.300 --> 00:09:14.460 And so when you look in verse three, John says this. 00:09:15.520 --> 00:09:20.000 By this we may know that we have come to know him. 00:09:21.320 --> 00:09:22.560 Let me just pause there for a moment. 00:09:25.740 --> 00:09:30.080 Point number one this morning is that God's followers would want to obey him. 00:09:31.800 --> 00:09:35.120 And the first step is in obeying God and the desire to want to obey God. 00:09:35.160 --> 00:09:38.390 The Bible tells us that when you place your faith in Jesus, you become a new creation. 00:09:38.620 --> 00:09:39.320 Behold, all things pass. 00:09:40.120 --> 00:09:41.180 All things become new. 00:09:41.180 --> 00:09:44.370 God gives you a desire, a new desire in your heart to pursue him. 00:09:45.320 --> 00:09:47.680 He says, by this we know that we have come to know him. 00:09:47.760 --> 00:09:49.580 This is different than the Pharisees were living. 00:09:49.580 --> 00:09:51.620 We saw in Matthew 2727. 00:09:51.680 --> 00:09:55.140 They were following all these religious rules and reaching out to God and saying, God, is this enough? 00:09:55.440 --> 00:09:56.180 God, is this enough? 00:09:56.440 --> 00:09:57.440 God, is this enough? 00:09:59.200 --> 00:10:06.480 When you read in John chapter two and verse two, it's saying that Jesus instead of us reaching up to him, has 00:10:06.720 --> 00:10:12.500 come to us and to those who believe we may know him. 00:10:14.800 --> 00:10:18.060 This is a personal statement for each individual to understand. 00:10:19.680 --> 00:10:25.510 God desires to know you personally and to know you intimately. 00:10:28.560 --> 00:10:35.980 When he says in verse three, by this we know that we have come to know him, and he gives us a clause if we keep his commandments. 00:10:38.160 --> 00:10:45.540 Obedience to Jesus says, Jesus, if your life has changed 00:10:45.780 --> 00:10:50.720 because you've come to know Christ, it's a good indicator that you know Christ. 00:10:51.740 --> 00:10:56.380 Non-christians, people who don't trust in Jesus don't want to do what Christ says. 00:10:58.380 --> 00:11:04.720 It's as if John is saying this when you come to know Jesus in your desires to love Jesus and to and to grow with him, you hate the things that he hates. 00:11:05.580 --> 00:11:07.270 As a matter of fact, you welcome rebuke. 00:11:08.880 --> 00:11:11.740 You say, God, what in my life needs to change? 00:11:11.780 --> 00:11:13.860 What in my life needs to draw closer to you? 00:11:13.880 --> 00:11:17.360 What in my life do I need to let go so that I may pursue you in this world? 00:11:18.720 --> 00:11:23.600 We welcome rebuke because what we desire is to walk in the light as he is in the light. 00:11:25.200 --> 00:11:26.860 The goal is not to obey commands. 00:11:27.320 --> 00:11:29.050 The goal is to draw near to Jesus. 00:11:30.400 --> 00:11:33.830 And the way that we draw near to him is to follow him. 00:11:35.060 --> 00:11:39.640 Christians, this is funny desire in their hearts to be rebuked. 00:11:40.780 --> 00:11:42.060 We first started our church here. 00:11:42.060 --> 00:11:48.120 There was an individual that came to me and said, I want you to preach to me hard. 00:11:48.620 --> 00:11:49.500 I want you to. 00:11:50.120 --> 00:11:51.400 I love difficult preaching. 00:11:51.400 --> 00:11:53.400 I love it when you speak right to my heart and it pricks it and it hurts. 00:11:55.700 --> 00:11:59.760 And my first reaction was, you're crazy, you know. 00:11:59.900 --> 00:12:01.460 It was the people don't want to come to that. 00:12:01.460 --> 00:12:02.250 They want to just feel good. 00:12:02.460 --> 00:12:03.040 Right? 00:12:03.980 --> 00:12:04.780 But it's biblical. 00:12:06.520 --> 00:12:13.660 When you love Jesus, God gives this desire in your heart, no matter if it hurts to understand what's keeping you separated from knowing him, and to 00:12:13.660 --> 00:12:17.280 release that from your life, that you may pursue him in this world. 00:12:20.160 --> 00:12:22.700 Excuse me. 00:12:22.700 --> 00:12:26.760 Question in this morning is if obedience says I know God. 00:12:28.280 --> 00:12:29.500 Why do I struggle to obey him? 00:12:32.560 --> 00:12:36.980 If obedience says that I know God, then why don't I want to obey his commands? 00:12:38.000 --> 00:12:40.720 Why does the word obey seem so scary? 00:12:41.900 --> 00:12:42.800 I grew up in a generation. 00:12:43.320 --> 00:12:45.980 My generation today hates authority. 00:12:47.380 --> 00:12:49.690 I think the 70s for that, right? 