WEBVTT 00:00:00.580 --> 00:00:04.670 We're going to jump into an interesting passage of scripture today in first John chapter two. 00:00:06.300 --> 00:00:13.420 This section of scripture is the kind of section whether you read, rather you watch real news or fake 00:00:13.420 --> 00:00:20.500 news, this is the kind of passage of scripture that those people that watch news all day like to come to this passage 00:00:20.500 --> 00:00:27.500 of scripture, complain about the world going to hell in a handbasket, and then put things on social media about how frustrated they are. 00:00:27.500 --> 00:00:29.180 And that's all that they ever really do about it. 00:00:29.180 --> 00:00:29.760 Right? 00:00:29.880 --> 00:00:36.940 This is one of those passages, were Christians just like to talk about the word Antichrist is going to come out they like to talk about the end of 00:00:36.940 --> 00:00:37.300 the world. 00:00:37.440 --> 00:00:40.010 And they we all just hunker down, build our bunkers, and it's over. 00:00:40.620 --> 00:00:45.130 Like we have no victory to celebrate, in Jesus and what God's called us to do is to walk in fear. 00:00:45.520 --> 00:00:49.940 If that's you, this passage is going to particularly draw you in. 00:00:50.000 --> 00:00:54.580 But I want to work through this passage for more than just walking in fear as a body of believers. 00:00:54.620 --> 00:01:00.990 In fact, I think a spirit of fear Bible tells us in Timothy is not what God calls us to, but power, love and a sound mind. 00:01:01.600 --> 00:01:05.000 And so when you look at this passage, there's a healthy way to approach it. 00:01:05.160 --> 00:01:12.260 But what John is doing is we've come to learn about John, understand, John, John is a disciple that deeply loved 00:01:12.260 --> 00:01:12.940 Jesus. 00:01:12.960 --> 00:01:20.000 His life radically transformed by Christ, where he went from an individual labeled as a son of thunder, where he punched in the nose first, 00:01:20.160 --> 00:01:21.490 and he asked questions later. 00:01:21.740 --> 00:01:26.000 He was one of wrath, not one of grace, God radically changes his life. 00:01:26.000 --> 00:01:33.040 And John has seen as he grows in Jesus as one that deeply loves people, so much so that some people might even think that you 00:01:33.040 --> 00:01:34.420 can take advantage of that love. 00:01:34.820 --> 00:01:42.000 And what you see in first John, is that John while he walks in love, he also stands in truth and is willing to stand for that truth 00:01:42.000 --> 00:01:43.400 when persecution comes. 00:01:43.860 --> 00:01:50.960 His life even resonated with that to the point that he was persecuted for his faith, he was boiled alive, survived, was exiled 00:01:50.960 --> 00:01:55.120 to the island of Patmos, he stood for Jesus in adversity. 00:01:55.240 --> 00:02:02.520 And so he's communicating in this book, what it means to know God in His love, while standing for the truth of God as a follower of Jesus, 00:02:02.700 --> 00:02:04.420 and how that should look in a healthy way. 00:02:04.960 --> 00:02:08.699 And he parallels it between these two ideas of darkness and light. 00:02:08.740 --> 00:02:12.320 That God represents what is light, He is pure, He is holy. 00:02:12.600 --> 00:02:19.660 We saw the goodness of God last week in his propitiation as our advocate, that He argues for us 00:02:19.660 --> 00:02:20.670 in our innocence. 00:02:21.000 --> 00:02:25.930 And He propitiates, He satisfies the wrath of God for us by His sacrifice on the cross. 00:02:26.120 --> 00:02:33.140 And so you see this beauty of God and His grace and His holiness and His light, in the midst of what darkness. 00:02:33.720 --> 00:02:40.900 That when God has called us, to belong to him, he's called us to not be of this world, but in this world, and to represent 00:02:40.900 --> 00:02:42.880 the light of God in the midst of darkness. 00:02:43.020 --> 00:02:50.740 And so within this book, you see this parallel of believers walking this world in the midst of light and pursuing 00:02:50.740 --> 00:02:56.090 God around us with the darkness that is represented by the kingdom of darkness. 00:02:56.800 --> 00:03:03.840 When you think about this world, that we walk in what God has called us to, I think anything worthwhile in 00:03:03.840 --> 00:03:06.040 life has a battle. 00:03:07.300 --> 00:03:10.140 And you need to just make sure that you're fighting for the right thing. 00:03:11.440 --> 00:03:17.240 You want to do great things for God, expect great battles for God. 00:03:17.380 --> 00:03:24.560 Things don't come easy when it's for the Lord, because there is a kingdom of light, and 00:03:24.560 --> 00:03:25.520 there is a kingdom of darkness. 00:03:26.980 --> 00:03:31.640 I think sometimes as Christians, we get off to the wrong foot, and we confuse who the enemy is. 00:03:32.960 --> 00:03:40.300 And Paul even acknowledges, in Ephesians chapter six, he says, we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities 00:03:40.300 --> 00:03:43.260 and powers, against spiritual forces of darkness. 00:03:45.000 --> 00:03:45.980 That our enemy is not people. 00:03:47.700 --> 00:03:50.680 Rather than fight against them, God calls us to fight for them. 00:03:51.780 --> 00:03:54.760 Just like Jesus came and fought for us. 00:03:56.120 --> 00:04:03.540 This is on the backdrop of those thoughts that John now starts in verse 12, of first John chapter two, 00:04:03.680 --> 00:04:08.620 encouraging you as a believer in this world that you live in to be a light for Christ. 00:04:09.040 --> 00:04:10.740 And I love the way that he represents it. 00:04:10.760 --> 00:04:17.899 If you read in your Bible, if you have it open to that section of Scripture, most translations will take verse 12, to 14, and they'll sort 00:04:17.899 --> 00:04:24.940 of do this indentation of this passage of scripture because they want us to recognize that as John's writing this letter, he does something a little 00:04:24.940 --> 00:04:28.830 unique in verse 12, to 14 than the rest of the sections of scripture. 00:04:29.120 --> 00:04:35.620 And verse 12, to 14 and most translations that will indent this section, because John in this portion is about to write a poem. 00:04:37.320 --> 00:04:44.580 So you think in all the adversity we're about to experience, John here gets poetic and I think the reason he gets poetic is he wants to be understood in 00:04:44.580 --> 00:04:47.660 his loving desire for your life and what he wants. 00:04:47.660 --> 00:04:54.720 And the reason we know this is poetic, you might read through that real quick, we're going to read it just a second and say, "Hey, this is not poetry does not rhyme John is not a very good 00:04:54.720 --> 00:05:01.020 poet." Well, in John's day, poetry was not written to rhyme, or at least in Hebrew understanding, it wasn't written to rhyme. 