WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:22.260 Hi, and welcome to the Willow Ridge Church weekly podcast. 00:00:22.780 --> 00:00:25.880 This is where you can find audio for our current and past sermons. 00:00:26.080 --> 00:00:30.420 We hope that you enjoy this week's installment, and be sure to check back next week to hear 00:00:30.420 --> 00:00:31.260 the latest message. 00:00:31.680 --> 00:00:32.440 Thanks for listening. 00:00:46.760 --> 00:00:47.640 Well, good morning. 00:00:47.720 --> 00:00:51.480 Again, if you've got your Bibles, go ahead and open them up to 1 John chapter 3. 00:00:52.560 --> 00:00:55.040 We'll start looking at verse 24 here in just a moment. 00:00:56.660 --> 00:00:59.580 If you're a first-time guest, I want to say thank you for joining us today. 00:00:59.680 --> 00:01:01.080 It is a special day. 00:01:01.380 --> 00:01:04.640 Maybe you came here not knowing anybody, but you're here with us. 00:01:04.720 --> 00:01:08.380 We're so glad that you were here and that you were worshiping with us today. 00:01:08.620 --> 00:01:10.340 We would love to know that you were here. 00:01:10.420 --> 00:01:12.800 That would bless us greatly if we could know that. 00:01:12.860 --> 00:01:17.940 So you'll see on the end of the rows that you're seated on, there will be—there's some cards 00:01:17.940 --> 00:01:19.540 there, and if you wouldn't mind filling that out. 00:01:19.540 --> 00:01:24.200 And at the end of the service, you can either drop that in the offering basket back here 00:01:24.200 --> 00:01:27.580 at our exit sign, or you can bring that to me back here at the left. 00:01:27.640 --> 00:01:31.560 I'll be at the welcome table greeting first-time guest as well. 00:01:31.620 --> 00:01:34.760 We'd love to meet you, learn your name, and thank you for being here. 00:01:35.080 --> 00:01:40.080 We are going to take the Lord's Supper at the very end of the service today. 00:01:40.380 --> 00:01:44.900 And so if you did not grab the Lord's Supper cup on your way in, we want to invite you 00:01:44.900 --> 00:01:45.140 to. 00:01:45.740 --> 00:01:50.820 You do not have to be a church member of Willow Ridge in order to partake in the Lord's Supper 00:01:50.820 --> 00:01:51.220 with us. 00:01:51.460 --> 00:01:55.680 You do not have to be a part of our denomination, which is Baptist, in order to partake with 00:01:55.680 --> 00:01:55.900 us. 00:01:55.900 --> 00:02:01.380 The only thing that we ask is that you be a follower of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ 00:02:01.380 --> 00:02:05.980 in order to participate with us, and we'll lead through that at the end of the service. 00:02:06.160 --> 00:02:10.700 And so if you've come here as a guest from another denomination, we love the fact that 00:02:10.700 --> 00:02:15.460 you're here and would invite you to partake in the Lord's Supper with us here in just 00:02:15.460 --> 00:02:15.840 a moment. 00:02:16.260 --> 00:02:19.800 I will say this because there's some questions from time to time about baptism. 00:02:20.200 --> 00:02:25.200 We do tentatively schedule baptism for us as a staff to work through the first Sunday 00:02:25.200 --> 00:02:25.780 of every month. 00:02:26.220 --> 00:02:28.720 Pastor Dave leads baptism classes. 00:02:28.720 --> 00:02:33.840 I know Dawn has had conversations with individuals, especially kids, about baptism. 00:02:34.000 --> 00:02:38.260 Pastor Joel has had a lot of conversations with our youth, and then I've had conversations 00:02:38.260 --> 00:02:41.820 from time to time as well with individuals who would like to get baptized. 00:02:42.340 --> 00:02:46.960 And so if you're a follower of Jesus Christ and you haven't followed through in believer's 00:02:46.960 --> 00:02:49.100 baptism, we want to encourage you to do that. 00:02:49.180 --> 00:02:52.120 Make us aware so we can sit down and have a conversation. 00:02:52.500 --> 00:02:55.740 Or maybe you're somebody and you're like, oh, I don't even know that I'm a believer. 00:02:55.740 --> 00:03:00.940 I'm not a believer, and I'm definitely not going to get baptized, but I am curious. 00:03:01.200 --> 00:03:02.660 Like, what is that whole thing about? 00:03:02.880 --> 00:03:07.940 I would love to sit down with you and have a fuller explanation of why we do what we do. 00:03:08.000 --> 00:03:14.500 And so we welcome that and would love to have you engage in that conversation with us. 00:03:15.200 --> 00:03:20.000 Well, with that said, we're going to continue on in our series on 1st, 2nd, and 3rd John. 00:03:20.380 --> 00:03:26.120 We're cranking through as we start off this new year with looking at these three letters, right? 