00:12:50.860 --> 00:12:54.980 Anything that has to do with any authority over our heads, we question it, we doubt it. 00:12:55.260 --> 00:12:59.800 And you've got to earn your respect in my life individually before I begin to trust you. 00:12:59.860 --> 00:13:06.840 Why in the world does the command, the desire for God to obey us and his commands scare us sometimes as people? 00:13:08.140 --> 00:13:10.320 What's wrong with God or us? 00:13:12.100 --> 00:13:19.920 The Bible tells us in verse five the reason that we desire not 00:13:19.980 --> 00:13:22.200 to follow God is because we fell in our lives. 00:13:22.480 --> 00:13:29.920 We forget to recognize the purpose of God's commands is not for you to earn his love, but 00:13:29.920 --> 00:13:33.090 to experience the love he already has for you. 00:13:34.240 --> 00:13:37.800 You know, when God gives you a command, it's simply for your best interest. 00:13:39.720 --> 00:13:42.620 Jesus didn't die on the cross for himself. 00:13:44.980 --> 00:13:47.180 When God gives you a command, there's a purpose to it. 00:13:47.240 --> 00:13:50.240 And his desire is for you to begin to experience his love. 00:13:52.120 --> 00:13:59.620 When you give your children a command as a parent, your desire in that command is also to bless your child's 00:13:59.620 --> 00:14:00.960 life if they were to follow it. 00:14:02.360 --> 00:14:06.520 Last week I was working and I came home from work and I walked into the house. 00:14:06.620 --> 00:14:13.400 And when I get into the kitchen, I see my son walking around with oven mitts on his hands, saying he's working on the sink. 00:14:13.440 --> 00:14:13.780 And I thought first. 00:14:14.180 --> 00:14:15.920 My first thought was, that's pretty good. 00:14:16.040 --> 00:14:18.260 His hands are now proportionate to the size of his head. 00:14:18.480 --> 00:14:22.140 So this is my is going to be what it looks like when he grows up later in life. 00:14:22.140 --> 00:14:28.330 And he's just walking around back and forth behind behind my wife and he's saying art, art, art, art, art, art, art. 00:14:29.020 --> 00:14:31.720 And I'm a little freaked out that my son does have oven mitts on. 00:14:31.720 --> 00:14:34.420 And so I asked Stacy, what in the world is he doing? 00:14:35.800 --> 00:14:41.150 She told me that he loves to be in the kitchen when she's in the kitchen. 00:14:41.860 --> 00:14:48.180 Grayson loves the presence of his mom, but in order to be in the kitchen, Stacy is cooking. 00:14:48.180 --> 00:14:55.360 And so for Grayson to be in there, there's one simple command that he has to understand that if she wants to, if he wants to enjoy her presence, he can't 00:14:55.360 --> 00:14:58.520 get near the oven because it'll burn. 00:14:59.720 --> 00:15:04.400 And I like to think that my son is so intelligent, to keep his hands from being burned that he put these oven mitts on. 00:15:04.400 --> 00:15:06.050 But I think it was more for fun. 00:15:06.360 --> 00:15:13.560 But the point was that he may not have totally understood the command, but he knew that he wasn't supposed to touch the oven, and so he began to walk around and repeat 00:15:13.560 --> 00:15:18.580 the command that Stacy had given him so that he could stay in the kitchen and enjoy her presence. 00:15:21.020 --> 00:15:28.200 Maybe you should practice that as Christians, when you know that God wants to enjoy you, to enjoy his 00:15:28.360 --> 00:15:34.010 love and you're feeling tempted, put on oven mitts and say, I just don't do that. 00:15:34.240 --> 00:15:34.660 Don't do that. 00:15:36.280 --> 00:15:39.960 But the point is this when you give your child a command, it's to bless them. 00:15:42.080 --> 00:15:43.800 We hear the word command with God. 00:15:43.960 --> 00:15:47.200 It's not simply to think, oh, now what does God not want me to do now? 00:15:48.560 --> 00:15:51.360 But simply, what does God want to bring into my life? 00:15:52.540 --> 00:15:53.460 Amen. 00:15:53.700 --> 00:15:59.760 Bible says, but whoever keeps His Word in Him, the love of God has truly been perfected. 00:16:01.780 --> 00:16:03.680 By this we know that we are in him. 00:16:05.320 --> 00:16:10.040 If Grayson had touched the oven, he wouldn't be enjoying the company of Stacy any longer. 00:16:11.960 --> 00:16:19.180 We in our lives, when we walk in darkness and touch things that burn us spiritually, we in that moment aren't enjoying the presence of God's 00:16:19.180 --> 00:16:20.120 love in our lives. 00:16:21.900 --> 00:16:26.520 When we seek to obey God in this world, it's not about what we're not getting. 00:16:26.560 --> 00:16:30.600 It's about what we're enjoying because our pursuit is after him. 00:16:31.720 --> 00:16:34.090 And you know, the truth is that God is more gracious to. 00:16:34.360 --> 00:16:36.020 To us than we are to ourselves. 