Well, I have to tell you, I love listening to you sing.
I always do.
And so when I say let's turn in our Bibles, it is against the backdrop of the sweet, joyful singing
!
As we've thought about the Lord Jesus Christ and his word.
I want you to turn in your Bibles to first, no, we're not going there first.
I want you to turn in your Bibles to Psalm 45, verse 6 and 7.
I'm curious.
How many of you here really struggle with sin?
Don't wave your hand at me and say, hey, that's me.
I'm all over it, man.
I'm doing the best I can.
But how many of you find yourself on a regular basis grieved, burdened, disappointed with the sinfulness of your soul?
How many of you would like to be different?
Honestly.
Tired of struggling with the same old things over and over again.
I got good news for you.
When we get home, it's going to be great.
People ask me, how's it going?
When I say, any better than I be dead.
Because the next step is always victory and it's joyful.
And the passage that I want us to look at first this morning is a passage in Psalm 45 where the psalmist expresses joy at the character of our Savior.
Your throne, O God, is forever and ever.
The scepter of your throne is a scepter of uprightness.
Now listen to this and memorize it.
Have it stick in your mind and let it be a benchmark, a measurement about where your heart needs to be.
You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness.
Therefore, God your God has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions.
I was driving yesterday.
You have been praying about the possibility of me serving as an interim pastor in a place.
And I was driving down the road to a place that had asked me about coming in the future to minister a little bit occasionally.
And as I was driving, I tried to call my wife.
Because there was something that I thought really desperately needed to be done.
And how many of you know that when you have a good idea, everybody else in the world should have the same good idea?
You know, it's like, what's the deal?
And I thought, my wife's on task.
I'll call her and she'll answer the phone and it's all taken care of.
So you know how it worked out from there, right?
We have a cell phone that my wife has and we have, and we also have a hard line because our cell phone...
Anyway, so I was alternating between calling her cell phone and calling her hard line, back and forth, back and forth, back and forth.
And so here I am driving to meet with a group of men about serving in an interim pastor eventually in the future.
And a very spiritual thing to do, you know.
And I'm driving along and my wife's not picking up her call.
How would you do on that case?
God is in control.
You know, I'm hearing Twyla Parris in the background.
Some of you don't know who that is.
But, you know, it's like, I'm...
No, that's not what's happening.
I was beginning to devolve into a kind of an attitudinal snit.
Just temporarily.
I got to tell you.
Thank the Lord.
I mean, it kind of dawned on me.
You know, Tim, who are you?
She's probably doing something important.
She was actually drying her hair, which was reasonable.
Because I wanted her to go out and make a public appearance to pick up something for me.
And finally, when she did answer the call, she was in the car on the way there.
I was just so tickled.
Particularly that I hadn't gotten angry.
And that sin hadn't entirely gotten the best of me.
I hate sin.
I struggle with it.
I don't know about you.
But it's a real bother to Tim Knoyer's life.
And the passage that we are going to look at this morning in 1 John 2 is all about sin.
I thought to myself, so Tim, since you've got five sermons left, what would you like to preach on?
Sin is my favorite topic.
And so there it is.
I get to talk on sin.
But it's in the Bible.
And we want to get to it.
And what I realized as I was in prayer and study, there's not a one of you here this morning that is not actively engaged in dealing with sin.
There are some of you here that don't know Christ.
And sin has absolutely overwhelmed your life.
And it is leading you to eternity apart from God and hell.
There are others of you here that are believers that know the blessing of his grace but still continue that struggle.
And so it is my rich privilege this morning to open the Bible and tell you that you do not have to be a captive to that problem.
That's the truth.
Chapter 2, verse 1, let me read it to you.
And I want you to follow along in your Bible while you do this.
Multitasking.
You are to listen to the preaching of the Word of God and you are to pray for the man who delivers it at the same time.
That's what the Scripture calls you to.
2 Thessalonians 3, verse 1 and 2.
So you pray and listen at the same time.
So let me read it to you and you follow along here.
It says, my little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin.
But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.
He is the propitiation for our sins and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.
And by this we know that we have come to know him if we keep his commandments.
Whoever says, I know him but does not keep his commandments is a liar and the truth is not in him.
But whoever keeps his word and in him truly the love of God is perfected, by this we know that we are in him.
Whoever says that he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.
He's not in him.
It would be inappropriate for me to not follow the order of the text.