00:03:26.200 --> 00:03:31.900 The first letter is going to take the majority of our time, and then 2nd John, and then 3rd John. 00:03:32.000 --> 00:03:34.360 We'll do each one of those in a week. 00:03:34.360 --> 00:03:41.960 But last week, we were going to connect to this week as John was affirming to the readers of the letter 00:03:41.960 --> 00:03:49.120 to abide in him, not in John, but abide in Christ so that when he appears, 00:03:49.480 --> 00:03:57.760 that's what he says, that we may have confidence and not shrink from him and shame at his coming. 00:03:58.240 --> 00:04:04.940 And so what John wants in the heart of followers of Christ is a layer of confidence in their life. 00:04:05.280 --> 00:04:07.900 Yes, at the second coming of Christ, he wants that there. 00:04:08.180 --> 00:04:19.880 But what we've seen is it's not just there, but it's in every day that we stand in the confidence that we are his and that he is ours. 00:04:20.580 --> 00:04:24.300 It's one of the biggest struggles that we see people walk through. 00:04:24.940 --> 00:04:42.540 And then when the conflict of sin enters in and continues to battle in our life, what begins to come from that oftentimes is shame. 00:04:42.880 --> 00:04:51.640 And so instead of waiting for the return of Christ with eager anticipation, we're those hiding on the sidelines afraid that we're caught. 00:04:52.880 --> 00:04:53.980 And John doesn't want that. 00:04:54.740 --> 00:04:59.180 John wants us to live in the confidence of who we are in Christ. 00:04:59.380 --> 00:05:01.580 So we're going to continue on in that theme. 00:05:01.660 --> 00:05:04.240 And so let's look at 1 John 3, just verse 24. 00:05:07.240 --> 00:05:07.800 He says, 00:05:07.800 --> 00:05:31.220 And so when we see there's been this continual emphasis on obedience, and it's what we continue to see. 00:05:31.220 --> 00:05:41.400 Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God and God in him, and by this we know that he abides in us by the Spirit whom he has given us. 00:05:41.660 --> 00:05:47.260 And so what we're going to see, what we're going to work through in this first section is what I'm going to call the testimony of the Spirit. 00:05:48.240 --> 00:06:00.200 The apostle Paul also writes about this and says in Romans 8 that there's this testimony of the Spirit that assures us that we belong to God, 00:06:00.720 --> 00:06:07.080 that God is in us, and that he is working through us. 00:06:07.240 --> 00:06:14.240 That this is what God gives believers, this testimony, this assurance of the Spirit. 00:06:14.520 --> 00:06:18.320 So some questions come from this as we walk through this. 00:06:18.440 --> 00:06:20.340 What is that testimony? 00:06:20.920 --> 00:06:27.520 How does the Holy Spirit show that evidence to us, to our conscience within us? 00:06:27.520 --> 00:06:31.640 And then how does the Holy Spirit show that evidence to others? 00:06:31.760 --> 00:06:32.880 Because we see this. 00:06:33.160 --> 00:06:34.640 So what is this testimony? 00:06:35.440 --> 00:06:37.960 How do I know this about myself? 00:06:38.340 --> 00:06:40.340 How do you know this about yourself? 00:06:40.800 --> 00:06:46.040 And then how do we know this about one another? 00:06:46.040 --> 00:06:55.060 Well, two things that we're going to look at and see that the Holy Spirit produces or what the Holy Spirit does in us. 00:06:55.320 --> 00:06:58.340 And the first one of these is he produces love. 00:06:58.760 --> 00:07:00.540 And this is a lot of what we talked about last week. 00:07:00.600 --> 00:07:04.080 In fact, look back at verse 23 from last week. 00:07:04.460 --> 00:07:17.740 And this is his commandment that we believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another. 00:07:18.740 --> 00:07:23.760 Just as he commands, commanded us. 00:07:24.360 --> 00:07:32.480 And so what we see in this, what we talked about last week, is there's this particular kind of love that we're talking about. 00:07:32.620 --> 00:07:35.440 And we're going to end on love again today as well, all right? 00:07:35.460 --> 00:07:39.780 So we're getting double and triple dosages of the love of God in this, right? 00:07:39.920 --> 00:07:44.020 That he produces this love that's not worldly love. 00:07:44.140 --> 00:07:50.820 It's not love for the world, but it's the love of God that causes us to love one another. 00:07:51.920 --> 00:07:57.180 And it's what we see in the Spirit, that he produces this love. 00:07:57.180 --> 00:08:00.900 But verse 23 is really interesting, right? 00:08:01.140 --> 00:08:05.480 In verse 23, there is one commandment that is given. 00:08:06.540 --> 00:08:18.160 One commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and that we love one another. 