Well, it's good to be back with you. Thanks for the opportunity to take the missions team to Skyview.
! We had a great time together and enjoyed some long days of labor in some areas that, you know, painting.
Who enjoys painting? You got some people that actually enjoy painting, sanding, scraping.
Oh, man. Sign me up for a job that I hate the most. That was perfect. It was just...
It was tremendous. But I'll tell you, the team did an outstanding job.
Their attitude throughout the week was refreshing to me.
And the experience that we had of just being able to see God help us complete some pretty significant projects,
but also be able to just enjoy one another's fellowship through the week, it was a real blessing.
We will hope to prepare and kind of give you a recap of that week in a couple of Wednesdays from now.
I'll send out an email tomorrow or Tuesday to parents.
August 29th, I think it is. It's a Wednesday.
It's when we hope to share with you a little bit more about that experience.
So mark your calendars and teens, I'll be sending out an email to you about that.
It was also really refreshing to be able to get away last week with our family.
And thank you for the privilege of being able to do that.
I joked with my kids throughout the week.
I had to have my first and second nap of the day.
You know, the 10 o'clock nap and the 2 o'clock nap, it was kind of a must.
And it was just really, it was kind of, that was the hallmark of the week.
It was just really refreshing.
Lots of rest.
I needed it after long days of working on various projects, but it was just a joy.
And it's nice to be able to entrust the ministry to capable people.
I'll tell you, this is such a unique church.
What a joy to be part of Maranatha.
To have so many gifted individuals who can lead in so many different areas.
And to be able to entrust the preaching of the word to Pastor David, who did an outstanding job.
And it makes going away so much easier, because I don't have to worry about what's happening here.
I know it's going to be in very good hands.
Looking forward to a couple of weeks from now.
Ben and Ashley, they are just like pumped to come.
They cannot wait.
I know that there's an announcement maybe going out sometime this week.
They're looking for some help with painting, no less.
So those of you who raised your hands, ha ha, I gotcha.
No.
You're free to paint.
I'm sure they would love to have your help.
More than just the work itself, just the fellowship of the experience and helping brother and sister as they're preparing to come.
It is so exciting to think that they'll be here in just a matter of weeks.
And they're excited about the experience as well.
So, we are in a series through 1 John.
And as John mentioned earlier in our service, the theme of this morning is overcoming.
We serve an overcoming God.
I don't know if you can really appreciate the immensity of that statement.
We have an overcoming God.
And this truth so shaped the apostle's heart through the experience of the upper room discourse.
You remember that 1 John is really an exposition of the upper room.
So instrumental and so inspiring, so convicting were the truths of the upper room.
The moments before the cross that John is gripped by this and he understands the significance of the message here.
And he wants to communicate it again to the church of Ephesus.
Because if they're going to be an abiding church, they need to understand there are certain truths that must be representative of their lives.
Because they serve an overcoming God, they must also experience an overcoming nature.
They must also tap into the supply of the power of the Holy Spirit that allows them to experience victory and triumph day by day.
That is the experience of the believer.
The true believer as we'll see in our message today.
Here's what Jesus has to say in John chapter 16.
These were the words, I think, that are sticking out in John's mind.
Just listen as I read them to you.
Jesus says this, right before they leave that upper room and begin making their way to the garden.
Jesus says,
I have said these things to you that in me you may have peace.
In the world you will have tribulation.
But take heart.
I have overcome the world.
We serve an overcoming God.
Who gives to his people an overcoming quality.
An overcoming power.
It's not a power that is representative in ourselves alone.
But it is a power that we can enjoy and experience because of the indwelling, powerful, alive Holy Spirit.
Spirit.
And overcoming power.
So why don't we enjoy this overcoming nature?
What gets in the way?
I think the thing that gets in the way the most and what we'll look at throughout the morning is that this abiding relationship that we've been talking about for the last couple of months now
is what stands in the way really of you being able to really enjoy and experience a consistent overcoming quality.
What stands in my way is I hold God at arm's length.
He's welcoming in me and calling me to enjoy intimacy with him.