And I don't think it is an accident that when John the Apostle wrote to the church,
that he put this little part at the beginning when he says, my little children.
By the way, any of you that kind of, a little Bible knowledge,
you remember how John was known early on in his apostolic development process, right?
Remember, what was he known as?
The sons of, well, remember some people were having an attitude towards Jesus and John wanted to solve it, right?
Go out there and be peace and light and throw a little bit of love around, you know, just burn them.
You know, in fact, it was, hey, can I, hey, could I call down light, you know, fire from heaven and smoke those guys?
John was a fiery man.
Now, over time, the love and work of Christ led him to be exceptionally tender.
And here he is towards the end of his life, and he writes to this church,
and he's concerned for this church's spiritual well-being.
Look at me.
I've been your shepherd, your pastor, for a number of years,
and I happen to know that as I'm struggling with sin, you guys are struggling with some of those issues.
I happen to know some of them, too.
And so I come to you and I say, my little children, there is an affection here,
and I think it's important for us to understand that John loved those that he was writing to.
He really cared about them.
The idea that those who care for the church professionally, pastors,
are there to kind of be distant instructors of righteousness really finds no support in Scripture.
Do you understand what I'm saying?
It's like kind of a guy who dispenses wisdom and stuff and says the right things and recites the Bible,
but there's no affection, there's no passion in relationship with people.
That's not the way it is.
Godly ministry always involves an affection for the people that you're engaged with.
Does that make sense to you?
By the way, we know the importance of that when you pay attention to how children interact with parents.
One of the things I've noticed over and over again is when a child is doing something wrong
and the parent corrects the child by voice, you know, it's like,
hey, Bubba, don't do that.
You know what the child immediately does?
Well, some children, I should say.
The child looks at the parent's eyes.
What is the child trying to figure out to start out with?
Well, the child's trying to figure out, do you love me?
Where am I at in this food chain?
Because that issue of the affection of the one who is ministering the Word
or ministering discipline is important.
I am reminded of the affection that John had here,
and I'm reminded of the affection that the Apostle Paul had
for the churches that he wrote to.
Remember, he says this,
I labor and travail until Christ be formed in you.
Remember, he also talked in 2 Corinthians of the burden of caring for the churches.
His concern was something that was evident.
And you stop and think about Paul.
He was a preeminent theologian,
and yet the thing that people remembered about him was not just his teaching,
but was his affection for them.
And here is John at the very beginning of dealing with a very difficult subject
in the body of Christ, namely the ongoing struggle that everyone has with sin.
He starts out and says,
Hey, listen, my little children.
I can still remember reading a portion of a book by Charles Bridges, a Puritan.
And years ago, I remember reading it early in my pastoral ministry,
and he made this comment that when people ask themselves the question,
Does Jesus love me?
One of the things that should assure them of Christ's love for them
is the love of their pastors and their teachers for them.
So let me stop here just for a moment and make this point clear.
If you are in a teaching phase or ministry of this fellowship
and your students do not understand that you love them,
you are not hitting the Bible mark of ministry.
Is that a fair statement?
Here is John at the beginning of the business of dealing with a sin problem
in the congregation, and he says,
Let's start out, and I want you to know that I love you,
my little children.
Well, with that said, can you imagine
just the impropriety in today's culture
of somebody standing at the front and saying,
Guys, I'm really concerned with your sin problem?
Hmm?
What? You are?
I mean, compared to what I see in the world around,
why are you concerned about my sin problem?
The only thing I'm dealing with is attitudes occasionally.
This is just a real confession.
I haven't had a speeding ticket in quite some time.
Thank God.
Not that I haven't deserved a couple.
But I am struggling with accepting the fact
that there are state police officers
that cherry pick on Wilson Road when I drive home.
There is a portion of Wilson Road that goes from 45 to 35.
Guess where the state police officers park
because they know that's easy picking,
and they have a quota.
And so I'm driving by there just thinking,
Yes, Lord, Romans 13 is in the Bible,
and you have put them there for me.
Oh, my.
My little children,
I am writing these things to you
so that you may not sin.
Question.
How serious are you about sin?
I remember a couple years ago,
we had a norovirus epidemic here at church.
How many remember that?
It's one of the moments of our history
that it should be chronicled in our annuals somewhere.
But there was a person who got sick
right at the end of the service,
and happened to,
I don't know what the word is appropriate for this moment,
but they happened to discharge out in the lobby.