00:08:19.220 --> 00:08:20.480 So that's what we looked at last week. 00:08:21.420 --> 00:08:27.840 So what we find is that what the Spirit does is the Spirit produces love. 00:08:28.300 --> 00:08:33.440 But the second work of the Spirit is that the Spirit produces faith. 00:08:34.200 --> 00:08:35.500 The Spirit produces faith. 00:08:35.920 --> 00:08:36.700 This is interesting. 00:08:37.120 --> 00:08:40.520 I'm going to read to you Ephesians 3, 14 through 19. 00:08:41.300 --> 00:08:42.840 Paul writes and says, 00:08:43.240 --> 00:08:50.880 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named. 00:08:51.760 --> 00:09:03.220 According to the riches of his glory, he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being. 00:09:04.180 --> 00:09:09.500 So that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. 00:09:09.500 --> 00:09:24.500 That you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth. 00:09:24.500 --> 00:09:33.100 And to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with the fullness of God. 00:09:33.100 --> 00:09:35.760 So look at what John talks about here, right? 00:09:35.820 --> 00:09:44.760 That you may be strengthened from God with the power through his Spirit in your inner being. 00:09:44.880 --> 00:09:51.720 So that what comes from this is that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. 00:09:51.720 --> 00:09:56.040 So there's this wonderful picture of what we begin to understand and see. 00:09:56.200 --> 00:10:02.680 That it's the Spirit of God living in us that is continuing to work and produce things in us. 00:10:02.680 --> 00:10:06.160 And one of the things that it's producing is faith. 00:10:07.060 --> 00:10:15.740 It's continual faith in us of who we are in Christ, who he is, and what it means that we are saved by him. 00:10:15.740 --> 00:10:21.720 And so John is going to talk about, in the first part of chapter 4, the work of the Spirit with faith. 00:10:21.940 --> 00:10:23.120 Look at verses 1 through 3. 00:10:24.220 --> 00:10:26.200 Beloved, do not believe every spirit. 00:10:26.260 --> 00:10:27.380 So let's pause really quickly. 00:10:27.820 --> 00:10:34.120 John is also dealing with this initial audience that's dealing with heresies and the teachings of Christ. 00:10:35.020 --> 00:10:38.860 They're proclaiming things to be true about who Christ is that is not true about Christ. 00:10:40.000 --> 00:10:48.140 And so John is combating them, and so he will talk about these spirits, but the Spirit that we can cling to. 00:10:48.800 --> 00:10:56.960 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God. 00:10:57.680 --> 00:11:01.320 For many false prophets have gone out into the world. 00:11:02.160 --> 00:11:07.120 Verse 2, by this you know the Spirit of God. 00:11:07.820 --> 00:11:14.980 Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God. 00:11:14.980 --> 00:11:20.040 And every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. 00:11:20.420 --> 00:11:29.200 This is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you heard was coming and is now, is in the world already. 00:11:29.380 --> 00:11:32.040 And two weeks ago, I believe, we talked about this. 00:11:32.160 --> 00:11:37.060 John uses this little A Antichrist. 00:11:37.880 --> 00:11:53.880 This isn't the Revelation Antichrist that we see, but there's these little Antichrists that are sent and create havoc and create chaos and create disunity and create disobedience and are false teachers. 00:11:53.880 --> 00:11:54.880 And so John is drawing this line. 00:11:54.880 --> 00:11:56.260 And so John is drawing this line. 00:11:56.260 --> 00:12:06.760 But he says that the Spirit of God is the Spirit who confesses of the truth of who Jesus is. 00:12:07.620 --> 00:12:13.440 And that Jesus Christ has come into this world in flesh is from God. 00:12:13.440 --> 00:12:24.120 And now what happens in you and I is that because we are in Christ, the Holy Spirit testifies to the reality of God in our lives. 00:12:24.120 --> 00:12:32.540 And here's what the Spirit of God does by causing us to confess as well, that Jesus Christ has come in flesh. 00:12:33.040 --> 00:12:36.240 We confess who Christ is. 00:12:37.860 --> 00:12:39.100 So important question. 00:12:40.180 --> 00:12:41.740 What does it mean to confess? 00:12:42.840 --> 00:12:44.340 What does it mean to confess? 00:12:45.540 --> 00:12:47.080 Does it mean just saying something? 00:12:48.260 --> 00:12:49.360 Just saying something. 00:12:51.600 --> 00:13:00.640 Well, if you say something that isn't true, if you say something that you don't believe, if you say something that hasn't transformed you, 00:13:00.840 --> 00:13:05.600 if you say something that's not indwelt within you, then you're just saying something. 