[0:00] Amen. I just thought of something and it just disappeared, so I guess we'll just get into the Word of God then.
[0:14] Find 1 John, please, tonight, 1 John. And we'll start in chapter 5, this being the fifth message of a series about John's concerns for Christian, things that just show up and show up and show up in this epistle.
[0:30] And this is our last, as far as I know, this is our last message. And I feel like this is some real practical and dynamite stuff.
[0:41] I think this is, it didn't start out in my mind as good as it's turning out of a study that I've enjoyed, seeing how this man, this disciple whom Jesus loved, that had such a close, tight-knit fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ, has a certain language all of his own and a certain way of portraying Christ and his own even concerns that he lays out in these epistles.
[1:07] And in this epistle, his biggest of these general epistles of the latter portions of the book, there's certain things that just, he has to get off his mind, it seems, or off his chest.
[1:18] And so here's the fifth one. And I even threw it out to you to see if you could figure it out or find it because we looked at some things. The first was that he's concerned about your fellowship in chapter one and mentioned how John talks about fellowship more than any other Bible author.
[1:35] And he was right to be concerned about our fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ, with God the Father, with his Son Jesus Christ. And walking in the light is the only way we have that fellowship. And it's something that Christians need to know.
[1:47] And of course, he has a great right to be concerned about believers, especially in this age, thinking they're in the light, thinking they're okay, things are fine, when they're not forgetting that in him is no darkness at all.
[2:01] And if we're going to say we have fellowship with him and walk in darkness, any darkness, we're lying. We're lying to ourselves, for one, and perhaps to others by making that proclamation that we're in the light, because God will never leave the light to fellowship with his children when they're in darkness.
[2:19] They'll have to leave their darkness and come to the light. And so fellowship was the first thing that we studied. We also saw he was concerned about your relationship with the truth. And I showed you how in this epistle, as well as in his gospel, John writes more about the truth than anybody else in the Bible.
[2:34] As well as the third one was your relationship with the brethren. And John's concerned about your relationship with the brethren. He says it an awful lot about hating your brother and loving your brother and saying you've passed from death into life because you love the brethren.
[2:46] And he talks so much about it more than anybody else. And I showed you how that was a commandment of Jesus Christ, that he gave them a new commandment after his three and a half year ministry was over. He gives his disciples at the end of his earthly life a new commandment.
[3:01] And John's the one that repeats that extensively to believers. He's concerned that we treat each other right, that we love one another. And Paul backs that up as well. Then last week we saw that John was concerned about sin.
[3:15] And that word shows up all over in all five chapters of 1 John. And we looked at it in a threefold way. We looked at it positionally. He shows you your position in Christ. And he shows you your position having your sins forgiven.
[3:28] And we crossed some references through 1 John that he was manifested to take away our sins. And you have to decide did he take away our sins or not. He was our propitiation for our sins and not for ours only but for the sins of the world.
[3:40] And so John gives us our position. Then he gives us the practical, the day-by-day view of if we sin, if any man sin in chapter 2, we have an advocate. And I pointed this out.
[3:51] It's worth hearing again that in chapter 2 verse 1 that if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the righteous. And the point that I made last week was that it's not if we walk in the light, we have an advocate.
[4:04] It's when we sin, we have an advocate. And it's the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's something that you need to understand doctrinally as well as practically, that when you slip into sin, Jesus Christ steps into your place between the wrath of God and you.
[4:18] And the song says, Five bleeding wounds he bears, received on Calvary. They pour effectual prayers. They strongly plead for me. Forgive him.
[4:29] And so that's a blessed song. Charles Wesley, we should have sang that tonight, man. Let's put that one down on the list somewhere along the way. Prophetically then, this Mark of the Beast talk, John has some application to the future.
[4:41] And we saw that in chapter 5. He mentions a sin unto death. And that was enough for that. So tonight, one more thing that I think we see in John's epistle that it just pollutes this epistle.
[4:53] There's another word. There's a word that shows up more than the others. It shows up more than anything. If there's one theme of what John says, this word know. Know.
[5:04] Knoweth. It shows up more than anything. It shows up 38 times in these five, actually in chapter 2 through 5. So 9.5 times mentions per chapter, it shows up.