00:16:38.160 --> 00:16:41.730 We struggle in our lives to see the worth of who we are as human beings. 00:16:41.960 --> 00:16:46.120 Sometimes we deal with self-esteem and issues that relate to that. 00:16:47.580 --> 00:16:51.480 We oftentimes do harm to ourselves for the sake of temporary pleasure. 00:16:51.680 --> 00:16:54.900 Believing a lie is more loving to us than the truth of God's Word. 00:16:54.900 --> 00:17:01.780 And so we'll go for it, for that, and satisfy ourselves with those sins rather than the love of God. 00:17:03.040 --> 00:17:10.079 The reason that the commands of God scare us when it relates to God is truly because we haven't spent the time and the presence of God 00:17:10.540 --> 00:17:12.240 experiencing his love. 00:17:13.819 --> 00:17:21.339 Because a Christian, when they understand how much God loves them and the desire that God has to lavish that love upon them, they run 00:17:21.339 --> 00:17:21.980 from the darkness. 00:17:22.260 --> 00:17:27.940 They love to be rebuked in the darkness, that they may go into the light and experience the grace and love of Christ in their world. 00:17:30.180 --> 00:17:38.140 Second reason is this we forget that God's commands are for us to enjoy a healthy relationship with him and 00:17:38.140 --> 00:17:40.260 not experience life without him. 00:17:41.720 --> 00:17:45.700 You know, you can go through this world and really not experience our relationship with Christ. 00:17:45.740 --> 00:17:53.020 You may know Jesus and not experience a relationship with him, but it says in verse six, the one who says he abides 00:17:53.020 --> 00:17:56.860 in him ought himself to walk in the same manner as he walked. 00:17:58.320 --> 00:18:05.420 God's desire for us is not only to experience that perfect love, but to abide in him, to experience the relationship that's 00:18:05.420 --> 00:18:06.560 involved with that love. 00:18:09.960 --> 00:18:12.720 Goal of God's commands are for you to know him. 00:18:14.440 --> 00:18:18.300 John 17 three says, this is eternal life, that you may know him. 00:18:20.060 --> 00:18:21.920 Eternity is all about God. 00:18:21.920 --> 00:18:22.700 It's relationship. 00:18:22.980 --> 00:18:24.380 It's about knowing him. 00:18:27.880 --> 00:18:35.040 You know, I notice in Scripture some of the some of the times that we look at the words command in the Bible and the reasons that we are afraid of the of the word 00:18:35.040 --> 00:18:42.040 command is because in our lives, people have given us commands to do things, and they were commands that brought us harm rather than good. 00:18:44.080 --> 00:18:49.890 Maybe you've had an authority figure over your life that has abused you through the possibility of giving you commands. 00:18:52.740 --> 00:18:57.160 I was reading an article about the idea of parenting because God reflects himself as our father. 00:18:57.500 --> 00:19:04.520 For us to draw some instances from parenting, authoritative commands can oftentimes be difficult for us to 00:19:04.520 --> 00:19:05.940 handle as people. 00:19:05.980 --> 00:19:13.080 But when we understand that God's love is for us to enjoy him and to experience love from him, it makes his commands much easier to embrace and 00:19:13.080 --> 00:19:13.680 run into. 00:19:13.680 --> 00:19:20.690 And as I was thinking about parents and the authority that they have over children and how that authority can be misrepresented. 00:19:21.040 --> 00:19:28.100 I found an article on focus on the family and it said this if you struggle with being an authoritative parent, it will be helpful to understand that 00:19:28.140 --> 00:19:31.020 love is a huge motivator for obedience. 00:19:31.400 --> 00:19:31.880 That's biblical. 00:19:32.480 --> 00:19:33.960 We love him because he first loved us. 00:19:34.040 --> 00:19:37.340 It tells us in First John, perfect love casts out fear. 00:19:37.340 --> 00:19:38.460 That's biblical. 00:19:38.460 --> 00:19:44.520 And it says and disciplining in anger without love will cause children to become rebellious. 00:19:45.960 --> 00:19:52.580 Many authoritative parents have the upper hand with their children when they are small, but as they the children grow older, they lose control. 00:19:53.300 --> 00:19:53.400 Why? 00:19:54.400 --> 00:19:58.270 Because children will only obey out of fear for so long. 00:19:58.840 --> 00:20:00.540 Then they will rebel. 00:20:01.700 --> 00:20:05.600 The point is this all discipline needs to begin and end with love. 00:20:06.040 --> 00:20:09.080 The main goal should not be to love your kids into mature adults. 