00:13:06.700 --> 00:13:08.620 We're not confessing. 00:13:12.120 --> 00:13:16.180 Emma asked me yesterday, are you going to tell any stories? 00:13:17.040 --> 00:13:18.160 I said maybe. 00:13:19.180 --> 00:13:19.920 Here we go. 00:13:20.880 --> 00:13:21.200 All right. 00:13:22.280 --> 00:13:23.860 I've got two kids. 00:13:24.380 --> 00:13:24.840 Love them. 00:13:25.100 --> 00:13:26.160 Turned 15 on Monday. 00:13:26.640 --> 00:13:29.180 God has blessed us, blessed us, blessed us. 00:13:29.460 --> 00:13:30.040 Love them. 00:13:30.120 --> 00:13:31.100 They love the Lord. 00:13:32.260 --> 00:13:33.820 Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful kids. 00:13:33.820 --> 00:13:35.640 But they got different personalities, okay? 00:13:36.300 --> 00:13:40.780 And one of our kids from birth has just been the easier kid. 00:13:41.040 --> 00:13:44.920 And one of our kids from birth has been a little bit more stubborn or hard-headed kid. 00:13:45.100 --> 00:13:47.900 And you may ask, Bo, where did that kid get that from? 00:13:48.060 --> 00:13:48.980 I don't know. 00:13:50.040 --> 00:13:50.480 Right? 00:13:51.900 --> 00:13:58.100 So growing up as little kids, I had a very profound moment with one of my kids one day. 00:13:59.320 --> 00:14:02.020 This child did something. 00:14:04.140 --> 00:14:08.640 And I went to this child and said, did you do this? 00:14:10.280 --> 00:14:13.320 And this child, yeah. 00:14:15.420 --> 00:14:16.540 You shouldn't have done that. 00:14:18.360 --> 00:14:19.000 I know. 00:14:21.140 --> 00:14:22.300 Well, say you're sorry. 00:14:25.080 --> 00:14:25.480 Sorry. 00:14:25.480 --> 00:14:30.220 Let me ask you a question. 00:14:32.160 --> 00:14:34.000 Did this child just say they were sorry? 00:14:36.100 --> 00:14:37.200 Or did they confess it? 00:14:40.800 --> 00:14:41.740 Just said sorry. 00:14:42.920 --> 00:14:43.740 Didn't mean it. 00:14:44.700 --> 00:14:45.580 Did it again. 00:14:46.840 --> 00:14:47.060 Right? 00:14:49.000 --> 00:14:52.980 And later, after consequences, we think minute. 00:14:55.680 --> 00:14:57.260 But here's what I'm going to appeal to you. 00:14:59.080 --> 00:15:05.440 Sometimes we may say Jesus is Lord, but we're just saying it. 00:15:07.060 --> 00:15:08.100 We're just saying it. 00:15:09.100 --> 00:15:10.420 We're not confessing it. 00:15:12.180 --> 00:15:15.580 Earlier, I think week one, we looked at 1 John 1.9. 00:15:16.820 --> 00:15:17.840 It was talking about sin. 00:15:19.840 --> 00:15:30.520 It says, if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 00:15:31.740 --> 00:15:33.100 So let's talk about this for a second. 00:15:36.780 --> 00:15:48.600 Every day, I can sit down with my journal before the Lord and give a list of all the sins that I've done. 00:15:50.400 --> 00:15:54.640 Every thought that I've had, every word that I've said, every action that's taken place, 00:15:55.940 --> 00:16:02.980 every deceitful moment, every lie, every moment of lust, every moment of pride, every moment of greed. 00:16:04.420 --> 00:16:05.720 I can write them down. 00:16:06.860 --> 00:16:08.120 I can say them. 00:16:10.280 --> 00:16:12.360 I can share them with other people. 00:16:13.580 --> 00:16:21.840 But if in who my heart is, I'm ready to go back to the next day and do it all over again 00:16:21.840 --> 00:16:27.460 and just repeat some religious process, I'm not confessing my sin. 00:16:27.660 --> 00:16:29.200 I'm simply saying it. 00:16:30.560 --> 00:16:35.380 Saying I sinned and confession of sin are different. 00:16:36.660 --> 00:16:42.300 Confession of sin is real contrition, real regret. 00:16:42.640 --> 00:16:45.320 It's connected to the condition of the heart. 00:16:45.320 --> 00:16:55.600 So if confessing Christ comes from the heart, it has to be done with the connection of the heart. 00:16:56.980 --> 00:17:01.660 It has to be done with the declaration and with brokenness of who we are. 00:17:03.140 --> 00:17:11.720 And so to confess to Jesus is not just to say, yeah, this is who he is and he's Savior. 00:17:12.600 --> 00:17:21.220 To confess to Jesus is to submit to Jesus, proclaim loyalty to Jesus, to trust Jesus. 00:17:21.220 --> 00:17:28.600 And it comes from a brokenness of the spirit, of the heart, by the leading of the spirit. 00:17:29.920 --> 00:17:37.920 And so confession is then words, but they're words from the heart that come from a heart of faith 00:17:37.920 --> 00:17:39.880 and a heart of conviction. 00:17:41.240 --> 00:17:43.100 That's what confessing means. 00:17:44.860 --> 00:17:46.340 So are you just saying it? 00:17:47.400 --> 00:17:49.920 Or are we confessing it? 00:17:50.540 --> 00:17:52.620 Look what he continues to write, starting in verse 4. 