00:05:01.400 --> 00:05:08.260 Hebrews wrote in what's called parallelism, where they would write one line, and they would write another line that reinforced the first line. 00:05:08.500 --> 00:05:14.290 And you can see this in John's writing, because he talks about children, he talks about fathers, he talks about young men. 00:05:14.380 --> 00:05:17.700 And then again, he talks about children, he talks about fathers, he talks about young men. 00:05:17.720 --> 00:05:22.600 You see this parallelism and his story, but he says this, "I'm writing to you little children"... 00:05:23.140 --> 00:05:30.920 That phrases more like, "Listen here, I'm driving home a point." "I'm writing to you little children because your sins are forgiven for his namesake." 00:05:31.120 --> 00:05:38.180 Remember, last week, we talked about what it means to be a disciple, to be a follower of Jesus, and what that looks like in our lives. 00:05:38.360 --> 00:05:45.580 That it's a heart, head and hands that God cares about your belief and your behavior driven by 00:05:45.580 --> 00:05:47.020 your love for him. 00:05:47.900 --> 00:05:53.700 And your love for God should be emulated through how you believe and how you behave. 00:05:53.840 --> 00:05:59.320 That's a disciple of Christ, your orthodoxy, orthoproxy. 00:05:59.500 --> 00:06:02.700 And here he's writing in the same stories about to share with us. 00:06:02.700 --> 00:06:09.650 Look, this is how you live then as a disciple of Jesus, that what drives being a disciple truly is your identity. 00:06:09.800 --> 00:06:11.960 You will be a disciple of something in life. 00:06:13.220 --> 00:06:18.540 You will love something in this world and what you love will emulate what you believe and how you behave. 00:06:19.420 --> 00:06:26.460 And it's when you begin to understand your identity in Jesus, that you grow in your love for God and begin to mimic that relationship for what you 00:06:26.460 --> 00:06:27.660 were called to in Christ. 00:06:28.580 --> 00:06:32.820 And so he writes here to little children because your sins are forgiven, and for his name's sake. 00:06:33.180 --> 00:06:41.100 This idea of name is just not like Jesus's name have some sort of voodoo magic, but in Jesus's day, name represents identity. 00:06:42.100 --> 00:06:45.180 His name Jesus Christ is not just a name as mom's like, "You know what? 00:06:45.260 --> 00:06:51.940 He looks like a Jesus, let's call him Jesus." His name is a title and an identity as much as just as is person. 00:06:52.800 --> 00:06:59.900 Jesus is the saving Messiah, Yeshuah, salvation, Christ, the Anointed One of the Messiah. 00:07:00.480 --> 00:07:04.040 It's a title representing everything that encompasses who He is. 00:07:04.820 --> 00:07:08.720 So when it talks about for His namesake, it says, glory being made known in our lives. 00:07:08.760 --> 00:07:12.220 And so we have this identity in His glory that our sins are forgiven. 00:07:12.600 --> 00:07:15.530 So it says little children because your sins are forgiven for his namesake. 00:07:15.880 --> 00:07:19.190 I'm writing to you father's because you know him who was from the beginning. 00:07:19.420 --> 00:07:24.540 This word, for know, is not just intellectual assent, meaning, we talked about being a disciple, we said this last week. 00:07:24.760 --> 00:07:26.070 It's not about just information. 00:07:27.480 --> 00:07:32.070 Just because you're good at Bible trivia doesn't mean you're a true follower of Jesus. 00:07:32.240 --> 00:07:36.810 It's about taking what God says that is truth and applying it to our lives, and allowing it to transform us. 00:07:37.400 --> 00:07:43.820 And so this word know isn't just intellectual knowing, it's relational, knowing, it's relationship with God. 00:07:43.820 --> 00:07:49.890 Says, because you know him who was from the beginning, I'm writing to young men, because you have overcome the evil one. 00:07:50.100 --> 00:07:51.220 And then he begins to repeat it. 00:07:51.220 --> 00:07:57.020 "I'm writing to children because you know the Father, I'm writing to you fathers because you know him who is from the beginning. 00:07:57.320 --> 00:08:05.720 I'm writing to you, young men, because you are strong, the Word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one." 00:08:05.940 --> 00:08:13.420 Here you see in this story that while John is getting ready to talk about darkness, he wants to remind you of your position in Christ, because you 00:08:13.420 --> 00:08:18.500 are light capable of piercing the darkness with the power of Jesus represented in you. 00:08:18.660 --> 00:08:26.180 Is why even though the world may be dark around us, even though the world may suppress God's people, that we still walk in victory, because we are conquerors 00:08:26.180 --> 00:08:26.760 in Christ. 00:08:27.120 --> 00:08:29.420 It's why I don't own a bunker behind my house. 00:08:30.620 --> 00:08:34.980 Jesus calls us into this world to be difference makers for His glory. 00:08:35.640 --> 00:08:40.039 And he spurring on His church in these moments for that purpose. 00:08:42.299 --> 00:08:46.020 I'm not against bunkers by the way, if you've got one and something bad happens, please call. 00:08:50.240 --> 00:08:57.940 But when you look at this illustration, Paul is using, you see as he's talking about children 00:08:57.940 --> 00:08:59.520 and young men, fathers. 00:09:02.640 --> 00:09:08.500 The story of scripture is very family focused, community focused, this letter is community focused. 00:09:10.340 --> 00:09:15.870 Part of the beauty of the early church is they didn't see themselves quite like an organization. 00:09:16.080 --> 00:09:21.200 I think anything healthy needs to have some organization to it without organization, there's chaos. 00:09:21.200 --> 00:09:28.080 Anything that's life giving life possessing has to have organization, or it'll be anarchy and just fall apart. 00:09:28.760 --> 00:09:32.220 Every organism has to have organization to survive. 00:09:33.720 --> 00:09:36.560 But we saw it as something deeper than just an organization. 00:09:38.100 --> 00:09:38.740 It's a family. 00:09:38.800 --> 00:09:41.560 In fact, the early church was made up of a group of families. 00:09:41.800 --> 00:09:49.100 When Paul called the church to look for leaders within the church, he said, look for healthy families, families that are walking in light of who Christ is. 00:09:51.180 --> 00:09:58.860 So Paul, on this story and writing to the early church, he's focusing on the idea of the health of the spiritual family. 00:10:00.380 --> 00:10:08.020 Some people look at this poem and they debate, "Why does Paul primarily write 00:10:08.020 --> 00:10:12.640 the section of scripture to men?" Is it because he's chauvinistic? 00:10:14.680 --> 00:10:16.480 And why aren't women included? 00:10:16.780 --> 00:10:23.960 It's a within the context of this when you talk about little children, I think it's not exclusive to just men, it's 00:10:23.960 --> 00:10:25.480 really male, female in this. 00:10:25.620 --> 00:10:28.820 But after he talks about little children, he then only mentions the men. 00:10:29.120 --> 00:10:31.100 Why does he only mention the men? 00:10:32.620 --> 00:10:36.680 Well, if you look at the story, it's written poetically, this section of scripture. 