00:20:09.280 --> 00:20:10.660 This means that you discipline. 00:20:10.920 --> 00:20:13.240 Your discipline can be firm without being harsh. 00:20:13.360 --> 00:20:16.970 This means that you never insult, you never make threats or react. 00:20:17.320 --> 00:20:20.860 Instead, at times you remain at all times. 00:20:20.980 --> 00:20:21.180 Excuse me? 00:20:21.920 --> 00:20:22.320 Your remaining control. 00:20:25.440 --> 00:20:27.260 That's God. 00:20:27.820 --> 00:20:30.220 God's desire for us is to understand. 00:20:31.740 --> 00:20:34.920 He gives these the commands because he is in control. 00:20:37.480 --> 00:20:39.420 God is handling all things. 00:20:39.480 --> 00:20:41.060 He knows the beginning from the end. 00:20:41.080 --> 00:20:44.260 And he says all things work together for good for those who what? 00:20:45.720 --> 00:20:46.280 Love God. 00:20:47.840 --> 00:20:50.340 And in his perfect love, he casts out fear. 00:20:51.480 --> 00:20:53.300 We love him because he first loved us. 00:20:53.320 --> 00:20:55.060 The love of God as we understand it. 00:20:55.060 --> 00:21:03.700 And the relationship that God desires for us, compels us to walk from darkness into the light and experience that relationship with him through 00:21:03.700 --> 00:21:05.060 bad command giving. 00:21:05.100 --> 00:21:10.290 When we think about the word command with God, it often can strike fear in our hearts. 00:21:12.020 --> 00:21:13.780 What kind of commands does God want to give? 00:21:15.620 --> 00:21:19.080 It's as if God is saying to us, listen, I love you. 00:21:20.540 --> 00:21:21.460 Do you love me? 00:21:22.340 --> 00:21:23.380 Yes. 00:21:23.880 --> 00:21:26.340 Well, if you love me, there's this desire that I have. 00:21:26.340 --> 00:21:27.520 I want you to walk with me. 00:21:27.520 --> 00:21:28.900 I want you to stay away from that darkness. 00:21:29.040 --> 00:21:30.140 Don't touch the oven. 00:21:30.140 --> 00:21:30.910 It's going to burn. 00:21:31.240 --> 00:21:33.740 Come into the light that we can enjoy one another. 00:21:33.780 --> 00:21:39.420 Because the moment that you leave the presence of my light and you go into darkness, there's going to be difficulty in our relationship. 00:21:43.560 --> 00:21:49.580 The third point is this why do I find it difficult to obey God when he gives commands? 00:21:50.060 --> 00:21:50.910 You see it in verse four. 00:21:50.920 --> 00:21:52.120 You thought I skipped it, but I didn't. 00:21:54.520 --> 00:21:59.220 This is the one who says, I have come to know him and does not keep his commands. 00:22:00.200 --> 00:22:05.440 He is a liar and the truth is not in them. 00:22:07.980 --> 00:22:15.460 John is saying to us as believers, listen, people are going to walk into your church and they're going to say that they love Jesus, and their lives aren't 00:22:15.460 --> 00:22:19.320 going to suggest that they love Jesus and they're liars. 00:22:22.500 --> 00:22:29.580 The reason that we reject the commandments of God, the reason we desire not to follow God, is for one simple reason you're rebellious. 00:22:31.640 --> 00:22:32.200 I'm rebellious. 00:22:32.740 --> 00:22:35.880 Maybe I should point to me for a while in my heart. 00:22:36.280 --> 00:22:44.660 As much as I might desire to know God, there is a seed of rebellion that desires for me to love things more than Christ himself and 00:22:44.660 --> 00:22:51.880 those who aren't loving God, those who aren't pursuing God in this world, those who aren't walking in his light, aren't experiencing a relationship 00:22:51.880 --> 00:22:53.740 with him no matter what they say. 00:22:55.380 --> 00:23:02.560 And we see this word command, and it scares us because of the 70s, and maybe because authoritative people over us have taught us to fear the word command, 00:23:02.680 --> 00:23:04.840 because it always it wasn't always intended for our good. 00:23:05.160 --> 00:23:07.560 But when God gives you a command, it's intended for your good. 00:23:09.620 --> 00:23:10.720 God works in structure. 00:23:12.600 --> 00:23:12.940 Do you realize? 00:23:14.160 --> 00:23:18.340 I think about even in our generation, I meet a lot of people who say, I don't like to come to church. 00:23:18.740 --> 00:23:20.360 I like to do church at home. 00:23:23.240 --> 00:23:26.290 It's completely contrary to God's plan for this world. 00:23:27.580 --> 00:23:28.600 Jesus built this church. 00:23:28.980 --> 00:23:30.120 Jesus died for the church. 00:23:30.340 --> 00:23:32.220 Jesus loved the church. 00:23:32.560 --> 00:23:39.780 Jesus set the organization of the church up for us, under the authority to come in and learn how to pursue and worship and grow with him, and to be encouraged, because apart 00:23:39.780 --> 00:23:41.560 from ourselves, we will rebel. 