00:17:52.860 --> 00:17:59.740 Little children, you are from God and have overcome them. 00:17:59.740 --> 00:18:05.860 For he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. 00:18:07.360 --> 00:18:13.060 They are from the world, therefore they speak from the world and the world listens to them. 00:18:14.020 --> 00:18:14.940 Verse 6. 00:18:15.480 --> 00:18:38.100 So here's what John continues to say in the difference of those who know God and those who don't. 00:18:38.100 --> 00:18:44.480 When the gospel is spoken, when the truth of God is spoken, is it listened to? 00:18:45.500 --> 00:18:46.320 Is it listened to? 00:18:47.680 --> 00:18:51.940 Well, again, okay, what does it mean to listen? 00:18:52.900 --> 00:18:54.140 What does it mean to listen? 00:18:55.260 --> 00:19:00.980 Are you hearing me or are you listening to me? 00:19:01.980 --> 00:19:11.420 Hearing the words of truth and listening to the words of truth are different. 00:19:12.420 --> 00:19:20.880 And what John is saying here, it's not just paying some reverent service to the truth of God. 00:19:21.020 --> 00:19:25.120 So we're here, we're quiet, we're paid attention, we're engaged. 00:19:25.120 --> 00:19:31.160 But it's that the words that happen come through the ears, but they do something. 00:19:31.540 --> 00:19:33.480 They penetrate the heart. 00:19:33.760 --> 00:19:39.720 And by the work of the spirit of what is being done in their life, they're listened to. 00:19:40.180 --> 00:19:41.640 Obedience begins to happen. 00:19:42.060 --> 00:19:43.280 Repentance takes place. 00:19:43.520 --> 00:19:52.500 There's this process of growth and of true confession and brokenness and all of this that penetrates through there to the heart. 00:19:52.500 --> 00:19:57.340 And so in this, we see, is this a test of I'm born again? 00:19:57.560 --> 00:20:00.300 Is this a test that Christ is my Savior? 00:20:00.560 --> 00:20:03.000 Is this a test that the Holy Spirit is in me? 00:20:03.200 --> 00:20:07.240 Is this the truth of God, of what I say and what I hear? 00:20:07.440 --> 00:20:10.420 Is it more about what I say and what I hear? 00:20:10.660 --> 00:20:11.740 Is it what I confess? 00:20:11.980 --> 00:20:13.100 Is it what I listen to? 00:20:13.300 --> 00:20:14.780 Is it what I surrender my life to? 00:20:14.780 --> 00:20:21.200 And it's not based off of a pastor or a youth pastor or a small group leader or a children's minister said it to me. 00:20:21.300 --> 00:20:29.940 It's because the spirit of God resonating inside of me, living in me, testifies to the truthfulness of it and the beauty of the conviction that it brings. 00:20:29.940 --> 00:20:40.960 And it draws me, not into shame, but to the sweet spot of repentance where I confess these things to the Lord and plead with him to take these away from me and to change me to live for his name and for his glory. 00:20:43.580 --> 00:21:01.800 John says, look back at verse four, little children, you are from God and have overcome them. 00:21:02.800 --> 00:21:11.140 For he who is greater than he who is greater than he who is in the world. 00:21:11.920 --> 00:21:15.900 This beautiful picture of he who is in you. 00:21:16.740 --> 00:21:18.100 This is who I am. 00:21:19.600 --> 00:21:21.100 This is who I am. 00:21:22.700 --> 00:21:24.360 It's not that I'm greater. 00:21:25.660 --> 00:21:32.760 It's that he, he is greater. 00:21:34.300 --> 00:21:36.480 And he is in me. 00:21:38.240 --> 00:21:45.760 And if he is greater, if he is more powerful, 00:21:46.720 --> 00:21:52.500 then the authority of power that I can live in this world, 00:21:52.960 --> 00:21:59.920 not only in the confidence that I experience in waiting for the return of Christ, 00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:08.960 but in the confidence and the beauty of the spirit of God who is working in me day by day to transform me. 00:22:10.180 --> 00:22:11.560 And to who he calls me to be. 00:22:13.340 --> 00:22:15.760 And so John continues on. 00:22:15.920 --> 00:22:21.860 And I think this is, if you were to say like, hey, what, what is, what is first John really all about? 00:22:22.360 --> 00:22:23.420 I mean, it's about love. 00:22:23.500 --> 00:22:24.160 It's about God. 00:22:24.280 --> 00:22:25.160 God is love, right? 00:22:25.220 --> 00:22:26.720 Let's, let's, let's look at this. 00:22:27.380 --> 00:22:30.200 Look at verses seven and eight of John, first John four. 00:22:31.700 --> 00:22:35.460 Beloved, let us love one another for love is from God. 00:22:35.460 --> 00:22:40.280 And whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 00:22:41.480 --> 00:22:48.420 Anyone who does not love does not know God because God is love. 00:22:49.380 --> 00:22:55.760 And so what John is doing here is he's continuing to lay down this foundation of spiritual confidence. 