And then the entire congregation waded through the mist.
And we actually had 96 or 90,
do you remember?
It was in the 90s.
We ended up having the health department come here
and use us as a test case.
And norovirus.
How many people die from norovirus?
Not that many.
But it was really kind of interesting
to hear people going apoplectic about norovirus.
I mean, they were really serious.
I'm not going to get sick.
You know, it's like,
what happened to Christian charity
and kindness and concern for one another?
I mean, do you know what happened
when during the Middle Ages,
Christians were in communities that had the plague?
Huh?
Does anybody know?
Christians developed church,
I mean, hospitals,
and took care of the sick.
Well, my point is,
is when that norovirus thing swept through here,
it was really interesting.
Norovirus is like a panic state for people.
I don't want to,
you know, it's like,
oh, norovirus.
I don't see anybody acting that way towards their sin.
And sin is far more dangerous to you
than norovirus is.
So I want you to understand when John says this,
I am writing these things to you
so that you may not sin.
And I want you to etch that into your thinking.
The Holy Spirit is interested in you not sinning.
Can I say that again slowly?
Because I don't think you believe it.
The Holy Spirit is interested in you not sinning.
He's interested in me not sinning.
Why is that?
Well, for the unbeliever,
sin is just the way it is.
Am I right?
I think about the passage,
and I think it's Isaiah, Jeremiah,
where it says, you know,
can the Nubian change his skin
or the leopard change his spots?
It says, you've got no chance.
You're going to do what you do.
Unbelievers are snared,
are trapped by sin.
And you have to face that.
You know, sometimes we as believers act,
I can't believe they did that.
Well, they're just,
they're being where they are.
Give them a break and give them Jesus
and hope that he redeems them
from the fall and the curse
and changes their hearts
until people have a change of heart.
They're really not going to do anything but sin.
But believers,
we're not slaves anymore.
Is that right?
How many of you agree?
We're not slaves.
We don't have to.
I like that.
But I'm still struggling with it.
Why is sin such a bother?
Well, sin is terrible in so many ways.
And let's take some time to think through,
why is John concerned?
Well, for one,
sin un-God's God.
Every sin is an affront,
offense,
to his holiness,
to his wisdom,
to his goodness,
to his moral purity.
Every time we sin,
we tell God
that he is not
the one who counts.
I mean,
I'll go back to the illustration
of having called my wife
six or seven or eight times
and hoping that she'd pick up the phone
because I was really,
really intent
on her picking up
some rolled rubber
for our porch.
And when she didn't pick it up,
my first thought,
how many of you know this,
whatsoever thoughts are pure,
whatsoever things are good,
da-da-da-da,
my first thought was not,
you know what?
She's probably cooking
my favorite meal.
I didn't think that.
You know,
she's probably doing my laundry
and folding it
like she always does,
and I'm amazed.
It just happens.
And it's like,
I didn't think that either.
But at the heart of it,
what I was really doing
was I was displacing
my sovereign God
who was absolutely in control
whether or not
I get rubber roofing
on Saturday.
I thought my agenda
was more important
than his agenda.
Any time you sin,
you un-God.
God.
Secondly,
sin is a denial
of the power
of the gospel.
Write that down, please,
and have it stick.
Sin is a denial
of the gospel.
When believers sin,
the believer is saying
that Christ's sacrifice
for us
is insignificant
in comparison
to our momentary lust
or anger
or greed.
furthermore,
we say that
the power of the gospel
to deliver us
from bondage to sin
is practically ineffective.
In other words,
it really doesn't work.
Yesterday morning
as two of us
were bringing oatmeal
to different people,
one of the things
I enjoy about doing that
is I have opportunities
when the door is open
to tell people
that I know
the only one
who can change
their messy lives.
I don't say messy,
but I mean,
when you're living
in a tent
and it's
five below,
I don't have to say that.
And you're living
in absolute squalor.
You know what the word squalor,
some of you
have rooms
that are messy,
but no.
I have the privilege
of saying
I know the only one
who can change
your life,
who can deliver you
from the hopelessness
of your sin
and can not only
grant you
complete forgiveness,
but can help you
stop being
who you are.
I love
the fact
of the gospel
that because
I am a child
of God,
I don't have to
stay the way
I am.
So when a believer
sins,
in practical terms,
he is saying
I deny
the power
of the gospel.
Now,
everybody smile.