00:23:43.100 --> 00:23:44.820 We will pursue things contrary to God. 00:23:44.820 --> 00:23:49.280 We'll be okay with secret sins in our life and just say, you know God, you've got about 75% of me. 00:23:49.580 --> 00:23:50.300 Isn't that enough? 00:23:51.960 --> 00:23:54.760 And God's desire for us is to be given. 00:23:54.760 --> 00:23:55.120 All of us. 00:23:55.260 --> 00:23:56.440 All of us is taken into him. 00:23:56.480 --> 00:23:59.160 Do you realize Jesus Himself when he walked this earth? 00:23:59.540 --> 00:24:00.500 Jesus attended church. 00:24:00.900 --> 00:24:02.220 We called it the synagogue, but he went. 00:24:03.400 --> 00:24:09.980 Jesus wore Sunday clothes, pretty much, and the Jewish tassels that dangled from the robe, the robes that the Jewish people wore. 00:24:11.200 --> 00:24:12.160 Jesus was faithful. 00:24:12.160 --> 00:24:13.380 And to reading the Bible. 00:24:14.440 --> 00:24:15.880 Jesus took communion. 00:24:15.880 --> 00:24:17.080 He was baptized. 00:24:17.080 --> 00:24:24.140 He was accountable to people because Jesus understood that he needed the church to encourage him to pursue a life after God, because 00:24:24.140 --> 00:24:26.820 in and of himself he was a whitewashed tomb. 00:24:27.880 --> 00:24:29.490 Not Jesus, but people could be. 00:24:31.100 --> 00:24:33.980 Jesus was an example to us. 00:24:35.860 --> 00:24:38.420 We shouldn't be satisfied with anarchy. 00:24:38.940 --> 00:24:41.270 You know, we say the word command. 00:24:41.460 --> 00:24:41.560 It shouldn't. 00:24:42.940 --> 00:24:44.720 It shouldn't strike total fear from us. 00:24:44.720 --> 00:24:46.220 And we think to ourselves, wait a minute, wait a minute. 00:24:47.360 --> 00:24:48.320 Christianity is about a relationship. 00:24:48.320 --> 00:24:49.480 It's not a religion. 00:24:49.700 --> 00:24:51.400 And in most aspects, we're correct. 00:24:53.500 --> 00:24:54.860 Man makes religion. 00:24:55.700 --> 00:25:00.300 Man tells us if we do all these things that God might be satisfied with us. 00:25:01.160 --> 00:25:03.780 But God also structured a place for us to come. 00:25:03.780 --> 00:25:06.880 And it teaches us that God is pursuing us in this world. 00:25:09.700 --> 00:25:14.420 We shouldn't be interested in chaos, but be a part of something that encourages us to the Lord. 00:25:15.200 --> 00:25:22.600 When a government think about a government for just a moment, they establish laws on one of their laws is 00:25:22.600 --> 00:25:23.830 you cannot kill people. 00:25:25.420 --> 00:25:27.000 Don't all of a sudden rise up and say foolishness. 00:25:29.200 --> 00:25:30.680 That is a command I am free. 00:25:31.800 --> 00:25:32.680 Why? 00:25:34.520 --> 00:25:37.680 Because we understand the purpose of that command is to protect the people. 00:25:37.900 --> 00:25:39.550 And so they say, Bravo. 00:25:40.500 --> 00:25:41.810 I think I might want to live there. 00:25:43.440 --> 00:25:46.300 If you're interested in the preservation of the life, so am I. 00:25:46.400 --> 00:25:51.090 It's wonderful when God gives us commands. 00:25:51.300 --> 00:25:52.000 It's the same. 00:25:54.580 --> 00:25:56.840 It isn't to strike fear into your heart. 00:25:58.660 --> 00:26:05.660 It's to love you and to bless you, and to lavish his relationship upon you and let you know in 00:26:05.660 --> 00:26:08.300 the eyes of God, how beautiful you are to him. 00:26:11.180 --> 00:26:18.860 The reason we forget to walk with the Lord, or we don't walk with the Lord and we refuse to walk with the Lord, is really 00:26:18.860 --> 00:26:19.680 because we're rebellious. 00:26:23.040 --> 00:26:27.200 People who know Christ want to follow after him. 00:26:28.960 --> 00:26:33.900 They get to a place in their lives where they stop asking the question, what do I want? 00:26:34.860 --> 00:26:38.180 And they start asking the question, God, what do you want? 00:26:39.820 --> 00:26:43.370 But look at all the decisions that they have to make throughout their day. 00:26:43.440 --> 00:26:49.260 And rather than figure out what decisions are going to make them happiest, or what decision they think might be best to make them satisfied, they. 00:26:49.640 --> 00:26:53.380 They include God in those decisions and ask God, what do you want me to do here? 00:26:55.240 --> 00:26:58.980 The more you listen to God and love him, the deeper your relationship with him grows. 00:27:00.240 --> 00:27:00.380 Learn. 