And so often I find myself distracted or I find myself saying,
there's something else I'd rather do at this point.
There's something else that's on my agenda.
There are too many things going on in my calendar.
I can't really participate in this abiding because abiding takes time.
But God beckons us to this intimacy.
We've been talking about that all year, really.
It began in our study in Isaiah chapter 30, 15.
When God is speaking through the prophet Isaiah and he says,
Thus says the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel,
In repentance and rest is your salvation.
In quietness and in trust is your strength.
Do you want to know the saving quality of God?
Then your life must be marked by an abiding in him.
A resting in him.
A trusting in him.
A waiting for him to answer and to help and to deliver.
And to show up in your life to help you in the times where you're most desperate.
I think what stands in our way is we don't really savor this relationship that is made available to us.
So this morning as we open up the word of God,
and before we open up the word of God,
one of the most powerful ways for us to be encouraged
by the power of God in his ability to do a mighty work is by hearing a testimony.
So I want to just introduce you to this individual,
and we can hear the power of God working in his life
to transform him and to help him overcome sin
through an abiding relationship with Christ.
My birth mother abandoned me in a motel room when I was three years old.
One of the earliest indicators that something wasn't right
was as soon as I was adopted,
one of the first things that I did was threaten my sisters with a blunt pocket knife.
I graduated from high school and joined the Army.
In terms of my life as a soldier, things were going well,
but my heart wasn't changed.
I was involved in drug use and began to sell drugs
and eventually was charged by the military 16 felony counts.
And so I went AWOL and purchased a plane ticket to Los Angeles, California,
met some men there who were doing robberies.
We began to rob places from Los Angeles, California,
state by state all the way to Texas, where I was arrested.
And I was sentenced to 17 years in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
The first weekend that I was in prison, there was a riot.
I was a riot.
I'm looking and seeing that guys are getting stabbed.
I found myself living in a world in which you have to take sides.
I didn't have the hope of the gospel.
And so I was beginning to become more and more self-consciously racist.
I saw no other option available to me.
And that was eventually what led me into a white supremacist prison gang.
Every tattoo that I have, it has some sort of connection to the gang.
This is actually a swastika made out of sickles.
This is what remains of a Ku Klux Klansman and a burning cross.
I've been having these removed, but that's what remains of them at this point.
So I was transferred then to a maximum security prison.
It was what was called a gladiator farm.
When I arrived on that unit, there was already a war going on between blacks and whites.
My next door neighbor yelled at me, I know you have a shank.
I didn't have a shank.
I didn't have anything at that point, but I thought I better get one.
And so I did.
There came a point when the door to my cell and his cell were opened at the same time.
It wasn't supposed to happen, but it did.
I came at him with a shank.
And thankfully, a guard was able to step in between us just in time.
But I was put in solitary confinement as a result of that.
I was confirmed as a gang member.
What that means is they have the evidence of my tattoos, for one thing.
They have the evidence of what I've done.
And so they're able then to confine me essentially indefinitely.
One night I was scanning the radio dial, and the Lord used a radio program called Here Comes the Light to shine the light of the gospel into my heart.
And the thing that he dealt with in my heart, first and foremost, was the issue of racism.
There was a moment of total despair when I said, I can't do this.
And in that moment of despair, I realized I'm going to hell.
And suddenly something changed within me.
The Lord did it.
And I simply fell on my knees before him.
And I said, Lord, change my heart.
Take this away and help me to follow you.
What I'd later find out, of course, was that the only group in prison that doesn't segregate according to race were the Christians.
I was still in solitary confinement, which is where I needed to be.
And the Lord used it to mature me and grow me so that when I did get out of solitary confinement and go back to general population, I was prepared for the hardships that would come.
I spent 10 years in solitary confinement, but I used the time to read, to study.
The Lord was growing me in my fellowship with him.
It wasn't wasted time.
I simply began to read the Bible for myself.
And I started listening to the radio, so I listened to Christian programs on the radio, and I wanted to understand the Bible better.
And that's, of course, where I came across a program called Renewing Your Mind.
Though I was in that cell, the Lord was there with me.