You know,
we're not
into adultery.
We're good with that.
We've not
stolen a lot.
We've not
murdered anybody here.
You know,
I mean,
we're good.
We're good.
But I'll tell you
what,
we have some people
that are pretty good
at being pouty
and fussy
and gossipers
and unhappy
and malcontents.
Do you follow
what I'm saying?
Does that bother
God at all?
What do you think?
Does it bother you?
I had to mow
our lawn yesterday.
yesterday.
We have a very
small lawn
and my dog
uses it twice a day.
I don't need to go
any further than that,
right?
You understand
what I'm saying?
So one of the things
that goes with
prepping the lawn
for mowing is
understand,
do I need to go
further?
We're okay.
I have to go out
and do a little patrol
before I go out
and mow.
Oh yeah.
And then I mow
and enjoy.
But I was about
80% through
and suddenly I got
this wafting odor
of processed dog food
and I'm thinking,
ugh,
ugh.
You know,
scamper over there
to the hose
and you know,
pfft.
You know,
it's no problem.
Dog stuff on my shoe.
I'm going inside the house
and you know,
new.
Everybody listen.
God takes our sin
far more seriously
than we do.
Sin is a denial
of the power
of the gospel.
One of the reasons
more people
have not come to faith
is frankly,
they don't see
that God changes
hearts as much
as they should.
You are either
living proof
that Jesus died
and rose again
and he can deliver
people from sin
or you are
a practical denial
of the gospel
you proclaim.
Third thing is
sin leads to
unwise
and irrational
choices.
Write that down
because we don't
believe it.
the sinner
can talk himself
into thinking
that his sin
is the best
course of action
for the moment.
I mean,
have you ever
bumped into a sinner
and said,
why did you do that?
And they immediately
say to you,
well,
that was the best
idea I had.
They never say that
after the fact.
But as they're
processing,
should I do that,
what are they thinking?
What do you think
they're thinking?
Well,
this is really
going to hurt
in the end.
this is going
to lead
to my spiritual
compromise.
It's going
to cause
heartache.
It's going
to grieve
my family.
It's going
to ruin
my testimony.
It's going
to harm
my...
No!
I think
about that
passage in
Romans chapter
one,
and we'll not
get into it
here,
but remember
Paul writes
this.
He said,
God gave
them up,
God gave
them up,
God gave
them up.
Three times
he makes
that point
that,
you know,
God lets
people have
their way,
and what
happens?
How many of you
noticed,
listen,
how many of you
noticed that
every time you
sin that you
do not deal
with that sin
and confess it
and forsake
it and repent,
it gets worse?
It gets worse?
One of the
advantages of
being 69,
almost 70,
is I have
all kinds
of scar tissue
from Jesus
dealing with
me pretty
firmly about
my sin.
You get it?
And every
now and then
when I begin
messing with
an attitude
that could
take me
into the
absolute
swamp,
he kind
of touches
on an
old scar
and says,
hey Tim,
do you
remember this
one?
Yeah.
Don't mess
with me.
Remember
the story
of Jacob?
Jacob wrestled
with God
and God
did what?
Crippled
him.
I would
venture to
say,
every now
and then
when Jacob
started getting
an attitude,
God would
kind of bring
along a little
bit of hip
dysplasia.
You know,
okay,
I get it.
Get back
on the road.
You know,
I got it.
Come on.
Sin
leads
to
unwise
and
irrational
choices.
And by
the way,
sin
to
God
Satan
does
not
mind
how
small
a sin
he can
get you
to commit
so long
as you
let that
sin go
unconfessed
and
unforsaken.
Everyone
will equally
lead you
to the
pit.
Sin
brings
death.
I
think
about
the
statement,
sin
is an
opportunistic
virus
that
always
destroys
its
host.
Sin
produces
infection
in our
heart
that
leads
to
incredible
heartache.
This
morning,
I was
listening
to Caleb
Perrin
teach
our
young
people.
He
was
talking
about
how
David
ended
up
in
such
a
disastrous
situation
with
the
wife
of
Uriah
the
Hittite.
It
was
a
clear
exposition
of how
David
made
the
journey
and
ended
up
being
a
murderer
and
an
adulterer.
And
I have
to tell
you,
don't
ever
think
that
David
did
not
in
the
later
time
of
his
life
have
regrets
about
his
sin.