00:10:37.720 --> 00:10:44.550 So it could be mentioning men in a patriarchal society, this is predominantly a patriarchal society. 00:10:45.300 --> 00:10:50.000 It could be mentioning men poetically, really as an illustration and referencing to everyone. 00:10:50.940 --> 00:10:58.100 And in fact, if you turn to second John, and read the beginning of second John, you'll see throughout this story that John rather than mentioning men, he actually 00:10:58.100 --> 00:10:59.700 refers to the church as a lady. 00:11:00.880 --> 00:11:06.540 And he uses the illustration of women in the book of second John but in first John, he's referencing men. 00:11:06.540 --> 00:11:13.780 So it could be poetically that John is using this in a patriarchal article society to talk to men as an illustration 00:11:13.780 --> 00:11:15.860 of all people as an example. 00:11:17.560 --> 00:11:24.700 Or it could be that he's just referencing men for a particular reason, because maybe in the society, 00:11:25.320 --> 00:11:26.500 men needed courage. 00:11:27.820 --> 00:11:30.800 Maybe he's looking at what's happening in the place of the church. 00:11:30.820 --> 00:11:37.980 And he's saying, look, where guys are right now in relationship to the church some men needing courage to just walk 00:11:37.980 --> 00:11:42.240 where they are in Christ for what God has called us to do. 00:11:42.280 --> 00:11:49.300 Not be just passive, but to see their place and what God desires for them to do for His kingdom and glory in this 00:11:49.300 --> 00:11:49.900 world. 00:11:50.340 --> 00:11:54.400 If you pick up commentaries, you read on that they speculate no one really knows the answer. 00:11:54.400 --> 00:11:55.770 And I don't feel like I need to solve it. 00:11:56.000 --> 00:11:56.980 I'll just say let's do both. 00:11:57.580 --> 00:11:58.160 Let's walk in both. 00:11:58.180 --> 00:12:01.600 But let's walk in this as if John is just talking to the men for a particular reason. 00:12:02.000 --> 00:12:06.440 And let's walk in the idea that maybe this relates to everyone and make the application for us. 00:12:06.480 --> 00:12:13.540 When you think in terms of needing to encourage men and you look at the first century church, the first century church was 00:12:13.540 --> 00:12:21.260 a grassroots movement, that really encouraged the slaves, the lower classes society. 00:12:21.400 --> 00:12:28.440 And for one of the first times in history, it's giving women identity, worth value, meaning, not just this property to be 00:12:28.440 --> 00:12:30.060 possessed, but it's showing the identity. 00:12:30.100 --> 00:12:37.460 And because it's showing the identity of women before the Lord, it's seeing women come to know Christ, it seeing slaves, lower class society, 00:12:37.720 --> 00:12:38.850 come to know Christ. 00:12:39.060 --> 00:12:41.520 And maybe as John's looking out in the church, he saying, "You know what? 00:12:43.700 --> 00:12:49.500 We're lacking men." I think about our culture today, I don't think it's any different. 00:12:51.680 --> 00:12:54.480 Who tends to be a part of a church community more, men or women? 00:12:56.140 --> 00:13:02.000 Maybe not here, but women. 00:13:02.000 --> 00:13:04.300 Who tends to be more of the spiritual leader in the home, men or women? 00:13:07.120 --> 00:13:08.380 Women. 00:13:11.510 --> 00:13:18.360 I think maybe in this passage of scripture, John's recognizing the need to continue to encourage men. 00:13:20.570 --> 00:13:27.570 Maybe he's thinking about this for a moment, and he's recognizing maybe women have more fortitude than the dudes because at the end of the day, women care 00:13:27.570 --> 00:13:30.580 more about the success of their family than their husbands. 00:13:33.270 --> 00:13:40.480 And guys, if you're here this morning, I'm not saying that, to beat us over the head rather, I want to say this man, if you are here, 00:13:40.870 --> 00:13:47.950 with your family, as an individual wanting to grow in God, like more than anything we don't need to feel the guilt of this, we need to be encouraged in this to recognize what 00:13:47.950 --> 00:13:49.850 God desires for us to do. 00:13:49.890 --> 00:13:56.890 So this is to applaud you to spur you to just say, keep being who God has called you 00:13:56.890 --> 00:13:57.210 to be. 00:13:58.790 --> 00:14:00.020 That what we want to hand family. 00:14:01.910 --> 00:14:08.950 Is not a future of lacking clarity and who God has called them to be and why God has created them in this world, 00:14:10.770 --> 00:14:14.550 but to have an understanding of their identity and running with Him. 00:14:14.630 --> 00:14:21.770 We don't measure our worth as men simply by providing earthly possessions for our family, with no godly identity. 00:14:25.370 --> 00:14:27.050 God wants to work in you. 00:14:27.490 --> 00:14:30.050 And as God works in you he wants to work through you. 00:14:33.190 --> 00:14:40.610 This world has plenty of young girls looking to fill a void 00:14:40.610 --> 00:14:47.690 in their life, in the arms of another man because they lack love and grace from their own 00:14:47.690 --> 00:14:48.010 father. 00:14:50.710 --> 00:14:57.830 This world has plenty of young men who have no idea the reason for which they exist because of 00:14:57.830 --> 00:14:59.150 that never mature. 00:15:02.430 --> 00:15:09.530 You know, the difference between a boy and a man, a boy needs you to take care 00:15:09.530 --> 00:15:09.810 of him. 00:15:12.030 --> 00:15:13.350 A man takes responsibility. 00:15:16.810 --> 00:15:20.760 A boy is cared for by others, a man cares for others. 00:15:21.670 --> 00:15:24.030 We learned this a few years on the men's retreat. 00:15:24.050 --> 00:15:30.590 Real men, reject passivity, expect God's greater reward, accept responsibility, lead courageously. 00:15:34.550 --> 00:15:41.650 I think John is using the section of scripture to encourage us to say, guys let God shape 00:15:41.650 --> 00:15:50.710 your heart, so you can be used by God to help others find their heart shaped in Him. 00:15:50.750 --> 00:15:56.160 Dads you are the pastor in your home, and your influence isn't to be underestimated. 00:15:58.470 --> 00:16:05.490 So we think in just terms of mass masculinity, I think, encouraging the men here, but maybe because it's written poetically, it 00:16:05.670 --> 00:16:09.410 could be the identity of just using men as an illustration for the greater picture of the church. 00:16:09.710 --> 00:16:12.780 In fact, children really encompasses all of us. 00:16:13.790 --> 00:16:18.630 All of us are that belong to Christ, the Bible tells us John 1:12, as many as received Him, to them became the children of God. 00:16:20.290 --> 00:16:27.470 I think one of the best things to really understand this passage is seen in the last section of verse 14. 00:16:28.210 --> 00:16:34.310 If you think about how the story goes, starts with children, and it goes to fathers and it goes to young men, children, fathers, young men. 00:16:34.590 --> 00:16:39.340 And when you look how the story is written, it says something that children sort of repeats the same idea when it talks to children again. 