Despite all the wickedness of my heart and all the evil things that I had done, all the people that I had hurt, especially my own family, he set me free.
My name is Lowell Ivey.
I was set free in prison by God's grace.
Did you hear that?
Two things stand out to me about that video.
First is that he experienced fellowship in solitary confinement.
What an oxymoron.
And then, that he was set free while he was in prison.
That's what God wants to do for everyone in this sanctuary today.
He wants you to experience freedom and deliverance and victory and triumph in the Christian life.
But it only happens as we are going to look this morning at 1 John chapter 5.
So if you would please, turn with me to 1 John chapter 5, beginning in verse 1.
We'll go verses 1 to 5.
And this section of Scripture really is kind of a summary of so many of the things that John has been talking about,
especially at the end part of chapter 3, moving on through chapter 4,
and now settling in on this key aspect of what the abiding life does here in chapter 5.
Helping to bring all of the pieces together and summarizing them for us,
kind of consolidating them all down to these steps of how do we experience the overcoming life as a Christian.
If you're a guest with us, you can find 1 John chapter 5 on page 1023.
Let me read for us, beginning at verse 1.
1 John chapter 5,
So that's where we're going to, towards the end of this message.
We're moving towards verses 3 and 4 to understand the significance,
or at least 4 and 5, the significance of an overcoming life.
An overcoming life that happens because of faith in Jesus Christ.
We find in this passage this amazing cycle that's taking place,
beginning with faith and ending with faith.
Not the same faith by the time you get to the end of the process,
because it is a refined faith, it is an improved faith, it is a growing faith.
And so when you start the process again,
now you're learning new things about who God is.
You're experiencing new things about Him.
You're loving in new ways.
You're obeying in greater depth.
And then you're growing again to become a better victorious individual.
And then learning deeper faith, which then begins this process all again until Jesus comes.
This process that we find through this first part of the chapter
that helps us identify and understand the significance of the steps of an overcoming life.
You can be an overcomer too.
Why?
Because you serve in overcoming God.
You have an overcoming force, a power, a being indwelling you, the Holy Spirit,
if you are a child of God.
You can experience and know and enjoy an overcoming life
because you serve an overcoming God.
It's amazing to imagine that we can have such a privilege.
But that is only possible for those who are walking in the flow
of what we're going to read and study this morning.
Only those who follow these steps will be able to experience
the true wonder of this overcoming life.
Now, we're going to be able to take this in two parts.
I know you have all the steps there in your outline this morning.
But this may take a couple of weeks.
And I have a couple of weeks because next week we're going to actually finish verses 6 to 12,
which kind of provides a little fuller picture.
So don't get too nervous if we only get through the first couple of points,
which is my tendency, I know.
And then I have to scramble through the last three.
But I don't want you to miss the significance of the first parts of this.
And don't get concerned.
I'll try to stick to the time.
And then we'll pick up what we miss next week.
Okay?
All right.
We're in good shape.
First, I want you to see that an overcoming life begins with a correct faith.
An overcoming life begins with a correct faith.
Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God.
Now, this is an amazing statement.
It is both an inclusive statement and an exclusive statement.
It is inclusive in that anyone can participate.
The door is open.
There's accessibility.
There is an opportunity for participation.
Everyone who believes can enter in.
And if you're a part of the everyone,
then you can enjoy the wonder of an overcoming life.
There is this accessibility that comes to us
who participate in this promise.
Everyone who believes.
But it is also exclusive.
In that it is conditioned upon true faith.
It's conditioned upon believing the right things.
It's not open to believe whatever you want to believe.
It is conditioned upon believing the right things about who Jesus is.
Now, we saw the introduction to that in chapter 4, verse 2.
Where it says this.
It says,
By this you know the Spirit of God.
Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God.
And every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God.
That's really kind of the introduction to now this summary statement here in chapter 5.
And a couple of weeks ago, we looked at what does this faith really entail.
And if you remember, the statement that kind of carried us through the message and through the passage
was,
You are what you believe.
And how we describe that, we describe that in these terms.
You believe something.
And the way you live is an expression of what you truly believe.