[5:16] And so John's concerned about us knowing and having knowledge, but not just a head knowledge, but an assurance. He says over and over, we'll see, and we know, and we know, we know.
[5:26] And John wants to, he's concerned about your assurance. I want to deal with specifically this one area, and John deals with it the most, and that is assurance of your salvation.
[5:37] Now, right away, you might think, oh, I came here for this. I know I'm saved. I believed on the Lord Jesus Christ. So I don't need to hear about this.
[5:47] I don't need to have assurance. I've got it. Well, it's a bigger deal than you think, and I want to show that to you and stress that. Over, or in John's gospel, back in John's gospel, he writes about knowing.
[6:01] The same author has the same style back then of the assurance, and we know we have passed from death unto life. He likes to describe, I've just lost the verse in my mind there, but he describes it more than Matthew, Mark, Luke, any other two combined, and almost all three combined.
[6:21] He talks about knowing and having an assurance. He is definitely the guy when it comes to assurance to go. Folks say this a lot.
[6:31] They say, what do you know? They'll throw that out just in passing. What do you know? If they say that to John, I think John's going to reply because he knows something, and he's going to tell them what he knows, and one of the things he knows is that he is saved, that he possesses eternal life, and he's concerned that everyone else knows it.
[6:51] Not just has it, but knows it. He's concerned about your assurance, and that is you can know it, and you should know it, and John writes these chapters back here.
[7:05] To be certain that you have that confidence as you go through life, and that when doubts rise up, you put them down, and I'll give you the reasons why and how tonight.
[7:18] He's not, Bible salvation in this age should not be a question of, if I do this, or what if I do that? It's a no, my pastor used to always say that.
[7:30] How did he say? He said it's a no-so salvation, not a hope-so salvation, it's a no-so salvation, and John backs that up. Now, you may think, this is too simple for me. I've been saved all these years, but I promise you, it is a bigger deal than you realize having assurance of salvation in this age.
[7:47] And I'll give you just a few examples. These aren't from books, these aren't from the internet. These are from men that I've heard preach, from men that I've heard give testimonies, from wives that I've personally known, and people that I've seen walk the aisle after certain men preach certain things.
[8:07] In my 43 years of life, these are personal people I know that were messed up when it came to assurance of salvation. And I won't give you their names or tell you anything about them or even lead you on.
[8:20] Some of them you may even have heard of. I can think of a particular guy or a woman that her husband is an evangelist. And they were actually, he got called into full-time ministry.
[8:32] He had a wife and a family. And he left his real good job and went into the ministry and didn't start full-time in evangelism, but started working at a Christian college and then was based out of a church there and then started picking up meetings and then started going full-time.
[8:49] And so he's traveling the nation, preaching in Baptist churches all over the place, preaching the gospel. He's not a deep preacher, but he was a good guy. I liked him.
[9:00] His wife, his kids traveled as they were growing up and then went on to college themselves and married. And after he's preaching for 15 years, his wife decides that she needs to get saved or claims that she was lost.
[9:18] And I don't know. I hear that and think, really? You're raising your family. You're raising your kids. You're the wife of a... I mean, sometimes you can say, oh, yeah, she was lost and it's better to get saved than to go to hell.
[9:32] I mean, yeah, if that was the case. But I think after knowing her and seeing her and seeing her in church and then hearing that story take place like, oh, now she's saved?
[9:43] And then seeing her again in church thinking, I think her problem is with assurance. There's a circle, whether you've been around it or not, if you haven't, thank the Lord, but there's a circle of fundamentalists and whatever else you want to tag them that preach so much this side of salvation, of it's the life you live after you're saved, you do it and you show it.
[10:06] And if you don't, you're probably not saved. And I've told you this before about being truly saved or really saved. That pressure is put on all over the place. You may think if people struggle with salvation or knowing they're saved, you may think initially that crowd's probably the kids, the kids that grow up in church and, you know, pray a prayer when they're four or five and then they grow up in teens they're not sure.
[10:28] And you may think of that group and that's a real group and that was me growing up. I know all about it through and through what it's like to doubt your salvation or to wonder if you got it right or to have the gospel preached again and again and again and again and again and then just feel like, what if I didn't say the right words or what if I'm not truly saved when somebody pitches it a certain way.