00:16:39.750 --> 00:16:44.890 Says something to father's repeats the exact same idea to father's again, when it mentions fathers. 00:16:44.890 --> 00:16:45.930 And then it talks to young men. 00:16:46.230 --> 00:16:53.050 And when it talks to young men at the very end for the second time, it adds a larger portion to what he's trying to express to young men. 00:16:53.610 --> 00:17:00.850 If you were to write a poem, it would make the most sense to say, okay, children, young men, fathers, children, young men, father's, but 00:17:00.850 --> 00:17:06.369 rather than do that, what John does, in the story is he says children and older men, and then he says young men. 00:17:07.630 --> 00:17:09.430 He doesn't follow the age of progression here. 00:17:10.329 --> 00:17:17.510 I think he wants us to highlight the understanding of exactly what he's saying to young men, because this is the final thought he wants us to carry 00:17:17.510 --> 00:17:22.510 into the battle which we face in this world, as we live as lights for Christ. 00:17:22.589 --> 00:17:29.890 So look at this, last half of verse 14, I write to you young men because you are 00:17:29.890 --> 00:17:29.990 strong. 00:17:33.350 --> 00:17:40.370 Church in the midst of darkness, you're not weak, you're strong, and the Word of God 00:17:40.370 --> 00:17:41.790 abides in you. 00:17:42.770 --> 00:17:48.770 And you have overcome the evil and look, the victory has already been won. 00:17:51.930 --> 00:17:55.010 We understand what John is saying here. 00:17:55.010 --> 00:18:00.090 I think the key to this passage isn't the idea of a bible. 00:18:01.990 --> 00:18:09.310 Jesus in John 15, last moments with his disciples in the upper room before his crucifixion, 00:18:11.310 --> 00:18:18.490 he talks to the disciples in verse five, he says, He who abides in Me, bear much fruit. 00:18:19.950 --> 00:18:21.570 For apart for me, you can do nothing. 00:18:24.550 --> 00:18:31.670 And John is saying now to us look in this world to yourself thinking all the pressures on you to try to make a difference, not connected 00:18:31.670 --> 00:18:33.540 to Christ, like it's not going to make a difference. 00:18:35.870 --> 00:18:42.870 But in Jesus, you're already strong you've already overcome, you don't just cut off the branch that is you and stick it in the sand and expect 00:18:42.870 --> 00:18:43.450 it to grow. 00:18:45.490 --> 00:18:52.710 Your health, your vitality, your strength and everything in this world that's going to make a difference is how you're connected to Jesus in relationship 00:18:52.710 --> 00:18:53.310 to him. 00:18:57.130 --> 00:18:58.310 What kind of difference do you want to make. 00:19:01.310 --> 00:19:06.130 If you want to build a squash takes three months in a garden. 00:19:08.750 --> 00:19:12.790 You want to build an oak tree, it takes 30 years. 00:19:15.470 --> 00:19:22.630 All I'm saying is, when it comes to making a difference in this world, spending time 00:19:22.630 --> 00:19:29.950 connected to Jesus cannot be underestimated in the strength that it gives you to be a light for him in 00:19:29.950 --> 00:19:30.270 this world. 00:19:33.090 --> 00:19:40.170 I remember when I was in second grade, my parents gave me one of the greatest gifts, a 00:19:40.170 --> 00:19:47.610 Nintendo, came with the Power Pad and the gun for duck hunting and 00:19:47.610 --> 00:19:51.610 your little AB controller back when controllers had all the buttons that it needed. 00:19:52.530 --> 00:20:00.380 And I remember I got this controller and they gave me this magazine to Nintendo that unlocked all the secrets to Mario. 00:20:01.190 --> 00:20:07.530 And I got this portion that told me all that I needed to defeat Mario was to get to level three one. 00:20:07.570 --> 00:20:14.690 If you guys know level three one from your glory days of Mario playing, level three one was the place that you 00:20:14.690 --> 00:20:21.710 could pin down the turtle and jump on its head repeatedly until you got a one up, and new life, a 00:20:21.710 --> 00:20:23.760 new life, a new life until you got infinite lives. 00:20:24.450 --> 00:20:31.410 And then because you had infinite lives it was just a matter of time before you stormed Bowser's castle and rescue your princess. 00:20:32.390 --> 00:20:39.490 When I figured out the secret I remember second grade my mom let me stay up till two in the morning on a school night because I finally got all 00:20:39.490 --> 00:20:46.670 these men, and then I could I can make it all the way to the end, and lived my dream as a seven-year old and defeat 00:20:46.670 --> 00:20:48.510 the Bowser in the castle. 00:20:48.510 --> 00:20:51.150 So I got so excited about this. 00:20:51.190 --> 00:20:52.390 I finally stormed down the gate. 00:20:52.390 --> 00:20:53.370 I got my first Princess. 00:20:54.310 --> 00:21:01.150 And I remember I woke up the next morning and I was ready to go to school but I come downstairs and I just have hives all over my body. 00:21:01.530 --> 00:21:07.230 I was so excited about the idea of beating Mario like the adrenaline pumping so much as a kid. 00:21:07.310 --> 00:21:10.390 My mom talks about some of the embarrassing stories your family shares. 00:21:10.390 --> 00:21:18.290 "Hey, remember when you played video games and used to get so excited you'd break out in hives?" Like, "Yes, mom that was once and stop telling people." But what I'm 00:21:18.290 --> 00:21:26.290 saying is this, look when you read verses 12 to 14, and you understand what John's saying from children to fathers to young men is 00:21:26.290 --> 00:21:33.350 saying, Look in Jesus, you've stood on those steps, and you've got all the power that you need to defeat Bowser in his castle. 00:21:36.550 --> 00:21:41.190 God hasn't lied, and he is overcome. 00:21:43.050 --> 00:21:46.010 God doesn't call you to walk into a spirit of fear. 00:21:47.710 --> 00:21:53.390 But to remember who you are in Jesus in the midst of this darkness because living in that light makes the difference. 00:21:55.410 --> 00:22:02.170 Last week we talked about being a disciple, what you believe, how you behave. 00:22:03.690 --> 00:22:10.890 In this week now starting in verse 15, John's going to talk again about being a disciple, but is going to remind us like, it's not that you can just 00:22:10.890 --> 00:22:13.810 be a disciple of Jesus, but you can be a disciple of anything. 00:22:15.870 --> 00:22:21.210 And now he's going to present to us while there's the idea of being a disciple of Jesus, then there's the idea of being a disciple in this world. 00:22:21.290 --> 00:22:22.590 And this is what this looks like. 00:22:22.590 --> 00:22:25.010 He's going to start sharing the story in verse 15. 00:22:25.090 --> 00:22:27.670 And he's going to start by beginning with how you behave. 00:22:28.570 --> 00:22:29.830 Verse 15, to 17. 00:22:29.870 --> 00:22:34.710 Then he's going to continue verse 18, to verse 27, is how you believe. 