00:22:57.640 --> 00:23:03.600 And the phrase that came to my mind is this, become what you are. 00:23:04.800 --> 00:23:08.800 If you were in Christ, here's my hope for you. 00:23:09.000 --> 00:23:12.340 The same hope for myself, the same hope for my wife, the same hope for my kids. 00:23:13.560 --> 00:23:19.020 Don't become who you want to be, but in Christ become who you are. 00:23:19.920 --> 00:23:27.560 And what we see in these two verses is God is fulfilling a promise through a command. 00:23:28.760 --> 00:23:40.760 John gives a commandment to love in verse seven and then in verse eight makes the statement that anyone who does not love God does not know God. 00:23:41.660 --> 00:23:46.240 Which means if you claim to know God, then you're already a person of love. 00:23:49.000 --> 00:23:58.160 I cannot say that I follow Christ and then not love. 00:23:58.860 --> 00:24:06.740 And so what John is doing here is he's appealing to the decision making of an individual. 00:24:07.800 --> 00:24:08.680 Choose love. 00:24:09.720 --> 00:24:19.380 But he's also explaining a theological promise, which is this, love in Christ has been embedded in you. 00:24:20.500 --> 00:24:21.080 Choose it. 00:24:22.420 --> 00:24:23.960 Be a person of love. 00:24:24.660 --> 00:24:25.720 Go in love. 00:24:26.300 --> 00:24:27.300 Love is in you. 00:24:28.960 --> 00:24:33.580 I read in a book this week and the author said this, 00:24:34.420 --> 00:24:38.020 Do what God is at work in you to do. 00:24:39.540 --> 00:24:44.360 Do what God is at work in you to do. 00:24:44.360 --> 00:24:52.640 And so in this command and in this theological promise is this statement, God is love. 00:24:52.700 --> 00:24:55.180 So I want to ask you this question, how is God love? 00:24:56.420 --> 00:24:57.280 How is God love? 00:25:00.460 --> 00:25:01.880 Something really cool happened. 00:25:02.500 --> 00:25:03.280 I think it's cool. 00:25:03.880 --> 00:25:05.060 You might not think it's cool. 00:25:05.740 --> 00:25:07.000 I'm going to share with you anyways, right? 00:25:08.680 --> 00:25:12.780 When I typed, and just leave this up for a while for me. 00:25:13.820 --> 00:25:21.180 When I typed these four words on my computer this week and put a question mark on the end, 00:25:22.300 --> 00:25:24.080 something happened on my computer screen. 00:25:25.220 --> 00:25:30.400 It's something that I love that happens because when it happens and I'm writing a research paper, 00:25:30.460 --> 00:25:34.020 it tells me I'm about to get points deducted, right? 00:25:34.900 --> 00:25:35.820 Here's what happened. 00:25:37.140 --> 00:25:42.700 Under is came these two blue lines. 00:25:44.740 --> 00:25:48.220 And what that's telling me, my computer is telling me is this, 00:25:49.600 --> 00:25:50.860 Bo, that's incorrect. 00:25:52.360 --> 00:25:56.800 And in order for it to be correct, you've got to change is. 00:25:58.240 --> 00:26:05.000 Because I'm not that smart, what I like is the fact that I can right click and it tells me what to change it to. 00:26:05.840 --> 00:26:09.600 It tells me that, nah, that's not the correct spelling, you know? 00:26:10.940 --> 00:26:12.680 And so I right clicked. 00:26:14.160 --> 00:26:15.240 And you know what word came up? 00:26:16.460 --> 00:26:16.840 Does. 00:26:17.680 --> 00:26:18.040 Does. 00:26:19.620 --> 00:26:27.060 So the computer wants me to say, how does God love? 00:26:30.440 --> 00:26:34.000 But that's not what the Bible says. 00:26:35.380 --> 00:26:36.920 That's not what John said. 00:26:38.220 --> 00:26:44.600 John said, God is love. 00:26:47.220 --> 00:27:00.000 But grammatically, my computer wants me to do oftentimes what we want to do. 00:27:01.360 --> 00:27:06.360 Which is just, tell me how to do this. 00:27:08.360 --> 00:27:12.820 How does God love? 00:27:13.980 --> 00:27:18.380 Can you open up the Bible and see actions of God loving? 00:27:18.660 --> 00:27:19.180 Absolutely. 00:27:20.440 --> 00:27:24.720 From Genesis to Revelation, filled in over and over and over again. 00:27:25.060 --> 00:27:27.360 We can look at actions. 00:27:29.360 --> 00:27:41.580 But what John does is he takes love beyond simply the actions of God. 00:27:42.860 --> 00:27:49.900 And he places love at the very center of who God is. 00:27:49.900 --> 00:27:54.020 And so God is love. 00:27:55.000 --> 00:27:57.020 Which means this. 00:27:58.460 --> 00:28:01.660 Everything about God is love. 00:28:03.880 --> 00:28:05.800 Every word of truth. 00:28:07.120 --> 00:28:08.320 Every action. 