[10:50] And just being a naive kid and not having the word of God really, you know, taking a hold of you, you just, you can be convinced, you can be persuaded that you need to or ought to make sure again.
[11:04] And I've been around the preaching. You go to camp as a teenager, you go to camp and the pressure gets on. Don't go to hell for anybody. Don't go to hell for your friends. Don't go to hell, you know, you're rebellious against your parents and you're living in sin.
[11:17] Don't go to hell. You need to get saved. You need to make sure you're saved. And all the saved kids go get saved again or they go pray again or they just want to make sure because now they're scared. He just hung me over hell and I have to make sure.
[11:31] I've been around it. I've lived it. I know what I'm talking about and I see it in John's writing. He's concerned about assurance, not just this evangelist's wife. I know a guy who would preach and he'd sing.
[11:45] And he would tell a story that, brother, you know, he's a southern guy. He's like, brother, I went to this and that and all these meetings and singing and praying and preaching and all this. And he's like, I went to Bible school and in my third year Bible school, bless God, I got saved.
[12:02] And everybody else is like, amen. And I'm like, what are you talking about? Now, you went, you got saved. You're preaching the gospel and now you got saved three years later. Like, what are you talking about?
[12:14] I'm not talking about somebody that's mixed up on their doctrine or Pentecostal or thinking the signs and wonder. I'm not talking about that stuff at all. I'm talking about people that are, as you would imagine, straight as an arrow and then come out saying they were lost.
[12:29] This is a bigger deal than you think. And believe me, I'm not going to try in any way to convince anybody in here that they're lost or convince you that you're saved. But understand, there's real reasons to be concerned, John's concerned, about people knowing, having confidence and assuring their hearts, as he says, and knowing they're saved.
[12:50] There's a guy that, there's two of them that I know of that this is their testimony. It's absurd as I can believe. The one is out just, I want to smack him.
[13:01] I seriously can't stand hearing him say this. He goes around telling people that I was a youth pastor and I was serving the Lord, but I was lost. And I think, okay, that's possible, you know, somebody gets pushed into something and whatever.
[13:18] But I was lost. And I was preaching the gospel, but the whole time I was lost. And he says, I was, kids were getting saved, but I was lost. And he tells this story to say how he got gloriously saved after being in the ministry for like eight or ten years.
[13:34] And then he claims to have gotten salvation. And brother, I'm so glad I'm saved. And then you know what he does? He makes every one of you feel like you weren't winning people to Christ like he was.
[13:46] You weren't preaching the gospel like he was. How could you possibly know that you're saved if he struggled with it himself, being a man of God or whatever? It's stupidity. It's a spirit of confusion.
[14:01] And John's fighting against it. And he sees it and he's writing about it. And I'm not just, I'm telling you, these stories are real. They're not, I'm not trying to sensationalize anything to get a point so I can preach a message.
[14:11] I'll never do that. This stuff's real. I've heard it too many times. I had a Sunday school teacher. I was in Sunday school. Here's a statement John makes and we need to understand it.
[14:22] If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater. Now, we receive the witness of men. You turn on the news and you receive the witness of men.
[14:36] You watch the forecast. It says it's going to be 105 today and you receive that witness of men. And the point is, if you believe men, well, will you believe God?
[14:48] Because the witness of God is greater than what any man ever says, no matter how accurate he is. If God says it, his witness is to be taken far superior to men.
[15:00] And we receive, if you're a Republican, you receive what the Republicans say and you think all the Democrats are lying. But if you're a Democrat, you receive the witness of those men and you think all those men are lying.
[15:12] And that's the way the United States has been for who knows how long now. But they do. You do receive the witness of men. But the witness of God is greater. And verse 9 says, for this is the witness of God which he has testified of his son.
[15:25] What would that be? He that believeth on the son hath a witness in himself. He that believeth not God hath made him a liar because he believeth not the record that God gave of his son.
[15:37] And this is the record that God hath given to us eternal life. And it's to us. That us is important in this book. Cross-reference that back into chapter number 2 and verse 19 if you need to.
[15:53] But he's given to us eternal life. And this life is in his son. He that hath the son hath life. And he that hath not the son of God hath not life.