00:22:36.410 --> 00:22:43.430 And so you think in terms of being a disciple, God wants to use this passage and John's using this passage, to awaken our 00:22:43.430 --> 00:22:50.980 minds to recognize the what God calls us to in this world is so important to make an impact because you have overcome. 00:22:51.930 --> 00:22:53.780 Do your Mario with all the lives. 00:22:54.970 --> 00:22:56.610 Jesus has given that to you. 00:22:58.350 --> 00:23:05.310 To conquer darkness, to make a difference, to rescue the princess, or in this case, the princess His church. 00:23:08.870 --> 00:23:11.030 To see God be a light in this world. 00:23:12.510 --> 00:23:17.130 So in verse 15, it says, do not love the world, or the things in the world. 00:23:18.830 --> 00:23:21.690 If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 00:23:21.950 --> 00:23:28.990 For all that is in the world, the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, and the pride of life is not from the Father, but it's from the world, and the world is passing 00:23:28.990 --> 00:23:34.090 away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides for ever. 00:23:36.030 --> 00:23:39.400 One of those verses Christians read verses like this, and they start to go insane. 00:23:39.590 --> 00:23:46.490 They think all the world's darkness and I don't want to love the world, the world is bad, and you want to hide from the world and become hermits and just say, forget it. 00:23:46.490 --> 00:23:48.710 I'm not getting that dirtiness on me. 00:23:48.830 --> 00:23:56.270 And so I love Jesus, forget the world, let's just hunker together and just all get along in my little holy huddle, and then 00:23:56.270 --> 00:23:57.990 don't live out what God has called us to. 00:23:58.480 --> 00:24:02.580 Some people come to these people messages like that, and that's how they read this section of scripture. 00:24:02.770 --> 00:24:04.910 And that is not what John is saying at all. 00:24:08.490 --> 00:24:13.690 There are Christians that just live their Christian lives with nothing but don'ts. 00:24:14.930 --> 00:24:17.130 Don't smoke, drink, or chew or hang with girls that do. 00:24:18.930 --> 00:24:21.790 Don't listen to that rock and roll don't go to those movies. 00:24:21.810 --> 00:24:22.830 Don't shake those hips. 00:24:22.830 --> 00:24:24.100 The next thing you know babies are coming. 00:24:24.530 --> 00:24:30.150 They just live in a bunch of don'ts. 00:24:31.630 --> 00:24:32.310 Because life's short. 00:24:34.450 --> 00:24:35.930 I don't want to live my life about what I'm against. 00:24:37.990 --> 00:24:39.570 I want people know about what I'm for. 00:24:41.430 --> 00:24:45.650 Sure, sure, as you walk in the light, it naturally will recognize things of darkness. 00:24:46.710 --> 00:24:48.510 But I don't live my life to avoid darkness. 00:24:49.850 --> 00:24:51.010 I live my life walk in the light. 00:24:53.070 --> 00:24:55.230 God is saying this passage is not a bunch of don'ts. 00:24:56.790 --> 00:25:00.890 What God wants us to recognize again, is where you are and the difference that you can make in this world. 00:25:01.290 --> 00:25:05.030 So what he's saying in verse 15, he wants us to recognize there are two systems in this world. 00:25:06.490 --> 00:25:13.550 There's one of the world and there's one that loves God, and you can't love the things of the world and love God. 00:25:13.550 --> 00:25:15.250 He's talking about systems here. 00:25:15.250 --> 00:25:22.090 There's a way in which the world perceives things in the way in which God perceives things and we want to walk in light of him in the midst of the world that we live in. 00:25:23.850 --> 00:25:27.430 Not be of the world, but we will be in the world. 00:25:28.290 --> 00:25:31.050 And so in verse 16, he starts to explain what that looks like. 00:25:31.090 --> 00:25:34.250 What does that look like to be in the world but not of the world. 00:25:34.270 --> 00:25:41.290 In verse 16, for all that is in the world, the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, and the pride of life is not from the Father, but it's from the 00:25:41.290 --> 00:25:41.650 world. 00:25:42.010 --> 00:25:43.750 So what does that look like when you're of the world? 00:25:45.490 --> 00:25:49.670 Were saying this, you wake up every day and the way that you live your life is what's just going to make me happy. 00:25:49.670 --> 00:25:56.870 I want to live for my glory, lust, greed, power, lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, the pride of life, I'm going to wake up tomorrow, whatever pleases 00:25:56.870 --> 00:25:59.670 me, I'm going to use the things around me for that purpose, even if its people. 00:26:00.790 --> 00:26:01.750 Because it's all about me. 00:26:02.530 --> 00:26:03.950 It's all about my pleasure. 00:26:04.430 --> 00:26:08.610 And John is identifying verse 16, look to be of the world, that's what life is about. 00:26:08.650 --> 00:26:12.990 You wake up tomorrow and you say, my desires, that's what's most important because I am king. 00:26:14.710 --> 00:26:16.390 Then verse 17, there's a problem with it. 00:26:18.910 --> 00:26:19.550 It doesn't last. 00:26:22.190 --> 00:26:24.830 Honestly, if it matters, it only matters for just a moment. 00:26:27.730 --> 00:26:30.290 Christians will read passages like this and get weirded out. 00:26:31.390 --> 00:26:35.120 Start obsessing with paranoia, embracing the world system, it's all bad. 00:26:35.190 --> 00:26:37.760 Just go away, make a bunch of don'ts and let's just hide. 00:26:39.350 --> 00:26:44.610 But rather, what God desires for us to do in the midst of this world is to redeem the culture in which we live in. 00:26:45.850 --> 00:26:47.710 So being wise about this is important. 00:26:48.690 --> 00:26:56.170 Because we think in terms of evil, sometimes we create this character in our mind that evil is like horns, and 00:26:56.170 --> 00:27:00.270 red and pitchforks, and it's got the lizard tongue. 00:27:00.550 --> 00:27:01.370 That's evil. 00:27:01.670 --> 00:27:08.410 But evil doesn't usually present itself to us that way, like evil doesn't run around yelling to you, "I'm evil. 00:27:08.410 --> 00:27:10.070 Hi?" that's not what evil does. 00:27:12.410 --> 00:27:15.030 Evil desires to lure you to sleep. 00:27:16.470 --> 00:27:20.310 In fact, here's where it's deceiving is that evil can even look good. 00:27:22.150 --> 00:27:23.290 Evil just doesn't want God. 00:27:24.890 --> 00:27:30.930 Like people who live in the system in the world, they can do a lot of good things, but never for God's word. 00:27:32.550 --> 00:27:37.900 And if God created all of creation for His glory, and we rip that away from in the question is that really good? 00:27:40.050 --> 00:27:45.830 So evil doesn't just come screaming at you that I'm evil, but rather what evil does is it wants to numb our minds. 00:27:45.830 --> 00:27:52.590 We walk in this world, and one of the things that happens to us we start just doing things that the world naturally does, like why do you do that? 00:27:52.650 --> 00:27:53.890 I don't know, everyone else is doing it. 00:27:54.850 --> 00:27:58.070 Like why do you numb your mind on the couch for two hours a day? 00:27:58.090 --> 00:27:59.570 I don't know everyone else does it. 00:28:01.330 --> 00:28:06.470 And so before you start embracing and mimicking things in your life that you're like, "I don't even know why I'm doing what I'm doing. 