00:27:00.500 --> 00:27:05.520 Learn to love the word command as it relates to God and see how Jesus loves you. 00:27:06.320 --> 00:27:08.090 He gives you a command because he loves you. 00:27:08.720 --> 00:27:11.490 He gives you a command so that you can enjoy him in a relationship. 00:27:11.860 --> 00:27:12.160 And the light. 00:27:12.340 --> 00:27:16.140 He gives you a command because he cares enough about you to speak into your life. 00:27:16.140 --> 00:27:19.580 He gives you a command because he's interested in you and wants to bless you. 00:27:20.720 --> 00:27:24.340 He gives you a command because you're rebellious and your heart will destroy you. 00:27:25.040 --> 00:27:31.000 He gives you a command because he wants to give you his best, which is himself, because he is the giver of all good things. 00:27:32.300 --> 00:27:35.420 He gives you a command not to burn you, but to fulfill you. 00:27:36.640 --> 00:27:39.560 There is no hope in religion, but there is in Jesus. 00:27:42.900 --> 00:27:49.930 Learn to love, to be rebuked, that you may walk from darkness and into his light. 00:27:50.680 --> 00:27:51.520 You guys want those commands now. 00:27:54.200 --> 00:27:58.800 I've said all these things about these commands, and I now we're wondering, oh my goodness, how many commands are there in the Bible? 00:27:59.060 --> 00:28:06.120 Do you know when Jesus walked the earth, the Pharisees that he confronted in Matthew chapter 27 believed in over 600 commands. 00:28:06.960 --> 00:28:12.400 They had the moral law and the civil law and the ceremonial law, and that wasn't enough. 00:28:13.240 --> 00:28:15.790 History tells us that they added laws on top of those laws. 00:28:16.900 --> 00:28:18.260 How crazy. 00:28:19.220 --> 00:28:22.510 What commands is it that God wants us to obey his people? 00:28:24.020 --> 00:28:32.080 Maybe this will blow your minds this morning, but it tells us in John first John chapter two and verse seven, John 00:28:32.080 --> 00:28:34.800 begins to allude to some previous commands that he made. 00:28:36.680 --> 00:28:43.540 He says, behold, I am not writing a new command to you, but an old command which you have had from the beginning. 00:28:44.860 --> 00:28:47.260 The old command is the word which you have heard. 00:28:48.720 --> 00:28:50.080 So John is saying, it's nothing new. 00:28:50.080 --> 00:28:50.580 That's good. 00:28:50.620 --> 00:28:52.640 When you study God's Word, God's word doesn't change. 00:28:52.640 --> 00:28:53.600 His truth is timeless. 00:28:53.940 --> 00:28:55.400 Nothing needs to come in addition to it. 00:28:55.800 --> 00:28:57.150 It's old and it sustains. 00:28:57.160 --> 00:28:59.140 When God says something, it lasts for eternity. 00:29:00.840 --> 00:29:05.620 It says in Matthew that not one jot or tittle will pass away till everything's fulfilled in God's law. 00:29:07.140 --> 00:29:07.400 It's old. 00:29:09.480 --> 00:29:10.080 How old are you? 00:29:10.720 --> 00:29:11.340 It's way older than that. 00:29:12.420 --> 00:29:12.720 Verse eight. 00:29:13.740 --> 00:29:20.780 On the other hand, I'm writing a new command to you, which is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away 00:29:20.780 --> 00:29:22.420 and the true light is already shining. 00:29:23.700 --> 00:29:24.420 And you can say, aha! 00:29:24.460 --> 00:29:27.180 You told me that God doesn't add anymore, and now it's saying it's new. 00:29:29.400 --> 00:29:35.240 What I'm saying to you this morning is that when John talks about it being new, he's talking about those who are new in Christ. 00:29:36.960 --> 00:29:41.320 Listen, God has given us command and it is sustained throughout eternity, this command. 00:29:41.320 --> 00:29:46.870 But for you who have come to know Jesus and are beginning that relationship with him in your life, it's going to seem new. 00:29:48.840 --> 00:29:50.060 What command is John referencing? 00:29:51.780 --> 00:29:52.360 What's in the Gospels? 00:29:54.020 --> 00:29:54.980 It's also in the Old Testament. 00:29:55.420 --> 00:29:55.900 It's so old. 00:29:55.900 --> 00:29:57.440 It's in the Old Testament, right? 00:29:58.580 --> 00:30:00.620 Deuteronomy six four and Leviticus 1918. 00:30:00.900 --> 00:30:04.040 You'll find this quote Jesus requotes it. 00:30:04.120 --> 00:30:05.660 It's in Matthew, Mark and Luke. 00:30:06.540 --> 00:30:08.350 Jesus quotes it when he's asked the question. 00:30:08.660 --> 00:30:15.720 Jesus, out of all the commands that we Pharisees follow out of the 600 and some commands that we're trying to live up to satisfy God, what one command 00:30:15.720 --> 00:30:16.700 can we follow to? 00:30:17.060 --> 00:30:18.560 To the most to make God happy? 00:30:18.600 --> 00:30:21.420 Which one command does God want us to do above all the others? 