[16:05] It doesn't get any simpler than that. Now verse 13, for your assurance. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the son of God. That ye may know that ye have eternal life.
[16:19] And that ye may believe on the name of the son of God. John's concerned that ye know that ye have eternal life.
[16:30] He calls it elsewhere and other places in his gospel everlasting life. John's concerned that ye know that. That's what he says. This is, we have the witness of God. It's greater.
[16:40] This is the record. It's been recorded. What God did and gave to us. He gave us eternal life. Life. And it's in his son. And if you have his son, you have eternal life.
[16:51] What is eternal life? It's eternal. That's all it is. You don't need to describe it any other way. If you have it. If it's eternal and you have it.
[17:03] How can you lose that? Then it's not eternal. And it's eternal. That's what the record says. Can we receive that witness of God? I can. So anyway.
[17:16] He's concerned that you know you have eternal life. Let me give you a few things. Four quick things. Backing this up. First of all. That his concern that you know it. It's based upon what I'm calling here the witness of God.
[17:28] In verse 9. That's the basis. The word of God. Or the record that God gave us. It's based upon first and foremost. And there's three others to follow. But there's nothing like the first one.
[17:40] It's the word of God. It's not based on a feeling. I feel saved today. It's not based on choices that I make. If I'm saved. I'll make these choices. Then I know I'm saved.
[17:51] It's not based on me walking in the light. As he is in the light. I talked about that false doctrine last week. That the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses you. Only if you walk in the light. That's false. That's a wrong interpretation of the verse.
[18:02] It's based number one. Upon the word of God. Or the witness of God. As verse 9 says. Which is greater than the witness of men. And it's not based on whether I read and pray.
[18:14] And if I still doubt. If I still doubt. What this book says. Then I need to decide. I need to decide. Did God lie?
[18:24] So what the word of God does here. And why it's so important is. It tells me. How to receive salvation. It tells me to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
[18:35] And thou shalt be saved. It tells me not by works of righteousness. Which we have done. But according to his mercy. He saved us. It tells me it's not by works. Or not of works.
[18:46] Lest any man should boast. It's by grace through faith. The word of God gives me. The way to trust in Jesus Christ. And to receive his gift of eternal life. To have the son.
[18:58] As he says in verse 12. Then my mind doesn't like that. Or my mind is afraid of believing that. Or trusting that. And my mind or anyone's mind has doubts.
[19:09] So what do we do? The word of God gives us an answer. Well what about this? And there's an answer in scripture for what about that? What if I sin? There's an answer. John gives it to us.
[19:21] In scripture. How the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sins. And how he's the propitiation for our sins. And not for ours only. But the sins of the whole world. The word of God always cuts us off. Our doubts. Well what about this?
[19:32] Scripture. Well but then. Scripture. And then I have a thought. But see what I did. Scripture. And the scripture can handle. And can cast out every doubt that I have.
[19:44] Then what am I left with? I'm left with. Do I believe the scripture? Will I exercise faith in the written word of God? For the eternal destiny of my soul.
[19:59] Will I exercise faith in that book? Can God lie? Scripture. God cannot lie. Titus chapter 1. Hmm.
[20:09] Hmm. So what am I going to do? God's calling me to exercise faith in his word. And to rest. And what he said. To believe it. That is the number one basis of knowing.
[20:21] That you have salvation. You have to think. Am I the exception? To everything that God said? Am I the only one that could lose it? Or could do something so bad to lose it?
[20:32] Or did I not? You learn to trust the book. When you trust the book. That's the basis. The absolute basis. The best basis of knowing.
[20:42] Or having assurance of eternal life. Believing his word. Now there's more though. Look at chapter 3. 1 John chapter 3. There's the witness. Not just of the word of God.
[20:53] But the witness of the Holy Spirit. Within you. Chapter 3 verse 24. The Holy Spirit within you.
[21:08] He that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him. And he in him. And hereby we know that he bideth in us. By the spirit. Which he hath given us. The spirit which he hath given us.
[21:18] It's in chapter 4 as well. Look at verse 13. Hereby know we. That we dwell in him. And he in us. Because he hath given us. Of his spirit.