00:28:06.510 --> 00:28:13.370 I'm just doing because everyone else around me does it." John, say, look, there's two systems in this world, you live for the world's glory, or God's glory. 00:28:13.490 --> 00:28:16.590 And the world wants you to mimic its behavior, and it will model that for you. 00:28:16.710 --> 00:28:23.870 And there's a way of recognizing and then there's God has called me to live in this world for His glory, and I want to mimic his behavior before this world around me because I 00:28:23.870 --> 00:28:25.670 love him and I want to live for that. 00:28:27.170 --> 00:28:34.270 And rather than just say, "Oh, the world is bad, run away and hide," how do we redeem the culture and take the things of 00:28:34.270 --> 00:28:40.510 this world because ultimately, it really belongs to God, the things that God created this world, they're not good or bad, they're neutral. 00:28:40.510 --> 00:28:41.780 God wants him for his glory. 00:28:41.910 --> 00:28:43.050 But it's what you do with them. 00:28:43.070 --> 00:28:44.830 The term is if you use it for His glory. 00:28:45.030 --> 00:28:49.170 And so God has called his church to go into this world and redeem the things in this world for His glory. 00:28:51.590 --> 00:28:54.390 Let me give you an example in case it's too pie in the sky. 00:28:56.570 --> 00:29:00.900 Television, television is a big entertainment. 00:29:03.230 --> 00:29:04.550 TV is not a bad thing. 00:29:06.070 --> 00:29:09.090 But it's what you do with it determines if it's for God's glory or not. 00:29:10.210 --> 00:29:17.250 I listened to a guy once say, "I don't let my kids watch TV for the same reason I don't let them drink from the toilet bowl." I have 00:29:17.250 --> 00:29:24.270 a TV, I watch TV, I own whatever the jazz network is, I like watching the Utah Jazz, I will have a TV forever as long as I 00:29:24.270 --> 00:29:25.210 can watch the jazz. 00:29:27.130 --> 00:29:31.450 I'm not saying TV is bad, but it's what you do with it. 00:29:33.950 --> 00:29:37.490 And do you justify the things that you watch simply by saying, "The culture does it? 00:29:38.610 --> 00:29:46.090 It's got to be okay." Like sometimes I'm shocked when I turn on TV, my TV will tell me the popular TV shows I'm like, "Are the first 00:29:46.090 --> 00:29:52.270 15 choices, really just soft porn?" It seems like the popular TV shows today, that's it all included in it. 00:29:53.070 --> 00:29:55.030 It's like and how does the Christian community embrace this? 00:29:55.090 --> 00:29:56.630 What do we say about things like that? 00:29:56.630 --> 00:29:57.870 Like, the world does it. 00:30:01.890 --> 00:30:06.830 Think about why we do what we do, and redeem it for His glory. 00:30:08.470 --> 00:30:09.490 I was even thinking this week. 00:30:09.550 --> 00:30:16.160 What are some of the things that I've heard over the last few days in Christian conversation that people said don't worry, I'm not going to tell people what we've talked about. 00:30:16.470 --> 00:30:16.990 But yeah, it's funny. 00:30:16.990 --> 00:30:20.750 One of the things I've listened to Christian say recently was the lottery. 00:30:20.750 --> 00:30:21.740 We keep having big lotteries. 00:30:22.790 --> 00:30:25.690 And Utah doesn't have a lottery, so how are you got to drive to Wyoming. 00:30:27.170 --> 00:30:31.320 I'm not endorsing the lottery, I don't want to change anyone's conviction over the lottery. 00:30:31.830 --> 00:30:37.430 But I've heard people talking, if someone wins the lottery, they gave it to the church, I wouldn't use that. 00:30:38.850 --> 00:30:39.710 That's bad. 00:30:39.710 --> 00:30:41.710 Like people didn't believe that the lottery was a good thing. 00:30:41.730 --> 00:30:42.590 That's a bad thing. 00:30:42.590 --> 00:30:49.630 And I just think, if someone won the lottery and give it to our church, just put this 00:30:49.630 --> 00:30:50.170 out there guys. 00:30:52.390 --> 00:30:53.830 I'm not turning that down. 00:30:53.970 --> 00:30:59.470 I mean, it could end up in the hands of a stripper in Vegas, or we could use it for God's glory here. 00:30:59.860 --> 00:31:01.530 This is a no brainer for me. 00:31:01.730 --> 00:31:04.570 Like you may not agree with what the lottery is, whatever. 00:31:04.630 --> 00:31:11.690 But if someone could take that and just give it to use it for His glory, I'm thinking, you can read verses like that and say, "Bad, I don't want anything to do 00:31:11.690 --> 00:31:13.360 with that." But money itself is not bad. 00:31:14.430 --> 00:31:15.590 It's what you do with it. 00:31:16.390 --> 00:31:20.930 And so if you win the lottery, let's build churches in Utah, please. 00:31:22.090 --> 00:31:27.850 We have towns without churches, so if you ever have friends like, I won the lottery gave it to the church, church said that it was bad. 00:31:27.910 --> 00:31:29.470 I'm like, we will take it. 00:31:30.130 --> 00:31:32.510 We will take it and redeem it for God's glory. 00:31:33.870 --> 00:31:38.030 This is everything that exists like we even have a question recently over we had Easter. 00:31:39.230 --> 00:31:44.290 I love the way the early church does this will happen to me every year I know for the rest of my life. 00:31:44.290 --> 00:31:50.800 But Easter and Christmas come up and without doubt someone come to me and say like, bunnies are of the devil and then they'll give me the backdrop. 00:31:51.130 --> 00:31:57.070 Like Easter was of the pagan whatever god of fertility and that's why bunnies and chickens are there. 00:31:57.490 --> 00:32:00.980 And Christmas, Christmas trees are pagan idolatry. 00:32:01.590 --> 00:32:06.810 I'm like, "Man, man the world took bunnies and chickens and trees from us. 00:32:07.430 --> 00:32:09.150 Jesus made those things. 00:32:09.470 --> 00:32:13.190 I'm taking them back, baby." So you know what happens? 00:32:13.490 --> 00:32:17.800 Like when Easter comes around, let's put a sign on our bunny and say resurrection bunny. 00:32:18.090 --> 00:32:19.580 But I believe in eternity. 00:32:19.890 --> 00:32:21.950 Like, we're going to see bunnies in heaven. 00:32:22.630 --> 00:32:23.490 They belong to God. 00:32:23.750 --> 00:32:26.330 God created animals for His glory. 00:32:27.430 --> 00:32:30.490 That doesn't belong to the world, it belongs to us. 00:32:31.130 --> 00:32:34.290 And so if I like bunnies, man on Easter, I'm going to have bunnies. 00:32:34.530 --> 00:32:39.550 I think the early church when I looked at holidays are like, "Pagan people worship on Easter. 00:32:40.350 --> 00:32:41.340 But this is about the resurrection. 00:32:42.510 --> 00:32:49.550 Let's turn this for God's glory." The winter solstice people honor, false gods, winter solstice, let's use 00:32:49.550 --> 00:32:50.260 this to honor Jesus. 00:32:51.610 --> 00:32:53.190 Maybe trees have pagan origins. 