So let
me
say
this
practically
speaking,
I wonder
this
morning
whether
you
take
sin
seriously.
Do
you
fear
it?
Do
you
honestly
fear
it?
Do
you
loathe
it?
Do
you
have
a
remember
I
talked
about
mowing
and
stepping
in
the
wrong
things
in
the
yard?
Most
of
us
don't
say
hmm
that's
nice.
It's
like
do
you
loathe
it?
Is
there
some
kind
of
visceral
reaction
to
sin
in
your
man
that
was
wrong?
I
gotta
be
honest
boy
it
sounds
like
I'm
not
honest
most
of
the
time
trying
to
do
so
now
I'm
gonna
try
it
now.
I
was
born
an
incredibly
moody
self
focused
arrogant
proud
stubborn
sinner
and
thankfully
Jesus
saved
me
and
I'm
hoping
that
as
I
get
older
I
get
better
at
being
less
sinful
now
being
at
the
age
I
am
I'm
watching
some
people
get
older
and
older
and
older
they
get
crotch
eater
and
crotch
eater
and
I'm
asking
myself
Lord
don't
let
that
happen
either
take
me
home
or
change
me
but
I've
asked
my
wife
to
help
me
with
that
too
I
don't
want
to
be
an
old
person
who's
grumpy
all
the
time
I
gotta
tell
you
getting
old
is
not
half
as
much
fun
as
I
thought
it
would
be
but
being
grumpy
is
not
God's
answer
to
being
old
and
I
gotta
understand
that
the
attitude
you
have
towards
sin
is
going
to
end
up
determining
!
I
want
to be
that
way
I
want
to
have
a
sincere
passion
for
what
is
right
and
I
want
to
have
a
visceral
reaction
when
I
see
sin
in
Tim
Knoyer's
life
and
if
I
were
to
plead
with
Christ
to
do
a
work
in
your
hearts
as
people
of
this
fellowship
I
would
desire
to
see
you
grow
in
your
personal
hatred
for
your
own
sin
and
how
will
you
know
that
you're
making
progress
in
that
by
how
quickly
you
confess
and
how
earnestly
you
forsake
and
how
passionate
you
are
in
dealing
with
that
in
your
life
well
I'm
really
glad
that's
not
all
the
passage
has
let's
come to
the next
part
that is
even
much
better
okay
but if
anyone
does
sin
can
you
read
the
next
part
we
have
an
advocate
with
the
father
Jesus
Christ
the
righteous
now
listen
to me
the
significance
of the
problem
of
sin
can
be
balanced
out
so you
don't
think
sin's
a big
problem
well then
you don't
need a
big
advocate
but if
sin
is a
big
problem
then you
have
the
comfort
of the
remainder
of verse
one
which says
and if
we do
sin
we have
an
advocate
with
the
father
who
is
Jesus
Christ
the
righteous
so I
want us
to think
a little
bit
about
the
blessing
of his
advocacy
you see
Paul was
dealing
with
people
in the
church
who
were
deceiving
themselves
about
their
sin
problem
some
of you
never
heard me
preach
before
and you're
going to
go home
and someone's
going to
say
what did
you hear
at church
the guy
was all
over
sin
I'm
probably
not
going
back
but you
know
it's a
little
bit
like
it's
like
a
surgical
!