[21:29] Now remember. That's a new thing. For a believer in Christ. When you're lost. You did not have. His spirit dwelling in you. And because he's given you of his spirit.
[21:42] We know that he abideth in us. John said. By the spirit which he hath given us. We know that God's dwelling in me. Look back at chapter 2. 1 John. This is something new.
[21:53] In chapter 2 verse number 20. He uses a word. Unction. He says. But ye have an unction. From the Holy One. And ye know all things.
[22:04] What is that? Again in verse 27. He calls it the anointing. And just because you see the word anointing. Does not mean to. Does not have to become some charismatic. Or Pentecostal gift movement.
[22:16] It's just a word. In your Bible. Don't start speaking in tongues. Because you see the word. And say. Nope. There it is. No. It's not. But the anointing. Which ye have received of him. Abideth in you.
[22:27] And ye need not that any man teach you. Why? Because this anointing. Or this unction. Abides in you. And it teaches you. But as the same anointing.
[22:38] Teacheth you of all things. And is truth. And is no lie. Even as it hath taught you. Ye shall abide in him. This anointing and unction. Is a person. Is the person of the Holy Spirit.
[22:50] And come back to. Look back at John chapter 14. Just for a cross reference here. Because here it's using the term. This anointing is teaching you. What could that mean?
[23:03] Scripture with scripture. If you want to know. Don't make up a doctrine. Or make up a teaching. And say I've got something. That you don't have. Just let the Bible teach itself. And then trust it.
[23:14] John 14. And notice verse 26. Who's the teacher? But the comforter. Which is the Holy Ghost. Whom the Father will send in my name.
[23:26] He shall teach you. All things. See that? All things. That's what John said back in. First John chapter 2. And bring all things to your remembrance. Look. Paul backs this up.
[23:37] Look at 1 Corinthians chapter 2. Paul weighs in on this very topic. And you'll see the word. All things. 1 Corinthians chapter 2.
[23:49] This is the basis of knowing you have eternal life. Because God gives you his spirit within you. And according to that book. He gives you that spirit until a future day.
[24:02] Called the day of redemption. So 1 Corinthians 2. And look at verse. Verse 11. For what man knoweth the things of a man.
[24:14] Save the spirit of man which is in him. Even so. The things of God knoweth no man. But the spirit of God. Why is that? Verse 14 says. Because the natural man receiveth not the things of the spirit of God.
[24:27] They are foolishness unto him. Neither can he know them. Because they're spiritually discerned. So he doesn't know. He doesn't comprehend or understand any of that spiritual stuff. But. Verse 12 says.
[24:38] Now we. Believers. Have received. Not the spirit of the world. But the spirit which is of God. That we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. Which things also we speak.
[24:49] Not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth. But which the. Here it is. The Holy Ghost teacheth. Comparing spiritual things with spiritual. The witness of the Holy Spirit within you.
[25:02] Evidence. That you have eternal life. He leads. He teaches. The Bible says he guides. That he reveals. That he calls. The spirit of God inside you convicts.
[25:14] The devil. Never convicts you. To put your phone down. And pick up your Bible. When that voice tells you to do that.
[25:25] That's evidence. Of God inside of you. The devil doesn't tell you to hand a track out to somebody. Or to pray for somebody. Or to witness to somebody. The Holy Spirit of God moves you.
[25:36] And gives you those notions. And that conviction at times. Look at Romans chapter 8. Just come back a short bit. Romans chapter 8. Is a powerful chapter on this topic.
[25:51] There's the witness of the Holy Spirit within you. First of all. Just notice verse 16. Along those very lines. Romans 8.16. The spirit itself.
[26:02] Beareth witness. With our spirit. That we are the children of God. Where do we get that notion? The spirit that's living inside of me. God inside of me.
[26:12] Bears witness to me. With my spirit. On the inside. That I'm born of God. That I'm his child. Now. Back to what I was talking about. Reading your Bible.
[26:23] Or handing out a track. Or things of those nature. Look at chapter 8. And verse 5. And notice. This is a work of the spirit. When those things happen in your life. Verse 5 says.
[26:33] For they that are after the flesh. Do mind the things of the flesh. But they that are after the spirit. The things of the spirit. Like. Praying.