00:32:53.250 --> 00:32:53.610 I don't know. 00:32:53.630 --> 00:32:54.330 But you know what we do? 00:32:56.470 --> 00:32:58.390 We take a tree, you put it in our home, tradition. 00:32:59.370 --> 00:33:01.430 I love centering things in tradition in my family. 00:33:02.710 --> 00:33:04.870 On the top of the tree, a star, an Angel. 00:33:06.790 --> 00:33:06.990 Why? 00:33:07.790 --> 00:33:14.860 Because we're encapsulating the Christmas story for our family when Jesus died, or when Jesus came, excuse me, when Jesus came to the earth, the thing that appeared in the sky, 00:33:15.090 --> 00:33:15.810 a tree, an angel. 00:33:17.190 --> 00:33:18.640 We use it for our kids to tell them the Christmas story. 00:33:20.090 --> 00:33:25.350 The only thing that has life, the only tree that has life in the winter, everything else is dormant, it's the evergreen tree. 00:33:25.350 --> 00:33:25.910 It's green. 00:33:25.910 --> 00:33:26.450 It's beautiful. 00:33:26.450 --> 00:33:28.780 Just like Jesus, the midst of darkness brings life. 00:33:29.070 --> 00:33:33.720 You use these things to illustrate for your family, how to redeem the things in the culture for His glory. 00:33:34.310 --> 00:33:36.350 But like, I'm not trying to change your conviction over things. 00:33:36.370 --> 00:33:40.710 But what I want us to recognize is yes, the world does evil things with things that God has created. 00:33:40.990 --> 00:33:43.790 But God calls us as light in this world to make a difference. 00:33:44.070 --> 00:33:47.730 We are lulled to sleep by the things of this world by doing things just because the world does it. 00:33:48.050 --> 00:33:55.110 But rather God calls us to be different as light for Him in this world to look at the things around us, used by the world for the world system, the world's glory and say, "Look, 00:33:55.210 --> 00:34:02.370 this belongs to Jesus, and I'm living for God's glory and pointing everyone to Him." There's different ways you can approach this passage of Scripture. 00:34:02.550 --> 00:34:08.350 You can run, hide, hunker, or you can say God loves people, God created these things. 00:34:08.389 --> 00:34:09.510 These things belong to Him. 00:34:09.710 --> 00:34:17.170 And I want people to understand how to use it in light of Him not just to be lulled to sleep, because evil doesn't run around saying, "Look, I'm evil." Rather 00:34:17.170 --> 00:34:21.989 what we do, we just start to be lulled to sleep. 00:34:23.790 --> 00:34:29.909 And then we wake up and we say for my glory rather than His, lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, the pride of life. 00:34:31.409 --> 00:34:33.150 What God wants us to do is live for His glory. 00:34:33.510 --> 00:34:39.139 Paul even said it like this first Corinthians 10:31 whether you eat or drink, whatever you do all for God's glory. 00:34:39.830 --> 00:34:40.130 I love that. 00:34:40.489 --> 00:34:47.810 Paul's in his own mind trying to think of illustrations, like I use random things like lottery or I don't know what else I use, Easter Christmas 00:34:47.810 --> 00:34:48.670 TV, whatever. 00:34:49.550 --> 00:34:56.770 But Paul's like, "Look, everybody's got to eat and drink." And here's the cool thing when God created Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, 00:34:57.810 --> 00:35:00.650 do you know before Adam and Eve even sinned, you know Adam needed food. 00:35:02.710 --> 00:35:09.850 And God told him that you didn't have to get hungry later because the part of the fall, before man even sinned in the Garden of Eden, they already 00:35:09.850 --> 00:35:14.410 needed to eat because God told them don't eat the tree of knowledge of good and evil, all the other trees you can eat from. 00:35:15.190 --> 00:35:20.770 From the very beginning you were created as a dependent creature, you needed to drink, you needed to eat. 00:35:20.810 --> 00:35:23.550 And you know what that was a reminder of, you needed God. 00:35:25.450 --> 00:35:32.570 And so what Paul is saying in the story is, look, when we pray, like if you have a meal and you pray, don't just pray because you're 00:35:32.570 --> 00:35:39.650 just mindlessly praying because you were taught to pray, recognize rather in that moment, that God within you in your 00:35:39.650 --> 00:35:45.310 DNA, He created you in a way that you always needed sustenance for Him to make provision for your life. 00:35:45.390 --> 00:35:46.990 You were created to be dependent. 00:35:49.750 --> 00:35:54.030 And when you pray before you eat, you're acknowledging the goodness that God provides. 00:35:55.710 --> 00:36:00.950 So whatever you do, don't mind numbingly just mimic the world. 00:36:02.190 --> 00:36:09.170 Figure out in your life, how you can redeem it for His glory, eat, drink, whatever you do all for His glory. 00:36:09.230 --> 00:36:11.290 Let me move on to the last section and be done. 00:36:12.630 --> 00:36:15.930 I'm going to read this quickly, and then just hit a couple thoughts in here. 00:36:15.930 --> 00:36:18.390 But first John 2:18 to 25. 00:36:18.430 --> 00:36:21.210 He then goes from how we behave to what we believe in. 00:36:21.210 --> 00:36:23.410 He says this, children, it's the last hour. 00:36:24.470 --> 00:36:26.010 As you've heard, the Antichrist is coming. 00:36:26.030 --> 00:36:27.370 So many Antichrist have come. 00:36:28.170 --> 00:36:30.930 Therefore, we know that it is the last hour. 00:36:31.650 --> 00:36:37.090 They went out from us, but they were not of us, for they had not been of us, they would have continued with us. 00:36:37.190 --> 00:36:41.330 But they went out that it might become plain that they are not of us. 00:36:41.390 --> 00:36:42.550 Let me just stop it there and say this. 00:36:44.000 --> 00:36:46.430 This is a sad verse, verse 19. 00:36:47.710 --> 00:36:54.830 I think this is probably one of the more painful verses of scripture because I found in ministry, the ones that cut 00:36:54.830 --> 00:36:59.270 the deepest, aren't when the world dislikes you expect that. 00:37:01.210 --> 00:37:09.350 The wounds that cut the deepest are when friendships are forced apart, or wedged apart from 00:37:09.350 --> 00:37:12.010 the inside, the body of Christ. 00:37:12.930 --> 00:37:17.070 Verse 19, I read that verse and just think of the pain that might be behind they went out from us, but they weren't of us. 00:37:18.550 --> 00:37:20.840 And John refers, this is the last hour and the Antichrist. 00:37:21.290 --> 00:37:22.720 And again, this is where we could freak out. 00:37:24.210 --> 00:37:28.570 Last hour, what he's saying is, look, we don't need anything else. 00:37:28.650 --> 00:37:31.570 This is the last chapter that's been written that Jesus is coming. 00:37:31.570 --> 00:37:32.590 Jesus has rescued us. 00:37:32.590 --> 00:37:34.310 That's the last thing before Jesus returns. 00:37:35.650 --> 00:37:38.490 Bible tells us in second Peter 3:9, God is not willing any perish. 00:37:38.490 --> 00:37:41.130 But I'll come to repentance that God is long suffering towards us. 00:37:41.130 --> 00:37:44.610 That God preached this message that we could proclaim the truth that sets people free. 00:37:44.970 --> 00:37:47.170 This is the last hour it's like saying, This is the last chapter of the book. 00:37:47.170 --> 00:37:50.190 We're not writing on any more Revelation, this is it live for His glory. 