00:28:09.520 --> 00:28:10.100 Everything. 00:28:10.740 --> 00:28:11.400 Everything. 00:28:12.140 --> 00:28:12.700 Everything. 00:28:13.760 --> 00:28:14.540 Is love. 00:28:16.680 --> 00:28:18.700 Look at verse 9 and 10. 00:28:23.060 --> 00:28:31.720 In this, the love of God was made manifest among us. 00:28:33.220 --> 00:28:43.360 That God sent his only son into the world so that we might live through him. 00:28:44.820 --> 00:28:46.740 In this is love. 00:28:47.880 --> 00:28:54.100 Not that we have loved God, but that he loved us. 00:28:55.120 --> 00:29:01.040 And sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins. 00:29:01.040 --> 00:29:05.380 So we ask this grammatically incorrect question again. 00:29:06.700 --> 00:29:08.160 How is God love? 00:29:10.000 --> 00:29:11.240 John tells us. 00:29:12.720 --> 00:29:14.860 Here's how he's love. 00:29:15.960 --> 00:29:18.640 Here's his actions that are going to point to something. 00:29:19.520 --> 00:29:20.820 He showed us his love. 00:29:22.640 --> 00:29:25.840 John just said, made manifest among us. 00:29:26.000 --> 00:29:28.340 Which means you could see his love. 00:29:30.280 --> 00:29:33.820 We see that God is love because God's love is with mission. 00:29:34.420 --> 00:29:36.780 He sent his only son into the world. 00:29:37.840 --> 00:29:39.460 It's to go and do something. 00:29:40.220 --> 00:29:41.980 It's to go and fight for something. 00:29:42.520 --> 00:29:43.680 It's to go and work. 00:29:43.940 --> 00:29:45.840 He sent love with a mission. 00:29:46.860 --> 00:29:49.100 We see that God's love is saving. 00:29:49.400 --> 00:29:53.100 So that we might live eternally through him. 00:29:53.200 --> 00:29:54.560 So that we're saved. 00:29:54.800 --> 00:29:55.760 We're redeemed. 00:29:56.160 --> 00:29:58.920 That death is merely a moment for us. 00:30:02.920 --> 00:30:04.760 But that also that God's love is empowering. 00:30:06.540 --> 00:30:09.600 That just so that we might live through him eternally. 00:30:09.740 --> 00:30:11.880 That we might live in him now. 00:30:13.680 --> 00:30:15.280 Empowered by the spirit of God. 00:30:16.580 --> 00:30:18.540 We see that God's love is first. 00:30:19.820 --> 00:30:22.820 Not that he loved God. 00:30:22.820 --> 00:30:25.760 But that we loved God. 00:30:25.880 --> 00:30:28.860 But that he loved us. 00:30:30.760 --> 00:30:31.980 You see, he's the pursuer. 00:30:32.920 --> 00:30:34.800 He's the lover. 00:30:36.260 --> 00:30:37.540 Long before we are. 00:30:39.540 --> 00:30:40.600 And that it's. 00:30:41.640 --> 00:30:43.120 God's love is everlasting. 00:30:45.600 --> 00:30:46.920 And he sent his son. 00:30:47.880 --> 00:30:48.940 To be. 00:30:49.940 --> 00:30:51.060 The propitiation. 00:30:51.980 --> 00:30:52.960 For our sins. 00:30:55.060 --> 00:30:56.220 Sins past. 00:30:57.600 --> 00:30:58.400 Sins present. 00:30:59.860 --> 00:31:00.600 Sins future. 00:31:00.600 --> 00:31:02.720 All of it. 00:31:02.720 --> 00:31:03.000 All of it. 00:31:04.200 --> 00:31:04.960 All of it. 00:31:09.220 --> 00:31:10.520 What does it mean. 00:31:12.260 --> 00:31:13.580 That God. 00:31:14.620 --> 00:31:15.300 Is. 00:31:16.260 --> 00:31:16.620 Love. 00:31:19.280 --> 00:31:20.260 It's Jesus. 00:31:23.260 --> 00:31:24.220 It's Jesus. 00:31:26.220 --> 00:31:27.160 It's Jesus. 00:31:29.220 --> 00:31:37.020 And so we can't just say, what does it mean that God loves, and take one moment and isolate it. 00:31:38.720 --> 00:31:49.360 And say, well, here's this person's love, and here's this person's love, so look at this action, and look at this action, and look at this action, and look at this action, and look at this action. 00:31:49.360 --> 00:32:08.140 But we take all that is love, and we say, it is Jesus, made manifest, and dwelt among us. 00:32:09.440 --> 00:32:14.460 And through him, we have life, and we have life alone. 00:32:15.960 --> 00:32:18.580 Let's finish, read verses 11 through 16. 00:32:19.360 --> 00:32:27.560 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 00:32:29.240 --> 00:32:30.880 No one has ever seen God. 00:32:30.980 --> 00:32:37.560 If we love one another, God abides in us, and his love is perfected in us. 00:32:39.040 --> 00:32:47.880 Verse 13, by this we know that we abide in him, and he in us, because he has given us his spirit. 00:32:49.440 --> 00:32:56.760 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 00:32:58.500 --> 00:33:07.200 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 00:33:08.620 --> 00:33:14.700 So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. 00:33:16.280 --> 00:33:27.720 God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. 