nurse
do you
follow me
in
surgery
how many
people care
about
infection
the
people
who
are
involved
in
surgery
really
want
the
people
that
come
into
the
surgery
room
to
go
out
pretty
safe
and I'm
interested
in you
going
out
safe
so
here's
John
writing
in
John
1
he says
listen
if we
say
we
have
no
sin
we
deceive
ourselves
you're
fooling
yourself
if you
don't
think
you
have
a
problem
now
verse
chapter 2
I don't
want you
to sin
but if
you do
you have
an
advocate
what
is
an
advocate
the
Greek
word
is
used
here
is
not
a
word
that
is
easily
translated
into
English
stop
is
easy
you
get
it
stop
but
the
word
that
is
used
here
is
a
word
that
if
you
were
to
compare
translations
you'd
have
advocate
you
would
have
helper
just
different
words
because
the
word
is
one
that
carries
with
it
a
lot
of
meaning
of
both
relationship
and
help
you
see
Jesus
is
the
one
who
when
we
sin
restores
our
hope
have
you
ever
felt
broken
by
the
sin
that
you've
committed
that's
it
I'm
done
you know
it's
worthless
Jesus
is
your
help
have
you
ever
found
yourself
just
kind
of
totally
discouraged
with
why
did
this
happen
again
I
mean
me
being
a
moody
person
is
like
I
don't
want
to
be
that
way
and
Jesus
is
my
comforter
he
is
the
one
who
revives
passion
he's
the
one
who
stirs
your
heart
with
a
longing
for
holiness
he's
the
one
that
leads
you
to
actually
have
a
hatred
for
sin
I
hate
it
I
hate
it
he's
the
one
that
stirs
your
desire
for
godliness
I
want you
to
understand
this
morning
that
no
believer
should
ever
feel
hopeless
and in
bondage
to
sin
and if
you're
here
this
morning
and
let me
put it
this way
if you're
here
this
morning
and
you're
not
dealing
with
sin
then
you're
either
dead
or
you're
insensitive
to
the
problem
and
if
you
are
here
and
you're
facing
the
reality
I've
got
to
struggle
with
sin
and
it's
not
something
I
like
having
I
want
to
welcome
you
to
remember
that
Jesus
is
your
advocate
and
your
ally
and
your
companion
and
your
helper
and
he
listen
to
me
he
is
actually
more
interested
in
you
having
victory
over
sin
than
you
are
why
is
that
because
he
paid
for
your
salvation
with
his
own
blood
you're
walking
advertisement
of what
he
can
do
with
a
ruined
mess
right
and
he's
all
over
that
and
so
this
morning
if
you
are
struggling
with
that
battle
with
sin
I
want
you
to
know
that
Jesus
is
your
mediator
he
is
your
advocate
he
is
your
ally
there's
something
else
that we
find
there
in
the
passage
!
verse 2
it says
he
is
the
propitiation
for
our
sins
now
I
would
not
ask
ten
of
you
to
read
that
out
to
get
that
pronunciation
right
you
know
three
years
in
seminary
and
I
got
it
he
is
the
propitiation
for
our
sins
you
got
it
what's
that
mean
well
in
broad
terms
it
means
that
Jesus
has
satisfied
the
righteous
judgment
of
God
against
my
sins
what's
the
consequence
that
and the
reality
of this
is that
when
Jesus
died
on the
cross
he
satisfied
the
debt
my
sin
had
created
and
God
poured
out
on
Jesus
the
full
measure
of
wrath
that
I
deserved
and
will
ever
deserve
I
think
about
the
words
of
the
song
it
says
my
sin
not
in
part
but
the
whole
is
nailed
to
the
cross
and
I
what
I
bear
it
no
more
I
wonder
whether
or
not
when
you
find
yourselves
struggling
with
the
shame
and
guilt
of
sin
if
you
don't
remind
yourself
that
Jesus
died
for
you
and
he
delivered
you
from
that
slavery
and
he
is
the
propitiation
he
is
the
satisfaction
for
your
sin
problem
I
have
to
confess
this
morning
that
if
I
were
to
be
given
about
four
more
weeks
these
six
verses
I
could
stay
in
without
any
problem
we
could
deal
with
who
did
Jesus
die
for
and
that
would
be
legitimate
conversation
but
we're
not
going
to
we're
going
to
come
now
to
the
last
part
and
that
is
what
we
find
there
in
verse
three
four
five
and
six
and
let
me
kind
of
help
you
understand
that
one
of
the
things
that
John's
letter
aims
at
is
helping
the
believer
figure
out
the
authenticity
of
their
I ask
people
so
do
you
know
Jesus
well
of
course
I
know
Jesus
I
grew
up
in
America
no
that's
not
what
I'm
asking
do
you
know
Jesus
well
yeah
I
was
baptized
do
you
know
have
you
come
first
of
all
as a
bankrupt
sinner
said
my
life
is
an
absolute
mess
and
I
can't
do
anything
about
it
but
I
believe