00:30:22.780 --> 00:30:24.580 Jesus gives this statement. 00:30:26.480 --> 00:30:29.380 He said, the foremost is hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord. 00:30:30.640 --> 00:30:37.160 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. 00:30:39.060 --> 00:30:46.320 Jesus wants all of you, and he wants all of you because he recognizes that there are some children rocking around 00:30:46.320 --> 00:30:50.140 the kitchen, getting too close to the oven, and they're about to be burned. 00:30:52.900 --> 00:30:56.360 And Jesus knows that in his hand he holds the best for your life. 00:30:58.660 --> 00:31:00.960 God's commands aren't religious based. 00:31:02.520 --> 00:31:04.300 God's command is relationally based. 00:31:05.980 --> 00:31:06.440 God wants you. 00:31:09.200 --> 00:31:10.320 It says in verse 31. 00:31:10.540 --> 00:31:12.400 The second is this you shall love your neighbor as yourself. 00:31:13.980 --> 00:31:17.400 There is no other command greater than these. 00:31:20.140 --> 00:31:27.280 The night that Jesus was to be betrayed, he looked at his disciples, John included, and he said, this new command I give 00:31:27.280 --> 00:31:29.500 to you, that you love one another. 00:31:33.580 --> 00:31:34.500 Come back to first, John. 00:31:36.100 --> 00:31:43.840 And John says this, the one who says he is in the light and yet hates his brother, is 00:31:43.840 --> 00:31:45.040 in the darkness until now. 00:31:46.520 --> 00:31:52.100 The one who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him. 00:31:54.560 --> 00:31:58.650 The way that we reflect God's love in our hearts is to reflect his love to this world. 00:31:59.960 --> 00:32:02.960 When God created you, he said, be fruitful and multiply. 00:32:05.040 --> 00:32:06.620 You think about a miracle for just a moment. 00:32:08.880 --> 00:32:09.720 What are what is a miracle? 00:32:11.820 --> 00:32:18.860 So when you're in a hopeless situation and God intervenes to cause this hopeless situation, to work out for the good, to meet 00:32:18.860 --> 00:32:22.780 your need, that is miraculous, right? 00:32:22.780 --> 00:32:25.020 To be a miracle, God's presence has to be there. 00:32:26.720 --> 00:32:33.740 In the New Testament it tells us in first Corinthians 316 and first Corinthians 619 that you are the temple of God, and the Spirit of God dwells 00:32:34.160 --> 00:32:34.360 within you. 00:32:36.320 --> 00:32:44.000 Now if a miracle takes place where God's presence is made known and God dwells in you, where 00:32:44.000 --> 00:32:45.350 is God working his greatest miracle? 00:32:48.100 --> 00:32:49.190 It's in our hearts. 00:32:51.140 --> 00:32:55.910 God is working in you that you may glorify him through this world. 00:32:57.500 --> 00:32:58.180 James said it. 00:32:59.460 --> 00:33:01.320 Faith without works is dead right. 00:33:03.160 --> 00:33:07.020 The evidence of whether or not you really know Jesus is how you're loving other people. 00:33:07.340 --> 00:33:09.820 And let me just say, it's not the people that are easy to love. 00:33:11.960 --> 00:33:13.180 Jesus. 00:33:13.180 --> 00:33:16.800 And the night that he was betrayed washed the feet of Judas. 00:33:18.840 --> 00:33:21.920 He stood on the cross through people who mocked and spit on him. 00:33:21.940 --> 00:33:24.200 And he said, father, forgive them. 00:33:26.380 --> 00:33:33.520 The way that I know that I love Jesus is that when people make it difficult to love even church people, I'm doing everything to 00:33:33.520 --> 00:33:34.440 love them back. 00:33:37.960 --> 00:33:40.200 Verse 11 says this I feel like the room is heavy. 00:33:41.240 --> 00:33:41.440 Smile. 00:33:43.520 --> 00:33:45.580 Verse verse 11. 00:33:45.580 --> 00:33:50.380 But the one who hates his brother is in the darkness, and the one who is in the darkness and does. 00:33:50.540 --> 00:33:51.970 Let me read verse ten, stop. 00:33:52.180 --> 00:33:56.720 The one who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him. 00:33:57.500 --> 00:34:04.660 Let me just add this real quick and say, when people come to our church or around you and we bring friends around you, friends of people 00:34:04.660 --> 00:34:06.000 that you may not be familiar with. 00:34:06.340 --> 00:34:09.440 The concern that we shouldn't have is what in the world is going to come out of your mouth? 00:34:12.300 --> 00:34:14.400 I only say that with undertones. 00:34:14.699 --> 00:34:15.960 I hope you realize what I'm talking about. 00:34:18.880 --> 00:34:23.940 Hating on other people and the presence of other people causes people to stumble. 