The kind of faith and the kind of confession that John is aiming at
and the kind of believing that God, through his son Jesus, communicated to the world,
wasn't just this intellectual assent.
Jesus constantly confronted the Pharisees.
And perhaps the greatest example of this is in John chapter 8.
Where many in the crowd, the Pharisees in particular, were listening to Jesus.
And as a result of his teaching, they kind of applauded him and said,
Yes, we believe.
And John writes those words.
And those who listened believe.
But then you begin to understand, as the chapter continues to unfold in John chapter 8,
that their believing was just an intellectual belief.
It wasn't the kind of belief that actually changed their heart.
So that Jesus, when he goes on, says,
You are of your father, the devil.
If you were to really believe, you would know that I am from the father.
You would know my true origin, my true nature.
Your faith is incomplete.
Your faith is inadequate.
Your faith is corrupted.
And so, as John continues to carry this anthem through this letter to the church of Ephesus,
he wants them to understand what he means by believing is a belief that runs into action.
The kind of belief that leads to activity in your life.
Because you are what you believe.
So as you take an inventory of your life,
and you see the things that are broken,
you recognize if you take an honest evaluation of where you are,
and you assess the anxieties that you feel,
you take an inventory of the way that you've treated various people in your path,
whether they be your coworkers,
or whether they be your family members,
or whether they be your neighbors,
the people who God kind of creates intersection points with,
and you look back on those things,
and you say,
Oh, whoop, I didn't really respond the way I should have responded.
The reason you didn't respond the way you should have responded
is not because you messed up necessarily,
but the core reason is that you believe something defective about God.
Either that he really wasn't watching,
or that he didn't really care,
or that he didn't really have the power to help you respond that way,
or that it didn't even really matter in the first place.
Something is faulty about your faith.
And what we truly believe about God will show up in the way we live.
The starting point is to know Jesus who has come in the flesh.
And what we saw,
and this will flow now into our passage this morning,
is the real significance of Jesus Christ coming in the flesh
certainly has something to do with his humanity,
but more importantly,
has everything to do with what Jesus gave up to become a man,
and what that expressed in terms of his posture towards humanity.
For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son.
That's what Jesus came to show.
That's what Jesus came to do.
He came to show the love of God for humanity.
And that's why John could say a couple of verses later,
is those who confess that Jesus is Lord,
or that has come in the flesh,
you can believe them,
but the others don't believe.
We're of the group that says that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh.
You can trust us,
and the natural question is,
well, what's the evidence?
The evidence is found in verses 7 through 18.
That's what Pastor David talked about.
The evidence is a person whose life has been characterized by love.
That's how John distinguishes himself,
as being somebody who really has the right confession,
because he is not only somebody that talks about
the person of Christ and his humanity,
but he is somebody who bears that testimony out in his life.
He is somebody who has embraced the nature of Christ,
the purpose that Christ has for the world,
and who emulates or seeks to emulate that in his life.
Here we find in chapter 5, verse 1,
the next step in the process is not only do they believe
that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh,
but here they believe that Jesus is the Christ.
Jesus is the Christ.
You have a correct faith about who Jesus is.
That Jesus Christ has come in the flesh,
and that Jesus is the Christ.
Now, when John is talking about this statement,
Jesus as the Christ, what does he mean?
We found in several places throughout this little letter of John
that John comes back to the significance of Jesus as Christ,
and I want to briefly just point out some of those things to you
because we'll come back to it again next week,
but I want them to just be there for your benefit
as we move to the next phase in this passage.
When he says that Jesus is the Christ,
first he means that Jesus is one with the Father.
Jesus is one with the Father.
It speaks of his origin.
It speaks of his identity.
In 1 John 2, verse 22,
John says,
who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ.
He denies the Father and the Son.
That Jesus' connection with the Father is so intimate
that they are inseparable.
You can't have one without the other.
So first we recognize that Jesus as the Christ
means that Jesus is one with the Father.
And if we had time this morning,
I would take you to John chapter 5,
and I would show you all of the verses from verse 19
all the way to verse 36,
where Jesus emphasizes the significance of this truth.