00:33:29.600 --> 00:33:41.020 And all throughout this book, all throughout this letter, John's been giving us this goal of what he's working toward, 00:33:42.100 --> 00:33:50.460 of what he longs for the believers and the individuals who read this to resonate. 00:33:51.880 --> 00:33:57.000 Do you stand in hope and in confidence? 00:33:58.920 --> 00:34:01.300 And he's been making phrases like this. 00:34:02.240 --> 00:34:03.680 In chapter 2, verse 3, he says, 00:34:03.840 --> 00:34:05.800 By this we may be sure that we know him. 00:34:06.960 --> 00:34:10.440 In verse 5, by this we may be sure that we are in him. 00:34:11.360 --> 00:34:15.820 In chapter 3, verse 10, by this it may be seen who are the children of God. 00:34:16.760 --> 00:34:20.900 Verse 14, we know that we have passed out of life into death. 00:34:21.400 --> 00:34:25.980 Verse 19, by this we shall know that we are of the truth. 00:34:26.400 --> 00:34:31.260 Verse 24, by this we will know that he abides in us. 00:34:31.460 --> 00:34:35.180 Chapter 4, verse 2, by this you know the Spirit of God. 00:34:35.460 --> 00:34:39.040 Verse 6, by this we know the Spirit of truth. 00:34:39.300 --> 00:34:43.840 Chapter 5, verse 2, by this we know that we love the children of God. 00:34:44.080 --> 00:34:50.340 Chapter 5, verse 13, I write this to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, 00:34:50.340 --> 00:34:57.940 God, that you might know that you have eternal life. 00:34:59.800 --> 00:35:04.940 All through this, John says, I want you to have confidence. 00:35:06.140 --> 00:35:07.140 So abide. 00:35:07.140 --> 00:35:07.220 So abide. 00:35:08.560 --> 00:35:09.620 Abide in him. 00:35:10.820 --> 00:35:11.820 Abide in him. 00:35:13.200 --> 00:35:14.620 Remain in him. 00:35:15.420 --> 00:35:22.460 When your heart, and it is, just like mine, is prone to wander, 00:35:23.820 --> 00:35:24.880 don't wander. 00:35:25.360 --> 00:35:25.780 Rest. 00:35:26.240 --> 00:35:27.020 Come back. 00:35:27.340 --> 00:35:28.080 Cling to. 00:35:28.480 --> 00:35:29.140 Dive in. 00:35:29.460 --> 00:35:30.080 Fight for. 00:35:30.400 --> 00:35:31.320 Abide in him. 00:35:33.140 --> 00:35:34.600 He says, confess. 00:35:35.940 --> 00:35:36.620 Confess. 00:35:37.540 --> 00:35:38.220 Confess. 00:35:39.260 --> 00:35:44.100 The declaration of the broken heart over our sin. 00:35:44.800 --> 00:35:49.300 And the declaration of the redeemed spirit due to his grace. 00:35:50.440 --> 00:35:51.060 Confess. 00:35:52.420 --> 00:35:54.300 Confess that Jesus is Lord. 00:35:55.780 --> 00:35:58.800 Let that be the truth that we operate from. 00:35:59.920 --> 00:36:06.180 Let it be not just what we say, but what we live, what we mean, what we wrestle with, 00:36:06.360 --> 00:36:08.720 what we celebrate, what we share. 00:36:09.460 --> 00:36:09.940 Confess. 00:36:10.380 --> 00:36:13.380 And then in this, we know. 00:36:14.380 --> 00:36:15.200 We know. 00:36:16.200 --> 00:36:17.020 We know. 00:36:20.060 --> 00:36:25.820 What does Satan do when you've been bought by the blood of the Lamb? 00:36:27.660 --> 00:36:30.760 What does he do with that? 00:36:33.600 --> 00:36:36.680 He is more powerful. 00:36:38.360 --> 00:36:43.840 He is greater than he who is in the world. 00:36:45.120 --> 00:36:46.340 So what does he do with that? 00:36:48.120 --> 00:36:57.480 Well, he says, if I can't have you, then what I want you to live in, 00:36:57.480 --> 00:37:01.640 what I'm going to attack with you at is the shame. 00:37:03.280 --> 00:37:06.420 What I'm going to attack with you is the uncertainty. 00:37:08.000 --> 00:37:17.220 And so that you don't live your life in the eager, confident expectation of the return of the Lord. 00:37:18.700 --> 00:37:27.180 But instead, you live your life like a kid hiding from his parents because of the shame of what he's done. 00:37:28.900 --> 00:37:30.480 And that's not who God is. 00:37:32.720 --> 00:37:33.560 Abide in him. 00:37:35.200 --> 00:37:35.940 Confess him. 00:37:36.780 --> 00:37:37.500 And know him. 00:37:38.540 --> 00:37:39.280 Would you pray with me? 00:37:43.920 --> 00:37:45.160 God, we come to you. 00:37:47.220 --> 00:37:56.140 Lord, thanking you for the work that you've done, not only for us, Lord, but in us. 00:38:10.140 --> 00:38:13.260 Thanks again for listening to the Willow Ridge Church Weekly Podcast. 00:38:13.800 --> 00:38:16.080 We hope that you enjoyed listening to this week's message. 00:38:16.600 --> 00:38:20.080 If you'd like to learn more about who we are or explore additional resources, 00:38:20.680 --> 00:38:25.140 visit us online at www.willowridgechurch.com 00:38:25.140 --> 00:38:28.700 or by searching for Willow Ridge Church on Facebook and Instagram. 00:38:28.700 --> 00:38:40.840 We'll see you next time.