00:34:24.260 --> 00:34:24.659 You know what I mean? 00:34:25.520 --> 00:34:26.360 Amen. 00:34:27.580 --> 00:34:34.580 We bring people to church to worship the Lord, and you have a spiteful spirit against 00:34:34.580 --> 00:34:37.199 someone else or a group of people. 00:34:38.060 --> 00:34:40.880 You are taking away from the beauty of Jesus and what his church is about. 00:34:41.820 --> 00:34:43.600 And the best thing that you can do is shut your mouth. 00:34:44.480 --> 00:34:46.260 Amen. 00:34:47.840 --> 00:34:48.290 That was harsh. 00:34:50.560 --> 00:34:54.380 That was my heart breaks. 00:34:57.740 --> 00:34:58.140 For this state. 00:35:00.080 --> 00:35:05.900 And to know that God's people, this church, would stand up and say, man, I'm walking in that light. 00:35:08.100 --> 00:35:13.640 And when someone comes into our doors, we say, all I want to do is love you the way that Jesus loves you. 00:35:15.960 --> 00:35:23.180 And when I give my life to come to a place like this, to celebrate the presence of God and let his name be known, and people defame 00:35:23.180 --> 00:35:27.020 and choose not to love Jesus and call themselves a Christian. 00:35:30.180 --> 00:35:32.020 It breaks my heart. 00:35:35.830 --> 00:35:43.460 But the one who hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness and 00:35:43.460 --> 00:35:45.060 does not know where he is going. 00:35:45.080 --> 00:35:50.600 It's like the blind leading the blind because the darkness has blinded his eyes. 00:35:55.000 --> 00:35:56.770 You know, hatred isn't always acting. 00:35:57.260 --> 00:35:57.560 Hostility. 00:35:59.820 --> 00:36:03.140 Hatred is an unwillingness to extend love. 00:36:05.240 --> 00:36:06.340 I love Mother Teresa. 00:36:06.340 --> 00:36:06.900 Listen to this quote. 00:36:08.940 --> 00:36:09.760 The hunger for love. 00:36:10.920 --> 00:36:11.690 She's so soft. 00:36:12.740 --> 00:36:20.260 The hunger for love is more difficult to eradicate than the hunger for 00:36:20.260 --> 00:36:20.520 bread. 00:36:22.720 --> 00:36:25.620 I like that saying to us. 00:36:25.640 --> 00:36:32.880 As people within our hearts, we have a desire to love and to be loved to belong, and to be a part of 00:36:32.880 --> 00:36:33.680 something bigger than ourselves. 00:36:35.980 --> 00:36:37.920 God created us for that reason. 00:36:39.960 --> 00:36:47.100 God wants to bless his life and extend his gratitude, his favor upon you, and lavish his 00:36:47.100 --> 00:36:47.780 love upon you. 00:36:49.400 --> 00:36:56.500 And then as God begins to love you, your heart begins to grow for the love of other people and you begin to extend the love that Jesus has brought 00:36:56.500 --> 00:37:00.320 into your lives, into the arms of other people who are hungry for that love. 00:37:02.400 --> 00:37:03.090 So here's our conclusion. 00:37:05.680 --> 00:37:12.970 Do you realize this morning that we've really said the strength of God's church is found in his people and in the Bible? 00:37:14.860 --> 00:37:16.090 The Bible contains his commands. 00:37:16.200 --> 00:37:22.010 The people contain his love, the strength in his church is found in the Bible and his people. 00:37:23.620 --> 00:37:26.420 When I look at God's commands, I don't want to rebel against them. 00:37:26.420 --> 00:37:28.280 What we do instead is welcome them. 00:37:29.380 --> 00:37:29.680 Why? 00:37:31.280 --> 00:37:33.180 Because God is looking for our best interests. 00:37:33.440 --> 00:37:35.240 It's not a command of religion. 00:37:35.460 --> 00:37:38.660 It's a command of experiencing his relationship in love. 00:37:39.780 --> 00:37:41.900 I want to be in the light as he is in the light. 00:37:41.920 --> 00:37:44.660 I want to know his goodness as he is good to us. 00:37:44.660 --> 00:37:50.660 I want him to rebuke me when I'm in the darkness, that I may be able to experience him and walk with him all the days of my life. 00:37:50.660 --> 00:37:57.960 I want him to display his love upon me and upon other people as they come to know and grow and appreciate all that Jesus has for 00:37:57.960 --> 00:37:58.510 them. 00:38:00.720 --> 00:38:07.860 John writes to us this morning as a new generation and God's desire for us 00:38:07.860 --> 00:38:14.900 is to experience as a new generation, Jesus at the center of our lives, and that 00:38:14.920 --> 00:38:15.970 we as people would stop. 00:38:16.180 --> 00:38:20.780 And rather than ask the question, God, what do I want? 00:38:20.780 --> 00:38:21.980 Or what do I want? 00:38:22.020 --> 00:38:26.500 And start asking the question, oh God, what do you want for me? 00:38:28.160 --> 00:38:29.160 Let's close in the word of prayer.