00:37:50.690 --> 00:37:52.340 So you see the sense of an urgency here. 00:37:53.450 --> 00:37:54.290 It's not to stress you out. 00:37:54.330 --> 00:37:55.590 But just to recognize where you are. 00:37:55.590 --> 00:37:56.530 Don't be lulled by this. 00:37:56.790 --> 00:37:58.910 God has you in a place and you've already overcome. 00:37:58.930 --> 00:38:00.390 He's told us, you've already over evil one. 00:38:01.870 --> 00:38:04.180 So it's the last hour and there are Antichrist, what are Antichrist? 00:38:04.770 --> 00:38:11.530 Well, again, we think Pitchfork in hand, but when you talk in terms of anti-Christ, what he's saying is teach us something contrary to Jesus. 00:38:12.470 --> 00:38:14.730 There's what Jesus says, and there's what opposes Jesus. 00:38:15.010 --> 00:38:19.930 And Antichrist, don't walk around just saying, "I'm the Antichrist." Anti Christ, only have problem with things that are good. 00:38:21.030 --> 00:38:22.470 Antichrist just doesn't want you to follow God. 00:38:24.270 --> 00:38:31.350 And so he's saying, Look that's in this world, but verse 20, but you have been anointed by the Holy One, then you all have knowledge I 00:38:31.350 --> 00:38:36.730 write to you not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and because no lie is of the truth. 00:38:37.350 --> 00:38:39.550 Verse 22, who is the liar? 00:38:40.110 --> 00:38:47.230 He who denies that Jesus is the Christ, this is the Antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son, no 00:38:47.230 --> 00:38:54.250 one who denies the son has the father, whoever confesses the son has the father also, let what you heard from the beginning abide in you, if 00:38:54.250 --> 00:38:59.320 what you heard from the beginning abides in you then you to wall by in the son and the father. 00:38:59.470 --> 00:39:01.610 And this is the promise that he made to us eternal life. 00:39:02.490 --> 00:39:03.170 He saved us... 00:39:03.170 --> 00:39:04.470 Even goes on in verse 27. 00:39:04.870 --> 00:39:08.070 He takes this thought of abide and anointing and he combines it. 00:39:09.350 --> 00:39:16.370 So the reality of the fact that there is an Antichrist, and this is the last hour, John wants us to walk in an identity 00:39:16.370 --> 00:39:18.410 and it has to do with the abiding and the anointing. 00:39:19.730 --> 00:39:20.210 What does that mean? 00:39:22.390 --> 00:39:29.030 When you look at the thought of anointing and scripture, anointing you're using two ways in the Old Testament. 00:39:29.850 --> 00:39:31.190 A shepherd would anoint a sheep. 00:39:32.890 --> 00:39:34.160 He anointed it for protection. 00:39:35.430 --> 00:39:41.810 He would anoint the head of the sheep so that if bugs would jump on the sheep mites, fleas, like sometimes they would burrow in the sheep's ear and kill the sheep. 00:39:43.230 --> 00:39:49.510 So he'd anoint the face of the sheep so that the bugs couldn't grip hold the sheep's face, and they would fall off it was to protect the sheep life. 00:39:51.330 --> 00:39:57.350 But also in the Old Testament, they anointed, which I think this word anointing is used this way, they anointed their prophet, priests and kings. 00:39:58.790 --> 00:40:10.970 It was recognized that God's had commissioned them that his spirit dwelt with him, for 00:40:10.970 --> 00:40:11.070 them to fulfill the calling that God had placed them for in this world, prophet, priest and King. 00:40:11.070 --> 00:40:12.650 When you get to the New Testament, God like a prophet calls you to proclaim His truth. 00:40:14.610 --> 00:40:21.070 God calls every believer a royal priest, meaning you belong to the king, and you are a priest representing people before God. 00:40:22.750 --> 00:40:29.930 So when we think about this term, in the Old Testament, this term anointing was a very special term for God's people called on a special mission 00:40:29.930 --> 00:40:33.670 for His glory in this world, prophet, priest, and King. 00:40:34.850 --> 00:40:42.310 And when you get to the New Testament, that same title used for those particular people, Jesus 00:40:42.310 --> 00:40:48.270 now uses for you, prophet, priest, king. 00:40:50.130 --> 00:40:56.930 In the midst of this darkness, you belong to Jesus on a mission for His glory. 00:40:58.870 --> 00:41:06.010 And the strength of that mission comes through your abiding, not savoring yourself from Christ, 00:41:06.050 --> 00:41:08.910 but rather, walking in line of who he is. 00:41:11.130 --> 00:41:15.720 As Christians, we can get scared, we can feel defeated. 00:41:17.150 --> 00:41:21.130 We can talk like we've already lost, not walk in victory. 00:41:22.950 --> 00:41:25.660 We can act like the weight of the world is on our shoulders. 00:41:27.510 --> 00:41:31.010 The gospel really doesn't call you to fight for it. 00:41:32.750 --> 00:41:35.010 The Gospel calls you to share it. 00:41:36.050 --> 00:41:37.230 Jesus can take care of himself. 00:41:38.570 --> 00:41:45.410 It's like this gospel doesn't need you to fight for it just needs you to let it out of the cage, and let God take care of the rest. 00:41:47.430 --> 00:41:54.890 Because if you live in a place where the population is 99%, Christian, or 1%, Christian, 00:41:56.770 --> 00:41:58.470 what you do for Jesus shouldn't change. 00:42:00.410 --> 00:42:05.110 Every day, you wake up and live for His glory. 00:42:06.510 --> 00:42:08.080 The world's going to do its things regardless. 00:42:09.550 --> 00:42:11.290 But God calls us to live for Jesus. 00:42:11.930 --> 00:42:12.710 Last hour? 00:42:12.900 --> 00:42:13.610 Yes, it's the last hour. 00:42:14.770 --> 00:42:15.730 Anti christ. 00:42:16.030 --> 00:42:17.550 Yes, there's Antichrist. 00:42:17.590 --> 00:42:21.550 There's many Antichrist, John said, but you are anointed. 00:42:23.590 --> 00:42:24.590 You're called to abide. 00:42:26.930 --> 00:42:28.650 You are strong, as he says in verse 14. 00:42:30.350 --> 00:42:32.650 And you don't surrender the things of God back to this world. 00:42:34.630 --> 00:42:41.890 John is encouraging us rather than to be lulled by the culture, and just embrace the culture simply because the culture does 00:42:41.890 --> 00:42:45.060 it, is not what God calls you to do. 00:42:46.410 --> 00:42:53.550 God also doesn't call you to hide from Him, rather what God calls you to do is to redeem, not 00:42:53.550 --> 00:42:56.090 fight against people, for people. 00:42:57.750 --> 00:43:03.650 To help on people understand why we do what we do, and how to use it for His glory. 00:43:05.810 --> 00:43:11.950 In your own life, figuring out how to honor God's kingdom, in the world that you live in. 00:43:14.830 --> 00:43:20.350 If it's worldly, the things that you do, if it's for selfish pleasures, lose it. 00:43:21.750 --> 00:43:25.170 But if you can redeem it, redeem it. 00:43:26.870 --> 00:43:34.070 Whether you eat or whether you drink, or whatever you do it all for His glory.