And as a result of Jesus' connection with the Father,
we find that they're one in power in verse 19,
they're one in purpose in verse 20,
they're one in glory in verse 23,
they're one in quality in verse 26,
they're one in authority in verse 30,
and they're one in greatness in verse 36.
We could go also to John chapter 8,
and we could go to John chapter 6,
and we could go to John chapter 14.
Over and over and over,
Jesus wants to communicate this message
that he is one with the Father.
So that when Jesus is telling his disciples
in the upper room,
he says, I'm going to the Father,
I'm going to prepare a place for you,
and Philip says, well, show us the Father,
and it is enough.
And Jesus says, oh, Philip,
have I been with you this long,
and you still don't get it?
You still don't understand, Philip.
Believe in me that I am in the Father,
and the Father is in me.
There is this inseparable connection.
Second, we understand this statement
to mean that Jesus is the fulfillment
of Old Testament promise.
Jesus is the fulfillment
of Old Testament promise.
All the things that the nation of Israel
was anticipating and looking forward to
sometime in the future
about this land and inheritance
and blessing.
This seed of Abraham
was encapsulated and fulfilled
in the person of Christ.
He is the promised one
who will vanquish the nations
and establish a people.
He is the hope of Israel,
the future hope of security,
a future lasting inheritance,
a land that would never again
be in jeopardy.
He is the promised seed of Abraham.
Those who were of true Israel
would be joined to him.
He is the promised king of David,
the sovereign one,
the absolute sovereign king
who will exercise dominance
over the world.
He is the final fulfillment of the law.
The law of Christ is the final law,
the law of love,
the law that we now follow.
He is the high priest.
As we find in 1 John 2, verse 1,
He is the advocate with the Father.
He is also the Lamb of God.
We find in 1 John 1, 7,
the blood of Jesus Christ
cleanses us from all sin.
Jesus is the absolute
and final fulfillment
of all of the promises
that Israel was putting their hope in.
Third, Jesus is the only way of salvation,
the only means of deliverance
and cleansing for those who believe.
We see that here in chapter 5, verse 1.
Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ
has been born of God.
Salvation and deliverance
only comes through Him
and by no other means.
He is the true, enduring righteousness
that has been granted.
He is our acceptance.
He paid our debt.
He received the sentence
that was due to us.
The inheritance with God
is sealed in Jesus
because of His work on the cross.
Jesus is the only way of salvation.
Fourth, Jesus as Christ
means that He is sovereign
and He is Lord of all.
Now this is a difficult concept for us
to really get our minds around
in 21st century culture
where everything about us
is about individuality.
Everything about us
is about justice
and speaking our mind.
Whereas in the 1st century culture,
the King was sovereign
and what He said,
whether you agreed with it or not,
was gospel,
for lack of a better word.
His subjects would follow His orders
and His commands without question.
We don't really understand
what that's all about.
But when the scripture uses the word
Jesus Christ
and He talks about the lordship of God,
it is referring to
the work of God
in terms of us
surrendering and yielding
our entire allegiance to Him.
Is there full surrender
in your life to Christ?
Is there slavery to Him?
A giving up of your own priorities,
your own purposes,
your own dreams,
and adopting the priorities
and purposes
that God has for your life?
Those are the four things
I think John is referring to
when he speaks of Jesus
as the Christ.
Is Jesus Christ
the King for you this morning?
Is He the fulfillment
of all of that is good
for you?
Can you say
this morning,
as with the psalmist,
in Psalm 73,
he says,
there is nothing
that I desire
in heaven
but you.
Let me read this.
Psalm 73.
Whom have I in heaven
but you?
There is nothing
on earth
that I desire
besides you.
My flesh
and my heart
may fail,
but God
is the strength
of my heart
and my portion
forever.
Is that the expression
of your heart
this morning?
That Jesus Christ
as King
is Jesus
is the object
of my complete affection.
That Jesus
is the one
to whom I give
all my allegiance.
That Jesus
is the one
who commands
my future
and my destiny.
That my life
is meant
to be lived
in conformity
with His commands.