[26:44] Bible reading. Concerned about souls. Concerned about your personal sin. And your testimony. And all these things. That the spirit of God. Deals with your heart about. That's being spiritually minded.
[26:54] Verse 6 says. For to be carnally minded is death. But to be spiritually minded. Is life and peace. Because the carnal mind. Is enmity against God. For it is not subject to the law of God. Neither indeed can be.
[27:07] You know one good evidence. That I'm saved. And I have the spirit of God in me. Is because his witness within me. If he wasn't there. I can't be subject. According to verse 7.
[27:18] To the law of God. It's not even. Neither indeed can be. It's not even possible. For me to be in submission. To the law of God. Like. It's a spiritual thing. And when I have a walk with God.
[27:30] According to truth. And according to the word of God. Like John wants me to have. It's evidence that. The spirit of God is working inside of me. Alright. Come back to 1st John. And look now at chapter 5.
[27:41] There's a third thing. I'll. I'll. Wrap this up here. John's concerned. That you. Know that you have eternal life. He's concerned about your assurance.
[27:52] Based. Number one. Upon the witness of the word of God. Number two. Upon the witness of the Holy Spirit within you. And then thirdly. The relationship that we now have.
[28:03] With God. That's something that didn't exist before. You were an enemy of God. According to Romans chapter 5. But upon faith in Jesus Christ. You become a child of God.
[28:13] Look at chapter 5. And verse number 19. And we know. That we are of God. And the whole world lieth in wickedness.
[28:25] Evidence. In your mind and heart. To give you assurance. Is knowing. That we have a relationship now. With God. That wasn't there before.
[28:36] And we're not any longer. Of the world. Like it says. You'll see it now. When you're saved. You'll see the wickedness of the world. And perceive it. Verse 18. He describes.
[28:47] We know that whosoever is born of God. That's that relationship. Sinneth not. But he that is begotten of God. There it is again. That's something new. The relationship that we now have.
[28:58] With God. Being of God. Remember Christ said to those men. You're of your father the devil. In chapter 3.
[29:08] In verse 12. It says. Not as Cain. Who was of that wicked one. And slew his brother. But we are of God now. It's a new relationship. Look at chapter 3.
[29:20] In verses 1 and 2. Chapter 3. Verses 1 and 2. Behold. What manner of love.
[29:32] The father hath bestowed upon. There it is again. Us. That we should be called. The sons of God. Therefore the world knoweth us not. Because it knew him not.
[29:42] Beloved. Now are we. The sons of God. And it does not yet appear. What we shall be. But we know that. When he shall appear. We shall be like him. For we shall see him. As he is. There's this relationship.
[29:54] That now exists. I won't take you to. There's places in chapter 2. About this. Several places in chapter 2. And in chapter 4. As well. And I'll just pass on those scriptures. Tonight for time.
[30:04] But this relationship. Is expounded upon. Throughout John's gospel. He wants you to have assurance. And it's not just. Primarily. It's the word of God. That gives you that confidence.
[30:15] But it's also the spirit of God. Within you. And it's also. Now there's a relationship. That you have with God. That you didn't have before. He loves you. He considers you his son.
[30:25] Paul calls us children of God. As I read earlier. The Bible says. That you're accepted. In the beloved. It teaches that you now have access. To God. Whereas you didn't before.
[30:37] It calls you a joint heir. With Jesus. An heir of God. And a joint heir. With Jesus Christ. That's a relationship. You didn't have before.
[30:48] That's evidence. You're saved. Remember the verse. Last week. We read. That ye are complete. In him. Can you add anything to that? If you're complete.
[30:59] In him. Do you. Do you need to add anything. To that. If. In fact. You're complete in him. I'll read that passage.
[31:10] And I'll just. Underline it. And just. Hug it. And say. That's it. For me. Forever. My Bible says. I'm complete in him. Now it doesn't mean I'm.
[31:22] The best I can be. But doctrinally. My position in Christ. In Christ. Sanctified. Forgiven of all sins. Justified. I've been made righteous. In him.
[31:35] I have assurance of that. Thank the Lord. I have a relationship. Now with God. The final thing. Is the. That you can know. Is evidenced. By a changed life. In first John. Chapter three.