Jesus
died
for
my
sins
and
I
trust
him
as
my
savior
well
John
writes
to help
us
confirm
our
relationship
to figure
out
are
we
really
saved
and
I
think
it's
appropriate
to check
your birth
certificate
every now
and then
to say
do
I
know
him
well
here's
what we
see
there
in
the
passage
verse
three
and
by
this
we
know
that
we
have
come
to
know
him
if
we
keep
his
commandments
I'm
going
to
try
a
little
bit
of
math
here
so
bear
with
me
just
so
you
know
do
you
know
what
a
hypotenuse
triangle
is
there
are
some
of
you
that
say
no
I
have
no
idea
there
are
some
of
you
saying
absolutely
I
got
that
well
in
the
process
of
constructing
our
what
I
think
is
our
last
remodel
I've
been
you're
laughing
at
me
I've
been
working
a
lot
on
trying
to
figure
out
how
I
know
that
walls
are
at
right
angles
to
another
wall
you know
it's
inappropriate
because
you get
on the
far
side
of
the
room
and
you
wonder
why
the
trim
is
not
working
and
all
that
kind
of
stuff
so
hypotenuse
how many
of you
understand
the
little
mathematical
equation
of
three
four
five
see
you
can
think
you've
got
it
right
but
then
you
stretch
the
tape
measure
across
the
hypotenuse
and you
find out
I'm
not
there
so
John
gives
us
a way
of
figuring
out
if
we're
really
there
or
not
here's
the
passage
and
by
this
we
know
that
we
have
come
to
know
him
if
we
keep
his
commandments
my
relationship
is
confirmed
it's
documented
it's
verified
by my
desire
to
obey
him
hey
keeping
his
commandments
doesn't
get me
there
keeping
his
commandments
doesn't
keep
me
there
keeping
his
commandments
just
helps
me
know
I
am
there
and
so
here's
John
saying
hey
listen
obedience
confirms
our
salvation
and
it's
appropriate
for you
who are
sitting
here
this
morning
in
the
ongoing
journey
of
life
to
ask
yourself
so
what
is
my
heart's
attitude
towards
his
word
do
I
really
want
to
obey
him
or
am
I
so
full
of
myself
that
when
I
sin
I
think
it's
everybody
else's
fault
and
if
they
change
I
be
okay
if
we
say
that
we
are
a
believer
but
we
have
no
interest
in
obeying
his
word
and
we
really
don't
care
what
he
wants
there's
a good
reason
to
question
whether
or not
we
really
have
what
we
think
we
do
I
got
to
tell
you
this
Satan
specializes
in
deception
make
sense
Satan
specializes
in
deception
I
think
it was
Wednesday
I'm
working
on my
computer
and up
pops
this
little
thing
says
you
need
immediately
it
came
right
out
over
blanked
everything
else
on my
screen
you
immediately
need
to
call
this
number
because
you've
been
infected
with
a
virus
and
blah
now
at
my
age
I
figured
I'm
not
sure
so
I
called
Pastor
Saul
I
have
this
I
was
trying
to
study
for
Wednesday
night
and
you
know
I'm
under
a
deadline
and
he
says
it
was
gone
and
sure
enough
I
didn't
have
a
virus
Satan
is
a
specialist
in
deception
and
there
are
some
he is
deceiving
Satan
loves
that
and so
we come to
one other
little issue
there in
verse 6
whoever says
he abides
in him
ought to
walk in
the same
way in
which he
walked
what's
that
saying
if
you
really
have
the
relationship
that's
marked
by
communion
it's
reasonable
to
expect
that
your
walk
matches
his
walk
so
that
brings
me
full
circle
to
the
verse
I
started
with
how
many
of you
remember
it
huh
Psalm
45
verse 7
also
recited
in
Hebrews
chapter
1
verse
9
thou
hast
loved
righteousness
and hated
iniquity
listen
the
characteristic
of a
growing
believer
is a
progressive
desire
for
holiness
and a
greater
hatred
for
personal
sin
how you
doing
are you
on the
uphill
journey
or are
you
fooling
yourself
that's
why
John
wrote
to help
us
with
self
diagnosis
by the
way
wouldn't
you
rather
deal
with
self
diagnosis
than
having
him
bring
somebody
else
along
to
help
you
and
all
God's
people
said
preach
it
brother
I
need
that
okay
let's
close
in
prayer
father
your
word
is a
light
and a
lamp
to our
feet
your
word
is what
convicts
and encourages
us
your
word
is what
draws
us
to have
a
desire
for
the
Lord
Jesus
Christ
and
his
glory
and
we're
thankful
that
it
makes
clear
to
us
as
believers
that
the
walk
of
faith
is
one
that
is
marked
by
a
growing
desire
for
holiness
and
godliness
and
purity
and
a
hatred
a
visceral
hatred
for
sin
let that
be
true
in
us
today
we
ask
us
in
Jesus
name
amen