Pursuing
His priorities
and activities
for my life.
So not only
do we need
to have
the correct
faith
but the correct
faith leads
to
a Christ
exalting
love.
This will be
the last one
we get to
this morning
and we'll pick
the others up
next week.
A Christ
exalting love.
But what I want
to do for you
just in a moment
before we get
to this Christ
exalting love
I want you
to see
this
unbreakable
chain
that one
attitude
one action
leads to
the next.
It's inseparable.
It leads you
from start
to finish.
Notice this.
Everyone who
believes
that Jesus
is the Christ
has been born
of God.
You have
the correct
faith.
But then
notice what
it yields.
And everyone
who loves
the Father
loves
whomever
has been
born of Him.
and
now
that is not
what we
should be
seeing next.
That's not
what we
would expect
to see
next.
He begins
with faith
but then
he drops
in a new
word
in the
second part
of that
sentence.
Everyone
who believes
that Jesus
is Christ
and then
he begins
to equate
belief
with something
else
in the
second half
of this
verse.
Notice
what it
says.
And
everyone
who
loves
the Father
loves
whomever
has been
loved
by Him.
Begotten
of Him.
Those
who have
the right
faith
also have
Christ
exalting
love.
We've
spoken
about
what
the
quality
of this
love
looks like.
We'll
get more
to that
in just
a moment.
But then
he moves
on.
Christ
exalting
love
now leads
to verse
2.
By
this
we
know
we
love
the
children
of
God
when
we
love
God
and
obey
His
commandments.
What is
happening
here?
Now
he
begins
to
replace
love
loving
and
obedience.
So
we move
from
Christ
exalting
love
now
to
consistent
obedience.
And
as we
move
through
verse
2
and
move
on to
verse
3
we
see
another
correlation.
For
this
is
the
love
of
God
that
we
keep
His
commandments
and
His
commandments
are
not
burdensome
for
everyone
who
has
been
born
of
God
overcomes
the
world.
Keeping
the
commandments
of God
because
of a
posture
of love
leads
us
to
an
overcoming
life.
There
is
certain
victory
for you
as a
believer.
Certain
victory.
There
are
no
ifs
ands
or
buts
about
it.
Everyone
who
has
been
born
of
God
and
notice
again
this
correlation
back
to the
beginning
everyone
who
believes
that
Jesus
is
Christ
has
been
born
of
God
the
same
phrase
we
can
continue
to
extend
this
correlation
down
those
also
who
have
been
born
of
God
overcome
the
world.
It
is
a
certainty
in the
Christian
life
for
those
who
believe
the
right
things
about
Jesus.
The
second
part
of
verse
four
and
this
is
the
victory
that
has
overcome
the
world
what
is
it?
What
do
you
see?
Our
faith.
Now
we're
right
back
to
the
beginning
and
the
cycle
begins
all
over
again.
There
we
find
continuing
faith
that
continues
to
grow
and
I
can't
wait
to
tell
you
about
it.
Somehow
this
time
went
by
so
fast.
I
need
to
get
back
in
the
flow
of
pacing
myself
a little
bit
better.
Let me
close
with
an
illustration.
one of
the
things
that I
have
begun
to
appreciate
is
the
defectiveness
of my
obedience.
It's
easy for
us
who have
grown up
in the
church
to go
through
the
motions
of
coming
at the
right
time
serving
in the
right
way
singing
the
right
songs
praying
the
right
prayers
saying
the
right
things
knowing
the
right
truths
embracing
the
right
principles
to
think
that
we're
doing
everything
just
the
right
way.