[31:46] Notice verse 14. Bible says. We know that we have passed. From death unto life. Because. We love the brethren. And that's just one case.
[31:57] Look at chapter 18. I'm sorry. Chapter 18. Verse 18. Of this passage. Chapter three. Verse 18. And 19. My little children. Let us. Not love in word. Neither in tongue.
[32:07] But in deed. And in truth. And hereby. We know. That we are of the truth. And shall assure our hearts. Before him. It's the changed life. That God brings about.
[32:19] And as God changes you. From the inside. And cleans you up on the inside. He always does it on the inside. First. Don't let man. Try to change you on the outside. Let God change you on the inside.
[32:30] And the outside. It'll come. When man starts falling apart. On the outside. It's evidence. He's already fell apart on the inside. That's just. That's easy. But it's evidenced.
[32:41] By a changed life. John's concerned about your assurance. And he ought to be. Because folks are confused today. And it's sometimes. It's because of bad preaching.
[32:51] And bad doctrine. Sometimes it's because they don't. Get into the word of God. And know it. And find out what it actually says. And sometimes because they don't believe it. They doubt.
[33:02] And they won't trust what the book says. And John says you're making him a liar. Is what you're doing. You're calling him a liar then. Because you won't believe what God said. He did.
[33:13] When he gave you eternal life. So Paul talks extensively. About this changed life. With the two natures. Saying that if any man be in Christ. He's a new creature. And then he also goes on to talk about an old man.
[33:25] And all his sins. The sins of the flesh. And the new man. And the new nature. And describing what God's doing. A work in the new man. The fruit of the spirit. The works of the flesh. And so forth.
[33:36] I'm sure you're familiar enough with that. John's concerned about your assurance. This is the fifth thing. That shows up in the. In this epistle. That John is just writing. Over and over and over about.
[33:47] I didn't even scratch. Probably the surface. Of some of the scripture. Where he uses that word. About we know. And we know. We just saw a few. But he's concerned that you know. That you have eternal life.
[33:58] And the best way to do that. Is to trust what the word of God says. That's the basis. Is the book. If you can't trust this book. Then. You're on your own. Good luck to you.
[34:10] If this book's not true. How in the world could we know anything. And have any certainty at all. About anything. It would be me against you. Who's better. I would only have you to judge.
[34:22] Myself against. And if I feel like I'm better than you. Which I. Probably not. Then that doesn't. Bode well for me. So I'm thankful. I have something that's cleaner than all of us.
[34:34] Something that's holier than all of us. Something that paid for my sins. And paid for all of our sins. And my assurance comes from the Bible. It comes from the witness of the spirit within me. It comes from knowing now.
[34:45] I have a relationship with God. A fellowship with him. That wasn't possible before. And then finally. The changed life. And brethren. I'm not a holy man.
[34:56] And I'm definitely not a man of God. As some would have put up. But I know what I am inside. I know the guy that's in here. And I know the difference that God has made.
[35:08] By working on my heart. And giving me a desire to be different from that guy. And to follow this book. And giving me a love for him. And a love for that book.
[35:20] That's just not natural. I didn't make that up. As a carnal man. Who cares about what that book says? Who cares about Eliezer.
[35:33] And Aaron. And Phineas. And who wants to study those guys? But something inside of me now. I want to know. They're my guys.
[35:44] They've got something I need. And if the Lord puts those guys in there. And all that other stuff. There's a reason. There's life in that book. And I want to get it. And that's evidence. That's evidence.
[35:55] I'm saved. Praise the Lord. So I hope you have that assurance. And I hope you can help somebody else. Have that assurance. And I hope that when somebody's not sure. That you get a testimony out of them.
[36:06] That they believed on Christ. That you can take them to the book. And give them the assurance that they need. I don't like seeing people walk the aisle. Year after year. And praying a prayer year after year.
[36:16] And I've dealt over my years with enough teenagers. That that was their biggest. They just had no assurance of their salvation. And John's right to be concerned about it. So I hope you have it.
[36:28] And I hope you know where you can get it. Let's dismiss with prayer. And then we're going to go out and have some ice cream. So you can pretty much just attack the freezer. I hope you have it.