But
what
chapter
5
verses
1
through
5
confront
us
with
is
that
a
true
confession
of
God
that
leads
to
the
right
kind
of
love
then
leads
to
the
right
kind
of
action
and
you
can't
reverse
the
two
you
can't
ask
for
the
right
action
and
expect
that
it's
going
to
be
commendable
to
God
because
the
right
action
that
is not
driven
or
motivated
by the
right
heart
is not
only
inadequate
it is
absolutely
corrupt
so that
Jesus
or God
tells
the
children
of
Israel
in
Isaiah
chapter
1
we
saw
this
too
he
says
I
hate
your
sacrifices
I
hate
your
religious
ceremony
it
is
despicable
to me
I
want
a
clean
heart
come
to
me
demonstrate
the
sincerity
of
your
love
to
me
and
then
we
can
begin
to
talk
about
the
right
kind
of
obedience
and
then
we
can
begin
to
see
God
shape
us
to
have
the
right
kind
of
victory
day
by
day
but
you
can't
have
the
right
love
unless
you
have
the
right
confession
the
right
faith
in
who
Jesus
is
if
we
really
understood
that
Jesus
is
not
willing
to
see
the
hypocrisy
of life
and say
okay
well
you're
going
through
the
right
motion
so
you
must
be
okay
we
believe
that
Jesus
is
able
to
see
the
heart
we
believe
that
he
is
omniscient
do
you
believe
that
of
course
you
do
so
how
do
you
think
and
how
do
I
think
we
can
play
games
with
God
you
see
that's
where
our
faith
becomes
defective
because
on
one
hand
we
say
yes
I
believe
in
a
God
who
is
omniscient
and
then
we
go
about
doing
our
little
sins
as
if
he
didn't
take
notice
we
conceal
those
parts
of
our
heart
and
we
say
yes
he
is
sovereign
and
lord
of
all
but
I'm
going
to
be
the
lord
of
this
area
of
my
life
so
our
expression
of
who
God
is
our
theology
is
completely
out of
step
with
our
life
you
understand
because
you
are
what
you
believe
and
when
we
truly
believe
the
right
things
about
Jesus
it
will
lead
us
into
this
deep
intimate
abiding
relationship
with
him
we
will
be
inseparable
which
will
lead
to
consistent
obedience
and
triumph
not
by
doing
disciplining
yourself
more
to do
better
tomorrow
that
has
very
little
if
anything
to do
with
it
is
more
about
surrender
to
him
than
it
is
about
disciplining
yourself
not
that
is
unimportant
don't
get me
wrong
but
I
think
we
have
the
discipline
part
down
what
we
don't
have
down
is
the
abiding
relationship
part
at
least
that's
true
for
me
but
those
who
believe
those
who
are
born
of
him
will
overcome
that's
what
it
says
so
if
you
want
to
be
an
overcomer
today
it
starts
with
the
right
faith
it
leads
to
the
right
love
it
carries
us
to
consistent
obedience
that
by
the
way
John
says
and
Jesus
as
well
that
it
is
not
burdensome
so if
you are
here
this
morning
and you
say
I
can't
keep
all
the
rules
it's
just
way
too
hard
then
you
don't
get
it
you
don't
understand
because
it
becomes
natural
and it
becomes
easy
in a
way
because
of the
empowering
work
of the
Holy
Spirit
in your
life
when
you're
truly
surrendering
to
his
power
and
enjoying
faith
the way
he has
designed
it to
be
I
want
to
know
that
kind
of
triumph
I
trust
you
want
to
know
that
kind
of
triumph
too
so
!
I'm
going to
close
this
in
prayer
and
I'm
going
to
invite
when
we
sing
this
next
song
I'm
going
to
invite
anyone
to
come
who
does
not
know
that
kind
of
overcoming
power
so
that
we
can
either
introduce
you
to
Jesus
or
so
that
we
can
pray
!
He
would
forgive
you
of
your
sin
and
you
could
move
in
the
right
direction
let
it
begin
today
don't
allow
pride
to
get
in
the
way
of
an
abiding
relationship
with
Him
and
overcoming
life
be
willing
to be
transparent
with the
people
in this
room
who
love
you
and
want
to
help
you
in
this
process
so
I'm
going
to
pray
for
us
I'm
going
to
invite
the
team
to
come
I'm
going
to
encourage
anyone
this
morning
who
wants
to
either
get
on
the
road
for
the
first
time
or
stay
on
the
road
from
this
point
on
to
come
so
we
can
pray
for
you
pray
with
you
and
then
you'll
be
dismissed
!
Let me
pray!
five